Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 7: Capture the Flag
Today was a rare sunny day, and the weather quickly became hot, as if summer had suddenly arrived. The sun was so hot that the cavalry armor shone brightly, and the air seemed to freeze.

Juhuaqing became anxious and shook his front hooves from time to time. Cen Danchu leaned down, gently stroked the horse's mane, and said, "Hush, be quiet, the battle is about to begin."

The horse seemed to understand what he said and gradually calmed down.

The two armies were at a stalemate for a moment.

The standard camp did not move at all, and Jiao Lian was still observing the enemy's formation, trying to find any flaws.

At this time, a cavalryman from the enemy came up with a white flag in his hand and no weapons. He walked to the front of the Ming army and shouted:
"I have received the order from our army commander. The Heavenly Army has 50,000 soldiers and horses, and they are invincible. The small Guilin can be easily captured. The commander considers that you are loyal and righteous, so he will allow you to surrender. Afterwards, you will be promoted to a higher rank and your soldiers will be rewarded. Otherwise, the Heavenly Army will definitely wipe you out and massacre the city for ten days..."

There is so much nonsense, it never ends.

Jiao Lian winked at Cen Danchu, who understood and reined in his horse, slowly approaching the messenger.

The envoy was arrogant and thought that Cen Danchu wanted to negotiate with him, so he was completely unprepared.

Suddenly, Cen Danchu drew out his lance and stabbed the messenger in the chest. Then, with another force, he lifted the messenger into the air and threw him heavily off his horse.

Danchu jumped off his horse, and with a flash of cold light from his sword, he had already cut off the envoy's head. He then picked it up and hung it on the tip of his lance like a battle flag, and rode his horse to the front of the Qing army, as if to demonstrate to the Qing army.

For a moment, the Qing army was silent.

Afterwards, Cen Danchu pulled the envoy's head from the horse lance, held the lance in his left hand, grasped the braid on the head with his right hand, and shook the head on the horse's back, as if teasing the Qing army.

After playing around enough, he exerted his strength and threw the head to the front of the Qing army. The head drew an arc in the air and landed heavily in front of the Qing army, splashing a cloud of mud.

The Qing army was furious and shot arrows like raindrops.

Cen Danchu laughed loudly and rode back. At this distance, the Qing army's bows and arrows could not reach him.

The standard bearer also laughed. Jiao Lian said with a smile, "Boy, what a good move! I asked you to kill the messenger, and you took the opportunity to show off!"

The people of Guilin on the city wall were also inspired by Cen Danchu's bravery and cheered for him.

Qu Shisi personally beat the war drum.

The sun shone through the clouds, shining on the armor, reflecting a dazzling light. The air was filled with the smell of dust and blood, making people hold their breath.

All the fierce battles will begin again.

Jiao Lian said to his men: "The Qing invaders have many people, but they dare not take the initiative to attack. This shows that they are strong on the outside but weak on the inside. They are just a facade."

Cen Danchu was eager to try and said, "General, I just approached the enemy formation and saw it clearly. The right wing of the Qing army's battle formation has a flag with the word 'Gao' in it. The flags are neatly arranged. They must be Gao Gushan's troops.

"The left wing is flying the flag with the word 'Li' in its name. The flags are in disarray, the weapons are varied, and there are more soldiers than horses. They must be the natives led by Li Xian. The enemy is strong on the right and weak on the left. We might as well imitate Tian Ji's horse racing and attack the right wing with a small force and the left wing with a large force. We will surely be able to break the formation."

Great minds think alike. Jiao Lian also had a vague idea of ​​this, but he didn't express it as clearly as Cen Danchu.

"Good," Jiao Lian made up his mind and gave the order: "Team one, team two, follow me to attack the right wing. Team three, team four, team five, team six, follow Cen Danchu to attack the left wing."

Cen Danchu was delighted. He never expected that he would be able to stand on his own so soon.

Jiao Lian quickly changed his deployment and said, "No, Jiao Ke will lead the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth teams, and Dan Chu will follow him. I will attack first, and when I have blocked the enemy's formation for thirty steps, Jiao Ke will lead the army to attack again. If there is any doubt, you can consult Dan Chu."

Jiao Ke is Jiao Lian's cousin. He is taciturn, resolute in executing orders, and deeply trusted by Jiao Lian, equivalent to the deputy commander of the battalion.

Leading the charge is no small feat. Cen Danchu is too outstanding, but he lacks experience, so Jiao Lian doesn't dare to let him take charge alone.

Cen Danchu understood Jiao Lian's thoughts and was not discouraged. You can't get rich overnight. Prestige, official rank, and status must be accumulated slowly. Now is the best time to charge into battle.
Jiao Lian quickly led his troops to attack. The Qing army on the other side was a third-rate unit with few guns and cannons. The heavy rains had soaked most of the gunpowder, and the few firearms they had were unusable.

The war returned to its primitive cold weapon state.

The Qing army took advantage of the fact that the Ming army had fewer soldiers and also sent out cavalry to engage in battle.

Jiao Lian was known for his bravery, so how could the Qing army be his opponent? After a short battle, the Qing cavalry was defeated and turned back.

A team of archers came to the front of the formation and waited for the Ming cavalry to approach before shooting arrows.

Jiao Lian was not afraid of him. The cavalrymen of the standard camp were all wearing heavy armor. Except for the Manchurian bow, ordinary bows and arrows could not hurt them at all. There were few people in this mob who could pull the bow.

The effective range of the small bow is about thirty steps. The cavalry can pass through these thirty steps in just a few seconds. In such a short time, the Qing army archers only have three chances to shoot at most.

Soon, Jiao Lian led his troops to approach the right wing of the Qing army, and the Qing army archers began to shoot arrows.

Jiao Ke also led his troops to attack. Cen Danchu led the charge and charged the left wing of the Qing army. The left wing was mostly made up of Yao people, who were short and unorganized, and they were led by Li Xian, a military candidate from Pingle. Li Xian was also a coward and did not dare to step forward to fight, so he drove the cavalry to attack.

Cen Danchu held a lance in his hand and wore heavy armor, looking like a god descending from heaven. Ju Huaqing, who was standing beside him, also wore armor and rode with all four hooves raised, always charging in the front.

An enemy general rushed to the front.

It's you, "Hit!" Cen Danchu used the speed of his warhorse to dodge the Qing army's spears and stabbed the enemy general in the chest with his horse lance.

With great force, the horse lance pierced through the enemy general's armor and went straight into his chest.

A Qing soldier behind him was unable to dodge, and Cen Danchu exerted force again and stabbed the Qing soldier behind him with his horse lance.

One spear pierced two enemy soldiers, like a string of candied haws, which greatly terrified the Qing army.

Cen Danchu laughed loudly, drew out his horse lance, and swept the Qing army in front of him. His comrades behind him caught up one after another, and the Qing cavalry soon lost their strength and retreated backwards.

The Yao people were recruited at short notice, and although they were brave, they had no organization or discipline. The cavalry had been defeated, and the archers were also timid and did not move forward.

Li Xian was furious and killed several deserters in succession, finally stabilizing his position.

Cen Danchu took one look at Li Xian's central army flag and shouted to his left and right: "Brothers, who dares to follow me to attack the central army!"

The pacesetters responded one after another: "I'll do it!", "I'll do it!", "I'll do it!"...

Being the first to reach the top, breaking through the enemy's formation, beheading the general, and capturing the flag have been the four great military exploits since ancient times. Okay, today I'm going to capture the flag and behead the general.

Cen Danchu had gathered around him a dozen standard bearers. Without hesitation, he led the standard bearers to charge into the left wing center army like a tiger descending from a mountain, heading straight for Li Xian's banner.

The arrows were dense and dense like rain, but Cen Danchu seemed to be unaware of them. On the contrary, he was wearing heavy armor, so even if he was hit by an arrow, it would not be a big deal.

He brandished the lance, cutting a bloody passage through the army and heading straight for the enemy's flag.

The Qing troops gave way and consciously made way. If they failed to dodge in time, they would often become victims of the spears. Some unwilling troops took advantage of their unpreparedness and attacked them secretly with spears.

The enemy outnumbered us, so Cen Danchu was inevitably stabbed by the spear. Fortunately, he was protected by his iron armor, so the spear, though sharp, could not hit his vital parts.

There is no other way. If you want to capture the flag and kill the general, you have to go deep into the tiger's den and risk your life.

To gain military merit is as simple as that, yet as dangerous as that!

In less than a quarter of an hour, Cen Danchu had already rushed to the central army's banner. Looking back, there were only four standard-bearers left.

Don't be afraid! Victory is just around the corner!

He swung his lance vigorously, sweeping away a group of enemy troops and clearing a path.

The ground was muddy, with corpses lying all over the place. Blood mixed with mud had dyed the ground red.

Finally they were close to the flagpole! The Qing soldiers guarding the flag raised their spears and stabbed at each other.

The military flag was of vital importance, and in ancient times, a special flag guarding camp was often set up. During wartime, they did not have to fight, but were only responsible for guarding the military flag. If the flag was not protected, the entire flag guarding camp would be beheaded.

Seeing how brave Cen Danchu was, the Qing army did not dare to fight him and they all raised their spears to stab Juhuaqing.

Juhuaqing was covered with wounds and dared not take another step forward.

Cen Danchu dismounted and fought on foot. He wielded his horse lance with such force that the Qing army dared not approach.

Finally they were close to the flag. The Qing troops guarding the flag were also desperate, extending their spears from all directions.

Danchu roared, swung his lance, and knocked down six or seven Qing soldiers. While the others were retreating, he drew his sword and chopped down the flag.

Once the flag fell, the Qing army was defeated and dared not fight anymore, and retreated in panic.

Li Xian was dressed gorgeously and was very conspicuous on the battlefield, so he fled on horseback.

Cen Danchu threw his lance and stabbed Li Xian off his horse. He quickly stepped forward, chopped off Li Xian's head with his waist knife, hung it high on the lance, found a white warhorse with a rosy tint, and rode back and forth to show off.

The white horse and black armor were particularly eye-catching on the battlefield. The left wing of the Qing army completely collapsed, and the Yao people fled in defeat.

(End of this chapter)