I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 546: Elegy (I)

Everyone in and outside the city focused their attention on the two approaching armies, and everyone's heart hung in the air as they got closer.

Zhu Houxuan stood on a high place, followed by a group of people, all holding binoculars and looking at the battlefield.
The proactive attack by the city's guards really caught Zhu Houxuan off guard. He never thought that Jiang Bin would dare to send troops out to fight when his forces were so inferior, and the artillery in the rear had not been transported up yet. Fortunately, the guards who attacked did not bring any artillery with them.
Even though Zhu Houxuan had deduced the current situation several times in his mind, he was still sweating. He was not sure how much these retired veterans who had been retired for many years could play a role on the battlefield. After all, they were recruited in a hurry and there was not much time left for them to recover and train.
According to normal logic, these veterans can play a very important role, but logic is needed when making up stories. Reality is illogical and anything can happen.

If the old guards were to collapse at the first blow, then all would be over.

Jiang Bin, who was standing on the top of the city wall, was also closely watching the dynamics on the battlefield. This attack was a test for him.
The Guards have been attacking most of the time since their establishment. Defending a city is something that the Guards today rarely experience, and Guards generals who can defend a city are even rarer.

Jiang Bin was a man who had fought in a battle to defend a city and knew how to defend a city.
He knew that the worst thing about defending a city is to keep quiet, as that would mean giving up most of the initiative on the battlefield and would also cause the morale of the soldiers defending the city to drop further and further.

Therefore, he must launch a tentative attack to find out the strength of both sides, and then make the next decision.
As the old guards deployed their formations outside the city, Jiang Bin was sure that those wearing Guards uniforms outside the city were not employees of the Royal Group, but retired veterans of the Guards.

Then it is even more necessary to test them. No one knows how much fighting power these retired veterans of the Guards still have. We can only see the result by having a solid battle.
For him, the best outcome would be to use the high level of training and morale of the Guards to defeat the opposing old Guards in one battle. In that way, the entire situation would be revitalized, and he could send the Guards to attack at will to disrupt Zhu Houxuan's encirclement.

Jiang Bin only sent out 6,000 men for this test because this number was enough to tip the balance of power.

The Old Guards sent out 10,000 people to form four rows because the battlefield was limited in width and there would be little point in sending more people.

The old guards had to guard the railway being built four kilometers away from the city wall, so the battlefield could only be placed between three and four kilometers away from the city wall. It was difficult to outflank the guards leaving the city in this space, because outflank might lead to attacks from the city defense artillery on the city wall. If they could not outflank, they could only attack from the front. If they could only attack from the front, it would be meaningless to send more people up, because the muskets could not be projectiles, but only direct fire, and only the front few rows could shoot.
The conscripted civilians outside the city also put down their work involuntarily. Many of them saw a large army fighting for the first time. This kind of scene was not common. They had no intention of working and all looked for high places to watch the duel.
Guan Gui stood on a small slope with the other men from Guanjia Village, looking at a fiery procession in the distance. He held the apron tightly around his waist with his hands. He knew Guan Dali was in the procession. He was excited but also worried about Guan Dali.
"The entire army stops! Organize the formation!" Shi Wanshan gave the order three hundred meters away from the old Guards formation.

The Guards immediately stopped and began to organize their formation.

Shi Wanshan had rich experience in commanding battles, and had long noticed that the formation of the attacking guards was no longer neat after walking three miles, and many of them were out of breath because they were wearing armor and walking in the snow.
So he ordered the whole team to rest.
Zhu Houxuan noticed this and wanted to order someone to tell the guards who left the city the truth and persuade them to surrender, but he thought better of it and held back. Regardless of whether persuading them to surrender would be effective, persuading them to surrender at this time might also affect their morale.
The old guards did not make any extra moves, but just waited quietly for the opposing guards to finish their formation.
The guards leaving the city quickly formed their team and looked towards the old guards on the other side.
Three hundred meters was still a long way, but the soldiers of the Guards could already tell that the man wearing the uniform of the Guards was not a member of the Royal Group pretending to be one, but a retired veteran of the Guards.
This can be seen from the eyes, temperament, expression, and posture of the soldiers on the opposite side.
Because they have so many similarities.
The old guards also looked at the guards on the opposite side, and waves of sadness surged in their hearts.
What made them sad was not that they were about to die, but that they were originally a unit of the same origin and race, and now they were about to start killing each other.
Guan Dali looked at the childish faces of the guardsmen opposite him with an expression of pity. Even Xia Songshan, who always had a bright smile on his face, now looked extremely solemn. The faces of every old guardsman were heavy.
Shi Wanshan's heart was heavy. He heard the drumbeats urging the troops to advance from the capital behind him. He knew it was Jiang Bin urging him.
He took a deep breath and ordered: "All troops advance!"

But after the order was given, the entire team did not move at all, and everyone knew what they were going to do next.
"All troops, listen up! Forward!" Shi Wanshan continued to give orders.

Still no one in the Guards took a step forward.
"Guards! Forward!" Shi Wanshan continued to shout.

His order was passed down, but no one took a step forward.
Xia Yingyong felt that his legs were as heavy as if they were filled with lead. He looked at the queue 300 meters away, looking at the red figures in the queue, and his heart was extremely heavy.
So familiar! So familiar! He was so familiar with their temperament!
He was very familiar with the temperament of the soldiers on the other side, because he was born into a Guards family and his father was a veteran of the Guards.
The situation on the battlefield suddenly became strange.
Zhu Houxuan, who was far away, was so nervous that his palms were sweaty and his mind was in a state of confusion. He didn't know whether he should give an order or what order he should give. However, he soon realized that it was too late for him to give any order in the current situation. Everything depended on the on-the-spot reaction of the commander at the front line.
Jiang Bin, who was on the city wall, naturally saw this scene. He held a cold brick tightly in his hand. This was the situation he least wanted to see.
(End of this chapter)