Di Ming

Chapter 229 The Power of Immortality!

Upon learning that Zhu Yin was here, Huo Luochi was filled with fervor and decided that he would capture this highly renowned Ming Dynasty imperial envoy, even at a heavy price!
"Warriors!" Huoluochi Taiji shouted, "Do you see that? That's the Han people's imperial envoy, representing their emperor! The great nobleman under the banner is the auspicious one of the Great Ming Khan! He's the one that even children, the deaf, the blind, and birds and beasts in Han lands know... Mr. Zhihu! He's the most talented young man in Han lands since ancient times!"

"Capture him! Whip him! Trample him! Enslave him! Make him weep like a woman, tearing at his hair in agony—is that not your glory? My generous reward can turn even the cowardly shepherd into a warrior! How much more so you who are already warriors!"

Upon hearing of the Taiji's generous reward, the Tatars' eyes lit up as they gazed at Zhu Yin atop the highest point of Danxia, ​​as if they were seeing gleaming gold. Excitedly, they spurred their horses forward, their steeds snorting and neighing with gusto.

However, to the surprise of the Mongol nobles, there was a group of cavalrymen in the Tatar army who, instead of being excited, looked solemn and even somewhat fearful.

Through his telescope, Zhu Yin accurately discovered that these cavalrymen were different from other Mongol cavalrymen.

He knew, of course, that these people were Tuda who were affiliated with the Tatars, not Mongols.

The term "Tuda" was a general term used by the Ming Dynasty to refer to the various non-Han peoples in Qinghai and Gansu. They had lived in the Qinghai Lake area since the Jin Dynasty. Initially, they were Qiang people, then Tuyuhun Xianbei people, and later Sogdian people, Tibetans, Dangxiang people, and Semu people captured by the Mongol Empire during its westward expansion. Of course, there were also Han people who had settled there since ancient times.

These people lived and intermarried for a long time, becoming half-Han and half-Hu, and gradually formed a new ethnic group: Tuda.

Zhu Yin was a time traveler and was very familiar with the history and origins of the Ming Dynasty's Tuda.

The Tuda people are the Tu ethnic group of later generations. During the Jiajing era, various Tatar tribes from the east occupied the vast Qinghai Lake region and incorporated the Tuda people into their own tribes. Because of this, the Tuda people of later generations claimed to be a branch of the Mongols, but they were not.

After the Manchus entered the Central Plains, in order to weaken the power of the Mongols, they did not recognize the Tuda as Mongols and deliberately separated them, calling them Tumin.

At this time, the local people were influenced by the Han people, and many of them had heard that Zhu Yin was the reincarnation of a star deity, and that there were even temples dedicated to the child prodigy in Qinghai. Now that the reincarnated deity, known to everyone in Han areas, was here, they couldn't help but hesitate, not wanting to offend him.

Zhu Yin noticed the unusual emotions of these people and immediately understood what was going on.

"Huoluochitaiji!" Zhu Yin shouted in Mongolian, "I have seen your Genghis Khan! I saw him weeping in the Eight White Chamber! He begged me to take care of you Mongols and give you a way to live! He said he was a descendant of Emperor Gaozu of Han! I agreed to his request, not out of pity, but because I know that the Mongols are descendants of the Han Chinese!"

The Tatars were all stunned when they heard this authentic Mongolian language, and they couldn't help but look at each other in disbelief.

Zhu Yin opened his arms wide, speaking Mongolian fluently as if it were flowing water, like a sacred Mongolian shaman:

"In the power of the Eternal Heaven! Tengri, who once lived with me, why are my eyes filled with tears? Because I also love the Mongolians!"

"I can protect the Mongols, but the Mongols must be loyal to the court! Huoluochi Taiji, have you become a lost lamb? Now you bring a large army here, are you here to attack me! To attack the protector of the Mongols! Who has bewitched your heart, is it Maowusi in the darkness, or the nine-headed Mangus? Poor Huoluochi, are you going to lead the Mongols to hell!"

At this moment, Zhu Yin's tone and demeanor were very much like those of a shaman with profound magical powers.

The Tatars were somewhat bewildered. Could this great man standing atop the high Danxia landform really be the protector of the Mongols?

He doesn't seem to be faking it.

The morale of the Tatar army suddenly plummeted.

Even Huo Luochi Taiji hesitated for a moment, and a strange feeling involuntarily arose in his heart.

Because Zhu Yin has a shrine dedicated to him, his aura is so dazzling that it's almost sacred.

As a Tatar nobleman who converted to Tantric Buddhism and worshipped Living Buddhas, Huoluochi Taiji naturally held a place for deities in his heart.

But he was, after all, a great nobleman of Mongolia, and although he had some reservations, he did not back down because of it.

"Zhu Yin!" Huo Luochi shouted, his hand on his sword, "You have the mouth of a demon! Your tongue is like a bewitching serpent! Do you think we Mongols would believe your lies?!"

Zhu Yin's throat was starting to hurt, so he stopped shouting and arguing and instead stretched out his hands, giving Huo Luochi the middle finger.

Even from a distance of a hundred paces, Huo Luochi saw the gesture and was startled, feeling a little uneasy.

Although he didn't understand the meaning of the gesture, he suspected it was a mysterious Taoist hand seal. The gesture made him inexplicably uncomfortable.

So how could it be just a simple gesture?

"Dog'atai!" Huo Luochi shouted, "Select two thousand of the best archers, dismount and shoot them with their foot bows!"

"Wu Zhe! Select one thousand armored warriors, dismount, and infiltrate Danxia!"

Huoluochi spared no expense, deploying 3,000 men in their first attack, combining archery and melee combat, yet they only managed to defeat a mere 500 Ming soldiers.

In reality, he was no longer able to commit any more troops.

This Danxia landform is not only situated on a high vantage point, but its entire north and south sides are steep slopes two to three zhang high, making it as difficult to climb as a city wall.

Although they could attack from the east and west, they could only deploy 3,000 men to attack. Any more would be pointless because with this kind of upward shooting, the archers could only shoot 150 meters (100 paces) away, and the archers behind them could not hit the Ming army at all.

"Yes, sir!" The two Mongol generals received the order together and immediately selected their elite troops to dismount and prepare for the attack.

"Woo-woo-woo—" The Tatars' attack horn sounded, and two thousand archers and one thousand swordsmen dismounted, donned armor, and approached Danxia to begin their attack.

As a result, the Tatars who participated in the attack were forced to abandon their most proficient cavalry tactics and turn to infantry attacks, which they were not good at.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..." The Tatars' archery skills were formidable, far surpassing those of the Ming border troops. Their Mongol infantry bows not only had a long range and heavy arrowheads, but were also accurate and fast.

However, Zhu Yin was more than a hundred paces away from them, and he was shooting upwards. Even heavy arrows like the shovel arrows and the shovel arrows would be exhausted and lose their killing power when they hit the Danxia landform where Zhu Yin was.

Moreover, the more than 500 Ming soldiers were all well-armored, and most of them were also equipped with face shields.

Therefore, although the Tatars' first volley of arrows was very fierce, it had zero killing power on the Ming army.

Despite the vast disparity in troop strength, the Ming army held a significant geographical advantage, coupled with their superior armor, rendering the Tatars' initial attack futile.

Seeing that this attack had no effect whatsoever, Huo Luochi's face immediately turned ugly.

With just one probe, he knew this battle would be difficult. The Ming army, though small in number, was a tough nut to crack!

"Warriors! Crush the bones of the Ming army! Kill!" The Tatar general Wuzhe roared, brandishing his sword, and commanded a thousand armored soldiers to attack Danxia Land under the cover of archers.

However, Zhu Yin and Shang Yang had already prepared tactics for the enemy. More than 500 soldiers were divided into ten teams, occupying the best positions in Danxia, ​​and shooting down the Tatar swordsmen from high ground.

As for the Tatar archers behind them, let's ignore them for now.

As a result, the counterattack of the five hundred Ming soldiers was entirely undertaken by the thousand Tatar swordsmen who had entered Danxia Land, and they were all shot dead in a short time.

Only then did the archery skills of the Zhu family soldiers truly shine, like snakes baring their fangs.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!" Nearly four hundred soldiers and guards fired arrows even more fiercely than the Tatar archers, and they were still on high ground!

Not to mention the old guards like Lancha and Meh, their archery skills were already superb, and there were seven or eight sharpshooters among them.

The 360 ​​household soldiers received a monthly salary of more than ten taels of silver, classifying them as first-class household soldiers, only one rank lower than the dozens of old guards. Although their horsemanship was not as good as the Tatars', their archery skills were superior. Each of them was an elite among elites, formidable in both close combat and archery.

The Zhu family is so wealthy, yet they only maintain 500 first-class guards, and this time they brought 360. It's not that Ning Caiwei didn't want to spend more money, but the selection criteria for first-class guards were too stringent, making recruitment difficult. Once recruited into the Zhu family, not only were the benefits excellent, but the training was also extremely rigorous. For example, archery required scientific training every day, year after year.

The lightest of the bows they used was a powerful bow with a weight of 1.2 shi (a unit of weight), most had a weight of 1.5 shi, and a few even had a weight of 1.8 shi!
Tatar archers mostly used 1.2 shi (a unit of dry measure), and 1.5 shi was very rare.

Therefore, the first fierce volley of arrows from several hundred Ming soldiers killed or wounded more than two hundred Tatar soldiers who had charged into Danxia Land, including sixty or seventy Tatar soldiers who were shot in the face where they had no protection.

"Ah—" A series of screams rang out, sending chills down one's spine.

Some Tatar soldiers were struck in the face by arrows that pierced their brains, collapsing backward with a muffled groan. Others were hit by heavy arrows that pierced their armor.
In a single encounter, nearly a hundred Tatar soldiers were shot dead and more than a hundred were wounded!
The Tatar soldiers suffered such heavy casualties on their first encounter, and their morale was immediately dampened!
"What?!" Huo Luochi was taken aback, his eyes widening in surprise.

He had always thought that the Tatar warriors were skilled archers, but this Ming army's archery skills were even more impressive! He had never seen so many Ming soldiers using heavy arrows weighing three ounces, but this time, he saw at least a hundred Ming soldiers shoot heavy arrows weighing three ounces!

In just one round, he had already lost over two hundred armored soldiers! Although he had brought ten thousand cavalry, only a little over three thousand were armored. These were the most elite cavalry of his tribe, and nearly a hundred of them had died in an instant!

"Kill!" Wuzhe shouted. "The Ming army is outnumbered; charge in and we'll win!"

The remaining Tatar soldiers brandished their swords and spears, howling like jackals, and stormed through the complex Danxia passage. Archers swarmed in behind them, closing in to fire their arrows.

Because the roads in the Danxia landform are narrow and winding, the Tatars could not rush in all at once, and could only enter in a queue, which put them in a very passive position.

The Ming soldiers, positioned on higher ground, resumed their hunting.

"Whoosh—ah!"

This time, although the two thousand Tatar archers closed in by several dozen paces, they still failed to inflict significant damage on the Ming army. Although many Ming soldiers were hit by arrows, it was difficult to penetrate their armor; the arrows were either deflected or stuck in their armor.

"Hahaha!" Some Ming soldiers simply didn't use their own arrows, but pulled the arrows hanging on their armor and shot them at the enemy.

This time, because the Tatars were closer, the casualties were even more severe.

The first men managed to advance to within seventy paces before being shot down from their higher position. In the blink of an eye, nearly three hundred Tatar soldiers were killed or wounded, their screams and curses deafening. The dead and wounded Tatars nearly blocked the already narrow passage.

Although they were also armored soldiers, their armor was far inferior to that of Zhu Yin's personal guards.

Huo Luochi's expression was extremely ugly!
They had only come within a few dozen steps when four or five hundred armored soldiers were killed or wounded! But the Ming army's casualties were negligible!

At this moment, retreating would be a huge loss, completely squandering the gains of nearly several dozen paces. But if they didn't retreat, how many more soldiers would they lose?

Huo Luochi's face turned ashen, and his eyelids twitched uncontrollably!
But then Zhu Yin, standing atop the highest Danxia landform, opened his arms and shouted, "Huoluochi, you cannot defeat the protector of the Mongols! You are destroying your own warrior! You have already lost! If you do not surrender, you will lose even more miserably."

Upon hearing this, many Tatars' expressions changed slightly, and they hesitated to proceed.

"Zhu Yin!" Huo Luochi shouted fiercely, "You're just a rabbit's tail! You won't last long! The Taiji of the Duoluo tribe isn't easily intimidated! I, Huo Luochi of the Golden Family, swear to Buddha that I will kill you, skin you, and cut off your head! I will offer your skin and skull to Buddha!"

"Warriors! Do not retreat a single step! Your noble enemies are mocking you! Charge in! Charge in!"

"Bless the Buddha!"

Thus, the remaining Tatar soldiers had no choice but to continue their advance in the extremely unfavorable terrain. Every step closer came at a bloody price. Those Danxia landforms, like the barbicans within a city, led to their demise in the yellow sands.

Suddenly, Zhu Yin’s compassionate Mongolian voice rang out: “In the power of the Eternal Heaven! Temujin, my Anda! Look at the poor Mongolian warriors, being driven to their deaths by those who are deluded.”

Although the Ming soldiers could not understand Zhu Yin's nonsensical language, they could see that it had an impact on the Tatars.

The Tatar soldiers were somewhat dazed upon hearing Zhu Yin's words.

Thus, a bizarre scene unfolded on the battlefield: the Mongol nobleman Huoluochi shouted for Buddha, while the Ming army commander Zhu Yin shouted for the Eternal Heaven.

Those who don't know the situation might think Zhu Yin was the Mongol commander.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—" The Ming army's fierce arrows rained down, and the Tatar soldiers who had finally managed to get within fifty paces suffered more than two hundred casualties, bringing their total casualties to a terrifying seven hundred!
The Ming army suffered only a little over thirty casualties, with only six killed by gunfire, all of whom were Ming soldiers led by Cao Wenzhao. Zhu Yin's own personal guards and protectors suffered only a dozen or so wounded, with none dying.

Because the armor of Zhu's family soldiers was much better than that of the elite Ming border troops, and they all had face shields.

The casualty ratio between the two sides was an astonishing twenty to one!

However, despite suffering heavy casualties of seven hundred soldiers, the Tatars finally managed to get within fifty paces.

At this distance, the lethality of Tatar archers has increased significantly.

Whoosh whoosh!
The Tatar archers rained down arrows like locusts. A group of guards could only surround Zhu Yin and try to shield him from the arrows.

Huo Luochi immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

They've broken through!

Just twenty more steps closer, and this formidable Ming army will surely be defeated!

Despite the huge losses, it was all worth it!

Forty steps! Thirty steps! Good, good, good!
Huo Luochi drew his scimitar with a sudden burst of speed and shouted, "Warriors! The enemy is right before us—"

Before he could finish speaking, a loud bang of firearms suddenly came from Danxia, ​​and then nearly four hundred soldiers and guards drew their foot-long flintlock pistols from their waists!
This is a high-quality hand cannon produced by the Daishan Firearms Factory, which claimed to have been purchased from foreigners. This hand cannon has a lethal range of 50 paces (75 meters) and can effectively penetrate iron armor within 30 paces. Its power and reliability are significantly superior to the Ming army's hand cannons. Moreover, it adopts a fixed firing mechanism, and its firing rate is two to three times that of the Ming army's hand cannons.

Zhu Yin had prepared a tactic to wait until the Tatars were within thirty paces before unleashing a volley of fire.

But then a series of "clattering" sounds rang out, followed by a flash of fire, almost simultaneously the roar of firearms.

“Boom boom boom—”

Nearly four hundred handguns fired at once, the sound was deafening, and it seemed as if the entire Danxia landform was trembling.

Amidst the billowing smoke, the Tatar soldiers who had charged within thirty paces screamed as they threw down their swords, spears, and bows, clutching their wounds and wailing in agony on the sand.

The entire Tatar formation that was attacking appeared as if it had been broken in half.

More than a hundred armored soldiers were instantly killed by this volley of fire!

This terrifying and ferocious bombardment made it impossible for the Tatars to maintain their fighting spirit.

With a loud "boom," the large group of Tatar soldiers cried out in alarm and retreated, colliding with the Tatar soldiers behind them.

Huo Luochi was stunned when he saw this scene.

He's been tricked! He's been tricked!

"Withdraw! Withdraw!" Huo Luochi roared, unable to contain himself any longer. "Don't panic! Withdraw!"

P.S.: While others watch the Spring Festival Gala, I'm writing. People say I'm silly. Happy New Year to everyone! Wishing you all the best, may all your wishes come true, and a prosperous Year of the Snake! May the New Year bring you peace and happiness!
(End of this chapter)