Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 244 Forced to Fight
At the same time, artillery fire from both sides began, with flames shooting into the sky.

The shells fell on the ground, and the roaring sound continued. Soldiers were constantly hit and blown away.

The difference is that the Ming army's artillery was not a solid bullet. When it fell to the ground, it exploded with a loud bang. Compared with the residual power of the impact, the damage caused by the explosion was greater.

Even though the Qing army was wearing heavy armor, they were still drenched in blood when they were hit by the exploded iron and stones.

The Tianzhu Army's artillery had already suffered more than half casualties in the last bombing by the Ming Army. Now they were hit by the Ming Army's artillery again. Blood spurted everywhere and the ground was covered with scarlet blood.

Shang Kexi's heart was bleeding, and he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Hide the gunpowder, don't let the Ming army hit you!"

Once hit by the Ming army's artillery and caused a chain reaction, the tragedy of last time would be repeated.

This also caused the efficiency of their artillery firing to drop sharply again.

The power of the heavy artillery could not be fully utilized. On the other hand, no one on the Ming army retreated, and their formation hardly changed. Under the cover of artillery, they advanced towards the Qing army in an orderly manner, hacking and killing.

"This is not on the same level at all..." Shang Kexi muttered as he watched the Ming army's artillery shells raining down on the Qing army.

As Gushan Ezhen of the Bordered Blue Banner of the Qing Han Army, Huang Taiji named himself King Zhishun. He wanted to raise his status further. Before the war, Dorgon promised him that if he made military achievements, he could be promoted to a higher banner and join the Manchu banner.

Before this battle, he was arrogant and thought that he would be able to gain a lot of military merit in the Battle of Jinzhou. By then, the leaders of the eight banners would no longer dare to underestimate him... But now he felt bitter.

"The Ming army's firearms have been improved again? Otherwise, why are they so powerful?" Shang Kexi was surprised and angry.

During the war with Mongolia south of the desert, most of the Ming army's artillery were still firing solid bullets. They improved the artillery based on the Ming court's artillery and thought they had caught up with the Ming's firearms. Unexpectedly, this time the Ming's artillery was even more advanced.

"Southeast direction... everyone, get up, adjust the artillery, and fire at the Ming army's artillery positions." Shang Kexi was trembling all over and hitting his subordinates with a horsewhip.

Boom~
A shell landed in front of Shang Kexi, blowing him away like a rag.

Half of the body fell back to the ground, motionless.

When the Tianzhu Army's men found him, they discovered that he had been blown into black and purple, with no breath left.

……

The Qing camp faced artillery shells whizzing in and landing on the battlefield. The pungent smell of gunpowder instantly buried the entire earth. All the Qing troops were shocked and terrified.

Many people were killed in the explosion, so Dorgon was pinned to the ground by his personal guards to protect his body.

Because a cannonball landed not far away, it directly killed dozens of Qing soldiers around it and blew the tent to pieces.

"What the hell is this?"

Dorgon spat out a mouthful of dirt, looked at the huge pit on the ground, the mess on the ground, and his scalp couldn't help but feel numb. He looked at the Ming army, and then at the artillery of the Tianzhu army.

Suddenly, I felt extremely unbalanced. Why... why is there such a huge gap between us even though we are all Firearms Battalions?
Improved again?

This was something he had never expected. Before, he only felt that the Ming court's muskets were strong, had a long range, and great power, while the Qing court had bows and arrows and the strongest cavalry.

But in terms of artillery, after finding out the granular gunpowder of the Ming Dynasty, there was not much difference in the artillery shells.

This is just like before and after the Battle of Ningyuan, the Ming Dynasty’s city walls were strong and secure, but the Eight Banners still beat them into a state of disarray. Now the gap in artillery between the two sides is so huge, how can they continue to fight?
……

However, the artillery on the Ming side skillfully poured shells after shells onto the Qing positions, and the infantry and artillery coordination of the five major battalions had already reached perfection.

Li Banghua and Chongzhen were watching this scene with binoculars.

"Commander, why are you so wasteful of ammunition?"

In Chongzhen's telescope, the Qing army's camp was in a mess and appeared all black. It was so densely packed that he, as the emperor, felt very distressed.

Li Banghua smiled and said, "Any weapon will be most effective and powerful when it is used on a large scale for the first time. Since we are going to use it, we must make it hurt. We should fire as many shells as we can. As long as they can be fired, they will be lethal."

"If we fire more artillery now, our soldiers will lose fewer lives later."

……

As the Ming artillery tilted, everyone's vision was shaking.

Not only the soldiers of the five major camps, but also Sun Kewang, Shi Daoshen and others, began to become indifferent when facing the Manchu Tartars from the tension and fear they had just experienced.

Of course, there was some nervousness, after all, they were facing the most capable Manchu Eight Banners cavalry, but there was more of an indescribable excitement.

The excitement made them want to rush forward to prove themselves when they faced the Qing cavalry.

"Everyone prepare!"

"Are you afraid?"

"Don't be afraid~"

Li Dingguo felt his temples throbbing and a surge of emotion spreading in his heart. Even he himself could not imagine how strong this emotion had become.

He couldn't tell where this bravery and excitement came from, perhaps it was the firearms of the Ming Dynasty, or perhaps it was the infection from the five major camps. He had even begun to fantasize that he would be granted a title of nobility.

Looking around, not only Li Dingguo, but everyone around was the same.

As people who had worked their way up from the bottom of the Ming Dynasty, they had thought about such situations too many times in their minds.

They didn't know whether they could succeed, but rebellion was no longer possible. The only way out now was to overthrow the Manchu Tartars.

So when the signal flag was waved and ordered them to charge forward, the entire bandit camp rushed into the battlefield like a huge wave without hesitation.

"Palm Thunder!"

"Throw~"

Just as the Qing army was still in shock, dark shadows fell from above their heads.

"Quick, disperse, Ming Ting's palm thunder!"

Grenade after grenade was thrown into the Qing camp, boom... boom... huge noises, and air waves followed.

Dorgon was once again protected by his personal guards. He only felt a buzzing in his ears and the entire air seemed to be deformed.

Then the mind began to sway, and there was a loud noise in my ears, and then I couldn't hear anything.

Hundreds of grenades were thrown into the Tatar camp.

A Jialazhangjing of the Bordered White Banner was sitting on a horse. Just as he started to accelerate, a huge shock wave suddenly blew off half of the horse under him. The charging cavalry, along with the carcasses of their horses, fell to the ground like a cliff.

The head fell down, the whole body deformed, and the vision in front of the eyes was fixed on a magnificent spark...

Even if the Tatars were wearing three layers of heavy armor, it would be useless against these things.

Countless flesh, blood, and heavy armor were blown away, directly creating holes in the entire camp one after another.

What was even more terrifying was that a large number of war horses were frightened. They had never experienced such a situation before. Before the Tartars could react, they jumped and changed directions like crazy, throwing the Tartars off their horses.

As for the Tartar cavalry, most of their armor was entangled with their horses, so they dragged people like corpses, with their heads constantly hitting the ground and bleeding... Soon they really became corpses.

Ominousness and chaos began to spread among the Tatars, and their formation began to become chaotic.

“Kill~” “Kill…”

Seeing that the time was ripe, Sun Kewang gave an order, waved the flag, and the cavalry and infantry of the Pinglu Army began to attack.

Looking down from above, it looks as dense as the Qiantang River, with wave after wave of huge waves rolling towards each other like millstones.

The blood was boiling and burning... The bandit army stabbed into the Tartar army like a red-hot knife.

In an instant, countless scarlets covered the battlefield.

Although Sun Kewang and his men were born bandits, they had already been tempered through the battles with the Ming army over the years, and those who surrendered this time were the elite among the bandits.

Both courage and fighting power are a huge force.

When facing the Tartars, they were like a group of jackals, tigers and leopards, biting them quickly and showing great ferocity, and would not let go once they had bitten.

With the overwhelming offensive of the five major camps, the cavalry of the Eight Banners of the Manchus were unable to get rid of the Pinglu troops led by Sun Kewang, Shi Daoshen, etc.

bang~
Boom boom boom...

Flames rose above the battlefield, deafening explosions were heard, gray-black smoke rose... In the distance, the waves were surging, and countless flowers of fire rose.

……

On the Ming army side, the signal flags in the central camp kept changing.

Li Banghua's tactic was to let the troops of the five major camps and the troops of the Pinglu army take turns to fight against the Manchu Tartars and prevent them from reaching the Ming army's artillery camp.

Maximize the power of artillery, muskets and muskets.

The Ming army was not worried at all that the Qing troops would turn around and leave, because Li Banghua knew that the Qing troops were short of food and fodder, so a tug of war would be beneficial to the Ming army. As long as they could hold off the Manchu Tartars during the period when their morale was at its highest, the longer the time would be, the more beneficial it would be to the Ming army.

Under such circumstances, the Qing army had no chance to surround the main force of the Ming Dynasty. In other words, although Dorgon succeeded in besieging the point, it was impossible to attack the reinforcements.

The most crucial thing is that the morale of the Qing army was declining.

"Your Majesty, this kind of fighting method is not good for our Qing Dynasty!" He Luohui said with sweat on his forehead: "Unless we fight a decisive battle, we will be dragged down."

Dorgon knew it very well, but the inner city of Jinzhou would be breached at any time. What was more important was that there was nothing to be robbed. More than 100,000 people needed food every day. Although they had established farmlands before winter, those were just a drop in the bucket and could not sustain the economy at all.

So they had to fight and seize food from the Ming Dynasty.

Dorgon narrowed his eyes and looked at the Ming army. "Except for the two yellow flags who continue to attack Jinzhou, all the others, including me, will attack the Ming army."

"Force them to fight us."

"Leng Sengji, you lead the two white flags in front, Yue Tuo, you lead the two red flags in the back. No matter the cost, don't let them breathe..."

In the strategic game, Dorgon and Li Banghua both understood that Jinzhou City was secondary.

Dorgon's original goal was to encircle the enemy and attack the reinforcements, waiting for all the Ming troops from Ji and Liao to come over, and as in the past, to annihilate the Ming court's fresh troops on the preset battlefield, and then to seize all the food and supplies so as to survive the winter.

However, Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng were not fooled. Instead, they waited for the arrival of the five major camps. The other side came up and prepared to fight them but did not fight a decisive battle with them, just to wear down the Qing Dynasty.

Once we are delayed, we can neither fight back nor retreat, which will lead to even bigger problems in the end.

According to reports from spies, the Ming court had plenty of food, so they were naturally not in a hurry, but the Qing Dynasty's economy could not sustain it.

……

The battlefield was as solemn and murderous as fog. Hongniang followed the Ming cavalry, her horse galloping at full speed, her heart beating like a pump.

The shouts of killing, the sounds of fighting, the roars, and the sounds of metal clashing constantly boiled and disappeared on the battlefield.

She charged again and again, and she herself didn't even know how many times she had charged.

The bloody smell filled her mouth and nose, choking her and making it difficult for her to breathe, but her mind was extremely clear.

Until her warhorse was covered in blood, she suddenly knocked a Tartar to the ground and threw the blood off the iron spear. The spear tip flashed a cold light again.

"Good job~"

Someone in the Ming army shouted loudly.

"How many have been killed?"

"Six!" Hong Niang lowered her voice, trying to make it as low as possible. At this moment, the blood in her body was moving, and she felt as if her whole body was boiling. Her vision was moving with her heartbeat.

"Which part are you from?"

"I..." Only then did Hong Niang realize that she had lost contact with the troops. She would go wherever her horse ran to, killing in and out.

She exhaled sharply.

The resentment and unwillingness in her heart were finally vented as she took action, and her whole mind became relaxed in this tense atmosphere.

This change in her emotions surprised even Hongniang herself.

This change in her mentality made her attacks more swift and decisive. From her brain to her body, she hardly thought at all. She kept poking, stabbing, breaking and blocking with her spear as if by instinct... When she was exhausted and reacted, she suddenly realized that the Tartar had actually changed direction.

This is also why I unknowingly became disconnected from my original team.

"princess?"

A voice suddenly sounded behind her. It was Sun Kewang. He just thought the person in front of him looked familiar. He rode over and suddenly found out that it was Hong Niangzi.

Lady Hong was also surprised, "General Sun? Aren't you in the central army camp?"

"Prince Xin and the commander-in-chief interceded for us to join the front line."

"..."

Hong Niangzi unexpectedly bumped into Sun Kewang and his men. Seeing that they had found Hong Niangzi, they said, "The master has been looking for you. You can't keep charging like this. Someone, escort the princess back to the central army."

Now that he had found Lady Hong, how could he possibly let her fight the enemy again?

"I don't need your protection, I still have to kill the enemy..."

Hongniang wanted to continue charging, but found herself surrounded by several war horses. Watching the situation on the battlefield change, she was already exhausted from fighting.

He rushed forward, backward, left and right, but was unable to break out in a short period of time and was eventually captured by several soldiers.

At this moment, there was another turmoil on the battlefield. Dust rose in the distance like a huge city, pushing towards them and blocking everyone's view.

"What is this...?" Sun Kewang frowned suddenly. At this moment, there was a huge noise all around him, including artillery sounds and shouts, but he still figured out what was going on quickly.

Then he shouted in all directions: "The enemy is about to launch a general attack, everyone get ready."

"Spearmen stand at the front, palm thunders ready..."

……

(End of this chapter)