boom!

The grenades thrown by both sides exploded simultaneously in the opponent's army formation. The violent sound and shock wave instantly disrupted the indestructible formation.

Especially the soldiers at the center of the explosion, who were stunned by the explosion. They covered their ears and lay or squatted on the ground, wailing in pain.

But soon.

The shouts of the people around them, the sound of bird guns and the sound of arrows breaking through the air brought them back to their senses.

They staggered, picked up their weapons, and rushed towards the nearest enemy.

"kill!"

Amid the deafening shouts and cries of killing, soldiers from both sides continued to use their flesh and blood to deplete each other's morale.

The battle will not end until one side's morale is exhausted.

War is cruel and merciless.

Everyone fights for the justice in their hearts, but they don’t know that the justice in their hearts is just interests in the eyes of some people.

This was true for the Ming army and the Dashi army as well.

The Dashi Army was divided into three armies: front, middle and rear.

Zhang Xianzhong remained firmly in the center of the army. He stood high up in the crowd and looked far into the distance, constantly using the clairvoyance in his hand to observe the situation on the battlefield.

"Send a message to Sun Kewang, tell him to send 3,000 cavalry to attack the rear of the left wing of the Ming army, quickly!"

"Order the navy to launch an attack!"

As the central army's command flags were waved left and right, Sun Kewang, who was hiding behind the rear army, gave an order and three thousand cavalrymen rode out on their horses.

The iron cavalry of three thousand cavalrymen stepped on the ground, making a rumbling sound.

The dust that was splashed flew in the air for a long time.

This cavalry pierced the Ming army's left wing like an arrow.

The moment the enemy cavalry appeared in his field of vision, Yuan Jixian received the news.

The Ming army was divided into three armies: left, center and right.

The three huge military formations are composed of countless small military formations.

Yuan Jixian commanded the battle in the central army.

"Send a message to Deng Linqi to send a thousand cavalry to lure the enemy deep into the territory, and the rest of the cavalry will hide behind the woods and prepare to encircle and annihilate the enemy who has penetrated deep into the territory. Tell all the troops to be careful and do not pursue without my order. Those who disobey my order will be executed."

"Yes, sir!"

The herald waved the flag and spread the news.

The cavalry began to chase each other across the field, competing in archery and horsemanship.

The infantry were not idle either.

On the ground, they constantly attacked the enemy's army formation, using artillery, bird guns, bows and arrows, spears, swords and shields...

Under round after round of attacks, the soldiers' lives were more fragile than ants.

But they did not retreat, instead they continued to move forward like ants.

boom!

There were sounds of cannon fire on the river.

The Ming army warships hid in the gaps between the merchant ships blocking the river and fired at the Dashi army warships.

Not to be outdone, the Dashi Army responded with sporadic artillery fire.

Seeing that the enemy warships were getting closer, the Ming army put away their sails and began to go downstream.

At the same time, they set fire to merchant ships with rockets.

call--

The merchant ship, loaded with dry straw and gunpowder, immediately caught fire.

Under the cold wind.

Fire borrows the power of the wind, and wind helps the fire.

The entire surface of the river was suddenly filled with flames and thick smoke.

The warships of the Dashi Army had no time to dodge and crashed straight into them, and were quickly set on fire.

The warships behind raised their sails and dropped their anchors to slow down and stop.

Wang Fuchen, the left commander-in-chief of the Dashi Army's navy, frowned as he looked at the raging fire on the river.

The key to victory in this battle lies not in Zhang Xianzhong's infantry and cavalry, but in his navy.

He observed with his clairvoyance, and asked the generals around him to check again before asking, "Are those merchant ships connected by iron chains?"

"To reply to the governor, yes."

"Order people to wear wet blankets and use ropes to board the ship. Cut, saw, and burn the wood that secures the chains!"

"No matter what method we use, we must open up the river waterway!"

"Whoever opens the waterway will be promoted three ranks and rewarded with a thousand taels of silver!"

There will always be brave men when there is a big reward.

At this time, the fire on the merchant ship had not yet developed to the point where it was impossible to approach.

As soon as Wang Fuchen issued the military order, soldiers wearing wet quilts and covering their mouths and noses with wet towels began to board the ship.

As soon as they boarded the ship, they looked for the connection point of the iron chain.

"Damn, the Ming army is so cruel that they actually put iron chains on the bow and stern pillars." The Dashi Army soldier who climbed onto the merchant ship cursed loudly.

The bow post is the forwardmost part of the boat.

Because of its water-breaking function and the fact that the outer plates, decks, platforms and side longitudinal girders are all connected to the bow pillar, the bow pillar is one of the hardest parts of the entire ship.

It is more difficult to chop or saw this wood than to sink a ship.

"Burn it with fire!" Another soldier who climbed onto the merchant ship untied the bag on his back and took out the pottery jar inside.

The clay pot was filled with kerosene.

As the flames grew, the bow began to burn.

The dry wood made a crackling sound as it burned.

After each burn, they would throw a clay pot filled with kerosene into the fire.

As the fire grew bigger, it was no longer possible to stay on the merchant ship.

The soldiers of the Dashi Army reluctantly left the merchant ship and returned to their warships.

After half an hour of burning, the iron chain finally separated from the head and tail pillars.

Without the iron chains, the burning merchant ship quickly got out of control.

Most of the merchant ships were washed ashore, and a small number were washed downstream by the river.

The Ming navy downstream immediately became busy and maneuvered their warships to evade.

"Raise the anchor and set sail!" Wang Fuchen gave an order, and the command flag was waved on the main ship (the central army's large ship, equivalent to the flagship), and countless warships went downstream.

When Zhang Xianzhong saw the navy attack, he immediately issued an order: "Order the rear army to move forward and attack the right wing of the Ming army. The central army should stabilize its formation and wait for the front army to support it."

Zhang Xianzhong's front army could no longer hold on.

Although the Dashi Army has a large number of troops, there are many elite troops among them.

But...they were facing the fully paid Ming army!

Although these people are not as good at fighting as the northern border troops, they are much stronger than Zhang Xianzhong's men.

When two armies meet and engage in close combat, what are they competing for?

Those with greater strength and better equipment have the advantage.

The reason why Yuan Jixian laid off the old soldiers was for this purpose.

These elite troops wielded their weapons and forced the Dashi Army to retreat step by step.

As the Ming army's formation slowly moved forward, the Dashi army's formation began to waver.

Then, there was a rout.

The defeated army retreated like a tide and was barely stopped by Zhang Xianzhong's central army.

The Ming army did not pursue because Zhang Xianzhong's rear army moved to the front and was attacking their right wing.

"Send a message to Lu Ding on the right wing, and tell him to pretend to retreat. He must stabilize the formation during the retreat. Send a message to Deng Linqi, and tell him to send half of the cavalry to harass the rear of the bandits from the flank and cooperate with the right wing to counterattack."