Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 161 Surrounded
The Qing army's flags waved and drums sounded. As the flags moved forward, the three Qing army formations finally followed the drums and pressed towards the Ming army on the opposite side.

Five hundred meters, four hundred meters, three hundred meters, the Qing army in the front line divided into groups of a hundred people, dispersed, and each pushed the shield cart forward.
The Ming army formation remained unmoved, with chariots blocking the periphery. The Ming soldiers in the formation were just a little nervous, but not very fearful.

When the Qing army entered the 300-meter range, the army formation in front suddenly made way, and then two Ming army formations suddenly launched more than a dozen artillery pieces.
After days of defending the city, more than a dozen of the city's thirty-two artillery pieces were damaged. The remaining twenty-one artillery pieces were removed from the city wall overnight and sent to Li Mingzhong's army.
Boom boom boom

More than a dozen cannons roared out at the same time, and various stone bullets and iron bullets bombarded the front. The wooden planks of the carriages in front of the Qing army were immediately broken and collapsed.

The shells carried the remaining kinetic energy and hit the Qing army. Dozens of soldiers in the front row fell down and the place became chaotic.

These chariots of the Qing army were originally temporarily modified by nailing wooden boards on the grain carts, and they could not stop the bombardment of the 300-jin cannon. Not to mention these temporarily modified grain carts, even the shield carts specially used by the Ming army to attack the Ming army positions could hardly stop the bombardment of the 300-jin cannon.

After one round of artillery fire, the second round of artillery fire soon roared.
At this time, more than a dozen gaps had been created in front of the Qing army. The second round of shells directly bombarded into the Qing army through the gaps. A bloody mist suddenly rose in the front, and blood and body parts were flying everywhere. The Qing army in the front was already in chaos.

Tong Yangjia, who was at the rear, saw that the front line was in chaos, but his expression turned fierce, and he ordered people to blow the charge horn, obviously preparing to rush to the front line to fight under the artillery fire.
The drumbeats of the advancing troops from the rear became more and more urgent. The three phalanxes of the Qing army received the signal and, driven by the officers, directly let go of the shield carts they were pushing. The soldiers in the three phalanxes shouted and rushed forward quickly.
Seeing the Qing army rushing towards them, the Ming army remained unmoved. After two rounds of artillery fire, the Qing army had already rushed to within 200 meters. The gunners in front directly abandoned their artillery and retreated back to the formation.

The flags of the Ming army waved in the front, and the musketeers and archers who had been waiting behind the carts immediately raised their muskets and longbows.
The officer in the front waved his flag suddenly

bang bang

A burst of white smoke suddenly rose from the two Ming army formations. Three-barreled guns, rapid-fire rifles, and even matchlock guns that were found from nowhere, all kinds of firearms suddenly roared together. The shields in the front formation a hundred meters away were hit with bangs, and some Qing soldiers wielding swords were directly plowed away.

The remaining Qing soldiers had ferocious expressions, but now their eyes were red, and they were roaring wildly as they rushed towards the front.
Tong Yangjia or Li Chengdong, the Qing troops under Guangzhou are all veterans who have fought in battles. Now that they have rushed here, they can only rush forward if they want to survive.
If they rushed forward and engaged in hand-to-hand combat, they might still survive. But if they fled now, they would have no chance of survival under the continuous shooting of the Ming army from behind.

In the two Ming army formations, hundreds of gunners in the front line immediately turned to the back line after firing, and another group of gunners in the back line, who had been prepared, immediately opened fire and fired.
Smoke rose up again in front of the Ming army, and gunfire rang out. The Qing army, which had already rushed into the range of 100 meters, fell down again with ferocious expressions.

By this time, hundreds of Qing troops in the front had been killed or dispersed, and the army was already in disarray.

Fortunately, the Qing army in the front resisted the artillery fire, and the two Qing army phalanxes in the rear remained roughly intact. After losing half of the phalanx, the two and a half phalanxes of Qing army finally rushed to the front of the army.
The Qing soldiers rushed to the front of the battle array and were about to move the chariot array in front of them. Before they could get close, countless long spears suddenly pierced out from the chariot array.

Behind the chariot formation, there was a row of shieldmen holding shields, and behind them were spearmen holding three-meter-long spears.

"prick"

At the front of the Ming army, the officers waved their flags and hundreds of spears suddenly thrust out. As they thrust and retracted, the Qing army, which had just been under fire from artillery, muskets, bows and arrows, suddenly fell down by nearly a hundred people.

At this time, the Qing army in the front finally moved the carts in the front and poured in through the gap, but what greeted them were not soldiers, but shields, and behind the shields, the Ming army officers' flags were once again under their command.
Chi Chi Chi

Hundreds of spears suddenly thrust out, and the cold spear tips pierced directly into the bodies. Nearly a hundred Qing soldiers who had just moved the carriage fell down.

"Kill"

Among the Qing army, the front row of Qing soldiers were almost crazy, their eyes were red, and they were about to bypass the shield from the side and kill the spearmen in the back row.

But just as they set off, Ming soldiers wearing leather armor and holding swords appeared on both sides of the spearmen. Soldiers on both sides fought with swords in the narrow area between the chariots and shields. Blood, shouts, and roars echoed in front of the formation.
The Qing troops continued to pour in from the gap, but the Ming army did not disperse, and the Qing troops pouring in from the gap were constantly stabbed and killed by the spearmen in the rear.
As the reinforcements were insufficient, the Qing soldiers who had already entered the battle array were gradually strangled to death by the swordmen of the Ming army in the battle array.
The Qing army continued to attack and pour in, but was always blocked in front of the Ming army's chariot formation and could not advance an inch. At this time, the Qing army in front of the formation finally began to be frightened, and some began to flee to the rear.
Tong Yangjia, who was at the rear, saw that the Qing army in front had begun to disintegrate, and his face turned ugly. His original plan was to break through the two Ming armies in the front and force the Ming army in the rear to rescue.

Wait until the Ming army in the rear breaks away from the chariot formation, then use cavalry to attack and completely defeat the Ming army. But now, a full 9,000 infantry can't even break up the 6,000 Ming army in the front.

Seeing that the Qing army in front of them was already in retreat, Tong Yangjia finally couldn't bear it anymore and shouted in a deep voice:
"The cavalry will attack the Ming army's infantry formation from the flank"

The Qing cavalry guarding both sides received the order and finally moved.

Thousands of horses were pedaling, and the entire ground was shaking slightly.
Bai Yindai led 2,000 Tong Yangjia cavalry and charged straight to the right of the Ming army.
"shoot"

The Qing cavalry formed a column and rushed past the Ming army on the right side in an almost parallel manner, shooting hundreds of arrows.
The Ming army was blocked by chariots in front, behind, and on both sides. It was impossible for the cavalry to charge the chariots directly. Even if the Qing army wanted to charge, the horses would automatically slow down and stop when approaching the chariots.

Therefore, the Qing army could only approach and charge and shoot arrows, hoping to disperse the Ming army on the right and allow the Qing army infantry in the front to take the opportunity to charge in.

The Qing army shot arrows, some of which were blocked by the shield carts on the right, and some of which were shot into the right army formation. Dozens of Ming soldiers on the right fell down immediately.

But soon, a burst of musketry sounded from the Ming army. It turned out that the Ming army in the formation began to shoot back. More than a dozen Qing cavalrymen who rushed over on horseback fell down immediately.

The Qing cavalry rushed past the army formation, but the Ming army's right rear formation was dozens of meters behind the front line of the Ming army. At this time, after the Qing cavalry rushed past the front line of the Ming army, they seemed to be in front of the Ming army's rear formation.

bang bang

There was a burst of gunfire from the Ming army in the rear. Hundreds of fire gun archers in the rear fired at the same time, and dozens of Qing soldiers who had just rushed through the front line fell down immediately.

The Qing cavalry suddenly became scattered and turned to the right rear, out of the Ming army's shooting range.

But at this moment, a roar suddenly came from the rear of the Ming army.
Deng Yao, wearing red cloth armor, led more than 2,000 Ming soldiers and suddenly rushed out from the rear, charging straight ahead.

The cavalry in the front had just suffered an attack from the Ming army in the rear and was fleeing to the right, but at this moment the Ming army suddenly rushed out and attacked directly from the side of the Qing army.

The nearly 100 Qing troops at the end of the line were immediately cut off by the Ming army. Although Bai Yindai in front was angry, he did not dare to turn around to rescue them.
At this time, the Qing army was in the front, and the Ming army in the rear was charging. If the Qing army dared to turn around to intercept, it would probably be directly defeated by the Ming army.
Two thousand Ming army cavalry rushed past, and the hundred Qing soldiers only caused the Qing army to pause for a moment before disappearing in the Ming army formation like a splash of water.
The Ming army followed the Qing army in pursuit, while the Qing army in front kept speeding up and running. After the Qing army rushed past the Ming army a hundred meters ahead, Li Mingzhong in the back gave the order

Deng Yao, who was in pursuit, heard the call and stopped his cavalry. The Qing cavalry on the opposite side also stopped and reorganized their troops.

Bai Yindai looked at the Ming army standing in front of the battle formation, his face was furious, he raised his saber, roared, and charged at the Ming cavalry.
That was simply a sneak attack by the Ming army. In terms of cavalry charge and horseback archery, the Ming army was no match for the Qing army.

Just as Baiyindai raised his saber, the Ming army in the front turned their horses and headed back, not giving Baiyindai's cavalry any chance to charge.

The Qing army knew that their cavalry was sharp, and the Ming army knew it too. Li Mingzhong was afraid that Yang Yandi would kill him, so he sent Deng Yao out to intercept him.
Bai Yindai looked at the Ming army retreating to the rear again, and for a moment his face was extremely ugly. If he attacked the Ming army formation as he did just now, the Ming army would definitely take the opportunity to harass him again.

If they did not attack, the Qing army's front line would not be able to break through the Ming army's chariot formation. This cavalry, which Tong Yangjia regarded as the decisive force, did not know whether to advance or retreat.
But soon Bai Yindai no longer had to hesitate. Suddenly, the sound of gongs and drums came from the rear of the Qing army. The Qing army in the front heard the order to withdraw and immediately scattered, fleeing madly to the rear.
Seeing the Qing army disintegrate, the Ming army in the rear was waving its flag. The Ming army in the front saw the signal from the rear, but remained motionless and watched the Qing army flee.
Tong Yangjia stood under the tent, watching the Ming army across from him, who had remained in the camp even when the Qing army was fleeing, and remained indifferent. His face finally became completely gloomy.

"Neither fighting nor retreating, what on earth are these Ming troops trying to do?"

Tong Yangjia was furious and yelled angrily, but the generals under his command looked at the wooden wall that was connected to the opposite side of the battlefield, and a trace of despair arose in their hearts.

After the Qing soldiers fled back to the rear, they reorganized themselves and formed into three square formations.
During this process, the Ming army remained motionless, watching the Qing army once again form three battle arrays.

After the fierce fighting in the morning, the two armies returned to the same state as this morning, and the two sides once again confronted each other along the river bank.
In the end, the Qing army was the first to lose patience and took the lead in withdrawing to the camp in the north of the city. The Ming army watched the Qing army withdraw to the camp, but they remained motionless and lined up by the river.

But at this time, the army also issued an order, and the soldiers in the formation loosened their armor and sat on the ground.
At the foot of Guangzhou, civilians were constantly pushing their lunches towards the army.
Seeing the Ming army in such a state, Tong Yangjia and his companions lost the last bit of hope in their hearts and retreated back to the camp without coming out.
After noon, the Qing army in the north of the city finally knew what the Ming army outside the city was planning to do.
In the afternoon, Liu Qijiao finally arrived with 10,000 Longxiang troops. The 30,000 Ming troops crossed the Donghao and surrounded the Qing troops in the north of the city.

(End of this chapter)