The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 202: Destroy the Two Red Flags
The black dragon battle flag and the black tiger battle flag echo each other from afar.

The Black Kirin battle flag of the 5,000th headquarters also broke through the siege of the two red flags and moved closer to the two main forces.

Three flags merged into one.

The battle to annihilate the two red flags officially began.

The cavalry battalion charged forward at full speed, and the horsemen chased along the Suzi River, chopping down the lagging Jiannu cavalry like chopping melons and vegetables.

Whether in terms of equipment, training or morale, the semi-slave Later Jin soldiers were no match for the Kaiyuan cavalry.

They didn't dare turn back to fight back, or even stay on the battlefield, because there was something even more terrifying than the cavalry behind them.

That was the main force of the soldiers who were marching in formation.

The soldiers in Kaiyuan obeyed orders and thousands of people acted like one person. It would not be an exaggeration to describe them as puppets.

There was no fear or joy in their eyes, not even any expression, just mechanical killing, killing.

The two thousand headquarters that crossed the river had a total of 7,500 soldiers.

Before they even saw the shadow of the Later Jin soldiers, two to three thousand of their own people were killed or wounded.

The elite soldiers who had fought in many battles were all filled with anger and were ready to deal a good blow to the Jiannu as soon as they crossed the Suzi River.

The 1st and 2nd Thousand Headquarters was the first unit in the Kaiyuan Army to be equipped with flintlock muskets, and more than half of its troops were musketeers.

After crossing the river, the musketeers immediately formed a tight line and advanced towards the Jiannu cavalry to the beat of drums.

Yang Guli noticed this group of soldiers early on. He had seen musketeers before, but he had never seen musketeers who could shoot while marching.

He felt that the soldiers in front of him were quite funny. Not only were the cavalry chasing him, but the infantry also came to join in the fun.

Yang Guli judged that these musketeers were just like the new recruits who had just drowned while crossing the river, and were all here to die.

Relying on his absolute advantage in military strength, the Niulu Ezhen of the Later Jin Dynasty ordered the cavalry on the flanks to fight against these reckless musketeers.

Half of the Niulu cavalry immediately set out and charged towards the thin flintlock line.

Yang Guli held a bow in one hand and a one-handed sword in the other, and led the charge while shouting loudly.

"Kill all the Southern Barbarians!"

The cavalrymen marching side by side raised their swords and bows, pointing their blades and arrows diagonally at the flintlock rifle line more than 400 steps away.

The war horses galloped past and quickly approached the Kaiyuan army line. In the eyes of these Later Jin warriors, the combat effectiveness of the Ming army's firearms was worrying. They were basically defective products, and bursting and misfires were common during use, so everyone was not worried about the enemy using firearms.

Yang Guli felt that if the Kaiyuan Army fought him with real weapons, he might still have a chance of winning. Unfortunately, choosing to use these unreliable firearms now would be courting death. This was one of the reasons why he dared to fight a decisive battle with the Kaiyuan Army.

In Yangguli's view, the three thin rows of flintlock rifles on the opposite side were like paper. As long as they charged forward, Kaiyuan's entire army would be wiped out.

This is the reason that has sustained Yangguli to fight until now.

However, under the crushing of absolute strength, any fantasy is no longer important.

The flintlock rifles equipped by the Kaiyuan soldiers had a range of more than three hundred steps and could penetrate the chain mail of the Jiannu within two hundred steps. The lead bullets would bounce around in the body, and those hit would die in extreme pain.

In front of the flintlock rifle, the exquisite leather armor worn by the two Red Flag cavalrymen was no different from paper.

The Jiannu cavalry came to a position two hundred steps away from the musketeers. They were about to raise their horse bows and shoot when suddenly a crackling sound like frying beans was heard on the opposite line.

The last memory of the world of Ezhen Yangguli, a member of the Niulu clan of the Xinghongqi Banner, was frozen in a star-like blaze of fire.

Like a hurricane sweeping through a wheat field, the Jiannu cavalry charging in the front row suddenly fell down, and the cavalry let out screams that were not like human voices.

This volley caused casualties among at least eighty cavalrymen and half of the Niulu cavalry. The injured war horses neighed and ran around wildly, trampling the injured Later Jin soldiers on the ground.

"retreat!"

The Jiannu cavalry was frightened by the tragic scene before them and reined in their horses and stopped charging.

Some brave Later Jin soldiers fought back with horse bows, but their counterattack was weak and dozens of Kaiyuan soldiers on the opposite side were shot, and the vacant positions were immediately filled.

The second round of flintlock fire rang out, and two hundred steps away, a large number of hesitant cavalrymen fell again.

This time the hit was not as effective as last time, with only over fifty people being hit.

Amidst the shouts and neighs of horses, the intestines of some Later Jin soldiers were knocked out, and a pool of colorful liquid flowed onto the ground.

Such a scene was too bloody. No matter how tenacious the two Red Flag warriors were, they could not withstand such a blow.

The remaining fifty or so riders fled without any hesitation.

Yangguli was killed on the spot, and the corpses of the Later Jin soldiers' horses piled up into a small hill on the battlefield. The Kaiyuan soldiers stepped over the corpses and continued to advance towards the west gate.

The two Red Flag cavalrymen suffered three consecutive attacks, and their morale fell to the lowest point. They could no longer bear it, and finally the first cavalryman turned around and fled, followed by the second. Soon, the cavalrymen fled eastward like a tide.

For these Later Jin soldiers, it no longer mattered whether they defeated the Nikan soldiers or whether they could defend Hetuala.

They just wanted to escape from the battlefield as quickly as possible, escape from this tragic hell, and get away from the terrifying killing machines behind them.

The Kaiyuan Cavalry Battalion certainly wouldn't give the enemy a chance to escape unscathed. Like hungry wolves, they clung to the fleeing troops' tails, pressing them towards the advancing Two Red Banner infantry near the west gate. The retreating cavalry collided head-on with the infantry phalanx, and the two Later Jin troops collided, sending a flurry of men and horses tumbling near the west gate. Before they could even grasp the situation on the eastern shore, the thousands of elite Two Red Banner troops, comprised of spearmen and Bayala, were swept eastward by the collapsing cavalry.

Darhan, who was supervising the battle from behind the formation, roared:
"Those who backslide, die!"

"Where did that bastard Yangguli go? If he comes to see me, I'll skin him alive! I gave him three thousand cavalrymen, and half of them died in less than an hour. What good is he doing to me?"

A Niulu Ezhen next to him whispered:

"Master, Yangguli, he is dead..."

Darkhan's expression changed slightly. He was silent for a moment, then he looked angrily at the Kaiyuan cavalrymen who were still fighting with the two red flags in front of him, and shouted:
"Have the Nikan gunners on the city walls fire their cannons immediately, aiming at the Kaiyuan cavalry and the flintlock soldiers on the flanks. Kill all the Nikans!"

Niulu was stunned for a moment, and said nervously:
"Master, our people are still over there..."

Darkhan gritted his teeth and said:

"So what? The few hundred remaining soldiers will soon be killed by Liu Zhaosun! This bastard is so powerful, no wonder even the Khan has to suffer at his hands."

Darkhan added:

"Let Bayala block the cavalry and kill anyone who retreats!"

Niulu Ezhen took the order and left. Bayala, who was in the rear, stood behind the fleeing cavalry with a heavy sword and a long axe in his hand. After killing more than a dozen people in succession, he finally managed to stabilize the cavalry formation. However, at this time, the chaotic cavalry had already smashed the originally strict spearman line into pieces. In many places, the cavalry and spearmen trampled on each other. Before the Kaiyuan army launched an attack, the two red flags had already suffered hundreds of casualties.

Bayala drove out the cavalry and turned around to charge towards the Kaiyuan army line.

After the Kaiyuan army defeated the two red flag cavalry, Liu Zhaosun's central army banner moved to an open space two miles away from the west gate.

Han Zhenyi and Wang Congzhi hurried forward to report the bombardment to Ping Liaohou.

Liu Zhaosun put down the telescope, nodded with satisfaction, and smiled at the two artillery officers beside him:

"Huang Taiji thinks too highly of Abatai for daring to fight a decisive battle with the Kaiyuan Army with only two red flags."

Du Du added, "Or maybe Huang Taiji wanted to kill Abatai by borrowing a knife."

Kang Yingqian stroked his beard gently. The sixteen-year-old leader of the Bordered White Banner was becoming more and more eloquent.

Liu Zhaosun turned and looked at Du Du, thinking for a long time, and said calmly:
"Dudu, do you want to be the Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty?"

Du Du's face changed drastically when he heard this. He thought Liu Zhaosun was testing him, and fearing he might give the wrong answer, he immediately knelt on the ground and expressed his loyalty to Ping Liaohou:
"I swear to follow Marquis Ping Liao until death, and I will never dare to betray him!"

Liu Zhaosun smiled and patted his shoulder, then winked at Kang Yingqian, who then said:

"The two Red Flags have suffered heavy casualties. Once they are destroyed, Ping Liao Hou wants you to come forward and persuade the two White Flags to surrender. If you succeed, Huang Taiji will have no choice but to surrender. If Huang Taiji is destroyed, you will become the Khan of the Later Jin. What do you think?"

Du Du's expression kept changing, and for a moment he didn't know how to answer.

"I promised you back at Hunhe that I would be the ruler of the world and you would be the ruler of Jianzhou. You would continue to defend Liaodong and always be my protector! Have you forgotten?"

Du Du heard Liu Zhaosun say this and knew that he was very confident in conquering Hetuala and destroying the Later Jin. However, he did not dare to agree easily and just said perfunctorily:
"I will follow Lord Liu till death and will not dare to have any unreasonable thoughts..."

Liu Zhaosun looked at him angrily, shook his head, turned to the artillery battalion officer and said:
"The Tartars aren't in chaos enough right now. Let's make them even more chaotic. Push the artillery forward two hundred steps, replace the solid bullets with buckshot, and fire at the real Yi armored soldiers in front. Give Abatai a surprise."

Wang Congzhi turned around and was about to go down to make arrangements, but Han Zhenyi stood still and said hesitantly:

"Sir, if we switch to shotgun shells, the range of the artillery will be greatly shortened. By then, we might become targets for the Jiannu artillery on the city wall before we even fire..."

Liu Zhaosun smiled and said to Han Zhenyi:
"You are indeed worried, but I have made preparations and am just waiting for the Tartars to open fire..."

The two battalion officers took immediate action. The gunner quickly removed the ground-gripping hook that fixed the artillery and moved the gun body back onto the vehicle. The auxiliary soldiers and gunners pushed the gun vehicle forward together.

However, Han Zhenyi expected that the Jiannu on the city wall would immediately seize the opportunity and open fire.

Liu Zhaosun called in the Thunder Master and asked them to fire the Divine Fire Flying Crows at the cannons on the city walls.

"Sir, how many are you firing?"

Lei Jiangtou still looked as sleepy as before, with his eyes narrowed into a thin line.

"How much did you bring this time?"

Master Lei quickly replied:
"We must have had 6,000, but unfortunately over a thousand fell on the west bank, and over a thousand fell into the river. We only brought over over 3,000."

"First, fire a thousand, aiming at the artillery at the west gate and covering it completely."

A sharp whistling sound resounded throughout the battlefield on the east coast. Countless meteors lit up in the sky above the battlefield, dragging orange-red tails as they accelerated towards the west gate of Hetuala. The arrows touched the ground of the city wall, causing a violent explosion and rising red mushroom clouds. The gunpowder on the top of the west gate city wall was quickly ignited, and even more violent explosions were heard on the top of the city wall.

The Shenhuo Flying Crow, equipped with a rocket stabilizer, flies more smoothly and has greatly improved shooting accuracy. When launched within two miles, the deviation from the target can be controlled within ten steps. Considering that the rocket capsule is equipped with a large number of porcelain pieces and iron nails, it is difficult for anyone to survive within ten steps.

Liu Zhaosun looked at the mushroom-like clouds blooming in the sky above Hetuala and said to the people around him:
"Justice has been sent down from heaven. No matter whether it's Bayala or Niulu Ezhen, they are all vulnerable in front of the Divine Fire Crow."

This was the first time that the new type of rocket was used on the battlefield. It had not been used in the last battle to pacify the Wenxiang Sect in Shandong, but was kept to give Huang Taiji a surprise.

"Alright, the Jiannu artillery has been silenced. Once we've killed all of these genuine barbarian soldiers, there will no longer be two red flags among the Eight Banners. Keep the artillery firing to suppress the musketeers who are still alive. Push the shield carts forward, and prepare to ascend the city!"

(End of this chapter)