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

Chapter 269 Decisive Victory
Holding the bow in the left hand and drawing the string with the right, one shoots to the left. Very few archers on horseback can shoot with both hands. Therefore, in cavalry battles, attacks are often launched on the enemy's right flank, as cavalry flank defenses are not necessarily stronger than infantry flank defenses.

Zhao Shuaijiao was naturally familiar with such basic tactics. The design of the triple-layered formation already took into account various situations that cavalry might encounter in combat.

In fact, after the vanguard's offensive is thwarted, they should choose to retreat to the rear of the second formation to rest and regroup. The front formation becomes the rear formation, just like the chariot battalion's offensive tactics, advancing in shifts like waves crashing against the enemy formation until the enemy army is routed.

Eastern cavalry tactics focused more on flexible operations and did not develop extreme tactics like the Western knightly wall charge, where cavalry were closely arrayed and formed a line hundreds of meters long.

The Ming army now had absolute control over the Jurchens, making all of Huang Taiji's struggles seem particularly laughable. His petty actions did not escape Zhao Lüjiao's notice. To prevent Huang Taiji from escaping, he had already dispatched scouts.

To say that these ten-man squads could stop a large group of fleeing slave cavalry is a bit far-fetched, but it is still possible for them to complete the task of scouting, monitoring the entire battlefield, and pinpointing Huang Taiji's location to prevent him from escaping silently.

Why is it always emphasized that the rearguard is the key to a retreat after a defeat? It's because if these tails aren't dealt with, escape is impossible. Victorious armies have ample manpower and supplies; defeated armies barely escape with their lives, and if they can't find a supply point to rest, they won't survive more than a few days.

Zhao Shuaijiao withdrew 500 cavalry from the rear army to protect the flank of the vanguard. At this time, he had fewer troops than Huang Taiji, with only about 200 cavalry remaining. If the Jurchens were to carry out their decapitation plan against him regardless of the cost, they might actually succeed.

Nurhaci possessed exceptional military talent, and his tactical philosophy can be summarized by a famous saying of his: "No matter how many routes you come from, I will only go one way."

Large-scale troop raids were unique to Nurhaci in this era, and no one else could replicate them except for Nurhaci, the master of the East Asian horse herds. After Nurhaci's death, along with this "concentrated forces + flexible mobility" tactic, the Jurchens' decapitation tactics continued. In the Battle of Sarhu, Du Song, the commander of the western route army, was shot to death by the Jurchens in the face.

But even the best tactics couldn't withstand Huang Taiji's mistake. The person they beheaded was not Zhao Shuaijiao, the old man with gray hair, but Man Gui, who was leading two battalions of cavalry in a fierce battle amidst the chaos!

In fact, even if Zhao Shuaijiao were beheaded, this army would not collapse. This operation involved three generals, which provided a high degree of tolerance for error. Any one of them could smoothly take over the command of the army.

After all the arrangements were made, Zhao Shuaijiao did not stay put. The Ming army was short of manpower, and every soldier should play their due role; there was no room for waste.

Elite troops are elite troops. They don't need a detachment with swords watching over them, nor do they need their commanders to worry about everything like a mother hen. Even the order of stepping with the left or right foot must be strictly regulated. That's roughly the level of local armies in the Ming Dynasty.

The old man led his two hundred cavalrymen to patrol the perimeter of the battlefield, occasionally picking up a few stragglers, but this was not his main objective.

The outcome of a war often hinges on that final hurdle. Although the situation is currently favorable, he cannot afford to be complacent. He needs to closely monitor both internal and external circumstances, be wary of potential external reinforcements or third-party forces that might disrupt the situation, and also guard against any unexpected reversals within the battlefield.

Man Gui was in his prime, and after a fierce battle for half an hour, he showed no signs of exhaustion. It's worth noting that Cao Bianjiao had lost to him in their first duel. Man Gui, relying on his large size, even wore an extra layer of paper armor, bringing his armor to a terrifying four layers. He was having a great time, while his warhorse was exhausted and drooling. Finally, the horse's legs buckled, and Man Gui, straddling its neck, tumbled to the ground.

His guards were terrified and rushed forward to surround Man Gui. However, at that very moment, three arrows at a tricky angle shot out from the gaps in the crowd. One arrow bounced off the helmet, while the other two struck Man Gui squarely in the chest!
"Father!"

"General!" Man Gui's personal guards felt a wave of dizziness, as if the sky was about to fall.

Man Gui grunted, then casually pulled out the two large arrows embedded in his breastplate with a large hand; the arrowheads didn't bleed! Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“Righteousness…” Whoosh! Before Man Gui’s righteous son could utter a word, an arrow pierced through a gap in his armor and lodged diagonally in his throat.

He instinctively covered his wound with his hand, but copious amounts of blood still flowed from between his fingers. In the time it took to breathe, he went limp, fell from his horse, and fell silent instantly. Man Gui's face froze; he was furious!

Man Gui's downfall caused some chaos, and Turgh's failed raid did not lead to retreat. Instead, he disappeared into the crowd to wait for another opportunity to ambush.

They hadn't expected to kill the Ming general so easily. They just needed to get closer, and with their marksmanship, they could have made a precise shot that pierced through his faceplate and went straight into his eye socket.

Mendu and Sony led eight hundred slave cavalry in a reckless charge, and they actually managed to break through the Ming army's formation. The Ming army was fighting in small battalion-sized units of a little over a hundred men, and had not formed a tight battle line.

Everyone was very enthusiastic when they were vying for credit and crushing the weak. Now that the war has entered the second phase and the Jurchens are fighting desperately, it's going to be a tough battle. The generals have fallen back into their bad habit of preserving their strength. Their servants are the lifeblood of these generals!

It's not that people are unwilling to fight, but rather that they prefer to fight flexibly and selectively, to fight first to set an example for others, and to get some people to start fighting first.

"Zuo Liangyu, Zu Kuan, don't you fucking run away! Stand with me! If you run away again, I'll fucking come back and kill you!" Man Gui roared as he grabbed the two battalion commanders nearby.

Zuo Liangyu cursed his bad luck and had no choice but to spur his horse and follow. Zu Kuan was quite wronged. He didn't intend to run away, but the soldiers under his command were those of his adoptive father, Zu Dashou. These men were strong and brave, but they had been soldiers for a long time and were quite slick. Zu Kuan's prestige among them was not as high as Zu Dashou's, so he couldn't control them!
On the contrary, Zhou Yuji, who was farther away, noticed the situation and was rushing over. Zhou Yuji also had ambitions, and he could sense that the emperor favored him to some extent. However, he was ultimately inferior to Cao Bianjiao, but why?

Cao Bianjiao was an outsider, while Cao Bianjiao was a direct descendant of the Beijing garrison. He was somewhat resentful and wanted to prove himself and make a name for himself. So, just like everyone else, he tried to snatch Huang Taiji's head and managed to run away a bit. But when he realized the situation on his commander's side, he chose to prioritize the overall situation.

(End of this chapter)