weaving

When the two sides were within eighty paces of each other, the musket advantage of the Yongyi Army was fully utilized.

Rows of bullets shot out, clearing the ruins of chevaux-de-frise and antlers, striking the shields of the rebel soldiers with a crackling sound...

Some bullets ricocheted and flew in all directions...

Some of them pierced through the inferior shields and shot down the foot bandits behind them...

A small number of bullets were blocked by the intact chevaux-de-frise and antlers, becoming embedded directly in them...

At a distance of eighty paces, any enemy soldier hit by a gunshot would be either killed or maimed, with no chance of a good end.

However, many bullets were deflected by the shields, which dissipated most of their force, so that when they hit the surrounding foot soldiers, they did little damage, and some even just grazed their skin.

The same principle applies to bullets that penetrate shields. Once nearly 80% of their force is dissipated, their lethality is almost zero and can be completely ignored.

However, weak lethality is not the same as weak power, nor is it the same as weak overall effect!

Each volley of muskets fired nearly a thousand muskets, and their power goes without saying.

After the first rank of fire finished, they would immediately step to the left to make way for the gunners behind them, while the gunners would squat down to load ammunition into their muskets.

At the same time, the second rank would take two big steps forward, then raise their guns and fire. Then, just like the gunners in the front rank, they would squat down to load their guns, and then the third rank would take two steps forward and raise their guns to fire.

As the third rank finished firing, the first rank had just finished reloading their muskets. The former first rank musketeers, now in the last rank, quickly stood up, stepped forward, and fired.

This process repeated itself, with each volley of musket fire followed by the next rank of musketeers advancing two large steps forward, continuously pushing the battle line towards the rebel army's formation.

…………

The first two volleys of musket fire did not cause much damage to the rebel army, but their imposing force created an unusually high level of pressure on them.

Screams echoed from the front ranks of the rebel army. Although their gunshot wounds were not serious, they still couldn't help but howl loudly the moment they were hit by the bullets.

Many of the bandits, unaware of the truth, heard the continuous screams and assumed that the soldiers had been severely wounded by the government troops' muskets, which was why they were screaming so pitifully.

Adding to the fear instilled by the three rounds of artillery fire earlier, with thousands of cannonballs whistling down, some soldiers even deserted...

Although they didn't dare to turn around and run away, even though they were still facing the battlefield and the soldiers marching towards them, their steps had already been quietly retreating without them realizing it.

"Damn it, I'll chop you up, you coward."

Li Michang roared and swung his sword, killing a bandit who was quietly retreating. At the same time, he shouted, "Hold on! Anyone who retreats in the face of battle, cut them all down!"

Seeing that he was serious, many bandits dared not retreat any further and had no choice but to grit their teeth and push forward, fearing that Li Michang and his personal guards' swords would cut them.

"Li Michang, where's Gan Qiuzi?"

Liu Tichun rushed over and shouted as soon as he saw him, "Take men and charge up there! We can't just sit here and get beaten up!"

He roared at the top of his lungs, "Hand-to-hand combat! Charge in and fight hand-to-hand! The other instructors and soldiers are firing their guns again!"

One sentence woke Li Michang up, and he shouted loudly: "Master Liu, just you wait, I will definitely drive back the dog soldiers."

Li Michang then began to organize the various leaders, gathering their men to launch a desperate charge against the oncoming musketeers of the Yongyi Army. "Archers, fire! Don't stop!"

Liu Tichun shouted orders for the archers to continue firing arrows, attempting to use a rain of arrows to stop the Yongyi Army musketeers from getting closer. At the same time, he loudly ordered Ren Jirong and Xin Sizhong to lead the infantry to flank the Yongyi Army musketeers from the side.

At the same time, Liu Tichun did not forget to send someone to tell Liu Rukui and Ma Shiyao to suppress the cavalry and not to attack without military orders.

…………

The roar of cannons also shocked Li Zicheng, the rebel leader, who was resting in his camp.

Everyone was alarmed, and the entire camp instantly became lively, with people coming and going. The atmosphere was tense yet chaotic. Even key figures such as Li Zicheng, the rebel leader, Song Xianze, the strategist, and Niu Jinxing all had bewildered expressions.

Li You, the commander of the central army, was busy stabilizing the order of the camp, while Wu Ruyi led dozens of personal guards to protect Li Zicheng and his men, in order to prevent anyone from causing trouble in the chaos and to ensure that Li Zicheng's military orders could be transmitted to the outside world in a timely manner.

"Ziyi, send someone to check what's going on."

Upon seeing that the rebel king had given the order, Wu Ruyi hurriedly accepted it loudly and immediately arranged for his personal guards to go to the front line to inquire about the situation.

Song Xianze, fanning himself with a feather fan, said softly, "Grand Marshal, Zhang Cheng is risking his life."

Li Zicheng's expression was rather strange. He remained silent, turned to look at Niu Jinxing, and said, "Sir, do you really think that Zhang Cheng is here to fight to the death?"

Niu Jinxing was very satisfied. In his opinion, the King of Chuang always consulted him first when he encountered important matters, which made him deeply realize his status in the King of Chuang's heart and gave him a great sense of accomplishment.

“Zhang Cheng is no good person; I think he must be able to see the disadvantage he is in.”

Niu Jinxing paused halfway through his sentence before continuing, "Given his abilities, even if he was at a disadvantage, he didn't need to risk his life."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Song Xianze, hoping he would continue.

"Qidong is absolutely right."

After understanding the implication, Song Xianze naturally had no choice but to accept the challenge. He first affirmed Niu Jinxing's insight before continuing, "However, Zhang Cheng's response does indeed seem quite strange."

He tapped his right palm lightly with the feather fan in his left hand and continued his analysis: "Logically, Zhang Cheng should have taken advantage of the fact that our army has not yet completely surrounded him and led his troops back to the Xincheng camp... or directly withdraw his troops and retreat to Kaifeng City."

This... is the best course of action.

When Song Xianze got to this point, his brows furrowed, and he murmured, "There is absolutely no reason for them to launch a proactive attack on my army."

"correct."

Niu Jinxing then chimed in, "That's exactly what I can't understand."

His face was full of questions as he said, "He attacked my army of over 100,000 with a mere 20,000 soldiers. This... this is tantamount to 'throwing an egg against a rock'!"

"Hmph. I refuse to believe that no matter how capable Zhang Cheng is, what can he accomplish with a mere ten thousand men?"

Li Zicheng, the rebel leader, waved his hand and continued, "Come on, let's go up on the stage and see what Zhang Cheng is up to!"

After speaking, he took the lead and headed towards the high platform outside the camp. Song Xianze and Niu Jinxing exchanged a glance and then followed closely behind. (End of this chapter)