With 100,000 elite soldiers at the start, what should you call me?

……

Inside the Qing army camp, Chen Jin paced back and forth, his face showing anxiety.

He originally wanted to take advantage of the situation, wait for the Ming army and the rebels to fight each other, and then launch a surprise attack to recapture Jianning Prefecture.

In this way, he could give an explanation to the six thousand elite soldiers who had died before, and he could also secure his position as Governor-General of Zhejiang and Fujian.

But now he never expected that his army of fifty or sixty thousand would be blocked in the open field by an army of just over ten thousand.

That's utterly absurd.

"Where exactly did we go wrong?"

"Our Great Qing cavalry is invincible under heaven. Their combat power goes without saying. They crushed the Ming army. The Ming army was besieged in the city for months and was already like grasshoppers jumping around in autumn."

"Moreover, I have intelligence from spies that the rebels and the Ming army are disregarding the overall situation and have started fighting each other. Why shouldn't I take advantage of this?"

Not long ago, Chen Jin received news that Jianning Prefecture had fallen and the rebel army had already entered the prefecture.

Yet they couldn't even reach Ningyuan Gate.

They watched helplessly as the Ming army's flags were replaced with the rebel flags, a bright red cloth.

"That good-for-nothing Lü Wencai! It's been so long, and he still hasn't gotten anywhere!"

Chen Jin grew angrier the more he thought about it. He strode out of the tent, had his subordinates bring him his horse, mounted it, raised the whip, and galloped quickly to the front line.

Meanwhile, Lü Wencai, who was attacking the high ground at the front, was also extremely anxious.

"Damn it, push the shield carts and heavy infantry forward!"

"I refuse to believe their guns can penetrate the shield cart!"

After several rounds of attacks, Lü Wencai realized that the enemy on the high ground was difficult to deal with. Their firearms were very different, with dense firepower, great power, and high accuracy.

The soldiers couldn't even get within a hundred paces; the mound was littered with the corpses of Qing soldiers.

Lu Wencai was now in a panic. If he couldn't get rid of the thorn in his side, his position as a military commander would be in jeopardy!

Even when attacking from below, he would still deploy shield carts to slowly push forward.

As long as they can engage in close-quarters combat, they will definitely win!

"Commander, our bullets don't seem to be able to penetrate their defenses!"

As the Qing soldiers slowly pushed the shield carts forward, one of the soldiers noticed something unusual.

The shield cart has a very simple structure: a wooden cart with a front panel and two or three people pushing it from the back. Behind the shield cart are archers, musketeers, spearmen, and other soldiers.

The barrier in front was as thick as two or three fingers.

Although being repeatedly hit in one area at close range could penetrate the shield vehicle, the shield vehicle's defenses were already effective in resisting the new army's firepower.

The Qing army had slowly climbed the hillside and was gradually approaching the first line of defense.

Sun Quan frowned slightly as he looked down. This thing was not easy to break. By the time they broke through this shield cart, the enemy would have already rushed onto the position.

To crack this thing, we have to use a cannon!

But they didn't have any cannons.

Just as Sun Quan was anxiously racking his brains for a solution, Chen Dabiao crouched down and led his soldiers over, pulling boxes of things behind him.

"Chen Dabiao, what brings you here?"

"Haha, Lao Sun, the commander sent me to support you. Look what good stuff I brought you."

Chen Dabiao grinned and took out a bunch of strange things, including a gun barrel with a fuse plugged in and a grenade that looked like it was made of ceramic.

"The army commander had long anticipated that we would have a tough battle. The Hanyang rifles we have are not enough to hold off so many Qing troops in the field."

"So, after we set up shelter from the rain yesterday, the army commander had the technical department teach us how to make bombs."

"These detonators are made from gun barrels, so they're more powerful. These ceramic ones are probably less powerful. I haven't tried them, but as long as they can explode, that's fine."

"Let's not talk about that now, let's get this out of here and have the brothers blow up the enemy's shield vehicles."

Without much thought, Sun Quan immediately distributed the hand grenades made with smokeless gunpowder.

Unlimited bullets mean unlimited gunpowder, and unlimited gunpowder means unlimited bombs.

Zheng Youren was the first to fight against the Qing army. After the first ambush battle, he realized that relying solely on the Hanyang rifles to fire shot at some heavily defended targets was simply not enough.

So the idea of ​​making hand grenades came to mind, an idea inspired by Li Tian's making of explosive packs.

"Charge! Everyone who wipes out this rebel army will be rewarded!"

As Lü Wencai watched the shield cart slowly approach the trench, the corners of his mouth finally turned up in a smile.

As long as we get there.

They can win!

Just as he was feeling happy, a bunch of unidentified objects were suddenly thrown out from in front of him, and the next second an explosion was heard.

The formation formed by the shield vehicles in front instantly deformed, and the soldiers pushing the vehicles behind them were blown to pieces, their heads flying off.

"It seems like it can take on ten thousand men? But how can its power be so great?"

"Report! General, the gates of Jianning Prefecture are wide open, and enemy reinforcements have come out."

"Report! General Lü, the Governor-General requests your immediate presence!"

When two pieces of bad news reached Lü Wencai's ears, it was as if the sky had fallen, and Lü Wencai almost fell off his horse.

"Lu Wencai, I gave you ten thousand troops, why haven't you taken that small hill yet?"

Chen Jin held the riding whip, while Lü Wencai knelt on the ground, his forehead covered in sweat.

He had thought it would be a minor, insignificant battle, but who would have thought that the rebels' firepower was so strong that they couldn't break through even after launching more than a dozen attacks.

At that moment, he suddenly understood why Li Shuotai's entire army had been wiped out.

This army is even stronger than the Ming army!

Upon Chen Jin's arrival, the attack at the front immediately ceased, and Lü Wencai was stripped of his military command.

"Governor! Give me another half an hour!"

"No, three-quarters of an hour, we will definitely take down the rebels in three-quarters of an hour."

Lu Wencai knelt on the ground, his bloodshot eyes looking at Chen Jin, ready to fight to the death.

"There is no joking in the military."

"I'll give you another 45 minutes."

"If you can't take down the rebels in three quarters of an hour, you don't need to come see me."

Chen Jin snorted coldly and flicked his riding whip, striking Lü Wencai on the shoulder.

"This humble servant kowtows in gratitude to the Governor!"

Lu Wencai kowtowed heavily, his forehead stained with blood, and immediately returned to the front line.

"Yangping".

"Your subordinate is here."

"You led three thousand infantry and cavalry to block the rebel reinforcements."

"yes!"

"An Wenda".

"Your subordinate is here!"

"Select five hundred heavily armored soldiers and charge with me!"

"General!" An Wenda looked at Lü Wencai with a shocked expression.

Seeing his superior's firm gaze, he stopped trying to persuade him and immediately made arrangements for his men.

Five hundred heavily armored soldiers, in groups of ten, charged toward the earthen slope ahead.

"Alas, Lü Wencai has fallen." Chen Jin stood on the makeshift command platform, observing the battlefield with his telescope, his fists clenched tightly.

Lü Wencai led his troops in a charge, and the enemy's 10,000-strong army came out of the city to provide support, moving very quickly.

Their muskets were incredibly sharp, with a long range and a high rate of fire. The three thousand infantry and cavalry sent out couldn't stop them at all, and they were about to join up with the rebels on the hillside.

"I failed too..."

Chen Jin's voice sounded much older at this moment as he slowly uttered the last two words: "Withdraw the troops."