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

Chapter 499 Meeting the Enemy
Man Gui, the general of Datong, who was granted the imperial sword and led the troops to the capital to defend the king, died in battle.

After Man Gui's death, the Ming army was greatly saddened and its morale plummeted. The Ming army, which was already on the verge of collapse under the fierce attack of the Eight Banners, completely lost the will to resist and began to collapse.

With the collapse of the Ming army, a large number of Ming soldiers who had lost their fighting consciousness began to flee towards the main camp. Because the Eight Banners surrounded them on three sides, the Ming army had only one way to turn around and retreat. It was this move of the Ming army that led to more serious consequences.

At this time, Hou Shilu, who had already gathered part of the troops in the central army to support Man Gui, was leading his troops out of the camp. Before they could leave the camp, they ran into the defeated Ming army.

In order to escape, most of the defeated Ming army even dropped their weapons. Their faces were filled with fear, and screams and cries for help were heard one after another. What was even more shocking was the news of Man Gui's death. When Hou Shilu heard of Man Gui's death, he was suddenly struck by lightning. He could not stand steadily and showed a look of despair.

Although Hou Shilu quickly came to his senses and tried to stabilize the position with his subordinates, the Eight Banners soldiers had already arrived. The Eight Banners soldiers had not yet arrived, but their arrows had arrived first. Hou Shilu was injured on the spot because he could not dodge in time. His subordinates, including the Ming army that escaped, were also killed or wounded. The whole army was in chaos in fear and could no longer resist effectively. They fled back with Hou Shilu and other generals.

The Ming army collapsed, and the entire army ran towards the central army like headless flies in order to escape. However, the Eight Banners on the periphery did not directly rush into the battle at this time. Instead, they slowed down their movements, and surrounded the Ming army on three sides, constantly putting pressure on it and forcing it to gather backwards.

Looking from above the battlefield, the Eight Banners Army was divided into three parts, located in the southeast, south and southwest, like a net pressing towards the Xuan Army camp at Yongding Gate.

After losing their leading general, Xuan's army had lost all their will to fight. Driven by their subconscious, everyone was fleeing to the rear, as if they could escape the massacre of the Eight Banners by fleeing to the rear.

But these soldiers never expected that as they fled, the Eight Banners' encirclement of the Ming army gradually narrowed, and in the entire Xuanda army camp, except for the soldiers who died in battle with Man Gui, there were nearly 20,000 people.

As the saying goes, one person is worth tens of thousands, and there are more than 20,000 Ming soldiers. If they were deployed, they would occupy a large area. When so many Ming soldiers were crowded together, the consequences were imaginable. Many Ming soldiers were pushed down by their own people and then trampled to death. Even those who survived were wailing on the ground. In addition to these, there were more Ming soldiers who desperately squeezed in to save their lives. They squeezed each other and became a mess. In this case, they didn't need the Eight Banners soldiers to fight, but they lost half their lives.

Squeezed to the back with no way to go and seeing that the Jiannu were about to attack, many Ming soldiers simply jumped into the moat without hesitation and swam desperately towards the city wall.

In their opinion, as long as they swam across the moat, reached the city wall, or even escaped into the city wall, they would be safe. However, the moat of the capital was wide and large, and most of the Xuanda army were from the north. Not many northerners could swim, let alone swim across such a wide moat. Many Ming soldiers jumped into the water and swam for a short time before they could not hold on and sank into the water while shouting. Some Ming soldiers did not want to go into the water, but were forced into the river by the friendly troops behind them. These Ming soldiers who could not swim at all did not even have time to take off their cotton armor. They only had time to flutter on the surface of the river for a few times, and after a few cries for help, they made a few bubbles and never showed up again.

In just one stick of incense, thousands of Ming soldiers jumped into the river to escape or were squeezed into the river. Among so many people, only a few were able to swim to the other side.

At this time, the Eight Banners continued to oppress the Ming army in the face of their miserable state, and at the same time continued to attack the Ming army with cavalry and archery. Countless Ming soldiers were killed and wounded every minute and every second, and the scene was horrific.

Zhu Shenzui saw all of this and his face looked extremely ugly. Although he expected that Man Gui might not be a match for the Eight Banners, he did not expect that the Ming army would be defeated so quickly and so tragically.

Now the Ming army didn't need the Eight Banners to fight at all. As long as they continued to oppress the Xuan army, the result would be annihilation. What was even more infuriating was that the Guanning Army on the left wing of the Xuan army had not fully supported it, but only sent part of the army to test it. When Dorgon's reinforcements arrived, Zu Dashou saw that the situation was not right and directly withdrew the testing army, put on a posture of being ready for battle, and watched the friendly army being slaughtered by the Eight Banners.

As for the imperial army in the capital, it goes without saying that the Ming Dynasty's imperial army has long been in a rotten state. The three major camps back then are now just empty shells. It is wishful thinking to ask them to go to war.

Even the cannons mounted on the city walls were not in much better condition. From the start of the war until now, the cannons on the city walls had barely fired a few shots, and the few weak shots were just like tickling the Jiannu. When the camp collapsed and the Ming army was squeezed out, the Ming soldiers manning the cannons on the city walls were even more dumbfounded, and they didn't know whether they should fire or not.

In such a chaotic situation, the only relatively better position was Zhu Shenzhui's.

As early as when he discovered that the Eight Banners Army was attacking, Zhu Shenzui's troops assembled as quickly as possible. After the assembly, he did not take the initiative to fight, but used a corner of the camp as a support and set up a small camp with the prepared chevaux de frise and wagons. His 500 new troops and 300 cavalry, plus nearly 1,000 Ming troops who were temporarily gathered, huddled here, ready for battle.

"Sixth brother, let me go out and charge!" Seeing the chaos in the camp and the continuous casualties of the Ming army, Wang Jinwu could not help it.

"What's the hurry? You're courting death if you go out to fight at this time! Do you think that a mere 300 cavalrymen can defeat thousands of Eight Banners? Stay still! If you act without authorization, don't blame me for military law!" Zhu Shenzhui rejected his request with a glare. It was simply a joke. What use would Wang Jinwu and his men be in such a big battle? Going out now would be courting death!

"Li You!"

"Here!" Li You, who was standing by, responded immediately. "Let the brothers be prepared. If there are any attackers, act according to the plan!"

"Yes!" Li You agreed with a fist, but he hesitated and asked, "What if our soldiers come?"

"No matter who it is, anyone who charges the formation will be killed without mercy!" Zhu Shenzhui replied coldly. Now was not the time to be soft-hearted, even if it was a friendly army charging the formation. Everyone could see clearly the miserable state of the Ming army in the main camp. If they were directly squeezed by thousands or even more Ming troops, then Zhu Shenzhui's small group would not be able to stop them. If they were also involved, their lives would be in danger.

"But..." Li You was about to say something, but Zhu Shenzhui glared at him sternly: "This is a military order!"

"Yes! Anyone who rushes into the formation will be killed without mercy!" Li You's heart sank and he responded quickly.

Seeing Li You's words, Zhu Shenzhui nodded slightly, then he looked around and said in a slow tone: "When charging, you must not be lenient. Let the friendly troops bypass us and reorganize the battle array in the rear. If anyone disobeys, kill him!"

"Yes!" Li You's eyes lit up and he gave the order in a decisive tone.

"Sir!" At this time, Hei Mingzhong, who had been silent, spoke.

Seeing Zhu Shenzhui's eyes sweeping towards him, Hei Mingzhong said, "I can gather the remaining troops and reorganize the troops for you."

"So... yes!" Zhu Shenzhui thought about it for a moment and agreed to Hei Mingzhong's request. The current situation was critical, and it would be good to have more power. What's more, Hei Mingzhong was a general of the Ming army and held the military rank of a thousand households.

Zhu Shenzui has now gathered nearly a thousand people. Once a battle breaks out, these people will not be able to help much because the new army's tactics are different from those of ordinary Ming troops. It would be better to let Hei Mingzhong command them.

Hei Mingzhong took these people to the two wings of the rear to help gather the defeated Ming army. As long as he gathered a part of them, these Ming troops would become his own fighting force. Although they could not fight the enemy together with his new army, it would not be a problem for them to cooperate in the battle on the left and right, which also reduced his own pressure.

Zhu Shenzui immediately handed the task to Hei Mingzhong. Hei Mingzhong clasped his fists and accepted the order, and quickly led his men to the two wings of the rear. At this time, a group of Ming troops oppressed by the Eight Banners soldiers also came this way. From a distance, there were about two thousand people, and behind them were hundreds of Eight Banners showing off their power, riding and shooting or fighting on horseback. The lagging Ming soldiers were constantly hacked to death on the spot.

The Ming army running in front was terrified. Everyone hated their parents for not giving them two legs, and was afraid that they would fall behind and become the target of slaughter by the Eight Banners Army.

After running for a while, they suddenly saw friendly troops in front of them, and from a distance they were ready for battle, with chevaux de frise and carts in front of them. The Ming army in the rear were neatly dressed in armor, holding weapons in their hands, and seemed to have firearms such as muskets. Seeing this, everyone was immediately overjoyed and hurriedly quickened their pace to run over there.

"Those who come are not allowed to charge the formation. Disperse to the left and right and make detours. If you charge our formation, you will be killed without mercy!" When these Ming troops came running, suddenly hundreds of people shouted in the army that was ready for battle. The shouts resounded everywhere and could be heard clearly.

But at this time, many Ming soldiers had no time to think about other things, let alone take this reminder to heart. They only had one thought in their minds: Run! Run! Run quickly! If you run over, you will be saved!

In this way, except for some clear-headed Ming soldiers who began to adjust their direction and run around the wings of the army formation, most of the Ming soldiers in the front ignored the reminders and continued to rush towards the army formation regardless of everything.

"Prepare the artillery!" Li You saw it clearly, and with a livid face, he gave the order to prepare the artillery without hesitation. The Portuguese cannons and tiger squat cannons that had been set up long ago were ready. When the fleeing Ming army reached the firing range, Li You directly ordered to open fire.

The order was given, and dozens of Portuguese cannons and tiger squat cannons began to fire. Amid the rumbling sound, the shells sprayed out and arrived in an instant.

In an instant, hundreds of Ming soldiers who were in the front were hit and fell down in unison. Some were beaten to pieces on the spot, while others lost limbs but were not dead yet. The scene was a tragic scene that was shocking.

The Ming army was shocked by the sudden artillery attack on the friendly forces, and when they saw the tragic scene of the dead and wounded in front of them, their faces turned pale and their legs trembled. Just when they subconsciously stopped, not knowing whether to continue charging or turn around, they heard shouts from the opposite army: "Don't charge the formation, disperse to the left and right, and make detours. If you charge our formation, you will be killed without mercy!" This voice immediately reminded the Ming army, and they no longer dared to charge the camp, and quickly adjusted their direction to flee to the two wings of the army formation.

(End of this chapter)