The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 601 Chasing the Vast Wilderness

The White-Clad Soldiers and the Jurchens encountered each other in the jungle south of Yongle Mountain.

Both sides had roughly the same number of troops, around ten thousand each.

The Jurchens waited patiently for the enemy to tire themselves out, and laid an ambush.

The White-Clad Soldiers had marched more than twenty miles through the towering mountains and had just arrived at their designated campsite.

Under normal circumstances, the Jurchens should win.

Putting everything else aside, just looking at the physical exertion on both sides, the White-Spear Soldiers were at a huge disadvantage.

The Jurchens ran for about ten miles through the jungle and then rested for more than an hour, while the White-Clad Soldiers ran for more than twenty miles through the jungle and only rested for half an hour in between.

In other words, the White-Clad Soldiers expended more than twice the physical strength of the Jurchens, but their rest time was less than half that of the Jurchens.

In this situation, it would be good enough if the White-Clad Soldiers didn't become spineless.

The result was that the Jurchens collapsed at the first touch.

Less than a quarter of an hour after the two sides engaged in battle, the Jurchens began to flee in disarray!

The jungles on both sides of the valley were filled with the fleeing figures of the Jurchens. The once quiet Yongle Mountain was now in an uproar, filled with the screams of the Jurchens.

They were no match for the Ming army's offensive; many of them couldn't even outrun the White-Spear Soldiers.

Unfortunately, they were just unlucky; they happened to run into Qin Liangyu and Ma Qiancheng on their journey.

These two were among the most formidable generals in the Ming army, and they led the elite of the White-Spear Soldiers.

The Ming army's elite troops are no joke; their weaponry is truly terrifying.

The tens of thousands of White Spear Soldiers led by Qin Liangyu and Ma Qiancheng were armed with muskets, and even the ordinary soldiers were equipped with fish-scale armor as light as a t-shirt.

The officers' armor was made entirely of tempered steel plates, making them virtually impervious to swords and spears.

Moreover, each officer was equipped with a telescope, and even the scouts were equipped with telescopes.

It was precisely because they had so many telescopes that it was virtually impossible for the enemy to ambush them.

As for close-quarters combat, Qin Liangyu and Ma Qiancheng were both capable of moving through armies as if they were nothing.

For the White-Clad Soldiers, fighting in the mountains and forests was as commonplace as eating a meal.
It can be said that, given roughly equal numbers of troops, anyone who encounters them in the mountains and forests will be forced to kneel.

Even Eiduna, one of the most formidable generals among the Jurchens, was so frightened by them that he dared not engage in battle and fled immediately.

However, they did not pursue them.

The reason is not because they can't run anymore.

They haven't actually expended much energy these past few days. Running for half a day and resting for half a day is pretty much the same as their daily training.

If they really wanted to chase, they could easily chase for another ten miles or so.

The problem is that once they catch up, they will become separated from the teams on the left and right.

Moreover, they could already vaguely see many Jurchen stone fortresses more than ten miles to the north.

This proves that the main force of the Jurchens was very likely stationed there.

The Jurchen main force numbered thirty to forty thousand. Although they did not suffer many casualties after the fierce battle, quite a few were wounded.

Under such circumstances, they naturally could not disobey their own orders and venture deep into enemy territory to pursue the enemy alone.

They didn't chase after them, but Eidu was terrified by them.

This guy took off running like the wind, and in less than an hour, he was back in the stone fortress where Nurhaci was.

Seeing that he was soaking wet as if he had been pulled out of the water, Nurhaci asked in surprise, "Eidu, what happened?"

Eidu gasped, "Great Khan, the Ming army is too strong."

Their ordinary soldiers all had armor plates protecting their chests and abdomens, and each of them was equipped with a musket and a strangely shaped spear. We couldn't fight them in either ranged or close combat. If we tried to attack from a distance, we would be shot if we showed our heads. In close combat, our weapons were hard to hurt them, but they could make a hole in us with a single shot.

Furthermore, their commanders were too formidable; none of our men could even last a single round. They were simply killed as soon as they went in.

It seems that not only are their generals capable, but also dozens of captains who follow them seem to be very powerful.

I estimated that we couldn't even defeat those captains, so I ordered a retreat. I risked my life to run back and report the news; I don't know how many others will make it back.

what?
So many muskets!
There are so few of them, they can't even finish eating all the bullets.

Everyone also had armor plates for protection.

How do you fight in close combat?
What's even more terrifying are the Ming army's commanding officers.

Eidu was one of the most formidable generals under his command, and there were dozens of such generals among the more than 10,000 Ming soldiers!

He naturally understood how important it was to lead troops and generals.

In this day and age, only if the commanding officers dare to lead the charge will the soldiers dare to follow. Only if one's own commanding officers can defeat the enemy's commanding officers can there be a chance of victory.

If your own commanding officers can't defeat the enemy's commanding officers, then there's no way to fight. If the enemy's commanding officers are all killed or driven away, then the soldiers will definitely be in complete chaos.

In other words, they absolutely cannot defeat the Ming army in the south. They don't even have as many capable generals as Eidu under their command as this one Ming army.

There were thirty or forty Ming troops coming from the south!

If the Ming army from the south catches up with them, they're doomed.

Nurhaci frowned and pondered for a while, then decisively said, "Send the order: all troops must assemble immediately and depart within half an hour, heading north at top speed."

what?
Still running!

Upon hearing this, Erdu's legs trembled involuntarily.

They've run more than 20 miles back and forth today, and he's almost too tired to run anymore.

He thought for a moment, then cautiously said, "Your Majesty, the men I led who could have run back are probably too exhausted to run anymore. Are we just going to abandon them like this?"

At this point, who cares about the people you brought?

Those who achieve great things do not stick to trivial matters!
We only have hope if we can escape. What good is it if the people you brought escape if we can't escape?

Nurhaci slowly shook his head and said, "We are not abandoning them, but we cannot be surrounded by the Ming army to the south."

As you can see, the Ming army to the south can outrun us in the mountains and forests. If we don't run away quickly, they will catch up with us tomorrow.

"If we get bogged down by one Ming army unit, the other thirty or forty will definitely swarm in. Do you think we can escape then?"

Many of them were my personal guards and even relatives!

Upon hearing this, Eidu said with a bitter expression, "Great Khan, this humble general dares to ask, we can't just run away like this, can we? This humble general must explain something to them, right?"

You still care about your own people, huh?
This is called being too concerned and losing your temper!

You wouldn't normally talk to me like that.

Nurhaci thought for a moment, then solemnly said, "Tell them that those who can still run should scatter and flee, and not follow us."

If you feel you can't run anymore, then stay here and hold out using the stone fortifications we've built.

You also need to use them to delay the Ming army!

Sigh, I can only ask them to make their final arrangements.

Upon hearing this, Eidu sighed inwardly, then waved his sleeve and bowed, saying, "Scum."

Immediately afterwards, he left with a dejected expression.

Nurhaci didn't care about any of that. Half an hour later, he abandoned the thousands of soldiers who had escaped and fled.

Early the next morning, just after Chenshi (7-9 AM), Qin Liangyu and Ma Qiancheng led their troops to the forest less than five li south of this pile of stone fortresses.

After carefully scanning the area with her binoculars, Qin Liangyu decisively said, "Qiancheng, you take five thousand men, abandon all supplies, go around through the valley on the right, then climb up the mountain behind them and charge down."

The Jurchens did a very good job of defense in this area, building hundreds of stone fortresses of all sizes.

However, most of the stone fortresses in the mountains have a half-circle stone wall built on the downward side, and it is unlikely that any stone wall is built on the upward side.

Because of the mountain's terrain, building a stone wall on the upward-facing side would actually harm them. If the enemy rushed up and knocked down the stone wall, they would be buried in a pile of rocks.

These stone fortresses were a piece of cake for the White-Clad Soldiers; crossing mountains hundreds of feet high was nothing to them.

Historically, they even captured Hailongtun, which was located on a cliff thousands of meters high.

Ma Qiancheng bowed without hesitation and said, "This humble general obeys."

Having said that, he gathered his men and set off.

Qin Liangyu led the remaining nearly five thousand men to within a hundred paces of the stone fortress complex. She ordered all the musketeers to stay behind large trees and continuously fire at the enemy inside the fortress, slowly advancing to attract the enemy's attention.

Under their combined attack, the Jurchens, who had already lost all fighting spirit, were defeated in less than an hour.

Nurhaci thought that his few thousand men could at least delay the Ming army for a day or two by using the existing stone fortress.

To everyone's surprise, these routed soldiers didn't even last an hour.

Qin Liangyu and Ma Qiancheng did not stop at all.

They left all the wounded and a thousand men behind to clean up the battlefield, guard the prisoners, and wait for the cavalry to take over. The rest of the men continued to march north for more than ten miles until they saw a large group of Jurchens hiding in the jungle in the distance, at which point they stopped to set up camp and rest.

The Jurchen main force was actually stuck with them!

Nurhaci had no choice. At most, they could only run about twenty miles in the mountains and forests each day. If they ran any further, they would really die.

In the dense forests of Yongle Mountain, a dramatic chase unfolded.

Every day, it seemed that the Jurchens would run more than twenty miles ahead. Once they stopped to rest, within half a day, a bunch of red dots would be seen catching up behind them.

They couldn't shake them off and could only desperately flee north.

(End of this chapter)