Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 353 The Ming army has magic!

Chapter 353 The Ming army has magic!
"Oh!"

Seeing that the war elephants had caused the city gate to tremble slightly, Sha Dingzhou could not help but sigh at the power of money.

After being delayed for so long at the city of Ningzhou, he realized the lack of means for siege. Later, he rented some war elephants from the south through some channels, and when he arrived in Chuxiong, he finally found a place to use them.

"Line up! Line up! Once you enter Chuxiong, I will allow you to not put down your swords for three days!"

The troops under Sha Dingzhou had already been hoping to enter Chuxiong, and when this news came out, not only did the local soldiers burst into cheers, some brave ones even began to test the waters forward.

Sha Dingzhou was very satisfied with this, but when he was watching the war elephants retreating and gathering strength with interest, a panting local soldier ran over.

"Master."

With a light cry, the soldier was about to move closer to Sha Dingzhou, but perhaps he wanted to show off his magnanimity to other chieftains, because the soldier was stopped by Sha Dingzhou after taking only two steps.

"Just say what you want to say! I hate sneaky people the most!"

After the words fell, the soldier hesitated for a moment, but when he saw the fierce look in his chieftain's eyes, he could only bite the bullet and report: "Sir, there are Ming troops."

Ming army?

Aren’t all the city filled with Ming troops?
During this period of time, Sha Dingzhou became very arrogant as he killed generals and captured cities.

When he heard what the soldiers reported, his first reaction was some confusion. It was only after he had thought about it for a while that he finally understood the situation.

However, in the whole Yunnan, only Yongchang and Chuxiong can obey Mu Tianbo's orders. The rest are either neutral or have already surrendered to him.

In such a short period of time, where did Mu Tianbo get his troops from?

Did he also hire people from Myanmar?

Although people like Sha Dingzhou may not be able to discern the general trend due to various limitations, his ability to respond to emergencies is unmatched by ordinary people.

As these thoughts kept turning to his mind, he also understood the priority at the moment. He then looked at the war elephants that were rushing towards the city gate, glanced at the local soldiers who were keeping their heads down and saying nothing, then he laughed loudly, and then spoke loudly to the local chieftains beside him.

"God help me! We had to use some tricks to keep Mu Tianbo in Yongchang Fort, but now he comes here on his own initiative. Isn't he just sending himself to die in vain?!"

"Your Excellency is right! This Mu guy is a coward. I heard that he even killed a general who tried to stop him from escaping in Ningzhou City. He is truly a cowardly rat!"

"Thanks to Zhou Ding's loyalty, we can just kill that Mu guy this time, and it can be considered as us doing justice for the heavens!"

"Sir, please wait a moment. Let's lead our troops to capture Mu Tianbo, so that Yang Bingdao will have someone to accompany him on his way to the underworld!"

"Master, let us go!"

"Let's go!"

As a group of chieftains requested to fight, Sha Dingzhou couldn't help feeling proud. Just at this moment, the war elephant hit the city gate hard again, and he suddenly felt a sense of heroism in his heart.

Originally, he thought that after defeating Chuxiong, he would have to spend some time on Yongchang, but now Mu Tianbo has taken the initiative to come and send him off, and the situation in Yunnan will be decided today.

In this way, he could take advantage of the mutual attacks between the Ming and Qing dynasties to collude with Guizhou and Guangxi.

By then, Sha Dingzhou would be in control of the three southwestern provinces. Not only would he have the ability to compete with Myanmar, but he would even be able to reap the benefits between the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Once the situation develops to that extent, it is not completely impossible to rule the Central Plains. How could Sha Dingzhou not be excited?
just
"Anything else?"

Just when Sha Dingzhou was already looking forward to ascending the throne and becoming emperor, his eyes caught sight of the local soldier who came to report the news. He then asked a question in a rather majestic tone, but saw that the local soldier's face flushed as if he had something to hide.

"If you have something to say, just say it. If you have something to fart, just fart it. How can I blame you for your words?"

"Sir, those Ming troops are only three or ten miles away. Judging from their attire, they are not from Prince Mu's Palace."

"Hmph! Go down."

The soldier mustered up his courage and reported what he knew, but Sha Dingzhou responded with great disdain.

In the end, he had been hanging out with Mu Tianbo for so many years that he knew all the details of the Duke's Mansion.

In the previous battle in Kunming, the Mu family had lost all their troops, and later in Ningzhou, Mu Tianbo barely escaped with his life.

Under such circumstances, how could he possibly gather troops except by borrowing troops from Myanmar? It was understandable that their attire was not like that of the Ming army.

"Everyone, I intend to keep four of you to capture Chuxiong, and the rest of you will go with me to fight the enemy. This battle must wipe out the rebels and restore peace to Yunnan!"

"I will follow your lead, sir!"

"We are willing to obey the orders of the Lord!"

"We will do whatever the master arranges!"

Seeing that the general situation was about to be determined, all the chieftains behaved quite obediently. After seeing this scene, the vision that originally existed only in Sha Dingzhou's mind seemed to have a possibility of becoming a reality, and he immediately exuded the aura of dominating the world.

"I'm here to comfort the people and punish the criminals. Fortunately, you all helped me. When I can stabilize the situation, I will definitely not let you down!"

"Oh!"

Just as Sha Dingzhou was speaking passionately, the sound of war elephants hitting the city gate was heard.

The combination of the two was like the heavens responding to a real dragon. Sha Dingzhou was so excited that he suddenly raised the sword at his waist above his head.

As soon as he pointed forward, the quick-witted leader came out.

"kill!"

As soon as the order was given, Sha Dingzhou took the lead and rushed in the direction pointed by the local soldiers.

At this time, the Ming army also appeared in his sight. Sha Dingzhou was overjoyed and even urged his mount to urge forward.

It will be decided in one battle!

As the two sides got closer, this word kept appearing in Sha Dingzhou's mind. At the same time, the attire of the Ming army on the opposite side gradually became clearer. He couldn't help but feel a little confused like the local soldier.

Why are they only holding sticks but no spears or swords?

Could it be that the Ming court had become so embarrassed that it didn't even have enough guns?
As his mind raced, Sha Dingzhou was less than a hundred steps away from the Ming army formation. However, at this moment he saw the soldiers in the front row of the Ming army squatting down, and then they held the sticks horizontally towards him.

Is this a chevaux de frise?
That's not right. Not to mention that the chevaux de frise array has long spears inserted diagonally into the ground, it is simply impossible to hold them flat like this.

Besides, there aren't many people riding horses here, so there's no need to set up any horse-barrier formation.

No matter what, even if Mu Tianbo invited the Jade Emperor to come, it would be of no use!
The doubts about the strange behavior of the Ming army were quickly dispelled by the confidence in his heart. When the two sides were only sixty or seventy steps away, Sha Dingzhou, who had excellent eyesight, discovered that those sticks were different, and then something emerged in his mind.

Firegun!

It was actually a musket!

As soon as this thought came to his mind, Sha Dingzhou was suddenly startled. Then his momentum immediately stopped, and in less than three or two breaths he was immersed in the infantry.

Although Yunnan is located in a border area, people like Sha Dingzhou are not completely unknown.

He knew that the musket could penetrate heavy armor at a distance of forty or fifty steps, and he also knew that it was effective against dense formations. But at the same time, he also knew that this strange and powerful skill was only a one-shot deal, and when the two armies came into close combat, it would be nothing more than a fire stick.

Under such circumstances, although he immersed himself among the infantry, he did not lose any effect in boosting morale.

"Whoever captures Mu Ni alive will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins! Whoever captures the general alive will be rewarded with a hundred gold coins!"

As the bounty was issued, the soldiers, who were not under each other's command, rushed towards the Ming army, who were holding sticks and standing in a daze, like hungry tigers. However, they had been charging for a long time, and the distance between them and the Ming army was only 40 to 50 steps. After being stimulated by this, their pace became much faster, and soon they reached a critical point.

"Fire!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A cloud of smoke rose up, and the soldiers rushing in the front were shot and thrown to the ground.

At this time, Sha Dingzhou, who was hiding in the group of infantry, knew that this was the best time to charge. He then chopped down several local soldiers who were standing still and shouted loudly.

"Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed without mercy!"

It was not known whether they were encouraged by the reward or feared by Sha Dingzhou's tyranny, but after hearing this shout, the soldiers, who were already stunned by the shock, launched another charge.

However, if he used this method on ordinary fire gun soldiers, he might be able to kill them at the cost of some casualties, but facing the rear guards who had fixed ammunition and three-stage shooting methods, it would be impossible.
"Teams one and two, retreat! Teams three and four, get ready!"

Seeing that the first two rows had finished firing, a loud shout immediately came out from Chen Si's mouth.

The rear guards' initial training focused on formations, and after fighting the Dutch at Fort Zeelandia, they were no longer just recruits.

Although there were thousands of soldiers rushing towards them at this moment, they did not show any panic at all. Even when they were switching back and forth, there was no chaos in the ranks.

"Fire!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Another cloud of smoke rose into the sky, and another group of soldiers fell down.

By this time, not to mention the extremely panicked soldiers, even Sha Dingzhou was stunned where he was.

How can it be? !
Didn’t the Ming army’s musketeers only dare to fire one round before scattering and fleeing?
How come they can still maintain their formation after two rounds? !

Are those rumors all false?

As his thoughts turned, despair gradually grew in Sha Dingzhou's heart, but for some unknown reason, the words "imperial palace", "ascend the throne", and "rule the world" appeared in his mind at the same time, and then a bold guess came to his mind.

Not lasting!
It certainly won’t last!

If the Ming army could have maintained this speed, how could they have been defeated by the Tartars in such a mess?
As long as we fight forward regardless of the cost, they will definitely show their true colors!

Thinking of this, Sha Dingzhou suddenly became excited, and then he chopped down several soldiers who were standing still. However, to his surprise, the killing did not have an immediate effect as before, and the soldiers were still standing there in a daze.

"Fire!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Seeing the enemy standing there in a daze, Chen Si was a little surprised, but he still gave the order to open fire according to the regulations.

In order to kill as many enemies as possible, he deliberately waited until the enemy was more than forty steps away before giving the order to open fire. Even though two rounds of shooting had already happened, the soldiers in the front were still within the effective range of the muskets. After one round of shooting, a large number of soldiers fell to the ground.

"Evil magic! The Ming army has evil magic!"

"Run! Don't let yourself be held still any longer!"

Humans are animals that know how to protect themselves. When seeing such a scene, the soldiers naturally imagined it in an understandable way. But when these inexplicable shouts reached Sha Dingzhou's ears, he not only did not wake up from his dream of being the emperor, but became hysterical instead.

"Fleeing from the battlefield! Kill them all!"

"If you flee from the battlefield, you will be killed without mercy!"

"Kill without mercy!"

While roaring at the top of his lungs, he swung the sword in his hand at the fleeing soldiers.

But the defeat was like a landslide.

When the battle got to this point, the chieftains who had seen the opportunity early had already retreated with their troops, and the rest also avoided Sha Dingzhou's position. Except for a few unlucky ones who were knocked down, his madness did not have the slightest effect on the defeat.

"Chief! Go!"

Perhaps it was this familiar name that worked, for just when Sha Dingzhou was about to raise his knife to strike, his mind suddenly became clear.

When he swept across the field again, the aura of a hero returned to him.

That’s right, as long as the mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood.

Even if we lose this battle, we still have several territories of the Xuanwei Division!
With these territories, we will be able to wait for changes to come!

"go!"

With a low cry, Sha Dingzhou immediately urged his horse to flee to the south, but in the eyes of the general, Kunming was in the north, and his leader had obviously gone in the wrong direction in a panic.

"Chief, we are going in the wrong direction!"

"That's right. Judging from where the Ming army is coming from, Kunming may be in danger. Let's go back to Wangnong first."

In his opinion, if Kunming was still in his hands, then these Ming troops would not be able to break out from the north. Previously, he was influenced by those aspirations and had not considered these things, but now his mind was clear, how could he not think of this?
Sha Dingzhou's idea was not wrong.

As the saying goes, this is a different time. Previously, his mind was already full of worries, and he had to consider this and worry about that, but now that he has suffered such a defeat, preserving himself for the future has become the top priority.

Regardless of whether Kunming is still in his hands or not, there is no need for him to take risks there again.

just
"Master! This way!"

Just as Sha Dingzhou was fleeing southward, he saw that Chieftain Meng Lian was also retreating in the same direction.

However, he only had three or two close followers around him, while Chief Meng Lian had at least five or six hundred people with him.

Seeing this, Sha Dingzhou was filled with resentment. Usually, the one who jumped the most was Chief Meng Lian, but when the enemy really faced each other, this guy actually brought out most of his troops.

"You are quite capable. You were able to save your own people when the army was defeated."

It was obvious that there was a strong sense of sarcasm in this sentence, but Chief Meng Lian seemed not to have heard it and just moved towards Sha Dingzhou with a flattering look on his face.

"You are too kind, sir. We originally planned to outflank them from behind, but we just made a circle and the front collapsed. We still don't know what happened."

"What's up? You guys... Ugh!"

"Master!"

Okay. This chapter ends here again.

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(End of this chapter)