pappabearbooks Chapter 107 The fence-sitter finally takes sides
Chapter 107 The fence-sitter finally takes sides
Chapter 108 The fence-sitter finally takes sides
Chapter 107 "Chen Boying, I will definitely kill you!"
Nurhaci was furious. He never expected Chen Boying to use the Fire Horse Formation. This move wasn't exactly new, but the problem was that it was an improved version of the Fire Horse Formation.
With the aid of grenades, the Jurchens were unable to assemble their army. As soon as they managed to form a formation, Chen Ying would lead a troop of horsemen to charge forward and perish together with the Jurchens.
Within a quarter of an hour, the Jurchen camp was thrown into chaos.
Nurhaci had already realized that Chen Boying's draft horses numbered only seven or eight thousand, and the number of soldiers charging with the fire horses was not large. He could tell that Chen Boying had discovered Mangultai's forces and was actually on guard against Mangultai's attack on Shuangchengwei City.
Just then, a group of Jurchen soldiers suddenly rushed in from the side, separating Nurhaci and Ajige. Most importantly, Nurhaci's imperial tomb was knocked down by the fleeing soldiers.
Seeing this, Nurhaci did not insist any further; he knew it was too late to turn the tide: "Retreat! Retreat quickly!"
Protected by his guards, Nurhaci ran desperately backward. Behind him, the fire horses continued to rage, and explosions echoed everywhere; the entire Jurchen camp had become a sea of fire.
As Chen Ying watched Nurhaci's retreating figure, he thought to himself that things were going to get bad. Nurhaci was too decisive. His retreat now would not actually result in too much loss, because he had made preparations in advance. The only ones who were unprepared were more than 20,000 Mongol servants and Han cannon fodder.
No matter how many dead or wounded they were, Nurhaci would not feel sorry for them, nor would he record it as a victory. These defeated soldiers caused very limited damage to the Jurchen elite.
More importantly, Chen Yong was using draft horses, not warhorses. Draft horses are far slower than warhorses, so the Jurchens couldn't catch up with them for the time being if they wanted to escape.
Nurhaci's only losses so far are some grain, fodder, and livestock, which are very valuable to the Jurchens. However, the problem is that the Jurchens have the support of both Shanxi merchants and the Donglin Party. The Shanxi merchants can only transport a limited amount of goods from Datong or Zhangjiakou to Liaodong, but the Donglin Party can transport goods by sea to Korea and then from Korea to Liaodong, so the amount of goods transported by sea is much greater.
Historically, Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong without imperial decree. Did he really think Mao Wenlong was dissatisfied with Yuan Chonghuan? Of course, there were reasons for this. The most important reason was that Mao Wenlong blocked his path to wealth. The Dongjiang Army was too poor. Mao Wenlong would not let go of the goods transported to Korea by the Donglin Party's smuggling fleet. He would rob or seize them if he could.
As the saying goes, cutting off someone's source of income is like killing their parents. Mao Wenlong became the source of income for the Donglin Party's financial backers. If he doesn't die, who will?
The loss of property was a serious but not fatal blow to Nurhaci. The problem was that the fire horse formation could only be used once, and Nurhaci would definitely be prepared for the next one. It was actually easy to break this tactic by using the cavalry kiting tactic.
More importantly, Chen Ying did not have enough warhorses to consume in this way. These eight thousand draft horses were obtained by exchanging more than sixteen thousand shi of grain. In addition, the cost of hand grenades amounted to tens of thousands of taels of silver.
"Keep attacking, don't stop!"
Chen Ying was now in a very helpless situation and could only grit his teeth and pursue the enemy, trying to kill as many of the Jurchens' troops as possible.
Not far from the Jurchen camp, in the Wolf Cavalry camp adjacent to Shuangchengwei, Hada, the de facto commander of the Wolf Cavalry, was bound like a dumpling in the main tent.
Just as Chen Ying had predicted, the Wolf Cavalry could not be used by him until the decisive battle was over. Hada was different from the other Wolf Cavalry soldiers; he had no tribe behind him, and his core force consisted of only eight or nine hundred cavalrymen who had lost their tribes.
These people's tribes had long been wiped out in a battle between Daishan and Bomubogor. They had no tribes left and could only rely on Chen Ying. The problem was that their numbers were too small, making up only a small part of the entire Wolf Cavalry Army. Hada stared with his scarlet eyes at the dozen or so Wolf Cavalry Army officers around him.
"You're finished! If you have the guts, kill me now! My master, the great Lord Chen, will not let you go, nor your tribe. All the men in your tribe will be slaughtered, and the women will be enslaved forever!"
At this point, all Hada could do was curse, which did nothing to solve anything. Almost everyone was waiting for the outcome of this decisive battle. If Chen Ying lost, Hada would become a gift for Nurhaci.
Of course, if Chen Yingsheng wins, they will become sacrifices.
Finally, a scout squad of wolf cavalry rushed in from outside the camp. They did not go directly into Hada's main tent, but instead went into the Fuzhong camp, which was not far from where Hada was being held.
Inside this tent, dozens of clan leaders from the Haixi Jurchen and the Wild Jurchen tribes were awaiting the outcome that would determine the fate of their tribes.
"Chief, the fighting over there is too fierce! The Fire Horse Formation has really broken through!"
"The Jurchen camp is in chaos! Utter chaos!"
"Nurhaci's great banner has fallen!"
"How is this possible?"
The mastermind behind this house arrest of Hada was actually Baldachi, the leader of the Jingqili clan of the Solon tribe. He was worried that Chen Boying would be defeated. For Chen Boying, Shuangchengwei was just a pawn, and not even an important one, just a side pawn.
Even if Chen Boying is defeated, he still has a large number of naval ships deployed in Yongning Port. No matter how powerful the Jurchens are, they cannot pursue him to the sea. If the Solon tribe bets on Chen Boying, the Jurchens will certainly not let them off the hook once Chen Boying is defeated.
Despite the fact that Hamutai, Menggun, and Bomubogor have already married Chen Boying, if Chen Boying is defeated, they will definitely be regarded as the culprits and sent to Nurhaci for him to deal with.
They wouldn't easily take sides until Chen Boying gained an absolute advantage. This is the tragedy of small tribes; once they choose the wrong side, the consequence is the extinction of their race.
In Baldachi's eyes, Chen Boying had almost no chance of winning. After all, Chen Boying was too young, and more importantly, Chen Boying's strength was too weak. He only had a little over 10,000 men, while Nurhaci had hundreds of thousands. The difference in strength between the two sides was huge.
"Bardazzi, what do you think we should do now?"
"What else can we do?"
Baldazi said, "We must set things right and rescue Lord Chen's lackey, Hada—"
"Ah—the Hada isn't ours—"
"Pfft!"
With lightning speed, Baldazi swung his sword at the Nimacha clan leader, who clutched his throat in disbelief: "You—"
The leader of the Lurire clan of the Wild Jurchens also realized the situation and decided to sit idly by while placing Hada under house arrest. Someone had to sacrifice their head to appease Lord Chen Boying's anger. The scapegoats they had originally put forward were only mid-level officers of the Wolf Cavalry, whose positions were too low to quell Chen Boying's rage. However, Xiwen (meaning sun), the leader of the Nimacha clan, one of the three major clans of the Wild Jurchens' Woji tribe, had a head that was just the right size.
The other clan leaders reacted quickly, swinging their swords at Xiwen, who was soon hacked into a pulp.
Baldazzi said, "We're about to wipe out the Nimacha clan, leave no one alive! Let's split up!"
"good!"
Baldachi led his chieftains and rushed towards the tent where Hada was being held. The soldiers guarding Hada did not guard against Baldachi's approach; instead, they stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your servant bows—"
"Pfft!"
A flash of cold light, and the soldier's head fell to the snow. The others rushed forward, and after a fierce battle with no resistance, more than a dozen soldiers became mangled corpses.
"Hada, you've suffered!"
"Brother Hada, we're too late! That damned Nima Cha dared to imprison you!"
Hadda flexed his bound wrists, coldly observing the people before him. He didn't speak, but the chill in his eyes sent shivers down Baldachi's spine.
Baldachi said with a sigh, "We received the news too late. We never expected that bastard Xiwen would betray Lord Chen. But don't worry, we have already sent people to wipe out the Nimacha clan—"
"hehe!"
Hada could only sneer. Although he came from a humble background, it didn't mean he was a fool. Xiwen was a clan leader of the wild Jurchen Woji tribe, with only seven villages under his command, less than two thousand men. Yet he had the ability to charge into the wolf cavalry camp. Don't be fooled by the fact that only a dozen or so people were holding him captive; those were just the ones who showed up.
His trusted and loyal troops were trapped in their camp by the wolf cavalry soldiers and could not move. The Jurchens did not attack their camp. He knew perfectly well what this meant.
Now is not the time to pursue these matters. We should deal with that old dog Nurhaci first, and then settle accounts with them.
After regaining his freedom, Hada went straight to the more than nine thousand wolf cavalry soldiers and roared, "Brothers, I won't say anything else. Who gave you the clothes you wear, the food you eat, and the swords and spears you carry?"
"It's Lord Chen."
"It's good that you know!"
Hada continued, "I can let this matter slide, but there will absolutely be no next time. There's a Han Chinese saying: 'An ungrateful dog can be cooked.' Do you want to be tamed, or do you want to be cooked?"
The wolf cavalry soldiers were trembling with fear. Chen Boying had once again proven with his strength that he could easily defeat the Jurchen army of tens of thousands. From now on, there would only be one master on this land, and that was Chen Boying.
"Now that Lord Chen has defeated Nurhaci's hundreds of thousands of troops, what should we do?"
"Kill the Jurchens!"
"Kill the Jurchens!"
The sound of hooves suddenly rose, and nine thousand iron cavalry surged out of the camp like a tide, heading north.
Chen Ying stood on a snowy slope, gazing at the retreating Jurchen camp in the distance. He felt no relief; most of their eight thousand fire horses had perished, and the rest were exhausted. That night, they had created a miracle, but had also nearly depleted all their strength.
"General!"
One of the guards pointed southwest: "Look!"
Chen Ying turned his head and looked over, his pupils suddenly contracting.
On the southwestern horizon, countless torches snaked like dragons, rapidly moving in this direction, the sound of horses' hooves like muffled thunder, causing the accumulated snow to fall in a rustling sound.
"It's Mangultai's elite troops from the Two Blue Banners! They're charging towards us!"
"Damn it!"
Chen Ying thought that Mangultai would take the opportunity to attack Shuangchengwei. He made arrangements for Shuangchengwei, especially on the south city wall. He lit torches and set up straw men to create the illusion that Shuangchengwei was poorly defended, thus luring Mangultai to attack. As long as Mangultai dared to attack Shuangchengwei, he would definitely suffer a crushing defeat.
Unfortunately, Chen Ying miscalculated. He had no idea how terrifying Nurhaci's pressure on Mangultai was. Not to mention that the defenses of Shuangchengwei seemed weak, even if Chen Ying opened the city gates, he would not dare to attack Shuangchengwei, knowing that Nurhaci had been defeated by Chen Ying. Instead, he would try to rescue Nurhaci.
Now, Mangultai's 20,000 elite cavalry are charging at full speed, while he has less than 800 exhausted guards left. Most of his fire horses have been used up. The key problem is that they are charging too fast. Chen Ying has no time to turn the fire horse formation around. Once Mangultai charges over, he will surely die.
"General, retreat immediately!"
Chen Ying did not move. He stared intently at the approaching long line of torches, then glanced at the fleeing Jurchen main force in the distance, his mind racing with calculations.
Retreat? Where to retreat to? They are currently more than ten miles away from Shuangchengwei. If they retreat, they will run headlong into Mangultai's 20,000 cavalry. No matter if he continues to pursue, Mangultai can take the opportunity to catch up with them.
But if we don't withdraw—
Just then, the sound of thunderous hooves suddenly rang out on the southern horizon, and countless torches surged like a tide across the southern snowfield.
When the Wolf Cavalry learned that Chen Ying had destroyed Nurhaci's camp, everyone wanted to follow Chen Ying to redeem themselves and gain something from the spoils. After all, a Jurchen head was worth more than 20 catties of salt, or two shi of grain, or a cow. They were eager to receive Chen Ying's reward.
As it turned out, the wolf cavalry clashed head-on with Mangultai, and the two sides engaged in a fierce battle. Mangultai saw that the wolf cavalry only had more than nine thousand men, less than half of his own forces.
"Third Prince, take the Bordered Blue Banner and block them!"
"good!"
Amin knew this wasn't the time for sentimentality, so the two split up, with one preparing to block reinforcements and the other to be responsible for beheading Chen Boying.
The ideal is very beautiful, but the reality is too harsh.
On the southern snowfields, countless torches surged forth, forming a massive army of at least ten thousand cavalry. Leading them was Hamutai, the chieftain of the Xibe tribe. Wielding the broadsword bestowed upon him by Chen Ying, he sliced down a Jurchen cavalryman with a single blow, roaring, "Xibe warriors, charge with me!"
If we were to name the most loyal person among the various Haixi Jurchen tribes to Chen Ying, it would undoubtedly be the Xibe tribe, led by Hamutai. He learned that his daughter, Yierha, was highly favored by Chen Ying, but Chen Ying had no son yet. If his grandson became Chen Ying's eldest son, then Chen Ying would be his future support.
Immediately afterwards, Meng Gun's Gualecha tribe also arrived. They were skilled in horsemanship and archery, and they fired arrows as they charged, causing the Jurchen front ranks to fall from their horses one after another.
"Kill the Gualcha tribe!"
Bomubogor led the Solon tribe to attack from the other side. The ferocity of the Solon people was on full display at this moment. They disregarded their own lives and tore a gap in the Jurchen formation.
"Solonians, the time for revenge has come! Slaughter all these Jurchens!"
Three forces formed the vanguard, followed by various tribes of the Haixi Jurchen and the Wild Jurchen. Almost simultaneously, they crashed into Mangultai's army formation, instantly shattering their previously orderly ranks.
Mangultai was both shocked and furious: "These savage Jurchens, and more savage Jurchens, have they all gone mad?"
He desperately tried to rally his troops and organize a counterattack, but the wolf cavalry's offensive was too fierce. Their equipment was excellent, even the same as that of the Jurchens. Both sides were equipped the same way. If they fought head-on, the Jurchens would not be weaker than the wolf cavalry. The problem was that the wolf cavalry were not good at head-on cavalry battles, but they were best suited for chaotic battles. They had no rules and just charged forward, cutting down anyone they saw.
Even more frightening was that the Mongol cavalry who had originally followed him began to waver when they saw that the various tribes of the Wild Jurchen had all sided with the Ming army. Some even secretly slowed down and prepared to flee.
"Stay calm! Everyone stay calm!"
Mangultai's roar was drowned out by the deafening battle cries. Amin rushed forward and grabbed Mangultai's arm, saying, "Fifth Brother, retreat quickly! If we don't retreat now, we won't be able to escape! Chen Boying, you little brat, you've walked right into this trap!"
Amin was actually wrong. Chen Ying hadn't set a trap; it was just a coincidence. However, that was no longer important. With the Haixi Jurchen and the Wild Jurchen officially siding with Chen Ying, the balance of power between the two sides changed directly. Of course, the troops Chen Ying now had, including them, numbered only 50,000, which was still less than half of Nurhaci's hundreds of thousands of troops.
Nurhaci has now retreated to more than 50 li north of Shuangchengwei, which is now within the territory of the former Henkewei. Nurhaci has finally stabilized his defeated troops and begun to regroup.
"Chen Boying, I, the Khan, will skin you alive!"
If curses could kill someone, Chen Ying should be torn to pieces by now. Although countless Jurchens escaped, they did not bring their wealth and supplies with them. In the months they passed through, they destroyed many tribes and seized a large amount of wealth. Now all of this has benefited Chen Ying.
The sky was beginning to lighten with the first light of dawn.
The battle was finally over. Chen Ying looked at the blood-stained snowfield before him, at the soldiers covered in blood, and at the tribal chiefs who had finally chosen sides.
He knew that from now on, there would only be one master on this land.
That was him, Chen Boying.
The sun rose from the east, shining on the snow-covered ground, so bright that it was hard to open one's eyes.
P.S.: You wouldn't believe it, but I've written another chapter. Two chapters today, totaling 9,500 words. I haven't reached 10,000 yet, so I'm humbly asking for votes!