In the information Hong Chengchou told them, it was mentioned that the Ming army had a Western-Japanese gunship, which was quite sharp, but the three of them actually didn't agree.

The gunship was quite sharp. The three of them had never seen it with their own eyes. They all thought it was a bigger lucky ship. They could not imagine what the Ming army gunship looked like.

This is like the Qing government in the early days of the Opium War. It is impossible to imagine that the British were powerful, if a large empire was not able to get 20,000 British.

At this time, on the Zhenyuan, the Ming army sailors opened the cannon window and retreated the loaded heavy cannon, and the black muzzle extended out of the ship's side.

Seeing the rows of cannons aimed at him, Tian Xiong and Ma Degong couldn't help but tremble, "What are they going to do?"

Yang Chengzu's face was gloomy, "Li Chengdong did not attack, he should have wanted to use cannons to hit us!"

Tian Xiong raised his eyebrows, "Can the Ming army's artillery hit that far?"

As if to dispel Tian Xiong's doubts, a loud "boom" suddenly appeared on the gunship, a ball of white smoke rose, and a shell cut through the sky, jumped directly over the head of the Qing army, fell into the canal, and splashed a column of water.

The shells splashed the river water into the sky, and then fell down like heavy rain, instantly wet the cotton armor of the Qing army near the river beach.

The Qing army was actually a distance away from the Yangtze River. Ordinary artillery could not attack them, but there were not only eighteen pounds of red cannons, but also twenty-four pounds of heavy cannons on the Zhenyuan.

The cannons on the gunship can not only hit them, but can even hit them farther.

The Qing army, who was waiting for the battle, suddenly felt a commotion. Tian Xiong, Ma Degong and others were stunned, and their eyes looked at the Ming army gunships in Jiangshan, with a look of fear in their eyes.

At this time, the gunship was not hit by a single shot. The sailor on the gunship immediately adjusted the gun position, adjusted the angle a little, and then quickly opened fire.

"Boom boom boom boom~" A series of loud noises came, and a ball of white smoke rose from the side of the ship in turn. The giant cannons that stretched out the cannon window shook, and they retreated into the cannon window. The ship and the river surface were shaken, and the scene was extremely shocking.

Before the three Qing generals could react, the shells roared in one after another, and more than ten kilograms of shells directly smashed the Qing army through.

The shells fired by the giant cannon were extremely powerful. An iron bullet tore a bird gunman in front to pieces, and then broke out from the chest of the soldiers behind, carrying blood mist and broken limbs, smashing all the Qing troops on the entire line, like plowing the ground, turning out a blood-red straight line, and then rolling into the river.

Tian Xiong and others were shocked. The Qing army's front was too dense. The Ming army hit a shot, and the Qing army standing on a straight line were all killed and damaged.

Who can bear this?

If the Ming army kept bombarding, wouldn’t the Qing army be the target?

Tian Xiong, Ma Degong, and Yang Chengzu were all warriors who had been in the battle for a long time. Seeing the current situation, they immediately knew that they could not stand.

Taking advantage of the Ming army's heavy artillery bombardment, Tian Xiong said angrily: "What should I do?"

Yang Chengzu said, "Now you either retreat to Zhenjiang first, rely on the city, and wait for the Lord Zhongtang to arrive. Or the army will go south and leave the attack range of the Ming army's gunships. Or you will rush forward directly and strangle them together, so the gunships will not be able to bombard it."

Ma Degong said: "If we withdraw to Zhenjiang, the Ming army will have to get close to the canal. They will cut off the canal. Furthermore, we will fight back and forth without preparing a ship, and we will not be able to retreat for a while. When the two armies are so close, Li Chengdong will definitely cover up the killing. As for retreating south, the same is true. Once the army moves, Li Chengdong will definitely take the opportunity to attack. I think we can only fight directly!"

The Ming army used heavy artillery on gunships to bombard the Qing army, and the Qing army had only two options: retreat and take the initiative to attack.

Retreat and being blocked by the Ming army, Ge San is not without the strength to fight, but still has an advantage, so he naturally does not do it, so he can only take the initiative to attack.

Fighting with your back is a fucking bad idea.

Tian Xiong and Yang Chengzu turned around and took a look at the numerous soldiers and horses behind him.

Tian Xiong said: "We have a lot of people, so we rushed forward and strangled them together. The Ming army's artillery is powerful, and it's useless! I'm afraid that he will kill Li Chengdong and Zhao Tiebang today!"

Yang Chengzu said: "Then don't talk nonsense. After the Ming army cannons are loaded, they will be beaten again!"

Although the heavy artillery of the Ming army caused considerable damage to the Qing army, and it was destroyed for several miles after one shot, the red cannon was not field artillery, but fortress artillery and siege cannons. The loading time was too long, and it was almost enough for the enemy to rush in front of him.

If the Ming army artillery was not on the ship, but on land, the Qing army would definitely directly attack the artillery array, but now they can only choose to attack the Ming army infantry and let the gunships throw rats and weapons.

After the three of them decided, they stopped hesitating. Tian Xiong immediately ordered, "Sword and shield forward, rush!"

The movement of lifting the shield to the chest was sequentially. Thousands of shield soldiers passed through the gap between the muskets and the bow and arrow, and went forward. Then the spearmen followed closely behind, and finally the muskets and the archers.

The Qing army quickly changed from a defensive formation to an attack formation. The swords and shields were arranged into a wall, advancing like a wall, with spearmen following closely, bows, arrows, and bird guns following, and 15,000 Qing troops immediately took neat steps to press the Ming army's front.

Li Chengdong was originally planning to wait for the red-clothed cannon to bombard the Qing army for a few more rounds, destroy the Qing army's formation, and then launch an attack, destroying the Qing army in one fell swoop, but he did not expect that the Qing army would be so decisive and after discovering the threat of the Ming army's gunship, he actually pressed up directly.

Li Chengdong immediately waved his order, "Send the order! Once the enemy enters the range, the Folang machine shoots first! Bird guns, bows and arrows are next. The enemy is close to the gun formation, twenty steps, the infantry attacks, and strikes head-on. The entire army charges and drives the Qing army into the canal!"

When the commander heard the words, he immediately rode his war horses and ran back and forth in front of the formation, sending the commander's command loudly.

At this time, the sword and shield hands in the front row of the Qing army pushed forward and beat the shield rhythmically with their swords, making a clanging sound. They took neat steps, beating the shields, and shouted in their mouths, with a huge momentum.

When the Qing army was one mile away from the Ming army's front, the reloaded red cannons fired again, smashing the Qing army through. Immediately afterwards, the Folang machine roared in front of the Ming army's front, and the battlefield immediately filled with smoke.

The advancing Qing army front, under the bombardment of artillery, multiple gaps appeared, and Qing soldiers were constantly hit and flew backwards. The army formation passed by, and corpses were everywhere on the ground and wailing figures.

However, the Qing soldiers were unmoved and continued to move forward.

At this time, the Qing army advanced to a hundred steps, and Tian Xiong suddenly roared loudly, "Rise the shield!"

For a moment, Qing soldiers and swordsmen lifted rattan cards in the first row and prepared to cover the projectiles. The rear rows held the shields diagonally high to cover the rain of arrows shot from above.

Almost the moment Tian Xiong gave the order, Li Chengdong waved his hand and ordered, "Let it go!"

"Bang bang bang~" Ming army's bird gunners immediately opened fire. At the same time, the archers behind the musket soldiers raised arrows and pointed the arrows diagonally at the sky, pulled the bowstring, and then amid the sound of strings, a black rain of arrows rose.

The Qing soldiers held up their shields, and the projectiles hit the sparks. The arrows falling from above their heads shot on the shields, making a "dodo" sound. Screams came from time to time beside the Qing soldiers. The comrades who were originally following closely suddenly disappeared, but the Qing army had no time to see them, so they had to rush to the Ming army as soon as possible.

"Kill!" At fifty steps, the musket can penetrate the armor, and at thirty steps, the bow and arrow can also break the armor. Continue to advance slowly, which will greatly increase casualties. Tian Xiong, Ma Degong and others, who have been through the battle formation for a long time, roared almost at the same time.

"Impact!" The Qing soldiers shouted together and launched an attack on the Ming army.

"Bang bang bang bang~" A row of guns sounded, and the Qing army, who had just raised their speed, fell a large area. As the distance narrowed, the power of the gun increased.

The Qing soldiers fell one by one, but they didn't take a look, and kept charging forward without stopping. In the blink of an eye, they rushed to within thirty steps and were about to crash into the unprepared Ming army's muskets and archers.

Seeing this, Tian Xiong and others showed excitement on their faces and prepared to start massacre.

At this moment, Zhao Ming, who had already been unable to hold back, suddenly raised his mace and let out a loud roar: "Follow me!"

After receiving the order, the Ming army infantry, who had already been ready to go, immediately roared and rushed away from the main formation, crossed the gunners and archers in front of the formation, and collided with the Qing soldiers.
Chapter completed!