Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 162 Whoever you are, I'll beat you all! (Bonus chapter for Silver Alliance Leader Nuanyang1314)

After eating and drinking their fill, the soldiers packed up their armor.

The auxiliary soldiers stepped forward to help the regular soldiers get dressed, and they were very busy.

The soldiers were all wearing full suits of lamellar armor, which provided comprehensive protection and were quite heavy.

After the auxiliary soldiers finished their work, they also put on their simple armor made of a single piece.

In today's great battle, they will also be sent to the battlefield as a reserve force.

The auxiliary soldiers showed no fear, only fighting spirit.

Only by taking the enemy's head on the battlefield can one be promoted to a regular soldier.

The exceptionally high treatment of regular soldiers had long been the envy of the auxiliary soldiers.

It's just about working hard; anyone can do that.

Lin Dao's various units gathered in small military formations, organized by division.

Two thousand headquarters and four divisions, gathered together to form a large army formation.

The first few rows were spearmen, followed by swordsmen and shieldmen, and then archers, crossbowmen, musketeers, and so on.

Officers of all ranks lined up on the flanks, constantly issuing orders to maintain the operation of the entire formation.

One after another, military formations stretched out along the Grand Canal, creating an impressive sight.

"Such a powerful army exists in the Jiangnan region!"

On the hilltop, Huang Taiji's expression grew increasingly solemn.

The afternoon sun shone down, and the reflections of countless suits of armor were so bright they hurt my eyes.

The rebel army opposite him was completely different from any Ming army unit he had ever seen before.

From his perspective, the troops opposite him, gathered in formation, looked like towering metal mountains pressing down on them!
In the past, only the most elite guards of the Ming army had such equipment.

But on the other side, everyone had one!
Both the Ming and Qing armies lacked iron armor; I myself started my rebellion with only thirteen suits of iron armor.

The Qing army had a higher rate of wearing armor, but a large portion of them wore leather armor.

The enemy soldiers on the other side were all clad in iron armor.

Even more outrageous, those in the front row were all wearing lamellar armor!

Lamellar armor, a high-end item, was usually reserved for officers, elite soldiers, and warriors during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Once they reached the other side, it became a common commodity, and there were countless examples of it.

Armored opponents fighting unarmored opponents, or iron-clad opponents fighting leather-clad opponents, are all examples of overwhelming force.

Huang Taiji regretted it a little. He should have listened to Dodo and thrown all the cavalry in while they were eating.

"What's wrong with me?" Feeling dizzy, Huang Taiji covered his nose and looked up. "I've even lost the courage to take a desperate gamble?"

"Damn it!" The people around him rushed forward.

Blood gushed from his nose and seeped between his fingers.

Huang Taiji shook his head, trying to clear his head, but his mind was still foggy and he couldn't control himself.

"All generals, return to your respective units." Huang Taiji, struggling to stay upright, raised his hand and pointed to Dorgon, "Prince Rui will temporarily assume command."

He was carried down the hillside for treatment, and Dorgon rode up to the banner.

"The Khan's illness is getting worse and worse."

"I don't know if I can hold on until I get back to Shenyang."

"If something goes wrong, who will inherit the Khanate?"

"The Great Khan has ordered me to temporarily take over; could it be..."

As Dorgon was lost in thought, he heard a buzzing sound coming from the sky.

Looking up in confusion, I saw a strange, large bird circling in the air.

Suddenly, the strange bird circled around and swooped down directly towards him.

In a flash, Dorgon suddenly remembered what Bai Yala of Zhenglan Banner had said last year when he fled back to Shenyang.

“A strange bird appeared in the sky and flew straight at Prince Raoyu.”

"The impact caused the sky to collapse and the earth to split open, with flames shooting into the sky. Everyone within dozens of steps died."

Dorgon, who broke out in a cold sweat, spurred his horse forward in a frenzy.

The drone descended from the sky and exploded on the ground with a loud bang!
The towering flames and smoke engulfed everything nearby.

Huang Taiji's banner also disappeared in the flames.

The commotion was so great that it stunned everyone.

When the fire and smoke cleared, the hillside was a scene of devastation.

Charred limbs and severed bodies were everywhere, and the uprooted earth was still smoking.

Undoubtedly, the morale of the Qing army was greatly affected, and even subtle unrest began to emerge.

At this moment, Huang Taiji was riding a horse, surrounded by a large number of people with two yellow flags and banners, and inspecting various places.

Wherever they went, they were greeted with cheers, and the morale of the Qing army quickly rebounded.

"Don't wait any longer."

With a ginseng slice still in his mouth, Huang Taiji, burning with the will to fight, shouted, "Advance! Push the red-coated cannons forward and fire!"

Sitting on the observation platform, Lin Dao watched as his personal guards skillfully assembled a new drone and took it off by gripping the control panel.

The original purpose was to find high-quality wild boar hides.

Unexpectedly, they saw the opposite side struggling to push a large number of artillery pieces forward.

Lin Dao immediately picked up a walkie-talkie with a note labeled "Artillery Battalion" and ordered, "Artillery Battalion, advance! Advance! Bombard the enemy's artillery!"

The drone circled twice, selected its target, and swooped down.

Many arrows flew into the sky, but the vast majority missed their target, and the few that hit had little impact.

The drone that fell from the sky crashed into the cavalry that were dragging a red cannon.

The violent explosion destroyed the cavalry and overturned the artillery.

The bondservants who drove horses and pushed carts all around, along with the artillerymen of the Han army, fell in large numbers.

"Hurry up, assemble the next one!"

Lin Dao loudly ordered his guards to assemble the new drones, then grabbed a walkie-talkie and commanded, "Those in front, hold the line! Don't rush! Artillery battalion, get up there quickly and destroy all the enemy's artillery!"

No matter how thick the armor is, it can't withstand cannonballs.

The artillery battalion's dozens of cannons finally crossed the troop line and rushed to the forefront.

At this point, the two sides' lines of soldiers were less than two miles apart.

The red-clad cannons on the opposite side have already begun setting up their digging positions.

The artillery battalion used horse-drawn cannons, which allowed for rapid deployment.

The artillerymen, all top students in math from night school, used the various observation and aiming equipment provided by the forest ranger to determine the distance. 'Boom!'

Another suicide drone fell from the sky and destroyed a red-coated cannon, leaving the surrounding area littered with dead and wounded.

Some of the bondservant servants were terrified and turned to run, only to be killed on the spot by the bannermen who were supervising the battle.

"My drone is very expensive."

Lin Dao, who was launching another drone into the air, frowned and muttered to himself, "Trading one drone for one primitive artillery piece, what a huge loss."

"We should at least replace him with a prince to make up for the loss."

Artillery posed a great threat; a single shell flying through a dense group of armored soldiers could carve a bloody mess.

This is a major threat and must be eliminated as soon as possible.

The archers on the Qing army's side were frantically shooting arrows into the sky.

Liu Liangzuo's troops, located on the flank of the battlefield, encountered tremendous pressure.

The Eight Banners infantrymen supervising them had swords held directly to their necks, urging them to rush forward as quickly as possible.

Having no other choice, Liu Liangzuo and his men could only grit their teeth and move forward quickly.

'Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~~'

'Bang bang bang~~~'

The rebels fired their crossbows and muskets in turn, felling large numbers of former Ming soldiers who hadn't even changed out of their clothes and armor.

Lin Dao, who witnessed this scene through the drone, also frowned.

His brow immediately relaxed. "Whoever you are, hit them all!"

The former Ming soldiers charged forward.

On the rebel side, bugles sounded, and officers of all ranks quickly and loudly organized their ranks.

The armored soldiers in the front row thrust forward rhythmically with their spears, while the shield bearers in the back row charged forward with their shields, leaping and fighting.

In the blink of an eye, it was a bloody face-to-face battle.

The morale of the rebel army was high, and the commander-in-chief offered an unprecedented reward for the battle.

Even a head of a Han Chinese soldier was worth fifty taels of silver and an acre of dry land.

The price was even higher for the various Mongol tribes, worth 100 taels of silver plus two mu of dry land.

The most expensive were naturally the Tartars, whose heads were worth as much as two hundred taels of silver and two acres of paddy fields!
As the saying goes, there must be a brave man under a heavy reward.

Such a high-level reward also inspired the soldiers' fighting spirit.

They are willing to risk their lives to get rich.

The thunderous sound of hooves echoed as large numbers of Mongol cavalrymen from various tribes circled around and began launching volleys from a hundred paces away.

At a distance of 100 paces, the projectiles from bows and arrows are not very lethal; they are mainly used to demoralize the troops.

'Bang bang bang~~~'

The sound of muskets rang out, and a large number of Mongol cavalrymen fell from their horses.

A nobleman from a tribe whose warhorse was struck broke his neck.

His mind was full of questions before he died.

"How can their muskets shoot so far and so accurately?!"

The battle on the flanks quickly escalated into a fierce struggle.

Facing the fully armored rebel army, Liu Liangzuo's troops, who were at the forefront, fought with utter despair.

The gap in equipment is too large.

Their formation had become loose, but the opposing team maintained it very well.

Long spears thrust forward, shield-bearers clashed, and muskets and crossbows fired incessantly.

"Dongdongdong~~~"

The war drums beat faster and faster, and the rebel army marched forward in response.

The spearmen shouted loudly, gripped their spears tightly, and repeatedly thrust them into the bodies of their opponents.

The shield-bearing swordsmen leaped back and forth in battle, reaping the lives of the puppet Ming soldiers.

Dodo, who was overseeing the battle, ordered the Mongol cavalry to charge into the enemy lines and disrupt their formation.

The Mongol tribes dared not disobey, and could only grit their teeth and charge from the flanks on horseback, praying that the enemy would collapse and flee as soon as possible.

The rebels did not flee, but responded with rows of spears.

With a forest of spears in front of them, the charging Mongol cavalry fell like bubbles in a tidal wave.

A few who broke through the formation and entered the ranks were quickly surrounded and killed by the swordsmen and shieldmen.

"Bang bang bang~~~"

After firing a round, the musketeers immediately mounted their guns and charged forward, stabbing men and horses.

The fierceness displayed by the rebel army sent chills down the spines of both the Tatars and the various Mongol tribes.

They had never encountered so many brave and fearless Han soldiers who were unafraid of death!

The fighting on the left wing was extremely bloody and brutal.

The right wing, advancing along the canal, has not yet engaged in battle.

In the middle lane, artillery fire between the two sides was still ongoing.

On the left wing, the fighting had already reached a fever pitch.

The rebel army here was in high spirits and successfully withstood the Mongol cavalry charge.

Liu Liangzuo's troops, however, could not withstand the enormous losses and began a large-scale rout.

They hadn't even received any rewards before they were thrown into a life-or-death situation after joining Huang Taiji's cause.

Lacking both fighting spirit and morale, they have already done right by the Khan by holding on until now.

The Eight Banners infantrymen who were supervising the army swung their swords and hacked down the fleeing soldiers.

These defeated soldiers were no pushovers either; they too brandished their weapons and began to fight.

"whole team."

Lin Dao, who witnessed this scene through the drone, took the walkie-talkie and gave instructions to the battalions on the left flank.

"The rear battalion advances to engage in combat, the front battalion organizes its troops to evacuate the wounded, and auxiliary troops fill the gaps."

Not far to the left flank, a large number of Mongol cavalry were gathering, about to launch the next charge.

Lin Dao saw several noble-looking people riding tall horses, constantly shouting and pacing back and forth to boost morale.

He immediately turned the suicide drone around and swooped down to crash into it.

"I don't care who you are, I'll beat you all!"

(End of this chapter)