The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

The Dali army was also a veteran of the battlefield and responded quickly, waiting for the order from the Prince of Nan'an.

In the eyes of the generals of Dali, the decisive battle between the main forces of the large army cannot be determined without more than ten days of continuous fighting and fierce battles, so the generals of the rear army began to set up camp and prepare lunch for the main forces on the front line.

Perhaps he was too confident, or perhaps he did not take Jia Zheng and the little emperor seriously at all, the Prince of Nan'an did not arrange anyone to guard them.

It was still that inconspicuous tent. The eunuch was like an ant on hot pot, pacing back and forth at the door, constantly stretching his neck to look outside the tent.

Jia Zheng stood there quietly, his eyes also looking outside the tent. His face was as calm as still water, except for the slight trembling of his beard on his chin, which showed that he was obviously not at peace inside.

The little emperor hid behind Jia Zheng, with half of his head exposed, and looked out of the tent timidly.

Finally, Zhou Rui, who had gone out to gather information, came back.

The eunuch asked anxiously, "What happened?"

Jia Zheng also stared at Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui said excitedly: "Yes, it's the Prince of Zhenbei. The Prince of Zhenbei is here!"

Jia Zheng was surprised and delighted: "Li Hu is here?"

Zhou Rui: “Yes!”

"Great!"

Jia Zheng clapped his hands excitedly, then turned to the little emperor and said, "Your Majesty, the Prince of Zhenbei is here, we are saved!"

Seeing Jia Zheng smile, the little emperor also smiled.

Zhou Rui: "Master, we must prepare in advance to avoid being caught up in the rout."

Jia Zheng nodded, then his face showed difficulty again: "We are old and weak, how can we escape from the rebel camp?"

Zhou Rui was silent for a moment, "It would be great if Mr. Liu was here."

The eunuch guarding the door exclaimed, "General Liu is here!"

Jia Zheng and Zhou Rui looked and saw Liu Xianglian leading several soldiers striding over.

Entering the big tent, Liu Xianglian first bowed to the little emperor, and then said to Jia Zheng: "Uncle, I came back to escort the ammunition. I can't stay too long. Let me make it short. The prince is here and is fighting fiercely with the rebels. I will arrange a few reliable brothers to take you out."

Jia Zheng: "What about you?"

Liu Xianglian's eyes flashed coldly: "I'm going to kill the Prince of Nan'an!"

Jia Zheng was shocked when he heard this, and quickly advised: "The Prince of Nan'an will definitely lose this battle, he can't escape. You don't need to take this risk."

Liu Xianglian shook his head, looked outside the tent, and said, "I swore to avenge our commander."

After a pause, he said, "Uncle, rest assured. I will be careful. After I kill the Prince of Nan'an, I will go find you and protect the emperor to the prince's camp."

What else could Jia Zheng say but nodded.

"Will Prince Zhenbei escort the emperor back to Beijing?" the eunuch suddenly asked.

Jia Zheng was slightly startled and looked at him: "What do you mean by that?"

The eunuch said, "Prince Zhenbei must have known what happened in the capital. He also knew that the emperor was in the rebel camp. Prince Nan'an and Niu Ben were thinking of rebelling. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As long as the emperor dies, he can sit on the chair in Fengtian Hall. Can he refuse this temptation?"

After a pause, he said, "Even if the Prince of Zhenbei doesn't have this intention, what about the generals under his command? Will the 'yellow robe' be repeated in Dashun?"

Jia Zheng's face suddenly changed.

Liu Xianglian also frowned.

The eunuch said, "The Empress Dowager had already predicted this. Before the traitor Niu Ben entered the palace, she summoned me alone and told me to take the Emperor away if I had the chance, the farther the better, and not to return to the capital, leaving a bloodline for the royal family!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a soldier hurried in and said to Liu Xianglian: "Sir, we should go back!"

Liu Xianglian was silent for a moment, then said to Jia Zheng, "Uncle, let's leave here first. As for what happens next, let's discuss it when we meet again."

Jia Zheng was silent for a moment: "Okay. You must be careful!"

Liu Xianglian nodded, turned around and strode out.

The sound of artillery fire was earth-shaking, and one red-hot cast iron cannonball after another was spinning and smashing towards the charging Dali troops!
With a loud bang, the shells plowed bloody grooves in the crowd, and broken limbs were everywhere, it was a horrific sight.

Driven by the officers, the charging Dali soldiers had no choice but to charge forward. Fortunately, the government army's artillery could only fire more than two miles away. If the heavy artillery had fired at a range of three or four miles, the casualties would have been even more severe.

On a high ground, the Prince of Nan'an's face was livid. It was too tragic, with too many casualties! If those artillery pieces were brought here, they wouldn't be passive in the face of the attack!
Thinking of this, he glared at Niu Ben fiercely and said, "King Shunyi, it's your turn to use your musket."

Niu Ben replied, "Yes!" and rushed to the army. With a "humph", the Prince of Nan'an ordered a general beside him, "Go to the right wing and order the cavalry to defeat the Mongols immediately!"

"Yes!" The general rode his horse and galloped towards the right wing cavalry battlefield.

Prince Nan'an thought for a moment, and then said to Uncle William, "Let your musketeers go up and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop!"

Old William glanced at the pocket watch in his hand. The enemy's artillery had been firing for so long, it was time to cool down.

Sure enough, the artillery fire from the Dashun side gradually became sparse and then stopped.

Old William put the pocket watch into his arms, saluted the Prince of Nan'an, and then galloped towards their army with William and several Western Yi officers.

Li Hu was not on the front battlefield, but on the right wing. He and the Prince of Nan'an had the same idea. They first defeated the enemy's cavalry, then went around to the enemy's rear wing and defeated the enemy in one fell swoop.

The Mongolian cavalry was no longer the same as before. They had replaced their sheepskin coats with cloth armor captured from the Jurchens. Their morale was high, and they relied on their skilled riding skills to dodge the arrows shot by the Dali cavalry, while shooting arrows at them.

The Mongolian cavalry fired wave after wave of arrows, and tens of thousands of Mongolian cavalry coordinated like flowing water, surrounding and hunting the Dali cavalry within a range of one hundred steps.

The Dali cavalry had never fought against the Mongolian cavalry, and their tactics were rigid, that is, they charged in formation, trying to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Mongolian cavalry and defeat the Mongolian cavalry with their sabers. However, they were led by the nose by the Mongolian cavalry and their strength was constantly consumed.

Li Hu put down his telescope and took out his pocket watch. It was almost noon and both sides were exhausted. He said to Zhang Xi and the general of Xuanfu, "It's your turn."

Zhang Xi and the general of Xuanfu answered loudly, "Yes!" Then they drew their swords and rode away on their horses to their respective camps.

Li Hu turned his attention to the front battlefield again, and the sound of muskets was earth-shaking!

The Yulin cavalry launched an attack, and the Xuanfu cavalry also charged, stirring up a murderous aura and sweeping towards the Dali cavalry.

The two cavalry units were like two extremely sharp boning knives, instantly piercing through the Dali cavalry formation, charging back and forth, with heads rolling to the ground and blood flowing like a river wherever they passed.
On the other side, the Prince of Nan'an was stunned. Thousands of musketeers from the Yongwei Camp were lined up in neat formations, firing alternately while advancing forward, forcing Niu Ben's musketeers to retreat step by step. Even the Western Yi musketeers kept retreating, widening the distance between themselves and the musketeers from the Yongwei Camp.

Behind the musketeers of the Yongwei Camp is a mighty army of spearmen, with swords and spears like a forest, and an intimidating aura!

There was another round of musketry, smoke filled the entire battlefield, and the retreating musketeers fell down one after another.
The artillery fired again!
I don't know which army formation started crying first, and then the entire front army formation collapsed. No matter whether it was the retreating musketeers or the spearmen standing in line on standby, they all screamed and fled.

The musketeers and spearmen on the opposite side were chasing them relentlessly, and the sounds of muskets and cannons only added to their fear.

Tens of thousands of defeated soldiers instantly formed a mighty torrent of defeated soldiers and rushed towards the central army formation of Prince Nan'an!
Screams, cries, and wails resounded throughout the world.

Prince Nan'an was stunned and murmured, "Why is this happening? Why?"

The generals looked at each other in bewilderment.

Prince Nan'an suddenly roared loudly: "Why is this happening!"

A general spoke up: "Your Majesty, we cannot let the defeated soldiers attack our central army formation!"

Another general said: "Yes, the government troops are following behind. If the central army formation is disrupted, it will be completely finished!"

Before the Prince of Nan'an could speak, a general stumbled over and cried, "Your Majesty, our cavalry was defeated!"

At this moment, the earth-shaking sound of horse hooves came from their flanks and rear wing. Prince Nan'an turned around abruptly, raised his telescope and looked over, and saw a large red cloud rapidly approaching the horizon!

Another general spoke up: "Your Majesty, retreat!"

The Prince of Nan'an was stunned. Retreat, where to retreat? There was only a stone bridge behind them. How could so many people escape?
Someone shouted, "Quick, escort the emperor to evacuate. The rest of you, follow me and cover the rear!"

The setting sun is like blood.

Countless bodies of rebels floated in the river, and the water turned red.

Li Hu came to the river under the protection of Wang Daniu and others. Looking at the pile of corpses on the stone bridge, he shook his head slightly.

At this time, Wang Yaozu rode up and reported to Li Hu: "Your Majesty, the Prince of Nan'an fled to the mountains with a group of people, and the sentry camp is chasing them."

Li Hu nodded.

Wang Yaozu leaned close to Li Hu's ear and whispered a few words.

Li Hu was slightly stunned. Jia Zheng took the little emperor and fled to Baoding Prefecture? Was he worried that he would attack the little emperor? This was too much of an underestimation of Li Hu! When Zhao Da seized the throne from the orphans and widows, he was able to keep them.

Besides, Zhao Da's kingdom was acquired through luck. Although he also played a role in "taking advantage of the opportunity", without him, Dashun would have perished long ago. In the past two years, the whole regime was supported by him, who fought wars in the east and west and patched up the situation.

Thinking of this, he sighed. It was better this way. He could just announce that the little emperor died at the hands of Prince Nan'an and put an end to the thoughts of some people, so as to avoid any trouble in the future.

As for Jia Zheng and the little emperor, they will be "invited" back after they have suffered enough and understood the difficulties of life.

At this time, a scout came riding up and reported to Li Hu: "Your Majesty, we have captured Niu Ben and those Western devils!"

Li Hu: "Oh? Let's go and take a look." (End of this chapter)