Daming Yinghua

Chapter 469: Decisive Battle (VI)

Outside Kaiyuan City.

Around dusk in the northeast during summer, the sunset glows as bright as blood, painting the sky into a beautiful picture.

But on earth, the scene is completely different.

A sad and miserable scene.

The grass that was originally as green as a carpet was dug up by groups of skeleton-shaped bastards, like wild dogs digging for food.

During the siege in daylight, the armored soldiers drove the bannermen who were transporting the ladders to the front row and suffered the heaviest casualties.

In the weather in May and June, the bodies had to be buried as soon as possible, otherwise the epidemic would spread rapidly.

Therefore, when today's battle is over, when the surviving Jin army slaves go to collect the dead bodies, even the Ming army on the city wall, who are eyeing them covetously, will not shoot a single arrow.

Huang Taiji stood in front of a makeshift coffin and looked at the corpse inside.

He was a famous warrior of the Plain Yellow Banner and a close guard deeply loved by Nurhaci: Huerhan.

When Huerhan was thirteen years old, he followed his father and other tribal members to surrender to the Jianzhou Jurchens and was adopted by Nurhaci.

He was extremely brave and when the Jianzhou people conquered the Ula, Yehe and other tribes, he always rushed to the front line in every battle and made countless contributions.

When fighting Fushun, Huerhan had just recovered from smallpox and stayed in Hetuala. Afterwards, when he heard that Huang Taiji had lost the battle with Ma Xianglin, Huerhan mocked Huang Taiji at a banquet while drunk, saying that if he were there, he could kill the Sichuan barbarian general on the battlefield with just one horse.

On the day of the conquest of Guangshun Pass, Huang Taiji brought up the old matter again. He patted Huerhan on the shoulder in front of Nurhaci and said, "Kaiyuan City is also guarded by a Ming general named Ma. Brother Huerhan, do you want to be the first to take the credit?"

From the Khan to several flag leaders, none of the Jin army had expected that the intelligence was wrong and that cannons were actually installed on the city of Kaiyuan. Several rebellious Ming army leaders were horrified and swore to the heavens that they had not deceived the Khan. Perhaps the imperial court had only recently transported them to Kaiyuan, after all, cannons had also appeared in Shenyang.

Nurhaci had no time to investigate in detail on the battlefield, and he hoped that the Kaiyuan defenders bribed by Huang Taiji could provide support from inside the city. However, the Jin army attacked fiercely for a whole day, and there was no sign of collapse at any of the four gates of Kaiyuan City.

On the second day of the siege, Huerhan led the charge, wearing silver armor, wielding a mace, and climbing the city walls like a god. Just as he was about to swing his mace at the Ming army defending the city, a lead bullet came from the nearby city wall and hit Huerhan in the chest.

The Manchu warriors fell like broken tiles under the city walls.

The entire arm was blown off and was pulled out from a pile of dead bodies by a prisoner after the ceasefire.

At this moment, Huang Taiji personally sprinkled lime on Huerhan's body for preservation, and then ordered the two trembling eunuchs standing beside him to nail the coffin and carry it onto the ox cart.

In fact, Huang Taiji was more anxious than the two bondservants.

His father Nurhaci was nearby, watching him perform these actions with an expressionless face.

Huang Taiji was afraid that when his father finally spoke, he would ask him, "Fourth Prince, where are the Kaiyuan guards you bribed?"

Yue Tuo, the leader of the Bordered Red Banner, came to the rescue at the right time: "Great Khan, the scouts report that Dudu's main force is less than a hundred miles away from us."

"Where is Ma Lin? Has he left Shenyang?" Yue Tuo called the sentinels standing behind him to come forward: "You servants, come and report in detail to the Khan."

Those red-armored knights who were as strong as the Ming army's Yebushou all fell to Nurhaci's feet. The leader said, "Reporting to the Khan, the Bordered White Banner Dudu Beile first turned south and went out of the border wall before heading north. Beile said that Malin's cavalry only had 3,000. When we left Shenyang, those Ming cavalry were still camped outside the city."

After listening to this, Nurhaci looked at Huang Taiji and Yuetuo and said, "No wonder Kaiyuan is not as easy to attack as we thought. It turns out that Ma Lin only took away half of the troops and hid cannons in the city. This old general of Xuanda seems to be more cunning than Li Chengliang's sons. So, Lao Ba, the Ming army spies you bribed were probably discovered by him."

The old chief's last words were not spoken in a harsh tone, and he did not seem to be blaming Huang Taiji.

Huang Taiji hurriedly said: "Father, you are wise. Dudu followed your military order and confused Ma Lin, so he dared not leave Shenyang for a while."

Nurhaci raised his eyelids and said, "But Kaiyuan is not as far away from Shenyang as the ends of the earth after all. I am afraid that tomorrow, the news that we have surrounded Kaiyuan will spread to Shenyang. Ma Lin will definitely not be able to wait for that nerdy Governor Yang to speak, and will have to come back to rescue. What do you think, should we leave or stay?"

"Ama, of course we have to keep fighting!"

Behind Nurhaci, the voice of a young boy whose voice had not yet completely changed was heard.

It was the Fourteenth Beile, Dorgon.

Seeing his most lovable son born to Abahai, Nurhaci's depression caused by the setback in the siege eased a little.

"Little Fourteen, tell Father why we don't leave. You have seen these past two days that Kaiyuan is very difficult to attack. The cannons on the city walls are more powerful than ours. Your brother Huerhan also died for the Great Jin."

"There are always casualties in war," Dorgon looked up at his elderly father. "Father, I heard from my brother that Tieling in the south is much closer to Kaiyuan than Shenyang. It is also the Li family's home base and has many warriors. But since we entered Guangshun Pass, there has been no Ming army to help us in Tieling. I guess that Li Rubai and Ma Lin don't have a good relationship, so they just watched Kaiyuan being besieged."

The twelve-year-old boy's analysis made a lot of sense, and Nurhaci was even more pleased. When he heard Dorgon mention Huang Taiji, he couldn't help but smile and said, "Well, it seems that the Fourth Prince has taught you a lot about how to judge military intelligence this time."

Unexpectedly, Dorgon said bluntly: "The Li family will not have reinforcements. Zaohua Ezhen and I have figured it out."

"Oh?" Nurhaci was surprised, and then he saw Mu Zaohua standing not far away, so he said coldly, "You slave, come over and talk too."

Mu Zaohua hurried forward and knelt down.

Nurhaci asked, "Are you familiar with the Li family's situation in recent years?"

"Replying to the Khan, I once stayed in Liaoyang with the evil woman surnamed Zheng, so I know that Li Rubai and other generals in Liaodong have some grievances. There is no movement in Tieling this time, so I discussed it with the Fourteenth Prince."

Nurhaci stared back at Dorgon: "Aren't you following the Fourth Beile's White Banner? Why did you go to Zaohua Ezhen's place?"

Huang Taiji quickly took over the conversation: "My father, my fourteenth brother is smart and particularly likes our great firearms. I am afraid that I will not be able to take care of my fourteenth brother during the siege, so I will let Aobai protect him these few days, together with Zaohua's firearms team."

Nurhaci nodded calmly and continued to ask Dorgon: "Have you finished telling me the reason why we won't leave? Just one?"

"No, Father, and it's better that Marin divides his troops. Even if he rushes back from Shenyang, what are three thousand elite soldiers? The warriors of our five flags are several times more than him. What's more, we still have small bronze cannons. If we can't blow down the walls of Kaiyuan, can we not kill Marin's cavalry? So, my son thinks that we should not retreat, but fight Marin here."

Yue Tuo, who was standing by, had always wanted to make up for his uncle Huang Taiji in front of the Khan. He listened attentively and grasped the essence of Dorgon's words. He boldly interrupted and said, "Khan, what the Fourteenth Beile said makes sense. This is the strategy of besieging a point and attacking its reinforcements that the Fourth Beile mentioned."