Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 555 Pincer Attack
"Captain Marshal! Retreat! Retreat!"

Li Jiucheng was terrified. The enemy came very fast and was determined. Now he could clearly see the faces of the people in the front. Seeing this, Li Jiucheng hurriedly reminded Kong Youde to retreat, but Kong Youde was not afraid at all. He was a brave general under Mao Wenlong in the past. He was the first to kill countless enemies in every battle. Although he now knew that he was careless and fell into a trap and was caught off guard by the enemy, Kong Youde did not turn his horse and flee. On the contrary, he glared and shouted: "Why retreat! Fight to the death! Brothers! The brave will win in a battle! Fight me!"

"Kill! Kill!"

Kong Youde knew very well that if he ran away, he would be completely finished. Now his part was divided into two parts. One part was fighting with Zhang Keda, while the remaining troops and the central army were attacked by Li Xin.

The situation is very unfavorable to me. Once I leave, the army will inevitably collapse and the battle will be completely lost.

The three thousand soldiers in his hands were Kong Youde's reliance and the most elite Liao army in Shandong. If this army was gone, what would be the point even if Kong Youde escaped from the battlefield by chance? A phoenix without feathers is no better than a chicken, and the same is true for a general without troops.

Moreover, Kong Youde was a traitor. He had been here since the mutiny, causing unrest in most of Shandong, and his hands were stained with the blood of countless people. If he lost his troops, would Kong Youde still be able to survive? By then, although the world was vast, there would be no place for him to stay.

Rather than dying in a cowardly way, it is better to give it a try! Kong Youde could see clearly that the army pretending to be Zhang Tao was not large in number, only about 2,000 people. Moreover, there were very few cavalry in this army, and most of them were infantry.

Although he was caught off guard and the cavalry he sent out to resist failed to stop the enemy and were even dispersed and suffered heavy losses, his central army was still intact. Kong Youde made a decision instantly that he would fight to the death. As long as he could stop this army and wait for the scattered cavalry to gather again and turn back for support, he would still have a chance to fight.

Kong Youde was quite confident in fighting, and his troops had 3,000 cavalry and infantry, and also had a lot of firearms. Although he was facing Zhang Keda and this unknown army, the number of the other side reached about 5,000, almost twice his own.

But war is not won by numbers. If the army can win simply by numbers, then the Ming Dynasty would have destroyed the Jian Nu long ago. In Kong Youde's view, as long as he can hold on and keep his footing, it is possible to turn the situation around.

Kong Youde was indeed strong, and his troops were indeed elite. After Kong Youde issued the order to counterattack, his Liao army, after a brief panic, instantly gathered their courage and fought back desperately, intending to stop Li Xin's attack.

The further Li Xin led his men, the greater the resistance. When they were only a few dozen steps away from Kong Youde's central army, they were blocked by Kong Youde's men. Kong Youde personally went into battle, wielding his long sword, making a whirring sound, unstoppable. He chopped down two Ming soldiers in one encounter, and led his men to charge left and right, as if they were in an empty space.

"What a great Kong Youde!"

Li Xin saw it clearly, and couldn't help but praise in his heart. No wonder everyone said Kong Youde was a fierce general under Mao Wenlong. This guy was really fierce, and his martial arts were really good. Li Xin thought he was a martial arts expert, but he was not sure he could beat Kong Youde.

Such a fierce general, no wonder he has such a great reputation, what a pity! What a pity! If he hadn't started a rebellion and done such a thing, he would have had a lot of potential in the Ming army!

Although Li Xin admired Kong Youde's bravery, now was not the time to think about it. Although Li Xin personally led his troops to charge into Kong Youde's central army and fought on the battlefield, he was also paying attention to the changes in the army formation.

Although Kong Youde fought to the death and led his men to withstand Li Xin's first wave of attack, and the two armies were already engaged in a battle, Li Xin's unexpected sneak attack also achieved its effect.

The several hundred most powerful cavalrymen around Kong Youde were killed and dispersed by him, and this force could not help Kong Youde for the time being. After a confrontation, the cavalrymen who failed to speed up sharply reduced their lethality and suffered considerable losses. Now nearly half of these cavalrymen stayed in the battle formation, and most of them escaped with great difficulty and fled far away, intending to regroup after leaving.

Cavalry relies on horsepower in combat, and horse charging and horse archery are the key to cavalry's combat effectiveness. Therefore, cavalry is different from infantry. If cavalry loses horsepower, it will lose its advantages of speed and rapid movement, and will be at a disadvantage against infantry.

It will take time for Kong Youde's central cavalry to regroup after the losses, but this time will not be too long. After all, Kong Youde's cavalry is elite cavalry with rich combat experience. Moreover, Kong Youde is now leading his men to counterattack. As Kong Youde's elite troops, it is impossible for them not to rescue the main general. If they wait until they regroup and then fight back, it will bring great trouble to Li Xin.

Li Xin knew this very well. It might not take long, perhaps only a quarter of an hour, for Kong Youde's cavalry to regroup outside the battlefield and fight back. If Kong Youde could not be captured at this time, Li Xin's troops would be in a difficult battle. Although his troops had slightly more people than Kong Youde's central army, they were insufficient in both equipment and combat effectiveness. At the moment, they had only caught the opponent by surprise and had the upper hand. If the stalemate continued, the chances of capturing Kong Youde would be even smaller.

Li Xin had to hurry up and take Kong Youde down. Once this opportunity was missed, it would be difficult. Li Xin led his men to continue charging at Kong Youde's central army. Li Xin himself waved his long sword and shouted for help. Li Xin's martial arts were no less than Kong Youde's. The long sword in his hand was specially made. It was longer and thicker than the long swords in ordinary troops. When he waved it, almost no one could stop him. Ordinary rebels couldn't even stop him. Some of them could only block twice at most, and were chopped down by Li Xin on the spot. Li Xin's bravery was seen by the Ming army, especially his two deputy generals, who were so angry that their eyes almost popped out.

This is still a civil official? Who is a military general? How could there be such a fierce scholar in the world? Not to mention the rebels, the two deputy generals felt that even if they joined forces, they would probably not be a match for Li Xin. How could this guy be a civil official? How could he be a scholar? It was really incredible.

As for the other Ming troops, their morale was greatly boosted when they saw their leader leading the troops so bravely. They shouted and rushed forward following Li Xin, and actually shook the position that Kong Youde had just managed to stabilize.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Kong Youde hurriedly brought people to reinforce. He saw Li Xin at a glance and was shocked to see Li Xin so brave. He had never seen Li Xin before, and he didn't know when such a brave general appeared in the Leiden army.

At this time, Li Xin also saw Kong Youde, and he was immediately delighted to see Kong Youde and his men coming.

He was just about to fight with Kong Youde, not to mention that the ultimate goal of this battle was to take down Kong Youde. Without saying a word, Li Xin casually chopped down a rebel and led his men to kill Kong Youde. Kong Youde did the same, waving his long sword and heading straight towards Li Xin.

In the blink of an eye, the two men were close to each other. After a fight, the two swords collided with each other and made a clinking sound. The two men's swords that were about to hit were blocked by the other party in time. Feeling the force of the rebound, they couldn't help but admire in their hearts that the other party was really strong.

It was natural for Kong Youde to be strong. He was born as a miner. He couldn't be a miner without a lot of strength. He was also good at martial arts. He had been in battle for a long time. He had killed countless Jian Nu soldiers. He was very famous in Dongjiang Town.

But Li Xin was not bad either. He had practiced martial arts since he was a child and was extremely strong. Although he did not have as much experience in battle as Kong Youde, the moves Li Xin had practiced were more suitable for single combat. The two of them instantly fought in a group, exchanging a few moves, but they were evenly matched and neither could do anything to the other.

After a few moves, Li Xin and Kong Youde were secretly shocked and anxious. Li Xin was worried that Kong Youde's cavalry would arrive after the reorganization. Kong Youde was worried about the situation of the troops fighting Zhang Keda. Once this troop was defeated, Zhang Keda would also lead his troops to attack, and then he would be completely defeated.

In a hurry, the two men's hands did not slow down, and they fought back and forth. For a while, they were evenly matched and neither could do anything to the other. Seeing that he could not take Kong Youde down for a while, Li Xin became even more anxious. He was worried that Kong Youde's cavalry outside would arrive at any time, but the problem was that Kong Youde was too fierce, and his subordinates were not bad either. Although he had the upper hand, he could not do anything to the other side.

As time went by, the two of them became extremely anxious. At this moment, suddenly, they heard deafening shouts of killing in the distance, as well as cries of people running away. They both looked in the direction of the noise at the same time. When they saw the situation in the north, they were suddenly surprised and delighted.

Just to the north of them, the two armies that were fighting fiercely just now have decided the winner. Zhang Keda's army is now chasing Kong Youde's rebels all the way.

Kong Youde's rebels fled in a panic, with the cavalry in the front and the infantry following behind. These rebels threw away their weapons and armor, wishing they had an extra pair of legs, and ran away without looking back. Behind them, Zhang Keda's military flag fluttered in the wind, and Zhang Keda himself charged forward, constantly hacking and killing these rebels.

Kong Youde was shocked to see this. He did not expect that the troops he fought against Zhang Keda would be defeated. It should not be the case, as this unit was his elite and was led by Li Jiucheng's son Li Yingyuan.

Although Li Yingyuan's military rank was not high, he was still considered a fierce general in the Liao army. Moreover, Li Jiucheng and his son were the initiators of Kong Youde's rebellion and were Kong Youde's loyal subordinates.

Kong Youde trusted Li Yingyuan and believed in his ability by letting him lead the army. But he did not expect that Li Yingyuan would be defeated, and defeated so miserably. How could this be possible?

Kong Youde was shocked and couldn't understand why Li Yingyuan couldn't lose with his ability and the combat effectiveness of his army! You know, although Li Yingyuan's troops were not as large as Zhang Ke's, their combat effectiveness exceeded that of the Shandong Army. Kong Youde also gave the artillery to Li Yingyuan. Logically, even if he couldn't win, he could still suppress Zhang Ke.

But now they were defeated, so quickly and so miserably. Kong Youde couldn't figure out what was going on, but now he couldn't think too much. As Li Yingyuan retreated, Zhang Keda came to attack. Zhang Keda had been in battle for a long time and had rich experience. He divided some of his troops to continue chasing Li Yingyuan's defeated army, while he led most of his troops directly towards Kong Youde. In a blink of an eye, Kong Youde's central army was attacked from both sides, and the situation was precarious.

(End of this chapter)