Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 372 Li Jiucheng Dies in Battle

The Qiongzhou camp's formation was completely surrounded by the rebel army, and the situation was somewhat dire.

The soldiers in all four directions were now crouching on the ground, forming a bayonet charge, unable to stand and fire. Otherwise, fifty paces would have been a mere charge for cavalry; before they could even reload and fire, the rebels would have charged. Without the bayonet charge, the cavalry could easily break through the thin two-line formation. However, abandoning the bayonet charge to prevent the cavalry charge meant facing the threat of arrows—a difficult choice. This was the advantage cavalry had over infantry: they could freely choose their combat mode, attacking or retreating at any time, while infantry was always on the defensive.

Fortunately, in addition to the 2,000-strong square formation, the Qiongzhou camp also had a reserve force.

The expanded guard and special forces, totaling several hundred men, were already prepared for battle when the Shandong soldiers charged the square formation. Now, facing the threat of the rebels' arrows, they chose to strike first.

Qin Tian, ​​who was in charge of the reserve team's temporary command, gave the order: "Prepare for volley fire!"

Hundreds of rifles fired in three directions. While the firepower was somewhat sparse across the three directions, fifty paces was the optimal range for the Patriot rifles. The rebel ranks were relatively dense, and the cavalry on horseback were very large targets; they could be hit almost blindfolded. This volley felled many rebels who were preparing to draw their bows. Whirling lead bullets struck the rebels; they were all light cavalry, unarmored, and the bullets easily penetrated their bodies, tearing open wounds, shredding muscle and blood vessels, causing blood to spurt out.

Seeing that the enemy still had a backup plan, Li Jiucheng dared not be careless and brandished his saber, shouting, "Shoot!"

The rebel cavalry, attacked by muskets, hastily retaliated. A series of whistling sounds, like the vibration of cotton-fluffed bowstrings, filled the air, and a dense swarm of arrows, like bees taking flight, soared into the sky. After reaching their highest point, the arrows, pulled by gravity, began to plummet downwards, cutting through the air with a whooshing sound, like a strong wind blowing through the forest.

Arrows rained down on the hollow square formation. Thanks to the sparse line formation of the Qiongzhou camp, the accuracy of the volleyed arrows was not high, and only a handful of soldiers were hit. On the contrary, more rebels were hit by lead bullets.

Qin issued an order: "Freedom of fire."

The reserve troops loaded their ammunition, preparing for a second shot. After all, the rate of fire of bows and arrows was still much higher than that of flintlock muskets in the short term. At this moment, the rebels, having regained their footing, fired their second arrow. They deliberately aimed at the reserve troops who were ready to fire, and before the soldiers could even open fire, they were hit by arrows one after another.

Qin Tian shouted, "Hold your fire! Ignore the arrows and keep firing!"

Braving the rain of arrows, the reserve soldiers fired their second shots, and dozens more rebels fell to the ground.

Seeing that the casualty exchange ratio was unfavorable to him, Li Jiucheng became somewhat impatient and was about to reprimand his subordinates to speed up the shooting when a deafening sound of horses' hooves came from behind, making the whole earth seem to tremble.

He looked back and saw that several thousand cavalrymen of the Guan Ning Army had begun their charge.

The Guan Ning army was no pushover like the Shandong soldiers; they weren't charging in to escape through friendly lines, but rather to launch a pincer attack with this arquebusier unit. Li Jiucheng, a seasoned veteran, knew that reckless action was unwise in this situation. He immediately made a decision and loudly ordered, "We're doomed today! Turn around and head back to Dengzhou!"

The rebels put away their bows and arrows, turned their horses around, and moved away from the formation, preparing to retreat towards Dengzhou.

Liu Ye snorted: "Trying to run away? Not so easy."

He ordered: "Form squares into horizontal formations, prepare for a counterattack."

Under the command of Shi Ying and Xu Yifan, the two battalions quickly transformed from a hollow square formation into a horizontal line, blocking the rear of the rebel army.

The Guan Ning Army has begun its all-out charge; the thousands of galloping cavalrymen are like a destructive torrent, unstoppable.

Li Jiucheng examined the situation carefully. The direction the Guan Ning army had chosen was cunning; they had deliberately taken a roundabout route, blocking the rebels' defensive line as they returned to Dengzhou. The rebels had two options: either fight their way through the Guan Ning army head-on or try to bypass them diagonally. However, both paths were dead ends: given the Guan Ning army's fighting strength and their rested state, a direct confrontation would be disastrous for the rebels; but bypassing the Guan Ning army was also nearly impossible. Without the rebels' horses gaining speed, they could easily be intercepted by the Guan Ning army in a full-speed charge.

Li Jiucheng's palms were sweating. He thought to himself: Damn it, I didn't check the situation when I went out today. I didn't expect that in addition to the Guan Ning Army, a strange arquebusiers would suddenly appear in the government troops. I was greedy and wanted to expand the victory, but I ended up being attacked from both sides.

He glanced at the approaching Guan Ning army, then turned to look at the Qiongzhou camp, which had formed a horizontal line, and made a decision: pick the weakest link. The arquebusiers were not in formation, which was a great opportunity to charge forward. As long as he disrupted their formation, he could use these arquebusiers to slow down the Guan Ning army's momentum, and he would have a chance to escape.

He raised his saber and shouted, "Damn it, turn around and charge! Get through these musketeers!"

While he hesitated, the Qiongzhou camp had already made preparations. Liu Ye gave a strict order: "Fire freely. Do not stop without orders. No one is allowed to retreat a single step. Even if you die, die in your own position."

When the rebels turned their horses around to charge back, more than two thousand rifles opened fire.

"Bang!" Gunshots rang out one after another, like popping beans. Thick white smoke enveloped the Qiongzhou camp's line of soldiers. Before the rebels could even charge, they fell from their horses one after another.

Li Jiucheng charged ahead, his body pressed tightly against his horse's back to avoid the rain of lead bullets. He knew that at this moment, enemies surrounded him from both sides; he couldn't slowly wear them down with arrows, he had to charge directly to have a chance. Fortunately, the musketeers had opened fire, so he couldn't use bayonets to block them. As long as he was lucky enough to avoid being killed by stray bullets, he could escape.

The rebels, following Li Jiucheng, began their escape charge. They lay prone on their horses, preparing to use the momentum to break through the line. However, the lead bullets were too dense. They could dodge them, but the horses, being such large targets, could not. Every now and then, the horses neighed, rolled, and fell over.

Liu Ye kept a close eye on Li Jiucheng through his binoculars. He saw Li Jiucheng skillfully clinging to the horse's back, charging at the forefront, his subordinates being shot repeatedly, yet he managed to escape death time and time again.

Just as Liu Ye was marveling at the rebel leader's incredible luck, an unexpected scene unfolded: to avoid a horse carcass on the ground, Li Jiucheng raised his head, pulled on the reins, and spurred his mount high into the air, leaping over the obstacle. In the instant he straightened up, a lead bullet struck him in the chest, blooming into a spray of blood. Li Jiucheng fell backward, his horse propelled forward by the immense force, and he tumbled several times in the air before crashing heavily to the ground. Immediately afterward, countless cavalrymen trampled over his body; it was clear he was doomed.

Liu Ye dropped the binoculars, raised his fist, and shouted excitedly, "Li Jiucheng is dead!"