Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 354: The Qing Army at the End of Its Road
Shengbao received the order from Yi and immediately led his troops to stop the Tang army.

Seeing that the Tang army was getting closer and closer to them, Shengbao ordered the Qing army to immediately start digging trenches, preparing to use the trench fortifications to block the Tang army's offensive.

However, the Qing army had only dug a few trenches.

Shengbao heard the low hum of a shell breaking through the air, and he subconsciously looked in the direction where the sound came from.

Suddenly, several shells appeared in the blue sky above my head.

These shells were drawing a graceful arc and flying towards the Qing army.

At this moment, Shengbao's heart seemed to stop beating.

"Lie down!"

"Everyone get down!"

"The Tang thieves' artillery is about to fire..."

Shengbao shouted at the top of his lungs.

But the Qing troops around them had no time to react, and shells fell one after another.

Then, it exploded among the Qing troops who were digging trenches, bursting into fireworks.

Smoke and flames spread rapidly.

Fragments and shock waves mixed together and wreaked havoc.

Boom! Boom!
There was an explosion.

The Qing army that was digging trenches was swept away by the shock wave.

The screams and wails were all suppressed by the rumbling sound of the explosion.

Shengbao was lying on the ground. The deafening explosion made his ears tinnitus so severe that he could only hear bursts of buzzing.

At this moment, time seemed to become long.

I don't know how long it took, but the Tang army's artillery bombardment finally stopped.

Shengbao covered his ears, which were buzzing and ringing from the shock, and climbed up from the ground.

He stood staggeringly, leaning on his knife, his whole body covered in dust.

The cotton armor on his body was also covered with dust!
Shengbao looked around and saw broken bodies everywhere, as well as bomb craters of various sizes.

Broken arms, legs, burnt torsos, and rotten internal organs were scattered randomly on the ground, almost turning the surroundings into a Shura hell.

Those Qing soldiers who had just been digging trenches vigorously turned into cold corpses in the blink of an eye.

There were not even many intact corpses!
After the shelling stopped, only a few people struggled to get up from the ground.

Some people looked around with the same confused expression as Shengbao.

Some people were even scared to death, jumping and shouting on the spot.

Shengbao looked towards the south.

Suddenly, his whole body began to tremble.

In his field of vision, a black tide appeared at the end of the horizon.

The black tide was surging and rushing towards him at a rapid speed.

Those were the Tang army soldiers wearing gray-black uniforms and charging in a skirmish line.

"Kill!"

"The Tang Dynasty is victorious!"

"Drive out the Tartars and restore China!"

"Kill the Tartars and divide the land!"

"..."

Even from a long distance away, Shengbao could hear the deafening shouts of the Tang army soldiers clearly.

At this moment, Shengbao was almost in despair.

He looked back in the direction of the Qing Emperor, then let out a desperate roar, drew the sword at his waist, and rushed towards the charging Tang army.

"what!"

"Ah! Ah!"

"Tang thieves, grandpa will fight you!"

"Long live the Qing Dynasty!"

Shengbao shouted as he stepped on the soft ground made soft by the artillery shells and rushed forward.

At this moment, Shengbao felt as if he was being lofted over by those brave and invincible Eight Banners ancestors.

The Tang thief in front of him didn't seem that scary.

Shengbao rushed forward, and seeing that the Tang army was getting closer and closer to him, he began to gradually exert force with the hand holding the knife, and veins bulged on the back of his hand.

The charging Tang army was also somewhat excited when they saw Shengbao coming towards them with a sword.

"Hahaha, that seems to be a high-ranking Tartar official."

"Brothers, charge!"

"Cut off the Tartar official's head and ask the king for a reward!"

The distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer. Shengbao took a step forward. The wind blew towards him, making Shengbao feel very good.

But at this moment, there was a loud bang and Shengbao felt a tightness in his chest.

He subconsciously looked down and found that he was hit by a bullet in the chest, his cotton armor was pierced, and a ball of blood burst out directly at the bullet point.

Shengbao opened his mouth, and scarlet blood flowed out from between his teeth, but he subconsciously continued to move forward.

boom!boom!
There were several gunshots in succession, and blood kept oozing out of his body.

With waves of severe pain coming one after another, Shengbao finally stopped.

But even so, Shengbao still held the ground with his knife, unwilling to fall down.

He glared fiercely at the Tang army that was charging at him, and shouted loudly with his last bit of strength.

"My grandfather is Suwanguerjia Shengbao!"

"Thief, kill me!"

"Come and kill me if you dare!"

Pfft!

A sharp bayonet pierced into Shengbao's chest, and a stream of blood spurted out, interrupting Shengbao's roar.

Phew! Phew!
The sounds of bayonets piercing flesh were heard one after another. Shengbao's chest, back, arms, and thighs were pierced by several bayonets at the same time.

Blood gushed out from the wound.

As the blood flowed out, Shengbao's eyes gradually lost their luster, became dim, and his life force was gone.

His body fell heavily to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

In his final moments, Shengbao had only one last thought in his mind.

[The Qing Dynasty is about to end! The Eight Banners have exploited and squeezed the people's blood and sweat, enjoying prosperity and wealth for two hundred years. Now it's time to pay it back...]

……

Shengbao, who was ordered to stop the Tang army, was defeated and killed, and the remaining Qing troops fell into fear and panic.

Seeing that the Tang army continued to advance towards the Yellow River after defeating Shengbao's troops, Yi was completely panicked.

"This...what should I do?!"

"What should I do?"

The situation the Qing army is facing now is that Shengbao's troops, which were responsible for blocking the enemy, have been destroyed.

However, the main force of the Qing army responsible for breaking out suffered heavy casualties and failed to achieve a breakthrough.

This also meant that the Qing army was caught in a dilemma of being attacked from both sides.

Rui Lin, who was standing by, saw this and made a suggestion.

"Your Majesty, Shengbao was defeated because the Tang bandits' artillery was too threatening. The Qing Dynasty may temporarily withdraw to the Yellow River embankment and set up camp, and then make plans for the future."

The explosive bombs of the Tang army were too destructive to the Qing army that was gathered together.

One shot could kill dozens of people. Even if the Qing army had more people, they could not withstand such killing efficiency.

If the Qing army did not want to be quickly annihilated, how to deal with the artillery fire of the Tang army would be the most important problem they faced at the moment.

In the current situation, the only thing that can control the artillery of the Tang army on the Qing side is the Yellow River dike behind them.

As long as the Qing army retreated to the Yellow River embankment, the Tang army would inevitably be cautious and would not dare to open fire on the Qing army again.

And this is also the only way for the Qing army to survive at present!
Upon hearing this, Yi nodded without thinking.

"Pass the order down, order all our troops to withdraw to the Yellow River embankment immediately..."

However, Yi's military order had just been issued and the Qing army had just begun to retreat, and the entire army had not even had time to move out.

The Tang army's pursuers started to chase and kill them!
Accompanied by the booming sound of artillery fire, shells continued to fall towards the Qing army, and the Tang army also launched a charge again.

"Brothers, kill!"

"Kill the Tartars!"

Shells fell on the Qing army one after another, and the Qing army was immediately thrown into panic.

He began to flee in a panic without obeying orders!

In the rush and crowd, some Qing soldiers were even pushed into the Yellow River.

A wave hit him and he sank to the bottom in an instant.

In the chaos, Yi lost command of the army and had to gather the two yellow flags and eight banners soldiers who were still able to command and were responsible for guarding the imperial carriage, and escort him to escape to the Yellow River embankment.

The Tang army soldiers rushed up and began to chase and kill the Qing army's fleeing soldiers. The sound of gunfire echoed throughout the battlefield.

The sharp bayonet reflected the cold light under the sunlight.

For a moment, the shouts of "surrender and no killing" echoed throughout the battlefield.

"The king has ordered that those who surrender will not be killed!"

"If you surrender, you will be safe. If you resist to the end, you will die!"

"..."

Gradually, the Qing army, which was in a desperate situation, began to choose to surrender to the Tang army to save their lives.

These Qing troops truly demonstrated to the Tang army what it meant to be defeated and fall back into the mountains.

At the same time, the Qing troops who were desperately attacking the Tang army's gunboats and trying to open a passage to the north to break out also fell into despair. They lost the courage and confidence to continue fighting and began to raise their flags to surrender.

Seeing that their main force had been defeated, there was no point in them persisting.

They had no choice but to surrender.

In addition, the Qing army that was in charge of supervising the battle had fled, so they had even less reason to continue fighting.

Yi led two yellow flags and fought his way through the fleeing Qing army, finally retreating to the Yellow River embankment.

However, at this time, there were only a few thousand remnant soldiers left by his side.

The so-called main force of the Qing army was either killed or surrendered, and it had become a force to be reckoned with.

Looking at the crushing defeat on the battlefield, Yi's face was filled with extreme pain.

He covered his face hard, unable to accept the reality before him.

……

The situation on the battlefield changed rapidly.

After the Tang army pressed forward, the main force of the Qing army that marched south was like seedlings in a rainstorm, quickly blown away by the wind and rain, and was almost completely wiped out.

Only the Qing Emperor Yi was left, who personally led several thousand remaining soldiers to retreat all the way to the Yellow River embankment, where they defended themselves and were surrounded by the Tang army.

Yi looked around and saw the flags of the Tang army in all directions.

At this moment, he was in a truly desperate situation!

However, in order to break the blockade of the Yellow River waterway by Tang army gunboats, the Qing army deployed a number of artillery on the Yellow River embankment in advance.

As the Tang army could not fire at the Yellow River dike, they could only temporarily allow the Qing army to be arrogant.

Under such circumstances, if the Tang army rashly attacked under the artillery fire, there would probably be considerable casualties.

In addition, the Tang army had also marched all the way to the battlefield and was now exhausted and in urgent need of rest.

Therefore, the battle situation remained at a stalemate for the time being.

The Tang army began to collect prisoners of war and clean up the battlefield while waiting for their follow-up troops to arrive.

Everyone understands that the outcome of this battle has been decided!

The Qing army is finished, and the Qing court is even more finished!
The Manchu Qing Dynasty, a foreign race that had ruled the Central Plains for two hundred years, had reached the end of its road.

(End of this chapter)