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

Chapter 271 Execution by Cannon
Huang Taiji's face turned pale and then red, but he still gritted his teeth and said, "Fifty thousand, no, two hundred thousand! I'll pay two hundred thousand taels of silver for my life. Please have mercy on me. I'll send the silver back immediately after I get back. I swear to God!"
You all understand the principle of "raising a bandit to enhance one's own power." What use would the court have for you after I die? The good life you've enjoyed these past few years is because of me; killing me will do you no good!

Zhao Shuaijiao wore a mocking expression, but did not refuse outright. He was waiting! He felt that Huang Taiji had probably lost his mind. Putting aside whether he needed to nurture a bandit to maintain his own importance, even if he agreed to let Huang Taiji go, would the other generals here agree?

If he dared to order Huang Taiji's release, his own head would be on the same plate as Huang Taiji's the next second. And what's more, he also wanted Huang Taiji dead. As for the so-called 200,000 taels of silver promised by Huang Taiji, let's not even talk about whether he could get it. What kind of money is this to give a beggar? Who does he think he is!

Huang Taiji knew his actions were ridiculous, but he was truly at his wit's end. It was one thing that Sony and Mendu couldn't win head-on, but Ebilun hadn't suffered much loss when attacking the flanks. Yet that bastard had abandoned him with his troops and fled. Huang Taiji had originally thought that even if he couldn't turn the tide, he would still have a considerable number of troops left, and it wouldn't be too late to escape later.

"Great Khan?!" Huang Taiji's guards shouted anxiously.

Realizing that persuasion was ineffective, Huang Taiji finally abandoned his illusions and gritted his teeth, growling, "Break through!"

"Kill!" Zhao Shuaijiao gave a brief order.

Huang Taiji had a local numerical advantage, with about 500 cavalrymen breaking through with him. Zhao Shuaijiao had fewer troops, about 400 cavalrymen, but scout squads were constantly returning, and their numbers were closing the gap with the Jurchen forces. Moreover, Huang Taiji still had nearly 2,000 pursuers behind him. In the time it took to speak, the Jurchens had already entered the range of the pursuers' fire.

Cao Bianjiao and his men, of course, showed no mercy. Seeing the Jurchens stop, before they even arrived, a volley of arrows rained down on them, instantly sending Jurchen men and horses sprawling. The Jurchens were armored, but apart from a few generals who had been helped and were wearing triple armor, the others were only wearing a single layer of iron armor, not to mention their warhorses.

This explains why they were utterly routed in both rounds of battles against the Ming army. Huang Taiji divided his forces, sending 100 men to cover the rear, and led his troops eastward. Zhao Shuaijiao also divided his forces, and with their heavily armored men and horses, they could ignore most of the Jurchen attacks, focusing their pursuit on Huang Taiji himself. The Jurchen cavalry fought desperately, but it was ultimately a futile effort, and they were mercilessly cut down by the Ming army.

Huang Taiji overestimated the loyalty of the soldiers in dire straits. He thought he was Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu. After losing twenty or thirty riders, the rearguard scattered. The Ming army was pleased with this and did not intercept them. Huang Taiji looked north in panic and dared not divide his forces any further.

With Zhao Lüjiao to the north and pursuers to the south, Huang Taiji lacked the confidence to break through Zhao Lüjiao's formation head-on and could only hope to squeeze out from the middle. In a narrow encounter, the brave prevail. Huang Taiji's courage had shattered; all his actions proved one thing: he was terrified of death. And on the battlefield, the more afraid one is of death, the easier it is to die.

Even without dividing their forces, some Tatar soldiers still discovered this loophole. They secretly escorted Huang Taiji to their sides and then completely separated from the main force. As they expected, the Ming army did not even glance at them.

These clever men, having survived the ordeal, were all smiles. They abandoned their armor and fled north on horseback. Huang Taiji despairingly discovered that his men were dwindling and his formation was thinning.

"How bitter!" Huang Taiji cried out in grief.

Suddenly, an unusual movement occurred further north. The Ming army's lines were thrown into chaos as a force of several hundred slave cavalrymen charged in from the Ming army's flank and rear.

The Ming army was so engrossed in pursuing Huang Taiji that many of them were thrown from their horses by the Jurchen cavalry. In an instant, the Ming army lost dozens of riders and suffered heavy casualties!

"Great Khan, I've come to save you!!!" Tears welled up in Huang Taiji's eyes as he exclaimed excitedly, "Ebilun, you've finally come! If I can return alive this time, I will bestow upon you the title of Heshuo Beile!"

*Thud!* The blood-stained spearhead pierced through Ebilun's chest, lifting the two-hundred-pound man into the air. He wasn't dead yet, struggling frantically with his hands and feet, but unable to find any foothold, he hung suspended in mid-air like a turtle whose shell had been flipped over.

It was Cao Wenzhao who killed Ebilun. Unlike those young men who rushed to grab the kill, he knew that Zhao Shuaijiao didn't have many troops available, so he prioritized supporting Zhao Shuaijiao. Unexpectedly, he actually managed to catch him in the act.

Hope suddenly appeared and then vanished. Not only Huang Taiji, but also his last remaining loyal followers were in despair. They had desperately protected Huang Taiji, hoping to get him out of the country so that even if they died, their families would receive good treatment. But now they were completely trapped.

"I surrender, don't kill me!" a Jurchen soldier cried out in despair.

"Don't be silly, we don't take prisoners!" the Ming cavalryman laughed, then lit his three-barreled gun and sent him to the Western Paradise with a single shot. This was the third platoon of soldiers, and their three-barreled guns hadn't been used yet.

Unable to escape or surrender, Huang Taiji held the ox-tail knife to his neck, but the pain was too much for him to bear, and he could only make a shallow cut.

He then dismounted and fought on foot, with the remaining hundred or so slave cavalry forming a meager spear formation using their lances.

The Ming generals were quite disappointed. "Why didn't you just keep running? Now look what happened! Who's going to do if you die?!"

Cao Bianjiao, who was originally full of energy, was also somewhat dejected. He should have known better than to listen to the old man Zhao and his uncle's nonsense. If he were at the vanguard, he might have broken into the enemy camp and killed Huang Taiji. The battle was now going on in a very uneventful way, which was quite boring.

Someone asked Zhao Shuaijiao whether he should capture Huang Taiji and present him as a prisoner. Zhao Shuaijiao firmly shook his head. The officials of the court valued their reputation. After the prisoners were presented, they were usually not killed. If Huang Taiji were allowed to live, it would be like releasing a tiger back into the mountains.

"Does anyone have a Tiger Crouching Cannon?!" Zhao Shuaijiao asked.

"Yes, yes! I brought three!" Wu Xiang said excitedly.

Everyone looked at him strangely. Wu Xiang stammered, "I was just thinking we were going to attack the city, so I was just preparing some... Wu Sangui, take a few men and move the cannons over here!"

The war has dragged on until now, and Huang Taiji is already in dire straits. No one wants to sacrifice even a single soldier for them anymore.

(End of this chapter)