The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Along the long battlefront, banners fluttered, and the infantry formations of the Jingnan Army stood as solemn as the towering red walls of the Forbidden City.

In front of this wall, at intervals there is a dark cannon muzzle pointing into the distance.

The high-pitched swan song faded away.

More than fifty divisional-level nine-jin cannons and more than one hundred and thirty battalion-level seven-jin cannons, totaling more than one hundred and eighty cannons, were deployed in a single line along the seven-mile-long Jingnan Army's battle line.

The first bright blue pennant suddenly rose in the artillery line.

Followed by.

The second side, the third side...

Countless pennants, all the same deep blue, ignited one after another like ghostly blue flames.

The raising of each small flag signifies that a cannon has completed loading, ranging, and aiming, and is ready to fire.

As the last blue flag was raised.

More than 180 cannons stood menacingly pointed forward, poised to fire.

A northerly wind swept in.

distance.

The booming sound of cannons echoed in everyone's ears.

The Qing army's artillery fired first.

Dozens of heavy, solid iron projectiles tore through the air, accompanied by countless terrifying shrieks, and slammed heavily into the Jingnan Army's lines.

This shelling caused more damage than the previous shelling.

The advancing Jingnan army formation had stopped, and the distance was much closer than before, with more cannonballs falling into the Jingnan army's formation.

Fortunately, the rain-soaked soil meant that when shells struck, they mostly just stirred up a muddy wave of mud and grass roots before sinking into it, making it difficult for them to ricochet and cause fatal damage.

Only a handful of shells managed to bounce once or twice on relatively hard ground, but their damage was limited.

Three shells hit the foremost artillery position, wounding many artillerymen but failing to destroy any cannons.

The artillery medics skillfully carried their medical kits and moved the lightly wounded soldiers aside to begin simple bandaging and treatment.

The wounded soldiers, whose injuries were too severe to be cured, closed their eyes and, with the help of their comrades, went ahead to the Netherworld.

Being hit by artillery shells, losing limbs, suffering massive blood loss, and the threat of infection meant that the mortality rate in this era was almost 99%.

Even if they barely survived, it would be difficult to make a living thereafter.

Although the Jingnan Army guaranteed the lives of soldiers who retired due to injury, and even promised to provide for them until their death, many more were still unwilling to endure such excruciating pain in order to gamble on that one in ten thousand chance of survival.

Rather than dying in agony, falling into the arms of comrades and quickly sinking into endless darkness, is already the best outcome.

The earthy smell filled the air, but the Jingnan Army's lines remained unmoved.

The very next instant after the Qing army's cannonballs fell.

A high-pitched, altered swan-like cry soared into the sky at that moment.

Immediately afterwards, countless small, bright blue flags fell from the artillery lines of the Jingnan Army.

"Boom boom boom boom!"

A tremendous booming sound rang out almost simultaneously along the long artillery line of the Jingnan Army.

The deafening roar of cannons almost drowned out all other noises, and the enormous sound waves swept outwards in all directions with overwhelming force.

Thick plumes of white smoke suddenly rose up, swirling and billowing wildly from the muzzles and chambers of every cannon, before gathering together in the north wind.

In the blink of an eye, a thick wall of smoke, several feet high and stretching for miles, was formed along the long battle line, completely engulfing the artillery positions of the Jingnan Army.

The pungent smell of sulfur, almost tangible, mixed with the earthy stench, permeated the air above the entire battlefield.

More than 180 cannonballs roared through the air and crashed down on the Qing army's lines.

At the very front of the Qing army's central formation was an artillery position consisting of thirty-six Divine Might General Cannons.

The Qing army's artillerymen had just completed a volley of fire. Although they had noticed that the Jingnan army had stopped in place, they did not understand why the Jingnan army had stopped at such a distance.

Under the reprimands and orders of the military academy students, they were still busy cleaning and loading their tanks, never expecting to be shelled by the Jingnan Army.

When the thunderous roar rang out, the Qing artillerymen on the entire front line were plunged into great surprise and doubt.

The sudden barrage of bullets caught them completely off guard, leaving them utterly unprepared.

The artillerymen of the Jingnan Army never lacked real combat experience, and they never lacked shells and gunpowder to hone their skills in peacetime.

They measured the angle with rulers and compasses and calculated the approximate landing point.

The Qing troops remained standing still, and no one expected to be bombarded.

Therefore, the first salvo from the Jingnan Army hit an astonishing number of shells.

At least ten shells landed precisely between the Qing army's artillery positions.

The carriage of a general's cannon was hit directly, and the heavy cannon was overturned to the ground, crushing the artillerymen who were carrying shells nearby.

Several cannons were hit by shells, and the flying shards of cast iron, like the scythe of death, swept down swathes of soldiers in the surrounding area.

More shells slammed into the artillery formation, smashing the soldiers within to pieces.

The Qing army's troops deployed on both flanks of the artillery array were light cavalry units serving as cover.

The cavalry units were thrown into complete chaos by the artillery barrage.

The warhorses were startled by the sudden loud noise and explosion, rearing up and neighing wildly in all directions.

A cannonball struck the Qing army's cavalry formation precisely in the front.

It first flew low overhead and smashed half of a cavalryman's body.

It then landed and bounced up again on the rather wet and soft ground, sweeping across the ground several feet off the ground, breaking the hooves of two warhorses and knocking two Qing cavalrymen to the ground.

Finally, it completely exhausted its kinetic energy and slumped helplessly into the muddy ground.

The frightened horses dragged their crippled riders and charged wildly, startling even more warhorses. The rider on horseback tried his best to control his horse, but to little avail.

The Qing army's originally well-organized cavalry formation was thrown into great chaos.

The infantry formations not far behind them and the medium artillery in front of them were also not spared, with more shells targeting them.

In front of them were infantry support artillery pieces with shorter range and smaller firepower, each weighing around six or seven pounds.

Although the Qing army's cannon-casting methods were more advanced than those of the Ming army.

However, compared to the Jingnan Army, they are still far inferior.

For the same weight, the Jingnan Army's cannons could fire farther and were more powerful than the Qing Army's cannons.

This was determined by Chen Wang during the early stages of the Battle of Jining when he clashed with Dorgon. He gradually calculated that the Qing army's artillery range was much shorter than theirs.

The Qing army's medium-sized artillery positions at the front also suffered considerable casualties, with many artillerymen losing their lives in the shelling.

Many solid lead cannonballs also crashed into the ranks of the Qing infantry.

Although the ground was soft, some of the shells still bounced up.

Solid shells bounced and plowed through bloody alleys, leaving behind terrifying trails of mangled bodies and wrecked equipment.

One lucky shell even pierced through two infantry columns in succession, splattering limbs and fragments everywhere it passed, and the nauseating stench of blood instantly filled the entire Qing army formation.

A mixture of mud and blood mist, along with countless shrill screams, rose from the Qing army's ranks. The chilling screams even briefly drowned out the roar of cannon fire.

Faced with artillery fire, the performance of the Qing infantry was far worse than that of the Jingnan Army.

The Qing army's central vanguard was mainly composed of over 10,000 Han Bannermen soldiers and over 20,000 newly recruited Green Standard Army soldiers.

The soldiers' fighting spirit remained relatively firm. After being hit by a sudden artillery barrage, they were initially confused, but they soon regained their composure under the reprimands of their officers and the fear of the Manchu troops supervising them.

However, the Green Standard Army performed extremely poorly; they were forced to take up arms under duress from the Qing army.

In subsequent battles, they were used as cannon fodder by the Qing army and sent to the front lines. The repeated setbacks had already severely damaged their morale.

The strength of the Jingnan Army shattered the myth of the Qing army's invincibility.

This further fueled their initial fear of the Qing army, adding a touch of resentment.

Some of them even hoped that the Jingnan Army could defeat the Qing army quickly and rescue them.

In such a low morale and uneasy atmosphere, the artillery bombardment, bloodshed, and casualties caused the already disorganized Green Standard Army soldiers to instantly erupt into chaos.

Many soldiers began to run around like headless flies, their lines were in disarray, and the collapse was difficult to contain.

The collapse was only slightly halted when the Qing Eight Banners cavalry, who were supervising the battle from the rear, arrived and slaughtered many people with their swords.

but.

Before their lines could be fully stabilized.

On the Jingnan Army's front line, a large number of orange-red flames exploded again, and the menacing smoke dragon once more rose from the Jingnan Army's artillery line.

Another volley of solid shells roared in, the tremendous booming and terrifying shrieks drowning out all other sounds, once again delivering a symphony of blood and death to the Qing army's front lines.

"Do not!!!"

Huang Taiji's face turned red as he roared in despair.

Veins bulged on his forehead, and blood filled his eyes.

The illusion before him vanished completely, and he finally understood the key to it all, and why Chen Wang dared to advance with his army, abandoning his defensive advantage.

The Jingnan Army did not abandon its advantages, but rather made full use of them.

The Jingnan Army had an absolute advantage in the number of medium-sized artillery pieces, and their artillery, for the same size, had a longer range, greater power, and higher accuracy.

Simultaneously.

The rate of fire is also faster...

The deafening roar of the cannons sent chills down Huang Taiji's spine.

The Jingnan Army's artillery was loading and firing at an incredible speed, unleashing a barrage of shells on the soldiers deployed at the front lines in a short period of time.

Huang Taiji clearly sensed that the time it took for his artillery units to fire one round of shells was enough for the Jingnan Army's artillery to fire nearly two rounds of shells.

This was not an equal artillery battle at all; it was a one-sided crushing defeat.

The artillery deployed by the Jingnan Army at Balapu was all concealing its true level of capability, which he was completely unaware of.

The vanguard is finished.

Huang Taiji knew this clearly.

Although the vanguard has not completely collapsed, it is only a matter of time before it does.

"Blow the conch shell."

"Strike the war drums."

Huang Taiji slumped into a chair on the observation deck, having no other choice now.

They had already decided they would not wait for the heavy artillery that was yet to arrive.

In the current situation, the entire Jingnan army has come in droves, and Chen Wang even went to the front lines to boost morale before the main force advanced.

Even now, Chen Wang is at the rear of the formation, sitting in the central command, directing and coordinating operations.

The moment of decisive battle has arrived.

Chen Wang did not intend to delay, nor did he intend to drive them out of the pass by constantly recovering lost territory and shrinking the area under their control.

Chen Wang had not considered attacking while the enemy was crossing the river, nor had he considered taking Jining early, nor had he considered simply holding the position and letting them return empty-handed.

What Chen Wang did.

What Chen Wang was thinking.

It has to be right here, right now.

On the front lines of the battlefield.

To utterly crush them.

One battle determined the fate of the world.

One battle determined the fate of the world.

Chen Wang took the initiative to lead his troops to give up their position, allowing them to cross the Fu River.

Both sides were fighting with their backs against the wall, engaging in a head-on confrontation with their escape routes almost completely cut off.

Once defeated, the army will be annihilated, and only one in ten soldiers will be able to escape.

Huang Taiji clenched his fist so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

He clenched his teeth, unable to bear the bitter consequences that awaited him after defeat.

"Send word to Dorgon and Jirgalang!"

Huang Taiji's eyes were bloodshot as he roared madly, unable to accept defeat.

I cannot accept such a failure.

Absolutely not.

The Qing Dynasty must not be destroyed in his hands.

The Eight Banners should not have declined under his leadership.

The Jurchen people should not perish under his rule.

Absolutely not!!

He is not willing!

He was the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the founding emperor who rose to power on horseback!
He has not yet fulfilled his ambition to rule the Central Plains.

He has not yet fulfilled his ambition of unifying the world.

He has not yet led the Eight Banners to establish an everlasting legacy!
How could he lose?!
How could he lose?!
He ordered the cavalry on both flanks to launch an attack on the two flanks of the Jingnan army's advancing central formation.

As long as Jirhalang.

As long as Dorgon.

They were able to lead the cavalry on both flanks to press into the center of the Jingnan army.

He will also lead the flag bearers of the central formation into battle.

The artillery of the Jingnan Army was formidable.

However, the infantry of the Jingnan Army were still mortals.

How did they manage to withstand the onslaught of nearly 100,000 iron cavalry with their own flesh and blood?

"bring it on!"

Huang Taiji suddenly stood up.

He gripped the sword at his waist, having made up his mind.

"bring it on!"

"Come on, everyone!!"

He wants to personally lead the team!

The iron cavalry of the Eight Banners!
Under his leadership, the tide of battle will turn once again! (End of Chapter)