Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 156 Devastated!

As the artillery fell, screams instantly rang out in the Mongolian camp, and many soldiers were knocked to the ground, unable to get up.

The rows of plow marks on the ground were a horrible sight.

"Play again! Don't stop!"

"Put it back!"

"..."

Before Cao Huachun came, the emperor personally talked to him. The general purpose of the talk was to use as many artillery shells as possible and not to let the soldiers go forward to fight.

Original words: "A cannonball costs only a few coins, but a soldier killed or injured costs a hundred taels of silver. Do you know how to calculate this?"

The emperor also said that the Armory was working day and night, so there was no need to worry about a shortage of ammunition.

We must learn to fight for prosperity.

His Majesty has said so, how can he, as a subject, disobey the order?

So even though he saw Mongolian soldiers falling down screaming and there were dense marks of artillery shells everywhere, he still ordered the artillery battalion not to stop.

The grassland was filled with the smell of blood. The sun was scorching and soon everything turned black and gave off a foul smell.

Black flies were hovering over the black blood spots. Whenever a war horse passed by, these bloodthirsty mosquitoes would make a buzzing sound and suddenly fly up. After the war horse passed, they would fly down again to lick the blood spots.

The smell of gunpowder, smoke, broken limbs, flying mud...all of this was not very pleasant to the eyes of the Ming soldiers, but they had to face it.

As Your Majesty said, unless the Mongolia south of the desert is pacified, the entire Ming border town will not be able to sleep peacefully.

Is it going to be like the previous Ji Si Rebellion, when Huang Taiji led his troops to plunder Datong and Xuanfu, and loot hundreds of thousands of women, cattle, sheep, and food from the Ming Dynasty?
This is how war works. Only by fighting until the other side dares not raise their hands can the people of the Ming Dynasty live in peace.

Cao Huachun took the telescope and saw a fat figure fleeing on horseback. He could not help but give the order:
"Did you see that man, the one in gorgeous clothes... He is a Mongolian prince. For the merit of capturing the king, he will be promoted three levels and rewarded with a thousand households!"

The personal guards issued the order immediately. With the huge reward, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were suddenly excited and none of them was not jealous.

Especially the men of Qi's army, each of them was waiting to win this achievement.

There was no way out. It was that the cavalry of the three camps had gone completely crazy at this moment, and had already killed and hammered the enemy's rear like a broken drum.

……

"Hurry, the Ming court has already started fighting with our Mongolian army."

"quick!"

At this moment, more than ten miles away from the battlefield, a torrent of water was rushing towards here like a wave.

It was the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia and the Korean Allied Forces that Dorgon rushed over as soon as he completed the integration. However, even though he rushed as fast as he could, he was still a step late.

The leader of the troops this time was Prince Zheng Jierhalang. He looked into the distance in fear and said, "Artillery, is this the artillery of the three camps?"

"How can it be so strong?"

Jirgalang was also considered a nobleman of the Qing Dynasty. After his father was imprisoned by Nurhaci, he was raised by Nurhaci and was highly regarded by two generations of Manchu Khan, Nurhaci and Huang Taiji. He followed the army in battles across the country and was more mature and steady than Yuetuo and Duoduo both in terms of seniority and military achievements.

Therefore, this time the Qing Dynasty appointed him as the marshal and Duoduo as his assistant to come to support Mongolia south of the desert.

……

"Commander-in-chief, the Qing coalition forces will be here soon, so let the cavalry withdraw!" After receiving the information from the Jinyiwei, Li Banghua immediately handed it to Cao Huachun.

"No! Let them stop us. We will try to defeat all these 20,000 people." Cao Huachun pointed at the map. "This is our first major battle since entering the grassland. If we fail to win, it will damage our morale."

There are 16 tribes in the grassland, and they are now fighting against only 6 of them. If they don't show their strength, the next battle will be difficult to fight, not to mention that Dorgon's troops have already arrived.

When we are faced with a pincer attack from both sides, it will no longer be a blitzkrieg but a protracted war and a war of attrition.

As the commander-in-chief of the four most elite camps of the Ming Dynasty, Cao Huachun knew better than anyone that His Majesty currently had only 80,000 capable troops and it was impossible for all of them to be dragged here.

The bandits in the south have not been pacified yet, the situation in Liaodong continues to deteriorate, and the Manchu Tartar's puppet Korea is still constantly harassing Jiaodong.

Once the 80,000 troops in his hands were consumed here, not to mention other things, just Dorgon sending 20,000 troops into the pass would be enough to turn the Ming Dynasty upside down again.

By then, even if he didn't die, he would have to step down.

Your Majesty, this is not the first or second time this has happened. Several ministers of war have been killed. How could it not be like this every time?

"Go, musketeers!"

At this point the artillery has achieved its effect, and it's time to let the musketeers go up and reap the rewards.

The previous 6,000 musketeers have now expanded to 10,000, and the newly added 2,000 muskets have been equipped with rifling, making them much better than before in terms of power and accuracy.

The Mongolian Tartars finally saw that the Ming army had stopped firing, and they urged their soldiers to fight like crazy, rushing towards the direction of the Ming army.

But soon they could no longer laugh, because thousands of Ming soldiers came up in an orderly manner from the rear, with rows of gun barrels pointed at them.

"Bang bang bang..."

Amid the Mongolian soldiers' screams, blood splattered and they fell to the ground one after another.

Qi Zhenzong was shocked by this scene and his heart was in turmoil. "Strong, really too strong. How lucky I am to have experienced this battle. Even if my grandfather came in person, he couldn't have fought like this, right?"

While he was sighing, the Ming army had already fired several rounds of muskets.

He looked at the flag bearer who was giving the order, his eyes widened, "All the soldiers of the Qi family army, follow us, it's our turn, stop the Tartars, don't let them get away!"

"kill!"

Qi Zhenzong squeezed his horse's belly hard and shouted, "Hurry up, we are here too, don't you want to take some credit? Are you going to go back with a lick of your face?"

"Hoohoho..."

A roar that shook the earth and the sky pierced the sky above the grassland.

The Qi Family Army was also known as the Yiwu Army. Its main force was miners and farmers in Yiwu. In terms of both combat effectiveness and military discipline, it was hailed as "the strongest army in East Asia in the 16th and 17th centuries" during the Qi Jiguang period. It had a record of winning hundreds of battles and beheading hundreds of thousands of enemies.

The people Qi Zhenzong recruited this time were the "mobs and vagrants" who could not survive in their ancestral land - miners and farmers. They had long been clamoring to kill the enemy and behead the generals. Now it was finally their turn. They were so excited that they trembled all over and couldn't help roaring.

At this moment, they had only one thought, which was to twist off the enemy's head.

"kill!"

The Qi family soldiers, holding swords and guns, stepped on the grass, and ran towards the enemy's escape route, roaring like devils.

Because the Qi family army had only been in Beijing for too short a time, their equipment had not yet been completely updated and they were still in the form of small teams.

Among them, there was one squad leader, one soldier holding a shield, one soldier holding a rattan shield, two soldiers with wolf-whips, two soldiers with hammers and halberds, four soldiers with spears, and one soldier with a musket.

However, because of the muskets in the central army, their musketeers seemed a little inferior.

The squad formed a mandarin duck formation. First, the wolf-whip soldiers stepped forward and stabbed the Mongolian soldiers all over their bodies with blood. Then, the spearmen and hammers with murderous looks on their faces directly stabbed the opponents.

The team then split into two, forming a small three-talent formation in order to kill the enemy more effectively.

However, such a simple military formation can be flexibly changed into a combination according to the situation of the enemy on the scene, and can exert huge lethality.

The Mongolian cavalry could not run at this time, so they were defeated one by one under this tactics, and Qi's army suffered few casualties.

"Come here!"

"die!"

"Still want to run?"

Their area did not overlap with that of the firegun soldiers. To be precise, Cao Huachun asked them to block the Tatars from breaking out from the front.

……

"All~~All~~All~~"

With the sound of the horn, the Manchu and Mongolian cavalry finally arrived. The cavalry led by Huang Degong, Zhang Shize and Ma Xianglin collided with the enemy with a loud bang.

When the two sides fought, their levels were instantly revealed. Although the Ming Dynasty dared to fight, it still could not gain the upper hand against the Eight Banners of the Manchus.

During the Chongzhen period, the biggest problem that caused the Ming Dynasty to be invaded several times by the Qing Dynasty was that the Qing Dynasty's cavalry was indeed very strong.

This point must be acknowledged, especially their advantage in horseback archery, which was much stronger than that of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty's fire guns had just developed rifling, and had not yet developed a team that could accurately shoot on horseback.

"dong dong dong~~"

In the central army camp, the war drums roared and the soldiers in the front rushed towards the Mongolian soldiers like crazy.

In the rear, the Qing army was blocked and could not break through to support the Mongolian tribes where Ezhe was in a short period of time.

Watching them dying one after another.

In the rear, the Tartar troops were crowded with people. They had 80,000 soldiers and horses. Even though Huang Degong and his men's goal was not to fight them to the death, but to stop the enemy, they still suffered heavy casualties facing 80,000 soldiers and horses.

Huang Degong looked at the fallen soldier with bloodshot eyes, "Don't just keep rushing forward, disrupt the enemy from the flank, disrupt..."

But no matter how loud he shouted, it was of no use. There was always that fool who, seeing that he was seriously injured, charged towards the enemy regardless of anything.

Huang Degong's teeth were gnashing and his blood was boiling. "Brothers, our artillery and muskets will be in place soon. When that time comes, you can kill as much as you want. Don't you think about your relatives and your parents?"

It would have been better if he didn't shout like that. As soon as he shouted like that, the faces of several seriously injured people suddenly became gloomy, as if they were regretting why they didn't die in the battle just now?
Wouldn't I be a burden to my parents, wife and children when I go back?
"Old bastard, I fucking ..." Huang Degong looked at his subordinates and was so angry that he wanted to curse.

Lao Yaozi was an old soldier under his command. When they attacked Tongzhou last time, he blocked an arrow for him. Fortunately, the arrow did not hit his vital parts. This time, he finally returned to the battlefield again.

But in this round of charge, one of his arms was chopped off. When Huang Degong found out, he discovered that he had rushed forward again.

Now it has become a trend that if you have a minor injury you can leave, and if you have a serious injury you can die. This way you can go to the battlefield and kill the enemy and get rewards without being a burden to your parents.

For this reason, Cao Huachun and the commanders of the major camps held several meetings to warn the soldiers, but to little avail.

Because they had already agreed privately that if they died, they would not have to worry about compensation, as it would be enough for their wives and children to live on. As for their daily lives, they would entrust their wives and children to the care of their closest comrades.

Some even entrusted their wives and children to the unmarried soldiers in the barracks...

Huang Degong's eyes bulged out and he shouted, "Kill! Avenge the old kiln man!"

"Kill~"

The soldiers' eyes were all red, and the beastly nature in their bones was completely aroused at this moment.

"Fuck him..."

The ferocious Ming cavalry rushed into the Tatar camp like sharp arrows. This desperate fighting style actually caused the Eight Banners of the Manchu to stagnate and unable to advance an inch.

……

"Hold on! The Qing cavalry has arrived." Ezhe shouted loudly on the horse, but in the bloody storm, the shouts of killing and the wails of pain had long drowned out his voice.

The musketeers and Qi's army were stepping up their efforts to harvest the lives of the Mongolian soldiers.

In addition, hundreds of soldiers from the Throwing Camp also came up and threw the oil paper bags in their hands into the Tatar group with all their might.

boom!
"Ah~" In an instant, people fell to the ground and screamed in agony.

Gunpowder bag!
There is gunpowder inside and a layer of rusty iron nails and stones outside.

After the last war, the three main camps reported back that this thing was quite powerful, so the Weaponry Department manufactured a lot of these things, and then selected those with strong arms and accurate throwing skills from the three main camps to form a throwing battalion.

Although there were only 500 people, they were powerful. With one bomb, a gap was blown in the Tatar camp. Iron nails and stones were blown onto people at close range, and the lethality was no less than that of a musket.

One pack could kill dozens or even millions of Tartars, making it a deadly weapon.

At this time, five hundred people were throwing at the same time. You can imagine how spectacular the scene was.

The muskets fired in unison, and when they got closer, many musketeers switched to large shotguns and fired a cloud of iron sand, which then caused a hysterical sound of ghosts howling and wolves howling on the opposite side.

"Ah, my eyes~~"

"What is this?"

"Why is the Ming army's firepower so fierce? Retreat, retreat quickly!"

The Mongolian soldiers, who had already been in disarray, now completely collapsed. More than 20,000 soldiers were in chaos at this moment, fleeing in all directions like headless flies.

"Hold on, the emperor has sent troops. If we hold on a little longer, we will be saved!" Jin Shitai, the leader of Tumed Left Banner, died, but the other leaders were still there, frantically restraining their subordinates.

Under the protection of his personal guards, Ezhe just wanted to escape quickly. He said to the Zasak of Kalaqin: "The Ming people know magic. Our soldiers have all died under their magic. Let's run away!"

That is, the consul, which was a military and political title granted by the Manchu court to the Mongolian people.

After the Mongolians south of the Gobi Desert were annexed by the Qing Dynasty, they were divided into 16 tribes and 49 banners. The leader of each banner was called a jasak, who was a Mongolian prince, duke, beile, or beizi.

Kalaqin Zasak's mind was unusually clear. "Escape? Where to escape? The Qing court has already sent troops here. What we need to do is to join forces with the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia, and then drive the Ming army out."

Yes, where can they escape to? The grassland is where they depend on for survival. Can they escape from the grassland?

Only by defeating the Ming army can they continue to gain a foothold on the grassland. Taking sides has never been such a simple matter.

When they surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, how many people died in the grassland tribes? How many horses, cattle and sheep were transported?
As soon as Huang Taiji announced the establishment of the Eight Banners of Mongolia, every tribe had to send their young and strong men to fight for the Qing Dynasty. The backbones of the tribes on the grassland were completely removed, and they followed the Qing Dynasty to attack the Ming Dynasty.

It can be said that they have placed all their bets on the Later Jin.

As for the Ming court, they no longer have any chips on the table. Now they can only go down one path to the end. If they win the battle, they will just follow the Later Jin and eat the leftovers. If they lose, all those who were given officials and titles by the Qing Dynasty will die.

Hearing this, Ezhe was sweating profusely and shouted to his personal soldiers, "You all go and help, and anyone who escapes from the battle will be killed!"

He was a prince conferred by the Qing Dynasty, and his mother was the woman of the Manchu prince Jirgalang. His legal wife was the daughter of Huang Taiji. He was most closely tied to the Qing Dynasty. If the Mongolian tribes south of the desert were defeated, his life would undoubtedly be even more difficult.

"kill!"

Under the leadership of the banner kings of the Mongolian tribes, the already collapsed Mongolian soldiers actually began to organize an offensive again, which made Qin Liangyu shout loudly, "Shang Ershun, did you see those people?"

Shang Ershun is the commander of the Musket Battalion. "General Qin, who are they?"

"That's the fat one, and the one on his right. I think he's the prince the commander mentioned. Shoot them down for me."

"it is good!"

Shang Ershun immediately called together dozens of people with good marksmanship. They held rifled muskets in their hands and all aimed at one person.

Ezhe, Prince of Chahar.

"Bang bang bang~~"

A cloud of smoke rose up, and the fat figure in the distance suddenly paused, then fell off his horse.

Before the Tatars could react, Kharchin Zasak fell off his horse.

"The Mongolian prince is dead, brothers, kill him hard for me!" Qi Zhenzong, who was already exhausted from killing, was overjoyed when he saw this scene and shouted loudly.

The morale of Qi's army rose again with a boom, and they attacked the Tartars' heads.

……

At this moment, the atmosphere in the capital city is also as hot as fire.

"Your Majesty, long live, long live..."

The whole city was filled with the excited figures of students from all over the country. They raised their hands and shouted "Long live the country" on the streets and went into restaurants and diners.

Exchange ideas, debate right and wrong, and talk about ideals.

"Hey, this trip is really not in vain. No matter whether I can enter the Independent Commission Against Corruption or not, it is already worth it."

"Yes, after living for twenty years, this is the first time I realize that life can be so wonderful!"

"The emperor is so enlightened, why worry about the Ming Dynasty not prospering!"

"I think the topic His Majesty will ask tomorrow is most likely to be about cleaning up the bureaucracy. Just imagine, we will be entering the Anti-Corruption Department in the future, and in the "Selected Works of the Ming Emperor", the content on bureaucracy alone accounts for more than 20%."

"Not necessarily. There are a lot of taxes involved..."

In just a few days, they were completely transformed.

Military training, firing muskets, studying "Excerpts from the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty", and learning the rules and regulations of the Anti-Corruption Bureau have completely opened up their minds. They used to just read books mechanically, but now, under the guidance of the emperor, they have begun to understand the administration of officials, taxes, land, etc.

And tomorrow is the day when the emperor will meet them, which makes them even more excited.

　Thank you all for your votes!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)