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

Chapter 73 Calculations are useless; only fighting life to life remains.

The battle on the west side of Pi Island broke out first. Shen Shikui's troops, lacking artillery, were powerless against the Jurchen shield wagons and could only watch helplessly as they advanced step by step until the terrain made it impossible for the wagons to move any further. By this time, the Jurchens had already landed on the island.

The Jurchen breech-loading cannons and tiger-squat cannons fired together, pinning down the two thousand defenders in the west. Left with no other option, Shen Shikui abandoned the first line of defense and retreated eight hundred paces, moving out of the range of the Jurchen breech-loading cannons. At this point, the Jurchen artillery was also unable to advance due to the terrain; the only thing they could carry forward was the tiger-squat cannon, weighing only a few dozen kilograms.

For Qirhalang, the battle in the west was progressing particularly smoothly; it seemed as if the Ming troops who had put up such fierce resistance during the day had vanished. It felt as if they had just captured Liaodong and plundered various county towns, encountering virtually no resistance whatsoever.

However, this is not a good sign. The absence of troops and artillery on the west side can only mean that the Dongjiang Army has moved its forces and artillery elsewhere. In that case, Amin will likely be surrounded by enemies on all sides.

“Heshuo Beile, something’s not right here! Why don’t we send someone to inform the banner lord immediately?” Niu Lu Ezhen, who was following Qierhalang, said.

Zirhalang hesitated. He and Amin were indeed brothers, but just a few days ago, this older brother had publicly declared, "I killed my own brother, so what can anyone do to me?" Since the older brother had acted heartlessly first, how could he, the younger brother, be blamed for his own injustice?
So he slowly shook his head and said, “The banner lord has long anticipated the Ming army’s ambush and will surely act cautiously; moreover, his troops are sufficient, and even if there is an ambush, they can handle it. We should just do our duty. If we rashly send people to disturb them, we will only annoy the banner lord and suffer punishment in the future. Why bother?”

The three Niru Ejen thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. Amin was already short-tempered, and he had been somewhat restrained when the old Khan was around, but now the situation was getting worse. They were just minor Niru Ejen, and they might even get beaten or stripped of their titles, so it was better for them to stay away.

After losing their artillery advantage, Qirhalang's troops began to feel the resistance, but he wasn't in a hurry. He simply sent his cannon fodder to their deaths, since he didn't intend to actually capture the western front or rush to its aid. As long as he could hold off the Ming army on the western front, Amin wouldn't say anything to him. As for ambushes, he actually hoped Amin would die! That way, he would become the new banner lord of the Bordered Blue Banner.

The battle on the west side broke out, and Yuan Keli, who was fast asleep, was awakened by his personal guards. The 66-year-old man wiped his face with ice water and instantly entered battle mode.

He first sent someone to inquire about Shen Shikui's situation, telling him that if he couldn't hold out, he should immediately ask him for help. However, Shen Shikui told him that the situation over there was somewhat strange, and that they might already know about their ambush. This made Yuan Keli's heart sink slightly: "As expected of someone trained by the former Dragon and Tiger General of the Ming Dynasty, they are different from those foolish Mongols. The Jurchens are indeed not easy to deal with!"

To the northeast, the Jurchen cavalry mobilized in full force, numbering approximately 20,000, covering the entire ice surface to the northwest. To avoid collapsing the ice, they were spread out widely.

Unable to gallop across the ice, the horses could only trot slowly across the ice and onto the island. This process took almost an hour.

Mao Wenlong was anxious, wishing he could immediately flank and annihilate the Jurchen cavalry on the spot. However, this idea was unrealistic. Not to mention that they couldn't gallop on the ice, even if his three thousand-plus cavalry charged in, they would all die; they wouldn't be enough to make a living off the enemy.

The army numbered over ten thousand, stretching as far as the eye could see. The sheer number of cavalry sent shivers down Mao Wenlong's spine, and he felt a pang of anxiety for Yuan Keli. Since the establishment of Dongjiang Town, they had never encountered such a large number of enemies. However, these men hadn't come specifically to attack Dongjiang Town; they were merely incidental casualties while campaigning against the Joseon Kingdom.

Once the Jurchen cavalry set foot on the island, they could rampage without restraint. Four of the eight banners—Ajige and Dudu's Bordered White Banner, Yuetuo and Shuotuo's Bordered Red Banner, Huerhan and Turge's Bordered Yellow Banner, and Amin's Bordered Blue Banner—had arrived. However, Amin had brought the main force of the Bordered Blue Banner; the others had only brought a portion. The Jurchen cavalry, according to their banner, selected seven niulu (a unit of currency), totaling one thousand men, and lined up. Before them, an unsettling silence descended. Most of those present were seasoned veterans, possessing a keen sense of battlefield tactics. They began to have second thoughts, urging Amin to retreat once more.

However, they got up late at night and found that 20,000 cavalrymen were already in position. It would be unreasonable to retreat at this point, as it would be too much of a blow to morale. The arrow was already on the bowstring, and they had no choice but to fire.

"What are you afraid of! How can firearms be accurate at night? Even if there is an ambush, so what? Can Mao Wenlong's ten thousand infantrymen stop our twenty thousand iron cavalry? How long has this scoundrel been occupying Pi Island and bothering us?! He comes to our territory to burn, kill, and plunder from time to time. If this traitor is not eliminated, how can our Great Jin be at peace!" Amin said loudly.

That's true. We're already here, so even if there's an ambush ahead, we have no choice but to grit our teeth and charge forward.

“Brother! Do you really want to lead the charge? In my opinion, it’s better not to go! Our Bordered Red Banner isn’t under that old codger Amin’s control, so why should we listen to his orders?” Shuo Tuo said worriedly.

Yuetuo shook his head and said, "It's not because of Amin. Father has never liked us brothers. Although the Khan values ​​us, he also covets our Bordered Red Banner. Our military achievements are meager, and we are bound to be looked down upon. If we don't take this opportunity to charge into battle and make merit, we may not be able to protect our banner. This desperate act is truly for our own survival!"

With a thunderous roar, as more than four thousand warhorses accelerated, the earth began to tremble...

Then, the four thousand Jurchen cavalry, led by Jurchens, plunged into the encirclement and, as expected, encountered an ambush. Cannons roared from both the east and west flanks, causing chaos and panic among the soldiers and horses. After finally breaking through, they were met with a heavily fortified array of wagons, chevaux-de-frise, and barbed wire.

The terrain was narrow, making it difficult for the cavalry to maneuver, so they had no choice but to press forward. This wasn't the first time they'd done something like this. Often, their victories weren't calculated wins, but rather the result of sheer brute force wearing down their opponents.

The Eight Banners soldiers could ride horses and shoot arrows, and dismounted they became elite infantry. In the past, the Ming army's way of gaining an advantage in battles against the Jurchens was by relying on a sufficient number of firearms.

A fully equipped wagon camp, with several thousand men, should have over a thousand cannons and millions of kilograms of gunpowder. However, Pi Island only had a little over a hundred cannons, all deployed on the flanks, leaving Yuan Keli's wagon formation with only a few crouching cannons. Therefore, they could only rely on human lives to fill the gaps, just as Mao Wenlong said, many would likely die tonight.

The Jurchen cavalry at the front dismounted and began removing the barricades and seizing the shield carts. Once dismounted, the Jurchens donned their bows and arrows, making them even more formidable. Soon, the shrapnel from the tiger-squatting cannons and the pellets from the arquebuses struck the Jurchens, wounding them but rarely killing them; while the Jurchen arrows easily pierced the cotton armor of the Dongjiang garrison. Gaps gradually appeared in the cart formation.

The chariot formation was broken, and the spearmen took their place. The Jurchens charged into the formation with their lances, impaling the charging cavalrymen and their horses, breaking their lances, and causing the soldiers holding the lances to cough up blood from the enormous impact. This was a completely illogical and life-or-death fighting style.

(End of this chapter)