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“Archers!”
At the command, the Black Feather Guards, having charged to within fifty meters of Luo Hong’s left flank, suddenly unleashed a volley of arrows.
In the moonlight, black arrows arced downwards. Many left flank soldiers grunted in pain and fell.
“Bang, bang, bang…” The firing continued. Wounded soldiers were dragged to the rear, and their vacated positions were quickly filled by other soldiers.
Luo Hong’s left flank, numbering 30,000 men, inflicted heavy casualties on the Black Feather Guards after a volley from their large column, but the remaining Black Feather Guards still surged forward.
At this moment, Luo Hong shouted, “Bayonets!”
“Kill!” Facing the charging Black Feather Guards, the left flank soldiers, arrayed in tight squares, all brandished their bayonets.
At this moment, the black torrent and the dark green wall of bayonets crashed together. Both sides immediately plunged into a melee.
Luo Hong, saber in hand, charged left and right through the Black Feather Guards. The soldiers beside him skillfully used bayonet fighting techniques to engage in close combat with the Black Feather Guards, who were armed with sabers, shields, and spears.
It was then that Luo Hong finally understood why the Qingzhou army trained this single-action bayonet fighting technique daily, and he gradually realized that the advantage of firearms lay in defending cities.
However, in large-scale field battles, the advantage of firearms could easily be lost due to factors such as soldier numbers, weather, and command. At such times, hand-to-hand combat was the only way to save the battlefield.
He also understood why the Qingzhou army had to rely on a chariot formation in the Battle of Jizhou to dare to fight the barbarian cavalry. If they had been attacked by barbarian cavalry in the open field at that time, they might have faced a disastrous defeat.
“Die!”
A Black Feather Guard general, longsword in hand, charged towards Luo Hong. Facing the tightly packed bayonet formation of the left flank, the Black Feather Guard, already scattered by musket fire, fought without cohesion, relying only on instinct. At this moment, the discipline and organization of the two armies were immediately apparent.
Luo Hong raised his saber and parried the Black Feather Guard general’s swinging longsword. With a kick, the Black Feather Guard general immediately fell.
At this moment, the soldiers beside Luo Hong immediately raised their bayonets and stabbed towards the Black Feather Guard general. With a scream, the Black Feather Guard general was struck by three bayonets.
Although they had been subjected to musket volleys, over 20,000 Black Feather Guard soldiers still remained, and their will to fight had not completely disintegrated.
But even so, in the melee with the left flank, the Black Feather Guards gained no advantage, but retreated steadily.
Cui Huai screamed in the army. At this moment, no matter how high a reward he shouted, he could not change the tide of battle. He knew he had lost, and he also understood why Prince Wei had been defeated so completely.
Now, he felt only a deep sense of powerlessness and despair.
As the fierce battle raged, dense gunfire suddenly erupted from the rear of the Black Feather Guards.
The Black Feather Guard soldiers in the rear fell one after another, hit by bullets. A Qi army unit had somehow outflanked them.
It turned out that Lu Fei had already cleared the Yan army in front. Seeing the left flank bogged down in melee, he immediately led a portion of his troops to reinforce them, while the remaining soldiers continued to advance with Niu Ben.
Caught in a pincer attack from inside and out, the Black Feather Guard soldiers in front retreated backward, and the soldiers in the rear, under fire, pressed forward. For a moment, the Black Feather Guard was in complete disarray.
In the chaotic order, the Black Feather Guards were increasingly no match for the left flank. Casualties rapidly mounted. This was when the Black Feather Guards finally collapsed. Facing a completely hopeless battle, they threw down their weapons, knelt on the ground, and raised their hands.
Luo Hong was like a god of slaughter. He reeked of blood, his body stained red with enemy blood. Tightly gripping his saber, he ordered, “Immediately find the generals of the Black Feather Guards!”
Soon, 150 generals and officers, including Cui Huai, were brought to the front of the formation.
Under the identification of the Black Feather Guard soldiers, Lu Fei and Luo Hong quickly identified the ranks of these generals.
“The commander of the Yan army! It seems we’ve caught a big fish!” Luo Hong laughed heartily.
Cui Huai was a tough man. He said, “If you want to kill me, then kill me. Why humiliate us?”
Lu Fei and Luo Hong exchanged glances. The battle was not over yet, and these Yan prisoners were a dangerous factor. If any general were to incite them, it could lead to trouble.
However, Cui Huai held an extremely high position in Yan, second only to Prince Yan. Perhaps he was still a valuable bargaining chip.
After a moment of consideration, Lu Fei said sternly, “Separate all these generals and detain them. They must not be allowed to be with the common soldiers.”
Luo Hong nodded; he was of the same mind.
Cui Huai was startled, but before he could say anything more, soldiers, like tigers and wolves, immediately escorted them towards the Yunzhou City dungeon.
Having lost their generals, the remaining Yan soldiers were like scattered sand, simply accepting the reality of becoming prisoners.
Having controlled the Yanzhou soldiers in the grand camp, Lu Fei and Luo Hong did not stand idle but led their army to continue advancing.
There were still some Yan soldiers fleeing towards Kaizhou, and most importantly, Prince Zhao’s 40,000 Black Armored Army.
Currently, the state was still short of horses, which meant they could only remain on the defensive against the barbarians, relying on the advantage of firearms to defend cities and prevent the barbarians from advancing south.
And to truly destroy the barbarians, they still needed cavalry.
It was for this reason that Lu Fei and the other generals coveted cavalry. Now that 40,000 Black Armored Iron Cavalry were trapped, this battle could add a batch of excellent warhorses to the state.
Selecting a batch of high-quality warhorses from these and sending them to the Yan-Yun horse pastures would yield a large number of high-quality warhorses in a few years.
As the two advanced, Zhao Ang had already engaged with the chariot formation. After the chariot formation arrived, Bai Mu’s cavalry were dispersed among ten chariot formations.
The soldiers in the chariot formations, armed with firearms, continuously fired at the Black Armored Army, while Bai Mu also occasionally dispatched cavalry from the chariot formations to attack them.
Facing this fortress-like chariot formation, Zhao Ang was helpless. The cavalry had lost its mobility at this moment.
In just three hours, they had lost 10,000 men, and behind them, the Yunzhou army, which had dealt with the Yan soldiers, was constantly closing in.
At this time, the eastern sky had already turned the color of a fish’s belly. After a night of fierce fighting, the Black Armored Iron Cavalry were exhausted, both men and horses.
Seeing this, Zhao Ang grew increasingly anxious. He commanded his cavalry to launch another charge against the blocking chariot formation, but they were quickly repelled again by the combined fire of muskets and cavalry.
The sun gradually rose higher, and Zhao Ang could clearly see the Yunzhou City army slowly advancing towards him.
Dense ranks of musketeers marched towards them with neat strides, like reapers of death about to begin their harvest.
With wolves in front and tigers behind, Zhao Ang raised the saber in his hand. If he couldn’t bring the Black Armored Iron Cavalry back, he would be a dead man before Prince Zhao anyway. Now he had no choice.
“Kill!” Zhao Ang shouted hoarsely. He led his cavalry in another charge against the chariot formation. This would be his last charge.
Ten thousand horses galloped, and the remaining 20,000 cavalry charged madly towards the chariot formation.
Gunshots erupted again from the chariot formation. Bai Mu, squinting, raised his hand. As Zhao Ang charged to the front of the chariot formation and was once again thwarted by the chariots, he ordered all cavalry to charge.
At this time, Niu Ben and other generals also arrived with the musketeers. The melee continued from morning until noon. In the chaotic battle, Bai Mu, riding alone at the front, charged directly towards Zhao Ang, who was slashing at the state’s soldiers.
The two met, their eyes blazing with hatred. Zhao Ang also raised his saber and charged towards Bai Mu.
The warhorses galloped. In the instant they crossed paths, Zhao Ang’s head flew high into the air. Bai Mu laughed loudly, reined in his horse, impaled Zhao Ang’s head on his saber, and shouted, “The commander is dead! Why do you not surrender quickly?”
At this moment, the Black Armored Iron Cavalry, reputed as the Great Yu Empire’s top cavalry, were routed.