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

Chapter 99 Misfortunes Never Come Alone
The sound of horseshoes tapping on the gravel road was soft and continuous, and Dai Shan's knuckles, gripping the reins, turned bluish-white.

The remnants of the Bordered Red Banner staggered along the Luan River. The once glossy braids of the Eight Banner soldiers were now covered with grass clippings, and the powder holes of their muskets were blackened by the morning dew.

"Master, it has been four hours since we last drank water. We cannot continue. Let the soldiers drink some water and eat some dry rations." Solo's hands trembled as he held the water bag, and his iron-inlaid wrist guards clanged against the saddle.

Daishan gazed at the rising mist over the river, his Adam's apple bobbing twice. "Where has the Southern army caught up to?"

"My lord, the Southern army is still fifty li away from our army."

“Fifty li…” Dai Shan kept calculating this distance in his mind.

Based on the distance, they can rest for another hour.

Ke Daishan was unwilling to accept it.

In the past, it was always them chasing the Ming army so that they dared not rest. When did it become the Ming army chasing them so that they dared not rest?
Having not fought against the Ming army for only two years, I never imagined that the Ming army had become so elite.

Both involved a fierce battle throughout the night and a frantic run throughout the day.

But the Ming army had not yet collapsed; instead, the Eight Banners soldiers collapsed first.

During Nurhaci's time, they marched 400 li (approximately 200 kilometers) day and night in three days, braving the blizzard!

But seeing the exhausted state of his soldiers, he ultimately waved his hand.
"Let the guards of Baiya La drink first."

Before the words were finished, three short and one long conch shell horn sounded from the northwest, startling a flock of wild ducks in the reeds.

"Report!" The scout's hooves shattered the river's reflection. "The vanguard of the Xuanjia Cavalry is forty li from here!"

The red-flag-bearers all turned to look at Daishan, only to see him using a dagger to scrape the edges of the map.

On the sheepskin map, most of the ink on Xifengkou has been scraped off, revealing the old mark of Chengdewei above.

They are currently located next to Chengdewei, about 130 li away from Xifengkou.

No matter how fast they travel, they cannot arrive today.

He still had more than 20,000 troops under his command, so fighting was impossible, and fleeing was not an option.

They were almost in a dead end.

Moreover, with this defeat, Zhangjiakou was lost and Shanhaiguan was lost.

The only remaining route back to the area outside the pass is Xifengkou.

If Xifengkou is besieged by the Ming army again, Dorgon and Dodo, who are located in Henan and Shandong respectively, will be in grave danger.

With no chance of victory in this battle, Daishan could only consider how to preserve the strength of the Jurchens.

If he knew that Dorgon was still trying to put up a fight, I wonder what he would think.

To ensure that Xifengkou would not fall, a defensive line needed to be formed within a 100-mile radius of Xifengkou.

"Chengde...Xifengkou...Santunying..."

Daishan pointed at the map and kept muttering to himself.

Soro was very worried about his master's mental state and was about to speak to persuade him when he suddenly saw Daishan tear open the collar of his chainmail.

Dark red scars spread from his neck to his chest; they were branded by the muskets of Feihu Ridge.

"Order that all baggage be abandoned." The scabbard slammed heavily onto the map. "The entire army, lightly armed, will launch a surprise attack on Santun Camp!"

“No, Master, we already have insufficient supplies, and if…” Soro immediately tried to object.

But Dai Shan stopped him with a look in his eyes.

He also knew that since the loss of Zhangjiakou, the only supplies left were three days' worth of rations for the soldiers and some firearms. If they were to lose these as well, it would be tantamount to suicide.

Having three days' worth of rations and firearms is of little use now; what we need to do is ensure the safety of Xifengkou.

He sent a scout to deliver a message to Jirhalang the day before yesterday, and judging by the time, he should be arriving at Xifengkou soon.

As long as Jirhalang holds the east side of Xifengkou, he will hold the west side.

To ensure Dorgon and Dodo could withdraw their troops safely.

At most, this battle can be considered a loss, not a defeat!

What Daishan didn't know was that Jirhalang would be so fast.

When the scouts arrived at the Bordered Blue Banner army, Jirhalang had already crossed Xifengkou and arrived at the west side of Santunying.

It is only ninety li away from Daishan.

Upon receiving the scouts' message, Jirhalang immediately ordered his army to encamp. He knew that sending reinforcements at this time would only allow the Ming army to besiege the stronghold and attack the reinforcements.

The mud from the ancient Luanhe River path submerged the carpet, and Jirhalang stared blankly at the cowhide water bag.

When the Banner Chieftain of the Bordered Blue Banner entered the tent to report, he clearly saw that the other man's iron mesh boots were covered with ochre-colored clay, which was not common in Liaodong.

"Reporting to Your Highness, our scouts have spotted the Bordered Red Banner a hundred miles away!"

"Can you see the color of the flag?" Jirhalang suddenly stood up, his sword knocking over the silver bowl of mare's milk.

“It’s a brocade dragon banner, no doubt about it!” Zhang Jing swallowed hard. “But… but the scouts said the banner is torn in half.”

"Fifty miles behind, tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry were still in pursuit."

Jirhalang grabbed his helmet and rushed out, while the blue-clad guard hurriedly raised his torch.

The firelight illuminated the distant walls of Santunying, once one of the nine major military towns, where only a few flags now stood.

Jirhalang was also a general who fought alongside Nurhaci.

They quickly realized the importance of Santunying.

He was also pursued by more than 20,000 men led by Wang Erhu, the general of Jizhou.

However, these men were all infantrymen, and they were still two hundred miles away. Their combat strength was weak and they were not enough to pose a threat.

Jirhalang made a decision immediately.

"Order the cavalry to go and meet Prince Li. The rest of the troops should rest for half an hour, and then launch a fierce attack on the Santun Camp."

"Whoo!"

……

Santunying was a high and fortified city, but it was only garrisoned by a small flag bearer with a little over a hundred men and three thousand militiamen.

The Blue Banner Army launched a fierce attack for two hours and captured Santunying.

Before nightfall, all the necessary preparations for defense had been made at Santun Camp.

They opened the city gates wide and welcomed Daishan's army inside.

As Daishan dismounted, his breastplate struck Jirhalang's shoulder armor, sending sparks flying into the damp morning mist.

"Twelfth Brother," he gripped the other's wristband tightly, "How could you be so fast? At Xifengkou..."

"Four days ago I received a false letter, so I led a large army and marched day and night. I never expected that my second brother would actually be defeated."

Jirhalang tore off his brother's iron gauntlet, revealing the festering arrow wound beneath.

"Xifengkou is not a concern, as it is garrisoned by Haoge's 5,000 elite troops. As long as it is not besieged by the main force of the Ming army, it will not fall."

"I just came in a hurry and didn't bring any food supplies. This is all I have left." He kicked the empty grain sack at his feet, and millet dripped out from the tear.

Their eyes met.

At the same time, he sighed.

"The Ming army's fighting strength has truly undergone a dramatic transformation. It will be much more difficult for them to enter the pass in the future."

Dai Shan nodded without saying a word.

Suddenly, the sounds of fighting broke out outside the tent between soldiers of the Bordered Red Banner and the Bordered Blue Banner. Some cursed the deserters in Manchu, while others cried out for their mothers in Mongolian.

"Let's wait!" Dai Shan suddenly drew his sword and chopped off the corner of the table, his eyes filled with desolation. "Our combined army numbers over 50,000, and there are still deserters from various places who haven't arrived yet."

"Once the entire army arrives, numbering as many as 70,000, with the provisions that Hauge has stockpiled at Xifengkou, we can proceed steadily and surely, and we may not necessarily be afraid of the Southern army!"

"That's all we can do," Zirhalang sighed.

……

But the Ming army would not give them that chance.

Huang Degong's army numbered 20,000, Wang Erhu's army numbered 20,000, Li Guo's army numbered 30,000, Qi Ji's army numbered 4,000, Shenji Battalion numbered 5,000, and Xuanjia Cavalry numbered 1,000.

They gained a decisive advantage in terms of numbers.

How could we possibly let such a good opportunity slip by?

They immediately formed a battle formation, preparing for a strong attack.

At the beginning of the second day, outside the west city wall of Santunying.

Thirty thousand Shun army light cavalry formed a three-tiered formation two miles west of the city, with thunderbolts hanging beside their saddles completely wrapped in oilcloth.

“General Qi,” Li Guo turned to look at the Ming general clad in mountain-patterned armor, “the three corner towers on the west city wall are each equipped with four breech-loading cannons.”

Li Guo glanced at the dense array of shield wagons on the city wall, his iron gloves tightening on the reins, making a creaking sound. "General Qi, how far can the Hongyi cannons reach the crenellations?"

"It takes four hundred paces to break through a triple-layered brick wall."

Qi Yuan lifted the cannon covers soaked with morning dew, revealing twenty Hongyi cannons wrapped in cotton batting. "But the Jurchens coated the walls with thick mud last night, making the walls more solid."

Before the words were finished, the sound of a bull horn suddenly rang out from the city wall.

Daishan's brocade dragon banner emerged from behind the arrow tower, and archers with red-bordered flags were binding oil-soaked hemp cloth to arrowheads. Li Guo chuckled lightly, "What's there to be afraid of?"

“Zhang Xianzhong also used this tactic when attacking Luoyang in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen’s reign.”

"Digging battalion, advance!" he suddenly shouted.

A thousand Shun soldiers pushed shield carts out of the battle formation, the iron shovels hanging on the cart shafts clanging loudly.

The Ming and Qing armies of this era used completely identical combat methods.

They just dug a hole in the wall and stuffed it with gunpowder.

The digging team was used for this purpose.

Dai Shan watched this scene calmly until the Shun army was several hundred meters outside the city wall before giving the order.

"Fire rockets!" Dai Shan shouted from the city wall.

The archer with the blue banner had just poked his head out of the crenellation.

Unexpectedly, the Shun army was followed by the Qi family army!
Suddenly, smoke rose from the Shun army's ranks.

Twenty tiger-squatting cannons fired simultaneously, their shrapnel sweeping across the city walls, while iron shot splashed against the ice walls, creating a white mist.

For a time, the Qing archers were pinned down and unable to raise their heads.

They could only watch as the Shun army approached the city wall.

Jirhalang grabbed the body of his personal guard and used it as a shield in front of him, roaring at the soldiers, "Pour the molten gold!"

Scalding hot excrement poured down the ice wall, and the Shun army soldiers who were digging the tunnel screamed and rolled around.

Li Guo remained completely calm. Qi Yuan waved his command flag fiercely, "Artillery units, fire three volleys!"

Dozens of Shenji Battalion soldiers followed in three waves, firing bullets that sent dust flying from the crenellations.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Qi Yuan waved the triangular flag again, shouting, "Change to chain ammunition for the A-type artillery formation!"

The cannonball, wrapped in iron chains, spun and tore through the earthen wall.

Daishan's heart tightened. "The Blue Banner Guards are to be dispatched out of the city! We must not allow the Ming army to destroy the city walls!"

The frozen rammed earth was chopped into dust by shovels, and three thousand heavily armored Qing soldiers filed out of the barbican, just about to go and test their skills against the Shun army.

Unexpectedly, they were stopped by Wang Erhu and his guards.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Shunjun disregarded the rolling logs, rocks, and molten gold.

He picked up a shovel and started digging.

At 3:45 AM, with a rumbling sound like muffled thunder, a gap of about ten feet suddenly appeared in the west city wall.

Daishan's helmet was blown away by the blast wave, and he roared, spitting out a mouthful of sand, "Block the mouth with shield wagons!"

Before the thirty heavy shields covered with wet cowhide were even in place, Huang Degong's red banners had already arrived from the southeast.

The Xuanjia cavalry's lances deflected the blue-embroidered flag's antlers, while the iron shot from their three-eyed guns carved honeycomb-like holes into the shield cart.

"Grenadier squad!" Li Guo pointed his goose-feathered sword to the sky.

Five hundred Shun Army light cavalrymen untied the pottery jars from their saddles and galloped forward, their improved thunderbolts trailing sparks as they flew toward the gap.

Zirhalang's chainmail was torn open by shrapnel, and he roared with blood streaming down his bare arm, "Release the rolling stones!"

Iron-clad stones slid down the city wall into the Ming army's ranks, crushing the Shun army, which was expanding its gains, into a bloody pulp.

Qi Jiguang's army also prepared counterattack measures.

A soldier ran over to report, "General! The explosive shells are loaded!"

At this point, the prototype of the exploding shell had already been developed. A lit iron can bomb was stuffed into the cannon barrel and then launched by the cannon.

However, the rate of barrel explosion was very high, and cannons were too expensive for anyone to afford.

But Zhu Youjian insisted on using him.

Twenty general cannons simultaneously raised their barrels, and the iron cans covered with iron plates exploded into a net of fire in the air.

The Blue Banner White Yala charged forward with the door panel as its shield, only to have its triple armor pierced by pre-fabricated shrapnel.

Looking at the elite troops of the Bordered Red Banner rolling on the ground, Daishan suddenly snatched the torch from the ballista archer and shouted, "Fire the giant crossbows with rockets! Burn the Ming army's gunpowder!"

Five giant crossbows coated with gunpowder plunged into the Ming army's artillery array, and the flying sulfur ignited three gunpowder barrels.

Blisters broke out on Qi Yuan's face, and the Qi family army's artillery formation suffered heavy casualties.

However, the basic commanders of Qi Jiguang's army remained completely calm, still shouting orders to put out the fire, "Wet blankets! Quickly cover the fire with wet blankets!"

Amidst the smoke and fire, Wang Erhu led the Yongwei Battalion to scale the earthen wall.

As they rubbed their fingers against the cracks in the wall, the guards of the Blue Banner suddenly poured out excrement.

Dozens of filthy corpses fell from a height of three zhang (approximately 10 meters), landing on the ground in twisted shapes.

However, this did not hinder the Ming army's advance in the slightest.

End of the Si hour.

The Xuanjia cavalry finally cut into the battlefield through the gap.

Wherever the black dragon banner pointed, heavily armored cavalry charged in a wedge formation.

Daishan's personal guards formed a spear formation, but were pinned to the wall by horse spears, armor and all.

"Change to a three-barreled gun!" Huang Degong's meteor hammer smashed the skull of a man with fangs.

The Xuanjia cavalry suddenly drew short muskets from their horses' bellies and fired them close to the faces of the blue-flag musketeers.

Jirgalang's silver banner was hit by seven bullets, and the flag was reduced to tattered rags.

Li Guo's old cavalry took the opportunity to break into the barbican, and used their goose-feather blades to slash at the knees of the Eight Banner soldiers who were not protected by armor.

Just as Daishan was about to organize a counterattack, he suddenly saw the Shun army's blue flag raised in the southwest. Twenty thousand rebel infantrymen plus thirty thousand Ming infantrymen carried ladders and launched a general attack.

Left with no other option, Daishan had to leave his army behind to continue defending against the Ming army.

At noon, the main gate of Santunying was suddenly flung open.

Jirhalang personally led the Blue Banner elite soldiers to form a tortoise formation, with triple shields stacked to create a mobile city wall.

As soon as the wolf-tooth rake of Qi Jiguang's army pierced through the shield bearers in the front row, the long spears in the rear row immediately thrust out from the gap.

"Tiger Crouching Cannon, advance!" Qi Yuan's voice was already hoarse.

Fifty light cannons were mounted on the pile of corpses, and the shrapnel blasted a gap in the tortoise formation.

Just as the archer with the red banner was about to fill in, the black-armored cavalry suddenly threw out a hand axe, the blade spinning as it cleaved into the archer's face.

Dai Shan's sword was blunted when he slashed, and he snatched the spiked club and swung it, but it hit a wounded soldier with the blue flag on the head.

The fighting is getting more and more intense.

Both sides have played their last cards.

At 2:45 PM, the last musket squad of the Bordered Blue Banner retreated to the corner tower.

Jirgalang's left arm hung down unnaturally as he used his teeth to bite the match cord and load the gunpowder into the musket.

Daishan's brocade armor was studded with arrows, making him look like a dying porcupine.

"Hauge's reinforcements!" he cried, spitting out blood as he grabbed the messenger. "Where are the reinforcements from Xifengkou?"

His answer came from the newly risen cannon fire in the southwest.

The battering rams of the Divine Machine Battalion are striking the last gate.

Li Guo personally led his troops up the cloud ladder, and with a goose-feather blade, he severed the collarbone of a certain Niru leader of the Bordered Red Banner.

Huang Degong led his Xuanjia cavalry, charging back and forth through the barbican, with three corpses bearing blue banners impaled on his lances.

As the setting sun dyed the ice wall blood red, the last gilded banner of the Red Flag slowly fell.

As Daishan gazed at the city filled with red flags, he suddenly recalled that snowy night in the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, when he too watched Nurhaci breathe his last under the same blood-red sunset.

After a day of fierce fighting, the Qing army's losses were not actually that great.

Only a few thousand people actually died in battle, but there were far too many wounded.

Especially when facing the various firearms of the Shenji Battalion and Qi Jiguang's army on the city wall, it was no easy task.

They all had some scraps of metal and burns on their bodies, more or less.

Moreover, the Qing army was not good at defending cities, and the Bordered Red Banner had little fighting strength left.

After discussing the matter, Daišan and Jirhalang decided to retreat into the city and fight a war of attrition against the Ming army.

By utilizing the Qing army's skilled tactics, they effectively killed Ming soldiers and rendered their firearms ineffective.

As the saying goes, good fortune never comes in pairs, but misfortunes never come singly.

Just as Dang Shan was trying to rally his troops, even worse news arrived.

Lushunkou has been breached!

Tens of thousands of Ming troops marched straight to Shengjing!

They tried to raid their own base, but the Ming army raided it instead!

(End of this chapter)