Chapter 65 Kill

The monotonous and steady sound of muskets dominated the battlefield. The Guanning Army, surging forward like a tide, fell at a rate far exceeding the speed of their charge.

At the front of the battle formation, corpses piled up like mountains—men and warhorses alike—and blood flowed into rivers. Those who were lucky enough to survive let out heart-wrenching screams, turning the battlefield into a terrifying scene from the Shura hell.

For all these years, the Guanning Army had never encountered such a one-sided slaughter. Even when facing the Qing soldiers, both sides would put up a fierce fight for a while, but now they could not even touch the edges of their enemy.

Starting from fifty to sixty paces out, all the way down to thirty paces, an impassable web of fire had been formed. Row after row of musketeers fired alternately, weaving a dense sheet of leaden bullets into a barrage of death. No matter how heavy the armor was, it simply could not withstand the lead balls. The braver they were, the further ahead they charged, the more bullets they took, tearing their bodies to pieces.

Wu Sangui had sent out over a thousand cavalrymen in one go, but in the blink of an eye, two to three hundred had already been killed. The lucky survivors were all chilled to the bone.

Li Xu and Yue Polu were in charge of the right-wing cavalry. Seeing this scene, Li Xu could not help but burst into laughter: "Polu, did you see that? Back in the day when General Qi guarded the borders, he commanded with this exact kind of majesty. As long as the muskets are sharp and the training is proper, what iron cavalry? They're nothing more than a piece of cake!"

Yue Polu's eyes went wide, and he blurted out: "Once we find a place to settle down, I must have a good talk with Seventh Brother. I want to lead a musketeer unit myself—that was simply too exhilarating!"

It wasn't just the two of them; Sun Cheng and the others watching from behind were also rubbing their hands, eager for a fight.

"Did you see that? Wu Sangui took a heavy loss. I reckon the Guanning Army won't hold out much longer. Let's get ourselves ready to charge in a moment."

"Don't be hasty!" Li Jibo said with a smile. "In the past, the Guanning Army would mostly have collapsed by now, but things are different today. From the moment they surrendered to the Qing, they became shameful traitors. These people know in their hearts that they won't come to a good end, so they are bound to fight desperately. The bloody battle is still ahead of us!"

Li Jibo was entirely correct. Sure enough, the remaining Guanning Army did not retreat in the face of difficulties, instead continuing their desperate charge. The distance between the two sides quickly closed to about thirty paces.

A cold smile crossed Xie Bin's lips. He glanced left and right and said, "It's time for the big guys to show what they can do!"

"Watch and learn!"

With that, more than a hundred musketeers surged out from the rear and gaps of the square formation. They rapidly selected open positions and aimed their gun barrels directly at the commanding officers leading the charge.

These men looked no different from ordinary musketeers, but the secret lay in the muskets they held. Guanzhen Hua had managed to procure a batch of fine muskets from Zhu Chunchen, which had an effective range of one hundred and fifty paces.

Through a process of trial and error, Xie Bin discovered that although muskets could hardly be called precision weapons, a good musket was reasonably accurate at a distance of about thirty paces.

When Guanzhen Hua had ambushed Li Yan, he had suggested organizing a squad of soldiers responsible for precision shooting.

In truth, Guanzhen Hua had merely mentioned it in passing, but Xie Bin had taken it to heart. Using that period, he had picked out a batch of soldiers and put them through rigorous, grueling training. They had been bottling up their energy ever since.

Now, the time had finally come to show off their skills. A soldier locked onto his target, a gunshot rang out, and instantly blood spurted from an enemy's chest as his massive frame toppled from his horse.

This soldier was clearly fortunate; among the hundred-odd musketeers, only a little over thirty hit their targets. This hit rate could by no means compare to modern sniper warfare, but the effect it produced was devastating. The targets they aimed at were thousand-man commanders, hundred-man commanders, and even guerrilla generals, down to platoon leaders at the very least.

With officers being picked off in droves, it was tantamount to breaking the spine of the Guanning Army, and the momentum of their charge ground to a sudden halt.

Zhou Yingjie also saw his opportunity. Volleys of synchronized platoon fire rang out, beating the drowning dog. In the blink of an eye, another two hundred cavalrymen were wiped out. The Guanning Army had already lost well over half their forces, and their ranks instantly thinned out.

Moreover, those who died were the bravest, most battle-hardened, and thickest-armored men. With them dead, the rest lost all courage to charge, and they fell back in a swift, cascading retreat like a receding tide. No amount of shouting or rallying could save them.

The sight of this made Wu Sangui's eyes bulge out of his head. He had never imagined that Guanzhen Hua could defeat him in a field battle. The arch-traitor stamped his feet and beat his chest, his eyes nearly splitting wide open.

"Grand Commander, this subordinate refuses to accept this! I will lead a charge myself and smash that fire-hedgehog!" Yang Ming said with unconcealed defiance.

Wu Sangui opened his mouth, wanting to give the order, but in the end, he closed it again. He wheeled his horse around and rode over to Helohui.

"Lord Helo, you have seen the tactical situation yourself. I truly have no way to deal with their firearms. The brave warriors of the Great Qing are peerless under heaven; surely they can break through this defense line. I ask Lord Helo to lend your aid."

Helohui came from the Bordered White Banner. Compared to the reckless, ferocious generals of the Qing, he was a man who knew how to use his brain, and he was not going to have his head turned by Wu Sangui's flattery.

"Prince of Pingxi, the Guanning Army still has over a thousand men; they might yet turn defeat into victory. It's best the brave warriors of my Great Qing not rob the Prince of his glory."

Hearing this, Wu Sangui cursed inwardly at the shamelessness. Ever since defecting to the Qing, Wu Sangui knew full well that his status was directly proportional to the size of his troop strength. As long as he still commanded tens of thousands of men, he carried weight; otherwise, he was worth nothing more than a fart!

"Lord Helo, these people not only hold a blood grudge against the Guanning Army, but Prince Duoluo also suffered greatly at their hands. Could it be that Lord Helo has no desire for revenge?"

This question struck right at Helohui's sore spot. When Dodo had set out, he had repeatedly instructed that Guanzhen Hua must be captured alive and handed over to him to be carved up piece by piece before his anger would be appeased.

"Prince of Pingxi, the brave warriors of my Great Qing can shoulder the main assault mission, but you must pin down the cavalry on both flanks, and furthermore dispatch two hundred desperate suicide troops to serve as the vanguard."

Hearing this, Wu Sangui could only bite his bullet and nod in agreement.

The horn blew, and a growing number of cavalrymen assembled, a restless sea of heads. Clearly, the moment of the decisive battle had arrived.

Every heart within the battle formation tightened involuntarily. The hair-raising sound of thundering hooves rang out once more. A massive cavalry force charged forward again, their numbers more than double those of the previous assault.

"Brothers, do not be afraid! No matter how many come, they are nothing more than targets!" Zhou Yingjie constantly shouted to encourage the men.

With a din that shook the earth, the torrent of Qing cavalry rolled forward. Finally reaching within fifty paces, the muskets roared, and the front ranks fell in swathes.

Yet simultaneously with the gunfire, a whistling sound cut through the air, and a dense storm of arrows rained down upon the musketeers almost concurrently.

This was the vicious cunning of Helohui. Recognizing the lethality of the pacification army's firearms, he had deliberately used Wu Sangui's men as human shields to cover the Qing soldiers as they closed to within fifty paces.

The arrows loosed by the Qing soldiers were heavy and exceptionally accurate. The first wave of arrows struck down over twenty musketeers. Though they had spared no expense in donning double-layered armor, the Qing archers aimed cunningly, targeting their faces where armor could not protect them.

An arrow struck right through a soldier's eyeball. With a cry of agony, he crashed to the ground. Others were struck by four or five arrows piercing straight through their armor, sending blood spurting forth.

There was another venomous trait to the Manchu bows: the arrowhead tips were soaked in urine and feces. Anyone struck had little hope of surviving.

Hearing the miserable cries of their comrades, the musketeers hesitated for a split second, and the second volley of Manchu arrows arrived, bringing down another dozen men in the blink of an eye.

Watching the casualties mount among the musketeers, Zhou Yingjie felt as though his heart were bleeding. He hastily gave the order: "Musketeers fall back! Sword-and-shield infantry, cover!"

The musketeers scrambled backward, hiding behind the shield-bearers. Yet precisely during this tactical shift, the Qing forces seized the opening, and an elite unit of armored suicide-cavalry charged fiercely forward.

Like caged tigers released to devour their prey!

Sweeping like a whirlwind, they tore right up to the front lines of the Pacification Army.

"Fire!" Xie Bin roared at the top of his lungs, and a rolling crash of gunfire erupted.

The leading suicide troops were struck, their double layers of armor shattered into flying flesh and blood. Yet those following behind paid no heed, lowering their heads and charging madly onward.

The distance between the two sides closed to within ten paces. A soldier wielding a spiked mace brought it down in a vicious smash. It landed squarely on a shield, shattering the wooden barrier to splinters while snapping the soldier's arm.

As he raised his mace again, a lead ball tore straight into his belly, sending blood surging forth. Gritting his teeth with his dying breath, the man used his final ounce of strength to crush the shield-bearer with his mace before crashing to the ground himself. Countless Qing soldiers surged up from behind him, desperately assaulting the breach.

The thin line of infantry could not withstand the charge of heavy cavalry. In an instant, five or six shield-bearers were hacked down, a gap tore open in the battle line, and the Qing troops flooded right through.

A single breach meant total defeat.

The frontline soldiers were instantly pushed to the brink of collapse!

"Orders from the Commander: the entire army falls back!"

At this moment of extreme crisis, Guanzhen Hua's courier arrived.

Hearing the order, Xie Bin and Zhou Yingjie could only grit their teeth and order a retreat. The soldiers fell back from the front line with the Qing troops in hot pursuit. Fortunately, Guanzhen Hua had previously arranged supply wagons right in the center, providing the musketeers with optimal cover. They sprinted through the reserved pathways and retreated to the rear.

"Seventh Brother, we failed to hold off the Qing troops. We've disgraced you!"

"Don't talk about that now! Get your musketeers combat-ready as fast as you can. Leave the rest to me!"

With those words, Guanzhen Hua surged to the front. By now, the Qing troops had crossed the barrier of wagons, though their momentum had slowed significantly, and the force of their charge was greatly diminished.

"Raise spears! Thrust!"

Instantly, hundreds of long lances struck out like venomous snakes, piercing into the Qing ranks. Armor was penetrated, and a Qing soldier was impaled by four or five spears, bleeding profusely before collapsing dead to the ground.

More and more Qing soldiers flooded forward, plunging both sides into a bloody melee where men fell every second.

Guanzhen Hua hoisted his broadsword high, the glistening blade reflecting a chilling light.

"Pacification Army, charge!"