My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Meanwhile, Li Zicheng on the other side was completely bewildered.

Because he simply couldn't figure out what the Ming army on the other side was trying to do; this was unlike any Ming army he had faced before.

Previously, both sides primarily used infantry, with cavalry as a secondary force, attacking each other under the cover of artillery fire.

But why have the Ming troops on the other side suddenly stopped moving?

Moreover, there weren't many cavalrymen around, which seemed different from the previous way of fighting!

And the infantry on the other side were also strange. The men in front were standing together with their shields raised, while the soldiers behind them were hiding. It was unclear what they were up to.
What kind of playing style is this?

Could this be a new tactic developed by the Ming army?
Li Zicheng frowned, completely unable to understand the situation before him.

But no matter how much he didn't understand, the fighting had to continue, because the war wouldn't stop just because of his doubts.

Moreover, he was confident that as long as he could get close to the enemy's army, he could swallow them whole!

Therefore, the next second, Li Zicheng gave another order:

"Charge! Brothers! As long as you kill the Ming soldiers on the other side, you can have everything you want!"

After saying this, Li Zicheng also charged forward, leading a total of 170,000 men to charge forward as well.

As Zhu Cilang rode on his horse, watching the 170,000 men charging towards him, he unconsciously tightened his grip on the reins.

Because this scene was just too shocking!

These 170,000 people surged in like a tidal wave, as if they were about to devour everything!
Unfortunately, they were destined to devour nothing.
As the distance between the two sides drew closer, the Tang King, standing at the forefront, gripped his weapon tightly.

His hands trembled slightly from the effort, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Although he had fought in wars before, they were only minor skirmishes. This was the first time he had participated in a war of this magnitude, so he was quite nervous!

The Zhu family army behind him were equally nervous, as it was also their first time on the battlefield, and they were even more nervous than the Tang emperor.

But when they thought of the promise they had made to Zhu Cilang, they could only forcefully suppress their fear.

After all, these members of the Zhu family have been eating the emperor's grain for hundreds of years, and it's finally time for them to contribute to the Zhu family's empire!

The distance between the two sides gradually closed in a tense and oppressive atmosphere.

When the distance between the two sides had been reduced to two hundred meters, and the peasant army on the other side was surging forward like a tide, the Tang emperor finally gave the order:
"shooting!"

At this moment, the Tang King's voice was incredibly loud, as if a bolt of lightning had shattered the silence of the battlefield.

At that very moment, Zhu's troops, who had been unable to contain themselves any longer, began to rapidly pull the triggers in their hands.

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang."

In an instant, deafening gunfire erupted, the sound seemingly even louder than the previous artillery fire.

Bullets rained down on the peasant army.

Almost instantly, more than a thousand members of the peasant army on the opposite side fell.

Their bodies were hit by bullets, blood gushed out, and they instantly lost the ability to move.

This scene came so suddenly that the peasant soldiers in the rear had no time to react and continued to rush forward on their own, like a swarm of headless flies.

Available in the next second.

"bang bang bang"

Another burst of gunfire rang out, and more than a thousand peasant soldiers fell, their bodies crashing heavily to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

Finally, someone realized what was happening!
Before the peasant army leaders could utter a single word, they immediately turned around and tried to escape.

But it was too late. Zhu's army on the other side did not stop at all, and round after round of bullets were fired.

The bullets, like black locusts, swarmed towards the peasant army.

After several rounds of bullets, approximately five thousand peasant soldiers were either wounded or killed.

In an instant, countless corpses lay scattered across the battlefield ahead, blood stained the earth red, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of blood and gunpowder.

Now, even a pig should realize what's happening!
The peasant army at the front immediately erupted into chaos, and panic spread rapidly like a plague.

"Stop charging! Charging forward is suicide! Run back! Run back!"

Someone shouted at the top of their lungs, their voice filled with despair.

The peasant soldiers at the front witnessed their comrades fall one by one, and their hearts were filled with fear. They were unwilling to go forward and die.

So they kept trying to rush back, their steps hurried and frantic, as if countless evil spirits were chasing them.

Some soldiers fell to the ground while running, and before they could get up, they were trampled underfoot by the panicked crowd behind them, letting out painful screams.

What's worse, the troops behind them didn't know what had just happened and kept charging forward, which caused the two groups of people to collide directly, and the whole scene became extremely chaotic!

The surrounding supervisory teams were already terrified, because they had witnessed the Ming army's flintlock musket formation firsthand and knew that it was something they could not possibly contend with!
As soon as they got close to the Ming army's firing range, they would be hit by bullets and die instantly!
But duty called upon them, and they rushed forward, brandishing their long knives and whips in an attempt to stop the peasant army's rout.

"No retreating! Charge forward!"

The soldiers of the command team shouted at the top of their lungs, their broadswords slashing through the crowd, each strike sending up a cloud of blood mist!
However, by this point, they simply couldn't cut through the enemy lines.

Because the peasant army at the front had completely collapsed, and all they could think about was escaping, they no longer cared about the orders of the supervising team.

Although the supervising team fought valiantly, their strength seemed so insignificant and powerless in the face of the peasant army that was fleeing like a tide.

Meanwhile, gunfire continued to erupt from Zhu Jiajun's army on the other side.

Each volley of gunfire was like a heavy hammer blow to the hearts of the peasant army.

Each volley of those dense bullets took the lives of anywhere from seven or eight hundred to over a thousand people.

The peasant army of 170,000 men was packed together like a flock of lambs to the slaughter. They didn't need to aim at all, and their hit rate was surprisingly high!
This scene was naturally witnessed by Li Zicheng!

At this moment, Li Zicheng, who had been full of vigor, was filled with shock and disbelief.

He first stared wide-eyed in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe what was happening before his eyes, and then looked at Zhang Xianzhong beside him with a shocked expression.

Because he finally remembered the warning Zhang Xianzhong had given him.

This means that the Ming army may have been equipped with more advanced firearms!
But he didn't believe it at the time, and even mocked Zhang Xianzhong in his heart, saying that he was afraid of the Ming army and that's why he came up with such a lame excuse.

Now that the facts are before him, he finally knows that Zhang Xianzhong had not lied to him.

It's just a pity that it's too late.
At the same time, noticing Li Zicheng's gaze, Zhang Xianzhong responded indifferently and slowly said, "King Chuang, I told you about this before, but you didn't believe me!"

His voice was calm and indifferent, as if none of this concerned him.

Li Zicheng was not angered by Zhang Xianzhong's tone; he simply looked ahead again with a complicated expression.

At this moment, the formation in front had completely collapsed.

Faced with the Ming army's flintlock muskets, no peasant army dared to take another step forward.

Because the flintlock muskets were firing so densely, each shot was accompanied by screams and a spray of blood. In just a short time, the number of dead and wounded was at least eight thousand!
Why is this happening? Why is this happening?

Could Hanzhong really be the place where I, Li Zicheng, will die?

For a moment, Li Zicheng's face showed pain, and his eyes were filled with confusion and despair, as if he could see his future of failure.

He knew he might really lose!
Just then, Liu Zongmin rode up to Li Zicheng, who looked anxious and said:

"Chuang Wang! It's no use! The army at the front has collapsed. The Ming army's firearms are too powerful. We can't hold them off at all. What should we do now?"

At that moment, the peasant army at the forefront all fled backwards without regard for their own safety.

Their footsteps were chaotic, and they pushed and shoved each other, as if something terrible was chasing them.

The consequences of this were like a domino effect, with more peasant soldiers starting to flee in panic.

Judging from this situation, if no decision is made soon, this peasant army will head straight for their own central camp, causing complete chaos in the entire army.

Moreover, given this situation, the supervisory team simply couldn't handle the situation.

Some peasant soldiers even directly attacked and killed the supervising team, snatched their horses, and scattered and fled.

For a time, shouts of battle and screams of agony mingled together on the battlefield, creating utter chaos.

At this point, unless Li Zicheng personally went forward to kill the already collapsed peasant army, he would not be able to stabilize the situation at all!
But he simply couldn't do it, because there were just too many of these peasant armies!

For a moment, Li Zicheng closed his eyes with a pained expression, as if he were struggling painfully inside.

But in just a moment, Li Zicheng suddenly opened his eyes again, a resolute look flashing in his eyes!
It's clear he's made his decision!

The next second, Li Zicheng gave the order:

"Pass down the order! The entire army retreats!"

Li Zicheng practically roared out those last four words, his voice filled with anger and resentment.

Upon hearing this, Liu Zongmin did not hesitate at all and quickly headed towards the rear.

Before long, Li Zicheng's army began to slowly change formation, with the rear guard becoming the front guard, and then began to retreat rapidly.

However, this transformation will take a long time, and the peasant army at the front lines is becoming increasingly chaotic.

Although they were fleeing for their lives, Zhu's army was relentlessly pursuing them.

However, since it was their first time on the battlefield, the army's organization was somewhat poor, so at this point, Zhu's army could no longer use the three-stage firing technique.

Basically, all the soldiers of Zhu's army took their own flintlock pistols and started firing.

Although the hit rate is somewhat low, a single volley of bullets can still cause hundreds of casualties.

On the battlefield, peasant soldiers fell one after another, their bodies swaying under the impact of bullets before crashing heavily to the ground.

When Zhu Cilang saw this scene from afar, he felt no excitement, but rather an unusual calm.

Because this scene was exactly what he expected.

Long before the flintlock musket was invented, he knew that no army in the world could stop the Ming army equipped with flintlock muskets!

After all, a single round can result in hundreds or even thousands of casualties, and more than five thousand casualties can be caused in a minute. Which army in the world can withstand this level of casualties?

Moreover, given the current situation, Zhu Cilang did not order the Zhu family army to cease fire. After all, the peasant soldiers still chose to flee rather than surrender, so strictly speaking, they were still the enemy!

When Liu Jiayin, the Sichuan general standing nearby, saw this scene, he was practically bursting with excitement.

He had never seen such a scene before!

Although he had never fought against Li Zicheng before, he knew that the peasant army was a formidable fighting force.

Unexpectedly, this seemingly formidable army was instantly routed by Zhu's army of over ten thousand men.

It seems this flintlock musket is truly a divine weapon!

At the same time, some soldiers of the Beijing garrison who had not participated in the Battle of Songjin were also shocked by what they saw.

Although most of them were equipped with flintlock muskets, they never imagined that flintlock muskets would be so powerful on the battlefield.

Faced with flintlock muskets, the tactics they had learned over the past few hundred years were completely useless.

From then on, they only needed to rely on firepower to sweep through and eliminate all enemies and obstacles, which greatly shocked them!
Li Dingguo was also feeling a mix of emotions. He had spent some time in Liaodong and naturally knew about the Ming army's fighting style. He also knew that no army could withstand several rounds of flintlock musket fire.

However, when this tactic was used against the peasant army, he still felt somewhat reluctant.

Looking at the peasant soldiers falling in the hail of bullets, a hint of pity couldn't help but show in their eyes.

But he also understood one thing: these casualties were necessary.

Without these casualties, the peasant army would not be deterred, and they would still not surrender.

Only when they fully experience the strength and invincibility of the Ming army will they give up resistance and choose to surrender.

And by that time, the war will be completely over!

Thinking of this, Li Dingguo's eyes suddenly became firm.

Before long, the peasant army finally changed direction completely and headed straight for the distance.

Just then, the blue light began to darken, and their figures looked particularly disheveled in the afterglow of the setting sun, like a pack of stray dogs.

Meanwhile, the number of wounded and dead they left behind had already exceeded ten thousand.

The battlefield was littered with corpses, and the earth was stained red with blood. The dead peasant army had completely fallen silent.

As for the wounded peasant soldiers, they groaned in pain on the ground, their eyes filled with helplessness and despair, seemingly awaiting their final death! (End of Chapter)