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

Just then, Liu Jiayin suddenly looked at Zhu Cilang, who had been silent all along, and asked:
"Your Highness, shall we now order the pursuit of the peasant army?"

Zhu Cilang looked in the direction the peasant army was retreating, as if he was thinking about something.

After a moment, he nodded and said:

"Give the order."

Upon receiving the order, Liu Jiayin immediately relayed the pursuit command to the main army.

Immediately afterwards, the army that had been observing finally moved, and more than 50,000 people began to advance forward.

However, their goal was not to fight the peasant army again, but to drive them to the second line of defense that had been set up beforehand!

According to Zhu Cilang's plan, Li Zicheng would encounter 70,000 Ming troops led by Lin Zhaoding during his retreat, and then the two sides would engage in another round of fighting.

However, Lin Zhaolin's 70,000 men were certainly no match for the remaining 160,000 peasant army. But Zhu Cilang did not intend to let them completely wipe out the remaining peasant army; he only wanted to let them wear down the peasant army.

In this way, Zuo Liangyu, who was at the very end, would face a much smaller number of peasant soldiers.

As long as Zuo Liangyu can withstand the last wave of peasant army attacks, Zhu Cilang will lead the remaining 100,000 troops to join him and then completely resolve the peasant army scourge.

Moreover, it is more than 30 miles away from where Zuo Liangyu is stationed. The peasant army will be exhausted after running all the way, which can be considered a kind of depletion for them!

The scene then shifts back to Li Zicheng.

At this moment, the peasant army had lost its previous high spirits.

Their faces were filled with exhaustion and fear, their bodies covered in blood and mud, and they were all fleeing desperately like stray dogs.

Moreover, they couldn't escape too quickly, because if the cavalry at the front escaped too fast, the peasant infantry behind them wouldn't be able to keep up.

If they can't keep up, those peasant armies will definitely choose to surrender to the imperial court, and then Li Zicheng's forces will become fewer and fewer.

Therefore, when Li Zicheng fled, he needed to look back at the peasant army behind him from time to time to ensure that most of them could keep up with the group.

At this moment, his eyes were filled with anxiety and helplessness, because he knew that every minute and every second was crucial.

As for those who were too tired to run or deliberately fell behind, Li Zicheng didn't bother with them.

After all, under these circumstances, he couldn't attend to everyone; he could only preserve the majority of his troops first.

And by this time, they had already escaped the firing range of the flintlock muskets.

After all, Zhu's army consisted of infantry, which had limited speed, but Li Zicheng knew that this did not mean they were safe.

After marching forward for a while, Li Zicheng noticed that the infantry behind him were quite far away, so he ordered the army to stop and wait for the infantry to catch up.

He rode on his warhorse, watching the infantry slowly approaching in the distance, his mind filled with a myriad of thoughts.

Just then, a bodyguard next to him unscrewed his water bag and handed it to Li Zicheng.

Li Zicheng casually took a sip, and the cool water moistened his somewhat parched throat, restoring some of his energy.

Then Li Zicheng realized something and handed the water bag to Zhang Xianzhong, who was standing next to him.

Zhang Xianzhong didn't stand on ceremony and took the water bag and drank a mouthful.

He was already thirsty from running for his life, and given his status, it was impossible for him to carry such a water bag with him!
After taking several gulps of water, Zhang Xianzhong returned the water bag to Li Zicheng and then silently looked ahead.

Immediately afterwards, Li Zicheng glanced at Zhang Xianzhong with a complicated expression, his eyes filled with regret and self-reproach.

Because he truly regretted it!

If he had believed Zhang Xianzhong's earlier words and made preparations, things would not have turned out this way.

All of this is due to his arrogance and distrust of Zhang Xianzhong!

But it seems pointless to say these things now.

For a moment, Li Zicheng's heart was filled with helplessness and pain, as if he were being pressed down by a huge rock, unable to breathe.

Just then, Liu Zongmin rode up on horseback from not far away.

His face was full of anxiety, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, as if he had discovered something extraordinary.

Upon arriving beside Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin hurriedly said:
"Chuang Wang, this is bad! We seem to have spotted Ming troops ahead. There are a lot of them, and they've already formed a battle formation! It seems Li Dingguo wasn't lying to us; there really is a large number of Ming troops behind us!"

His voice was filled with fear and helplessness as he said this.

In an instant, Li Zicheng was completely stunned.

Because he hadn't expected that what Li Dingguo had said before was actually true!

damn it!
Didn't he surrender to the Ming army?
Why would you actually tell me about the Ming army's troop deployment?
At this moment, Li Zicheng was filled with deep regret!
Just then, Liu Zongmin asked again:

"Chuang Wang, what should we do now? You'd better make a decision as soon as possible!"

Li Zicheng took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

Then a resolute glint flashed in his eyes, and he said in an icy tone:
"Send the order! Drive the peasant army forward, let them hold back the Ming army, and then we will lead the main force to find a way out and charge straight out!"

"In short, we absolutely cannot get trapped!"

His voice was deep and firm, as if he were ready to burn his bridges.

Upon hearing this, Liu Zongmin instantly understood Li Zicheng's meaning.

This means sacrificing a portion of the peasant army to buy the main army a chance to escape.

Although it is cruel, it is a trick they often use.

Therefore, Liu Zongmin did not hesitate for long and immediately replied:
"As ordered!"

He then rode away.

Before long, the peasant army's ranks changed again.

The elite troops began to gradually move to the rear, while some of the most ordinary peasant soldiers were driven to the front.

These peasant soldiers stared blankly ahead, unaware of what fate awaited them.

The army marched forward for about five miles, and the peasant soldiers were already exhausted.

Their steps grew heavier and heavier, each step seemingly exhausting all their strength; some even collapsed to the ground, unable to get up, their eyes filled with despair.

But at this moment, no one dared to stop.

Because if they stopped, they would be facing Li Zicheng's supervisory team! These people would not be polite to them; if they stopped, they would whip them or kill them with knives.

To avoid dying there, they could only grit their teeth and continue forward, their hearts filled with fear and helplessness.

In just five miles, the number of peasant soldiers who died from exhaustion, fainted, or were killed exceeded several thousand!
For these peasant soldiers from the lower classes, this war was like a nightmare from which they could not wake up, plunging them into endless suffering.

Therefore, when Li Zicheng's peasant army actually got close to the Ming army led by Lin Zhaoding, their numbers had been reduced to 150,000.

On the other side, Lin Zhaoding had already led the Ming army to wait for a long time.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the Ming soldiers' armor, gleaming with a cold light, as if foreshadowing the bloodshed and cruelty to come.

Lin Zhaoding stood on the high hill, staring intently at the peasant army that was gradually approaching in the distance, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

The time for him to make his move has finally come!

"Pass down the order: prepare to attack!"

With Lin Zhaoding's command, the entire Ming army formation instantly tensed up, like a bowstring ready to be drawn.

Their formation was exactly the same as that of Zhu's army before, with rows of soldiers holding heavy shields at the front, and behind the shields were soldiers holding flintlock muskets.

Their eyes were calm and focused, their fingers lightly on the trigger, ready to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy at any moment.

Although the soldiers at the rear were not equipped with flintlock muskets, the knives and spears in their hands gleamed coldly. They were ready to swarm in and reap heads once the flintlock troops had torn through the enemy's defenses.

At this point, some people might ask, didn't Zhu Cilang say before that this war would mainly focus on persuasion to surrender? How come it seems that Lin Zhaoding has no intention of persuading surrender at all, but is preparing to start the war directly?
Could it be that Lin Zhaoding would dare to disobey Zhu Cilang's orders?

That's not actually the case!
When Lin Zhaoding saw these peasant soldiers appear here, he knew that the previous attempts to persuade them to surrender had completely failed, and that these peasant soldiers had been driven here by the previous army.

According to the original plan, there was no need to persuade them to surrender in this situation; we could just launch a full-scale attack!
Lin Zhaoding will only stop attacking after they choose to surrender.

After all, Zhu Cilang wasn't stupid; why would he insist that Lin Zhaoding try to persuade the enemy to surrender when they were facing an army of over 100,000?

Immediately afterward, the moment the peasant army at the forefront entered firing range, Lin Zhaoding issued the attack order without hesitation.

"shooting!"

In an instant, a barrage of gunfire erupted like thunder, and countless bullets rained down, striking the peasant army at the forefront.

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang."

In an instant, blood splattered everywhere, screams filled the air, and a single volley of fire took the lives of more than a thousand peasant soldiers.

Even so, the peasant army in front continued to charge forward, their eyes filled with fear and helplessness, but their steps did not falter in the slightest.

Because they simply couldn't stop charging forward. If they didn't, the supervising team behind them would kill them without mercy. Plus, being swept along by countless people, they didn't even have a chance to turn back. They could only keep charging forward to their deaths.

And so, under the dense barrage of fire from the Ming army, the peasant army fell one after another like wheat being harvested.

Just moments later, more than 5,000 people were killed or injured.

The air was thick with the stench of blood and gunpowder, making one want to vomit.

Seeing this scene, Li Zicheng, who was at the rear, felt as if his heart was bleeding. He looked at the soldiers falling one after another in front of him, and his heart was filled with regret and self-blame.

If he had known earlier that the Ming army would be so powerful, he would definitely have changed his tactics and adopted more flexible and varied strategies to deal with them.

But it's too late to say anything now, because there's no going back in this world.

He then took a deep breath, tried to calm himself down, and began to carefully observe the battlefield situation, looking for a breakthrough.

After careful consideration, Li Zicheng finally selected a suitable direction, then pointed in that direction and loudly ordered Liu Zongmin and the other peasant army generals beside him:
"Break through from here!"

Liu Zongmin and the others quickly agreed and then promptly relayed the order.

Before long, the peasant army of over 100,000 people split into two groups: one group continued to charge the Ming army at the front, while the other group tried to break through the Ming army's encirclement.

Their shouts were deafening, as if they were about to overturn the entire world.

However, Lin Zhaoding showed no sign of backing down in the face of such an offensive.

He gave a cold laugh and ordered the soldiers to continue firing.

As a result, under the dense firepower of the Ming army, the peasant army charged forward like moths to a flame, only to be mercilessly killed time and time again.

By the time they reached the front lines, casualties had exceeded 20,000, and that number was still rising.

However, at this point, as the distance between the two sides closed, the advantage of the flintlock musket seemed to become less effective.

The originally uniform three-stage firing pattern was disrupted, and the soldiers had to abandon this efficient firing method and instead grab their flintlock pistols and charge forward to fight the peasant army.

Even if it couldn't be loaded and fired, the flintlock musket was equipped with a sharp bayonet at the tip, which could easily pierce a hole, making it perfectly usable as a spear.

Moreover, by this time, the peasant army had already been completely defeated and had no will to fight left.

Even after they had rushed to the front lines, the sight of the ferocious Ming soldiers filled them with fear and despair, making it impossible for them to fight.

At the same time, troops from the rear who were not equipped with flintlock muskets also rushed up, brandishing their swords and spears, and engaged in fierce fighting with the peasant army.

In an instant, the battlefield was filled with deafening battle cries, and blood and flesh flew everywhere, a truly horrific sight.

Seventy thousand Ming troops clashed with over one hundred thousand peasant soldiers, and the two sides began to fight each other head-on.

Although the Ming army was outnumbered, it had an absolute advantage in morale.

They were all full of fighting spirit and eager to be the first, as if they wanted to vent all their anger and hatred on these peasant soldiers.

Therefore, in just one encounter, the peasant army at the front was routed.

Meanwhile, unnoticed by anyone, Li Zicheng had already led his elite troops to break through the Ming army's encirclement, and then led all the peasant soldiers he could bring forward.

At this point, only about 80,000 soldiers remained with him.

The remaining 50,000-plus men were already caught up in the fighting with the Ming army and had no way to escape!

However, Li Zicheng viewed these as necessary sacrifices!
Upon seeing this scene from afar, Lin Zhaoding immediately ordered an army to give chase.

But don't misunderstand, he didn't really want to catch up with Li Zicheng's army, but rather to make Li Zicheng panic and rush towards the third line of defense.

After all, this was one of their pre-planned strategies!

Even the direction Li Zicheng fled was intentionally chosen by Lin Zhaoding. He only deployed a small number of troops there, so anyone with a brain would choose to break through from that direction. (End of Chapter)