I, the military god of the Tang Dynasty, have risen since I destroyed the Turks

Chapter 765: The Power of Tang Dynasty Artillery
The setting sun in the sky was like blood, dyeing the entire battlefield red. The earth was shaking, that was the drumbeat of death from thousands of iron hooves.

"May the Eternal Heaven bless you!" The Mongol Khan Mongke raised his scimitar high, the blade gleaming coldly in the sunset. Behind him, tens of thousands of Mongol cavalrymen rushed towards the Tang army like a tide, the dust raised by their horses' hooves covered the sky. The grassland warriors shouted wildly, and the sound of the scimitars being unsheathed became a metallic storm.

Li Zheng stood on the high platform in the middle of the army, his black armor clanging in the wind. He narrowed his eyes, the scene of the Mongolian cavalry charging was indeed shocking - those warriors who grew up on horseback, man and horse are one, as if they were born for war. But a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Pass the order down and proceed according to the plan." Li Zheng's voice was terrifyingly calm, as if what was surging before him was not the tide of death, but just an insignificant drill.

The command flags were waved, the horns sounded, and the Tang army infantry square, which had been as solid as a rock, suddenly began to retreat in an orderly manner. The front row of shield soldiers separated to the sides in an orderly manner, revealing the musketeers lined up in the back.

Mengge's pupils shrank suddenly. His battlefield instincts over the years made him smell the danger, but the charge was already in place, and tens of thousands of cavalry couldn't just stop. He gritted his teeth and swung his sword: "Charge! Defeat them before they change their formation!"

The Mongolian cavalry spurred their horses frantically, getting closer and closer - three hundred steps, two hundred steps, one hundred and fifty steps.
"put!"

At Li Zheng's command, a deafening roar suddenly erupted from the Tang army. The front row of flintlock musketmen pulled the triggers at the same time, and thousands of muskets spewed out deadly flames, and lead bullets poured down like a rainstorm on the charging Mongolian cavalry.

In an instant, people and horses fell to the ground. The Mongolian warriors who were at the front didn't even have time to scream, and they were shot into sieves with their horses. The horses fell down with a wail, throwing the cavalrymen on their backs heavily, and were trampled into meat paste by their companions behind who didn't have time to stop.

"Round two, let's go!"

Before the Mongols recovered from the shock of the first round of volleys, the Tang army musketeers had finished reloading. Another round of death rain, in the smoke, the Mongolian cavalry's charge formation had been torn open with several gaps.

Mengge's left arm was grazed by a stray bullet, and blood flowed down his arm onto his scimitar. He roared and continued to rush forward, but was horrified to find that a large area suddenly became vacant in front of the Tang army - it was a death zone, without any cover, and completely exposed to the Tang army's firepower.

"Scatter! Scatter quickly!" Mengge shouted at the top of his lungs, but it was too late.

"Shenwu Cannon, three rounds of rapid fire!" Li Zheng's order was like the sentence of the god of death.

boom! boom! boom!
Behind the Tang army, dozens of cannons roared at the same time, and the shells streaked through the sky and exploded in the area where the Mongolian cavalry were most concentrated. Iron pieces and gravel flew everywhere along with the shock wave, and blood and flesh flew everywhere. A warhorse was directly hit and exploded into pieces in an instant, and five or six cavalrymen fell down with it.

“Ah! My legs!”

"Khan, save me."

"Eternal Heaven!"

Screams rang out one after another, and the Mongolian cavalry's charge formation was completely messed up. Some wanted to continue advancing, some wanted to retreat, and more people were just spinning in place, at a loss. The originally unstoppable torrent of cavalry now rushed around like a headless fly.

Mongke's mount was hit in the abdomen by a shrapnel, and it stood up with a wail, throwing him heavily to the ground. He climbed up dizzy and found that dozens of his guards had fallen beside him. The blood soaked the sand, forming patches of dark red mud.

"Protect the Khan!" A captain of the personal guards rushed over shouting, but was hit directly by a shell. His upper body disappeared instantly, leaving only his two legs standing, and he slowly fell down.

Mengge's stomach churned, and he resisted the urge to vomit. He looked around and saw that the Tang army was advancing slowly. The musketeers were loading and firing in an orderly manner, harvesting the lives of Mongolian warriors. "It can't end like this." Mengge gritted his teeth and picked up a scimitar from the ground. Suddenly, he saw a small group of cavalry on the left trying to break through. It was his personal guard captain Bater, who was leading a dozen people to fight desperately to carve out a bloody path.

"Follow Bater!" Mengge shouted to the surviving soldiers around him, "Break out in different ways and gather at the designated location!"

After all, the Mongols were a nation on horseback, and even at such a disadvantage, the remaining cavalry still quickly adjusted, split up into smaller units, and scattered like wolves on the grassland. This was exactly the tactic the Mongols were best at - when a concentrated charge didn't work, they would disperse and harass the enemy, making them run for their lives.

Li Zheng saw it clearly from the high platform and sneered, "Want to run?" He turned to the messenger beside him and said, "Order the Black Armored Cavalry to attack, and focus on hunting down those wearing golden armor. The rest of the troops should maintain their formation and advance steadily."

The sound of the horn changed again, and a group of heavy cavalry in full black armor suddenly rushed out from the Tang army and rushed towards the scattered Mongolian cavalry like an arrow. These black-armored cavalrymen were all wearing heavy armor and holding long spears. When they charged, they were like a moving iron wall.

Mengge had just mounted an ownerless warhorse when he saw the black torrent rushing towards him. He was startled, knowing that his golden armor was too conspicuous. Without hesitation, he tore off his cloak and wrapped it around his armor, while squeezing the horse's belly hard: "Go!"

The warhorse felt the pain and ran away. Behind him, there was the sound of arrows breaking through the air, and several feathered arrows flew past his helmet. Mengge crouched down, the wind whistled in his ears, and his heart beat like a drum.

Suddenly, a group of Tang light cavalry rushed out from the front and blocked their way. Mengge cursed, knowing that there was no way to retreat, which aroused his ferocity. He raised his scimitar high, roared in Mongolian, and rushed forward.

In the midst of the swordplay, Mengge showed off his martial arts skills as a great Khan. He used his scimitar as if it were his arm, and successively cut down three Tang cavalrymen. But more enemies surrounded him, and he gradually became powerless. A long spear pierced his left shoulder, and blood immediately soaked half of his armor.

"Am I really going to die here today?" Mengge felt sad. He remembered the shaman's prophecy before the expedition, saying that this trip south would bring disaster. He had disdained it at the time, but now...
At this critical moment, a familiar horn sounded from the flank. Mengge looked up and saw a group of Mongolian light cavalry rushing into the battlefield like a whirlwind, led by his general Kublai Lai!
"Don't worry, Khan. Kubi is coming!"

The addition of this new force instantly changed the local situation. The Tang light cavalry was forced to split up to deal with the situation, and Mengge took the opportunity to break out of the encirclement and join Kublai.

"Why are you here?" Mengge was surprised and happy.

Kublai's face was covered in blood, but he grinned: "Scouts discovered that the Tang army's movements were unusual. I am worried about the safety of the Khan, so I led 3,000 light cavalry to support him."

Mengge felt warm in his heart, but then his face darkened: "Where are the others?"

"General Battelle is leading his men to contain the main force of the Tang army. We need to evacuate quickly!"

Mengge looked into the distance and saw that the main force of the Tang army had regrouped, and the terrifying black-armored cavalry was changing direction. He knew that there was no chance of winning today, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Order a retreat, and the entire army will gather in the direction of Wolf Mountain!"

The remaining Mongolian soldiers began to retreat in an orderly manner, firing back with bows and arrows as they retreated, slowing down the Tang army's pursuit. This was the "returning horse arrow" tactic commonly used by the Mongolians, which meant that they would not panic even after being defeated.

Li Zheng saw this scene from the high platform and frowned slightly. He didn't expect that the Mongols could maintain a disciplined and orderly retreat after such a heavy blow, and they were indeed a powerful enemy across Europe and Asia.

"Order the Shenwu Cannon to extend their fire, and the Black Armored Cavalry to continue chasing for 20 miles before withdrawing." Li Zheng ordered in a deep voice, "The rest of the troops should count the casualties and treat the wounded."

(End of this chapter)