The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

"The People's Army has begun to cross the river."

On the eastern outskirts of Yangzhou, on the observation tower of the Jingnan Army, Hu Zhili gave up the telescope in his hand and turned back to report to Chen Wang.

Thousands of boats were competing to cross the river, and pontoon bridges were everywhere. Large groups of soldiers were competing to cross the river via boats and pontoon bridges.

Chen Wang looked out toward the canal to the southeast, taking everything in.

"Li Yan, you finally see the situation clearly."

Chen Wang's expression was calm, because all of this was within his expectations from the very beginning.

Zheng Zhilong's inclination made Chen Wang very satisfied.

As a businessman, Zheng Zhilong is undoubtedly qualified.

Zheng Zhilong still has a certain degree of judgment regarding the current situation.

Historically, Zheng Zhilong did see the decline of the Southern Ming Dynasty and knew that there was a high possibility that the Qing court would rule the Central Plains.

But Zheng Zhilong was just a businessman after all, and his vision was ultimately limited.

He underestimated the shamelessness of the Qing court and also underestimated his own influence on the forces under his command.

The Zheng family is not just a profit-seeking businessman like him.

There are also loyal people who are willing to stand with the people.

Zheng Zhilong gave birth to a good son...

"Wan Sheng!!!"

The shouts like tsunamis rolled in from the military formations of the Hexi Wanmin Army.

As the dark black flag moved from the east side of the river to the west side of the river, the shouts became louder and louder.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Wanmin Army were crossing the suburbs, the canals, and the slopes, slowly gathering towards the center of the land west of the Yellow River.

A violent north wind swept across the plain, tearing the golden dragon pattern on the dark black banner, making it rustle.

The flag was still covered in moisture when it was brought from Hedong, but now it was emitting a murderous heat from the breathing of a hundred thousand people.

At a glance, dense cavalry of the Wanmin Army were moving around the military formation.

The messy sound of horse hooves is like thunder in the sky, and the orderly sound of footsteps is like the heartbeat of the earth.

Looking down from the air, villages and rivers are scattered across the vast plains.

The ground was covered with dark crowds of people, and in the distance around the crowds, there were even more crowds of people coming.

The originally low morale of the Hexi Wanmin Army continued to rise at this moment.

Everything changed when their leader led his troops into the battlefield.

On the observation tower in the center of the Jingnan Army, both Gao Jie and Li Dingguo had solemn expressions.

The mighty appearance of the Wanmin Army reminded them of their past defeats.

Gao Jie tightly gripped the goose-feather knife at his waist.

When he was in Pizhou, he tried his best but still failed to defend Pizhou.

Sun Chuanting entrusted him with important tasks and treated him as his confidant.

However, he felt ashamed of Sun Chuanting's kindness.

Li Dingguo clenched his teeth, his eyes filled with resentment.

Li Yan killed his father and brother and swallowed up his tribe, and they had an irreconcilable feud.

The Wanmin Army has experienced ups and downs, but it still has such momentum today, which is really shocking.

Could it be that their Western Army’s great vengeance…

There is really no way to avenge myself.

But all this did not change Chen Wang's expression at all.

Even though the total strength of the Wanmin Army gathered in Hexi has reached 250,000, the troops under his command are only more than 40,000.

The difference in troop strength was more than six times, but it did not cause any fluctuation in Chen Wang's mood.

Chen Wang could see the expressions and actions of all the officers on the observation deck.

Faced with such a scene, not everyone can remain calm.

Chen Wang naturally knew this.

"The fight between trapped beasts."

Chen Wang spoke slowly, and with just one word he suppressed all the commotion on the central army observation tower.

The hesitation and fear in the hearts of Gao Jie, Li Dingguo and the generals from Shandong and Henan were suppressed by Chen Wang's light words.

All the officers turned their attention to Chen Wang.

The north wind blew, blowing up the red cannon covered by Chen Wang's jacket, as if it was burning with flames in the strong wind.

Chen Wang's voice was not loud, but it was like a stabilizing force, suppressing all the uneasiness.

Gao Jie and Li Dingguo noticed that from beginning to end, the generals of Hanzhong Town did not show the slightest fear on their faces.

They stood with their knives in hand, just standing quietly beside Chen Wang without any emotional fluctuations.

This is also true even when facing hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the People's Army.

Why should they be afraid?

What is the Army of Nations?
The general is defeated!

Whether it is the Chuang army that is now rampant in the northwest, or the Jiannu who are roaming the north.

All the enemies were once defeated by them!

Along the way, no one in the world, no matter how many armies or camps there are from all nations, has ever been able to stop their offensive!

Their general led them to fight across thousands of miles without ever suffering a defeat!
Chen Wang still had that calm expression.

Along the way, he had experienced many dangers, which were far more difficult than the one he was facing now. Such scenes could not stir up any waves in his heart at all.

"If Li Yan had tried his best at the beginning and fought to the death with our army, perhaps they would have had some chance."

Chen Wang shook his head. The morale of the Wanmin Army had risen, but it was only temporary.

From the very beginning when Li Yan chose to defend and almost completely gave up attacking, the outcome was actually doomed.

"It's a pity that the successive defeats on the battlefield made Li Yan lose confidence. Even though he had an absolute advantage in military strength, he didn't dare to launch any attack."

All of Li Yan's arrangements revealed an extremely important point.

He had no confidence that he could win in a head-on battle in the field.

If a military commander is so afraid of fighting, how can his generals have the belief that they will win?

When Li Yan placed all his hopes and the fate of hundreds of thousands of troops in the hands of the Qing army.

He has completely lost the qualifications to compete for the top spot in the world.

How could a true hero put his fate in the hands of others?

How dare you call your people “the people” when you are colluding with foreign invaders?
In the name of "the people", they do shameful things.

The so-called people are nothing more than tools for Li Yan to achieve his ambitions.

Li Yan is no longer the true leader who cares about the people.

Li Yan has been blinded by power and filled with hatred. In order to achieve his goal, he can use all means and at all costs.

"Now, everything is too late..."

Chen Wang clapped his hands lightly and said lightly.

"The drama has been going on for long enough. When the main force of the Ten Thousand People's Army is about to reach the perimeter of Bastion No. 1, we will attack their Bastion No. 1 in one fell swoop."

Bastion No. 1 is a nickname given by Chen Wang.

The bastion defense line of the Hexi Wanmin Army consists of three large bastions, forming a triangle and relying on each other.

They are located in the north, southwest and southeast respectively.

Chen Wang designated the large bastion in the north as No. 1, the southwest as No. 2, and the southeast as No. 3.

In fact, Bastion No. 1 could have been captured long ago.

The reason why it has not been taken down yet is that the No. 1 bastion is still needed as bait to lure the big fish Li Yan to take the bait.

Although the Wanmin Army concentrated most of its artillery and muskets in these three bastions, it still failed to take advantage of the bastions.

They had no time to improve their armaments, even though Li Yan gathered craftsmen from all over the country and set up a dedicated military equipment bureau in Nanjing to work day and night to imitate the guns and cannons of Hanzhong Town.

However, only a few flintlock rifles were produced in a short period of time, and the firing rate of these flintlock rifles was not high.

The matchlock rifle is still the main weapon in the current army of nations.

The artillery was mainly composed of tiger squat cannon and falconet.

There is a generation gap of nearly one generation between the guns and cannons of the Wanmin Army and those of the Jingnan Army.

The training levels of soldiers are not at the same level.

Now that Li Yan has taken the bait, there is no need to keep Bastion No. 1 in the hands of the Wanmin Army.

"After the capture of Bastion No. 1, mobilize all the heavy artillery in the army to the bastion as fire support."

Chen Wang issued military orders in an orderly manner. All the plans had been formulated at the beginning. Now he was just laying out the plan that had been decided when he was in the Central Military Department.

"Order, Zuo Guangxian leads his troops to withdraw from Yangzhou and rush to support the Hexi battlefield. All command of the Yangzhou Front Army will be handed over to Ai Nengqi. His mission remains unchanged."

The resistance of the Wanmin Army in Yangzhou City is becoming increasingly weak, and their fighting spirit has dropped to the lowest level.

Under the current situation, the fall of Yangzhou City can no longer determine the final outcome of the battlefield. All we need to do is continue to exert pressure.

The final word lies in Hexi.

Although the Wanmin Army was fighting a desperate battle, it still had 250,000 soldiers and horses.

Now on the battlefield in Hexi, the main troops under his command are still composed of Shandong Town and Henan Town which was reorganized from the Western Army.

The soldiers of these two towns were carefully selected and had undergone a long period of training.

However, they are still derived from the old army, and their fighting will, combat effectiveness, and armaments are still far inferior to those of Hanzhong Town.

At this fateful moment, Chen Wang naturally trusted Hanzhong Town, which he directly controlled, more.

The soldiers of the five divisions of Hanzhong Town were all selected from various places in strict accordance with the selection method of the Qi Family Army, and they have been undergoing rigorous training.

They were equipped with the best weapons and the best armor, and were led by military judges and preachers.

The bad habits that existed in the old army in the past, such as officers treating soldiers as slaves, would never happen in Hanzhong Town.

They are a new army that is different from this era.

They were not forcibly recruited from various places, nor were they forced refugees.

They have experienced hardships, so they know how hard it is to live in peace.

They accepted new ideas under the preaching of preachers and the guidance of military judges.

They knew what they were fighting for.

Along the way, they saw towns wailing under the flames of war, people who had to leave their homes because of natural disasters and man-made calamities, and bandits who were wreaking havoc on the land of China with impunity.

When they were not yet soldiers, they were also part of the army.

The trend is like a tide, and the torrent of the times carries with it personal destiny. The waves are surging, and they struggle desperately, but they have no way to protect everything that is important.

They were lucky, they escaped to Hanzhong Prefecture, a peaceful place.

But they will always remember the suffering they have endured and everything they have lost.

But the people in other places except Hanzhong Prefecture are still suffering from war and natural disasters. They are unfortunate.

Those unfortunate people are still struggling in the torrent of the times.

Their compatriots are still suffering.

Those compatriots who share the same blood with them and are descendants of the same Yan, Huang and Miao people are waiting for their salvation and liberation!
"Wan Sheng!"

Huge shouts rang out from all parts of the Ten Thousand People's Army's formation, and military orders were issued from under the dark black banner.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Ten Thousand People's Army began to surge forward, countless soldiers with black scarves wrapped around their heads, weapons raised high, and began to march under the command of their leader!

The black crowd was getting closer and closer, and the sound of war drums rang out under the sky in the western suburbs of Yangzhou.

The black flag was as dark as ink, like a black cloud, almost covering the entire western suburbs of Yangzhou.

Thousands of soldiers from all walks of life continued to surge under the waving of flags.

The earth was shaking continuously, and the sound of dense footsteps lingered in everyone's ears.

The battle between the cavalry on both wings has become increasingly intense, with large numbers of cavalry falling off their horses every moment.

The dark army array was approaching like a dark cloud.

Millions of spears reflected a dazzling cold light in the sunlight, like a metal wheat field suddenly rising from the ground.

Along with the roar of war drums, the impenetrable forest of guns was slowly advancing.

At the front line of the Jingnan Army, nearly 20,000 infantrymen from the Shandong and Henan towns had already blocked the formation, and the officers in the front row had already drawn the goose-feather swords at their waists.

The army marched forward, the dust they raised rolled in the morning breeze, and every step they took weighed on the heartbeats of the spectators.

The suffocating feeling of oppression increases geometrically as the distance shortens.

With every step closer, the air became more stagnant, and the suffocating feeling of oppression intensified as the distance got closer.

The north wind was howling, and the bone-chilling cold was spreading from the icy earth.

"Raise the gun!"

A loud swan sound suddenly rose from the ground, and the officer in the front raised the goose-feather knife in his hand.

"Raise the gun!"

The musketeers from the two towns, wearing red armor, clenched their teeth, and their responses almost burst out from between their teeth.

When there are 10,000 people, there is no limit to them; when there are over 100,000 people, the sky and the earth are connected.

Even with the help of the lookout tower in the central army, it was still difficult to see the huge force of the People's Army, let alone the soldiers standing in the front line.

No matter who you are, facing such a powerful army and such a large number of enemies, you will involuntarily feel fear.

The successive victories made them firmly believe that victory will belong to them.

But at this moment, the morale of the soldiers in the two towns was uncontrollably shaken.

But under long-term training and strict military law, they still act according to everything they learned during training.

The densely packed muskets in the front row turned down and aimed at the soldiers of the Wanmin Army who were slowly approaching not far away. (End of this chapter)