The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

"The Vanguard Battalion of the Wanmin Army has broken through the defense line of the Second Battalion of the First Division of Shandong Town, and the Second Battalion's line has collapsed completely."

"The Second Battalion is located in the middle of the right flank. Once it is breached, the westernmost First Battalion will be in danger of being encircled."

On the central command observation platform, all the staff officers frowned, as the current situation was far from optimistic.

The Shandong Zhenzhen line, which was deployed on the right flank, originally had more than 7,000 infantrymen, but after repeated fierce battles, nearly 1,000 were killed or wounded, leaving only more than 6,000 infantrymen.

They relied on three small bastions to defend a line of nearly 1,500 meters.
The Wanmin Army launched several waves of attacks, starting with cannon fodder units mainly composed of new recruits and strongmen.

After a long and exhausting battle in Shandong Town, he joined the Shenji Battalion.

Finally, the elite battalion of 10,000 armored soldiers served as the spearhead, breaking through the enemy lines in one fell swoop.

The three battalions were in front, and the one battalion was behind as reserves, serving as the three battalions of troops rushing to reinforce the front line.

"The Wanmin Army's breakthrough was too fast. Before the Fourth Battalion of Shandong Town could even reach the battlefield, the Second Battalion's line had already collapsed and was beyond saving."

"The cavalry of the Wanmin Army has arrived and entangled the cavalry force protecting the Shandong Town on its flank."

"The elite cavalry of the Wanmin Army have completed their assembly and are launching an attack from the center towards the routed lines of the Second Battalion, intending to annihilate the entire Second Battalion."

"The 1st Guards Battalion has advanced to Bastion No. 3 on the eastern side of the western front and constructed a temporary defensive line. The flank of the 3rd Battalion has been secured."

The defense line of Shandong Town was constructed by three interconnected bastions.

There are three bastions from east to west, which are designated as Bastion 1, Bastion 2, and Bastion 3 respectively.

"However, the First Battalion of Shandong Town may find it difficult to evacuate. The best option is to take advantage of the remaining time and retreat to the adjacent bastions in units of divisions..."

The Chief of the General Staff of the Central Military Commission approached Chen Wang and offered the General Staff's opinion.

Before the Chief of the General Staff could finish speaking, he was interrupted by another staff officer who was in charge of observing the situation.

"General Gao led his personal cavalry to press forward."

Chen Wang's expression shifted slightly.

The sudden move by the Wanmin Army and the news of the breach in the Shandong Town front did not surprise Chen Wang much.

However, Gao Jie's actions moved Chen Wang.

He gave Gao Jie the authority to make decisions on the spot. As the commander of the right wing, Gao Jie had the power to lead the troops to retreat.

Based on Chen Wang's consistent understanding of Gao Jie, he thought Gao Jie would lead his troops to retreat directly, but Gao Jie chose a different path.

"Order the 1st Guards Battalion to advance to the No. 4 small bastion and support the 4th Battalion of Shandong Town to stabilize the front line."

The No. 4 small bastion was also located on the edge of the western bastion complex built by the Wanmin Army. A defensive line was also set up here in the central area behind the three bastions.

Adjacent to the No. 4 small bastion is the No. 5 bastion.

Jia Si is northeast of Jia Er, while Jia Wu is east of Jia Si and north of Jia San.

The bastions are generally about 500 meters apart.

This was so that after the first line of defense in Shandong Town was breached, the remaining troops could continue to defend the second line of defense on the western front.

It was also the last line of defense on the western front.

"Follow the order."

The Chief of the General Staff of the General Staff lowered his head and gave a military salute.

As Chen Wangjun issued his order, the flags on the central command watchtower fluttered.

Immediately afterward, the 1st Guards Battalion, which had just arrived at Bastion No. 5, three miles away, reacted.

The moment the military flag waved to receive the order, a deep bugle call rang out in the ranks of the First Guards Battalion.

The 1st Guards Battalion turned at an incredible speed, transforming from a horizontal battle formation into a longitudinal marching column in an instant, and then rapidly moved towards Bastion No. 4 in the rear.

After a brief pause on the First Guard Battalion, Chen Wang turned his attention back to the chaotic battlefield to the west.

In the distance, the broken battle lines were being breached, and the black-clad elite infantry of the Wanmin Army surged like a tide over the defenses of the Second Battalion of Shandong Town.

Gao Jie's five hundred personal cavalry had closed to within about a hundred paces.

The plains were filled with the routed soldiers of Shandong Town fleeing in panic.

"Ugh——"

The deep sound of bugles echoed beneath the fiery red banner.

Five hundred personal cavalrymen slowly brought their rapidly galloping warhorses to a stop.

The Mercedes became a sprint, then a jog, and finally a walk.

The scattered cavalry formation gradually became orderly, transforming from a circle into a square formation.

Gao Jie, wielding a lance, stood at the forefront of the cavalry formation, with a group of armored riders following closely behind him.

As the cavalry formation changed, the distance of one hundred paces became seventy paces.

The infantry of the Wanmin Army's Vanguard Battalion, which had broken into the front lines, had already spotted this cavalry unit coming against the current.

Whistles sounded from all sides of the battle line as the elite soldiers of the Wanmin Army, who had been pursuing the fleeing soldiers of Shandong Town, began to assemble.

They banded together and continued to gather.

Sixty steps.

Gao Jie took a deep breath and slowly raised the lance in his hand.

The melodious swan song soared into the sky at that moment.

The front-row warhorses exhaled puffs of white vapor from their nostrils, and the riders on their backs held the reins and rested their lances on their right shoulders.

The knights in the back row held the reins with their left hand and a sword in their right, with the back of the sword resting against their right shoulder.

Driven by the rider on horseback, the warhorse lowered its head and began to move, trotting along in small steps, the chaotic sound of hooves slowly echoing across the battlefield.

White mist billowed from the nostrils of the warhorses, and their hooves gently tapped on the frozen ground, making a soft "clattering" sound.

At first, the sound of the horses' hooves was very faint, but as they got closer, the faint sound of the hooves gradually became deeper and more resonant.

Forty steps.

The melodious swan call rang out again, and the warhorse spurred its horse forward, gradually accelerating, its walk turning into a trot.

The sound of hooves gradually quickened, the dull thuds blending together like a downpour pounding on a tin roof.

The horse's mane flew, and the rider on its back moved up and down with the horse's gallop.

The clash of the armored vehicles produced a soft, clattering sound, as loud as a surging river.

As the warhorses accelerated, countless banners within the Jingnan army's cavalry formation gradually unfurled to their maximum size and stood taut, fluttering loudly in the strong wind.

Twenty steps.

Most of the soldiers in the Vanguard Battalion of the Wanmin Army had completed their formation, but due to time constraints, they did not gather together completely. Instead, they were mostly organized into different units, one regiment on one side and another on the other.

The word "run" has been replaced by "Mercedes".

More than 500 armored cavalrymen from Shandong Town advanced with astonishing precision, like a moving city wall.

The speed of the charge continued to increase, but the Shandong Zhenjia cavalry's lines did not fluctuate much.

The lance was laid flat, the blade pointing forward.

The thunderous sound of horses' hooves was like a distant thunderclap approaching from the horizon.

The cavalry, charging at full speed, made the earth tremble and rumble.

The hoofbeats were no longer scattered and crisp, but a continuous roar, like hundreds of war drums beating at the same time.

Thousands of hooves kicked up mud and grass clippings, which pounded hard on the cold, frozen ground.

The vibrations generated by the galloping warhorses even caused the earth to resonate.

The cold iron armor gleamed with a terrifying glint in the sunlight. Shouts, growing ever more urgent, echoed throughout the ranks of the Wanmin Army's elite battalion.

They clearly hadn't expected such a well-organized charge; just moments before, they had broken through Shandong Town's lines and were chasing after the fleeing soldiers in disarray.

They had just switched from offense to defense, and their formation was inevitably somewhat scattered, managing only to manage to organize a few lines of defense.

But the next moment, they were faced with a cavalry charge.

The cavalry charged forward in a formation they had never seen before.

They came in dense, orderly rows, like a wall, with almost no gaps between them.

The Jingnan Army's garrison swept over like a tidal wave, carrying with them an overwhelming momentum to crush everything in its path.

The sound of horses' hooves made the earth tremble slightly, as if it were a sign of an earth dragon about to rise.

A suffocating sense of fear spread rapidly like a plague throughout the various military formations of the Wanmin Army's Vanguard Battalion.

Even though every soldier in the Vanguard Battalion was a veteran of countless battles.

In the Battle of Baiyang River, they were able to defeat the enemy despite carrying the Ming army's powerful cannons.

In the Battle of Pizhou, they faced an enemy force several times their size and still managed to achieve victory.

But they are, after all, human beings...

Despite the officers and soldiers of each formation constantly shouting and trying their best to stabilize the army formation.

But how can the elite soldiers at the forefront of the army remain calm in such a situation?

There is no way to avoid it, no way to escape it.

The dense and straight array left them absolutely nowhere to hide.

Everyone knows this.

If we simply greet them like this, we will definitely not escape unscathed.

"Stay calm! Everyone stay calm!"

A centurion from the Vanguard Battalion roared at the top of his lungs, but even his own voice was trembling.

He could clearly see that the spearmen in the front row were so trembling that they could barely hold their weapons.

His pupils reflected the ever-approaching torrent of iron cavalry, and his legs trembled uncontrollably.

The messenger of death is beckoning to them...

The eyes of the elite soldiers at the front were filled with terror, the instinctive fear of impending death that comes when facing a surging torrent of steel.

More than 500 armored cavalrymen from Shandong Town smashed into the lines of the Wanmin Army's Vanguard Battalion like a giant hammer.

A massive, overwhelming wave crashed head-on into the reef.

Countless scarlet waves surged.

The desperate shouts were quickly drowned out by the thunderous sound of horses' hooves.

When the torrent of iron cavalry crashed into the enemy ranks, all the sounds exploded in an instant.
The sounds of warhorses neighing, clashing weapons, the mournful cries of the dying, and the dull thuds of impacts filled the air.

Countless sounds intertwined in an instant, mingling with the lingering thunderous hoofbeats, intensely stimulating everyone's nerves.

The powerful impact of the heavy cavalry sent the front-line elite soldiers flying, their bones broken and tendons snapped in mid-air.

The power of the wall charge was on full display at this moment.

The infantry line of the Vanguard Battalion was like a thin sheet of paper, easily torn apart by the torrent of iron cavalry.

The warhorse smashed everything in its path, its iron hooves crushing the bodies of those who fell to the ground.

The first wave of attack nearly devastated the elite battalion's formation.

Similarly, it also wiped out the Shandong garrison cavalry that were charging at the forefront.

Sharp sabers were raised high in the air, their cold, menacing gleam obscuring the gloomy sky.

The advance of the Wanmin Army's elite battalion was effectively halted.

In the face of heavily armored cavalry, infantry, having lost the protection of their battle formation, appeared incredibly weak.

The continuous sound of bugles rang out in the center of the Vanguard Battalion of the Wanmin Army.

Zhang Chengyi, who was originally at the forefront of the battle chasing down fleeing soldiers, had already noticed the movements of Gao Jie, the commander of Shandong Town.

Even though he had noticed it, he had no way to stop the cavalry charge for the time being.

Although he was confident in his martial prowess, on the battlefield, individual martial prowess is often minimized in the face of the overall situation.

Perhaps only if Xiang Yu were alive could he have broken through this wall of cavalry formation from the front.

Zhang Chengyi was well aware of his own strength. He was no match for Xiang Yu. He could not stop a cavalry force that was charging with the determination to die, even with the help of his hundreds of personal guards.

Upon discovering the Jingnan Army cavalry charging towards him, Zhang Chengyi had already withdrawn from the original lines of Shandong Town and rejoined the elite battalion's formation behind him.

At this moment, Zhang Chengyi had already mounted his mount, surrounded by a group of armored cavalry from the Vanguard Battalion.

Zhang Chengyi's expression was so gloomy it was almost dripping with water.

"What a fine town in Shandong! What a fine man Gao Jie!"

Zhang Chengyi and Gao Jie are old rivals. Gao Jie used to follow Sun Chuanting and had fought against them many times.

"It's me who has underestimated you all along."

Zhang Chengyi never expected that Gao Jie, who used to retreat without hesitation when faced with setbacks, would turn out to be the same person he once was.

This time, they actually dared to launch a counter-charge against them with only five hundred armored cavalry under such circumstances.

Even more unexpectedly, the armored soldiers at the front were utterly defeated.

"Press forward!"

Zhang Chengyi gripped his lance tightly, a chilling killing intent swirling in his eyes, his voice brimming with suppressed, overwhelming rage.

"Kill these henchmen of the imperial court!"

On both flanks of the Vanguard Battalion, large numbers of cavalrymen galloped out, their deep horn calls echoing Zhang Chengyi's roar.

……

"call--"

Gao Jie, covered in blood, slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

Of the five hundred armored cavalry who followed him into battle, only three hundred remained after defeating the armored soldiers in the front lines of the Wanmin Army.

With nearly 40% casualties, the losses were undeniably devastating.

Gao Jie's heart was bleeding, filled with coldness.

Look up and look forward.

In their field of vision, the armored cavalry of the Vanguard Battalion crossed the routed lines of Shandong Town, abandoning the military merit that was within reach and giving up the pursuit of the fleeing soldiers of Shandong Town, instead galloping towards their direction.

The casualties were heavy and the situation was critical.

but……

All of this was worth it...

Gao Jie turned around and looked behind him.

The infantry formation of the Fourth Battalion was slowly advancing, and the previously routed soldiers gradually regained their composure after the enemy was no longer pursuing them.

The troops are regrouping...

They are far from being defeated! (End of Chapter)