Travel back in time and become Chongzhen, watch me turn the tide

Compared to the falconets, the slingshot cannons, though much smaller in size, were no less powerful than the falconets. Fifteen slingshot cannons fired simultaneously could cause as much damage and destruction as the falconets, with little difference.

Jiang Xuefeng reached into the deerskin bag and slowly took out the telescope.

This telescope, in fact, is what later generations would come to know as a telescope. It was first introduced to China during the Wanli reign by Deng Yuhan, a German missionary of the Society of Jesus. Later, it was meticulously adapted by a machine maker named Bo Jue for military use. In an era when firearms and artillery lacked sights, Bo Jue ingeniously mounted a "telescope" on a cannon to improve its accuracy. This innovative move is truly remarkable. Unfortunately, this talented craftsman passed away due to illness, leaving Chongzhen deeply saddened.

Jiang Xuefeng peered through his telescope and saw that wherever the mortar shells struck the battlefield, men and horses were instantly killed. This demonstrated the terrifying destructive power of the mortar shells. However, this killing effect only occurred under ideal conditions where the shells accurately hit the men and horses. Overall, its power was still slightly inferior to that of the falconet.

After continuous and fierce attacks from the Portuguese cannon and the mortar cannon, this cavalry unit had suffered heavy losses. Less than half of the men were able to continue fighting, and their morale had dropped sharply, like a broken dam. The army was demoralized and no longer as brave as before.

Although the number of cavalry was greatly reduced after the ruthless baptism of artillery fire, the remaining cavalry still desperately approached the People's Army's defensive formation.

The warhorses roared and roared, their surging momentum seemingly capable of crushing everything. The ferocious faces of the mounted knights were clearly visible, their aggressive aura causing the faces of the first row of the People's Army to instantly turn pale as paper, devoid of any color. Yet, despite this, not a single one showed fear or retreated a single step. They all stood firm at their posts, as resolute as a rock.

"One hundred paces, first volley, fire!"

As this majestic command was given, the soldiers in the first row pulled the trigger without hesitation. In an instant, accompanied by the dense sound of frying beans, the position was instantly filled with thick white smoke, and the pungent smoke filled the air all around.

As the gunshots suddenly rang out, the charging cavalrymen seemed to be hit hard by a huge hammer weighing thousands of pounds. The war horses were beaten to a pulp by the jungle of steel bullets, and it was a horrible sight. They raised their four hooves in pain, fell to one side, and threw the knights on their backs heavily to the ground.

"Second volley, fire!"

"Third volley, fire!"

After the first row of soldiers finished firing, they quickly retreated to reload ammunition. The second row of soldiers continued shooting without hesitation, followed by the third row bravely moving forward.

Because the People's Army used cardboard ammunition, reloading was extremely fast and efficient. By the time the third platoon finished firing, the first platoon had already successfully reloaded. This cycle continued like a continuous tide, never ceasing. While this concentrated volley method didn't require much consideration for accuracy, its dense firepower significantly increased the chance of hitting the target. Even if individual shots failed due to powder quality issues or soldiers' nervousness, it didn't significantly affect the overall shooting performance.

This is the powerful force of the volley tactics, which was jokingly called "line shooting" by people in later generations. This kind of volley has a significant effect of area killing. There is no need for precise aiming. Within the killing area, there will always be bullets that can hit the target, making it difficult for the enemy to defend against it.

Furthermore, the carefully modified gunpowder greatly enhanced the power of the musket. Although these cavalrymen wore light armor, the musket's lethality was still enormous at a close range of 100 paces, enough to be fatal.

What's more, many cavalrymen died not just from being killed directly by muskets, but more often when their horses fell. The cavalrymen who fell off their horses not only had to face the gun attacks of the People's Army, but also had to desperately avoid being trampled by the iron hooves of the out-of-control horses in the chaos. Many people were ruthlessly trampled to death by their horses, and the scene was horrific.

It was unknown how long the continuous gunfire lasted. When the gunfire finally stopped, the area in front of the People's Army's chariot formation was in ruins. The ground was littered with the corpses of war horses and cavalrymen, and among them were some wounded soldiers who were unable to move. They groaned in pain, their voices weak, and looked particularly miserable in the silent battlefield.

The closest of these cavalrymen had already reached the front of the People's Army's chariot formation, but unfortunately the chest-high chariot formation was like a solid barrier, ruthlessly blocking their way to charge, causing them to fall in front of the chariot formation, and their charge was in vain.

"Is that the end?" Yao Er stood beside Jiang Xuefeng, his mouth wide open in shock. Everything before him felt like a dream, utterly unreal. Over a thousand Qing cavalrymen were wiped out so easily? It was truly unbelievable.

"What else?" Jiang Xuefeng breathed a sigh of relief at this time. Although he had enough confidence in the more than a thousand soldiers under his command, he was still a little uneasy and insecure before experiencing the severe test of a major war.

In this battle, his soldiers suffered no casualties, save for dozens injured by stray arrows from the cavalry! This brilliant victory was due, on the one hand, to the advantageous terrain. The peculiarities of the area forced the cavalry to charge in a single, frontal direction, thus depriving them of their crucial mobility. His volley tactics were able to maximize their effectiveness in this situation, dealing a devastating blow to the enemy. On the other hand, it was also due to the enemy's carelessness. After all, the People's Army had only one seemingly frail chariot formation. The cavalry believed a swift charge would easily scatter the infantry, leading to a one-sided massacre without a doubt!

No one had expected that the final outcome would be so unexpected!

At this time, under the banner with the character "Ke", Ke Yongsheng, the Qing court's Jiaozhou general, was looking at the battle situation in front of him with a look of astonishment, unable to believe his eyes for a long time.

Ke Yongsheng was from Liaoyang and belonged to the Han Army of the Bordered Red Banner. His uncle was Ke Ruji, the commander of the Han Army of the Bordered Red Banner.

When Nurhaci captured Liaoyang, some Han Chinese feigned surrender and secretly arranged to flee together. However, one individual betrayed them and, thanks to his informant, gained Nurhaci's favor. The rest of the group was brutally murdered. This informant was Ke Ruji. Later, Ke Ruji captured fourteen Ming spies, earning him a promotion to Canling and the hereditary title of Third-Class Light Cavalry Commandant. Ke Ruji had no children and was now elderly, but his four nephews, Ke Yongzhen, Ke Yongyi, Ke Yongsheng, and Ke Yongsheng, all served the Qing Dynasty.

"Marshal, should we continue..." the trusted deputy general Ke Ye asked softly, with a hint of hesitation and uneasiness in his tone.

"Ah, this..." Ke Ye's words were like a thunderclap, instantly waking up Ke Yongsheng who was immersed in shock.

This time, upon hearing that the Southern Ming had dispatched troops northward and had already reached Jining, he deliberately led 5,000 cavalry there, intending to rendezvous with Yang Wanxing and then attack from both sides to wipe out Shi Kefa's troops in one fell swoop and achieve a military feat. However, he never expected to encounter a small Southern Ming force there.

The unit he led consisted of only 300 Han Eight Banners cavalrymen, the rest being remnants of the rebel army he had incorporated during this period. Although these recruited soldiers were not as effective as the Han Eight Banners cavalrymen, they were also veterans with many years of experience in the battlefield, and their fighting power should not be underestimated.

Upon seeing these Ming troops, Ke Yongsheng's first reaction was that victory was imminent. He felt that there was no need to deploy his elite cavalry; these recruited cavalrymen alone could easily defeat the Ming army. However, who could have predicted that his bite would be like biting into an incredibly solid block of iron. Not only did he fail to achieve his goal, but he also broke all his teeth!

Of the one thousand cavalrymen, except for the two or three hundred who escaped, the rest were killed on the way to the charge. These people could not even break through the seemingly thin chariot formation on the opposite side!

How could this be possible? Equal numbers of cavalry facing infantry, and on a flat, undefended road, his cavalry was defeated so easily. If word got out, wouldn't his colleagues laugh their heads off?

But everything before him seemed so real that he couldn't help but believe it. Who exactly was this Ming army before him? Why was their musket fire so fierce and continuous, making it impossible for his cavalry to even get close?

He slowly looked around and saw that the faces of the people around him were also filled with shock. It seemed that everyone was as surprised as he was at the battle situation and was at a loss.

"Who can take down this Ming army for me?" Ke Yongsheng gritted his teeth, forced himself to calm down, and shouted loudly, with a hint of unwillingness and anger in his eyes.

"Marshal, I'm willing to go!"