The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

"kill!!!"

The fierce Manchu voices shook the heavens and the earth, attempting to overwhelm the roar of the muskets with their fearless spirit.

Those infantrymen of the Two Red Banners, armed with tiger-shaped spears, heavy axes, and broadswords, and clad in heavy cotton armor, surged forward like a flood bursting its banks.

The biggest advantage of bows and arrows over firearms is that they can unleash greater firepower in a shorter period of time.

The archers of the Qing army's two Red Banners were doing their best to keep firing at the Jingnan Army musketeers behind the fortifications.

Their archery skills were extremely superb; almost every time they drew the bowstring, it was met with a scream.

The distance of forty paces allowed them to achieve an astonishing level of accuracy.

On the front line of the Jingnan Army at Balapu, the sound of gunfire temporarily ceased, and the Qing army gained the upper hand on the battlefield for the first time.

With the strong cover of their own archers, the Qing infantry quickly crossed the forty-pace distance and approached the slope of the bastion.

A man dressed in bright silver armor and wearing a tall helmet was the first to arrive.

He raised his foot and kicked away the guards blocking his way. Without the slightest hesitation, he planted his tiger spear deep into the ground and then drew his sword from his waist.

Using the planks that the bondservants and Mongol light soldiers had placed on the slope, Nafenbashiku leaped up to the low wall on the slope in just a few steps.

That fendeboshiku sneered. He had already seen the group of Jingnan army musketeers behind the breastwork, who were almost unable to lift their heads due to the rain of arrows.

The Jingnan Army musketeers, with their helmets on and muskets in their hands, hid behind the low wall, not daring to look up at him. Not one of them even looked up at him.

Nafendebushiku gripped his sword tightly. The scene before him dispelled much of the pent-up frustration he had felt from the constant shelling.

He was overjoyed. He was just one step away from getting over the low wall and taking the credit for being the first to scale it!
The merit of being the vanguard of the Eight Wax Shop is worth two hereditary titles, enough to make him a Jiala Zhangjing!

But the next second his sinister smile froze completely on his face.

Not far behind the breastwork, rows of fully armed Jingnan Army musketeers had already assembled.

The forest of gun bayonets reflected a dazzling light, making it almost impossible for him to open his eyes.

What terrified him even more was that not far to his right, a dark cannon muzzle had emerged from the breastwork, pointing directly at the surging tide of armored soldiers behind him!
"boom!"

It was accompanied by a loud gunshot.

At the last moment of life.

Nafendeboshiku saw a man who looked like a Jingnan Army officer standing to the right rear of the cannon, his expression cold as ice, slowly lowering a short gun that was still emitting blue smoke.

That Fendeboshiku swayed slightly, feeling his strength rapidly leaving him, and the dagger in his hand fell limply to the ground.

He fell backward like a chopped piece of rotten wood, tumbling down the hillside he was climbing.

His body fell down, bringing down two Red Banner soldiers who were struggling to climb up the plank.

The three of them rolled around in a heap and fell back to the bottom of the slope, where corpses littered the ground.

That pilgrim fell onto the cold, wet ground, his head lolling limply to one side.

His vision began to blur and darken, and the sounds in his ears became distant and unreal.

But it's not over yet.

Just as his consciousness was about to completely dissipate

He witnessed the most terrifying scene of his life.

A deafening explosion drowned out all the other noises on the battlefield.

He watched helplessly as a mist of blood mixed with bits of flesh and bone spread across his field of vision.

The area, teeming with the elite armored soldiers of the two Red Banners who were charging frantically, was swept away as if by an invisible giant scythe. They fell to the ground in all sorts of contorted postures, and in an instant, a large area was cleared out.

That pilgrim's consciousness was scattered, and he suddenly realized something.

They didn't rush close to the Jingnan Army.

Instead, the Jingnan Army allowed them to rush close.

They were allowed to pay a heavy price, bypassing layers of firepower, and gather their most elite and valiant soldiers at what seemed like an easy distance beneath the fortress.

The purpose is to inflict maximum damage on them.

What they thought was a breakthrough was, from the very beginning, a slaughterhouse meticulously set up by the other side...

Enlightenment is of no use whatsoever.

Along the several-mile-long battle line, flashes of fire stretched out in a continuous line, while even more intense shouts echoed from all sides of the Jingnan Army's lines.

On the northern front of Balashu, fifteen 5-jin cannons unleashed thousands of shot in an instant.

Like giant, invisible iron brooms, they swept away all enemies within range, leaving them a bloody mess.

No matter how sturdy the armor, it was easily torn and pierced like paper under the bombardment of shotgun shells that were almost touching the face.

The terrifying sound of lead bullets piercing flesh even briefly drowned out the screams.

Within the firing range, men and horses fell, and bursts of blood mist erupted one after another. The charging Qing soldiers seemed to have crashed into a wall made of steel and flames, and were instantly crushed.

The heavy casualties slowed down the Qing army's advance, like a bucket of ice-cold snow water poured over their heads.

This severely dampened the fierce momentum of the Qing army's desperate charge that had just been ignited.

The Qing soldiers who followed instinctively stopped in their tracks, and even showed signs of retreating.

Human courage has its limits; no one can remain unafraid in the face of such pure and irresistible destructive power.

The Jingnan Army's musketeers on the front line got a respite. Taking advantage of the brief window of opportunity when the enemy's artillery fire covered the area, the infantry's charge was hindered, and the archers were also disrupted by their own artillery fire, they quickly regained the initiative in firing.

Balapu, a fortified defensive line meticulously constructed by the Jingnan Army, immediately demonstrated its terrifying lethality.

The remaining Qing infantry, driven by their officers, roared as they surged up the corpse-strewn slope, attempting to launch a second wave of attack.

A nightmare descends.

The bastion's most insidious design finally revealed its deadly fangs at this moment.

Countless tongues of fire sprayed out, and thick white smoke filled the air throughout the Balaipu battle line, giving the Jingnan Army soldiers deployed on the flank gun emplacements perfect firing angles.

Their muskets fired fiercely at close range from almost the side or even the rear, directly at the Qing infantry ranks that were charging head-on.

The casualties did not frighten the generals of the Jingnan Army.

Instead, it stirred up the courage within them.

The deaths of their comrades did not frighten them.

Instead, it stirred up his indignation.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang bang bang bang!"

The deafening volleys of gunfire came one after another, and the lead bullets shooting out of the muskets were like the scythe of death, constantly reaping lives on the battlefield.

The Qing infantrymen who charged forward were knocked to the ground in droves.

At such close range, even those wearing two or three layers of heavy armor would find it difficult to withstand the fire of muskets.

Someone was shot in the leg and collapsed to the ground screaming in agony.

Someone was hit in the ribs by a lead bullet, causing their armor to twist and deform, and their internal organs to be torn apart instantly.

The entire attacking force was immediately thrown into great chaos and suffered heavy casualties.

Progress became extremely difficult, and every step forward came at a bloody cost.

Corpses and wounded soldiers quickly piled up on the slopes surrounding the bastion. However, the ferocity and resilience of the Qing infantry were also on full display at this moment.

Despite the heavy casualties and the constant fall of their comrades, these elite soldiers from the Changbai Mountains and the Heilongjiang River region seemed to have their innate ferocity ignited by the smell of blood.

Ignoring the lead bullets flying from their flanks, they trampled over the corpses and slick blood of their comrades, roaring like wild beasts as they continued their ferocious charge forward.

More Qing soldiers swarmed forward.

Those Mongol light soldiers and Han Chinese bondservants who were hesitant and fearful, stopped in their tracks, or even wanted to turn around and flee, were forced to continue forward by the cold, menacing blades.

……

It is 8:00 AM.

"The right wing of the Qing army has moved."

Dai Zhenglin gazed at the eastern suburbs and reported calmly.

"Huang Taiji, he finally couldn't hold back any longer."

Chen Wang shifted his gaze away from the eight wax shops to the west and let out a cold laugh.

On the eastern outskirts, the four-colored banners of the Qing army fluttered in the strong wind, and a large number of cavalrymen were advancing steadily.

Amidst the Qing army's cavalry formation, a large, snow-white banner was flanked by a host of flags as it advanced.

That great banner undoubtedly belonged to Prince Rui of the Qing court, Dorgon.

The Qing army deployed on the right flank consisted of 18,000 elite cavalry from the two White Banners under Dorgon, along with more than 10,000 light cavalry from the Khorchin and other tribes, forming a massive cavalry formation with a total strength of over 30,000.

More than 30,000 cavalrymen stretched across the open fields of the eastern suburbs, their movements resembling a moving, gleaming dark cloud of steel, pressing southward from the west bank of the Si River.

The thunderous sound of hooves echoed across the battlefield, even causing the ground to tremble slightly.

At this moment, the Qing cavalry on the right wing, led by Dorgon, were advancing in full force.

The Mongol light cavalry charged in from both flanks, using mounted archers to harass the Jingnan Army cavalry formation led by Chen Gong.

They galloped on horseback, using their superb horsemanship to circle around the flanks of Chen Gong's Jingnan Army cavalry formation, while simultaneously hurling volleys of light arrows into the Ming army's ranks, attempting to harass and suppress them, and to find weaknesses in the defensive line.

The cavalry surrounding the Jingnan army formation were equally fierce, retaliating with crossbows and muskets used by cavalry.

As they galloped back and forth, men from both sides were constantly injured and fell from their horses.

The battle entered a fierce contact phase from the very beginning.

The deep sound of conch shells echoed across the plains on the west bank of the Surabaya River.

In the central area, the Qing army's Bordered White Banner cavalry, numbering over eight thousand, was leading the offensive.

At the forefront were two armored soldiers, forming a large cavalry formation of nearly three thousand warriors.

The Qing army's Eight Banners were composed of several Niru (military units) forming a banner.

The standard size is 300 people per niulu, with 1 niulu quota.

Five Niru were formed into one Jiala, and one Jiala Ejen was appointed.

Each Jala typically has 1,500 people, depending on the strength of the banner.

Although the two White Banners were not strong originally, under Dorgon's years of construction, their strength was among the best of all the banners.

These seasoned cavalrymen of the Bordered White Banner, gripping the reins tightly, some holding tiger-shaped spears, others carrying straight knives, moved forward silently and steadily.

They stood close together, their superb horsemanship allowing them to maintain a near-straight line as they moved forward.

Like a steel wall about to launch an attack, it exudes a suffocating sense of oppression.

Leading the vanguard of the Bordered White Banner soldiers was Prince Yu, Dodo, who was then the banner lord of the Bordered White Banner.

This Eight Banners general, who in history destroyed the Shun dynasty, conquered the Ming dynasty, massacred Yangzhou, and almost burned down the Jiangnan region, had already revealed his ruthless nature at this time.

Dodo wore a bright silver and gold beaded cloud and python patterned helmet and a dazzling silver-white iron helmet.

The towering red fox tail plume fluttered in the wind, like a dancing flame amidst a sea of ​​white helmets, highlighting his noble status as a banner lord.

The helmet featured a large gold-lacquered dragon and cloud patterned neck guard and a shield on the front and back, with ear guards extending downwards on both sides, providing extremely tight protection and revealing only half of Dodo's young but fierce face.

Surrounded by his guards, Dodo led his troops to the center of the cavalry formation, calmly surveying the entire battle situation.

Dodo led his warhorse slowly forward, and as he continuously issued commands, the entire cavalry formation of the Bordered White Banner began to change constantly.

More than three thousand armored cavalrymen with white-bordered flags marched slowly forward in three long rows.

The tactic they employed was the same one commonly used by the Jingnan Army cavalry – the wall charge.

The Qing army was constantly learning.

Their initial wall assault was rudimentary and had many shortcomings.

However, as time went by, as the war evolved, and as they gained more experience, they gradually became more skilled and mastered the techniques.

By this point, their tactics had become increasingly sophisticated.

Their superb horsemanship allowed them to quickly grasp the essence of combat tactics.

Their high level of organization and strict military discipline meant that even though they had no interest in new tactics, they still obeyed their banner leader's orders.

The heavy thud of hooves rolled across the plains like muffled thunder, and the hooves of more than three thousand warhorses kicked up countless slicks of cold mud.

An iron wall of over three thousand armored cavalrymen of the Bordered White Banner advanced steadily amidst the rapid beat of war drums.

When they were about 600 paces apart, they began to urge their warhorses to trot forward.

The high-pitched swan-like cry rang out from the right flank of the Jingnan Army's cavalry formation.

Chen Gong, wearing a helmet with three banners and a half-body armor with fish scales, stood before ten thousand cavalrymen, his figure as upright as a mountain, holding a horse spear.

He stared expressionlessly at the Qing cavalry closing in on him.

There was no panic or fear in his eyes.

Six hundred steps, five hundred steps, four hundred steps...

The Qing army's armored cavalry was rapidly approaching, and the immense pressure, accompanied by the thunderous sound of hooves, was enough to terrify anyone.

But Chen Gong still didn't move, and his face remained completely expressionless.

Three hundred steps.

For cavalry, this distance was already extremely short, a distance from which they could no longer wait.

At that very moment, Chen Gong suddenly raised his arm.

The golden sunlight shone on the gleaming spear tip, illuminating everyone's eyes.

A high-pitched and urgent swan cry soared into the sky, tearing through the somber curtain of the battlefield in an instant.

At the forefront of the cavalry formation, more than three thousand elite cavalrymen of the Jingnan Army sprang out like springs that had been fully charged!
Squads of fully armed Jingnan cavalry silently spurred their horses, passing the unmoving Chen Gong, their speed rapidly increasing.

There were no shouts, no cries, and no impassioned words.

All that could be heard was the clanging of armor and weapons.

And the increasingly dense, eventually thunderous sound of horses' hooves.

And so, they charged headlong into the oncoming torrent of white-flagged flags without flinching! (End of Chapter)