Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 667: The Desert War Ends (Part )

Andre's order to retreat was quickly passed down, but the camp was too large, and it was impossible to gather all the soldiers in such a hurry.

After waiting for a quarter of an hour, Andre became more and more anxious. Seeing that nearly two thousand people had gathered, Andre decided not to wait any longer. After leaving some horses on the west side of the camp, Andre pulled the reins and quickly fled the camp.

The sound of two thousand war horses galloping would naturally be very loud on ordinary days, but at this time, with the rumbling of artillery, for a moment, neither the vassal army nor Liu Kun realized that Andre had run out of the camp.

It was not until the Qian army scouts who were scouting the battlefield from the periphery made a horrified discovery that a large group of Rakshasa cavalry were galloping towards the north that they realized that Andre had escaped.

The scout galloped all the way to the battlefield, and while steering his horse, he shouted loudly in Mongolian: "The Rakshasa people have escaped! The Rakshasa people have escaped!"

Although the language of these vassal troops was quite different from the Mongolian language of the tribes south of the desert, some words were still common. When some vassal troops heard the shouts of the Qian army scouts, they turned their heads to look at the camp behind them.

As Andrei fled the camp, only a small number of Rakshasa soldiers who failed to evacuate in time were left in the camp. Although the vassal army could not see the specific situation in the camp, it was completely different from the previous situation with scattered shadows.

And considering what the Qian army scouts said, and the fact that Andre forced them to dismount and fight on foot, how could these people not realize that the Russians were using them as scapegoats.

Many people dropped their weapons and shouted loudly: "The Rakshasas have escaped! Stop fighting!"

Many Mongolian vassal troops looked in the direction of the camp and cursed loudly, saying that the Russians were treacherous and immoral. The wind of surrender was like a wave, surging in.

At this time, Liu Kun had just made preparations and was about to drive his horse to crush those enemies who dared to go out of the camp to fight in the field, when he heard the scouts say that the Russians had escaped.

Liu Kun was stunned when he heard the news, but he quickly reacted and shouted, "Tulu! You take the Kalachin tribe, the Balin tribe, and the Aluko tribe to stay and gather the surrendered soldiers! Everyone else, follow me!"

At Liu Kun's command, his cavalrymen chased in the direction of Andre's escape like arrows, with horses' hooves flying and dust rising. Liu Kun was very anxious. Although he had replaced Huang Cheng in this battle and won a great victory, it would be a pity if he failed to keep this Rakshasa reinforcement.

Andrei fled desperately with his two thousand remaining soldiers. He knew that he could not hide from the Qian cavalry for too long, so Andrei just hid his horse and escaped.

After seizing the horses of these vassal troops, Andrei confidently believed that he could escape on horseback. As long as he had the war horses in his hands, no one could stop him in this vast grassland.

But what Andre had not expected was that he had overestimated his own and his subordinates' riding skills. At the beginning, all of them rode at full speed, but after galloping for half an hour, many people began to slow down unconsciously. The originally dense cavalry team gradually became slender, and more and more people began to fall behind.

After an hour and a half, let alone ordinary soldiers, even nobles like Andrei and Bogdan, who had been in contact with horses for many years, could not withstand such continuous galloping.

Andrei looked a little unhappy. He turned to look at Bogdan and said, "Your Excellency, it seems that the Qian army can't catch up with us. Why don't we..."

Before he finished speaking, he was stopped by Bogdan, who said with a serious face: "No, these Mongols who are on horseback all year round, if we stop to rest, they will definitely catch up with us!"

Although the inside of Bogdan's thighs had been rubbed red, he did not dare to harbor any hope. Bogdan knew the East very well. If he was caught, even if he did not die, he would never be able to return home in this life.

After running for a while, Andre couldn't stand it anymore. He looked back at the team and saw that they were in disarray. He gritted his teeth and shouted, "Stop marching and rest!"

After giving the order, Andre was the first to jump off his horse. His legs were shaking a little. He put his hand into his trouser leg, pulled it out and saw blood on his hand. It was obvious that the skin on the inside of his thigh had been rubbed off.

As the order was conveyed, the remnants of the army stopped one after another. After getting off their horses, almost everyone collapsed to the ground, spread their legs, and rested their burning legs for a while.

Bogdan was extremely uneasy. Looking at the soldiers who collapsed on the ground, he was extremely anxious. He waited patiently for a moment, then walked to Andrei and said in a low voice: "We can't delay any longer. The Qian army may catch up at any time. We must set off immediately!"

Andrei sat on the ground with his legs apart, looking tired and in pain. Hearing Bogdan's words, he waved his hand and said, "Your Excellency, the soldiers have reached their limit. If we keep running like this, we will be ruined. Besides, the Qian army will not catch up so quickly."

Although Bogdan's title was higher, the commander of the Guards Corps was Andrei. Seeing that Andrei was stubborn, Bogdan could only stand up and said to Andrei: "General, in this case, I will take the guards and go first. After all, I need to pass on the news of the defeat of the Junggar as soon as possible!"

Andrei knew Bogdan's worries. Since he said so, Andrei nodded and said, "Okay, then Your Excellency the Grand Duke will go ahead. We will rest for a while and let the soldiers recover some strength."

Bogdan looked at Andrei and said one last sentence: "General, I hope it will be faster!"

After saying this, Bogdan led a team of twenty to thirty guards and galloped northward. Although the guards were very tired and wanted to rest, facing the tough demands of Grand Duke Bogdan, how could they, as small soldiers, stop them?

Andre looked at Bogdan's departing back and sighed in his heart. He also knew that it would be best to get away as soon as possible, but now he really couldn't run anymore. If he kept running, half of the two thousand people would probably be lost.

However, what Andre did not know was that the pursuing Qian army was gradually approaching, and Liu Kun, leading the elite cavalry, was chasing them without stopping.

As time went by, the soldiers on Andre's side had just recovered from extreme fatigue, and some were even half asleep. Suddenly, a soldier on guard shouted in fear: "Oh no! The Qian army is catching up!"

Andre stood up suddenly and looked into the distance. He saw dust flying. It was obviously the appearance of cavalry charging. Andre's face turned pale in an instant. He hurriedly shouted: "Hurry up and get on the horse! Retreat!!"