Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 195: Battle of Dengwang Mountain (4)

The artillery on Mount Qixia continued to bombard. Under Meng Jun's military order, the artillery fired at Gao Jinku's troops of the Qing army with all their might. Gao Jinku was already at a disadvantage, and under the crazy baptism of artillery, the formation was riddled with holes. If it were not for the ruthlessness of the supervision team behind him and the reinforcements that poured in from time to time to fill the front line, Gao Jinku's troops would have collapsed first.

Meanwhile, Babutai and Bai Yongfu were still fighting fiercely at the foot of the mountain. The fighting was bloody and brutal. Babutai's generous rewards boosted the morale a little, but the morale of the surrendered soldiers of Shun army was not good. After several charges, they failed to break through Bai Yongfu's formation. Their performance was even worse than that of Ke Yongsheng's troops.

In the main formation, except for Zhang Guoliang who led the Han army flag and fought back and forth with Changlin Town, Zhang Guoliang's two wings had been forced to retreat by Zhou's army. The original concave formation of the Qing army had now become a somewhat slanted convex shape. By noon, both sides were already somewhat exhausted.

"Kill!" The vanguard of Lin Shiqi's troops raised their shields to resist the dense rain of arrows from the Qing army. At the cost of nearly a hundred people, they broke through the Qing army's shield formation. Once the shield formation was broken, the fighting between the two armies became more intense.

"Ah!" A Green Camp soldier of the Qing army was stabbed in the abdomen by a spear. He subconsciously retreated until he bumped into a friendly army behind him and stopped.

Zheng Wenbo pulled out his spear with all his might, put it on the ground panting, looked around vigilantly, and seized every opportunity to recover his strength.

"Fuck you, you bastard!" Zhou Liu shouted loudly. Today, Zhou Liu is already a general officer, while his two good brothers Qi Dong and Liu Si, one died in Zhenjiang and the other in Jiangning.

Zhou Liu held a shield in one hand and a knife in the other, and rushed forward desperately. The shield was filled with the harsh sound of swords and guns cutting. As the saying goes, when a general risks his life, thousands of people will follow him. Although he was the chief flag officer and not a general, he still had hundreds of comrades around him, swarming towards him.

Zheng Wenbo also stood beside Zhou Liu. Although Zheng Wenbo could read and write, in the army, military merit was the most important thing. Even being the top scholar was useless. So Zhou Liu raised the general flag, but Zheng Wenbo was still a sergeant.

On the opposite side of the Qing army, a young Green Camp soldier was hit in the neck and fell to the ground, his head tilted to one side, his hands covering his neck, trying to stop the blood from flowing out, his eyes filled with a desire for life, his breathing gradually became shallow, his eyes fixed on a piece of wild grass on the ground.

This wild grass has been trampled beyond recognition, but it still stubbornly tries to survive. It grows and dies every year, withers and grows again every year. Human life is as worthless as grass.

The surviving soldiers, regardless of both sides, either shouted or roared meaninglessly. In the fight, blood splattered everywhere, and people fell one by one. Even the dead could not rest in peace, as pairs of feet trampled on them. In such an environment, no one paid attention to their feet. They just stared at the enemy and held their weapons tightly.

Under the brave fighting of the vanguard of Ningwu Town, the soldiers tried their best and rushed forward without regard for their lives. In such a fierce battle, the front line of the army led by Yang Wulie began to waver.

Yang Wulie was extremely anxious. If the front line collapsed, the entire battle would be in a passive position. Therefore, he hurriedly mobilized reinforcements to try to stabilize the situation. However, the enemy's attack became more and more fierce.

Lekedehun had already sent the third group of Green Camp soldiers forward. As soon as the Green Camp soldiers retreated a little, they were killed by the Mongolian supervising team in the rear. The soldiers in Changlin, Ningwu and Wuning towns had been fighting for a long time and were already very tired. Meng Jun saw that the right wing of the Qing army was somewhat disorganized, so he made a decisive decision and decided to send out cavalry to flank the right wing of the Qing army led by Yang Wulie.

As the military order was conveyed, Huang Cheng mounted his warhorse and his 5,000 cavalrymen were divided into two groups, one in front and one behind, and headed towards the right wing of the Qing army.

Lekedehun had already noticed Meng Jun's cavalry. Although Lekedehun knew that these cavalry could certainly not compare with his Eight Banners Cavalry, cavalry were cavalry after all. When Huang Cheng moved, Lekedehun was delighted. He immediately ordered Juelu Langqiu to lead 2,000 Eight Banners Cavalry and more than 1,500 Han cavalry to break through the enemy cavalry and attack the flank of the bandit army's right wing, Ningwu Town.

The horses galloped, their hooves flying, and the more than 2,000 cavalrymen in the front of Huang Cheng's army and the Eight Banners cavalry rushed towards them like two torrents. The sound of horse hooves resounded through the sky and shook the earth.

Huang Cheng held the spear in his hand, adjusted his breathing, and rushed towards the Eight Banners Cavalry with the ups and downs of his horse. The Eight Banners Cavalry did not show to be outdone and fought on horseback without fear. What made Juelu Langqiu feel strange was that the elite of the Ming army in the past did not dare to confront the Eight Banners Cavalry, so these fledglings did not know their place.

The two sides collided with overwhelming force. In an instant, the two sides came into close combat, fighting countless times with their lives hanging by a thread. War horses neighed, blood splattered, and cavalrymen were knocked off their horses every moment. Once they fell off their horses, they would be dead for sure on such a battlefield.

The battlefield was filled with a strong smell of blood. Almost quickly, yet seemingly slowly, the cavalry of both sides charged across each other's lines. In just one round of charging, at least 800 people from Huang Cheng's first formation fell, while more than 200 people from the Eight Banners fell, and more than 300 Han cavalrymen fell.

After Huang Cheng rushed over, he saw that the Eight Banners soldiers continued to charge towards the next group of Zhou cavalry without stopping. Huang Cheng hesitated for a moment, but still gritted his teeth, obeyed the king's military order, and continued to move towards Yang Wulie's Qing army.

After Jueluo Langqiu rushed over, he looked back and saw that the bandit cavalry did not look back, so he knew what they meant. He turned around and looked straight ahead, and saw another large group of cavalry. Jueluo Langqiu shouted loudly: "Charge again!"

In the next battle, the sound of metal clashing, the shouts of soldiers, and the screams of weapons piercing flesh were intertwined. War horses were galloping, and the dust raised covered the sky. The cavalrymen held spears, and the sharp spear heads flashed with cold light as they stabbed at the enemy cavalry.

In an instant, blood splattered everywhere, and people and horses fell to the ground. Some Eight Banner soldiers were pierced by spears, and some were knocked off their horses and trampled by horses. The tragic scene was unbearable to watch.

The neighing of horses and the screams of soldiers rose one after another. Where is hell? The battlefield at this moment is purgatory on earth. Life is just a number at this moment. The hopes of many families have turned to ashes at this moment.

After a fierce battle, both sides suffered heavy casualties, with 300 Eight Banner soldiers and more than 400 Han cavalry killed. Both sides surpassed each other and rushed towards their respective targets, leaving only corpses of soldiers and horses lying on the battlefield.

Seeing the Eight Banners cavalry coming towards him in the rear formation, Lin Shiqi quickly dispatched a battalion of soldiers to the front to meet the attack and prevent the cavalry from raiding the main formation. It was already past noon, and the soldiers of the Ningwu Town battalion stepped over the corpses of both sides and the ground soaked in blood. There was no need for any lofty words or the soul-stirring words in poetry. These ordinary people formed an extraordinary army and marched forward courageously.

As the saying goes, the best military operation is to attack the enemy's plans, the next best is to attack their alliances, the third best is to attack their troops, and the worst is to attack their cities. What Meng Jun is doing now is the best military operation, which is to attack their troops.