Chapter 912: Bloody Battle in the Valley

"Kill!"

Just as the Eastern Japanese cavalry charged toward the slanted bayonets, the Marines in the front row let out a roar, braced their right feet against the rifle butts, and held their Qin-style Rifles firmly against the ground.

This would ensure the cavalry would not knock them over, men and rifles alike.

At this instant, Pan Zhang's pupils contracted slightly.

However, his heart remained calm, as he believed the outcome of the battle was already decided.

He had been slightly worried the moment the Eastern Japanese cavalry launched their large-scale charge.

After all, they had never faced cavalry head-on before.

Moreover, the front ranks of these Eastern Japanese cavalry were all mounted on tall Beidi Warhorses.

The most important thing for cavalry is the Warhorse, as this determines the cavalry's impact force.

But after the front-rank cavalry were all wiped out, he felt at ease.

Because the remaining cavalry were riding Eastern Japanese ponies.

The height of these Warhorses was about the same as the donkeys of the Great Song.

Coupled with the fact that the Eastern Japanese themselves were shorter than the Song People.

It changed their situation from facing a man and horse two meters tall to a situation of one meter sixty-seven.

"Hiss..."

Just as he was thinking this, the Eastern Japanese cavalry collided with the bayonets.

The sharp bayonets instantly pierced the bodies of the Eastern Japanese Warhorses, causing the horses to let out a series of mournful cries.

Immediately, the ponies, stung by the pain, stopped charging forward and instead reared their front hooves high.

Warhorses are living creatures after all; no matter how strictly trained, they will instinctively dodge when facing a threat to their lives.

And because the impact force of the ponies was not strong, the Marine soldiers in the front row successfully withstood this portion of the cavalry charge.

Other soldiers took the opportunity to raise their bayonets and pick off the Eastern Japanese soldiers from their horses.

The cavalry charging the Hollow Square Formation were quickly annihilated.

And the Eastern Japanese cavalry that had circled to the flanks were met by the muzzles of the Marine soldiers.

Amidst bursts of gunfire, eight or nine hundred cavalrymen fell one by one.

There were even cowardly cavalrymen who were scared out of their wits and fled outside the valley.

"Disperse and fire at will." With the Eastern Japanese cavalry defeated, the commanders did not lower their guard and immediately shouted orders.

The Hollow Square Formation immediately transformed into a Large Horizontal Formation.

Three rows on the east side, three rows on the west side.

They likewise presented three rows of soldiers aiming together at the advancing Eastern Japanese Infantry.

While they were engaged with the cavalry, these Eastern Japanese Infantry had been marching the whole time.

At this moment, they were already less than two hundred meters away.

Compared to the cavalry, the number of Eastern Japanese Infantry was clearly much larger.

If they were allowed to enter the range of the Flintlock, they would still be quite dangerous.

Fortunately, the advance of the Eastern Japanese Infantry was not going very smoothly.

The corpses of the cavalry and Warhorses made it impossible for them to maintain a neat and uniform formation.

And they were clearly fixated on the Line Formation; the Eastern Japanese commanders kept demanding that the soldiers adjust their positions to maintain the formation.

This made their advance slow down once again.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

The Marine soldiers clearly did not want to give them time for a leisurely march.

After dispersing, the soldiers adopted various firing postures.

Standing, kneeling on one knee, lying prone, and using field ridges for cover.

Unlike when facing the cavalry, they did not want to be approached by the Eastern Japanese Infantry and suffer a volley.

By dispersing, the accuracy of the Qin-style Rifle meant it did not affect their ability to shoot the enemy soldiers, while also avoiding being lined up and shot.

Dense gunfire erupted, and the Eastern Japanese Infantry suffered heavy casualties in an instant.

Their dense formation was simply a target for the Marine soldiers.

The soldiers did not even need to aim; they only needed to fire into the crowd.

At this moment, the awkwardness of the Line Formation facing a Skirmish Line was fully manifested.

If they dispersed, given the accuracy of the Flintlock, they would basically have no lethality.

If they concentrated, they would suffer heavy losses.

The Eastern Japanese Infantry commander was also stunned.

When had they ever seen such a way of fighting?

Previously, the Yan Wang soldiers at least stood to reload.

How could the Yan Wang soldiers lie on the ground to reload this time?

But the battlefield did not allow them to ponder deeply; the Yan Wang soldiers were firing at them frantically.

The advancing Eastern Japanese soldiers kept falling.

Soon, the ground was covered with layer upon layer of corpses.

The short distance of two hundred meters was, for the Eastern Japanese soldiers, an insurmountable obstacle.

Behind the Eastern Japanese soldier formation, Kuji watched the battlefield.

The fall of the cavalry made his face pale, and his forehead was covered in beads of sweat.

Now, the infantry's attack had also clearly encountered severe obstruction, which filled him with inexplicable terror.

The conviction of certain victory from just a moment ago collapsed in an instant.

All that remained in his heart was fear.

This Yan King Army exceeded his understanding.

How could they fight them with such free postures?

Most importantly, through the Telescope, these soldiers' muskets seemed different from previous muskets, several times more terrifying than before.

"What to do? What to do?" Wine Gui-jing's mind was a blank slate.

Watanabe An had entrusted the heavy responsibility of intercepting the Yan King's troops to him.

If the mission failed, Baihe City would not be held.

If Baihe City could not be held, the Great General Watanabe An would not be able to escape this disaster.

Afterwards, Yamada Haruno's path would also suffer defeat.

This would mean their southern front would fail completely.

Chaotic thoughts surged repeatedly in his brain.

Wine Gui-jing finally issued an order, "All charge, engage in direct hand-to-hand combat!"

He had had enough of the slow, plodding line-formation marching.

The order was passed down, and the Dongying soldiers no longer cared about formation, swarming forward in a rush.

Pan Zhang was protected in the middle by soldiers, constantly observing the battlefield.

Realizing the change in Dongying tactics, he let out a cold sneer.

He immediately passed down an order, instead having the soldiers assemble and form a tight formation.

This was the best way to deal with an army that had no discipline.

Receiving Pan Zhang's order, the Marine commanders had the soldiers assemble while firing.

Because the Qin-series Rifle did not require a cumbersome loading method, the soldiers could complete this action with ease.

At the same time, the Marine soldiers were all people with tactical literacy; as soon as the others moved, they understood what Pan Zhang's order was.

Thus, the soldiers quickly reassembled.

The Bullets fired from the dense formation were even more concentrated and lethal.

The Dongying soldiers rushing over fell on the path of the charge at an astonishing speed, after which replacement Dongying soldiers continued to rush up.

This tug-of-war lasted for a quarter of an hour.

The corpses of the Dongying soldiers gradually piled up into a small hill thirty meters in front of the Marines.

Fresh blood flowed through the rice fields like a stream.

Seeing their companions becoming fewer and fewer, while the Yan King soldiers remained like an iron wall, unbreakable.

It seemed to have reached the critical point of morale collapse.

Following one Dongying soldier who broke away from the battlefield and ran toward the outside of the valley.

The Dongying soldiers finally collapsed completely; they were like a herd of deer chased by a fierce tiger, fleeing in all directions.

"Come back! Come back!" Wine Gui-jing looked in horror at the Dongying soldiers who had completely lost their morale due to fear.

He shouted loudly, but not a single soldier paid him any heed.

In shock and rage, he jumped off his horse and drew his Japanese Sword to hack at the fleeing soldiers.

But even so, it was still impossible to stop the rout.

Not knowing how much time had passed, he suddenly felt a sharp pain between his eyebrows.

Immediately, he slowly fell down.

At a distance of one hundred meters from him, Pan Zhang tossed the Qin-series Rifle to the soldier at his side.

After noticing this madman-like Dongying general, he, under the protection of his personal guards, closed in and shot him dead.

With a huff, Pan Zhang looked toward Baihe City and said, "The fighting on the eastern front should be over; brothers, the time has come to capture Watanabe An alive."