Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 108 The arrows are all in vain
After Zhu Cilang issued the military order, Yan Yingyuan rushed to meet up with the young man from Zhutang.

According to his original plan, after the Yingtian Ming army broke into the enemy camp, they would harass the flanks of the main camp.

But he had no idea that Bolo had already strictly ordered all troops not to leave the camp to fight, and their harassment was just a way of flirting with the blind man.

It was precisely for this reason that, although the young man from Zhutang wasted some arrows, he was able to calmly move the battlefield after receiving Zhu Cilang's military order.

This way they can arrive before Chang Guanlin gets entangled.

"Prepare rockets."

As soon as he arrived at the battlefield, Yan Yingyuan saw Chang Guanlin's embarrassment.

If they retreated, their formation would be scattered, and if they were caught up by the Tartars, they would be defeated like the previous army.
We should be able to hold out for a while if we fight, but this is tantamount to being entangled here by the Tartars.

No matter what choice they make, this Ming army is likely to die here.

So he immediately ordered the young men to use their trump cards to delay the attack of the Tartar soldiers and buy time for Chang Guanlin's troops to retreat.

"put!"

At a command, the young men from Zhutang shot out the rockets that had been put on their bows in two waves.

Looking at the Tartar soldiers, they were immediately engulfed by the rockets.

This rocket has great destructive power, but because there is flammable material such as tarpaulin tied to the arrow head, its range and accuracy are unsatisfactory, so ordinary armies are unlikely to use them.

But the young men of Zhutang are different. They often need to use rockets to set fire to pirate boats, so it is common for them to carry a few with them.

It was this commonplace thing that played a big role when Chang Guanlin's troops were about to be entangled by the Tatars.

If ordinary arrows were used, the possibility of hitting the vital points of the armored man would naturally be greater, but due to the protection of the heavy cloth armor, even if they were hit in the vital points, it would be difficult to make him lose his combat effectiveness.

Rockets are different. They don't need to hit vital points. The burning oil on them can ignite clothes. Even if they can't burn the enemies to death, they will still make them panic for a while.

In this situation, the armored men could no longer chase, and Chang Guanlin's troops took advantage of this opportunity to distance themselves from the Qing army again.

However, his team was made up of tall men picked out from among short men, so it would be no problem for them to clear out the defeated army step by step. But at this moment, they were unable to maintain their formation.

Chang Guanlin was quite helpless about this.

But in China's thousands of years of war history, how many troops could maintain their formation when retreating?
"Your Highness is waiting at the camp gate!"

"What do you do?"

"I'll be there soon."

After a few brief conversations, Chang Guanlin understood the subsequent rules.

According to the original plan, after the success, the militia would retreat first, and they and the guard camp would be responsible for covering their retreat.

But now, in order to buy enough time for the Guard Battalion, they stayed in the enemy camp for too long. The best time to evacuate had been missed, so they could only fight and retreat.

The purpose of your Highness guarding the camp gate is probably to discipline the troops so that the Tartars will not dare to pursue too far due to their suspicion.

After figuring this out, Chang Guanlin went straight to the camp gate without hesitation, while Yan Yingyuan led a group of Zhutang young men to block the attack.

Because of the volley of rockets, most of the armored men were busy beating out the flames on their bodies. Only thirty or forty lucky ones who were not hit launched another attack.

Honestly speaking, such behavior is tantamount to committing suicide, but the Qing army's military law is strict. How could they dare to retreat even a single step in front of the public without any anger?
"Whoosh!"

Yan Yingyuan shot an arrow and then retreated, without even the slightest interest in checking the results of the battle.

When he first arrived in Jiangyin, he used his superb archery skills to intimidate the invading pirates, so that he could buy time to train his troops leisurely.

Now, several years have passed since then, and Yan Yingyuan's physical strength has declined from its peak, but things in the world are always ups and downs. Although he can no longer draw a strong bow, his archery skills are much better than before.

Just as he turned around to retreat, one of the Tartar soldiers who was rushing towards them groaned as if he had hit something and fell on his back. Apart from a feather arrow piercing his face which was still trembling slightly, there was no other sound.

This kind of archery skill is rare, but the young men in Zhutang are not too far behind. After a short while, the armored men were covered with arrows like hedgehogs.

However, Yan Yingyuan's troops mostly fought against pirates and bandits who were used to wearing light armor, and their arrows were not designed to penetrate armor, so although the Tartar soldiers looked tragically dead, most of them only suffered minor injuries.

But this is nothing. After all, Yan Yingyuan's mission is only to delay the enemy, not to annihilate it. This situation can naturally be regarded as achieving the effect.

"withdraw."

Seeing this, Yan Yingyuan knew there was no point in continuing to fight, so he gave an order and the young men retreated with him.

Although the Tartar soldiers wanted to give chase, due to the difference in weight between the two sides, they could only watch the distance between the two armies grow farther and farther.

At this point, although the Qing army had the ability to fight again, it had no opportunity to do so, and the Ming army had neither the strength nor the reason to fight again.

So, when Chang Yan and the other two retreated outside the camp, Zhu Cilang led his troops into the night.

The shouting and screaming in the camp gradually died down, and the fire was gradually extinguished. Just when everyone was dealing with the aftermath, someone in a tent in the rear camp was at a loss as to what to do.

Duoduo rushed to Hangzhou, and Bolo had no intention of getting entangled with this "king of a fallen country", so Hongguang had been confined to a small area near the military tent for the past two days, and even some private matters could only be resolved in the tent.

Hongguang could not tolerate such treatment, but after making a fuss several times, he had to accept the treatment of a prisoner.

"May I ask what happened outside?"

"Don't pretend. There was such a big commotion in the front camp. I don't believe you don't know what happened."

Hongguang was not a fool. The fire had illuminated half the sky red, so how could he not know that the camp was under attack?

But as a prisoner who was in danger of losing his life at any time, he hoped that everyone would forget about him, so how could he dare to show his head and ask even a single question.

"I really don't know. I just saw flames shooting up into the sky. Could there be a fire?"

"The Ming army is here to rescue you."

"The general was joking."

After responding calmly, Hongguang retreated back into the tent.

When the fire was about to start, he did have some expectations for this, and even thought about how to face Zhu Cilang after returning to Yingtian.

But on the other hand, he knew that given the situation in Yingtian City, it was already a rare event that they did not surrender directly, and expecting them to come to the rescue was nothing but a pipe dream.

just
A drowning person will hold on to a straw even if he finds one. At that time, with flames rising to the sky and cries of killing rang out in the Tartar camp, how could he not feel hope?

Of course, his expectation was doomed to fail from the very beginning. Zhao Gou had no intention of bringing his father and brother back, so how could Zhu Cilang take such a risk to come and save him?

Finally, Hongguang could hear no more movement from the front camp, and his heart gradually grew cold. But for some reason, he still took the risk and asked the guard this question.

"If you hadn't run away, you might still be the emperor in Yingtian City."

Sure enough, after experiencing danger, people always find ways to relieve their nervousness, and provoking Hongguang was the only fun for the Tartar soldier. "Don't play dead, talk!"

Perhaps it was Hongguang's silence that prevented the soldier from enjoying the fun he deserved, and a loud shout was immediately heard in the tent.

To be honest, even if an important figure like him is imprisoned and in danger of his life, the Tartar soldiers can't do anything to him unless Duoduo gives the order.

But after a moment of silence, Hongguang's voice was heard from inside the tent.

"I am not as good as him. If I were in Yingtian, you would have been in the city for many days."

He had not just been waiting in the tent these days. After looking through the ministers' problems, he finally compared himself with Zhu Cilang.

He didn't think much of the rest. After looking at it from various angles, Hongguang finally believed that the biggest difference between him and Zhu Cilang was that he failed to obtain military power.

It's not that he didn't try, but after offering them high positions and generous salaries, in the end, those town commanders just surrendered.

"It is fate, what can you do?"

Hongguang kept the last sentence in his heart and didn't want to pay any more attention to the teasing of the Tartar soldiers outside the tent. But after a while he seemed to hear some noise again, so he lifted the curtain and listened carefully.

"What are you listening to? The Ming army has already retreated. This is the prince dealing with those bastards."

Hearing this, Hongguang sneered and retreated back into the tent.

The cries for help outside were getting louder and louder.

"Lord Beile, please spare me! Lord Beile, please spare me!"

"Lord Beile! We will return to the camp and report immediately if we find the Ming army!"

"Don't blame me for waiting! Don't blame me for waiting!"

After the Ming army retreated, Bolo immediately arrested all the soldiers on night duty in the front camp.

Although this night attack killed and wounded many surrendered soldiers from the front camp, it was just a minor incident for the main force of the Qing army.

It is true that Zhu Cilang had other intentions, but to a greater extent it was Bolo who handled the situation properly.

Just imagine, if at the beginning of the night attack, he did not choose to guard the gate carefully, but instead thought about repelling the Ming army, then under the impact of the defeated army, even the rear camp where food, fodder, military supplies and horses were stored might be affected.

Therefore, from the perspective of the Qing army, it could not be considered a defeat since they only lost some cannon fodder in defeating the Ming army's long-planned night attack.

But then again, no matter how undefeated they are, everyone still needs to take some responsibility for their performance in this battle, and the soldiers on night duty in the front camp are the ones with the heaviest responsibility.

Bolo certainly didn't have the ability to see and hear from afar, but he could guess what the scene was like from the front camp wall which showed no signs of fighting.

"Execution."

He whispered this and Goshaha went out to pass on the message. Then waves of pleading voices continued to enter the tent, and it took about an incense stick of time for the voices to gradually die down.

When the noise outside the tent died down, Boro glanced at the generals in the tent and said with a hint of regret: "Although the responsibility tonight lies with the soldiers in the front camp, as the commander of the main camp, I cannot escape the blame. Tomorrow I will apologize to the prince."

"Why do you say that, Lord Beile? If you hadn't arranged it in advance, how could you have only damaged some useless things?"

As soon as he finished speaking, his confidant spoke up for him.

Seeing this, the other generals were not willing to be outdone and analyzed from various angles how the prince should respond. However, Bolo's eyes just flickered, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Although he did not personally lead his troops to fight tonight, he had a clear view of the situation on the battlefield and even made a new assessment of the combat effectiveness of the Tianshou Army based on it.

In his opinion, although the Ming army that appeared tonight was large in number, most of them were just supporting troops, and there were only about three to two thousand people who could fight.

In such a situation, they actually dared to risk a night attack. Either they had run out of ammunition and food and were forced to fight to the death, or someone leaked the situation in the camp.

Such a big city had only been besieged for ten days or so, so it was impossible for it to run out of ammunition and food. There was only one possible scenario left.

As to whether the person who leaked the information was inside or outside the camp, further observation is needed.

Bolo keenly sensed something unusual in this night attack, but the unusual thing was about to penetrate into Yingtian City, and he didn't know what else he could find out.

At this time, the first group of militiamen who had withdrawn had arrived at the foot of Yingtian City. After some reporting and verification, the Yaofang Gate slowly opened again.

"How's the battle going?!"

In the middle of the night, Old Lord Xu was worried about His Highness, the war, and whether the news could be confirmed. During this time, a large sore appeared on his mouth.

So he waited in the gate long before the city gate opened, and as soon as the militiamen entered the city, he couldn't wait to catch one of them and ask him questions.

"A big victory! A big victory!"

"Big victory?"

"Great victory! We burned down the enemy camp and annihilated countless enemies!"

He was extremely eager to win this battle, but when the news of the great victory came, he was still stunned.

Yingtian really needs a victory to boost morale.

The appearance of Hongguang that day and the fall of Hangzhou cast an invisible shadow over the hearts of the soldiers and civilians in Yingtian.

Although no one mentioned this to Zhu Cilang, everyone knew that if this continued it would have a huge negative impact on the morale of the defenders.

Fortunately, there is news about Yan Yingyuan; fortunately, there is the decisiveness of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

The soldiers and civilians of Yingtian, who had been suppressed for a long time, finally got a chance to breathe. How could Xu Yu not be so happy that he lost his mind?
"Wan Sheng!"

"Wan Sheng!"

"Wan Sheng!"

As the news spread, Yaofang Gate was filled with cheers. Xu Yu, startled by the sound, looked outside the city and asked the militiamen who were entering the city.

"Where is His Highness? Have you seen His Highness?!"

"Your Excellency, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is behind us."

later?

Isn't the rear the rear guard?
Xu Yu reacted and was about to return to the city, but in a blink of an eye he saw Yue Qijie looking outside the city with a worried look on his face, and he could no longer suppress the anger in his heart.

"Yue Qijie! You actually instigated His Highness to cover the retreat?! I cannot coexist with you!"

After this sound, Xu Yu saw Yue Qijie just staring outside the city, as if he didn't care about his questioning. But when he was about to ask again, he saw everyone in the doorway kneeling on one knee, and then a thunderous sound rang out at the Yaofang Gate.

"Congratulations, Your Highness, for defeating the enemy!"

(End of this chapter)