The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 142 A good start
The city gate slowly opened, and a thousand Pingyang guards, dressed in mandarin duck battle jackets and carrying standard-issue long spears and waist knives, rushed out aggressively, led by Huang Wenjun and several centurions.

"The government troops have left the city!"

"Get ready for battle!"

When Li Zicheng saw the government troops leaving the city, he was overjoyed and immediately ordered the entire army to speed up their advance, preparing to take advantage of the government troops' unstable foothold and capture them in one fell swoop.

The two armies quickly approached each other and clashed violently on an open field about four or five miles outside the north gate of Lingshi City.

"kill!"

The shouts of battle instantly shook the heavens and the earth.

Although the recruits were a little nervous, they managed to maintain their formation under the supervision of their officers.

The swordsmen and shieldmen in the front row held off the government troops' charge, while the spearmen in the rear thrust forward with all their might.

The archers and musketeers in the middle also began to fire arrows sporadically.

These Pingyang garrison soldiers do have some fighting ability, but they are far from reaching the level of the border troops. It is suitable to use them to train new recruits.

Most of these new recruits were going to the battlefield for the first time.

It would be a lie to say that one wasn't nervous in the face of the government troops' disciplined formation and fluttering flags.

But the thought of having the main force behind them, coupled with the confidence they had gained through months of hard training, allowed them to suppress their fear, straighten their backs, grip their weapons tightly, and fight fiercely against the government troops.

The two sides exchanged blows, wielding swords and spears, and for a time they were evenly matched.

This scene greatly surprised Huang Wenjun, who was personally overseeing the battle from the rear, and he was somewhat embarrassed.

He thought he could defeat the bandits with a single charge, but he didn't expect them to be so tenacious.

Seeing that the battle was at a stalemate, Huang Wenjun knew things were not going well and quickly ordered his troops to retreat into the city in an orderly manner.

Li Zicheng, with his keen eyes, noticed that the government troops were trying to retreat, so he immediately sent men to pursue them.

However, he was still somewhat inexperienced and lacked practical experience.

Li Zicheng and his new recruits had just approached the city wall when suddenly guns and cannons opened fire from the wall.

A barrage of bullets and cannonballs rained down on Li Zicheng, catching him completely off guard, and the new recruits were also driven to flee in panic.

Upon seeing this, Huang Wenjun immediately stopped retreating, turned around, and charged towards Li Zicheng.

"You've gone too far in! Get out of here!"

Li Zicheng reacted quickly and led his men out of the city wall's firing range.

But after all that back and forth, the recruits' morale had weakened considerably.

Seeing their comrades being shot down by muskets and blasted to pieces by cannonballs, the courage that these new recruits had just mustered was suddenly dashed, and their fear of the government troops once again took over.

Once their momentum weakens, their hands and feet become flustered, and the various combat tactics and coordination they had practiced before naturally suffer.

Li Zicheng was repeatedly defeated by Huang Wenjun's troops and had no choice but to order a retreat.

He originally intended to follow the method used in training, with the rear ranks becoming the front ranks, taking turns providing cover, and retreating in an orderly manner.

They also lured this government army to the rear, so that Jiang Han's elite main force could surround and kill them.

However, the pressure from the government troops was too great, and Li Zicheng was no longer able to control his soldiers. The retreat quickly turned into a massive rout.

On a gentle slope not far away, Jiang Han held a telescope, taking in the changes in the entire battle situation, and couldn't help but sigh softly.

In this small-scale engagement, the new recruits performed quite well, but the command of Li Zicheng, the main general, was indeed somewhat unsatisfactory.

However, Jiang Han couldn't be too critical.

After all, it was only the fourth year of Chongzhen's reign, and Li Zicheng had not experienced many battles; most of the time he was just helping out from the sidelines.

Most importantly, Jiang Han intercepted Li Zicheng's core forces. In the original history, Li Zicheng would have first gathered a group of loyalist troops, and then take over the border troops under the command of Wang Jiayin, Wang Ziyong and others after their defeat and death.

This is the true starting force of Li Zicheng.

But history has been rewritten. Li Zicheng lacks these core members and corresponding military experience, and can now only be considered a minor leader with some courage and strength.

Left with no other option, Jiang Han had to send Shao Yong to meet Li Zicheng.

Shao Yong nodded, led his men to block the retreat route of the fleeing soldiers, then raised his general's flag and rallied the fleeing troops.

Meanwhile, Huang Wenjun also saw the general's flag and reinforcements that suddenly appeared in the distance, but he didn't pay any attention to them.

In his view, the enemy's defeat was inevitable, and no matter who you are, you can forget about regrouping your remaining troops and organizing a counterattack under these circumstances.

Unfortunately, he clearly underestimated Shao Yong's prestige as the "head instructor" among the new recruits;
What he didn't expect was that what awaited him was not some scattered soldiers, but a real elite force.

After Shao Yong erected the commander's flag on the hillside, he did not immediately step forward to stop the fleeing soldiers. Instead, he ordered his men to form a wedge formation.

The soldiers in the front row held their spears in front of them to prevent fleeing soldiers from charging into the enemy formation.

The soldiers in the rear shouted loudly, guiding the fleeing soldiers to circle around from both sides and regroup behind the commander's flag.

When the defeated soldiers saw the general's flag not far away and heard Shao Yong's familiar yet stern command, they felt as if they had found their backbone.

They all consciously bypassed the military formation and ran to the rear to assemble and await orders.

In this way, the scattered and defeated soldiers were easily gathered together.

Huang Wenjun led his pursuers deeper into the enemy territory, only to find that Shao Yong had already led his troops to wait in full battle formation not far ahead.

Upon seeing the pursuing troops, Shao Yong immediately ordered his soldiers to charge without saying a word.

These are Jiang Han's elite troops; how could Huang Wenjun possibly withstand them?

In just one exchange, the guards were completely overwhelmed and suffered countless casualties.

The pursuers from a moment ago have turned into deserters in the blink of an eye.

Upon seeing this, Captain Hong Ming immediately led his cavalry to attack from the flank, pursuing and killing the government troops until their bodies were strewn across the field and blood flowed like a river.

Despite his best efforts, Huang Wenjun managed to escape back to Lingshi City with only three hundred remaining soldiers in a sorry state.

But at this time, there were only more than 300 soldiers left in Lingshi County. The people were in a state of panic, so how could they possibly defend the city?
Dong Erzhu led his brothers from the artillery battalion, lined up ten newly cast heavy cannons, and unleashed a fierce bombardment on the city wall.

The cannons roared, and several breaches were blasted in the battlements. Bricks and stones flew everywhere on the city walls, and no one dared to stand on them.

Huang Wenjun's face turned ashen. Knowing that the situation was hopeless, he had no choice but to open the city gates and surrender.

In this way, Jiang Han won his first victory since entering Pingyang Prefecture with almost no effort.

The entire battle, from start to finish, lasted less than half a day.

The messenger Huang Wenjun sent to Fenxi for help probably didn't even reach the area before Lingshi County had already changed hands.

Everyone was happy, but Li Zicheng alone was somewhat sullen.

Seeing this, Jiang Han stepped forward, patted him on the shoulder, and comforted him:

"General, don't be discouraged. No one is born knowing how to lead troops."

"Only those who survive are qualified to gradually learn the art of leading troops."

Jiang Han was absolutely right. Of the dozens of large and small rebel armies in Shanxi, who knows how many would be left in the end?

Their pressure has lessened considerably now, but the real test is yet to come.

(End of this chapter)