Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 498 Fight to the Death
Man Gui's bravery has always been famous in the army, and he was born a Mongolian, and he was more proficient in horseback archery than ordinary Ming army generals. Although the incident happened suddenly, he did not have time to put on armor and mount a horse to fight, and in the current situation, it would be better for him to fight alone with his subordinates on foot.

With one blow, Man Gui killed the white-armored soldier alive. He continued to kill without stopping. After a few rounds, he killed another Eight Banners soldier. His subordinates were also brave and fearless. Under his leadership, they fought with the Eight Banners who rushed in. In a blink of an eye, both sides suffered casualties.

Although Man Gui was brave, he had few men after all, and as time went on, more and more Eight Banners rushed in.

The Eight Banners soldiers cooperated well. Some of them rode and shot arrows in the camp, some held torches and set fires everywhere, and more of them, led by Bai Jia, rushed into the camp and slaughtered the Ming army wantonly. In a blink of an eye, the Ming army suffered heavy casualties. Although Man Gui killed four people in succession, he still could not withstand the fierce attack of the Eight Banners.

"Don't panic, Marshal Man! I, Black Cloud Dragon, am here!"

"So handsome! My Ma Dengyun is here too!"

Suddenly, a familiar shout came from behind. Man Gui turned around and was overjoyed. He saw Hei Yunlong and Ma Dengyun each bringing their troops to reinforce. With their arrival, Man Gui, who had suffered nearly half of his men in casualties, saw hope of stopping the Eight Banners.

"Hei Yunlong, you go to the left! Ma Dengyun, you cover our right wing! Follow me to kill the enemy!" Man Gui was on the battlefield and knew very well that the situation was critical. He did not let Hei Yunlong and Ma Dengyun join forces with him, because there was no point in joining forces now.

The most important thing he wanted was to delay the attack of the Eight Banners as much as possible and give Hou Shilu more time to prepare. As long as Hou Shilu could gather his troops and stabilize the camp with the central army tent as a base, he could maintain his strength even if he lost this battle.

If they fail to do this, once the Eight Banners break through the outer perimeter and rush directly into the camp, the Ming army will no longer have a chance.

Hei Yunlong and Ma Dengyun responded and, following Man Gui's command, quickly rushed towards the left and right wings. However, the Eight Banners arrived just as they arrived. Under the fierce attack of the Eight Banners soldiers, although the Ming army fought desperately, they were still defeated.

"Who is that in the battle formation?" Less than two miles away from the battlefield, Huang Taiji, dressed in military uniform, rode on his war horse and stared ahead. When he saw Man Gui leading more than a hundred people to fight with the Eight Banners, but still fighting to the death, Huang Taiji could not help but ask the people around him.

"Replying to the Khan, this is Man Gui!"

"What a brave man!" Huang Taiji could not help but praise him. Less than an incense stick of time had passed since the start of the war, and the Eight Banners had broken through the Ming army's outer fence and directly attacked the Ming army's camp. Huang Taiji thought that his Eight Banners fought so suddenly and so resolutely that the Ming army would be in chaos in a hurry.

Unexpectedly, although the Ming army responded hastily and failed to organize an effective counterattack, a small part of the Ming army responded in time. Although their combat effectiveness and numbers were not as good as those of their own Eight Banners soldiers, they still fought to the death and caused some casualties to the Eight Banners.

Because he was far away, Huang Taiji did not see clearly who was the man who led the Ming army to fight back desperately, but his ferocity and bravery left a very deep impression on him. Especially when he learned from his subordinates that it was Man Gui, Huang Taiji showed a look of great appreciation and approval. Such a brave general is rare, even among the Eight Banners.

"Since the Khan values ​​talents so much, how about I go up and persuade Man Gui to surrender?" Seeing Huang Taiji's admiration for Man Gui, the people around him asked hesitantly.

His master has always been a person who loves and cherishes talents, and he is not picky about the types of people he employs. Not to mention the Manchus, even the Han people who are talented will be used by Huang Taiji, regardless of their background. This is completely different from the old Khan Nurhaci.

The Ming army on the opposite side is now in danger, and it is only a matter of time before the Ming army camp is broken. Although Man Gui is brave, he is only one person after all, and he has no time to gather the army for an effective counterattack, so defeat is inevitable.

Since Huang Taiji admired Man Gui so much, if he could persuade Man Gui to surrender, it might be just what Huang Taiji wanted. Although Man Gui was a general and commander of the Ming army, he was a Mongolian. Once Man Gui surrendered, not only would Huang Taiji gain a powerful general, but the morale of the Ming army would also collapse.

"Persuade him to surrender? Haha." Huang Taiji smiled. If it was any other time, he might consider this issue, but now there is no need to persuade him to surrender. It is true that he admires Man Gui, but as the Khan, Huang Taiji is more concerned about the overall situation.

This time, Huang Taiji mobilized the main forces of the Eight Banners to launch a surprise attack and fiercely attacked Man Gui's camp. He wanted to eliminate Xuan's army in one fell swoop. Now everything was as he expected. As long as he continued to attack fiercely and did not give Xuan's army a chance to reorganize and counterattack, he would win the battle.

At this time, persuading them to surrender was meaningless, and it would give Xuan's army a chance to catch their breath. Huang Taiji could still distinguish between the important and the unimportant. Regardless of the probability of success in persuading them to surrender, in Huang Taiji's eyes, winning the battle was the most important thing.

Huang Taiji raised his hand, a fierce look flashing across his face.

"Where is Abatai!"

"The slave is here!"

"You take a thousand cavalry to support the left wing and suppress the Ming army's counterattack!" "I obey your order!"

"Hauge! You lead two thousand cavalry to suppress the front and make sure to kill Man Gui!"

"My child obeys!"

"Dorgon! You take a thousand cavalry to the right wing, cut off the passage between Xuanda Army and Guanning Army, and cooperate with the central army to annihilate the enemy!"

"Slave, you obey!"

"Alright, let's go! I will be watching you achieve success in this battle! I will celebrate your success after the battle!"

With a unified voice, Abatai, Hauge and Dorgon went out and each led their troops to attack the Ming army. In this way, almost all of Huang Taiji's elite troops were deployed, and he was left with less than three thousand personal guards. If a Ming army took advantage of this and attacked Huang Taiji directly, it would be very dangerous with the weak forces he had.

But Huang Taiji did not take this into consideration at all, because he believed that the Ming army would not dare to move out at all. Although the Guanning Army in the east had made a gesture of supporting Xuan's army since the war began, not only did it not send out its most capable Guanning Cavalry, it did not even show any sign of attacking. Apart from sending a part to cover Man Gui's left wing, its main force stayed in the military camp and did not move out. It was obvious that it had no intention of counterattacking Huang Taiji.

Moreover, although Huang Taiji had less than 3,000 people around him, they were all his elite Eight Banners. With these people, Huang Taiji was not afraid of more Ming troops, let alone thousands of them. Now Man Gui's Xuanda Army was in danger. As long as Man Gui was dealt with, the Ming army in front of them would have no power to resist, and this battle would be won.

As Abatai, Hauge and Dorgon arrived at the battlefield one after another, the Ming army, which was already struggling to hold on, could no longer resist. Although the various Ming army units fought hard under the leadership of Man Gui and others, how could they be a match for the Eight Banners, which had several times their number?

On the battlefield, Man Gui was covered in blood, some of which was the enemy's and some of which was his own. He didn't know how many times he had swung his sword or how many Eight Banners soldiers he had chopped down, but the enemies still came in waves and he could not be killed.

Man Gui felt the sword in his hand getting heavier and heavier, and his steps were not as flexible as they were at the beginning. He knew that this was due to the long battle. Although he could still fight, he was only a flesh and blood body after all. Seeing his subordinates being chopped down or shot by the Eight Banners soldiers, Man Gui's eyes were red and he shouted wildly. He had only one thought in his mind, which was to stop the enemy, even for a while. As long as the troops behind could gather together, there was still a possibility of holding on.

With a "clang", Man Gui swung his sword at another Eight Banners soldier, but this time he was blocked by the opponent.

Man Gui, who had already been exhausted, suffered a severe shock in his palms as the weapons of both sides clashed. He could no longer hold the broken sword in his hand and it slipped out of his hand. The Eight Banners soldier who was fighting did not stop at all, and continued to swing his sword at Man Gui with a grim smile. It was too late for Man Gui to dodge at this time. Seeing the saber approaching him, he only heard a voice in his ear: "Marshal, be careful!" Then he was knocked sideways by someone. When he came to his senses, he saw that the personal soldier who followed him was hit by the sword of the Eight Banners soldier after he knocked him away. Without even a scream, he fell to the ground, holding his neck, and was no longer breathing.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!"

Man Gui gritted his teeth and shouted, his voice already hoarse. He supported himself with one hand and barely stood up. He drew out the imperial sword hanging from his waist, but his whole body was shaky and he could not stand steadily.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" Man Gui kept shouting, still wanting to kill the enemy, but he could no longer kill at this time, and the personal guards around him were almost all killed, and there were almost no Ming soldiers standing around.

There were even more Eight Banners soldiers who kept rushing over. When they saw how brave Man Gui was, they all showed expressions of astonishment. They had never seen a Ming army general who was so capable of fighting and not afraid of death. For a moment, they did not move forward, but reined in their horses and looked at Man Gui who was standing not far away.

"Haha! Hahaha!" Seeing this scene, Man Gui laughed wildly towards the sky and tears fell at the same time.

At this moment, he might be laughing at the cowardice of the Eight Banners, but at the same time he was also hating himself for not being able to resist the order from above and insisting on breaking camp and coming here.

I may die, but the deaths of my loyal subordinates are so meaningless. If it were not for me, they would not have died here in battle. And now I am about to face the last moment of my life. After my death, the camp will be broken. No one knows whether Xuan’s army will still be there after this battle.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" Man Gui leaned on his sword and looked up to the sky and shouted, "I, Man Gui, will serve my country today! I will be a minister of the Ming Dynasty in my life and a ghost of the Ming Dynasty in my death! I will fight to the death and will not retreat! Long live the Ming Dynasty! Long live Your Majesty!"

"kill!"

Man Gui shouted loudly and rushed towards the Eight Banners soldiers not far away with his last strength. At this time, he had only one last thought in his mind, which was to do his best to kill one more enemy. Unfortunately, the Eight Banners soldiers who were ready for battle did not satisfy Man Gui's last wish. With an order, the Eight Banners soldiers drew their bows and shot countless arrows at Man Gui. In a blink of an eye, Man Gui was hit by dozens of arrows and could no longer stand. He staggered and barely took another step forward, his eyes wide open and a low shout of killing came out of his throat, and finally he fell to the ground with his back to the sky.

(End of this chapter)