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

……

Wang Erzhu hid in the trench, held his gun, aimed, pulled the trigger, then pulled back, pulled the bolt, ejected the bullet, chambered the chamber, and fired again.

After repeatedly emptying the five bullets in the magazine, his hand trembling, he took out a strip of bullets from his pocket, aimed it at the bolt, and pressed it down hard. The metal strip cut his thumb, drawing blood and causing a slight pain.

But he merely wiped the blood on the corner of his clothes, then immediately loaded the gun, aimed, and fired.

This is the fighting style he learned at military school.

The instructor told him that people will always feel fear when they go to the battlefield. He should aim to make the first shot as accurate as possible, and then fire at the enemy as quickly as possible. He did not seek to kill the enemy, but only to be able to fire at the enemy quickly.

This is the only way to ensure that the enemy cannot break through the position and to save one's own life.

When Wang Erzhu was studying at the military academy, he received such advanced weapons made in Jian'an. He felt that he could jump out of the trenches and fire wildly on the battlefield, killing countless enemies.

But when he actually got to the battlefield and saw that the enemy had also taken out firearms and aimed them at him, he panicked.

Although the enemy's firearms were inferior to theirs, at such close range, if they were hit in the head, wouldn't they be doomed?

"Erzhu, you're making things too difficult for us. The enemy can't hurt us at all."

Brother Long, who had just finished firing a magazine of bullets, was hiding in the trench reloading.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Brother Long is unmarried and childless; he's actually older than Wang Erzhu. I heard that after all of Brother Long's family was wiped out, he participated in several battles against the Qing dynasty and even killed people with his own hands. He's a ruthless character.

He lay on the sandbag and fired all his bullets before getting down to reload.

"It's not the 'what if' that's scary, it's the 'what if'. Our lives are more valuable than theirs." Wang Erzhu forced a smile, not feeling any guilt or wrongdoing for being a coward.

Military regulations state that as long as you don't desert and follow orders, how you fight is your business.

"I'm not talking to you anymore. I hit the bullseye every time just now, so I'll be able to earn more money today."

Brother Long grinned, changed his magazine, immediately stood up, lay prone on the sandbag, and fired forward.

Meanwhile, on the open ground ahead, Ming soldiers were killed in droves, all terrified by the fierce firepower of the new army.

Some panicked and jumped into the water, some tried to escape back to the boat, and some simply lay on the ground and pretended to be dead.

Hong Xu was also terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly jumped into the water and, thanks to his good swimming skills, found a small boat and quickly rowed away.

The bullet hit the small boat, sending up wood chips and instantly creating a hole in a vulnerable spot.

Hong Xu looked towards the shore in alarm, only to see people there aiming rifles at him.

Terrified, Hong Xu jumped into the water and swam back underwater with all his might, barely daring to breathe, almost suffocating.

Yang Cai, who came to provide support from the rear, encountered Hong Xu and quickly pulled him out of the water.

The troops from the two towns were not far apart, so he witnessed the complete defeat of Hong Xu's Left Vanguard Army.

"Brother Hong, are you alright?"

"N-nothing... I'm fine." Hong Xu lay on the deck, soaked to the bone, panting heavily, and occasionally vomiting water.

However, at that moment, a loud cracking sound rang out—the sound of wood chips exploding.

Upon hearing the sound, Hong Xu jumped up and immediately lay face down on the deck.

"Run! Run! We can't win! Make the young master surrender!"

After saying this, Hong Xu crawled on the ground and fled to the stern of the boat like a human spider. Then he decisively jumped into the river and swam frantically backward. He seized a small boat and ordered the soldiers to retreat immediately.

Yang Cai was stunned when he saw this scene.

He crouched on the deck, the sound of the wooden planks cracking growing louder and louder. The soldiers who were originally standing on the deck were unlucky enough to be shot dead on the spot, and the others crouched down when they saw this.

"The enemy's firearms are incredibly powerful! They're still at least two hundred paces away!"

Yang Cai wanted to use firearms to retaliate, but at this distance, their firearms would probably only make a sound.

Peeking out, I saw Hong Xujun's vanguard ships blocked on the river, unmanned and without a single person on deck. On the central island ahead, corpses lay scattered on an open ground, and blood stained the river surface with floating corpses.

Yang Cai wasn't the only one to witness this scene. Shi Chaogang, as the right vanguard, charged alongside Hong Xu, but instead of the central island, he charged towards the right shore. He wanted to deal with the enemy forces on the shore and dismantle the iron chains that were fixed to it.

When Shi Chaogang saw Hong Xu's sudden defeat, he was also quite frightened. He ordered his soldiers not to disembark, but to stay on the ship and exchange fire with the enemy.

Archers dared not peek out and could only hurl their weapons; musketeers, once loaded with bullets, would peek out, fire a single shot, and immediately retreat.

However, such a firing density was too low to cause any damage to the new army.

At this point, the new army unleashed its most powerful weapon.

A mortar and a box of hand grenades with wooden handles.

Wooden-handled grenades were produced by the Ministry of Military Industry during the summer truce. These grenades were not difficult to manufacture and served as a supplement to the diversification of weapons for the new army. Therefore, they were not a production priority, but that does not mean they were not produced at all.

Looking at the blocked river ahead, Liu Guanyi, the company commander of the rear guard battalion, couldn't help but sneer.

"Did you think you could stay safe just by hiding on the boat?"

"Bomb it!"

"Send a few strong guys to throw this box of grenades within a minute!"

"Yes, platoon leader."

Several soldiers immediately opened the wooden crate, inside which was a row of brand-new wooden-handled grenades, thirty in total.

As the first mortar shell was fired, sinking a small boat, several soldiers carried wooden crates closer to the shore and took shelter in pre-dug pits.

Unscrew the cap to reveal the fuse, pull hard, and a pungent smoke billows from the end of the wooden handle.

The soldier gathered his strength, stood up, and threw himself onto the ship with all his might. Boom! A plume of black smoke rose, and the ship immediately caught fire.

However, such attacks followed one after another, causing thick smoke and fire to rise from the ships that were docked. The soldiers who were still alive on board abandoned ship and jumped into the water.

Upon seeing this, Shi Chaogang was so frightened that he quickly retreated.

Courage is useless in the face of such a technological gap in weaponry; charging forward will only result in wasted lives.

With the defeat of the two vanguard armies and the news reaching Zheng Chenggong, his face immediately darkened.

He was in the rear, using his all-seeing eyes to watch the entire battle unfold from beginning to end.

From the start to the end of the battle, in less than half an hour, their side was completely crushed.

This was not a battle at all, but a one-sided massacre.

What weapons does the new army use?

Zheng Chenggong spent many years doing business overseas.

He had dealings with many foreign barbarians, such as Dutch, Portuguese (referring to Europeans or Spaniards), Japanese, and Luzon natives.

While the foreigners and Portuguese had many advanced firearms, Zheng Chenggong's craftsmen could also manufacture those firearms, and their actual combat effectiveness was about the same.

The gap will never be as large as it is today.

The enemy's firepower was as dense as a downpour; it was simply impossible to retaliate under such intense firepower!

"Sound the retreat." Zheng Chenggong ordered a retreat. Continuing the fight would only result in more casualties. To break through this defensive line, thousands of lives would be lost, not to mention that the enemy might have reinforcements.

The battle ceased, and the new army did not press their advantage but watched Zheng's army leave.

In the evening, Zheng Chenggong and his generals gathered together, and the atmosphere in the room was oppressive.

Because of their daytime battle, the vanguard was almost completely wiped out.

"Young Master, we can't fight this new army. If we attack them head-on, we'll all be wiped out!"

"If Li Chengdong wants to beat up Li Tian, ​​let him. Even if we go back now, Li Chengdong won't dare to do anything to us."

Zheng Chenggong remained silent; to be honest, he felt somewhat hesitant.

This battle was pointless, and it wasn't even a fight between Qing troops; it was just a fight among Han Chinese.

"Young Master, why don't we send someone to talk to them and ask if Shi Lang and the others are still with Li Tian? This war cannot be fought!" Hong Xu stepped forward and said, firmly opposing the war.

Zheng Chenggong hesitated for a moment, then finally decided: "Let's do as Hong Xu said, go and talk to the new army, and ask about Shi Lang's situation. If Shi Lang and the others are still alive, we will withdraw our troops."