The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

The north wind howled, sweeping across the plains.

The violent north wind blew up the fiery red tassels on the helmets of the soldiers from the two towns.

However, the formation of their opponent, the Wanmin Army, gradually became disorganized as they advanced.

At first they could barely maintain their formation, but as the distance increased, the formation of the People's Army gradually became crooked.

Some people walked faster, some walked slower, and the originally neat square formation gradually became distorted.

The leading general of the Wanmin Army had to repeatedly order the troops to stop and reorganize.

Waves of rebukes rang out among the advancing armies of the Wanmin Army.

In the front, countless muskets were put down by the Jingnan Army, and the iron barrels shone coldly in the sun.

The musketeers from Jingnan Town stood shoulder to shoulder, forming an impenetrable steel wall.

They stared ahead in silence, their fingers on the upper side of the trigger, close to the anvil above.

The Jingnan Army Infantry Drill Manual stipulates that when the order to raise the gun is heard, the finger cannot be on the trigger after the gun is laid flat to prevent the possibility of accidental shooting.

Long-term mechanical training has enabled them to maintain the muscle memory of training even on the tense battlefield, and no one puts their finger on the trigger.

"The enemy is within a hundred and fifty steps!"

The adjutant in charge of observation loudly conveyed the enemy's information.

"call--"

In the military formation, Wu Ping slowly exhaled a breath of foul air.

He was trying his best to steady his body.

Looking up, I saw the black armored soldiers of the Wanmin Army approaching slowly, with spears like a forest, swaying slightly as they advanced, and in the reflection of the sunlight, the tips of the spears flashed a terrifying cold light.

The dark black battle flag of the Wanmin Army fluttered in the strong wind, echoing in every corner of the battlefield.

Wu Ping held the Sea Oath Gun tightly in his hand, and because of the force, the Sea Oath Gun in his hand began to tremble slightly.

Even though he had gone through countless wars, he still couldn't help feeling fear in his heart between life and death.

He is from Henan, from Ruzhou, Henan.

He has been in a muddle all his life. Natural disasters, man-made calamities, and all the bad things in the world have happened to him.

His wife and parents all starved to death in the famine that swept across Henan.

Just when he was about to starve to death, someone extended a helping hand to him.

"Everything is not over yet."

After joining the army later, Wu Ping also learned the man's name.

The man's name was Li Dingguo.

Dingguo, the country that stabilizes the country and ensures its security.

But things haven't really changed much.

The people who used to ride on their shoulders and bully others became what they called their superiors...

I just had enough food to eat and could barely survive.

The scene of cannibalism was repeated endlessly before his eyes.

He kowtowed, flattered, and struggled desperately on the battlefield...

Until they left Wuchang and surrendered to a team that was completely different from other officers and soldiers.

Everything has changed.

Those superiors who were arrogant in the past and the old soldiers who were full of anger and refused to obey discipline were kicked out of the army.

Of the more than 300,000 troops, only 30,000 officers and soldiers remained...

They were gathered into a town named Henan Town, the same name as his hometown.

Wu Ping received his salary for the first time. It turned out that being a soldier really did pay him.

I also learned that in this world, there is an army where superiors will not bully their subordinates.

Military law: If an officer drives soldiers around without reason, he shall be flogged thirty times, expelled from the army, and incorporated into the settlement.

Private fighting and oppression in the army were prohibited, but if anyone broke the law, the first offense would be punished with ten strokes of the cane, and the second offense would be expelled from the army and incorporated as a garrison citizen.

Everything is changing.

The atmosphere in the army is no longer as depressing as it once was.

Wu Ping took a deep breath and held the Haishi gun firmly in his hand.

At the grievance meeting, he learned about the hardships experienced by his comrades in the same battalion.

Happiness in this world is often similar, but unhappy people have their own misfortunes.

The preacher explained to them many things that he had not understood before.

There has never been any savior in this world.

Relying on anything, any thing, any person is not as good as relying on the swords and guns in their hands.

Perhaps, by bowing down and yielding, you can obtain a temporary way to survive.

But they can never become decent people...

"The enemy is within a hundred and twenty steps!"

The adjutant's voice sounded again.

The black tide was getting closer and closer, but the Haishi gun in Wu Ping's hand had regained its stability.

The fear in his heart melted away like ice and snow.

The general who is leading them now has never failed in his promises.

This time, he promised them generous pensions after their death in battle, and that for those without descendants, officers would select a male from among the refugees to inherit their surnames and continue their family line.

After their death, they are no longer unknown.

Even if they are buried here, there will always be people in this world who will remember them. The dead can enter the ancestral hall built specifically for them and enjoy blood food forever!
When they approached the distance of about one hundred and twenty steps, even after reorganizing their troops several times, the officers and soldiers of the Wanmin Army still could not completely clear the line of battle.

The officers of the Wanmin Army simply gave up assembling their troops and listed the rewards loudly.

Killing one person will be rewarded with thirty taels of silver, beheading a general will be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver. If you can take Chen Wangzhi's head in battle, you will be promoted to general, rewarded with ten thousand gold, and be granted the title of marquis!

A dull trumpet sounded in the ranks of the Ten Thousand Nations Army, and was soon drowned out by the rumbling sound of war drums.

The deep sound of the war drums was soon drowned out by the wild shouts and roars of the soldiers in the Army of All Peoples.

"Kill the officers and soldiers!"

"Come on!"

Such a reward is enough to drive everyone crazy.

Countless soldiers of the Wanmin Army roared and rushed towards the Jingnan Army's formation like a flood that broke through a dam.

At the same time, in the rear of the Wanmin Army, a large number of arrows rose into the sky almost at the same time. The dense arrows gathered together, like a cloud of flying locusts, almost blocking the cold sun above their heads.

When it flew over the highest point and began to dive towards the Jingnan Army's position, the Jingnan Army's formation was also moving at the same time.

"Fire!" The officers of the Jingnan Army in the front shouted loudly and swung down their goose-feather knives.

The loud swan sound suddenly rang out, like a death knell.

Wu Ping pulled the trigger of the Haishi gun in his hand without hesitation. To his side and behind him, countless musketeers like them also pulled the trigger.

There was a continuous stream of flames on the Jingnan Army's front line, and the sound of explosions tore through the battlefield like thunder.

In an instant, hundreds of gun flames connected into a dazzling fire net in the front row of the army formation, and thick white fog rose rapidly from the Jingnan Army's line.

Looking down from the sky, the entire battle line seemed to have suddenly risen up like a ferocious white dragon.

The pungent smell of gunpowder instantly filled the entire battle line.

At this moment, a rain of arrows shot from behind the army of all peoples also fell at the same time.

Although most of the arrows fell in front of the Jingnan Army's musketeers due to the range, many of them still shot into the ranks of the Jingnan Army's musketeers.

The gunners of the Jingnan Army all wore fiery red cotton armor, which provided better protection against arrows.

The archers of the Wanmin Army were shooting projectiles from a hundred steps away, and there was no way they could penetrate the armor of the Jingnan Army's musketeers.

The Ming army's standard disc-shaped helmets they wore were enough to protect against such light feather arrows.

Only a few unlucky musketeers were hit by arrows in the gaps not covered by their armor.

Thick smoke obscured the battlefield. Although the arrows had a certain impact, the musketeers of the Jingnan Army did not stop at all.

The soldiers squatting in the front row also stood up and loaded their rifles quickly and skillfully together with the musketeers in the two rows behind who remained standing.

The sounds of clearing the chamber and loading ammunition suddenly merged into one.

A death storm composed of lead bullets swept across, and the brave soldiers in the front fell down like straw under a sickle.

The morale of the Wanmin Army, which was boosted by the bounty, collapsed in an instant.

These soldiers of the Ten Thousand People's Army who were pulled to the front were just the lowest-level recruits and strong men.

Soldiers who have just joined the army are called rookies, and wrestlers can be promoted to wrestlers after they have undergone more than two months of training and experienced at least one major battle or several small-scale battles.

How much fighting spirit do such soldiers have?

The soldiers of the Jingnan Army, armed with flintlock rifles, could line up in tight formations.

The first row of musketeers was three rows of musketeers firing together. It was the most intensive row of fire. Even though they were a hundred steps away, they still caused huge casualties to the Wanmin Army.

The huge casualties caused the formation of the Wanmin Army to waver, and the mob behind them suddenly became chaotic. The charge that was just so vigorous turned into a wailing escape in the blink of an eye.

Even though the officers in the formation drew their swords and shouted desperately to stop the enemy, they were still unable to stop the army from collapsing.

However, the rout was soon stopped, as more soldiers of the Wanmin Army in the rear row were approaching the battlefield.

The people's army in the rear were all soldiers without exception.

To be promoted from a wrestler to a soldier, one needs at least half a year of military experience and has gone through several battles.

Both in terms of organization and training, they are better than ordinary recruits and strongmen, and are generally used to support the enemy.

The fleeing soldiers of the Wanmin Army were ruthlessly intercepted by these soldiers with swords and guns before they could run a few steps.

They hacked and killed the scattered soldiers in the front without hesitation, and blood splattered in the crowd. The soldiers of the Wanmin Army who arrived later urged them to move forward with swords and guns.

All armored soldiers are selected from among the soldiers. Priority is given to those who are strong, skilled, and have outstanding military exploits to equip them with armor and weapons.

They are the real elite among the Ten Thousand People's Army.

Under the imminent threat of death, the soldiers at the front, whose morale had been driven to the bottom by volleys of gunfire, had no choice but to keep moving forward.

The sticky blood plasma gradually soaked the grass, dyeing the entire countryside dark red.

The desperate wails echoed for a long time in the lead-gray smoke.

“Bang! Bang! Bang, bang, bang!!”

The deafening sound of volleys rang out again, but this time the sound was much quieter.

The gunners of the Jingnan Army began the second phase of shooting - round shooting.

The reloading time of a flintlock rifle is generally around thirty seconds.

The archers of the Wanmin Army fired several more rounds of arrows, but the damage caused was still limited.

In thirty seconds, if he ran at full speed, he would have already reached the front of the formation after running a hundred steps.

However, on the battlefield, the attacking soldiers naturally could not start running after just a hundred steps. They had to maintain a relatively neat formation.

The infantrymen could often only launch a charge when they were within thirty steps of the enemy.

The Wanmin Army and the Jingnan Army have fought many battles, and both sides are naturally very clear about each other's tactics.

In order to maintain the strictness of the military formation, moving forward slowly would undoubtedly result in more gunfire.

Launching an attack like a tide and rushing forward in a swarm like starving people can indeed save you from a lot of bullets.

But once this is done, the spearmen standing behind the Jingnan Army's musketeers will immediately counterattack.

All it takes is a counter-charge and the soldiers rushing forward will be defeated, and the situation will soon turn into a large-scale rout.

A defeat due to guns and cannons and a defeat due to a battle with cold weapons are two completely different things.

Taking into account the time of chaos, the soldiers of the Wanmin Army at the front only advanced about 20 to 30 steps.

The army formation they had finally restored began to shake again as the second round of volleys of gunfire rang out.

Although there were fewer gunshots in the second round, the Wanmin Army's formation advanced closer, so many soldiers of the Wanmin Army still fell to the ground due to being shot.

Those soldiers of the Ten Thousand People's Army who were lucky enough to survive suppressed the fear in their hearts, holding their spears, and still trembling forward.

Layer upon layer of soldiers of the People's Army were knocked down fifty steps in front of the formation.

The blood gathered into a dark red stream across the plain, emitting bursts of hot steam as it flowed.

The pungent smoke mixed with the strong smell of blood filled the battlefield, and even the veteran soldiers who had been on the battlefield for a long time could not help but bend over and retch.

Those wounded soldiers who were lucky enough to survive were wriggling and wailing among the pile of corpses.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Artillery fire roared, and as the soldiers of the Wanmin Army gradually pressed forward into the Jingnan Army's line, the tiger squat cannons installed in the formation roared one after another.

The tiger squat cannon roared suddenly, and countless stone bullets poured out like a rainstorm.

The soldiers at the front of the overwhelming Ten Thousand People's Army had no time to react before their bodies were torn to pieces by the whistling stone bullets. Then their bodies fell heavily on the withered grass like rag bags.

The entire vanguard of the Ten Thousand People's Army seemed to be swept away by an invisible giant sickle, and the soldiers of the Ten Thousand People's Army in the rear were also frightened by this sudden death storm and staggered to a stop.

The survivors in the front row stared blankly at the mess of broken limbs and arms on the ground, and the roar of the charge was forever stuck in their throats...

Such scenes were constantly played out in front of the various military formations of the front army in Jingnan Town.

The front line of more than 20,000 Jingnan troops was like a huge meat grinder. From east to west, the sound of gunfire and cannons continued along the several-mile-long front.

The muffled sound of artillery, the explosion of muskets, and the wails of the dying intertwined into a melody of death on the smoke-filled battlefield.

The host of the nations came in like a tide and fell like waves of wheat.

The blood gradually soaked the entire countryside, dyeing the tender green weeds dark red. (End of this chapter)