Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 175 Where are the White-Clad Soldiers now?!

"The campaign has been delayed, and then a torrential downpour soaked all our equipment. Marrington's army won't come out, and Du Song's troops are advancing alone!" Zhu Xieyuan muttered to himself, his expression one of despair: "Your Majesty, I am guilty!"

Zhu Xieyuan was reading the military report from the Battle of Sarhu. The advance time had been leaked, and they had encountered rainy weather, rendering their firearms unusable. The Battle of Sarhu took place in early March, and this was late February—the moment seemed eerily similar to that time!
But things aren't that bad yet. Unless there's a torrential downpour, the firearms won't suddenly become ineffective. It's only when there's continuous rain and high humidity that the gunpowder absorbs moisture and becomes unusable shortly after being taken out of its sealed container.

Zhu Youjian said in a firm yet calm tone, "It's alright, we will follow your plan and send troops to rescue them!"

Outside Desheng Gate, Sun Chuanting glanced at the distance to the city wall; he could only see a line. They had gone too far in pursuit of the Jurchens. After a moment of panic, Sun Chuanting quickly calmed down and chose to set up camp on the spot rather than flee.

While the artillery was still firing, the first line of defense took turns firing volleys, while simultaneously taking the time to shrink their deployed formation. They contracted from a line of 500 paces to a tight straight line of 100 paces.

The central array was broken to form two flank defenses, the rear portion filled the flank defenses, and the remainder formed the rear defense. Sun Chuanting's 6,000-man wagon battalion, originally in three horizontal arrays, was rapidly transforming into a square array.

The Jurchen cavalry, who were retreating, went from front to back and then back to front. Just as they were about to charge, they saw the overwhelming firepower of the Ming army and backed down.

"Great Khan, let's retreat. This little bit of rain probably won't do any good!" Daishan said, catching a few drops of rain with his hand.

However, Huang Taiji, with red eyes and somewhat manic, said, "This is a golden opportunity, even the heavens are helping our Great Jin! If we win this battle, we might just be able to rule the world!"

However, Daišan still instinctively felt some resistance. He was willing to let Huang Taiji be the Great Khan, but he was not happy about Huang Taiji becoming the Emperor. If Huang Taiji became Emperor, wouldn't they be imprisoned and killed like the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty?!
Seeing Huang Taiji's growing prestige after entering the pass, Daishan felt somewhat distressed. However, despite his emotions, reason prevailed, and this time Daishan neither contradicted Huang Taiji nor secretly plotted against him.

"I wonder who the enemy general is, that he's such an incompetent fool! How laughable, we were just being chased by him!" Huang Taiji muttered to himself.

If the Ming army were to fight and retreat, he would have to risk his life to charge into their formation and stop them. However, the Ming generals were frightened by the light rain and chose to retreat and defend. So he was not in a hurry to attack. He just waited for the Ming army to form a battle formation and then besieged them to catch the reinforcements.

Huang Taiji then dispatched a large army to bypass the Ming army's wagon camp, emerging from both sides and gradually surrounding it. The sky was cloudless, and a steady, persistent drizzle fell, neither increasing nor decreasing in intensity. The pursuing infantry battalion was also taken in by Sun Chuanting, expanding his 6,000-man wagon camp to 9,000 men.

"Governor Sun, the muskets won't fire," the Infantry Battalion Commander whispered to Sun Chuanting.

Each soldier in the infantry battalion was equipped with a musket, and in pursuit of mobility, they were only equipped with small cannons. If the muskets couldn't be fired, they were practically useless.

Sun Chuanting nodded upon hearing this and said, "My camp has over ten thousand swords, spears, axes, and halberds, enough for all of us to use. You take your men and collect the weapons!"

"Can we manage in the field without firearms?!" the infantry battalion commander asked in a trembling voice.

“It’s not field battle,” Sun Chuanting said, patting the commander on the shoulder. “It’s top-quality iron armor.”

He pointed to the shield carts in front of him and uttered two words: "City wall!" "We have tens of thousands of men. How can we not defend the city? Although our firearms are affected by the rain, the Jurchens' arrows will also become weak and ineffective after being soaked in the rain. The Jurchens' warhorses will be unable to run. It will be nothing more than a bloody battle between the two sides. Are we afraid of the Jurchens?!"

Sun Chuanting's words improved the mood of the commander of the Bu Huo Battalion, but after thinking for a moment, he added, "What if the Jurchens besiege the city without attacking, and then attack the reinforcements while besieging the city?!"

Boom! Sun Chuanting's expression changed slightly. This wasn't a possibility, it was inevitable! The reason he chose to hold his ground instead of retreating was because a retreat might provoke the Jurchens to launch a forced charge. Even if they escaped the main army, these cannons would likely fall into the hands of the Jurchens.

Therefore, he chose the safest strategy: to hold out to the death! The Ming Dynasty could not afford the loss of its chariot camps; this was a universal principle, and the imperial court would also think the same way. Therefore, in order to mitigate the losses, the court would inevitably send troops to rescue them, and would inevitably face a situation of besieging the camp and attacking the reinforcements.

Did Zhu Xieyuan not know he would be besieged and have reinforcements attacked? He did. But a fortified city surrounded by wagons wasn't a true city wall. The reason the wagon camp was able to render the Jurchens helpless wasn't because of the wagons themselves, but because of the cannons! After losing the cannons, what use were the low walls of the wagon camp, barely tall enough for two people,? Ultimately, the Jurchens would still breach them.

Moreover, both of Sun Chuanting's daughters were favored concubines of the emperor, and his younger daughter even gave birth to a prince. The Ming Dynasty has been without a successor for so long; perhaps this prince could become emperor someday. Zhu Xieyuan wasn't just good at fighting; his strengths lay in coordination and command, and he possessed high emotional intelligence. He needed to consider the political implications.

Although Sun Shiwan was very worried about her father, she gritted her teeth and persevered, refusing to ask the emperor to send troops to his aid. She knew that she couldn't interfere with the emperor's judgment at this time; if he could be saved, then so be it, but if not, there was nothing she could do. In short, she couldn't send troops to his aid just because it was her reason, because she understood her father.

Sun Chuanting was three li (approximately 1.5 kilometers) from the city wall, a distance within range of the cannons on the city wall. A light rain was falling, and Beijing could easily erect several rain shelters, so the firepower on the city wall could be maintained for a short time.

Because of the fire support from the city walls, the Jurchens had not yet completed the encirclement of the Ming army's wagon camp, leaving them one short. This was the most agonizing part, as if the devil was constantly whispering in the ears of the soldiers in the wagon camp: "Go, go, we've given you a way out, hurry up, or you'll miss your chance."

Some generals did indeed approach Sun Chuanting to question his orders. Sun Chuanting was a civil official; what did a civil official know? If they had retreated quickly, with the cannons on the city walls providing cover, and their own cannons still firing, they would have already retreated back to the capital.

He is committing a crime, just as has happened countless times before, because these self-righteous civil officials gave reckless orders, leading to the disastrous defeat of the Ming army.

Despite the doubts, Sun Chuanting remained steadfast in his convictions, knowing that the calculations weren't straightforward. Moving the wagons backwards, engaging the enemy while retreating, was extremely difficult. Covering those three miles would take several hours, and the Jurchens would certainly not allow them a safe retreat.

As soon as their firepower is weakened by the rain, the Jurchens will pounce. The Jurchens are watching them from afar without attacking simply because they haven't retreated.

Zhu Xieyuan nodded upon learning of Sun Chuanting's choice. Sun Chuanting's response was far from perfect, but it was currently the most advantageous for the court. If Sun Chuanting had been relentlessly pursued by the Jurchens, they would have had to immediately send reinforcements. Now, it seemed they had at least a few more days to mobilize troops.

If artillery is unavailable, then what is the strongest army?! The Jurchen cavalry?! No, it's the White-Clad Soldiers!!!

Zhu Youjian and Zhu Xieyuan were on the same page. They exchanged a glance and asked in unison, "Where are the White-Spear Soldiers now?!"

(End of this chapter)