There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 175 Dilemma
The sudden collapse of the Qing army's left wing caught Mingliang off guard.

He had considered that the army might collapse, but he never expected it to collapse so quickly. Less than half an hour after the entire army began fighting, the left wing had already collapsed first.

The collapse of the left wing is not actually a big problem, because the real problem lies on the main battlefield. He has already committed all his supervisory teams and driven the vanguard battalion to launch a desperate charge, but they still cannot break through the rebels' positions even after half a day.

They managed to push it over, but it was very slow, and the casualty rate was frighteningly high.

The Han army also suffered casualties, but these were disproportionately small compared to the Qing army.

The casualty ratio is almost 1 to 10.

Even with the Han army exhausted from prolonged fighting and the Qing army having a local numerical advantage, they still managed to be in such a sorry state.

The Qing generals who were watching the battle with Mingliang at the rear of the army formation all felt their scalps tingle.

The morale of these rebels is ridiculously high. They're fighting like this and they're not collapsing yet. Are they all made of iron?
"Boom boom boom!"

The Han army's cannons suddenly opened fire.

The target was not the main battlefield, because the Qing army and the Han army were locked in a fierce battle, and the artillery dared not fire indiscriminately for fear of accidentally hitting friendly forces.

Just because artillery cannot be fired on the main battlefield does not mean that artillery cannot be fired on the flanks.

The Qing army's left wing collapsed, but the right wing had not yet.

The Qing army's right wing, having hastily encircled the enemy and being on the other side of the battlefield, was unaware that their allies on the left wing had already collapsed, and even the central army suffered an absurd casualty ratio, making it impossible to advance.

This right-wing Qing army was densely packed and had exceptionally high morale, making it almost the most spirited Qing army unit on the battlefield.

"Kill the traitors...wait a minute, what's that in the sky?"

Just as the Qing soldiers were about to shout and charge into battle, they suddenly saw many dark objects appearing above their heads.

The objects fell very fast, giving the few Qing soldiers who spotted them almost no time to react before they rushed towards them.

Snapped!
His head exploded, his brains splattered, red and white splattered all over the ground.

The cannonballs that landed immediately began to bounce and roll wildly, like an ox plowing the field, each shell carving out a furrow of flesh and blood.

There was no other way; the Qing army consisted mostly of new recruits. To ensure their combat effectiveness, the focus of their training was on battlefield formations to prevent them from collapsing too quickly.

At this point, they all became sitting ducks. The Han army only needed to roughly calculate the distance of the cannonballs. Even if they missed, it didn't matter. With thousands of people running together, even if the cannonballs missed, they could still kill a lot of Qing soldiers.

Well, now the Qing army's right wing has collapsed as well, even faster than the left wing, before it has even engaged the Han army in direct combat.

"Boom boom boom!"

The Qing artillerymen also opened fire, but their shots were still off target; however, they had the advantage of having more cannons.

Nineteen red-coated cannons and thirty-one Weiyuan cannons all fired simultaneously.

Under intense fire, the flank of the Han army's position was finally hit by several shells, resulting in more than thirty casualties in an instant.

The Han soldiers on the flank of the position instinctively turned to flee.

"The supervisory team, advance and drive away the fleeing soldiers!"

Bai Nan coldly issued the military order, and the Han army's supervisory team quickly stepped forward, hacking and slashing at the fleeing soldiers whose flanks had collapsed.

The daily training provided ample sustenance, and military households were also given extra land allocations. Meritorious service was rewarded, those who died in battle received pensions, and military families enjoyed tax exemptions.

These benefits and privileges are not free. Anyone who deserts during wartime will be dealt with leniently by the supervisory team and executed without exception!

Even if they died, they would be punished as deserters, their extra land would be reclaimed, and their military dependents' benefits would be revoked.

"The central army advances to fill the gap!"

The Han soldiers behind them, led by their respective officers, immediately pushed forward to fill the gap in the position.

"The artillerymen should fire rapidly and take out the Qing army's artillery positions."

The Han army's cannons immediately turned around and fired rapidly at the Qing army's position, which had just fired a shot.

The Han army's cannons all used modern industrial seamless steel pipes, and the quality of the steel was absolutely up to standard. In addition, there were no gaps, so there would be no air leakage. They could withstand the chamber pressure of rapid firing and would not suddenly explode.

"Boom boom boom!"

The Han army artillery began firing rapidly, completely disregarding ammunition consumption and aiming issues.

After a salvo, the gun barrel is quickly cleared, then shells are loaded, and the next salvo begins.

Although the Qing army had more cannons, they were caught off guard by the Han army's cannons' rate of fire.

"Traitors...aren't traitors afraid their cannons will explode?"

A Qing Dynasty artilleryman watched as his comrades, along with their artillery vehicle, were smashed to pieces by a single cannonball; he was terrified.

Who the hell would dare to engage in artillery duels with the Han army now?

Don't kill!

The Qing army's artillery positions collapsed almost immediately upon contact. They abandoned their cannons, either leaving them behind and fleeing or using them as cover, lying in the back and not daring to show their faces.

Mingliang's entire army pressed forward, only to suffer a crushing defeat. Both flanks collapsed, and the battle on the front lines was fiercely contested. However, the morale of the Han army was so high that it did not collapse. In fact, the Qing army's casualty ratio was even more alarmingly high.

Behind the Qing army's lines, the Qing generals had long since stopped paying attention to the battlefield and were instead arguing incessantly.

"General, we can't fight anymore!"

“The Han traitors are extraordinary; they must possess sorcery and evil magic. All of their soldiers are fearless and undaunted.”

"Both flanks have collapsed, and our artillery has been suppressed by the Han traitors. The Han traitors' cannons are sharp; even with such frequent firing, they are not afraid of exploding and can still hit so far."

"General, continuing the fight is pointless and will only increase casualties. Even if we don't withdraw, we should at least retreat to the main camp and deal with the Han traitors!"

"..."

The generals chattered amongst themselves, their hearts bleeding from the pain of this battle.

In just one day, the casualties of our own soldiers had already reached nearly three thousand, and the casualty rate had long exceeded fifteen percent, even showing a tendency to approach twenty percent.

The reason it hasn't collapsed yet isn't because of the Qing army's elite forces, but because the Qing army's main force in the battle from beginning to end was the vanguard battalion. After the constant fighting, the casualties of the vanguard battalion weren't that frightening.

In addition, the soldiers had become numb from continuous fighting and were no longer afraid.

Of course, the Han army also suffered heavy casualties in such fierce hand-to-hand combat, with over a hundred killed and hundreds more wounded.

These casualties were mainly due to the continuous fighting of the Han army, and most of the casualties came from the Han army's vanguard positions.

A forward position withstood the Qing army's relentless attacks. No matter how good the Han soldiers' weapons and equipment were, even the most iron-willed men couldn't withstand it!

"General, we really can't fight anymore. If we keep fighting, we'll almost wipe out all our men."

The general who said this was clearly from Xiangyang. In fact, apart from the officers of the three thousand cavalrymen in the main force, all the generals surrounding Mingliang were from Xiangyang.

That's why they said they couldn't fight, because the soldiers dying on the front lines were all from their hometowns, and some were even distant relatives or nephews leading troops in battle.

Can they not be anxious?

There was no other way; the Qing army's regular troops in Huguang had already been wiped out in the battles of Chenzhou and western Hunan. If the Qing army wanted to quickly rebuild its fighting strength and resist the Han army's offensive, it had no choice but to cooperate with Han gentry and use them to help recruit and train soldiers.

It can be said that this was the true source of the devastating blow to the Qing Dynasty caused by the White Lotus Rebellion.

The Han gentry, who had previously been suppressed by the Manchu Eight Banners nobles, seized this opportunity to rise up and seize power.

Mingliang now felt he was in a difficult position. If the fighting continued, it would be hard to turn the tide of the battle. His artillery was useless, and both flanks had collapsed. He would have a hard time even withstanding the Han army's offensive.

The original encirclement was showing signs of being counter-encircled, and the situation on the front was also dire. The difficulty of pushing forward was no longer the problem; the problem was the increasing casualties, and the supervisory team was about to lose control of the fleeing troops.

How to fight?
If we retreat now, there might still be a chance... a chance my ass! With 20,000 troops routed, a calm retreat is virtually impossible.

The Han army will not let go of the good opportunity to strike a drowning dog. In the end, it is highly likely that the Han army will pursue and attack relentlessly. If he wants to retreat successfully, he will have to abandon some troops, and there may be quite a lot to abandon. How many troops he can save depends entirely on luck.

Moreover, even if he had preserved his main force, had a numerical advantage, and had made prior preparations, he still managed to fight such a disastrous battle while holding his position.

Then they can forget about fighting the Han army head-on in the future, because their morale will definitely collapse to the bottom. The soldiers and generals will be terrified of the Han army, and in future battles, a huge number of them will flee!
Unless he trains new recruits, but even if he does, not to mention whether he has the time, he wouldn't be able to scrape together the money and supplies.

If he doesn't retreat but instead goes back to the main camp to stall the Han army, the problem will be even bigger. If he really does that, then after some maneuvering, he won't have to fight anymore. He'll either retreat and run away, or... he doesn't know what to do.

Retreating is not an option, nor is staying.

Then...

"Pass on my order: send the cavalry battalion to attack, charge into the Han rebels' formation, and rout their army!"

Upon hearing this, the officers' pupils widened in shock. They had thought that Mingliang had made up his mind to retreat, but it turned out that he was going to do something big!

"General..."

"This is a military order!"

The military commander has gone mad!

Mingliang neither retreated nor held his camp, but instead decided to send his main force of three thousand cavalrymen all in.

This is just a gambler who's lost so much he's betting all his savings on the table, hoping to turn things around.

Whether or not a comeback is possible is anyone's guess, but if you lose the gamble, it's truly a hopeless situation.

"Dong dong dong dong!"

Mingliang simply snatched the drumsticks from a drummer and, without even taking off his cotton armor, personally beat the drums to cheer on the three thousand cavalrymen.

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

With a deafening roar of drums, three thousand Qing cavalrymen set out.

These three thousand cavalrymen were all Green Standard Army cavalrymen who fled after the Qing army's crushing defeat in the Battle of Chenzhou.

The Han cavalry was outnumbered and unable to catch up, which allowed the three thousand Green Standard Army cavalry to escape.

Since Mingliang and Eledengbao had no troops available and all their Eight Banners cavalry had perished in Chenzhou, they simply gathered up these Green Standard Army cavalry.

Now, these Green Standard Army cavalry, as the Ming Dynasty's last trump card, have finally struck!
(End of this chapter)