Time rewound to a few days prior, outside Yizhou City.
As soon as the second large banner was erected, it was targeted by concentrated fire from five tanks.
With the first banner serving as a precursor, Wang Xuance knew that after the second fell, there would be a third and a fourth.
This was clearly a stratagem by Huang Taiji, fearing he might be blown up by a single shot.
But no matter how many banners he had, they would all be met with cannon fire!
Boom boom boom boom boom~
Five cannonballs exploded around the large banner, and within a hundred-meter radius, all cavalry were thrown from their horses.
Amidst the Qing army's ranks, vibrant flowers of death bloomed.
Limbs, blood, shrapnel, and wood splinters flew everywhere!
Huang Taiji, hidden at the edge of the ranks, gnashed his teeth in hatred at the sight.
Pointing his weapon forward at Wang Xuance and his men, he roared behind him, "Follow me to kill the enemy!"
Retreat was out of the question; with these five strange artillery vehicles, even retreating to Shengjing would only result in being continuously bombarded.
Given the nature of the Central Plains people, with such powerful weapons, they would no longer defend passively as they had in the past.
Setting aside the distant events of the Han Dynasty's Fenglangjuxu and the Tang Dynasty's conquest of the Tujue.
Even in the early Ming Dynasty, Lan Yu had watered his horse in the Hanhai Desert; he would not allow such a thing to happen a second time!
Therefore, all he could do now was to fight desperately to destroy these five artillery vehicles and then attack the Great Ming Dynasty with the strength of his entire nation!
If the Great Ming were given enough time, and such artillery vehicles became more numerous, then the Jurchens of the Manchu Qing would only be forced to retreat to their old forests in the White Mountains and Black Waters, to live as savages!
Thousands of cavalry, following Huang Taiji, charged towards the tanks and Wang Xuance's men.
The Bordered Yellow Banner, the elite of the elite of the Manchu Qing.
They pressed on through the barrage of bullets, leaving behind a large number of corpses, and closed in on the tanks.
*Clack!*
A crisp sound came from the chamber of the iikt7.62mm machine gun, and the soldier operating it's face instantly fell.
"Damn it, they ran out of bullets at this crucial moment."
He immediately abandoned the machine gun and turned to look at the nearby hCBt12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun.
This machine gun only had a reserve of three hundred rounds, so it had not been used from the beginning until now.
"You damn Tartars, let me show you what real bullets are like!"
The machine gunner flashed a cruel smile at the Manchu cavalry near the tanks, and operating the anti-aircraft machine gun, began to sweep at the lowest firing angle of -30 degrees.
*Bang bang bang bang bang bang~~*
This heavy caliber machine gun could penetrate walls, let alone hit cavalry and their horses, instantly piercing through them.
12.7.
The three hundred rounds were fired in an instant, but within a hundred meters radius, only solitary figures remained.
These cavalrymen who had narrowly survived, upon regaining their senses, the first choice they made was to turn and flee.
No matter how much Huang Taiji and Dai Shan called out, it was useless; life was their own, and if they lost it, even the most tempting riches and glory would be in vain!
The five tanks had all depleted their 7.62mm machine gun ammunition and switched to the 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine guns to open fire.
The eight thousand elite cavalry who had subsequently come out of the city to engage in battle, under this barrage of gunfire and artillery, had devolved into a scene of fleeing in all directions in less than half an hour.
Huang Taiji sat on his horse, stunned, looking at the once invincible Manchu army that had dominated the battlefield, his heart aching beyond measure.
"Your Majesty, times have changed~"
Dai Shan slowly rode his horse to his side, pointing at the scattered remains, and said.
Huang Taiji immediately turned to stare at him, his eyes bloodshot, like a ferocious wolf ready to devour.
He roared hysterically, "So what! I still have tens of thousands of elite soldiers, and a hundred thousand Mongolian Banners!"
"I refuse to believe that these few artillery vehicles alone can destroy my Great Qing!"
After surveying the battlefield once more, he gave the order to retreat in hatred.
"Retreat!"
With a loud shout, he spurred his horse and galloped away into the distance.
The direction was not towards Yizhou City behind him, but around the city, heading straight for Shengjing.
Dai Shan, Jirgalang, and others quickly followed.
Apart from these few, the cavalry and guards who were protecting them were less than five hundred!
"Boss! Look over there!"
A special forces soldier inadvertently spotted Huang Taiji and the others leading the escape, and quickly rode up to Wang Xuance, pointing in the direction they were fleeing.
The greatest characteristic of a routed retreat, or "kui", is the lack of organization and discipline.
But this group was clearly still being commanded as they fled.
Wang Xuance looked in the direction the soldier pointed and immediately determined that among this group, even if Huang Taiji wasn't present, there would be Qing princes or similar figures.
"Cao Bianjiao! Wang Tingchen! Follow me to kill the enemy!"
He roared at the two men beside him, and then immediately led over a dozen special forces soldiers on horseback.
Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen quickly followed with their own retainers.
Retainers were a major characteristic of the Ming Dynasty military, similar in nature to the Song Dynasty's family generals and household troops.
These were the trusted subordinates of the generals and also the main force on the battlefield.
Wu Sangui, Bai Guang'en, and other generals were also busy; they were busy capturing prisoners and collecting heads.
The retreating soldiers, scattered like a flock of startled sheep across the hills and plains, were enough for them to handle.
Less than two miles after escaping, Huang Taiji heard the rumbling sound behind him and instinctively turned to look, but that one glance sent a cold sweat down his spine.
Those artillery vehicles had caught up!
The tanks' machine gun bullets were gone, but the special forces soldiers in those tanks still had their Ak's, which had not been used much.
Each man had five spare magazines, a total of one hundred and fifty rounds!
Not only were the tanks pursuing, but hundreds of cavalry were following behind them, rapidly closing in!
This was unreasonable, this was too unreasonable!
The artillery on those vehicles was so powerful, it must be a cumbersome thing, why was it moving so fast!
And those cavalry, why were their warhorses also able to catch up in such a short time?