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

Chapter 270 Victory

Man Gui changed horses and fought again, his gaze fixed intently on Turg, who was hiding among the slave cavalry. Although he hadn't seen him clearly, his intuition told him that this was the man who had just shot him with a sneak arrow.

Turgh stood out among the Tartar soldiers. He was exceptionally tall, and his tall horse looked like a small donkey when he rode it. Although he tried to hide, how could a vulture be hidden in a chicken coop?

Man Gui roared and charged straight toward Turg. Turg no longer concealed himself and drew his specially made five-stone bow to its full extent.

He was ambushed when he was hit by an arrow earlier, but now that Man Gui is watching closely, he is not so easy to hit. A six-meter-long lance is not easy for an average person to lift, but it is incredibly flexible in his hands. He easily deflects the arrow shot by Turg.

However, there were more than a dozen other sharpshooters like Turgh, who hid among the army and simultaneously fired arrows at Man Gui. The arrows were at tricky angles and were powerful. No matter how skilled Man Gui was, he could not parry them all at once and had to lie down to avoid them.

But his plan to kill Turg faced far more obstacles than that. Mendu and Sony were also formidable generals; he would have to get past them first. However, when it came to powerful generals, what did Huang Taiji have to offer the Ming army this time?!

"Hahaha, General, do not be afraid, Bianjiao is here!" A hearty laugh rang out as Cao Bianjiao led his troops to attack.

Cao Bianjiao charged straight at Sony with his spear. This kid was getting fiercer and fiercer. In just one exchange, the two were clearly evenly matched. Sony was struggling to defend himself and could not continue. Seeing this, the gatekeepers rushed to his aid, but Cao Bianjiao had no intention of playing any "Three Heroes Fighting Lü Bu" trick with them. Cao Bianjiao did not need these small fry to enhance his reputation.

He Renlong roared as he charged into the battlefield, his broadsword flashing, his hair ornament falling off. He acted like a madman, as if he had been drinking fake alcohol, no wonder he was called Crazy He.

He took the blow head-on, his helmet flying off, his scalp cracking and bleeding profusely. Yet he merely shook his head, feeling dizzy, which was normal.

Mendu's neck was cleaved by He Renlong's broadsword, severing his collarbone and reaching the tip of his lung. Mendu opened his mouth wide and tried to inhale, but his chest still collapsed uncontrollably, and soon his face turned cyanotic.

The two passed each other. He Renlong glanced longingly at Mendu, who had fallen off his horse. He knew that this was a big fish of the Jurchens, worth a lot of money for wine, but the Zhao family wouldn't allow them to cut off his head.

He Renlong was somewhat worried that his war merits would not be recognized after the war, since he himself often embezzled the war merits of his subordinates, and he should extend that to others.

He Renlong was originally from Yansui Town. He came to the capital with Sun Chuanting to defend the emperor, and then the emperor ordered him to be transferred to Liaodong. At first, he thought he had received the emperor's favor and thought that the emperor would arrange a banquet for him someday, but he waited and waited and never got to see it. It seemed that the emperor had forgotten about him!
The sudden deaths of the men terrified Sony, let alone the other soldiers. "It won't work, there's no way to turn the tide!" Sony was already considering retreating, but he was now being swept along and had no chance to escape.

Cao Bianjiao easily defeated him, while Sony struggled to hold on. If his men hadn't risked their lives to shield him, he would likely have been knocked off his horse. He didn't last long either. The next second, Zhou Yuji arrived on the battlefield, swung his three-eyed musket, and struck him down with a single blow. Sony's men tried to rescue him, but were overwhelmed by the sheer number of Ming soldiers. Sony, lying on the ground, didn't die immediately; he rolled to his feet. Zhou Yuji tugged on the reins with one hand, and the warhorse raised its front hoof and stomped down hard on Sony's shoulder. Crack! Sony's spine snapped, his face pressed against his ankle, his body folded in two.

With two commanders killed in action, the Jurchens' morale completely collapsed. Turgh was dumbfounded. He was supposed to be the one to behead the Ming generals, so how did it turn out that their own men were being beheaded?!
Man Gui, grinning maliciously, charged towards Turge. As Huang Taiji's bodyguard commander, Turge was actually quite formidable in combat. He discarded his bow and arrows, drew his sword, and fought Man Gui, using his short sword against his long sword, managing to withstand three of Man Gui's spear thrusts without falling.

The horse lance was long and sharp, designed to pierce heavy armor. Turgh had large holes in his arm, waist, and abdomen, and blood flowed from under his armor, dripping down his horse's belly. But he still endured it with his strong physique, as if he had fallen into a strange state of blood rage, becoming more and more courageous as he fought.

"Ahhh!" Turgh seized the opportunity and used his arm to clamp down on Man Gui's spearhead, almost throwing Man Gui and his horse off their feet. The two grabbed one end and began to wrestle, and Man Gui's warhorse became a hindrance again.

Just then, an arrow flew from afar and pierced Turg's eye socket with pinpoint accuracy. Turg released Mangui's lance and reached out to pull the arrow out of his eye socket, but at that moment, he also lost sight in his other eye. Thump! The Jurchen strongman fell from his horse and could not get up again.

Ebilun's attack on the flank was thwarted, but he still had room to maneuver. Seeing that the main force had collapsed, he abandoned the Ming soldiers who were trying to intercept him, turned his horse around, and fled.

Huang Taiji's hopes of turning the tide were dashed. He was pale and swaying, but he still managed to hold on to his last shred of reason. Before the Ming army could catch up, he led his last five hundred cavalrymen and fled north.

The Ming generals were keeping a close eye on Huang Taiji's situation, and when they saw him about to flee, they panicked. The Ming army's offensive grew increasingly fierce. With their commander-in-chief killed in battle and their lord abandoning them, even the most loyal and valiant army could not withstand such a situation.

On one hand, the Ming army was eager to pursue their target; on the other hand, the Jurchens had lost all will to fight and wanted to escape. The two sides quickly reached an agreement and stopped fighting. The Ming army and the Jurchen cavalry passed each other, and the Ming army went far away, leaving only a hundred or so Tatar soldiers standing there dumbfounded.

After fighting for so long, the fires in the Jurchen camp had begun to wane, leaving only a crescent moon in the sky, but the morning star shone brightly. Guarjia Batu had survived. He hadn't expected to survive such a great battle, but it was a good thing, wasn't it?
"Let's go! The Ming army doesn't take prisoners. If they come back, none of us will survive!" Batu's words snapped the dazed crowd out of their reverie. They scattered in twos and threes, and no one mentioned Huang Taiji!
Huang Taiji had barely gone fifty paces when Zhao Shuaijiao intercepted him.

"Lord Zhao, please spare my life!" Huang Taiji pleaded humbly.

"Hahahahaha!" Before Zhao Shuaijiao could speak, the soldiers around him burst into joyful laughter. The laughter came for no reason; they just really wanted to laugh.

(End of this chapter)