Southern Ming Rebel Army

"Load the powder quickly, the enemy troops are coming." The artillery officer had an anxious look on his face and kept urging them. The Qing army gunner was sweating all over his face and was loading the powder at his fastest speed.

"It's loaded, get ready to ignite and fire," the gunner pointed his long sword and roared.

The sounds of "boom boom boom, bang bang" were heard again, but this time there were different sounds mixed in with the cannon fire.

The front-row soldiers of Changlin Town were surprised to find that a cannon of the opposite artillery team had exploded. Several Qing army gunners were lying scattered around the exploded cannon. The surrounding gunners looked at the exploded cannon with horror. The cannon exploded after only firing three rounds. The craftsman who made the cannon should definitely be beheaded.

"Your mother..." Bai Yongfu looked at the artillery team angrily. These cannons were his treasures. He didn't expect to lose one of them. It really made him sad.

However, this round of shelling caused significantly greater damage to Meng's central route. Meng Jun could see several shells hitting Meng's army from the rear, piercing through the formation like a plow. Wherever the shells passed, there was a mess of flesh and blood, and limbs were scattered all over the ground, and the land was dyed red with blood.

"Help me, it hurts, it hurts so much..." The surviving soldiers lay on the ground, holding their wounds and wailing, but at this time the sound of drums became louder, drowning out the screams of the wounded soldiers.

After three rounds of artillery fire, the Qing army's artillery had to stop firing, cool the gun body, and wait for a while before they could reload and fire again.

After the shelling stopped, the vanguard of the Meng army stepped up their charge and within a breath they were only thirty steps away from the artillery. The Qing army artillery officer hurriedly ordered the gunners to pull the artillery back.

Seeing this, Bai Yongfu knew that this group of bandits was not a mob that could be defeated by artillery, so he immediately ordered, "Archers shoot, vanguards attack!"

The Qing army's flags fluttered, and the generals at all levels shouted "Kill..."

"Press forward, archers stand and shoot upwards." Seeing that the distance had shortened, the flag officer of the Meng army in the front row hurriedly ordered the archers to shoot.

The archers of the Meng army pulled the bowstrings one after another. The bowstrings vibrated, and dense arrows rose into the air at the same time, then dived down and shot into the Qing army's formation.

Almost at the same time, the Qing army's archers also shot at the front-row soldiers of the Meng army, and the arrows of the two armies stabbed each other like honeycombs.

Soldiers from both armies fell down like wheat being cut. After all, the Meng army had been formed relatively recently. Except for the heavily armored soldiers, most of the soldiers were only wearing a battle jacket.

Qian Biao in the front row was wearing iron armor and holding a short axe. There were two arrows hanging on his armor, and blood seeped out of his armor. However, Qian Biao seemed not to notice and shouted, "Kill them!"

Qian Biao blocked a Qing soldier's sword with his axe, then chopped him in the face with his backhand. A horrible wound immediately appeared on his face. The Qing soldier screamed and fell to the ground with blood all over his face.

The two army lines were entangled together. The spearmen of the Meng army were stabbing forward madly under the protection of the sword and shield soldiers. The Green Camp soldiers also slashed at the Meng army soldiers madly. The armies of the three towns had already engaged the enemy on all fronts. The archers of the two armies in the back row madly rained arrows at each other.

Most of the Green Camp soldiers did not have armor, and most of the equipment obtained from Jiangning was allocated by Bai Yongfu to his servants and cavalry. The equipment level of the remaining ordinary soldiers was about the same as that of Meng Jun's garrison troops.

In just half an hour, from the beginning of the battle to now, soldiers from both armies fell like mowed grass, and the ground was covered with piles of corpses, which was a shocking sight.

The supervising team in the back row kept shouting loudly to supervise the battle. Some soldiers who were frightened to the point of mental breakdown by the cruel battlefield were also beheaded on the spot by the supervising team.

Ningwu Town was deployed on Meng Jun's left wing, and was making smooth progress at the moment. The combat effectiveness of the Green Camp soldiers on the opposite side was far inferior to that of the central army. Under the command of Lin Shiqi, Ningwu Town was madly squeezing forward, and the Qing army's originally straight formation had become distorted.

Zhao Yongping held a spear in his hand and stabbed a Qing soldier across the street. He pulled out the spear and blood splattered all over his face. Zhao Yongping's face was covered in blood and he didn't bother to wipe it off. He opened his mouth and shouted hoarsely, "Kill the Tartars..."

Under the banner of the Qing army, Bai Yongfu squinted his eyes and looked at the entire battle line. It was obvious that the right wing was somewhat deformed by the impact of the Meng army, and it seemed that it could not hold on for too long. Although the Meng army in the middle suffered heavy casualties, it was still very resilient and showed no signs of collapse. The left wing was evenly matched. Seeing that the casualties on their side were so huge, the hand holding the whip unconsciously clenched it tighter.

Fu Ni, who was sitting on a mat behind him, was fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan and gently rocking it. Looking at the situation on the battlefield, he could not help but talk to Bai Yongfu in a babble. Bai Yongfu heard the voice behind him, turned around to look at Fu Ni, and then looked at the translator next to him with some confusion.

"The general said, my Qing dynasty's 100,000 cavalrymen conquered the entire world, and your 50,000 Green Camp soldiers can't even take down these bandits on the opposite side. You are trash, all trash."

Bai Yongfu commanded a large army and held a high position, but now he was called a waste by Fu Ni in person. He could not help but get angry and ashamed after hearing it. He was a general, but now he was just a slave of the Manchus. Besides, the situation on the battlefield was indeed unfavorable at the moment, so he simply turned his head and pretended he didn't hear it.

But Funi started to talk a lot again, and the translator said, "My Qing Dynasty conquered Beijing and Nanjing without any effort. Li Zicheng had a million-strong army, but my Eight Banners Iron Cavalry destroyed him without any effort. You can't even defeat a bunch of good-for-nothings like this. I think you are worse than a good-for-nothing."

As soon as he said this, Bai Yongfu's face turned pale and blue. After holding it in for a while, he shouted, "Bai Songlin, bring my personal guards and servants to help me wipe out the bandit army on the right wing!"

Bai Songlin bowed in response, then turned and strode away. A moment later, a loud voice came, "Guards, all troops put on armor!"

As soon as the military order was issued, Bai Yongfu's servants put on armor and raised shields. After putting on armor, these elite servants could not run fast and could only walk slowly towards Lin Shiqi's direction.

Under the banner of the Meng army, Yang En looked towards the battlefield with excitement. It was not known whether he was excited or nervous, but his hands were shaking unconsciously. Meng Jun glanced at him from time to time. Seeing Yang En shaking, Meng Jun's heart also trembled. He simply stepped forward without looking at him. At this time, Gao Yi suddenly pointed to the opposite side and said to Meng Jun, "Governor, look, a group of armored soldiers of the Qing army are heading towards Commander Lin."

Meng Jun squinted his eyes and looked over, then said, "Send the messenger to tell Commander Lin that a group of armored soldiers are heading towards him."

After watching the messenger rush by, Gao Yi asked in confusion, "Commander-in-chief, are you not going to support us?"

"Wait," Meng Jun said casually, and then looked at the Qing army's line in the middle. It was almost time for the battle, but Meng Bizhi's heavy armored soldiers were ready, just waiting for the order...