Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 102 Two Dragons Meet, One Dragon Gallops Away (Part 2)
That night, the moon was dark and the wind was strong; it was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

A row of torches was lit on the eastern city wall of Jizhou, as if to prevent a nighttime attack.

Huang Taiji didn't pay much attention to the row of torches on the city wall when he saw them from afar. After all, it was possible for someone to sneak up on the city wall in the dark, so it was normal to light torches to prevent sneak attacks.

However, things started to get a little strange after that.

Around midnight, while the exhausted Eight Banners cavalrymen were fast asleep, the east gate of Jizhou City suddenly opened silently, and the drawbridge was slowly lowered.

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Yuji led 10,000 cavalrymen out of the city, and, using the firelight on the city walls, they orderly formed their battle formation.

The reason Lu Xiang-sheng ordered a row of torches to be lit on the east city wall was not to prevent the Jurchens from launching a sneak attack. He wanted to use the firelight to gather cavalry and harass the Jurchens!
After assembling his cavalry, Zhou Yuji gave the order without hesitation: "Light the torches."

With a "whoosh," tens of thousands of torches were lit simultaneously, as if the night sky had suddenly been illuminated.

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Yuji waved the torch in his hand forward and roared, "Kill!"

“Kill ahhhhh!”

Tens of thousands of cavalrymen roared in unison, their voices shaking the heavens and the earth. The thunderous sound of their hooves followed, and the ground truly trembled.

Such a loud noise in the quiet night would startle anyone, even those several miles away, let alone the fact that Huang Taiji's encampment was only a little over three miles from Jizhou City.

Huang Taiji was so frightened that he jumped up from his sleeping mat and rushed out of the tent, still wearing his cotton armor.

"what happened?"

Captain Hilgen of the personal guard hurriedly pointed in the direction of Jizhou City and said urgently, "Your Majesty, the Ming cavalry is charging towards us."

Huang Taiji had just been startled awake and was still a little dazed. He turned his head in the direction Hilgen was pointing and his eyes widened in surprise.

That dense array of torches must have been made by tens of thousands of cavalrymen.

These are the Ming army's cavalry from the capital garrison arriving!

How long would it take a cavalryman to travel three miles?
From starting, to accelerating, and then rushing over, it doesn't even take half a quarter of an hour!

Upon seeing this, Huang Taiji immediately ordered, "Quickly, send word that all troops must descend the mountain immediately and assemble in front of the Khan's tent."

He felt that the Ming army wanted to capture the king first and then storm his Khan's camp!
At this moment, he did not panic.

This was all because the intelligence he received indicated that the Ming army's Beijing cavalry only numbered 10,000, while his Eight Banners cavalry numbered over 50,000. If nearby troops gathered and blocked these 10,000 troops at the foot of the hill, and other cavalry from other places came to surround them, then the Ming army's 10,000 cavalry would likely be annihilated.

Unexpectedly, the nearby troops had just received the order and were leading their warhorses down the mountain. Before they could even rush to the Khan's tent to assemble, the Ming cavalry suddenly turned in a wide arc and sped away, quickly surging into the city of Jizhou.

Huang Taiji was stunned when he saw this.

Are the Ming cavalry afraid to charge?

If you don't dare to rush over, why are you running around in the middle of the night?

He looked at the Eight Banners cavalrymen who were yawning and dazed as they rushed over, and seemed to understand.

The Ming army is trying to keep them from sleeping.

After thinking for a moment, he simply gave the order: "Send word to everyone to go back and rest, and those on night watch to be on high alert."

This whole ordeal really left the Eight Banners cavalry quite disoriented.

Unexpectedly, they had only just fallen asleep when a deafening roar suddenly came from the direction of Jizhou City, followed by a thunderous sound of horses' hooves.

Huang Taiji, feeling dizzy, ran out of the Khan's tent and could only order the Eight Banners cavalry to quickly assemble in front of the tent.

There was no other way; it's better to be safe than sorry. If tens of thousands of Ming soldiers really charged over recklessly, his personal guards simply couldn't withstand it.

As a result, before they could even regroup, the Ming cavalry turned back.

This left him somewhat dazed, and the Eight Banners cavalry were even more disoriented, their heads almost falling uncontrollably.

Around 3 AM, Zhu Jue emerged from the west gate tower of Jizhou City, looking quite energetic, and leisurely rode his horse toward the east gate.

He usually gets up around this time every day, so naturally he doesn't feel any discomfort.

At this moment, the soldiers of the Beijing garrison were busy cooking at the stoves on the street, and the aroma of the food quickly filled the air, making him a little hungry.

He calmly went up to the East Gate tower and said to Lu Xiang-sheng and Zhou Yu-ji, who were on guard duty all night, "Jian-dou, Yu-ji, why don't you go and rest? I'll keep an eye on things here, and Ying-yuan will be in charge of the chariots. There won't be any problems."

Lu Xiang-sheng shook his head repeatedly and said, "It's alright, Your Majesty. I rested well yesterday afternoon."

Zhou Yuji shook his head repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I am not sleepy at all. I can go out for another walk without any problem."

Okay.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue simply invited them to sit down and ordered Wang Chengen to get some porridge and pickled vegetables. While eating, they inquired about the evening's events.

They had just finished eating when Sun Yingyuan strode up, cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, Lord Lu, the chariots are ready and we can leave the city."

Zhu Jue got up and looked into the city. The main street leading from the west gate to the east gate was already densely packed with armored vehicles, and the entire street was illuminated by torches.

He looked back at the city and saw that there wasn't a single light on the Jurchen side.

At this point, the Jurchen cavalry would probably be too weak to even get up.

He nodded readily and said, "Yes, then open the city gates, lower the drawbridge, and set up the formation outside the city."

Sun Yingyuan quickly bowed and accepted the order before leaving.

Before long, the city gates opened, the drawbridge was lowered, and 30,000 chariot soldiers pushed 1,500 armored chariots out of the city, spreading out in an orderly fashion to both sides. The speed at which these chariot soldiers pushed their chariots could not compare with that of cavalry. It took them nearly half an hour to form a long, single-line formation that was five or six miles long.

At this moment, a sliver of dawn appeared on the horizon.

Sun Yingyuan had already ridden his horse to the city gate tower, looking up and waiting for his order.

At this point, there was no need to hesitate. Once the chariot soldiers were in formation, they were not afraid of cavalry at all.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Jue immediately raised his hand and shouted, "Kill!"

Sun Yingyuan immediately turned his horse around, drew his sword, and shouted, "Kill!"

“Kill ahhhhh!”

Thirty thousand chariot soldiers roared in unison, pushing their chariots eastward at breakneck speed, their formation resembling an iron wall pressing eastward.

Huang Taiji was startled awake by the earth-shattering roar. Still groggy, he walked outside the tent and asked, "What's going on?"

It's all blurry and I can't see it clearly.

Hilgen cautiously said, "Your Majesty, they seem to be Ming infantry, not cavalry."

Ming army infantry?

Huang Taiji was stunned when he heard this.

How many infantrymen did the Ming army have?

The total number of infantrymen in Jizhou Town was only a little over 30,000. Moreover, the more than 5,000 garrison troops in Zunhua City had been almost wiped out by them, and there were still more than 10,000 left in Santunying. Logically speaking, it would be quite good if the Ming army could still gather 10,000 infantrymen.

Why did the Ming army gather 10,000 infantrymen and come here? Were they just going to their deaths?
This is obviously not normal.

He thought about it carefully before giving the order: "Send word to have them go forward immediately to investigate."

Soon, a fast rider rushed down the hillside.

Before long, the fast rider galloped back, urgently reporting, "Report, Great Khan, it's chariots! So many armored chariots, you can't see the end of them on either side."

The Ming army also had armored chariots!

The information coming from the Shanxi merchants in Shanxi seems a bit off.

Huang Taiji frowned and thought for a moment, then ordered, "Send word to all troops to descend the mountain and assemble immediately."

It would take the soldiers pushing the chariot for about 15 minutes to travel three miles at a stretch.

The Jurchen cavalry did indeed come down from the mountain and gather together this time.

By this time, it was already bright daylight, and Huang Taiji could clearly see the Ming army's chariots.

Wu Gang Car!
The Wugang vehicle stretched as far as the eye could see on both sides!
This is a nightmare for cavalry!
Can he send his cavalry to charge?
That's practically suicide!
While he was still hesitating, Sun Yingyuan had already ordered all the chariots to stop neatly a hundred paces away.

Immediately afterwards, tens of thousands of musketeers rushed onto the chariots, aimed at the Jurchens' faces, and unleashed a volley of fire.

"what!"

A series of screams rang out, and countless Jurchens were writhing in agony.

Huang Taiji was startled when he saw this.

The Ming army was surprisingly equipped with so many firearms!

How is this fight going?
Are they just going to abandon their camp and retreat like that?

As he hesitated, another burst of rapid gunfire erupted from the chariot, followed by another scream.

At such a distance, arrows simply couldn't reach them, and charging forward would only result in chariots covered in spikes. They were practically just targets for the Ming army's muskets!
Seeing this, Huang Taiji no longer hesitated and directly ordered: "Send word that all troops retreat immediately and return to Zunhua City. Send fast riders to the infantry on the road to tell them to turn back immediately."

Soon, the Jurchen cavalry abandoned their tents and galloped into the valley, while the Jurchen cavalry that were already stationed in the valley also spurred their horses and raced eastward.

Another burst of gunfire erupted from Wu Gang's chariot, and countless warhorses howled in agony.

Seeing this, Zhu Jue couldn't help but sigh inwardly. It was a pity that the cannons hadn't been built yet, and this time they only managed to kill or wound several thousand Jurchens.

Huang Taiji, however, had a gloomy face and rode his horse all the way back to Zunhua City.

At this moment, Fan Yongdou finally managed to send intelligence from beyond the Great Wall.

The Ming capital garrison has suddenly produced 20,000 to 30,000 cavalry and 20,000 to 30,000 chariot soldiers, and they have already rushed to Jizhou Town to provide support. Your Majesty, be careful!
Is it too late to be careful at this point?
More than 10% of the Eight Banners cavalry were killed or wounded in a single encounter!

They simply couldn't withstand at least a thousand armored vehicles and at least tens of thousands of muskets.

The distance from Jizhou City to Zunhua City is so short that it would only take a day to transport over a thousand armored chariots by warhorse.

After receiving the intelligence from Fan Yongdou, Huang Taiji actually ordered all cavalry and infantry to carry the grain stored in Zunhua City and flee immediately!
If they ran away at this time, they could at least get tens of thousands of shi of grain. If they waited for the Ming army to come and then ran away, all those tens of thousands of shi of grain would just be burned.

When Zhu Jue received the scout report, he was speechless.

Huang Taiji actually ran away!

He was still thinking about how to make this guy suffer a great loss.

That guy is too clever; he ran away after losing only a few thousand men.

(End of this chapter)