In Hongwu, we started as rebels

Chapter 694 Different Determinations, Different Outcomes

The elite Liaodong troops at Lingchuanpo, Qingyangbao, and Zhenyibao began a rapid retreat.
Instead, the elite of Tianjin Sanwei were chosen!
Lingchuan Slope, located in the center and facing the enemy, was personally commanded by Huang Yingzhi.
Qingyang Fort and Zhenyi Fort were located on the left and right sides of Lingchuan Slope, respectively, and were under the command of two commanders.

The battle at Lingchuanpo was about to break out.

Thousands of Jurchens rushed out of the dilapidated gate of the camp, shouting as they headed towards Lingchuanpo.

They wore brown leather armor and carried scimitars, straight knives, long knives, and even wooden clubs.
The weapons were a motley crew, and their formation was chaotic as they charged forward in a chaotic mob.

Huang Yingzhi felt that if he hadn't known beforehand that the people in front of him were elite Jurchens,

He might mistake them for a group of refugees!
Through the telescope, Huang Yingzhi saw that these Jurchen people all looked pale and sickly.

His cheeks were sunken and his steps were unsteady; it was clear at a glance that he had been hungry for a long time.

What they revealed in their eyes was not a desire to achieve great things.
Rather, it is the composure of dying and ending it all, and the stubbornness of wanting to live on!

Huang Yingzhi's expression turned serious.

Mei Yi is right. Although the Jurchens before them seem vulnerable,
But their fighting spirit must be stronger than that of the defending Ming army!
"kill--"

"Take their food."

The Jurchens' battle cries shook the surrounding trees, causing snow to fall in a soft rustling.

But the Tianjin garrison soldiers occupying Lingchuanpo remained silent.
Each of them simply stared ahead with cold eyes.

One hundred steps, fifty steps, thirty steps!

The charging Jurchens were getting closer and closer.
A cacophony of noise and an unpleasant odor swept over, causing many to frown.

But at that very moment, the long-awaited military order was finally issued!
"Tianjin!"

"Meet the enemy!"

"Fire a volley of crossbow bolts!"

"Stand with your spears!"

One military order after another, accompanied by the messenger's loudspeaker announcements, clearly reached the ears of the soldiers in the trenches and pits.

They didn't even have time to marvel at how useful the loudspeaker was.

They had already engaged in fierce fighting with the enemy!

At the very front of Lingchuan Slope, rows of long spears stood erect.
This spear is 30% longer than an ordinary spear.

Even in a trench, the cold-colored gun barrel could be easily exposed.

The soldiers crouched in the trench, their faces filled with anticipation.

"Whizzing--"

When the sharp sound of arrows whistling through the air rang out overhead...
Everyone gripped their spears tightly, ready to pounce.

Behind them stood soldiers clad in armor and wielding long swords.

Following the pikemen, they too were poised to attack.

On the ground, crossbow bolts rained down like rain.
One by one, they plunged deep into the fragile bodies of the Jurchen people.

Leather armor cannot withstand piercing fishtail arrows.

The sound of bones breaking from arrows could be clearly heard.

Almost the instant the arrow hit the ground,

The Jurchens who charged first fell like wheat stalks.

Blood splattered, and screams filled the air.

But the Jurchens only gave their own people a faint glance.
Fear flashed in his eyes for a moment, then was replaced by madness once more.

Even their speed increased, as if they wanted to rush into the trench in front of them!

"Spear—raise!"

clack clack-

The voices rang out in unison and with great force, and the hundreds of men at the forefront of the trench stood up abruptly.

One by one, human heads protruded from the ground, along with half of a cold, menacing spear!
"prick!"

At a command, the Tianjin garrison soldiers gripped their spear shafts tightly and thrust their specially made spears out with all their might.

"Puch!"

It was no longer like the emptiness during training; instead, it felt like being pierced through soft cotton.

They had no time to think; their long-term training had created muscle memory in them.

Before they could even hear the screams of the Jurchens,

The spearman had already pulled his spear shaft back with force, and then thrust it out again.

The soft feeling remains.
The difference this time was that it brought a sense of blockage.

The spearmen's commander was surprised to find that these Jurchens were quick to adapt to changes on the battlefield.

Besides the initial hundred or so people who collapsed,

The Jurchen who was stabbed in the second round had already gripped the spear shaft tightly.

They did not wail or roar.
He merely revealed a ferocious expression before grabbing the gun barrel and charging forward fiercely.

Phew——

The spearheads burst completely out of their bodies.

But they gritted their teeth and pressed on, trying to get to the shaft of the gun.

They are using their bodies to abolish the weapon of the spear.

Some succeeded, some failed.
The spearman general's eyes flashed with shock, but he quickly regained his composure.

He waved his hand forcefully: "Longswordsman, step forward and finish them off!"

Soldiers, poised for battle, swarmed in.

Their mission wasn't to kill the enemy, but rather to guard the spearmen one-on-one.
Once someone falls into the trench, a longsword will come and kill them.

For a time, the first line of defense on the battlefield fell into prolonged chaos.

The sounds of shouts of killing, cursing, clashing weapons, and the thud of corpses falling were incessant.
The surrounding white expanse only added to the irritability.

On the high platform behind, Huang Yingzhi coldly watched the scene unfold before her.
The archers in the rear kept firing in volleys, and the spearmen and longswordmen achieved considerable results, with the Jurchen casualties increasing rapidly!
But what shocked him was...
Even so, the Jurchens still charged forward in droves.

The狰狞 ​​(zhengning, meaning ferocious or hideous) face was magnified in the telescope.

You could see them gritting their teeth and wielding their wooden sticks and long knives with all their might.

This gave Huang Yingzhi a feeling,
These starving soldiers are not here to kill the enemy, but are determined to die here.

He turned to look at Qi Jingfeng beside him and asked:

"Have the Jurchens always fought like this?"

A hint of apprehension flashed in Qi Jingfeng's eyes, and he shook his head sharply:

"The Jurchens didn't fight this hard in previous years."
Even if they come to cause trouble, as long as some of them are killed,

The rest will scatter and won't stay long.

This year is different from previous years; the Jurchens don't know what happened.
Starving soldiers were everywhere, eagerly rushing to their deaths.

At this point, Qi Jingfeng sighed:

"It's not that our brothers aren't elite, but that they've lost their strength in this race to their deaths."

General Huang, the spearmen and elite soldiers should withdraw.

Using bows and crossbows to engage the enemy first is a waste of energy and should not be done.

Huang Yingzhi's expression was solemn.
From the moment the Jurchens left their camp, he sensed their resolute determination, and this determination felt very familiar.

When he raised an army in Huguang, all three hundred of his brothers were like this.
His eyes were bloodshot from hunger, and he attacked anyone he saw with a vengeance.

For no other reason than to be able to seize some food.
If you can't get food, just die already, don't live and suffer.

Now, he saw it again!

He took a deep breath and said in a low voice:
"This is the first time Tianjin has faced the Jurchens; we need to test their mettle."
"If we retreat so easily, it will damage morale."

After speaking, he looked at the messenger beside him:
"Order the vanguard to have the soldiers in the first and second trenches take turns resting in a quarter of an hour."
"Keep the arrows and crossbows firing, kill as many as come, leave no survivors!"

"Yes!"

As soon as the military order was given, the drumbeats placed on both sides of the high platform suddenly became more frequent.

The stirrings in this white, boundless world make one's heart beat faster.

"Who's willing to go in the next wave?"

Those who die in battle will have their children receive a bushel of grain as a ration!

In the Jurchen camp, a burly man with a stubble beard was shouting from a high platform,

He shouted to the tribesmen who were gathering below like locusts.

"me."

"I'm willing to go, even if I die out there!"

"Pick me! Pick me! I'm out of food!"

Hands reached out, and faces, gaunt and pale, were filled with longing and pleading.
They hoped that the leaders would choose them and send them out of the camp to fight.

"One thousand men, only one thousand men! Go to the left camp, first come, first served!"

The burly man let out a deafening shout.

Upon hearing the sound, the Jurchens below grasped at a straw.
They swarmed over, jostling and pushing each other.

Before they even reached the left camp, their own men were already tearing each other apart.

But the burly man made no move to stop them; instead, he let out two mocking laughs.

He looked down at the elderly, unable to run, Jurchen people below the platform, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes:
"You all wait here until they're all dead."
If you go again, it will be the same; you'll die out there with only a bushel of grain left.

One sentence brought the hundred or so people guarding below to life.

A surge of emotion, a flash of ruthlessness, flickered in their eyes, but ultimately, a sense of calm settled over them.

They were not afraid of death, and even wanted to die, simply because the feeling of hunger was too unbearable.

Not far away, inside the central command tent of the Jurchens,

A tall, thin middle-aged man in his thirties stood at the entrance of the camp.
His gaze pierced through the gaps in the tent as he looked at the tribesmen gathering towards the gate, his expression calm.

He was the leader of the Ula tribe of the Haixi Jurchen.
Urguchen Bayan.

When he saw another thousand people rush out in a swarm,

He let out a cold laugh:
"These savages were born to die. I say their lives are worthless, and you still don't believe me, Lord Xu?"

"Bah! What kind of battle can these soldiers fight?"

The person beside him was tightly held by two burly Jurchen men.
He was under forty years old, tall and thin, and was none other than Xu Cheng, the commander who had "died" in battle at the Sanwanwei.

He struggled as he spoke, and even the slightest movement aggravated his wounds, causing him to furrow his brow.

"We are not fighting a war, but trying to survive."

Bayan turned to look at the person beside him and chuckled softly.
“You Ming people won’t let us live, so we’ll demand to survive.”

These savages are just wasting food by being alive anyway.

Let them wear you down.

"Lord Xu, when do you think we will be able to break through Lingchuan Slope?"

"Never even think about it in this lifetime!"

Bayan shook his head helplessly:
"Lord Xu, how can you still not understand the situation?"
"The fact that I have captured you proves that these three territories are not impregnable."

Upon hearing this, Xu Cheng suddenly became furious, struggling violently, causing his newly healed wounds to reopen.

He roared, "You won unfairly!"

Bayan suddenly lost interest in talking to him and gently shook his head:

"Lord Xu, what matters in war is determination."

"You Ming people lack resolve, therefore we are destined to win this battle!"

Xu Cheng revealed a deep sarcasm:
"You bunch of lowly soldiers?"

Bayan shook his head again:

"You still don't understand. Our determination is greater than yours, and we have more people than you. We will not lose this battle."

Bayan then changed the subject, his voice ringing out:

"Pass down the order: launch a continuous attack for three days straight, without stopping for a moment!"

"Yes!"

The messenger ran swiftly beside him.

Bayan glanced at the somewhat astonished Xu Cheng and sneered:
"Do you Ming people have such resolve? There are millions of savages in the mountains who would rather die than surrender?"
"One hundred for one. You're all finished too."

"Why do you Jurchens fight each other like this?"

"Of course it's to survive, what else could it be for?"

Bayan spoke casually, but his expression suddenly turned ferocious.

"Look at you Ming people, you live too easily. You have no idea how difficult it is to survive."

Since you won't sell grain, then we'll come and rob it ourselves.

One day, you will sell it.

Xu Cheng thought of the persistent smuggling activities of the 30,000 guards and muttered to himself:

"The imperial court has never allowed Liaodong to sell grain to you."

Bayan scoffed, a mocking look on his face:

"Your court says that we cannot embezzle silver, but what has happened?"
To my knowledge alone, at least a hundred officials were killed in Liaodong last year.
To be honest, some of those people were old acquaintances, and it's a real shame they died like that.

Bayan came up to Xu Cheng and raised his rough hand to pat his face:
"You've wasted your time as an official."

If you had been willing to do business with us, you wouldn't have ended up like this, even though you were in the Thirty Thousand Guards.

Learn from you adults; you make hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of taels of silver every year from the various Jurchen tribes.
Unlike you, living such a poor life.

Xu Cheng's pupils suddenly contracted, and his body began to struggle violently:
"Who! Who betrayed me!"

Bayan chuckled softly and strode towards the camp gate, his voice barely audible.

"You don't need to know, just like I said."
If Lord Xu is willing to do business with us, I will send you back.

"If you refuse, the day I conquer the 30,000 guards will be the day you die."

Urguchen Bayan arrived at the high platform in the camp.

Looking beyond the outer fence towards the battlefield, the sounds of fighting reached out.

He could see another thousand men rushing out of the village gate and heading towards Lingchuan Slope.

Before they could even get close, half of them were shot down by crossbow bolts.
The corpses piled up in a thick layer on the ground, and after being trampled, they were a bloody mess.

But he remained expressionless.

In the mountains and forests, human life is the least valuable thing.

He looked at the messenger not far away and gave the order:

"Find those savages and remove the arrows from the corpses. One hundred arrows for one meal."

"Yes!"

The battle has been going on for an hour.
Huang Yingzhi remained on the high platform, holding binoculars and observing the battlefield ahead.

The fighting continued without any sign of stopping.

He quickly looked astonished.
Suddenly, hundreds of Jurchens rushed out from their camp ahead.

They didn't even have a few symbolic pieces of leather armor.
They had no long swords or other weapons, only quivers of arrows.

What is this doing?
A hint of doubt flashed in Huang Yingzhi's eyes.

The Jurchens quickly showed Huang Yingzhi through their actions that...
They pounced on their fallen kin like hungry wolves, their greedy faces filled with excitement.

They shook the arrowheads with all their might, trying to pull the arrows out of the flesh.
While searching among his fellow clansmen, he would occasionally tuck some dry, hard grains into his pocket.

Huang Yingzhi even saw the clothes of several Jurchen people lying down on the ground.
Ignoring the blood on it, he put it on and happily returned.

But soon, a barrage of arrows shot him down to the ground.

He collapsed to the ground with a thud, scattering the arrows he had collected.

He was suddenly surrounded by more than ten people, and a scramble ensued.
When the dozen or so people dispersed again,
The clothes the man had just put on were gone, leaving him completely naked.

"This"

Huang Yingzhi's beard trembled.

He considered himself a veteran, having traveled extensively and seen countless things.

But I've never seen anyone fight like this before.

especially.
He saw several Jurchens whose eyes were glowing green.

While grabbing the arrows, they stuffed the bloody bits of flesh into their mouths, looking extremely hungry.

Huang Yingzhi hadn't seen him look like this in ages.
Ten years or twenty years?
Memories that had been buried deep in my heart suddenly resurfaced.

At that time, there were starving people everywhere, and cannibalism was not uncommon.

What year is this eve?
Not only him, but also the generals and messengers who were observing the battlefield with binoculars were all stunned by what they saw and could not believe their eyes!
When they saw the Jurchens willing to lift up the bodies of their people to receive the rain of arrows...

Huang Yingzhi decisively issued the military order:
"Cease fire with the crossbows and wait for them to get close!"

The messenger waved the command flag, and the drumbeats changed.

The military order was transmitted at top speed and quickly reached the front line, and the barrage of arrows gradually subsided.

The Jurchens looked up in surprise; the arrows that had cleaved the sky into thin lines had vanished.

What followed was a deep sense of disappointment in their eyes.

"Charge! Charge forward! Seize a Ming weapon, and you'll get a meal in return!"

At the camp gate, the messenger shouted with all his might, as if giving them a renewed sense of purpose.

They struggled to their feet and surged forward, jostling each other, towards the battlefield.
The already cramped battlefield felt even more crowded at this moment!

Corpses piled up, and shouts of killing filled the air.
But the war seemed to never end.
(End of this chapter)