Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 218: Total Annihilation in One Battle

In the powerful attack of a cavalry formation consisting of nearly 10,000 horsemen, one large and one small, six cavalry walls, and another elite skirmish line, Yue Le's Eight Banners cavalry was directly beaten to pieces and completely routed.

The Ming army's cavalry formation was like a violent storm, unstoppable and swift, sweeping through the enemy. The so-called Eight Banners Army was left in ruins!
Under such a fierce attack, the Eight Banners Army in the valley almost completely lost its combat effectiveness. Thousands of warhorses and cavalry crowded on the edge of the foothills on both sides in order to avoid the Ming army's cavalry formation.

Yue Le and his guards were no exception. They were on the east side of the valley at this time. Fortunately, the Eight Banners soldiers above them had the upper hand, and they were not attacked by arrows from the Palace Army soldiers.

The attack of the Ming cavalry was far from over. After dealing a fatal blow to the Qing cavalry group, the cavalry of the two cavalry formations gradually overcame inertia after rushing out more than a mile.

Under the command of the officers around them, these horsemen quickly turned their horses around and began to line up again, preparing for a second round of counterattack and a new round of attacks on the Qing army.

Of course, after that earth-shaking charge, the Ming army's formation was now in complete disarray.

But this was completely within the expectations of Zhu Cilang and Lin Changfeng. Even if it was the most elite cavalry battalion of the Tianqi Army, no matter how much training those cavalrymen received, it would be impossible for them to reorganize their formation in such a short time after charging.

Moreover, after the cavalry charge, what the Tianqi Army needed most at this time was not a strict formation, but to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight.

Lin Changfeng needed to defeat these Qing cavalrymen, who were now riddled with holes, completely before they could react.

Zhu Cilang looked at the place where the two armies collided in the valley. The ground was littered with corpses of soldiers and horses, blood was flowing like a river, and there were countless injured war horses. The Eight Banners soldiers were wailing and screaming on the ground, making bursts of miserable cries. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, revealing a cold smile.

He has already won the battle, and the next step is to clean up the mess and organize the results of the battle.

"Chang Denggui, lead the reserve troops into the arena, blow the charge, and attack with all your might!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

On the other side, Yue Le looked at the piles of corpses of men and horses on the battlefield where the two armies had just collided. He was horrified to death, and even his hands holding the reins could not stop shaking.

Although he had heard of the reputation of the Ming army's cavalry, he had never seen it with his own eyes. He could never imagine such a completely reckless and ferocious fighting style.

After all, in his subconscious, no army could defeat nearly 10,000 Eight Banners cavalry in such a short time, not even the Emperor Ming's Palace Army.

Although Yue Le had no confidence in defeating Zhu Cilang's army, he knew that if he was trapped in the valley, he would surely be defeated.

But being defeated after a hard fight for a day and a night, and being eliminated miserably after one round, are completely different concepts.

He had nearly 10,000 cavalrymen under his command, all of whom were elite Eight Banners cavalrymen. Yet, they were so vulnerable that they were completely defeated after just one round.

After all, Yue Le was a veteran who had experienced many battles. After taking a quick look around, he roughly estimated that the losses in the previous battle were at least 2,500 soldiers, and may even be close to 3,000. Moreover, the entire army's front line had been shattered, and the command center was completely ineffective.

Now, even if he wanted to do something to save the situation, it was almost impossible.

After all, as all the Qing cavalry were squeezed to the foothills on both sides, the central army where Yue Le was located had completely lost the possibility of command.

"Master, let's retreat quickly. We can definitely break out from the mountain path over there!" Bayala leader, one of Yue Le's men, said excitedly.

As he spoke, he turned his head to look at the Ming cavalry who were gathering in the rear, and the Ming army who were preparing to attack in the front, with a look of horror on his face.

As a Bayara of the Eight Banners Army, and the most elite Bayara officer among them, this was the first time such an expression appeared on his face.

Upon hearing this, Yue Le turned his head and looked at his subordinate, a look of surprise on his face. He had never expected that the morale of his men had completely vanished.

Without waiting for his order, many Eight Banners cavalrymen could no longer hold back and began to flee in all directions, without any need for the Tianqi Army to continue attacking.

Yue Le looked at the demoralized and disorganized troops, feeling very depressed. He had not given up yet, but now, he had also lost the last bit of fighting spirit.

"Master, look, Aljin has already run away. Let's not waste time here with these Nikans!" A guard beside Yue Le suddenly raised his hand and pointed to the back and said to him.

Yue Le, who was already disheartened, was suddenly awakened by the shout. He turned his head and saw that Aljin's flag quickly turned into a mountain road, followed by hundreds of horsemen. More horsemen continued to follow this group of cavalry, and the number was even increasing.

Seeing this, Yue Le could no longer hold on. He gave orders directly to Bayala and the guards beside him, and then led a large group of people to the nearest mountain road.

Seeing the situation take such a sudden turn for the worse, his keen intuition formed from years of fighting on the battlefield began to dominate his brain again. After weighing the pros and cons, he finally chose to break out with the remaining one hundred or so Bayala and guards to save his own life.

Of course, there is a more important reason - Yue Le saw that the Ming cavalry, which had just rushed into the valley in the north, started to charge again. He was so surprised that he lost his fright and chose to escape.

However, at this time, Chang Denggui had already ordered his soldiers to blow the bugle to attack the entire army, and the rumbling sound of war drums also sounded. He had missed the best opportunity to break out.

As Yue Le led his troops up the mountain, he saw Lin Changfeng leading a large group of cavalry, launching a new charge. The hundreds of armored soldiers who had previously formed a strong formation on the gentle slopes of the mountain and held off the Ming army's attack were now in disarray.

This is what it means to be "a crushing defeat". By the time Yue Le reacted and was stunned, it was too late.

If it were an ordinary battlefield, Yue Le would probably have led the last few hundred Bayala and guards, taking advantage of the chaos in the Ming army, and directly charged to interrupt the Ming army's offensive, or even to tear open a gap and reverse the defeat.

But now, he has completely lost his composure, and those so-called strategies have no effect at all in the valley.

The Qing cavalry groups that had been squeezed to the foothills on both sides early on had completely lost their command and their morale was broken. Faced with the Tianqi Army that was launching a new offensive at a very fast speed, they fled in all directions.

After all, in addition to the cavalry in the north, teams of tightly-formed infantry were coming from the south of the valley, and there were thousands of cavalry leading the way ahead, so they were definitely not someone they could defeat.

The soldiers of the Tianqi Army kept speeding up amid the "wooo woo woo" sound of the trumpets. Countless Qing cavalrymen who had completely lost their will to fight and were on the edge of the battlefield immediately turned their horses around and fled at high speed before the Ming cavalry group rushed over.

But the mountain road was narrow, and tens of thousands of cavalry and infantry were crowded in it. Most of them had lost the chance to escape and were soon overwhelmed by the violent attack of the Ming cavalry!
Amid the rumbling sound of horse hooves, Lin Changfeng did not hesitate at all and personally led the Tianqi Army's cavalry and rushed towards the Qing army in the valley.

He always had a very keen judgment of the situation on the battlefield. Seeing that the Qing cavalry was in such chaos, he knew that no tactics were needed. The faster they charged, the greater the results would be.

After all, the Qing army trapped on the plains in the valley at this time still had more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry combined. After suffering the attack from the cavalry just now, their morale was very low, and it was almost impossible for them to reorganize a counterattack.

As for the hundreds of Qing troops on either side of the mountain, who had been resisting steadily, they now scrambled to retrieve their horses and try to escape. The Ming army's improvised cavalry charge continued with incredible speed. Thousands of Tianqi soldiers, galloping on horseback, carried Lin Changfeng's flag, and hundreds of battalion officers, captains, and generals, all advanced directly toward the chaotic Qing army's retreating forces, their momentum unstoppable.

This time, the Qing army did not directly confront the enemy. Most of the Eight Banners had already collapsed before they even came into contact with the enemy. The Ming army that swept in sat on the wall from the sides and behind, chasing and killing these once powerful enemies.

Of course, during this process, many battle-hardened and experienced Eight Banners cavalrymen successfully escaped from the mountain roads on both sides. Some of them even passed through the wide gaps in the Ming cavalry formations and finally entered the mountain roads.

But the six horizontal columns of the Tianqi Army in the north swept across again, and the infantry and cavalry in the south approached step by step. Most of the remaining Qing cavalry in the valleys and plains were unable to escape.

Chang Denggui personally led the infantry and cavalry in the south to attack, and quickly defeated the remaining Qing troops in the valley. The vanguard cavalry kept attacking and killing the Eight Banners vests who were running around with their heads covered.

The infantry, in the form of a small mandarin duck formation, cleared out and killed those Green Camp soldiers and Baoyi soldiers who had fallen off their horses and were injured, or who were dizzy and had no time to escape.

Seeing the mountain roads were blocked, the defeated Qing soldiers who tried to break out from other places had no time to find a breakthrough point. They were killed or wounded in the rounds of intensive attacks by the Ming cavalry and combat phalanxes.

Although the offensive formation of the Ming army's infantry and cavalry had become chaotic due to their rapid movement, they did not suffer any effective attack from the Qing army. The spearmen and sword and shield soldiers cooperated closely and dealt a fatal blow to the Qing army that was fleeing madly with its backs to them.

Chang Denggui rode his horse and killed his way forward. His body was soon covered with sticky blood, and his personal guards were also blood-thirsty at this time.

As for those who were one step ahead and wanted to break out from the mountain passes on the east and west sides, most of them were cavalry. After such a life-and-death run, both the men and the horses were exhausted. Faced with the dense cavalry chasing them from behind, they had no power to fight back at all and could only allow the latter to hack and kill them at will.

Not only that, Yue Le, along with his men Bayala and guards, ultimately failed to successfully break out of the valley. He realized it too late and could not squeeze into the nearest mountain road.

Under the attack of the Tianqi Army, Yue Le's flag quickly fell among the charging horses. As a defeated general, he had no chance to show his ability again.

The Ming army's final round of attack was full of vigor. Chang Denggui and Lin Changfeng personally led the cavalry guards and launched a devastating attack on the Qing army in the middle from the north and south directions.

Under the fierce attack of the Ming army, the Qing army's center, which had lost its command and flank cover, was quickly and completely defeated. The remaining tens of thousands of Qing army remnants scrambled and pushed each other to escape.

In the valley, the Qing troops who were chased and killed by the Ming army were almost in a state of collapse. They screamed in panic and trampled on each other.

On the mountain roads on both sides of the watershed, the Qing cavalry and infantry, in order to escape quickly, ruthlessly killed the soldiers and even the cavalry who blocked their way.

Those Eight Banners soldiers, Green Camp soldiers, and Baoyi soldiers who had lost their war horses did not retreat at all in this situation. They stretched out their spears and stabbed at the cavalry who were paused on the ground.

At this time, the so-called Eight Banners soldiers, Green Camp soldiers, and Bondservants had no distinction between high and low, and they all killed each other just to escape!

But they were destined not to have a chance to escape. The Ming cavalry charging from north to south, and the infantry charging from south to north, quickly turned their forces around and began to attack the Qing troops in various mountain passes.

The retreat routes of the Qing army had already been blocked by thousands of defeated soldiers, and many of them were even covered with thorns, making them unsuitable for marching.

As the Ming army pursued from behind, the killing among the defeated Qing soldiers intensified again. They did not dare to turn around and fight back. Soon, the narrow mountain roads and wilderness on both sides of the valley were littered with corpses.

The corpses of the defeated Qing soldiers and countless war horses were piled up in these narrow passages, and even the soldiers could not pass through some of them.

At this time, many Qing army deserters finally came to their senses and began to flee to the nearby mountains, but escaping through the dense forest was also a life-threatening situation.

At this time in the battlefield, let alone escaping along the narrow passage, in such a disorganized situation, even in the plains, it was destined that only a few soldiers would escape in the end.

The allied forces of Alashan and Wu Sangui in the north failed to make a breakthrough despite the personal resistance of Tian Jianxiu.

As shouts of victory came from the south, the morale of the right army in front of the palace was greatly boosted. They changed their originally weak defense. The five or six thousand remaining soldiers who had retreated to the two wings even formed a scattered offensive phalanx and launched a resolute charge towards the Qing army line.

In the Ming army's formation, sharp spears and swords were wielded to chop down the nearby Qing infantry and cavalry. Even the Ming army musketeers behind the formation raised their muskets and opened close-range shooting at the Qing cavalry in front of the formation. The shouts and screams of the cavalry and soldiers fighting were endless.

Not only that, a burst of "bang bang bang" musketry sounds came from the side of the Ming army line. It was the first row of musketeers who had been reorganized. Although the power was not great, the front row of the Qing army that was originally attacking was hit by this attack, and dozens of people fell down in an instant.

Wu Sangui led more than 200 elite servants to the front line to command. There were cavalrymen running around him everywhere, but he could not stop the counterattack of the Ming army whose morale was greatly boosted.

"It seems that the Tartars are really going to lose!" Wu Sangui murmured. At this point, he no longer had any concerns.

Faced with the counterattack of the Ming army, the Qing cavalry had no intention of fighting and turned their horses around, trying to escape the battlefield. Many Eight Banners cavalry and Guanning cavalry fell into chaos. Many war horses were frightened by the attack of long spears and jumped and turned in panic on the spot.

Not only that, with the rumbling sound of horse hooves coming from the south, the ferocious Tianqi Army cavalry had begun to charge towards the army of Alashan and Wu Sangui.

Seeing this, Wu Sangui shouted angrily and led the cavalry around him to rush towards the mountain road on the side of the battlefield where people shouted, horses neighed and gunshots rang out.

He brought with him more than a hundred guards in vests, and with a hoarse voice, he kept swinging his sword to kill the Green Camp soldiers and even the Eight Banners soldiers who blocked his way.

At this time, Wu Sangui no longer cared about so many things.

He only hoped that Yang Kun, whom he had sent out, would return with the cavalry to pick him up. However, things did not go as he wished, as Yang Kun was nowhere to be seen, and it was unknown whether he was dead or alive.

Wu Sangui retreated very quickly. Before Alashan could react and the Tianqi Army had no time to attack from both sides together with the right army in front of the palace, he had already fled into the mountain path with dozens of escaped riders.

As the Tianqi Army launched its final attack on the Qing army in the north, the last group of defeated Qing troops quickly disappeared in the valley of the watershed.

The troops of Yue Le and Wu Sangui, including the Green Camp troops and civilian laborers they recruited along the way in Henan to serve as artillery, a total of more than 30,000 Qing troops were almost wiped out.

Among them, only a few Eight Banners cavalrymen fled into the valley, and hundreds of vassal soldiers who were taken away by Yang Kun and Aljin in the chaos early in the morning, and more than a thousand Eight Banners soldiers fled as a whole. In fact, there were only more than two thousand people.

On the battlefield, more than 5,000 Green Camp soldiers and vassal soldiers finally surrendered, and the rest, along with the Eight Banners armored soldiers, were all killed in the valley by the Palace Army and the Heavenly Cavalry Army.

As the earth-shaking shouts and cries of killing gradually faded away, the air above the battlefield in the valley south of the watershed was still filled with the strong smell of blood. The ground was littered with corpses, blood flowed like a river, and there were thousands of wounded war horses, neighing in confusion.

(End of this chapter)