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

……

The artillery position, with eight mortars lined up in a row, aimed forward.

The second gunner handed forward a copper-yellow ammunition, which the third gunner took, aimed at the muzzle, and put down. He then immediately opened his mouth, covered his ears, and turned his back to the mortar.

With a bang, the primer of the cannonball struck the firing pin, and it shot out instantly, landing in the Qing army's position in an incredible arc.

As several explosions rang out, flames suddenly erupted from the Qing army's rear, where soldiers and officers who had been waiting for orders were now engulfed in flames.

The soldier hit by the shell was blown to pieces, and his armored bodyguards beside him also met the same fate, either having their heads blown off or their upper bodies severed, leaving the scene a bloody mess.

The mortar's kill radius is about 15 meters, while the Qing army's ranks were extremely dense, with about thirty or forty men standing within a 15-meter radius.

In just one round of shelling, the Qing army lost two to three hundred men instantly.

However, the loss of two or three hundred men did not frighten the Qing army. What they feared was the New Army's imperceptible artillery fire and its terrifying kill radius.

Kong Youde, who was about 800 or 900 paces from the front line, was stunned when he saw this scene.

My mind went completely blank for a moment.

"What kind of cannon is this? Even if it's loaded with explosive shells, it couldn't possibly be that powerful!"

He looked toward the enemy positions but did not see any large-caliber, powerful cannons.

However, as soon as the cannons fired, gunfire also erupted from the new army's positions, creating a deafening barrage of explosions.

Not only did gunfire erupt, but a second round of artillery fire followed immediately.

The mortar has a rate of fire of approximately 30 rounds per minute.

If the gunners coordinate well and the shells are passed and fired quickly enough, the mortar can theoretically fire even faster.

Although there were only eight mortars, their rate of fire was beyond the imagination of people of that era.

It looked as if dozens of red-coated cannons loaded with exploding shells were bombarding the Qing army's position.

The Qing army was instantly thrown into chaos by the bombing.

Seeing that things were not going well, the deputy general next to Kong Youde immediately pulled Kong Youde back.

"Your Highness! We cannot stay here any longer, let's retreat!"

Similarly, Chen Tai and Zhang Cunren, who were watching the battle from the rear, were also frightened by the fierce artillery fire and immediately led their men to retreat.

In the midst of the chaos, Kong Youde remained calm, his gaze fixed on the rear, and shouted, "Have Ma Xiong direct the army to disperse and retreat in an orderly manner!"

They had barely exchanged blows when Kong Youde and his men immediately realized something was wrong and turned their horses to flee.

As soon as they moved, Li Weiguo immediately noticed the group of people dressed in magnificent armor.

The Qing army soldiers participating in this battle wore colorful armor of various colors, making it difficult to distinguish the big fish.

Kong Youde led the Han Army's Plain Red Banner, whose armor and clothing were predominantly red. Chen Tai was from the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner, whose armor was bordered. Zhang Cunren's troops were from the Bordered Blue Banner, and Chen Jin's troops were from the Han Army's Plain Blue Banner. However, at this time, the Plain Blue Banner was led by several generals, including the still-living Zhang Yingmeng.

Now, as soon as these people move, they are accompanied by a group of elite soldiers, which makes it clear that they are big fish.

Li Weiguo immediately gave the order: "Your fifth team is responsible for fire coverage, bombing the areas with many soldiers. Your third team, keep an eye on those big fish and bomb them, quickly adjust the angle!"

The three gunners immediately took out their sights to determine the distance, then took out their quadrants to measure the elevation angle of the gun barrel, and finally used a level to adjust the horizontal position.

Once everything was ready, the first gunner immediately nodded in signal, and the second and third gunners cooperated to pass the shells and fire them.

The entire process takes no more than a minute.

The sound of cannon fire rang out again.

However, the distance of the explosion horrified Kong Youde and the others who were fleeing.

They were 1,500 paces from the front line, and the enemy's artillery fire was still chasing and bombarding them; it was absolutely terrifying!

Moreover, their accuracy is very high. Often, they would have been blown up shortly after they moved. If they hadn't kept moving, they would probably be dead!

Having experienced countless battles, large and small, Kong Youde was no longer easily swayed by the emotions associated with warfare. However, today he felt a deep fear—a profound fear of this advanced artillery.

"Quickly! Retreat ten miles away!" Kong Youde disregarded his princely image and immediately spurred his horse to retreat.

Chen Tai had three hundred Bayara guards with him, but more than a dozen of them were killed in the bombing during the retreat, which terrified him.

Those incredibly brave and exceptional Bayara soldiers were like ants under the gunfire.

He died inexplicably before he could even display his martial prowess.

Compared to Kong Youde and his men who fled in disarray, the Qing soldiers left behind on the front lines fared even worse.

With countless shots raining down from the front lines, along with artillery bombardment, and the commander fleeing, the soldiers immediately lost all will to fight and turned to run.

Meanwhile, the vanguard battalion of the Longxiang Army was already poised to charge. On the horse trails that had been repaired on the front lines, they rushed out from both sides the moment they received the order to charge.

Two hundred cavalrymen charged at the forefront, followed by more than a thousand soldiers.

"kill!"

Ma Bing charged into the crowd like a sharp blade, as if entering an empty field.

The infantry behind caught up and started cutting down anyone they saw.

This charge caused the Qing army to collapse instantly.

At this moment, Chu Gang, who had been observing the battlefield from the rear, gave the order;

"Order the entire Longxiang First Army and the Longxiang Fourth Army to pursue them, with the cavalry battalions of both armies providing fire support from the rear at any time."

"Pursue for twenty li, then sound the retreat."

"Yes."

With signal flags waving, the First and Fourth Armies of the Longxiang Army charged out of the trenches.

On the main road between the hillsides, the vanguard cavalry and the cavalry of both armies filed out from the horse trails on both sides.

Kong Youde kept looking back, and as the sound of cannons gradually subsided, he heard shouts of battle coming from behind.

"Well, I thought the rebels' artillery fire was like lightning, capable of striking us directly."

Seeing the rebels pursuing him from behind, Kong Youde breathed a sigh of relief. As a seasoned general with extensive experience, he quickly calmed himself down and began to analyze the situation.

"The rebels' pursuit shows that their attack just now was not a miracle, but their artillery was just a little more advanced. We can get the secrets of these artillery pieces through spies later."

"If the rebels don't pursue, I'm not afraid of them. I admit I'm inferior in artillery, but I don't believe they dare to chase after us. They are stronger than the warriors of my Great Qing in hand-to-hand combat."

"Li Benzhen."

"Your subordinate is here." A general as tall as an iron tower rode up to Kong Youde's side.

"I order you to lead three thousand elite troops to ambush and cover the rear in the woods ahead. If the rebels catch up, ambush them immediately."

"Yes, Your Highness." Li Benshen led his 3,000 elite troops to immediately break away from the main force and lie in ambush in the woods ahead.

Kong Youde and his men fled towards Jianyang City, but after traveling more than ten miles, they immediately slowed down.

He reined in his horse and looked back.

At this moment, Li Benshen led three thousand elite troops in a cannon blast, charging out from both sides to ambush the pursuing New Army.

Seeing this, Kong Youde was overjoyed and shouted to Chen Tai, "General Jingnan! The enemy army has laid an ambush! Quickly follow me and lead the elite Eight Banners troops back to kill them!"