Chapter 62: Join Hands to Slay the Enemy

  Report to the superior, the militia has occupied Xian'an after a fierce battle overnight. Wei Tianbao was killed and most of his subordinates were captured! A dusty man reported excitedly. Haha! It's really heaven helping me, this militia is quite capable. Damn it, when Wei Tianxiong finds out that his brother was killed, he will definitely launch an attack on Xian'an.

  Sir, aren't you going to support the people's army? The military advisor was shocked. An opportunity like this cannot be missed, immediately assemble the troops and set off at night. I want to let the people's army see the ferocity of my Black Flag Army! Old Street is over 200 miles away from Xian'an, even if Liu Yongfu's 2,000 troops rush to Xian'an, they won't arrive until tomorrow noon. Just as Leng Yifei and Liu Yongfu had judged, General Wei Tianxiong of the Left Route was enraged upon learning that his brother had been killed and set off with his troops towards Xian'an that very night.

  At dawn, the 1st and 2nd squads rushed from Beiguang to Xian'an. After a night of marching, the team members were still energetic and refreshed. Leng Yifei ordered the 2nd squad to hurry up and rest, preparing for battle. He Meng got up early, made a round of inspection, and came to the front, saying: "Captain, there are 2,000 rebel soldiers in Xiguang. I heard Lin Xiong say that this rebel army is Yang Guangcai's direct lineage unit, with certain combat effectiveness. Should we ask Liu Yongfu for support?

  Leng Yifei smiled and said: I reckon Liu Yongfu is already on his way, he has witnessed our powerful combat strength, and no longer doubts us. With such a good opportunity, the seasoned Liu Yongfu will not miss it. I gave him a left-handed revolver, he knows the power of foreign guns. Later, he needs us to buy foreign guns, can he not come? Captain Gao's insight is high, I sent out scouts, once we discover the rebel army, we can enter combat readiness.

  After daybreak, the scouts returned to report that a large number of enemy troops had been found in Xian'an. Leng Yifei ordered: Lin Xiong and He Deli led their troops to be responsible for mobile warfare, ready to prevent the enemy from attacking from both sides at any time, and Wolf Team 1 went up to the south city wall to participate in the defense. About half an hour later, the team members formed a defensive position along the two sides of the south gate. After all, there were too few people, and the team members formed a battle position with intervals of several meters.

  Leng Yifei dared to fight a defensive battle in Xian'an, and the excellent terrain of Xian'an gave him the courage. To the east of Xian'an is the Lu River, which made it impossible for the enemy to launch an attack from this side. If the enemy army wanted to attack, they could only do so from the north, west, or south. The enemy's deployment in the north was unlikely to be large-scale, so Leng Yifei deployed his artillery troops in the south and ordered Lin Xiong and Haddley to focus on defending the west. If they really couldn't hold out, they could retreat across the Lu River from the east with ease. Moreover, Leng Yifei wanted to see how much courage the enemy had to launch an attack under accurate shelling, while also testing his troops' defensive capabilities.

  The sun rises, and the dust flies southward. Then the banners unfold, and a large number of troops appear. Three arrows away from the enemy army, they stop advancing. The central army opens up, and several large cannons are pushed forward from behind. Leng Yifei sees clearly through his telescope that they are old-fashioned cannons. The enemy is going to launch an artillery attack, leaving behind scouts, and everyone hides under the city wall to avoid the cannon fire!

  As expected, the enemy began to bombard. With a loud roar, solid shells hit the city wall and smoke rose, and the team members saw the solid shells in their hearts. The bombardment lasted for about an hour, knowing that this old-fashioned artillery was very troublesome to fire. Before firing, the soldiers had to put the gunpowder into the barrel, then put the iron ball into the barrel, and finally ignite the fuse. After a round of bombardment, they also had to wipe the barrel clean before repeating the process, which was called bombardment, simply wasting time.

  The defensive team members were impatient, and the artillery fire finally ended. The horn sounded, accompanied by the thunderous drums, and the commando teams quickly entered their defensive positions. "Brothers, take aim and shoot! We must suppress the enemy's arrogance!" He Meng shouted loudly. The enemy army's horns rose and fell, the supporting drums shook the sky, and the scene of cold weapons clashing came alive before everyone's eyes.

  The enemy troops rushed up with a loud shout, their momentum seemingly overwhelming. As the enemy entered within 100 meters, He Miao ordered to open fire and was the first to pull the trigger. With a single gunshot, an enemy commander fell to the ground, followed by a burst of machine gun fire that almost didn't miss a shot, causing the enemy soldiers to fall in droves. The team members quickly reloaded their rifles with incredible speed, then launched the 2nd round of gunfire, just like they did during training exercises.

  After the second round of shooting, the enemy was shocked and retreated like a tide. Within 100 meters in front, a terrifying scene appeared, with over 200 people lying on the ground, those who were not dead rolling around and screaming. The enemy did not launch another attack after retreating, and Leng Yifei observed through binoculars that there was some chaos in the enemy camp but no retreat, and he didn't know what they were doing.

  In the Chinese army, Wei Tianxiong rode a tall horse, and a deputy general reported: "Sir, the enemy is a foreign gun team with several hundred people." Damn it! What's to be afraid of the foreign gun team? We have the divine possession of knife and gun not entering. Immediately form a dare-to-die team. Wei Tianbiao completely ignored the death of his subordinates. In no time, the dare-to-die team was formed with bare arms. The military advisor pasted a yellow strip on the chest of each dare-to-die soldier, which read "knife and gun not entering". The military advisor pretended to recite an incantation, and then the dare-to-die team wrapped red cloth strips around their heads, held big knives, and shouted "knife and gun not entering" as they charged forward.

  Leng Yifei took a closer look and saw that the enemy's dare-to-die corps had more than 300 people. This is the rebel army's dare-to-die corps, get close and fire! The captain ordered to enter within 100 meters before firing again! Each squad leader supplemented the order. Soon, the dare-to-die corps entered within 100 meters, and the sound of gunfire began to ring out.

  With the sound of gunfire, the enemy's dare-to-die troops fell to the ground one after another. However, the dare-to-die troops were indeed fearless and shouted loudly as they advanced in succession. Leng Yifei saw that half of the enemy's dare-to-die troops had fallen and shouted: "He Meng! Come on! Order the second and third squads to attack, let's take them down!" He Meng understood. Immediately, he personally led the second and third squads, opened the city gate, and charged out.

  A fierce battle unfolded in an instant, the city wall ceased its bombardment, and 40 brothers charged into the enemy's vanguard with rifles in hand. The enemy soldiers did not expect this turn of events, and after just a few rounds, the enemy's vanguard was terrified by the brutal slaughter, some fled, others followed suit, and before long, the enemy retreated in disarray.

  The enemy camp, Wei Tianxiong riding a tall horse, seeing this scene was shocked and angry, and vented his anger on the military advisor. He saw him beheading the military advisor with a knife. How could Wei Tianxiong bear such humiliation? The key is that he saw clearly that there were only a few hundred people defending the city, and he hastily shouted: Everyone attack, whoever enters the city first will be rewarded with 500 taels of silver. Suddenly, the large army launched a general offensive.

  The enemy army quickly reached the city wall, and the archers in the enemy formation suppressed our side. Then they started to set up cloud ladders to climb the city walls. A good tiger can't hold back a pack of wolves, and the situation became critical. At this time, Lin Xiong led the second wolf team to get on the city wall to participate in the defense. Just then, a horn sounded from the southwest direction, and a cavalry killed over.

  Liu Yongfu led the troops to arrive in time, and Wei Tianxiong was so frightened when he saw the Black Flag Army that his face turned pale. He immediately sounded the gong to retreat. But it was too late, the rebel army was suddenly thrown into chaos, defeated like a mountain collapse, and everyone fled for their lives. In an instant, the rebel army fled southward. Seeing the Black Flag Army arrive in time, Leng Yifei let out a sigh of relief. He then ordered Lin Xiong to launch a counterattack and told him to capture as many prisoners as possible.

  Before long, the deserters and pursuers were nowhere to be seen. The north gate was wide open, and Liu Yongfu and his guards entered in a steady stream. Haha! Cold hero, I admire you. I have been disrespectful, please forgive me, Cold Hero! General, you are too modest, I understand your good intentions, this battle is a gift to you as a token of surrender. What a token of surrender, the people's army under Cold Hero has made me look up to them! Today I will drink with Cold Hero and have a good time.

  At the banquet, Liu Yongfu informed that once Feng Zicai led the government troops to attack, they would jointly attack Xuanhua. To show goodwill, Liu Yongfu promised that the civilian army could be stationed in Xuanhua after a few days. Of course, Liu Yongfu also put forward conditions and asked Leng Yifei to help buy foreign guns. Leng Yifei agreed with his mouth full, from then on, Leng Yifei and Liu Yongfu formed an alliance relationship.

  Wei Tianxiong fled back to Xuanhua in disarray, with more than half of his personnel lost and all military supplies lost, including several artillery pieces. Wei Tianxiong was frightened and on edge, on the one hand reinforcing the city defenses to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the situation to attack the city, while on the other hand sending people to Taiyuan to request Yang Guangcai to send troops to support him.

  Liu Yongfu got a great bargain, not only acquiring a large amount of military supplies and capturing artillery, but also capturing more than 500 prisoners. Liu Yongfu left a large batch of grain to Leng Yifei and led the troops back to the capital. Report to the captain, we captured over 300 prisoners! Lin Xiong returned to report.

  Everyone, let's take a break and rest the captives. We'll discuss it carefully tomorrow. After breakfast, each team leader will come to the meeting. Leng Yifei looked around and said: Everyone, our first goal has been achieved, and we have gained Liu Yongfu's trust. Now we have two bases. At present, the rebel army in Xuanhua has suffered heavy losses and cannot attack again, but we also cannot be careless, He Meng!

  You lead two squads, occupy Jī Míng Village in the south of Xi'an, and implement a blockade on Xuān Huà! He Meng receives the order and leaves. Fifth squad leader! Come! Subordinates are here! You lead your troops to occupy the Zhai River bank on the west side of Honghe, and implement a blockade towards ān Pèi. Yes! Subordinates obey Lin Xīong, Hā Dé Lì! Come!

  Leng Yifei added: At present, we must expand and replenish our troops. I have decided to form Wolf Three Team and Wolf Four Team, with a fixed quota of 200 people for each team. You two will continue to eliminate the old, weak, sick, and disabled, and send them along with the wounded soldiers to Beiguang, then train the troops. Yes! Subordinates obey orders!

  In just one month, Leng Yifei's forces expanded to 800 men, a development so smooth that Deng Zixuan had not anticipated. The key was that the historical record of Yang Guang's rebellion in the history books was almost glossed over, with hardly any detailed accounts, no wonder Deng Zixuan overlooked it, but Leng Yifei seized the opportunity.

  Unintentionally, Leng Yifei's troops swelled to 800 people. He immediately wrote a letter to Wang Xia'er, on the one hand asking him to report to Deng Zixuan, and on the other hand asking him to provide grain and supplies. Having a base must be managed. Fortunately, northern Annan had always been a chaotic region, which was absolutely beneficial for the expansion of the troops.