Although the Eight Banners of the Qing Army had a firm will to fight, they were still affected to a certain extent by seeing their own soldiers and horses scrambling to escape.
The Ming army's offensive became more and more fierce!
Keep attacking again and again!
More and more green soldiers of the Qing army fled one after another, and the situation on the battlefield became more and more obvious.
Gradually, among the Qing troops who continued to fight on the battlefield, only the Eight Banners soldiers from Pingnan Prince's Mansion remained, which was quite gratifying.
The hatred of the country and the family supported them to continue fighting against the Ming army!
…
Zhu Hongyu waved his hand and ordered.
"Send the order, the whole army will attack!"
"Surround up Shang Kexi, my general. I want to take Shang Kexi's Pingnan Prince's eight banners and eat them in one bite!"
Zheng Chenggong asked.
"Your Highness, what should we do with the Qing army's Green Camp who escaped?"
Zhu Hongyu just waved his hand and said.
"It doesn't matter, let's ignore them for now. At night now, the Qing army's green soldiers can't escape!"
The Ming army was able to fight at night because the Ming army provided good food and treatment to its soldiers, which could provide them with oil, water, and various vitamins needed by the human body.
Therefore, Ming army soldiers generally did not suffer from night blindness!
But what about the Qing army?
Most of the Eight Banners soldiers who continue to fight at night do not suffer from night blindness.
As the slave-owning class, the Eight Banners soldiers must have good food and will definitely not lack nutrition.
But what about Green Camp?
Just rely on the treatment from Green Camp!
Zhu Hongyu didn't dare to say everything, but even if it was a conservative estimate, at least 80-90% of the Green Camp soldiers had night blindness.
A group of nyctalopia patients who become blind at night, how far can they run even with torches?
I'm afraid they all fled as soon as they left the camp!
Those stragglers are not a threat. Just wait until Shang Kexi's Eight Banners soldiers are eaten and then send cavalry to pursue them at dawn!
For the Ming army at the moment, the most important thing is to annihilate the Eight Banners soldiers under Shang Kexi's command, kill or even capture Shang Kexi alive.
…
Parts of the Ming army came out of the camp according to the order and surrounded and killed the Qing army's central camp.
The Ming army continued to launch attacks, squeezing the Qing army's living space bit by bit!
Shang Kexi kept ordering the reduction of troops in an attempt to resist stubbornly and persist for a longer period of time.
Facing the Ming army that was attacking from all directions in the dark night, Shang Kexi felt deep despair.
A gust of wind blew, and the big banner behind him fluttered!
Shang Kexi was protected in the middle, but he felt a chill from the bottom of his heart.
From the moment he was transferred to the Hunan Green Camp and sold his teammates, Shang Kexi knew that he was doomed!
After this battle, Guangdong Province may be owned by Ming thieves again!
"kill!"
"Drive out the Tartars and restore China!"
"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious, kill the traitors!"
"..."
Listening to the shouts and shouts of the Ming troops around him, Shang Ke was happy and in a daze.
His face turned pale!
Facing the Ming army's surging offensive, although the Eight Banners soldiers under his command still gritted their teeth and persisted, their combat effectiveness was also visibly reduced.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Facing the Eight Banners soldiers in a defensive formation, the Ming army's musketeers continued to fire round after round of neat volleys.
Amidst the crackling gunfire, these Eight Banners soldiers were cut down like wheat and fell to the ground row by row.
Some Ming troops even pulled up field artillery and fired directly at the Eight Banners soldiers!
Boom! Boom!
Fired at close range, the artillery shells flew horizontally, plowing out blank areas in the crowded formation of Eight Banners soldiers.
Stumps, broken arms, and blood flying everywhere!
In front of the solid shells fired by the Ming army's field artillery, the dense defensive array of the Eight Banners soldiers was no different from a living target.
A solid cannonball was blasted from the barrel and could even penetrate the bodies of dozens of people before it ran out of kinetic energy and was covered in blood, spinning on the ground.
The armor of the Eight Banners Soldiers is no different from paper when faced with solid artillery shells!
But it was the Ming army's shotguns that could cause greater damage to the Eight Banners soldiers.
A dense barrage of shotgun shells formed a barrage, beating every Eight Banners soldier into a sieve wherever they passed.
Blood is flying!
Every time the shotgun fires, it can blast a gap visible to the naked eye in the Qing army's strict array.
There are often dozens or twenty casualties!
The heavy armored infantry of the Ming Army were in no hurry to launch an attack!
Instead, he stood quietly, waiting for the muskets and artillery to kill the enemy.
Because, facing the strict defensive array of the Eight Banners soldiers, the Ming army's heavy steps actually did not have much advantage.
On the battlefield, it is not an easy task to kill a heavy infantryman!
Instead of advancing to fight now, it is better to wait for the artillery to blast the enemy array away, and then they will advance to harvest.
The soldiers of the Ming Army were not afraid of death. When it was time to fight, no one would take a step back under military orders.
But they are not stupid, they also know that when there is no need to go all out, they must reduce their own casualties as much as possible!
The rifle gunners of the Ming army concentrated their fire, targeting the officers of the Eight Banners soldiers of the Qing army.
Every time the rifle gunners opened fire in unison, a Qing officer would be killed.
In past battles, the Qing army liked to concentrate archers on the front line of the battlefield and shoot enemy generals with heavy arrows.
As long as the general dies, the remaining troops will naturally collapse without a fight!
Du Song, who died in the Battle of Saerhu, and Zhang Xianzhong, who died in the Battle of Sichuan by the Qing Army, both died under the concentrated fire of the Qing Army's archers.
Now, the Ming army has also learned this trick!
Use rifled gunners to concentrate their fire, specifically targeting the generals of the Qing army.
…
Zhu Hongyu was wearing armor and kept pacing in the tent.
The lights in the tent were bright, and the candlelight reflected on his face, revealing a very obvious look of anxiety.
Zhu Hongyu looked in the direction of the camp gate from time to time, looking forward to the good news coming back from the battlefield!
It was already past midnight, but the sound of gunfire and shouts of death on the battlefield continued.
Shang Kexi is still resisting!
Although he knew that the Ming army had an absolute advantage in this battle and that victory was only a matter of time, but if he did not receive any news of victory, his heart would not settle in his stomach.
Anxiety is inevitable!
However, despite being anxious, Zhu Hongyu could only drink cup after cup of tea.
I kept warning myself in my heart, don't give blind orders and cause chaos to the frontline generals.
Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen, President Jiang... where are the examples of these ancestors who like to give blind orders?
Zhu Hongyu doesn’t want to imitate them!
Moreover, he is still restraining his desire to go to the front line in person to boost the morale of the army.
During the period when the rebellion first broke out, Zhu Hongyu fought bravely to be the first in every battle for the sake of the morale of the army.
Even in the face of Spanish muskets and artillery, he showed no fear!
Because he had no choice at that time!
Leading by example is the cheapest and most effective means he can use to boost morale.
It can even be said that besides this, he has no other means!
But today is different from the past. Now Zhu Hongyu has tens of thousands of troops to oversee the Ming Dynasty and millions of people under his rule.
I already have a considerable foundation, and it is not suitable for me to take personal risks on the battlefield.