The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

A terrifying roar suddenly erupted from the Jingnan army formation, like the rumbling sound caused by an earth dragon turning over.

This was not the sound caused by the roar of one or a few cannons, but the destructive roar of hundreds of cannons firing simultaneously.

In the next instant, countless scorching iron bullets rained down like a storm, crashing into the densely packed Qing army's Plain Yellow Banner cavalry formation, which had suddenly slowed down.

In an instant, men and horses were thrown about, and blood and flesh flew everywhere!
The massive solid projectiles whistled through the bloody path, crushing men and horses in their wake. The terrifying impact created vast clouds of blood mist and agonizing screams within the cavalry ranks.

The Qing army's armored cavalry, whose charge was originally unstoppable, came to an abrupt halt as if they had struck an invisible steel barrier under the sudden and devastating barrage of fire.

A great panic spread through the Qing army's armored cavalry formation, with riders reining in their horses and desperately trying to keep them from running wild.

The armored cavalry at the front were even more panicked than the guards at the rear.

Their panic was not due to the solemn lines of the Jingnan Army ahead.

Rather, it was because some of them saw their Great Khan, their Emperor, fall from his warhorse.

"emperor!"

As the first incredulous cry rang out, panic spread like wildfire among the cavalry at the forefront.

More people's attention was drawn to the spot where Huang Taiji had been standing, but the figure in the gilded armor had vanished.

With each exclamation, more people were plunged into panic.

"Protect the Emperor!"

Grand Minister Ebilun stayed by Huang Taiji's side the whole time. He watched as a cannonball, which had been small, grew larger and larger, eventually turned a front-line armored cavalryman into a cloud of blood mist.

The cannonball continued forward, violently carving a bloody path, knocking over several guards and warhorses who couldn't dodge in time, before finally whistling past Ebilun's ear with a teeth-grinding shriek.

One of the warhorses hit by the cannonball was the white horse that Huang Taiji was riding.

He also saw the white horse that Huang Taiji was riding, which was eventually hit by a cannonball and let out a mournful cry. Then the figure on the horse, dressed in gilded armor, also fell heavily to the ground.

Ebilun felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. His body trembled with fear. He howled and rolled off his warhorse, crawling towards the spot where Huang Taiji had fallen.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

Ebilun crawled on his hands and feet across the muddy ground, his face as pale as paper, his voice trembling with sobs as he cried out and prayed frantically to heaven.

He dared not think about what the consequences would be if Huang Taiji were to die under the shelling.

"emperor!"

The ministers and entourage accompanying the army were equally panicked. Some of them tumbled off their warhorses and, like Ebilun, rushed towards the spot where Huang Taiji had fallen.

Some rode their warhorses forward, using their bodies to shield Huang Taiji from the point where he fell, attempting to block the next possible fatal blow.

"Om——"

A violent ringing in his ears overwhelmed Huang Taiji's hearing like a tidal wave. His mind went blank, and the massive shock briefly robbed him of all ability to think. He couldn't even understand where he was or what was happening.

Immediately afterwards, waves of excruciating pain emanated from all parts of his body, like countless red-hot steel needles piercing Huang Taiji's nerves, forcibly dragging him back to reality from his daze.

"Ugh..."

A low, painful howl escaped from deep within Huang Taiji's throat.

Huang Taiji tried to move his body, but found that his limbs were extremely heavy. Every slight movement would cause more intense pain, especially in his chest, which felt as if it were being crushed by a boulder. Every breath was accompanied by a tearing pain.

Cold mud covered half his face, and foul-smelling blood blurred his vision.

Through the blurry, bloody light, he could only see the chaotic, swaying human legs and horse hooves around him, as well as the mud and blood that kept splashing up.

The emperor's majesty was completely stripped away at this moment, leaving only a severely wounded mortal lying in the cold mud, groaning in pain.

"emperor……"

A suppressed cry of extreme panic jolted Huang Taiji out of his brief stupor.

He felt someone struggling to support him, lifting him up from the cold, muddy ground.

The mud and blood blurred Huang Taiji's vision. He blinked hard before he could see the familiar face covered in soot and tears.

“Ebilon…”

Looking at that familiar face, the memories that had been temporarily lost returned to Huang Taiji's mind like a tidal wave.

The deafening cannon fire, the instantaneous fall of the cavalry, and the immense impact slammed him violently off his horse…

"Help...help me...to rise!"

Huang Taiji grabbed Ebilun's arm, enduring the excruciating pain that felt like his bones were falling apart, and gritted his teeth as he forced out the command.

"Yes, sir! Yes, sir!"

Ebilun's voice was filled with uncontrollable sobs and trembling; extreme fear still filled his heart, almost causing him to collapse to the ground.

However, upon hearing Huang Taiji's order, the instinct for obedience, deeply ingrained in his bones for many years, overwhelmed his personal fear.

More people rushed over from the rear, and together with Ebilun, they helped Huang Taiji onto a new warhorse, while shouting to spread the news that Huang Taiji was alright.

"Your Majesty is well!"

They shouted at the top of their lungs, trying to dispel the panic that permeated the cavalry formation, but such efforts seemed so futile in the chaos of battle.

"Your Majesty, the next round of bombardment is about to begin. We can't stay here any longer."

Ebilun led Huang Taiji's warhorse, suppressing his fear as he spoke in a trembling voice.

As a Grand Minister of the Interior, he had also experienced the battlefield and had participated in the formulation of battle plans and the command of the battlefield on many occasions.

Ebilun was equally clear about the situation at that moment.

The seemingly vulnerable collapse of the Jingnan Army was actually a carefully designed trap, intended to lure them headlong into this death zone that had been prepared for them!

They have now indeed fallen into the huge cage that Chen Wang had carefully woven, just as he had wished, and become birds waiting to be slaughtered in the net!

The previous collapse of the Jingnan Army was merely what they thought; it was nothing more than bait to lure them into a trap.

Must leave here!

We must escape this huge trap laid by the Jingnan Army as soon as possible.

"go!"

Despite the excruciating pain coursing through his body, Huang Taiji forced out the word through gritted teeth. He raised his head for one last look at the blood-red banner still fluttering on the watchtower not far away, then gripped the reins tightly and turned his horse around.

The deep conch shell sound rang out among the Qing army's cavalry formation, while the piercing metallic sound resounded throughout the entire formation. These two signals, representing retreat and regrouping, instantly drowned out the noise of the battlefield and clearly spread throughout the entire cavalry formation.

The bright yellow brocade dragon banner, fluttering wildly in the strong wind, once again became the focus of all the soldiers' attention amidst the chaos.
The soldiers who could become guards of the Plain Yellow Banner were all elites who had fought in countless battles in their respective banners.

After a brief period of chaos, and then seeing Huang Taiji back in sight, they recovered from their panic.

The long-standing experience in battle and the strict military law came into play at this moment. The guards and cavalry, who had been thrown into chaos by the artillery fire and Huang Taiji's fall from his horse, quickly began to regroup. Under the command of the commanders of each Niru, they quickly reorganized their ranks, changed their cavalry formations, and began to retreat.

Meanwhile, messengers carrying small flags began to gallop out from the cavalry formation, delivering new military orders to the cavalry units that were lingering behind to pursue the fleeing soldiers and provide support.

Huang Taiji rode on his warhorse, relying on his willpower to keep himself from falling off, but he was clearly incapable of commanding.

Baiyintu has taken over command of the cavalry and also of the main army.

While keeping an eye on Huang Taiji's situation, he calmly and collectedly issued military orders.

The various colored military flags representing different commands swayed and changed constantly according to his orders, and the sounds of bugles and drums rose and fell in turn according to his requirements.

Baiyintu did his utmost to mobilize the various troops within the banner, assigning them different tasks.

They could either stay in place to block the enemy, or apply pressure to the flanks to confuse the enemy and cover the retreat of the main force.

Or they could continue advancing to support the retreat of the core troops who were trapped in the encirclement.

In the sky, the white-feathered gyrfalcon no longer cared about its prey.

It hovered in the sky, its sharp eagle eyes reflecting the chaotic battlefield on the ground.

The rapid drumbeats echoed through the Jingnan Army's formation, each beat louder than the last.

Bright horn sounds echoed throughout the Jingnan Army, rising higher and higher with each passing moment.

From the south, the Jingnan Army's Second Guard Battalion and part of the First Battalion, totaling over 8,000 infantrymen and over 6,000 cavalrymen, slowly pressed northward, completely blocking any retreat route to the south.

A large number of cannons were fired again, crashing into the chaotic Qing cavalry formation in the center, creating bloody furrows once more.

On the flanks of the central army of Jingnan, the officers and soldiers of the two divisions of Henan Town, having regrouped, rebuilt their defensive line with the help of pre-positioned artillery and began to encircle the center.

The entire battlefield at this moment resembled a giant sack whose opening was rapidly tightening.

The nearly 10,000 elite cavalrymen of the Plain Yellow Banner, personally led by Huang Taiji and trapped in the encirclement, were the prey that had fallen into this trap.

The balance of power shifted in an instant.

Amidst the simultaneous roar of cannons and gunfire, billowing smoke rose high, and bursts of steel storms composed of lead bullets blasted out, shattering the armored Qing cavalry charging forward.

A barrage of artillery fire erupted, shattering their hopes of breaking through the enemy lines.

The forest of gun muskets, bathed in the cold sunlight, reflected a chilling glint, a continuous, snow-like gleam across the vast countryside, resembling a Great Wall forged from ice and snow.

Those Qing cavalrymen who managed to reach the front lines were also crushed by the forest of muskets.

The immense kinetic energy of their charge sent them crashing into countless cold bayonets.

The warhorses neighed in agony as they were pierced simultaneously by the muskets of several guns. The riders on horseback didn't even have time to swing their swords before being thrown forward by the immense inertia, or their bodies were pierced by more muskets protruding from the gaps.

They died without understanding why these Jingnan Army musketeers, who originally did not have bayonets, were now equipped with bayonets on their muskets.

The Qing cavalry, charging forward, only realized their mistake at the last moment of their lives.

That seemingly fragile defensive line, that feigned retreat to lure the enemy deeper, that illusion of lacking close-combat ability... all of it was part of a meticulously designed trap.

At this moment, Baiyintu demonstrated everything a commander should have: rationality, competence, thoughtfulness, and orderliness.

He tried his best to rally his troops, issuing orders to minimize losses, attempting to rebuild order from the chaos and organize an effective defense and evacuation.

However, faced with absolute power and a meticulously planned killing situation, all his efforts were nothing more than a futile and useless death struggle.

He might be able to delay the coming of destruction, but he couldn't change the final outcome. The Jingnan Army's trap was tightening relentlessly, and the ironclad law of destruction had already arrived.

They are irreversibly sliding into the abyss of destruction.

Under the protection of his generals, Huang Taiji retreated continuously, his heart filled with despair.

A stone thrown into a raging torrent can only create a tiny ripple before being swallowed up by a larger wave of despair.

All the ambitions and domineering spirit of the past have turned into cold ashes at this moment.

Huang Taiji could clearly hear the desperate shouts and dying wails of the surrounding banner soldiers before their deaths, each sound like a dull knife repeatedly cutting into his heart.

he knows.

He not only lost his most elite troops.

They even personally destroyed the future of the Qing Dynasty.

A sharp, mournful cry came from behind Huang Taiji.

The sound was barely audible amidst the clamor of the battlefield, yet it clearly reached Huang Taiji's ears.

Huang Taiji felt a pang of pain in his heart. He turned around with difficulty and looked up at the sky from which the mournful cries were coming.

He saw that the gyrfalcon he had released had lost its usual proud posture as it soared through the sky, crying out in pain in the air, futilely flapping its snow-white wings, circling and falling downwards.

Huang Taiji trembled all over, and the tinnitus that had subsided returned, causing his temples to throb.

Everything before his eyes began to distort and become unreal.

The boundary between heaven and earth became blurred, and the whole world spun and turned upside down before his eyes.

A warm, salty liquid suddenly gushed from his nose and throat, soaking his beard and dripping onto the back of his hand, which was gripping the reins tightly and had lost its color.

He finally couldn't hold on any longer.

In the final moments before he fell off his horse.

Huang Taiji was filled with resentment.

Everything about him.

They are all located in this open field outside Jining City.

With the deafening roar of cannons and the billowing smoke, everything vanished like a bubble... (End of Chapter)