The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 203 The Trembling Huang Taiji
The west gate of Hetuala was engulfed in flames. The shock wave from the explosion blew the Later Jin high-altitude field artillery deployed on the top of the city into pieces. The gun carriage and wheels fell from the top of the city, killing and injuring countless soldiers of the two Red Flag armies who were on the verge of defeat.

The gunners of Wuzhenhachao who were hiding behind the battlements of the city wall suffered even heavier casualties.

More than 500 of the more than 3,000 musketeers that Huang Taiji had trained with great effort were killed or burned to death on the spot. The remaining musketeers saw the divine fire crows whizzing past their heads, and realized that justice from heaven was coming and the Later Jin Dynasty was about to be destroyed, so they fled towards the city wall.

Without the support of artillery and muskets, the two Red Flag armored troops faced the same fate as the cavalry, and were facing destruction.

The Kaiyuan artillerymen advanced the field artillery to a distance of 100 steps from the two red flags.

With their muzzles all pointed at the target, thirty-two field guns took turns firing without stopping. The dense shotgun shells formed a terrifying barrage that swept through the two red flag formations like a wall, tearing apart all living things in their way.

Under the dense bombardment of shotgun shells, almost none of the three front rows of spearmen of the two red flags survived and were all killed.

The first row of Later Jin soldiers were even torn to pieces, leaving a pile of flesh and blood on the ground.

Screams that sounded like human voices filled the air.

After several rounds of artillery fire, the morale of the two red flags, which had been so high, fell to the lowest point, and even the most brave and battle-hardened white-armored soldiers lost the courage to continue fighting.

In a blink of an eye, their casualties reached seven or eight hundred, and this was just the artillery fire.

Then, something even more despairing happened to the two red flags.

Teams of flintlock soldiers appeared following the artillery bombardment. They walked steadily on the battlefield littered with corpses, approaching the two red-flag armored soldiers.

The Niulu Ezhen of each Niulu ordered the archers to shoot light arrows, and waves of arrows rose from the ground and covered the top of their heads.

Even though their comrades kept falling around them, this group of flintlock soldiers continued to advance regardless of casualties, giving people the illusion that this army was not fighting a decisive battle with the Jiannu in Hetuala, but was conducting daily marching training.

The 1,000th and 2,000th headquarters flintlock soldiers endured limited casualties and quickly approached to within fifty steps of the Later Jin formation.

Liu Zhaosun waved his hand and said, "You can shoot now!"

On the east bank battlefield, the drummers beat the drums with a brisk rhythm, the captains of each flag blew the bamboo whistles, and the flintlock soldiers immediately stopped, raising their guns and aiming at the Later Jin soldiers who were shooting arrows fifty steps away.

Liu Zhaosun looked at the thousands of flintlock muskets pointed at the two red flags at the same time, and a heroic feeling rose in his heart:
"One battle will determine the outcome!"

At the sound of bamboo whistles from the captains of each flag, nearly a thousand flintlock soldiers in the front row pulled the trigger at the same time.

The deafening roar of muskets rang out, and Zheng Ershi, captain of the third flag of the 1,000th headquarters, was shrouded in a cloud of white smoke.

Zheng Ershi was among the first group of boatmen recruited in the 47th year of the Wanli reign. At that time, Liu Zhaosun was recruiting soldiers at Zhangjiawan Wharf in Tianjin. Zheng Ershi brought his wife and children and begged for food all the way to Tianjin.

Liu Zhaosun made an exception and recruited him.

Determined to keep his family in Kaiyuan, Zheng Ershi fought bravely and followed orders decisively. After successfully completing recruit training, he remained with the Third Banner of the 1,000th Headquarters. Zheng Ershi fought in all the major battles of the Kaiyuan Army, including the bloody Battle of Hunhe River, where the Third Banner remained. Under the command of Qiao Yiqi and Yuan Chonghuan, the Third Banner killed and wounded over 300 Zhenyi troops of the Plain White Banner until the entire army was annihilated.

In the end, only Zheng Ershi and the remaining five flintlock soldiers were left alive.

After the war, those who survived were often promoted quickly. By the time Zheng Ershi went to Shandong to suppress the Wenxiang Sect this year, he had been promoted to flag captain.

The tragic howls of the Later Jin soldiers came to his ears, and the white mist of burning gunpowder was quickly blown away by the wind. Zheng Ershi hurriedly looked at the opposite side fifty steps away and assessed the casualties of the Jiannu.

Fifty steps away, the field was littered with the corpses of soldiers from the two Red Flag Armored Armored Corpses, and even more people were struggling on the ground, running around aimlessly like wild dogs using their hands and feet.

This round of volleys killed at least 300 Later Jin soldiers, and the vanguard line that was temporarily put together after the two red flags were hit by shotgun shells was ruthlessly destroyed again.

Almost all the Later Jin soldiers in the front row fell down, and the formation that Darkhan had worked hard to put together collapsed.

"Hurry up and reload, prepare for the second round of shooting!"

A hail of arrows erupted from behind the two red flag formations, though noticeably less frequent than in previous attacks. The flintlock soldiers who were struck screamed and fell to the ground, being carried away by the medics behind them. Fortunately, most of them had only been struck in the limbs, with no vital injuries. Thanks to the Kaiyuan Army's medical expertise, most could be saved.

Compared with them, the Later Jin soldiers on the opposite side were not so lucky. The damage caused by lead bullets was far greater than that of light arrows, and there was no concept of weapon ban in this era. When lead bullets were shot into the torso, they caused a cavity effect, which could easily crush the human internal organs, and the person who was shot would definitely die.

Even if you are only hit in the hands or feet by lead bullets, the worst case scenario is lifelong disability or instant death.

Zheng Ershi was full of confidence in the power of the new flintlock rifle in his hand. As long as he had this gun and his brothers behind him, their third flag team would be invincible.

Zheng Ershi was just about to order the flintlock soldiers to fire the third round of free fire when he suddenly heard an earth-shaking roar. More than 30 shells whizzed past the heads of the flintlock soldiers and slammed heavily behind the two red flag formations fifty steps away.

This time, Han Zhenyi replaced the shotgun shells with iron balls. Because the range of the shotgun shells was too short, they could only hit the first two or three rows of the two red flag lines. It would be too far to hit any further back.

In order to penetrate the two red flag defense lines, solid artillery shells with longer range and greater power must be used.

Thirty-two solid artillery shells slammed heavily into the two red flag formations, plowing out streaks of blood. Liu Zhaosun reined in his horse and looked at the tragic scene on the battlefield ahead. Everything that happened before his eyes was within his expectations.

After several rounds of attacks, Bayala and his men were no longer thinking about continuing to charge, but how to escape quickly.

By the time Zheng Ershi commanded the flintlock soldiers to start the third round of shooting, the opposite side had no organized counterattack, and the shaky front was completely destroyed.

The defeated soldiers rushed towards the four gates of Hetuala, some of them shouting loudly as they ran, bringing panic to more Later Jin soldiers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Huang Taiji walked out of the hall quickly surrounded by a group of Goshas.

Standing neatly in rows at the foot of the hall were the remnants of the army who had just retreated from the Suzi River.

"Great Khan, these are the white-armored soldiers who just repelled Nikan by the river." Goshiha reported in a low voice: "Great Khan, they are in Niuludu..."

Huang Taiji raised his hand to signal him not to continue.

Although the Khan knew the situation had deteriorated, he still looked at the brave warriors who had survived the disaster with admiration. There were about a dozen white-armored soldiers in front of him, two of whom were old soldiers with gray hair and beards, and the rest were teenagers.

They were all covered in dust and some of them were injured.

Huang Taiji nodded slightly, tried to straighten his trembling fingers, and repeatedly made a hug gesture in front of his chest.

"Eternal Heaven will remember you, well done!"

"Well done! Changshengtian will remember you!"

Goshiha followed the Khan to a skinny musketeer.

"Great Khan, he shot and killed five Kaiyuan soldiers by himself!"

Huang Taiji stopped and looked down at the white-armored soldier who was a head shorter than him, and asked casually:

"How old are you? Which flag are you from?"

"Reporting to the Khan, this is the twelfth year of my age. Zhenghuang Banner!"

Huang Taiji's eyes turned slightly red, and he took off his jade ring and gave it to the Zhenghuangqi musketeer.

Huang Taiji looked around and said in a hoarse voice:
"Kill more Nikan! Changshengtian said that Liu Zhaosun will definitely lose this time!"

Before he finished speaking, a cannonball whizzed over everyone's heads and hit the Khan's Palace directly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Geshiha helped Huang Taiji back to the main hall.

Huang Taiji sensed that the situation was not good and was about to inquire about the battlefield situation when a white-armored soldier rushed in from outside and reported:

"Khan, the two red flags are finished."

Huang Taiji's eyes were bloodshot.

He did not expect the reversal to be so quick. What puzzled him even more was that Abatai, the leader of the banner who was placed with great hopes, was such a fool that he could not distinguish the priorities during the battle.

"Three thousand five hundred cavalrymen collapsed, all the infantrymen were killed, and the masters Darkhan and Yangguli were all killed."

"Stop talking. Let Wuzhenhachao take the lead and kill more Kaiyuan soldiers with his flintlock rifles. Kill Liu Zhaosun himself. If we can't defend Hetuala, everyone will die."

"Uzhenhachao attack from the flank, this is an order!"

Goshiha glanced at each other and said cautiously:
"Great Khan... I'm afraid we can't rely on Uzhenhachao anymore. They..."

Another Goshiha took over the conversation and continued with courage:
"Most of Wuzhenhachao's troops were killed in the battle, and the bondservants all fled. Even now, the West City Gate is still burning. It's all caused by Nikan's rockets!"

The surroundings suddenly became quiet.

Huang Taiji suddenly slammed the whip on the table and yelled hysterically:
"This Khan has been meticulously planning for two years, spending a million taels of silver, and in just half an hour, how could they fail? Your intelligence must have been flawed! Quick! Let Wuzhen Hachao attack. As long as they launch a frontal attack, everything will be fine!"

Gosha looked at each other and stopped talking.

……

Most of the Wuzhenhachao musketeers hiding behind the battlements had been killed.

The Wuzhenhachao musketeers who were not killed in the explosion fell to the ground below the city wall with screams. Many of them were pierced by flying iron nails. The divine fire crows were still whistling in the sky, and there were few living people on the top of the city wall.

Huang Taiji's raised arm trembled subconsciously, and he muttered to himself:
"The Wuzhenhachao will not all die. They are usually trained rigorously and will never die in battle so soon. They should still be lurking somewhere. As long as they and the two white flags attack from the north and south, Liu Zhaosun will definitely..."

The Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty was still muttering to himself, pointing at the sheepskin map with his finger.

As Nurhaci's son, Huang Taiji inherited some of his father's Parkinson's syndrome.

Whenever he gets emotional, his fingers tremble involuntarily.

Huang Taiji held a brush in his hand, tapping the Hetuala city defense map on the table, pointing and commenting.

"The Kaiyuan Army has fallen into a trap..."

"As long as the two white flags launch a surprise attack, as planned by Ben Khan and Daishan, Liu Zhaosun will be doomed..."

One of the personal guards, Goshiha, could not bear to watch any longer and reported the truth:
"Great Khan, Bordered White Banner..."

"The Bordered White Banner has surrendered to Nikan."

"Where are Zu Dashou and the others?"

"General Zu said he was lost, and he asked the Khan to hold on first..."

~~~~~~
Huang Taiji gently threw the brush on the map, and the surroundings suddenly became dead silent.

"This is an order! Let Dudu attack. This is an order, but this ungrateful bastard turned a deaf ear to my words!"

"The Eight Banners are all deceiving me, even Goshiha is the same, a bunch of trash! These banner owners are all scum of Jianzhou! They only hinder the Khan's actions at every turn! I should have learned from Liu Zhaosun and killed all the Niulu Ezhen long ago!"

(End of this chapter)