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

Ke Yongsheng looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the speaker was named Fei Yanggu, a Manchu. This time, he was appointed as the general of Jiaozhou. Ke Yongsheng only brought with him a Niulu of 300 Han Eight Banners cavalrymen, and Fei Yanggu served as the Niulu Zhangjing of this cavalry.

While the Han Eight Banners were primarily Han Chinese, they also included a small number of Sinicized Manchus and Mongols who had served in Ming Dynasty officialdom. Fei Yanggu was one of these. Although his cavalry was also predominantly Han Chinese, their combat effectiveness was forged through countless battles, rivaling, if not surpassing, the elite troops of the Manchu Eight Banners. Witnessing the newly allied Han cavalry being easily defeated by the opposing Ming army, he was enraged and immediately challenged to fight.

"Fei Yanggu, there's no need for you to take action to deal with these people." Ke Yongsheng shook his head slightly and did not agree to Fei Yanggu's request. He slowly said: "It's just that we underestimated this Ming army for a moment. We just need to send more people."

"Okay, if they can't defeat this Ming army, then I must take the field." Although Fei Yanggu was unwilling, seeing that Ke Yongsheng had made up his mind, he could only nod in agreement.

In Fei Yanggu's heart, he still did not take the Ming army on the opposite side seriously. In his opinion, the root cause of this failure was that the combat effectiveness of these so-called rebel forces he incorporated was too weak and vulnerable, not because the Ming army was so powerful.

However, what Ke Yongsheng was thinking at this moment was completely different from his.

You have to know that the Han Eight Banners were originally highly valued for their proficiency in firearms, leading to the formation of this firearms unit, primarily composed of surrendered Han Chinese. As a Han Eight Banners member, Ke Yongsheng was naturally quite familiar with firearms, but the firearms employed by the Ming army before him were completely beyond his comprehension, shocking him greatly. He had not allowed Fei Yanggu to fight because this cavalry unit was the foundation of his rule in the Jiaozhou region, his trump card. He would not regret even the casualties of these recruited rebels, but Fei Yanggu's troops must not suffer any loss.

"Send out troops!" Ke Yongsheng sent out a cavalry unit of 2,000 people this time.

He knew that while the Ming army's firearms were powerful, they were prone to malfunction after prolonged firing. Furthermore, while muskets were lethal at range, if the cavalry engaged them at close range, it would be an inevitable, one-sided massacre. Therefore, the key lay in successfully charging into the ranks of the musketeers. Once there, his cavalry would have the opportunity to unleash their might.

At the same time, Jiang Xuefeng's troops were also making intensive preparations for the battle.

The key to the rapid firing of the falconets lies in their sub-barrels. The five falconets Jiang Xuefeng brought this time were each equipped with ten sub-barrels. This was also the key reason why the falconets could roar continuously in previous battles. Now, taking advantage of the lulls in the battle, the artillerymen were racing against time to reload their sub-barrels, their foreheads covered with sweat, but they didn't bother to wipe them.

After continuous firing, the barrels of artillery and muskets will become red hot. At this time, the soldiers will take the opportunity to tightly wrap the barrels with wet cloth to quickly reduce the temperature of the barrels and ensure that the muskets can continue to fire stably and exert their due power in the next battle.

Ke Yongsheng did not give the People's Army enough time to prepare. In just an incense stick's time, the second round of cavalry attack began again.

This time, the Qing cavalry had obviously learned their lesson and become more shrewd. They did not adopt a dense charge formation like the first time, but deliberately widened the gaps between each other as much as possible, trying to minimize the damage that might be caused by artillery shells or muskets.

The roar of the falconet once again resounded across the battlefield. However, this time, due to the loose front line of the cavalry, the damage it caused was greatly reduced and its power was sharply reduced. The continuous consumption of sub-guns also caused the firing rate of the falconet to further decrease, and it was no longer as fast as before.

Fortunately, the flying cannons promptly and effectively supplemented the firepower of the falconet, but after continuous shooting, one of the flying cannons malfunctioned and could no longer operate normally.

After the first round of tenacious defense, the People's Army soldiers lost some of their initial nervousness and fear, and gained a sense of composure and confidence. As they fired, their movements became more skillful, their coordination more coordinated, and the sound of gunfire echoed in a specific, orderly rhythm, uninterrupted.

The devastating casualties terrified these newly reorganized rebel cavalry, their fighting spirit waning. However, the supervisory troops, led by Fei Yanggu, watched closely behind them, like a group of cold, relentless gods of death. If anyone dared to turn and flee, they would be met with the merciless butchery of the supervisory troops. After slaughtering several deserters in succession, the cavalry, driven to a ruthless frenzy, recklessly charged towards the People's Army's chariot formation, their eyes filled with determination and madness.

"Put on bayonets!" The leading officer saw that the chariot formation in front of him was already shaky and in danger under the continuous and fierce attacks of the enemy cavalry, so he shouted loudly, and his voice echoed throughout the entire position.

After firing, the soldiers quickly drew their bayonets and expertly inserted them onto the muzzles. In an instant, the muskets transformed into long spears! This bayonet was a refinement Huang Minggang had meticulously developed based on Chongzhen's suggestions. With this bayonet, the muskets could be used in close combat without affecting their normal firing function, effectively killing two birds with one stone.

Seeing that the enemy's chariot formation was crumbling under the impact of their own cavalry, the cavalry under Ke Yongsheng became more and more crazy and their offensive became more and more fierce.

A heavily armored cavalry commander, relying on his superb riding skills and agility, cleverly dodged the artillery fire and rushed to the front of the chariot formation like a flash of black lightning. The warhorse under his crotch was already covered with dense bullet holes, bleeding, a horrible sight, but he continued to gallop madly, with endless impact.

Seeing the chariot array approaching, he suddenly stabbed the horse's butt with his long sword. The warhorse let out a long neigh in pain and rushed forward, crashing into the chariot array. Under the tremendous force of the impact, a gap was opened in the already precarious chariot array, and the warhorse, finally unable to hold on due to its severe injuries, collapsed with a loud thud.

The cavalry commander was a master of skill. In this crucial moment, he leaped high from his horse, brandishing his long sword with great force, and slashed fiercely at a People's Army soldier before him. The soldier, clearly unprepared for such a turn of events, showed a hint of panic on his face, and hurriedly blocked with his musket. However, he had not anticipated the cavalry commander's immense strength. With a snap, the musket fell to the ground. With a flick of the cavalry commander's wrist, the long sword darted towards the soldier's neck, flashing with a cold light, ready to kill him in the blink of an eye.

"Bang!" At this critical moment, a dull gunshot suddenly rang out. This gunshot was completely different from the muskets commonly used by the People's Army soldiers, and it was much deeper and more powerful. As the gunshot rang out, a bright flower of blood instantly bloomed between the cavalry commander's eyebrows. The tremendous impact sent his body flying backwards as if struck by a huge hammer, and he fell heavily to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

The People's Army soldier's face was as pale as paper. He looked at the cavalry general lying in front of him with lingering fear. He saw that his eyes were wide open, and his face was full of incredible surprise. There was a bloody hole between his eyebrows, and blood was flowing out, dyeing the ground beneath him a deep red.

On the hillside, on a high ground with a very wide view, Xu Sanqiang's face was as calm as water. He loaded the ammunition quickly and steadily. His expression was calm and unperturbed, as if all the noise and chaos around him had nothing to do with him.

He clutched a gun with a barrel nearly twice as long as an ordinary musket. It used an advanced flintlock mechanism, and its long barrel was engraved with windmill-like lines, marking what would later become known as rifling. Rifling is the very soul of a gun barrel, its crucial function being to impart rotation to the bullet, allowing it to maintain its intended direction after exiting the barrel, greatly enhancing shooting accuracy. A rifle with rifling would later become known as a rifled musket.

In reality, rifled guns had already existed, but due to their extremely complex manufacturing process and the special requirements for the bullets used, they were not widely promoted and used for a long time. After Chongzhen proposed the concept of the rifled gun, Xie Quanfeng and other skilled craftsmen worked tirelessly to successfully develop this advanced weapon. However, given the current industrial infrastructure of the Ming Dynasty, large-scale production of this gun was not feasible. However, it is undeniable that this gun far surpassed the ordinary firearms in terms of range, power, and accuracy, offering significant advantages.

At Chongzhen's suggestion, Xie Quanfeng carefully selected the best shooters and equipped them with this advanced gun, which was specifically used to snipe important personnel and key targets of the enemy. Xu Sanqiang was one of the best.

For this People's Army expedition, all six rifles were assigned to Jiang Xuefeng, and the snipers' first stunning appearance was truly impressive! Besides Xu Sanqiang, five others were strategically deployed in different areas, tasked with sniping enemy generals. By this point, they had already achieved considerable success, causing significant distress and damage to the Qing army.

However, this minor incident attracted little attention amidst the chaotic and noisy battlefield, as everyone was absorbed in the fierce fighting. As the Qing cavalry launched a frenzied attack, the first line of chariots was ultimately unable to withstand the attack and was broken. The People's Army, helpless, could only retreat to the second line of chariots and continue their tenacious resistance, as the battle entered a more intense phase...