novelAbuy Chapter 7 Bloodbath! Dawn!
Chapter 7 Bloodbath! Dawn!
Emperor Chongzhen was not a good general, neither in the past nor likely to be in the future.
He didn't understand the art of military strategy, but he was capable of leading a small squad into battle as an example.
However, if he were to personally lead a force of over a hundred men on a raid to meet the enemy, most of his soldiers would likely scatter before the raid was even completed.
He was self-aware, so during his southward march, he did not interfere in military affairs at all, but simply fulfilled his duty as a "spiritual leader".
In the eyes of the rank-and-file soldiers, the commander-in-chief is the embodiment of power, authority, and fairness.
As emperors, they possessed an even more sacred aura beyond these identities.
Emperor Chongzhen was not a saint, but he knew that his new army soldiers needed him to be saintly, and needed him to give them more confidence in winning the war.
Therefore, during these few days of marching, Chongzhen completed the hellish test of military discipline with absolute dignity, confidence, and composure.
Exhausted and with the excruciating pain from his raw, chafed inner thighs, Emperor Chongzhen nearly gave up on this burden of the era that should not have been his.
But he persevered in the end. On the verge of absolute endurance and several breakdowns, he was sustained by the belief that he must rescue Lu Xiang-sheng.
He still had self-awareness, so he did not continue to insist that the two commanders of the new army lead him into battle.
He personally handed the hastily prepared banner to Huang Degong just before the last few dozen miles of the raid began.
"Huang Degong, take this flag and, together with Zhou Yuji, break through the Jurchen army's formation for me!"
No matter the cost, you must rescue Lu Xiang-sheng!
Tell him he must lead the army to break through the siege alive. I will not allow him to die, nor will I allow any of you to die. Win this battle, and we will return to the capital in triumph!
Bearing a heavy responsibility, Huang Degong knelt on one knee to accept the order, and then resolutely set off with three thousand iron cavalrymen, mainly composed of his and Zhou Yuji's elite troops.
During the final escape, Emperor Chongzhen rode alongside Huang Degong.
But before the final battle began, he immediately climbed the high ground and then, surrounded by the Imperial Guard and Tiger Guard, slowly advanced in the direction of the charging cavalry.
Three thousand imperial guards, in perfect formation, charged straight at the flank of the Jurchen army!
The fiery red cotton armor resembled a world-destroying flame, while the warhorses were jet black, their hooves treading on the remaining snow, advancing side by side with an aura as overwhelming as a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing down!
Behind them, in the military formation, more than a dozen large flags fluttered in the wind, among which a yellow dragon flag was particularly eye-catching, waving in the wind!
"This is... His Majesty! The reinforcements led by His Majesty himself have arrived! His Majesty has personally led the army to rescue us!"
On the wall of Jiazhuang Village, a Ming soldier was the first to spot the bright yellow banner in the north. He suddenly roared out, his voice filled with extreme excitement and ecstasy!
Instantly, cheers and shouts erupted once again from within the entire stockade!
The soldiers, who were originally exhausted and fighting to the death, suddenly turned red in the eyes, their fighting spirit soared several times over, and they roared and fought back with all their might, their battle cries shaking the heavens.
"Long live Your Majesty! Long live the Ming Dynasty!"
Cheers resounded through the sky, drowning out the battle cries and cannon fire!
Lu Xiang-sheng suddenly looked up, his gaze piercing through the smoke and snow, fixed on the bright yellow imperial flag on the northern highlands.
In an instant, his chest burned, his eyes suddenly reddened, and his hand gripping the spear trembled slightly.
The exhaustion from marching in separate units for dozens of days, the indignation of fighting alone, and the pressure of being in dire straits all turned into hot tears at this moment, welling up in his eyes.
It's finally here!
The long-awaited moment has finally arrived!
Emperor Chongzhen personally braved arrows and stones, broke through wind and snow for hundreds of miles to rush to the aid, and made his way to this desperate battlefield to save the soldiers who were trapped in a deadly situation!
The moment the Qing army saw that yellow dragon banner, chaos erupted once again!
Hearing the commotion, the Eight Banners soldiers who were fiercely attacking the stockade stopped and turned to look at the northern highlands in astonishment.
When they saw the dazzling Ming imperial banner and the charging iron cavalry, their hearts were filled with unease, and their fighting spirit instantly faltered.
Dorgon's pupils suddenly contracted, his face instantly turned extremely grim, and his aura suddenly became sharp as he stared intently at the Ming army force that had suddenly appeared from the north.
He stared at the yellow dragon banner that could only represent the emperor's personal expedition, and his heart trembled, a chill running down his spine!
His first thought was that it was impossible!
That's absolutely impossible!
Emperor Chongzhen, the Ming emperor who was always timid and confined to the inner palace, actually dared to venture out lightly and personally lead his troops to this desperate battlefield in the south of the capital.
Furthermore, how could such a large Ming army force have silently bypassed all the scouts and infiltrated right under our noses near the capital of the Ming Dynasty?!
In an instant, countless thoughts surged wildly through Dorgon's mind.
Just then, a cavalry force of nearly ten thousand roared out from the dense forest to the southeast!
A murderous aura surged outside Jia Village!
But at this moment, this killing intent was not directed at the Ming army, but rather at their Eight Banners army!
Too many coincidences and suspicious points made Dorgon fall into paranoia again.
After he quickly connected all the clues in his mind, a conclusion that shocked him soon emerged!
They've been fooled this time!
They thought they could divide their forces to contain two Ming army field armies and concentrate their superior forces to annihilate Lu Xiang-sheng's 10,000 troops.
Little did they know that this was a deadly trap meticulously set by the Ming army!
Lu Xiang-sheng's troops were the bait, holding Jiazhuang to force them to divide their forces and engage in a chaotic battle. The cavalry that suddenly appeared on both flanks of their Eight Banners army after concealing the battlefield was the Ming court's first trump card!
After the cavalry briefly set up their formation, large groups of infantry would naturally appear to surround and intercept them.
Jia Village was a desperate battlefield that Lu Xiang-sheng's troops had willingly thrown themselves into, so how could it not be a desperate battlefield for their Eight Banners army as well?!
Coincidentally, Emperor Chongzhen did indeed have a capable infantry fighting force at his disposal.
"Hong Chengchou! Shaanxi troops as reinforcements! Li Yongfang has ruined me!"
Dorgon had already devised a plan to encircle and trap them from both the front and back.
According to feedback from the intelligence network deployed by Li Yongfang in Zhili, Sun Chuanting's troops, who had been transferred from Shaanxi to Zhili earlier, were hampered by the imperial court and remained inactive, unable to rescue Lu Xiangshan.
In retrospect, this was also a "trap".
The Ming court deliberately used the illusion that Lu Xiang-sheng's troops were being pursued to lull themselves into a false sense of security. Gao Qi-qian's troops sitting idly by was one bait, and Sun Chuanting's 20,000 Qin troops remaining inactive was another.
The real killer move was Hong Chengchou and his 5 elite Qin troops!
Li Yongfang is the one who got fooled!
Now I'm in danger too!
Yue Tuo was unaware of this, and his two forces could not quickly combine their troops.
If this drags on any longer, he will face an encirclement by over 10,000 Ming cavalry and more than 50,000 elite Shaanxi soldiers.
Breaking out should still be possible. The Qing cavalry are brave and skilled in battle, invincible under heaven. If they risk everything, they can always find a way to break through.
But how many of his own men could escape with him from the encirclement laid by the Ming army?
If I suffer heavy losses, how will I explain it to Huang Taiji?
Thinking of this, Dorgon's face turned ashen, and he roared at Dodo:
"We've fallen into a trap! The Ming have set an ambush! This is all a trap set by the Ming army!"
Dorgon roared, his face extremely grave, his aura of ferocity surging. "Issue the order! Immediately halt the entire siege! All siege troops, retreat immediately and regroup!"
The Bayara Protectorate immediately protected the central banner, and the entire army turned its forces to face north, guarding against a surprise attack by the Ming cavalry!
Dodo, his face filled with astonishment and resentment, spurred his horse to Dorgon upon hearing the commotion and cried out urgently, "Fourteenth Brother! It's just a few thousand Ming cavalrymen, why are you so afraid?"
"Our Eight Banners cavalry is invincible. We should charge straight at them and crush this Ming army. Why retreat without a fight and dampen our morale?"
"Foolish! Ignorant brat!"
Dorgon rebuked him sternly, his eyes filled with fear and vigilance.
"Emperor Chongzhen has always been timid, yet he dares to personally go to this dangerous place today. This is not a reckless act, but must be an ambush set up by the main force of the Qin army!"
Look, the thousands of elite cavalry rushing out from the southeast must be the main force of the Guan Ning Army. Those left behind in Jize are probably just some useless Ming infantry. Yue Tuo has also fallen into the trap!
Our army is deep inside the pass alone. If it is surrounded on three sides by the Ming army and its retreat is cut off, tens of thousands of elite Eight Banner troops will suffer heavy losses!
Dodo, remember this! We entered the pass only to plunder and seek wealth; it's not worth fighting to the death with the Ming Dynasty's elite forces and destroying the very foundation of the Eight Banners!
This battle cannot be fought; we must retreat!
Dorgon was cautious in his military campaigns and had a sharper political mind than the other Eight Banners princes. He would never risk the well-being of the Eight Banners' elite troops and his own political future for the sake of temporary military achievements.
At this moment, in his eyes, the battle situation had become extremely dangerous. To continue fighting and launch a strong attack on Jia Village would only be to walk into a trap.
The only way to survive is to immediately withdraw troops, stabilize the formation, and retreat slowly to ensure the main force escapes danger!
As the military order was quickly issued, the Eight Banners soldiers who had been attacking Jia Village from all sides retreated like a tide.
The deafening siege battle abruptly ended. The smoke had not yet cleared, and corpses littered the ground. The once impenetrable encirclement formation instantly showed cracks and weakened.
The Eight Banners troops quickly regrouped, forming a defensive array around Dorgon's central banner. Spears stood in rows, bows were nocked, and all troops turned their attention to the fortified positions, ready for battle. They no longer had any intention of launching a direct assault on the stronghold.
In the blink of an eye, the Eight Banners broke through the encirclement, and the golden opportunity to break out was firmly in the hands of Lu Xiang-sheng and the Ming army in Jiazhuang.
At this moment, Chongzhen stood on the northern high ground, watching Dorgon hastily withdraw his troops and retreat, and felt somewhat relieved.
He knew Dorgon too well.
He is naturally suspicious and overly cautious, fearing danger and avoiding disaster, and never fights a battle he is not sure he can win.
His own army appeared to be filled with military flags, with horses neighing and dust billowing behind them, and the Qin soldiers' banners standing high above.
In reality, he could only rely on these five thousand new soldiers, plus the several thousand Guan Ning cavalry brought by Gao Qiqian, which was no match for Dorgon's elite army of over ten thousand.
However, Dorgon was unaware of the true situation and, being always afraid of losing his elite troops, was highly likely to believe it was a trap set by the Ming army and dared not linger in battle.
This move was a gamble that Chongzhen was taking a risk with, but he gambled accurately and perfectly.
Now, only the final move remains to solidify Dorgon's resolve to withdraw his troops.
Huang Degong's three thousand iron cavalry, with an indomitable and fearless momentum, charged toward the Qing army's left flank artillery battalion!
The thunderous gallop of the horses was earth-shattering, dust and snow billowed into the sky, and the unstoppable torrent of iron cavalry charged straight at the left flank of the Eight Banners positions.
The Qing army's left-wing defenders were terrified at the sight and quickly formed ranks, unleashing a hail of arrows as they rained down on the charging cavalry.
However, the knights of the Imperial Guard were all dressed in fine cotton armor, with iron plates densely packed inside. They were further lined with leather armor to protect their breasts, and also had breastplates. Therefore, they were not afraid of stray arrows and continued to charge forward at full speed.
The knights in the front row charged forward with their lances, while the knights in the back row drew their bows and fired back. In the midst of the barrage of arrows, Eight Banner soldiers were constantly struck by arrows and fell to the ground!
In the blink of an eye, the Imperial Guard cavalry had charged to the left flank of the Qing army!
Huang Degong took the lead, sweeping his broadsword horizontally. The wind howled, and two Manchu soldiers in armor were cut down to the ground with a single blow!
The iron cavalry surged into the Qing army's vanguard, trampling and slashing with swords and spears, instantly tearing open a huge gap!
The elite soldiers of the Eight Banners were fearless and still tried to form a desperate defensive formation to stop the cavalry's charge.
However, the Imperial Guard cavalry launched a surprise attack, charging forward with a death wish. They used their cavalry momentum to break through the still-forming infantry formation, making victory inevitable!
The Eight Banners soldiers were no match for this violent attack; their formation collapsed one after another, and they suffered heavy casualties!
Huang Degong completely ignored the rain of swords, spears, and arrows around him, his eyes only on the Qing army artillery camp on the hillside ahead.
He led his elite troops in a fierce charge, carving a bloody path through the Qing army's left flank and heading straight for the dozen or so red-coated cannons arrayed there.
Upon seeing this, the Qing army's artillery battalion garrison hurriedly redeployed men to form a defensive formation. In their panic, the gunners still tried to load cannonballs, attempting to turn the cannons around and bombard the charging cavalry.
But it's too late now.
The Imperial Guard cavalry had already reached the artillery camp!
Some of the well-prepared elite soldiers dismounted and rushed at the gunners with swords and spears in hand. In the blink of an eye, the Qing gunners fell to the ground, groaning in pain, their bodies lying beside the artillery position!
The armored knight, wielding a heavy axe and blunt weapon, hacked at the cannon carriage, overturned and smashed the cannon barrel, and then filled the muzzle with gunpowder and iron nails, igniting and detonating it!
The Red-Clad Artillery Battalion, built at great expense by the Jurchens, was instantly destroyed and blown up, with the gun carriages collapsing and smoke billowing everywhere.
The core of the Eight Banners' left wing firepower was completely destroyed in an instant; almost all the gunners were killed, and none of the cannons were usable.
News of the breaching of the left-wing artillery battalion and the collapse of the formation quickly reached Dorgon's central command tent.
Dorgon's face grew increasingly gloomy and unpleasant, and his apprehension intensified.
He had already suspected that the Ming army had set up an encirclement trap. Now that his elite artillery battalion had been instantly crushed by a cavalry force and the left flank defense had collapsed, he was even more certain that the enemy was the main force of the Ming Dynasty, whose combat power far exceeded that of ordinary Ming troops.
"Truly a formidable and elite force!" Dorgon gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice, "Emperor Chongzhen has actually trained such a fierce and valiant cavalry, whose charging momentum is no less than that of the Mongol elite cavalry!"
At this moment, eight thousand Guan Ning cavalry also broke through and tore apart one side of the Jurchen army's formation, killing indiscriminately and advancing with unstoppable momentum!
Zu Kuan led three thousand of his family's elite cavalry as the vanguard, charging ahead with unparalleled ferocity.
Wu Xiang and Zu Dabi led their cavalry on the two wings, forming a pincer movement, and directly attacked the right flank and rear of the Qing army.
The Guan Ning Army has been stationed in Liaodong for many years, engaging in continuous open-field battles with the Eight Banners. Their tactics are fierce and experienced, and their cavalry warfare is particularly superb.
Previously, the military had been owed wages for years, and cooperation with various units outside the Great Wall had been unsuccessful, so the failure in field battles was to be expected.
But now they are fighting within the Great Wall, with the emperor personally leading the campaign and providing generous rewards before the battle. Naturally, everyone is eager to fight and no longer hesitates or shrinks back as before.
In an instant, arrows rained down on the Eight Banners army's front lines, and sabers flew everywhere.
The Imperial Guards and eight thousand Guan Ning cavalry surged like two torrents, crashing against the Qing army's left and right flanks and rear defenses.
The Qing army's rear guard consisted mostly of bondservants and light Mongol cavalry scouts, whose fighting strength was already weak. How could they withstand the fierce charge of the Guan-Ning cavalry?
They scattered and fled instantly, the supply camp was broken up in one fell swoop, and food, tents and equipment were scattered all over the ground.
In the blink of an eye, the Qing army's left-wing artillery battalion was destroyed and its formation collapsed. The right-wing rear was broken through by the Guan Ning cavalry, and the rear army was thrown into chaos.
In addition, Lu Xiang-sheng's more than 10,000 troops, who had already broken through most of Jia Village, launched a counterattack, which left the Qing army's originally barely cohesive defensive formation vulnerable to attacks from both sides, cracking everywhere and plunging them into a chaotic situation where they could not support each other.
Dorgon stood beneath the central banner, watching the army formations crumble one after another on both flanks, and the last shred of hope in his heart vanished completely.
We can't afford to waste any more time!
If they delay any longer, once Lu Xiang-sheng leads his troops out completely, the three Ming armies will attack from both inside and outside.
His army, which appears to be 30,000 strong, is actually composed of only 12,000 elite Eight Banner troops. They will be trapped in an encirclement and will not be able to escape!
He had no idea how many troops the Ming army actually had. He assumed that Emperor Chongzhen had personally led the Shaanxi and Beijing garrison troops to surround him, leaving him isolated and vulnerable in a desperate battle.
"Issue the order! The entire army must retreat in an orderly manner immediately!" Dorgon made a decisive decision and gave the order loudly.
"Dodo led 5,000 armored cavalry to cover the rear and relentlessly pursued the Ming cavalry!"
The remaining units shall withdraw slowly and in formation, fighting their way back towards Linqing. Do not panic or flee; do not lose your composure! Preserving the main force is paramount!
The military order was quickly issued. Although Dodo was unwilling, he knew that the situation was dangerous. He could only accept the order and personally lead the Bayara Guard to cover the rear, hold the line, and block the Ming army from pursuing them.
The Eight Banners army began to retreat slowly and methodically, while the rear guard desperately resisted the pursuit of Huang Degong and the Guan Ning Army's two cavalry forces.
With the pressure on Lu Xiang-sheng's troops greatly reduced, they finally saw a glimmer of hope for breaking through after a desperate battle.