Southern Ming Rebel Army

Jueluo Langqiu was knocked to the ground by a raised gun. Blood gushed out from his chest, staining his clothes and armor a shocking red. It was obvious that he was already dead.

Meng Jun couldn't help but feel excited when he saw this. He quickly ordered Wang Fugui of Wuxing Town to go forward and take over the attack on the left wing from Ningwu Town. As fifty rounds of muskets were fired, not only was Jue Luolangqiu killed, but even the flag guard in the rear was hit and fell to the ground. The big flag also fell down in the wind. Although it was quickly picked up by the other guards, the fall of the flag still panicked the cavalry attacking from the side. The cavalry, who had originally intended to move forward, seemed to have pressed the pause button.

The deputy general of the Eight Banners saw that their commander, Juelu Langqiu, was killed in battle, and their cavalry had broken through two enemy cavalry formations and defeated another battalion. Suddenly, they lost their commander, and the big flag fell, causing the soldiers to lose morale. Seeing this, the deputy general gave an order and all the cavalry turned around and went back.

Lekedehun, who was watching the battle from behind, didn't care about the loss of the Green Camp soldiers, as if the lives of these soldiers were as insignificant as grass in his eyes. However, when he saw that the Eight Banners had successfully broken through the Zhou army's obstruction, he couldn't help but feel proud. There was no doubt that the Eight Banners were sharp.

Just as he was about to order the entire army to attack, Jueluo Langqiu's banner fell down. Although it was quickly raised, this change startled Lekedehun, and an ominous premonition came to his mind. Sure enough, not long after, the Eight Banners cavalry, which was supposed to charge straight at the enemy's flank, unexpectedly turned their horses around and began to retreat.

Seeing this, Lekedehun was furious and said, "What are you doing, Jueluo Langqiu? You are already at the enemy's side, why don't you attack them?"

However, Huang Cheng's cavalry swept in from the flank like a whirlwind and charged straight at Yang Wulie's flank. They were powerful and unstoppable.

The Qing army's Yang Wulie infantry formation was already struggling to hold up under the attack of Ningwu Town, and faced with the flank attack of Huang Cheng's cavalry, their defense line began to waver. The cavalry held their spears and stabbed into the Qing army's left wing like swords, instantly causing chaos.

The left wing of the Qing army was panicked by this sudden attack and fled in a rush. Huang Cheng's cavalry pursued them mercilessly, and their shouts and the sound of horse hooves echoed throughout the battlefield.

Yang Wulie was originally a Confucian scholar. In the sixth year of Chongzhen, when he saw the chaos in the world, he gave up his studies and took up arms. As a Confucian general, he was promoted relatively quickly in the Ming Dynasty. Later, when the Qing army entered the pass, Yang Wulie followed the trend and surrendered to the Qing.

Yang Wulie tried to organize a resistance, but under the dual attack of Huang Cheng's cavalry and Ningwu Town, their efforts seemed powerless. The infantry formation was broken up, the soldiers fled in all directions, and the battlefield was filled with an atmosphere of panic and confusion.

The Mongolian supervisory team had shot round after round of arrows, and the bodies of the retreating Green Camp soldiers fell densely on the ground, which made the Green Camp soldiers in the rear line panic. Faced with such cruel military discipline, the Green Camp soldiers on standby in the rear line were terrified.

All the Mongolian soldiers were tired from shooting arrows, but even so, the scattered Green Camp soldiers still retreated in panic. Crying and begging for mercy were heard on the battlefield. Groups of Green Camp soldiers knelt on the ground and begged for surrender in despair.

Yang Wulie was in great pain when he saw how much blood was being killed by the supervisory team. He also saw that the soldiers were scattered and countless people surrendered to Zhou. He sighed and said, "We have lost our integrity and suffered a great defeat. This is God's will."

He drew his sword and was about to commit suicide, but a guard beside him was quick to stop him and cried, "If you die, how will thousands of young men return home?"

Yang Wulie remained silent after hearing this. He turned around and looked at the supervisory team that was still slaughtering the defeated soldiers. After a moment, he sighed and said, "Order the soldiers to abandon their weapons and surrender."

The retreating Eight Banners cavalry engaged in a melee with Huang Cheng's cavalry on the way back. Huang Cheng had no time to pursue the enemy anymore, so he turned to fight with the Eight Banners cavalry.

The left wing of the Qing army was in disarray, while on the right wing, on the river bank, the warships of the Shen Tingyang Navy broke through the waves with flags flying and appeared in the river. The cannons on the warships roared, and flames spewed out of the muzzles, bombarding Gao Jinku's troops on the right wing of the Qing army.

The right wing of the Qing army fell into chaos under the sudden bombardment. Under the double attack of the artillery on Qixia Mountain and the artillery of the navy, the morale of Gao Jinku's soldiers plummeted. At the same time, the soldiers of Qian Biao's troops also rushed forward like a tiger descending from the mountain.

Qian Biao led the troops, and wherever the flag went, the Qing army was defeated. The morale of his subordinates was greatly boosted, and they followed closely and fought bravely against the enemy.

Under the firepower of Shen Tingyang's navy and the fierce charge of Qian Biao's troops, the right wing of the Qing army also began to collapse. They threw away their armor and fled for their lives, and the battlefield was filled with thick gunpowder smoke and blood.

The left and right wings of the Qing army were defeated. Zhang Guoliang's Han army flag could no longer hold on and began to retreat. The Changlin Town in the front was in hot pursuit. The retreating Qing army was constantly caught up and killed. More Qing soldiers died on the way back than in the frontal battle.

Lekedehun was furious and ordered the Green Camp Qing troops in the rear to shoot the fleeing people. Although the Green Camp soldiers were reluctant to do so, they still shot arrows in an attempt to stop the fleeing soldiers from charging into the formation.

On the battlefield, the defeated army fled desperately like a tide, and the Zhou army pursued them relentlessly. The defeated army rushed like a pig and a wolf, and even the arrows from the rear formation could not stop their panicked charge. For a while, people and horses were thrown to the ground on the battlefield, and shouts and wailing could be heard everywhere. The desperate defeated army even engaged in close combat with the Qing army, and the battlefield was already in chaos.

Lekedehun's forehead was covered with sweat at this time. He had hoped that wave after wave of Green Camp soldiers would attack the enemy formation, even if it meant sacrificing all their men. However, these Green Camp soldiers were really useless, and the supervision team could not even stop their disintegration. The Eight Banners cavalry suddenly retreated and now they were engaged in a melee with the enemy cavalry.

Lekedehun kept issuing various instructions, trying to stabilize the situation. However, facing the enemy's fierce attack, these orders seemed a little powerless. The morale of the army had fallen. Even though there were still a large number of Green Camp soldiers who had not yet joined the battle, Lekedehun knew that they were useless.

However, Lekedehun was not discouraged. He stared at the battlefield, hoping to turn the tide. At this time, after the Qing troops on three sides retreated, the Zhou army fell into a frenzy of pursuit, causing their formation to gradually become chaotic.

Lekedehun made a prompt decision and decided to dispatch 500 of his most elite guards and 1,800 bannermen stationed in Jiangning, and to send 10,000 Green Camp soldiers who had experienced several battles all the way from Hunan, with the Eight Banners as the spearhead, to rush straight to Meng Jun's central army.

The current battle situation is no longer suitable for the tactics of using the Green Camp soldiers as the vanguard and the Eight Banners to supervise the battle. Without the Eight Banners as the main force, these Green Camp soldiers, although stronger, will find it difficult to break through Meng Jun's central army defense line.

Meng Jun had a thousand personal guards in the central army, and Gao Yi had three thousand heavily armored soldiers. On the front battlefield, there was also Zhao Yongping's Wu'an Town, guarding in front like a shield.