Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 42 Confrontation
"The rest of you, follow me and watch the battle."

"We obey your command!" After receiving the order, the generals saluted with their hands clasped together and left in a hurry.

Before Wu Xiang could react, his command was taken away.

There was no choice but to stand on the arrow tower with Zhu Youjian and watch the battle.

Zhu Youjian was watching the rebel army, while Liu Zongmin on the other side was also observing Deshengmen.

Riding a warhorse, standing in the middle of the battle formation, he looked at the exceptionally eye-catching golden armor in the arrow tower and couldn't help but sneer.

"This old emperor is quite courageous. He actually went to the battlefield in person."

Song Xiance, who was standing by, also chuckled. "A million Dashun soldiers are about to arrive. Sitting in the palace is no different from sitting on the battlefield. This actually gives General Quan a great achievement."

"Hahaha!" Liu Zongmin laughed wildly. "If that's the case, then if I, Old Liu, don't take it, wouldn't I be betraying the Emperor's kindness?"

"Come here, tell the entire army to advance steadily. Both the left and right armies must bring the cloud chariots to the top of the city walls!"

Several big men of the rebel army behind him immediately waved their flags and conveyed orders to each formation.

The sound of war drums rang out, and the entire army formation immediately began to move.

On the Deshengmen Arrow Tower, twenty eight-ox crossbows tightened their ox-tendon strings at the same time, and the two-meter-long iron arrows glowed blue in the morning light.

Li Guozhen calculated the distance of the rebel army through the fixed lookout, and sweat broke out on his hands holding the command flag.

Although Zhu Youjian appeared calm on the surface, he was actually very nervous inside.

Why do we have to bring up all the officials and nobles in the court? Isn’t it to have a backup plan?

Once the Battle of Deshengmen was defeated or the Chuang army launched a large-scale attack, he would have no choice but to let the Jinyiwei carry out the plan of large-scale house confiscation, then collect all the silver into the system and shift the strategy to Jiangnan.

The rebel army approached step by step.

Zhu Youjian was also calculating the distance in his heart.

Three thousand steps... two thousand steps... fifteen thousand... one thousand...

When the shield formation was pushed to 800 steps away from Deshengmen, the main gate of the city wall was suddenly opened, and Wang Erhu, with 2,000 elite soldiers and 4,000 border troops, filed out of the gate.

Li Guozhen was startled and subconsciously chopped down the command flag.

The Eight Oxen Crossbow, which had been prepared long ago, suddenly fired.

The arrows made of fine iron whistled through the air and penetrated into the shield formation.

The three-foot-thick jujube wood shield wall was torn into a hole by the iron arrow, but the remaining force did not decrease. It penetrated three rows of soldiers before barely stopping, and the broken flesh splattered on the faces of the supervisors at the rear.

Unfortunately, it was released too early. According to Zhu Youjian's opinion, Liu Zongmin should be put within the range of the bed crossbow, and it would be best to take this old thief away.

However, Li Guozhen still lacked battlefield experience.

What a waste of opportunity.

"What is the old emperor doing...?" Liu Zongmin looked at the elite soldiers who were forming a battle array with some surprise.

The Ming army left the fortified city behind and went out to fight in the field?

What's the point? Does the old emperor think he can eat up these 30,000 people?
Given the Ming army's fragile combat effectiveness, how could he dare to do that?
Liu Zongmin, who had won consecutive battles, felt that he was insulted.

He drew his sword from his waist and pointed it at the city gate. "Front troops, attack the city! Central troops, engage the battle! Take the city gate for me! The first one to reach it will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver and be given the title of adopted son!"

The command flags fluttered, and the 10,000 surrendered soldiers on the left and right received the order and immediately began to charge, pushing fifty cowhide-wrapped cloud chariots.

Twenty veteran swordsmen were hiding behind each cloud car.

Although the noise was powerful, a closer look revealed that the surrendered troops were in disarray, fighting fiercely to gain a safe position behind the cloud chariot.

If the supervisory team had not been right behind the formation, the surrendered troops might not even dare to charge.

As the shield formation accelerated again, the central army surrounding Liu Zongmin also began to press forward.

In comparison, the central army, composed entirely of the old camp of the rebel army, was particularly elite. Although the formation was also loose, its purpose was to avoid the damage caused by the ricocheting of cannonballs.

A layer of cotton armor and a layer of light cloth armor can not only ensure that physical strength is not over-consumed, but also provide effective defense.

Zhu Youjian was somewhat surprised by the reactions of Liu Zongmin and the rebel army.

According to his assumption, when Liu Zongmin saw the Ming army marching out of the city and forming a battle array, and when their artillery and crossbows were not yet at full strength, he should have slowed down his attack and waited for them to tire themselves out outside the artillery range.

He just charged forward as soon as he came up.

There was no need for 3,000 battalions to divide the battlefield. Liu Zongmin drove the surrendered troops with low combat effectiveness into the city by himself. If he didn't name them one by one with bows, crossbows and artillery, it would be unjust for what he did.

Because the formation of the central army camp was too loose and the surrendered troops on both sides moved slowly, the killing power would not be maximized if they opened fire at this time.

Zhu Youjian thought for a moment and spoke.

"Send a message to Wang Erhu. The plan for the Yongwei Camp's border troops remains unchanged. The Tiger Guards will change into a shield formation to block the rebellious central army!"

The five-colored flags fluttered alternately.

Wang Erhu, who was standing on the city wall, did not hesitate at all and immediately separated the Tiger Guards.

When a thousand Tiger Guards marched out in formation to the beat of drums and crossed the moat.

Five thousand soldiers from the old camp also entered the range of 600 steps of the arrow tower.

Except for some small-caliber artillery, most of them can be obtained.

Li Guozhen has sent people three times to request the artillery to fire.

He was really afraid that the rebel army would break in.

Zhu Youjian only had one word: "Wait."

A strange scene appeared on the battlefield.

Tens of thousands of troops pressed forward towards the Deshengmen city wall, but on the city wall, there were only a thousand black-armored soldiers fighting back.

It was as if there were not tens of thousands of troops in front of them, but tens of thousands of sheep.

Liu Zongmin saw it clearly from behind.

He could even imagine the old emperor's panic-stricken look after the thousands of Ming soldiers were chopped down during the battle between the two sides.

then……

A muffled bang was heard from the battlefield.

There was no chopping of melons and vegetables as he had imagined, nor was there any kneeling down to beg for surrender.

The soldiers from the old camp of the Chuang army at the front flew backwards as if they were hit by war horses.

The central army's offensive momentum was stagnant.

A battle line consisting of only a thousand people managed to withstand the attack of five thousand soldiers from the old camp!

It looks... easy! ?
The black-armored soldier swung his round bone club, smashing the shield in front of him, along with the armor, into a concave shape.

Then he kicked down the soldier in front of him and hit someone beside him with his shield.

Three consecutive slashes of swords hit his shoulder armor, sparks flew, but he was not hurt at all.

"Damn it!" The black-armored soldier cursed, and instead of retreating, he advanced, slamming his iron helmet into the opponent's face, and took the opportunity to stab the bone into the enemy's abdomen.

"They are heavily armored soldiers! At least double layers of heavy armor!" Song Xiance hurriedly reminded, and Liu Zongmin finally woke up.

He hadn't seen such a fierce Ming army for a long time and was a little dazed for a moment.

But after coming to his senses, he was still the number one general of the Chuang army!

"Send the order to the central army, disperse! Break the armor!"

As soon as the order was given, the entire central army camp immediately began to move.

The soldiers of the old camp are indeed the foundation of Li Zicheng.

It was far beyond the reach of the Ming army's surrendered soldiers to commit fraud.

These veteran thieves took turns to leave the battle, and then formed groups of three, with two holding shields for protection, and the third specifically attacking the knees of the Tiger Guards, which was the fatal point for breaking heavy armor!

(End of this chapter)