Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 441: The High-spirited Jiang Xiang

The cavalry of the two armies charged at each other. Most of the knights on both sides were silent, with all their attention focused on the horseback fight that was about to begin. Both sides were feeling the ups and downs of the horse's back, adjusting their breathing, and raising their spears and swords.

In an instant, the sounds of war horses neighing and weapons clashing could be heard. The Qing army acted quickly. They all knew very well that if they could not win this battle, the capital would immediately face the dire situation of a large army approaching the city.

Jiang Xiang's cavalry is good at fighting, and they would be sure of victory against the peasant army or the previous Ming army. However, now they are facing Baiyintu and the Eight Banners soldiers who are charging to the death.

As they were inferior in numbers, combat power, and even armor, the Jiang army's cavalry was inevitably a little panicked, but the arrow was on the string and they had to shoot. The cavalry of both sides collided suddenly, as tragically as a torrent hitting a reef.

After Bai Yintu charged past, he looked back at his subordinates and saw that about seven or eight hundred of them had fallen off their horses, while Jiang Xiang's cavalry dispersed to both sides like a stream of water and finally reunited in the distance. In just one round of charge, more than half of Jiang's cavalry were killed, twice as many as Bai Yintu's.

Bai Yintu took a breath and looked at the Jiang Xiang infantry formation which was only a few hundred steps away. He took a deep breath and shouted, "Charge over here!"

Jiang Xiang was extremely uneasy when he saw that half of his cavalry was gone in such a short time. Seeing that Bai Yintu was about to rush towards his infantry, Jiang Xiang urgently ordered the troops that had not yet joined the battle to intercept the Qing cavalry.

With large shields in front, long spears on stand, and archers in the back, although the situation was urgent, Jiang Xiang's troops still managed to form an interception formation, ready to withstand the attack of the Qing army.

The horses were galloping, their hooves clattering like thunder. Baiyintu saw that the last interception array ahead was unstable, and his eyes immediately turned red. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Kill! Kill!"

Numerous arrows flew into the Eight Banners formation like locusts. The Qing cavalry kept jumping over their fallen comrades and rushed into the bloody battlefield, hitting the intercepting infantry formation like a huge wave.

The moment he rushed into the infantry formation, Bai Yintu had a sense of unity between man and horse. With a loud "bang", the flying Bai Yintu seemed to hit an iron plate. The huge impact force not only made Bai Yintu fall forward rapidly, but also the Jiang army soldiers holding shields below vomited blood and flew backwards.

More Qing cavalry and war horses were pierced by the long spears on the mounts like candied haws. The scene was tragic and bloody.

Forcibly attacking the infantry formation is not the way for cavalry, but in extraordinary times, extraordinary methods are used. Bai Yintu first defeated Jiang Xiang's cavalry, and saw that the Han army's flag line was unstable, and the intercepting formation on the opposite side was obviously hastily assembled. Therefore, Bai Yintu made a prompt decision and led his troops to charge.

It's not that the cavalry can't attack the infantry formation, but the consequence of a strong charge is not worth the loss. However, the Qing Dynasty has reached a critical juncture. Only by defeating Jiang Xiang can the Qing Dynasty survive for a while.

The Eight Banners soldiers smashed into the intercepting army formation like a sledgehammer, breaking spears, and knocking shield soldiers away, and the formation instantly sank backwards.

Baiyintu fell to the ground, but he struggled to stand up, swinging his sword without stopping, and killed a Jiang army soldier who was approaching. A Goshaha behind Baiyintu immediately jumped off his horse and gave the horse to Baiyintu.

This temporary intercepting army formation was already riddled with holes. After Baiyintu mounted his horse, he drove it forward, shouting to charge again. The intercepting army formation was completely broken.

At this time, Jiang's army, which was besieging the Han army flag, had begun to change its formation, trying to stop the Qing cavalry.

However, at this time, the Eight Banners soldiers' horses were already a little tired after breaking through two formations in succession, and the distance was only a few dozen steps, so it was difficult to increase the speed of the horses.

Baiyintu roared and shouted, "Charge again!"

The renewed charge of the Eight Banners cavalry caused the battlefield to boil, with shouts of killing resounding everywhere. Jiang Xiang, who was not far away, was moved when he saw the Eight Banners soldiers charging into battle regardless of casualties.

He had to admit that the Eight Banners soldiers who came from outside the Great Wall were indeed good at fighting and that the cold and harsh land would produce brave soldiers.

With only 4,000 Eight Banners soldiers, Bai Yintu had tried his best to delay Jiang Xiang by intercepting scouts and raiding the grain routes these days. However, what the regent had said at the time, that they would return immediately after defeating Meng Jun, turned out to be empty talk.

Amid the neighing of war horses, Baiyintu suddenly realized that he could no longer charge forward. There were too many people, too many of them. The cavalryman who was stuck in the crowd and unable to move was just a sitting duck.

And like the last straw that broke the camel's back, a cry came, "The Qing army has collapsed! The Qing army has collapsed!"

Bai Yintu saw from afar that the Han army flag could no longer hold out under the siege of the Jiang army, which was several times larger than theirs, and began to disperse.

Baiyintu let out a desperate roar: "Get out!"

However, as fiercely as the Eight Banners had charged just now, it was just as difficult to retreat now. After suffering heavy casualties, the remaining Eight Banners soldiers, with only more than 600 cavalrymen, met head-on Jiang Xiang's cavalry, which had just been defeated.

The cavalry general waved his hand and shouted, "The Tartar army is defeated! Capture the Tartar general and you will be rewarded handsomely! Charge!"

In the battle of Shunfeng, everyone's morale was high, as if they were not the ones who had just retreated.

Baiyintu made up his mind, shouted loudly, and broke through. The only six remaining Goshaha around him also fought desperately to protect him. The rest of the Eight Banners soldiers also fought desperately with the determination to fight to the death.

After suffering more than half of his casualties, Baiyintu barely broke out of the encirclement of Jiang Xiang's cavalry.

They just charged and attacked continuously. At this time, the horses of the Eight Banners soldiers were exhausted, and the enemy cavalry behind them were still chasing them closely. Many people were caught up by the pursuers because of their lack of horsepower and died in the battle line.

There were only two Goshahas left beside Baiyintu. One of them said loudly to Baiyintu, "I will leave this horse to the master!" After saying that, he immediately jumped off the horse and limped towards the pursuers behind him.

Baiyintu fled on his horse, shedding tears as he galloped. Of the 4,800 men of the Eight Banners, only a hundred were left. As for the Han Army Banner, perhaps only one in ten remained. In all these years, Baiyintu had never fought such a tragic battle.

At dusk, a great battle west of Liangxiang gradually came to an end.

Of the 20,000 cavalry and infantry troops of Baiyintu, except for a small part who escaped, the rest either surrendered or were beheaded on the spot. The wilderness was littered with the corpses of Qing soldiers and the broken military flags.

Jiang Xiang said with emotion: "If the 20,000 people were all the sharp warriors who just broke through the enemy's formation, I'm afraid the outcome of today's battle would be unpredictable!"

After finishing speaking, Jiang Xiang pulled himself together and said in high spirits: "Come here, quickly report the victory to the king. On July 20th of the fourth year of the Yongli reign, our army defeated the Baiyintu tribe of the Tartar army. The Tartar corpses were scattered all over the ground. Our army will arrive in the capital soon!"

For a time, in Liangxiang, the sound of shouting a great victory was heard everywhere, and Jiang Xiang was about to lead his troops to the capital.

(I feel like I have never been a good writer, so why do people say I am becoming more and more bad? ⊙﹏⊙)