Chapter Fifty-two: Bloody Battle

  Wave after wave of attack? No, the wave-like advance was a tactic used in the era of hot weapons with scattered lines, and when it came to cold weapon warfare, it became a continuous attack in this formation. With the entire army rotating and launching fierce attacks, it seemed that the Qing army was determined to fight to the death. Zhu Yongxing looked at the Ming army lined up and preparing to meet the enemy, and his heart was still somewhat tense.

  "Raise the royal flag." Zhu Yongxing clenched his sweaty palm and made a decision.

  A 7-8 zhang high flagpole was erected on the mountain ridge, and a miniature version of the "Min" character with a red background and yellow characters fluttered in the wind.

  "Long live the great Ming!" Chen Yi-yao raised the precious sword in his hand, gazing at the royal flag, shouting loudly.

  "Long live the great Ming!" The Ming soldiers shouted with raised arms.

  "Bravo! Kill the enemy!" Chen Yiyao shouted out the slogan again.

  "Hurray! Kill the enemy!" The responding voices grew louder, bringing a prolonged echo in the mountains and forests.

  The false Ming's royal family members are left to guard, and the prince of Qin is right here? Wang Jinbao looked at the royal flag that suddenly rose on the mountain ridge, his eyes suddenly widening. The defeat at Hui Slope was still fresh in memory, the fluttering royal flag made people feel both ambitious and resentful; now, the royal flag appeared again here, he couldn't say what kind of taste it was in his heart

  "Capture and kill the false Ming imperial clansmen, and you will be promoted three ranks and rewarded with a thousand taels of gold." Wang Jinbao quickly realized that he could use this to boost morale, so he waved his sword and shouted loudly, and his personal soldiers also repeated it in high voices.

  The effect of this slogan is there, but it's not big. If we were to pursue a victory, it would undoubtedly be much better than this desperate struggle for survival.

  The Qing army climbed up the slope, only to find that their feet were so difficult to move, and if they weren't careful, they would be entangled by thorns and vines, not only would they fall down, but also couldn't speed up the impact, could only slowly climb up.

  As the Qing army approached Luozhou, stumbling and staggering, Chen Yiyao's face was stern, his precious sword pointing forward, coldly ordering: "Archers, fire arrows."

  A shower of arrows shot out from the right rear side of the Ming army formation, flying towards the Qing army. The advantageous terrain made the range of the Ming army's bows and arrows stronger than that of the Qing army. Although there were only over 200 archers in the Ming army, the first round of long-range shooting still killed or injured many Qing soldiers.

  "Shield protection, shrink formation." The first row of Qing army commanders skillfully commanded the soldiers to make adjustments.

  Another volley of arrows flew over, although there were still miserable cries from the Qing army being hit by arrows, but the casualties suffered by the well-adjusted Qing army had already been very small. The space that was quickly filled with the shrinking formation was supplemented by archers on both sides under the cover of shields, and as soon as they approached the Lu Zhuang, the Qing army also began to shoot arrows.

  The lethality of bows and arrows is inferior to that of knives, let alone guns. Moreover, the physical strength of archers can only allow them to shoot a dozen or so arrows with all their might, and the final battle is still a fierce and bloody melee. The shooting of the Qing army's bowmen became weaker and weaker. Due to the terrain, they had to shoot every arrow with all their might in order to cause harm to the Ming army, so they quickly became exhausted.

  But at this time, the Qing army's first array had already begun to cut down the branches blocking the road, and the simple abatis seemed unable to pose too great an obstacle for them.

  "Fire!" Chen Yi-yao shouted loudly, waving his flag accordingly.

  The shield-bearing soldiers in the first row of the left wing of the Ming army quickly crouched down, revealing thirty crossbowmen from the Mangshan Ke clan who shot out arrows that had been pre-loaded. After shooting, they reloaded and crouched down, then the next row of crossbowmen continued to fire, and then crouched down, followed by the third row.

  Crossbow arrows shot out in a continuous stream, row after row, stirring up blood flowers and mournful cries in the Qing army's formation. The drumbeats were incessant, and the Qing army had no intention of retreating; when the soldiers at the front fell down, those behind them rushed forward two steps to fill their places, trampling on fresh blood and the bodies of their comrades. The Qing army suffered heavy casualties in its first wave, but still managed to launch a fierce assault on the enemy's defensive line.

  Dozens of long spears on the wooden frame stabbed together, these were all two-meter-long spears, although the speed was not fast due to friction, but half of the Qing soldiers in the first row were still pierced. The long spears easily tore open their armor, bringing shattered bones and flesh into the trunk, making them emit dying screams.

  The Qing soldiers in the back row pushed them open without hesitation, and thrust their guns forward with all their might. Suddenly, there were also miserable cries on the other side of the abatis. Across the abatis, the long guns of both sides stabbed each other, and the air was filled with crossbow arrows, spears, and broad knives, with flesh and blood flying everywhere, and the battle was extremely fierce.

  The first wave of Qing troops was quickly exhausted, and the second wave of Qing troops followed closely, at all costs, without fear of bloodshed and casualties. The elite were indeed exceptional, with no retreat route left to unleash a desperate final blow. Although relatively speaking, the Ming army had the geographical advantage, with far fewer casualties than the Qing army, but the momentum of the Qing army's charge was not inferior to that of the Ming army.

  The horses had already been knocked down, and the soldiers on both sides began to fight face-to-face. The battlefield was filled with the sound of mournful cries, the sound of spears and swords piercing flesh, and the fierce battle cries bursting from their chests.

  Body after body fell to the ground, whether corpses or wounded, were trampled by enemies or comrades, blood gushing out, seeping into the hillside, dyeing the grass red. In the fierce battle, the Qing army's second array was depleted extremely quickly, and the archers on both sides also suffered heavy losses, soldiers had abandoned their bows and crossbows, holding knives and guns to advance and assist in the fight.

  Suddenly, a dense black cloud rose from the rear of the Ming army's battle array, and countless stone balls the size of lead bullets flew over dozens of meters, violently smashing into the Qing army that was bravely launching a counterattack.

  The crude catapult made of bamboo, wood and rattan could only have such a short range, and it could only play a role after the enemy approached. But this sudden blow was beyond the expectation of the Qing army, causing them to suffer significant losses instantly. Amidst the constant wailing and screaming, the Qing army's attacking formation was in danger of being disrupted. The momentum of the charge was also hindered. The front row fell, and the back row could not immediately follow up and fill the gap.

  "Charge!" The flag waved under Chen Yi's command, the drumbeat was urgent, urging the pace of the Ming army.

  "Kill!" "Kill!" "Kill!" The Ming army let out a loud shout, raised their knives and guns, and charged forward with all their might. The fierce pressure of the battle array crushed the Qing army's second line of defense, and pushed forward several dozen meters down the mountain ridge.

  "Kill! Cut down those who retreat!" Wang Jinbao let out a fierce roar, swinging his sword to cut down an officer running backwards. His personal soldiers also killed the fleeing troops, halting their defeat and launching another attack upwards.

  Husband war, courage also. Moreover, will be the army master, will cowardly then soldiers fall. Wang Jinbao deeply understands this reason, so he leads the close army to follow the array and kill, and boost the morale of the defeated soldiers.