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

Chapter 180 Daishan: I'm really not Huang Taiji! Cao Bianjiao: It's alright, it's all the same.

Huang Taiji intended to retreat temporarily to seek an opportunity to fight again, while Qin Liangyu led 50,000 city defense troops out of the nine gates of the capital. Outside the city, a series of rapid, popping sounds, like beans exploding, rang out from Sun Chuanting's camp, and smoke filled the air like morning mist. This meant that the arquebuses had regained their fighting power, and the pressure on the Jurchens had increased sharply.

Daishan, who was still indulging in self-admiration, was slapped in the face. He thought that as long as he increased his investment and was not afraid of losses, he would eventually be able to take down the Ming army's wagon camp! With the firepower of a large number of arquebuses and the restoration of the use of various small cannons that had been neglected before, the Jurchens could no longer act aggressively and were chased back step by step by the Ming army.

At a crucial time in the West's development of plate armor, the Ming Dynasty developed cloth armor. Aside from considerations of cost and large-scale production, the influence of firearms was paramount. Under such close-range fire, even the Jurchens wearing multiple layers of armor could not avoid casualties.

Of course, the Jurchens' attack was not purely mechanical; they also possessed artillery, including the Ming cannons they had captured during their earlier breach of the wagon camp. By engaging in cannon fire, the Jurchens managed to stabilize their position.

Within the small confines of the wagon camp, a dense barrage of firepower erupted, and soldiers from both the Ming and Jurchen sides fell in droves. The Ming army, comprised of the elite Jingying Vanguard, should not have perished so easily, yet due to various unforeseen circumstances, they found themselves in this predicament.

At the critical moment, Cao Bianjiao led his cavalry to the scene, launching a surprise attack on the Jurchen rear guard and ruthlessly breaking through their encirclement. As dawn broke and visibility was poor, Cao Bianjiao mistook Daishan for Huang Taiji and relentlessly pursued him!

Due to the attack from the outside and the uncertainty of the enemy's numbers, the Jurchens, fearing a pincer attack, finally collapsed and retreated while fighting, withdrawing from the Ming army's wagon camp. At this time, nearly half of the 6,000 wagon soldiers and 3,000 infantry firemen in the camp had been lost, and the corpses on both sides reached a horrific level of human pile-up.

Sun Chuanting's standard battalion was fighting fires everywhere and was almost wiped out, but he had no time for grief. He ordered the remaining soldiers to take over the chariots again. Sun Chuanting reorganized his army and arranged for people to rebuild the chariot camp. Their time for revenge had come.

Dai Shan was old; having lived a life of luxury for many years, he was no longer the formidable warrior he once was. Cao Bianjiao's powerful spear thrusts nearly knocked the weapon from his hand. Had it not been for the desperate protection of his bodyguards, he would have been cut down by Cao Bianjiao long ago.

"Huang Taiji, prepare to die!" Cao Bianjiao shouted.

Upon hearing this, Daishan felt a pang of bitterness in his heart. He hurriedly shouted, "I am not Huang Taiji, you have the wrong person!"

"A mistake?!" Cao Bianjiao was stunned. He roared, "If you're not Huang Taiji, why did you impersonate Huang Taiji and make me waste all my energy? Who are you?!"

“I’m just a mere squad leader of the Plain Red Banner. You won’t get much reward money if you kill me. You’d be better off going after Huang Taiji. I heard that capturing him can get you a Duke title!” Daishan hurriedly shouted.

"Oh, then I'll spare your life!" Cao Bianjiao reined in his horse and pretended to turn around. Dai Shan's eyes instantly turned sinister, and he reached for the large bow at his side.

"Go!"

But Cao Bianjiao suddenly swung his spear, striking Dai Shan squarely in the side.

"You!" Dai Shan, who had been injured in the waist and almost fell off his horse, looked at Cao Bianjiao with wide eyes in disbelief. His ribs seemed to have been broken.

Cao Bianjiao said with a smile, "You are a military commander of the Jurchens, while I am just a minor guerrilla general of the Ming Dynasty, so it is appropriate for me to kill you."

"I'm really not Huang Taiji!" Daishan cried, on the verge of tears. "I know you, you're the Grand Prince of the Jurchens. Killing you will get me a title." Cao Bianjiao grinned, while continuing his attacks on Daishan, each move aimed at a vital point.

"General, there are too many enemy troops, we are about to be surrounded!"

Upon hearing this, Cao Bianjiao's expression changed slightly. He realized that in his pursuit of Daishan, he had advanced too far and was now surrounded by enemies. Looking around at his brothers, he saw that each of them was fighting two or three Jurchens simultaneously to cover his pursuit, and people were falling every moment.

Although everyone had reported their chosen blank slips as dead before setting off, and everyone was mentally prepared, he was still unwilling to trade his brothers' lives for his own future.

Since it was Daishan and not Huang Taiji, there was no need for him to fight to the death, and their goal of relieving their ally had already been achieved.

"Retreat! Follow me and fight your way out of the encirclement!" Cao Bianjiao shouted.

"promise!"

Cao Bianjiao had indeed retreated, but Dai Shan still stared in the direction he had left with lingering fear, afraid that the other party might launch a surprise attack.

Huang Taiji brought the elite Jurchen troops, and even in defeat, they did not collapse. The Jurchen cavalry charged left and right, and the Ming army could not stop them. As dawn broke, the chaotic war situation gradually shifted towards order. Huang Taiji organized several counterattacks in an attempt to turn the tide, but this time no miracle occurred.

The Jurchens retreated in defeat, pursued relentlessly by the Ming army, and the center of the battlefield gradually moved further and further away from Beijing. Just as the Jurchens were about to withdraw and leave the outskirts of Beijing, the White-Spear Army finally arrived at the battlefield and blocked their retreat.

They did not rest, but immediately joined the battle. Eight thousand white-spear soldiers formed four wedge formations and charged towards the Jurchens, unstoppable in their path. Simultaneously, the white-spear soldiers, equipped with large shields, withstood the Jurchen arrows raining down, yet remained unharmed. The white-spear soldiers had come for revenge; it was time to settle the scores of the past.

With blockades ahead and pursuers behind, the Jurchens had nowhere to retreat. Huang Taiji, in a state of frantic anxiety, even suffered a nosebleed and personally mounted his horse, leading his guards in a charge. Seeing that the eastern route was blocked, Huang Taiji made a desperate decision to break out to the south.

Their homeland was in the Northeast, so why were they heading south? Many Jurchens couldn't understand it, and because of their recent defeat, many no longer trusted Huang Taiji. With the war so badly fought, shouldn't they have broken through to the north, breached a section of the city wall, and escaped beyond the Great Wall?
The French had Waterloo, the Ming army had Sarhu, and now the tables have turned; it's the Jurchens' turn to taste the bitterness of a rout. Huang Taiji never imagined that a well-planned retreat would turn into a complete rout. In the past, they were the ones who brought the Ming army to its knees; now, it was their turn.

His fighting style was no different from his father's; both sides clashed head-on, pushing forward despite casualties, until the Ming army couldn't hold out and naturally collapsed. Why didn't it work this time? In the past, even the White-Spear Soldiers, who fought to the death, were defeated by them!
Huang Taiji had never hated Amin and Mangultai so much; he felt they had betrayed him. He had only ordered them to capture the small Lugou Bridge and then lead troops to reinforce the defense of Beijing, so why hadn't they arrived yet?!
The battles at the front were going incredibly smoothly, with reports of victories constantly reaching the palace. The situation was now clear: the Jurchens had no chance of turning the tide. Zhu Youjian even began to doubt himself, wondering if he had overestimated the Jurchens before. He had been so cautious, yet he hadn't expected them to be such a hypocrite.

Zhu Youjian suddenly felt a sense of emptiness, as if he had devoted all his efforts to pursuing something, finally succeeded, and was full of anticipation as he tallied his gains, only to find, "That's all?!" This was a feeling of invincible loneliness. What if the Jurchens submitted and paid tribute? Should he accept it?
The emperor's gaze drifted away, a barely suppressed smile playing on his lips, but Zhu Xieyuan's brows furrowed, his expression growing increasingly grave. The Jurchens had far more than 30,000 cavalry; where had the rest gone?!

Although he had some vanity and wanted to achieve unparalleled fame so that his descendants would praise him after his death, he also knew that the Jurchens were not so easy to deal with. Defeating the Jurchens was not difficult, but killing them was very difficult.

(End of this chapter)