The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

The front lines of the Jingnan Army were completely shrouded in thick smoke and scorching flames.

Amidst the deafening roar of gunfire, countless orange flashes erupted one after another, each flash heralding another wave of death.

The steel torrent formed by lead bullets, like an invisible scythe of death, swept relentlessly towards the Qing army infantry line surging forward!

The powerful lead bullets easily tore through the iron-lined cotton armor, pierced through the sturdy shields, felled one warhorse after another, and tore countless flesh and blood bodies to pieces.

On both flanks of the Qing army's front line, the charging Qing light cavalry fell in droves.

Warhorses neighed wildly in the smoke-filled mud, and riders thrown from their horses howled in agony. The Qing cavalry formation was scattered and could not be contained at all.

The Green Standard Army soldiers following behind were already demoralized due to the fierce artillery bombardment by the Jingnan Army.

They were only able to maintain their lines and move forward under the pressure of the rear guard; their steps were faltering, each one filled with hesitation and fear.

As they advanced, more shells fell upon their ranks.

This also led to the immense fear that overwhelmed them before they even engaged in battle, after witnessing the rout of the light cavalry charging ahead.

They abandoned their armor and weapons, turned and fled in panic, and the entire battle line collapsed in an instant, like an avalanche that could not be reversed.

Even with the Qing army's rear-guards desperately hacking and slashing, they could not prevent the Green Standard Army from collapsing.

Although the Qing soldiers who were lingering in the rear tried their best to stop them, shouted at them with all their might, and even swung their swords to kill deserters, they tried to reorganize the defense line.

But their efforts seemed so pale and powerless in the face of this desperate, fleeing torrent.

The surging rout even swept away and engulfed the supervising soldiers, making it impossible for them to enforce military law, organize the rout, or even put themselves in chaos and danger.

Huang Taiji led his warhorse slowly forward, his face ashen, his gaze sweeping across the chaotic scene ahead with a sinister look.

The Green Standard Army soldiers at the front scattered and fled like ants, even clashing with the supervisory team, revealing their cowardice and incompetence.

A flash of extreme disgust and disdain crossed Huang Taiji's eyes.

"Forget about those cowardly Nikans!"

Huang Taiji waved his hand and issued a new order.

"Send word to all banners to stabilize their ranks and continue the advance. Let those Nikans try to escape."

These surrendered Green Standard Army soldiers were poorly equipped, weak in combat, and lacked willpower; they were originally intended to be used as cannon fodder.

He never placed his hopes on them in the first place.

Their role was merely to pave the way forward, deplete the Jingnan Army's firepower, wear down the barrels of those sharp cannons, and exhaust the energy of those soldiers who were on high alert.

The key to winning this battle has always been whether his truly elite Eight Banner troops can crush the core lines of the Jingnan Army.

"The Han army flag is about to collapse."

Hauge, clad in exquisite gilded blue armor, rode a warhorse close behind Huang Taiji.

His gaze swept across the front lines, and he spoke in a low, serious voice.

At the front of the main formation, the Green Standard Army on both flanks had already collapsed, but the bannermen of the central Han Army were still holding on.

Those soldiers were troops under the command of the Three Princes, and the fighting spirit of the Han Army Banner was not bad.

The troops of the Three Princes were among the few elite firearms units in the Qing army, equipped with a large number of matchlock guns and a considerable number of cannons.

However, their firearms were far inferior to those of the Jingnan Army, who were on the defensive.

The arquebuses used by the Han Army Banner were just ordinary matchlock guns, which were far inferior to the Hai Shi guns used by the Jingnan Army in terms of range and lethality.

Therefore, during their advance, they first encountered multiple rounds of gunfire from the Jingnan Army, and a large number of soldiers fell on their way.

After closing in to within about sixty or seventy paces, they were finally able to open fire.

At this distance, muskets only pose a threat to armored units.

Compared to the Jingnan Army's Hai Shi gun, the arquebus used by the Han Army had another major drawback: its rate of fire was lower.

The matchlock guns they used were more than twice as slow as the Hai Shi guns commonly used by the Jingnan Army.

In the ongoing exchange of fire, the Han army's flag musketeers were completely suppressed, suffering heavy casualties, and their lines were on the verge of collapse under the dense and rapid barrage of bullets from the Jingnan army.

Despite the artillery of the Han Army Banner constantly roaring behind their lines in an attempt to support the front lines with artillery fire, the artillery deployed by the Jingnan Army was superior in both quantity and rate of fire.

The Jingnan Army's artillery shells fell even more densely into the Han Army's ranks, further exacerbating their casualties and chaos.

Under such overwhelming firepower, the Han army's bannermen suffered extremely heavy casualties, and their morale was rapidly declining at a visible pace.

They barely managed to keep the front line from collapsing immediately only thanks to their strict military discipline and the deterrent effect of the Eight Banners main force behind them, but it was clear that they could not hold out for much longer.

"I know."

Huang Taiji nodded slightly; he had also seen the situation from a while ago.

When Sun Shipu clashed with the troops led by Li Dingguo, he had already witnessed the formidable firepower of the Jingnan army.

At this moment, the firepower displayed by the Jingnan Army was even greater than that displayed during Sun Shipu.

Huang Taiji's gaze swept across the smoke-filled battle lines ahead.

The thick smoke obscured his vision, making it difficult for him to see the entire battlefield.

He couldn't see the specific battle situation on the left and right flanks, and couldn't intuitively understand where Jirgalang and Dorgon's troops had advanced to, or what level of resistance they had encountered.

However, judging from the unexpectedly strong resistance and undiminished firepower displayed by the Jingnan Army in the central formation, the situation was quite different.

An ominous premonition had already risen in his heart.

The battle on both flanks is likely not progressing as smoothly as expected, and may very well have devolved into a brutal stalemate, or even...

His original intention was to place the key to breaking the deadlock on the two elite White Banners under Dorgon's command.

The plan was to use a fierce attack from the left flank and the center to firmly draw the attention of the main force of the Jingnan Army.

When the Jingnan Army had to divert troops from the right wing to support the central and left wings, thus weakening its right wing defenses.

Then, relying on the sharpness of the two White Banner soldiers under Dorgon's command, they broke through the right flank of the Jingnan Army's defenses, thereby shaking its entire battle formation.

But now it seems his plan has ultimately failed.

Chen Wang's sudden deployment of his entire army completely disrupted his plans.

Huang Taiji's expression gradually turned ferocious, and anger continued to simmer in his heart.

He really hated this feeling. On many occasions when facing Chen Wang, he always felt that he was being led by the nose.

Many times, there's a feeling of powerlessness, like punching cotton.

"Blowing a conch shell..."

The sacrifices made by the troops at the front were not in vain.

They are using their own flesh and blood to deplete the Jingnan Army's ammunition and energy, creating fleeting opportunities for the main force to win the decisive battle.

What he needs to do now is seize this crucial opportunity.

The number of casualties among the Mongol light cavalry, Green Standard Army soldiers, and Han Banner troops was irrelevant.

"Wave the flags! Order all the soldiers of the two blue flags to dismount!"

When the flag bearers on both flanks approached the battle line at a distance of about a hundred paces, Huang Taiji gave the order to dismount.

As the central army's banners waved, the flag bearers of the two blue banners in the rear of the Qing army's central formation dismounted and quickly checked their bows and quivers, gripping their tiger spears and other heavy weapons for breaking through enemy lines.

The Qing army's two Blue Banners on both wings began to rapidly assemble in units of Niru (units of military units), and then steadily advanced towards the smoke-filled front lines.

The Green Standard Army troops who had previously scattered and fled now served as excellent cover for them.

The heavy infantry of the two Blue Banners concealed themselves behind the chaotic crowd, allowing them to move forward in a relatively safe environment and greatly reducing the risk of being killed by the Jingnan Army's muskets at long range. Although shells fired by the Jingnan Army continued to whistle into their marching ranks, occasionally carving out bloody furrows.

However, these sporadic casualties did not disrupt the orderly advance of the two blue flags.

These elite infantrymen of the two blue banners advanced rapidly forward in tight and orderly formations, ignoring the casualties around them and keeping time with the drumbeats.

Those Green Standard Army soldiers who stood in their way were all slaughtered without hesitation.

When they were about sixty paces away, the Green Standard Army troops who had been routed at the front had either died or fled, and the area in front of the two armies suddenly became clear.

The final obstacle has been cleared.

The Jingnan Army's red battle line, poised for battle, was clearly exposed to the elite troops of the two Blue Banners.

The chilling killing intent reached its peak in that instant.

In the ranks of the Qing army's two blue banners, the drumbeats suddenly quickened, sounding like a violent storm.

The Qing army's bannermen had been informed of the importance of the battle beforehand, and they understood that they had no way out.

If they cannot win this battle, even if they manage to escape back to the border, they will forever be forced to eke out a living between the White Water and the Black Water.

If they wanted to stay inside the pass, they had to risk their lives!

"kill!!!"

A deafening roar erupted from all sides of the two blue flags' lines, even drowning out the thunderous drumbeats.

All hesitation and fear were left behind.

Instead, there was a frenzy of fighting with one's back to the wall.

Sixty paces is not a long distance, but it is enough for the musketeers of the Jingnan Army.

With each increasingly louder military order, the high-pitched calls of swans rose and fell along the front lines of the Jingnan army.

One burst after another of gunfire, like popping beans, rang out in the sky above the battlefield.

The main force of the Jingnan Army's central front was arranged in a linear battle formation, unlike the hollow square formations on the left and right flanks used to counter cavalry.

Linear formations maximize the output density of frontal firepower.

At this moment, they were using their highly skilled volley fire tactics to counter the Qing army's charge.

After the first rank fired, they quickly reloaded, the second rank followed immediately, then the third rank, the fourth rank, and so on...

To prepare for a possible Qing army charge, they had already merged their forces, making their lines much thicker than before.

On the Jingnan Army's front line, the Tiger Crouching Cannons and support artillery positioned between the lines suddenly erupted at this moment, spewing out a large number of shotgun shells.

Soldiers in the front ranks of the Qing army fell in droves, riddled with bullets and mangled beyond recognition.

Driven by officers and propelled by the momentum of the battlefield, the followers continued their charge forward, stepping over the corpses and wails of their comrades.

They endured heavy fire from the Jingnan Army, and every step forward came at a great cost.

However, the archers in the Qing army's ranks also began to return fire, and the dense barrage of arrows caused casualties among the musketeers on the Jingnan army's front line.

Although volley fire could ensure sustained firepower to the greatest extent, the Qing army's momentum in the charge remained resolute.

Despite suffering heavy casualties, these soldiers of the Two Blue Banners continued to advance step by step, constantly closing the distance between themselves and the Jingnan Army's lines.

While the continuous firing of flintlock muskets could ensure sustained firepower for a certain period of time, it was not enough to completely prevent infantry charges.

Sustained firepower can indeed cause terrible casualties.

However, this cannot always completely prevent a determined infantryman from launching a desperate charge.

Even two centuries later, during the Napoleonic Wars, when firearms technology was more advanced and tactics were more sophisticated.

It was not uncommon for infantrymen, after enduring heavy artillery fire and volley fire, to eventually reach the enemy's line formation and engage in brutal hand-to-hand combat.

During the Battle of Waterloo, French infantry launched several successful assaults that brought them close to the British lines.

The musketeers on both flanks of the Jingnan Army's front line had given up reloading, and the muffled sound of bugles echoed between the Jingnan Army's flanks.

The enemy had already rushed up to us, and there was no time for another round of firing.

All the musketeers of the Jingnan Army gripped their bayonets tightly, aiming them at the Qing troops who were charging towards them like a tidal wave.

The final long-range engagement has ended.

What follows will be the most brutal hand-to-hand combat...

……

"The two blue flag units on the left and right flanks of the center formation are not the main focus."

Standing on the observation platform, Chen Wang could see every detail of the distant battlefield clearly.

"Wave the flag, give the order!"

"Send the 2nd Guards Battalion forward to reinforce the 5th and 6th Divisions in Henan Town!"

In the central area of ​​the front line were the troops under the command of Li Dingguo and Ai Nengqi. The two divisions together had nearly 20,000 infantrymen, a formidable force.

However, they had previously suffered continuous artillery fire from the Qing army and had also suffered considerable casualties in their exchange of fire with the Han Banner troops of the Qing army.

Moreover, both divisions were reorganized from the old army, and their training level and fighting spirit were difficult to compare with the line infantry divisions that recruited displaced young men and trained them from scratch and had been tempered by many bloody battles.

Chen Wang gazed at the brocade dragon banner fluttering in the wind to the due north.

He is absolutely certain of one thing.

Huang Taiji clearly understood this as well.

Huang Taiji had accurately sensed the threat of the fighter jet and, without hesitation, concealed the main attack force in the central position.

That's why it was arranged this way.

Once the central line is breached, the entire Jingnan Army's front line will be cut off, and the left and right flanks will be in danger of being divided and surrounded.

but……

Everything in front of me.

This did not cause Chen Wang to lose his composure in any way.

His expression remained calm and composed.

He was even calmer than usual.

He raised his head, his gaze passing over the fierce battlefield before him, and over the Qing army's heavily armored troops advancing like a forest.

Finally, it was cast towards the distant northern horizon.

Above the azure sky, a line of wild geese flying north is flying in neat formation.

Chen Wang's gaze followed the wild geese flying north. He slowly pressed his hand on the hilt of the goose-feather saber at his waist, feeling the cool touch coming from his palm.

"It's all time to end this..."

Flowers and plants are in full bloom, and the landscape is like a painting.

The moment of closing.

coming soon.

The return of wild geese signifies that the territory of previous generations remains unchanged.

The nation remains unchanged, proving the mandate of heaven has been bestowed upon us a prosperous era! (End of Chapter)