Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 112 Li Zicheng's Backstab

The cavalry of the other Mongol tribes wandered around aimlessly like headless flies, afraid of being spotted by the defeated soldiers of the two Red Banners.

This led to increasing losses for Abuna's men, bringing them to the brink of collapse.

Fortunately, Zhu Youjian's order was timely, causing the Jurchens to shrink their defenses.

Otherwise, if Abuna collapses, the situation will deteriorate to an unknown degree.

However, to his surprise, Dorgon did not withdraw the army that had surrounded the Mongol tribes.

Even the flags and drums remained unchanged.

Faced with the well-prepared Ming army attacking from both flanks, Dorgon simply shouted, "Release the fire oxen!"

Dorgon's order startled Fan Wencheng, who repeatedly reminded him, "Your Highness, that's our last ration. Shouldn't we wait a little longer?"

The former shook his head firmly, "Let go!"

"The opportunity to win is fleeting. If we miss this chance and fail to eliminate the Mongol cavalry, the battle will be difficult."

At a command, three hundred yaks with sharp blades tied to their horns were set on fire by their tails and charged towards the Ming army's chariot formation, howling in agony.

The Shenji Battalion at the forefront urgently ordered the Tiger Crouching Cannon to be lit, but only managed to stop half of the mad bulls.

The remaining half of the fire oxen charged straight into the Ming army's formation on both flanks, causing the originally solid formation to break apart instantly.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the light cavalry of the Bordered White Banner broke in and engaged in fierce fighting with the Ming army.

"Report! The musketeer unit has been scattered!"

"Report! The left flank of the Divine Machine Battalion has collapsed!"

"Report! The Aohan tribe has rebelled!"

"Report! The Thousand-Household Garrison of the Fifth Army Battalion's Guanglin Vanguard has been routed!"

Battle reports flew to Zhu Youjian's eyes like snowflakes.

The fire ox formation, a powerful shock formation, combined with cavalry bearing the white-bordered flag, was catastrophic in its destructive power against the Ming army.

Especially the Mongol cavalry, whose morale was already on the verge of collapse.

Faced with the Ming army that was immediately overwhelmed, their morale plummeted.

The rebels became even more numerous.

Zhu Youjian had not expected Dorgon's counterattack to be so fierce.

But these are minor issues; on the surface, all departments show signs of collapse.

In reality, the most dangerous force was the Mongol light cavalry, which was besieged by the main forces of the two White Banners.

"Let Li Guo lead his troops to infiltrate the Jurchen central army and strike directly at Dorgon!"

"The Shenji Battalion Artillery Command and Qi Jiguang's artillery should concentrate their firepower and bombard the five thousand Jurchen cavalry charging into battle. Huang Degong, make the show of force even greater to create opportunities for Li Guo!"

"The remaining tribes shall follow me into the Mongol ranks."

Zhu Youjian used the same old methods.

Fishing, beheading, personally leading the charge to boost morale.

It's old-fashioned, but it works.

His dragon banner entered the Mongol formation, immediately stabilizing morale.

It can also continue to draw Dorgon's main force into an attack.

Perhaps because he had used this tactic too many times, Dorgon's approach was exactly the same.

Facing the dragon banner in the Mongol formation, Dorgon's brocade banner also moved forward to charge into the cavalry formation.

The remaining 5,000 cavalrymen split into two groups and penetrated from the two weakest points of the Mongol formation.

They went straight for Zhu Youjian.

The results are obvious.

Neither side had any elite troops capable of taking the enemy's head from among tens of thousands of soldiers.

The Xuanjia cavalry had long been reduced to only five hundred riders.

The two Yellow Banners' guards were almost completely wiped out.

With just two white flags and three thousand batons, they were not enough to approach the dragon banner alone.

The battle continued until 3:45 a.m.

With the cooperation of the surrounding Qing troops, Sony finally arrived with two thousand Bayara.

Meanwhile, Huang Degong's chainmail was already riddled with arrows, yet he still wielded his blunted saber, pressing down fiercely on Dorgon's brocade banner.

They managed to get Li Guo's two thousand personal guards within a hundred paces of the brocade banner.

It was at this moment that Dorgon suddenly changed his orders, withdrawing the 5,000 shock cavalrymen who were already in a stalemate from the battlefield, leaving only the elite troops close to the dragon banner and more than 20,000 infantrymen.

These five thousand cavalrymen were all fierce soldiers who had grown up on horseback.

They immediately split into five groups after withdrawing from the battlefield, and like iron combs, they swept back and forth across Huang Degong's lines. The remaining 10,000 elite soldiers around them were also constantly besieging Li Guo's 10,000 veteran cavalry.

At some point, Zhu Youjian's imperial horse was shot down by a stray arrow, and he could only pick up a random warhorse and, under the guard of the Imperial Guards, struggled to maintain the front line.

"Your Majesty, let's retreat." Even Qi Yuan, his face covered in blood, couldn't bear to watch any longer and rushed over to persuade him, "Let's wait until the Duke of Ying arrives."

"Bullshit!" Zhu Youjian ripped off his torn armor and shouted, "I'd rather die here than become a second Emperor Yingzong!"

"I do not mean for Your Majesty to become like Emperor Yingzong! My meaning is to first consolidate the defensive lines!"

"Your Majesty, look at the situation. All the tribes are already at their last gasp. The Jurchens are skilled at long-term battles. Continuing to fight will only allow the Jurchens to gain an advantage!"

Zhu Youjian understood what Qi Yuan was saying, but he worried that once the troops retreated, it would be like a flood bursting its banks, and the situation would be out of control.

As if guessing Zhu Youjian's thoughts, Qi Yuan spoke again.

"I have already buried nearly four thousand catties of gunpowder in the Qi Family Army's defense line. With my army here, Your Majesty can retreat in units one by one, saying that they are taking turns to rest. When the various units have retreated to a certain extent, the Jurchens will definitely pursue. At that time, the gunpowder will be ignited, and we will surely be able to overthrow the Jurchens!"

Zhu Youjian's eyes lit up after hearing Qi Yuan's words.

He's just an ordinary modern man; if you put him on the battlefield, he'd only know that one thing.

Qi Yuan's plan was good, and he didn't act like an emperor at all; he knew his own limitations.

He immediately nodded, "Okay! Let's do it that way!"

"By imperial decree, all units shall take turns retreating to rest, with the Bahrain unit leading the way!"

If we follow Qi Yuan's thinking, there really isn't a big problem.

However, Qi Yuan overlooked the Mongol cavalry's fear of battle.

After three hundred years of corruption and decadence, Mongolia had long lost the ambition that once swept across Eurasia.

Once Zhu Youjian issued the decree, the various departments no longer cared about whether or not the rotation was in place.

The smaller tribes thought they should retreat first, while the larger tribes thought they should preserve their fighting strength.

In a tacit agreement, they retreated simultaneously.

The front lines, which were struggling to hold on, were suddenly jolted.

Fortunately, Zhu Youjian arrived in time, and the Imperial Guards and the dragon banner were erected behind the Mongol formation.

The Qi Family Army was deployed in a horizontal formation, and Qi Yuan personally supervised the deployment of troops one by one.

Although they managed to barely control the front line, once they learned that they could retreat, which of the Mongol tribes was willing to fight the Jurchens head-on?

The remaining 35,000 Mongol cavalrymen, under pressure from 25,000 Qing troops, continued to retreat.

It even scattered Zhu Youjian's imperial guards.

Left with no other option, Zhu Youjian had to retreat step by step.

They hoped to hold back the advancing Qing army and buy time for Huang Degong and Li Guo.

They persisted like this for another half hour.

The Bordered White Banner finally broke through the cart camp.

More than a thousand of the vanguard of the Baiya La have already clashed with the Imperial Guards.

The Imperial Guards were primarily a ceremonial force with limited combat strength. Against the Qing army's most elite soldiers, they were not entirely powerless, but they were simply no match for them.

Li Guo's personal guards, reduced to only four hundred cavalrymen, were still fiercely attacking Dorgon with their bare hands, and were only one step away from him.

When Zhu Youjian retreated behind Qi Jiguang's army, Qi Yuan suddenly roared, "Light the fire!"

Three hundred barrels of gunpowder buried underground exploded simultaneously, and towering flames engulfed the vanguard of the White Banner.

They successfully blocked the Qing army's pursuit.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the five thousand light cavalry from several small tribes that had gone down to rest were once again dispatched to harass the Qing army that had just been stunned by the bombing.

The others repeated the previous actions, half forming a battle formation and the other half resting.

……

"Foolish!" Dodo, who had been observing the battle on Dorgon's side, suddenly kicked over the sand table, startling the warhorses outside the tent.

"Fourteenth Brother is truly foolish! How could that brat Zhu Youjian, with his two fierce generals Huang Degong and Zheng Chenggong, possibly engage in a battle on the battlefield?"

"What time is it? Still thinking about turning the tables! It would be so much better to combine our strength and wipe out the Zheng family's pirates!"

Dodo could freely berate Dorgon, but no one else dared to.

All we could do was watch as Dodo finished venting his anger.

Despite his criticism, Dodo did not hesitate in the slightest.

Just as Dorgon was astute in politics, Dodo was even more astute in the realm of warfare.

He casually picked up a charcoal pencil and drew three arcs on the sheepskin. "This is the Kharachin Grassland. There should be quite a few cattle and sheep here."

"Let the Mongol Eight Banners accompanying the army lead two thousand herdsmen to find cattle and sheep, drive the yellow sheep herds to attack the wagon formation, and select five hundred elite soldiers to change into Ming army armor and infiltrate the musketeer team."

"I will send another 10,000 Plain Yellow Banner troops out of the camp to form ranks, and another 10,000 Plain Yellow Banner troops to support the Left Army. The remaining troops will await my orders!"

"Domhatai, you have four hours to go and drive away the livestock!"

"Whoo!"

Four hours passed in the blink of an eye.

Although the grasslands are no longer as lush as they were a thousand years ago, there are still plenty of cattle and sheep.

With a Mongolian man who grew up on the grasslands leading the way, Domukhatai easily found an abandoned flock of sheep.

There were several thousand sheep.

Just as the morning sun began to paint the surface of the Laoha River red, the Ming army's sentry posts suddenly sounded their horns.

Huang Degong squinted at the dust rising on the horizon, "The Jurchens driving out beasts?"

Startled by the musket fire, thousands of gazelles charged forward in a frenzy. Qi Yuan quickly ordered the wagon formation to close in and shout, "Fire the chevaux-de-frise!"

Just as the barbed oak stakes were driven into the soil, the flock of sheep suddenly split into three groups and circled around the chariot formation, revealing the heavily armored cavalry with white flags behind them.

"Change to shotgun shells!" Li Guozhen cleaved the command flag in two with his sword.

Amidst the roar of the breech-loading cannons, the charging Yellow Banner suddenly turned, and thirty shield wagons abruptly ripped open their covers, revealing light cavalry hidden beneath, charging straight at the artillery position.

The Mongol light cavalry suffered another defeat.

Zhu Youjian heard the deafening sounds of battle from the southwest from the rear. Just as the vanguard of the Plain White Banner broke through the right flank of the chariot formation, he suddenly saw a cloud of dust rising from the northwest.

Dodo's telescope reflected the blue-bordered banner with its brocaded dragon, "Jirgalang's troops?"

As it was getting late, only the setting sun still hung in the sky.

Dodo could not distinguish who the cavalrymen about ten miles away were.

But none of the scouts he sent out returned. Logically, Jirgalang would have given advance notice if he were to come to the rescue.

Why not even a sentry...?

Dodo suddenly realized something was wrong.

He hurriedly shouted to the guards behind him.

"Fire a signal arrow!"

However, just as the whistle-whistling arrow was launched into the air, the approaching cavalrymen shouted in a Jurchen accent, "By order of His Majesty, rush to the aid of Shengjing to defend the Emperor! Those who disobey will be punished as treason!"

The words continued incessantly, and even Dorgon could hear someone shouting.

"Quickly send the remaining five thousand men over there to stop them!"

"Tell your men that those are Southern soldiers in disguise. Shengjing is safe!"

The messenger carrying the white-bordered flag had just raised his flag when a stray arrow pierced his throat.

Zhang Shize swept his saber across the central antlers of Dorgon's army, and 30,000 iron cavalry charged in fiercely.

Five thousand infantrymen were no match for the three thousand battalions that had been buffed and were winning battle after battle.

With almost no obstacles, Zhang Shize successfully infiltrated the right-wing army.

However, there weren't many people inside. Zhang Shize was startled and hadn't even had time to react.

The two Yellow Banners Bayara, which had been lying in ambush on both sides, came out in full force, attempting to confront the cavalry head-on.

Zhang Shize reacted swiftly, snapping two spears in two with a backhand strike, and ordered those around him, "Disperse the flower formation!"

The cavalrymen immediately broke into smaller groups, and the fire bombs on both sides of their saddles caused the heavily armored infantrymen to fall over.

But once cavalry loses speed, they become sitting ducks.

Zhang Shize dared not linger in battle. He led his cavalry out from the east and joined forces with Zheng Chenggong. They then regrouped and prepared to launch another attack.

Zheng Chenggong rushed to Zhang Shize's side.

"Zheng Sen, the General Commander of Dengzhou and Laizhou, has met with the Duke of England."

Zhang Shize raised an eyebrow and glanced at Zheng Chenggong. If it weren't for the tremendous things Zheng Chenggong had done in Liaodong, he wouldn't have bothered with anyone.

He nodded perfunctorily. "Is there something you need, General Zheng?"

"Biaoxia wants the Duke to lead troops to support His Majesty. However, the old scoundrel Dodo is currently in a standoff with Biaoxia and has no other moves. Whether or not we have these 30,000 light cavalry is of little use."

"Hmph!" Zhang Shize snorted. "What face do you, Zheng Sen, have that would make me, the Duke, come to rescue you? It's all thanks to the Emperor's decree. Otherwise, why would I be here?"

"His Majesty sent the Duke?" Zheng Chenggong was taken aback. Logically speaking, His Majesty's side should be the most dangerous.

……

As dusk fell, Dodo looked at the charred corpses scattered on the ground and sneered, "Have Domuhatai bring another 50,000 cattle and sheep. I want to see how many more times the Ming army's gunpowder will last!"

A muffled rumble of thunder suddenly came from the riverbank. Zheng Chenggong's marines, riding the rising tide, sailed downstream. The muskets on the thirty sampans fired so fiercely that the white flag could not be raised.

Dorgon hastily ordered shield wagons to block the river, only to see the Ming army ignite their sails and charge straight at them; the boat planks, soaked in fish oil, caught fire immediately.

Both sides countered each other's moves, each occupying half of the grassland to set up camp.

As Zhu Youjian listened to the reports of casualties from various battalions, he suddenly grabbed a golden cup and smashed it towards the northeast, yelling, "That old dog Dorgon!"

Twenty miles away in the Qing army camp, Dorgon was pressing the battle report into a charcoal brazier, ordering all banners to remove the bells from their horses and have their men gagged tonight, and launch a surprise attack on the Ming army's supply lines at three-quarters past midnight.

That night, just as the three thousand elite Plain White Banner troops reached the river bend where the Ming army stored grain, they suddenly saw three Kongming lanterns rise into the night sky.

Five hundred Shenji Battalion musketeers, who were lying in ambush in the reeds, suddenly fired a volley of bullets, which pierced through the leather armor and stirred up a mist of blood.

The bugle call signaling the retreat of both sides echoed through the morning mist, and on the blood-stained grassland, broken arrows still swirled along the blood-soaked trails.

"Report! Dust and smoke in the Northwest!"

The six banners of the three thousand battalions finally appeared on the horizon.

These knights, clad in mountain-patterned armor, with three three-eyed guns hanging on each side of their saddles, suddenly parted to the left and right at a distance of two hundred paces, revealing five hundred side wagons behind them.

"put!"

A torrential downpour of lead bullets riddled the rear guard of the two yellow banners with holes. Zhang Shize's slashing sword cut across the neck of Dorgon's personal guard, shouting, "Jiangnu, prepare to die!"

As dawn broke, the two sides continued their chaotic battle.

The Bordered Yellow Banner guards surrounded Dorgon, fighting and retreating, while Zheng Chenggong's arquebus battalion fired three volleys with their last gunpowder.

Huang Degong, with his wounded musketeers, raised his bayonet and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the remaining soldiers of the Plain White Banner.

Just then, a messenger rushed to Zhu Youjian's side.

"Your Majesty! An urgent message from the Grand Secretary!"

"The treacherous rebel Li Zicheng has broken his promise and raised an army of 80,000 to march towards Henan, Changyi, and Juyong Pass!"

(End of this chapter)