Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

All the elite troops of the Qing Dynasty rushed towards the Guards camp from all directions. Their goal was very clear: to defeat the exhausted opponent.

For this reason, His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty announced a decree before the war that the first person to rush into the enemy camp would be rewarded with ten thousand gold coins and promoted one level.

The first team to defeat the enemy's phalanx will raise the flag collectively and be rewarded with 100 gold coins.

Whoever kills or captures Zhang Shikang will be crowned king, regardless of his current position.

The first person who retreats will have his entire family executed, and his Niulu will be implicated as well. If the Niulu retreats, Jiala will be implicated. If Jiala retreats, Gushan will be implicated.

The reward is not small, and the punishment is not light.

It was precisely because of this that all the charging Tartars put in their best efforts, even though they might not be able to kill the bastard Zhang Shikang.

But whoever is the first to rush into the enemy camp will get 10,000 gold and be promoted to a higher rank.

Although the premise is to survive.

People are often like this. When excitement overwhelms their rationality, they will automatically ignore unfavorable situations and magnify favorable situations infinitely.

Several princes including Dorgon, Daishan, and Dodo personally led their supervisory teams to supervise the battle, and they stared at the Guards' line with burning eyes.

Especially Dorgon, he didn't believe that the Ming Dynasty's army was so strong. After fighting for a whole day and being harassed for a night, how much combat effectiveness could it exert?

The rewards given by his royal brother were so generous that the soldiers were almost crazy.

Even though the army suffered 40,000 casualties in the past two days, the remaining less than 100,000 people were still more than three times the number of Zhang Shikang.

"There won't be any suspense." Dorgon muttered to himself.

Further behind, Huang Taiji rarely took off his dragon robe and put on a bright yellow cloth armor.

He looked very bad, and he didn't sleep all night because of the war, so he looked haggard.

Only those eyes were still deep and contained a certain longing.

Huang Taiji put down the monocular telescope in his hand and bowed deeply towards the direction of his ancestral land in the northeast.

"Ancestors and shamans, please help the Qing Dynasty to achieve victory." Huang Taiji prayed in a voice that only he could hear.

He didn't really believe in ghosts and gods, but in the current situation, he was already old and weak, and there was nothing he could do except give more rewards to the soldiers.

Although Zhang Shikang was young, he admitted that he had underestimated him before.

For more than two days, he was attacked by all the elite troops of the Qing Dynasty in turns. Not only did he not show any signs of defeat, but he also suffered more than 40,000 casualties.

The performance of the Ming Guards made him not as confident in this general offensive as generals such as Ajige.

Even though he thought that the Guards were already at the end of their strength after such fierce battles, he still wanted to pray to his ancestors and shaman gods to give him more possibilities.

The more damage Zhang Shikang caused to the Qing Dynasty, the more Huang Taiji believed that paying such a huge price was worth it.

But... time is really running out!

Huang Taiji coughed repeatedly, and the medical officer beside him quickly brought him a bowl of medicine, but Huang Taiji waved his hand:

"Bring my warhorse here. I want to go and give the soldiers a boost of strength."

The guard leader immediately showed a concerned and embarrassed expression:

"Your Majesty, your body..."

"If Zhang Shikang can be killed in this battle, I will have no regrets even if I die now."

What Huang Taiji said was true. As the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, he no longer lived for himself.

He was happy to do so as long as the Qing Dynasty could see hope.

The commander of the guards immediately stopped talking, and soon Huang Taiji rode on his maroon horse.

When Huang Taiji appeared at the front line in military uniform, the Eight Banners soldiers were like taking stimulants, charging forward madly against the muskets of the Guards.

Half a quarter of an hour later, the two sides started fighting again, and the Guards Musketeer Phalanx became useless.

Another quarter of an hour later, the Guards Infantry Battalion suffered heavy losses, and the Firearms Battalion had to change into swords and go to the front line.

Half an hour later, Cao Bianjiao turned the tide again and repelled Daishan's 5,000 cavalry with 3,500 armored heavy cavalry.

But the enemy's attack seemed to have no end. No sooner had they been repelled on one side than new ones came over from the other side, overwhelming them.

At three quarters past four in the morning, Wei Shuangyong, the deputy general of the cavalry camp, was killed in battle while rescuing Zheng Chong, the lieutenant general of the firearms camp.

At four o'clock, Li Dingguo, deputy commander of the Imperial Guards Infantry Battalion, was stabbed twice and shot four times by arrows and fell into a coma, his life hanging by a thread.

But even so, the Guards still maintained strong fighting capacity. Those who were exhausted would rush over and hug their opponents, digging with their hands and biting with their teeth, defending the positions behind them with the momentum of dying together.

Because there, the Grand Marshal and Zhu Cilang were also standing there watching them.

Everyone knew that there was still a glimmer of hope if they fought hard. The Tartars were already crazy and would never give them the chance to surrender. If they wanted to survive, they had to be even crazier than them.

In the center of the Guards' position, Lieutenant General Qi Dazhu of the Artillery Battalion gritted his teeth. Behind him were several guerrillas and captains of the Artillery Battalion.

The bloody battle lasted for such a long time, and the old brothers on the front line had been fighting desperately, but even at this critical moment, all the personnel of the artillery battalion did not participate in the battle.

The Grand Marshal only gave them one order: to look towards the northeast, and as soon as the purple flare appeared, all heavy artillery would immediately fire continuously at the designated area.

All the people in the artillery battalion, including more than 7,000 artillerymen, had red eyes and stared at the sky in the northeast direction, as if they were looking for blood.

Their comrades who had been with them day and night and shared life and death with them were fighting and dying in battle, but they could only wait.

This damn military order!

While waiting anxiously, Qi Dazhu heard the cry of a messenger not far away:

"Marshal! We have no more reserves! The left side is about to collapse!"

Then came Zhang Shikang's slightly tired but still calm voice:

"Where's Cao Bianjiao? Have him rush over and tell him to hold on even if all the heavy cavalry are gone!

Hong Xiucheng, take two hundred people with you and go over there too!"

"But Marshal, my duty is to protect your safety."

"Damn it! If you can't hold the line, what's the point of being a good fighter? How can I survive?

I tell you, I will never be taken prisoner!"

"I don't want to be a prisoner either!" The young Zhu Cilang followed his master stubbornly.

Even he understood that this gamble was likely to be lost at the moment.

A warmth unconsciously flowed out of the corners of Qi Dazhu's eyes, even he himself did not realize it.

The war has reached its most dangerous moment.

Firecrackers, firecrackers, why haven’t they appeared yet!

"Commander-in-Chief, should we... go over and help?" A guerrilla general asked tentatively with a grief-stricken look on his face.

The entire front line was in chaos, with enemies and friends mixed together. The artillery had no effect at all unless they also bombed their own people.

The other two guerrillas and the captains immediately looked at Qi Dazhu eagerly. As long as Qi Dazhu gave the order, they would immediately go to support the front line.

Although the artillery battalion's daily training focuses on artillery, all branches of the Guards must reach a qualified level in close combat.

More than 7,000 artillerymen, that is, more than 7,000 infantry reinforcements, are entirely capable of helping the generalissimo to ease the situation.

Qi Dazhu, with red eyes, glanced at Zhang Shikang. He really wanted to challenge for battle, but at the same time he understood that if he went there at this time, it would probably make the already busy Marshal even more annoyed.

If the Marshal wanted them to take over, he should have given the order just now.

Just when Qi Dazhu was in a dilemma, a sharp-eyed general pointed to the northeast, opened his mouth excitedly, but no sound came out, and just stared at that place.

Qi Dazhu looked in the direction the captain was pointing with some surprise.

But in the northeastern sky, a wisp of light purple smoke rose straight into the sky.

That was the signal arrow that all the soldiers in the artillery battalion had been waiting for!

……