Daming Yinghua

Chapter 472: Decisive Battle (IX)

"It's the Sichuan Army, Ma Xianglin's Sichuan Army." Huang Taiji blurted out.

There was no obvious panic in his tone, but his rapid blinking of eyelids did not escape Nurhaci's eyes.

No one knows a son better than his father. During his intensive military career, Nurhaci clearly remembered the characteristics of several of his legitimate sons.

When the fourteen-year-old Huang Taiji followed his father to the north to attack the Jurchen tribes, he had a cold expression and kept blinking before he went into battle for the first time.

Since conquering the Ula tribe, Huang Taiji, who was over twenty years old and considered a veteran among the beile, has become more and more like his father in his every move, calm, decisive and fearless.

Only today, it seems like I have returned to the state of a novice on the battlefield.

But after only a brief moment, Huang Taiji returned to normal.

"Father, I guess that the Ming troops on the left wing, mainly composed of chariots, are the descendants of the Qi family army. If they are really the two foreign armies of Sichuan and Zhejiang, we don't have to be afraid of them. We have fought against them before and are familiar with their formations."

Yue Tuo at the side also echoed: "Yes, the Ming army has a chariot camp, and our Baoyi have made a lot of shield carts in the past few days. The Ming army has firearms, and our small cannons and musketeers are not just for show."

After all, Nurhaci was a war-hardened hero. When he learned of the enemy's unexpected situation, he was surprised but not panicked.

Hearing that his son and grandson, whom he relied on as his right-hand men, were still in high spirits, the old chief felt more at ease.

"The Bordered Yellow Banner and Bordered White Banner will fight against Ma Lin's troops in the middle of the Ming army. I will lead the Plain Yellow Banner to meet the Zhejiang troops. Fourth Prince, can your Plain White Banner and Yue Tuo's Bordered Red Banner defeat Ma Xianglin?"

"Reporting to the Khan, this time we must kill the Sichuan barbarians under the banner of the Jin army!" Huang Taiji said in a loud and clear voice.

Nurhaci patted his favorite son on the shoulder and said, "Uzhen Chaoha and the Koreans are also left to you."

……

The next day, before dawn, in the wilderness three or four miles southwest of Kaiyuan City, the White and Red Flags, with their backs to their own camp, were arranging their battle lines.

About two miles ahead, the elite cavalrymen of the two flags, who served as the vanguard, were galloping in the light morning mist, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, like wild wolves hunting.

Their role was to serve the rear army formation and block the dawn reconnaissance of the Sichuan Army's outpost scouts.

Huang Taiji stood on a slightly higher slope, looked around, and listened attentively.

The occasional sound of muskets pierced the silence of the sky and drowned out the sound of the wheels of nearby artillery carts and shield carts, as well as the clanking of armor and weapons as the warriors moved.

That was Ge Bushixian Chaoha of the Jin army, who was engaged in a battle with the cavalry of the Sichuan army.

This kind of sporadic confrontation is the norm before a war.

At this moment, Yuetuo was commanding his own Jiala Ezhens to deploy with cavalry and infantry on the other side.

He also had to seize the advantageous high ground before Ma Xianglin's team.

Since Yuetuo was not around, there was no need for Huang Taiji to be polite to Mu Zaohua.

"Slave Zaohua, bring the leader of the musketeers here." Huang Taiji ordered.

Mu Zaohua and He Jinzhu, the special agent and captain of the musketeer team who goes by the alias Li Zhu, came to the slope respectfully.

"Where are you guys planning to stay?"

Mu Zaohua looked around and her eyes rested on the rows of trenches that the bondservants of the Plain White Banner had dug overnight.

It rained in June, so the soil on the grassland was relatively moist. The earth wall built by the Baoyi people behind the trench was not low, which would increase the difficulty for the war horses to jump over it.

Mu Zaohua thought for a moment and said seriously, "Replying to the Fourth Prince, I want to deploy the artillery half a mile behind the trench."

"Why?"

"Because the Sichuan Army mainly charges with cavalry, even if we can't stop them with chevaux de frise or trenches, we can slow them down. This way, it will take them longer to get through the range of our artillery and muskets, and we can kill or injure more Sichuan Army soldiers."

"Well, that makes sense. Then, what about Prince Yuetuo? How many musketeers have gone there?" Huang Taiji asked grimly.

Mu Zaohua looked in the direction of the red flag, then turned her head to discuss with He Jinzhu in Korean.

A guard beside Huang Taiji stared at the two of them with a sinister look.

After a while, Mu Zaohua reported, "Fourth Prince, the Koreans mean that all the musketeers should stay here with you. Because the wind is stronger in the Red Banner area, the Koreans think it is difficult to light the medicine. If they light it and extinguish it, then extinguish it and light it again, the Ming army would have rushed over half a mile."

Huang Taiji glanced at the guard calmly, and the guard who understood Korean nodded. In the past few days, the leader of the White Banner had witnessed Mu Zaohua and Wu Zhenchaoha destroying the walls of Guangshun Pass and Jing'an Fort, and commanding the Korean musketeers to suppress the Ming army's arrows shooting at several beacons outside Kaiyuan City. Huang Taiji no longer doubted this Nikan woman.

Because of this woman, Manggurtai and the core members of the Tong family either ruined their health or lost their lives. But if you look closely, this woman didn't do anything wrong. They were just addicted to drugs or they wanted to take advantage of the Jin Dynasty to enrich themselves.

After dispelling his doubts, Huang Taiji and Yuetuo became closer. When it came time to face a brave general like Ma Xianglin and the Sichuan Army's fierce division, he did not want to give up his trump card.

Fortunately, Mu Zaohua, this Nikan slave, was not as cheap and stupid as ordinary women. She did not forget who was the Heshuo Beile appointed by the Khan just because Yuetuo made public his intention to take her as a concubine. She obediently placed the firearms camp in the position of the Plain White Banner.

Huang Taiji then gave the order: "Okay, you Wuzhen Chaoha, go to the front. Aobai, you don't have to worry about the firearms camp today, follow this Beile and charge into the battle."

……

At the time of Si, the sunlight became stronger, illuminating the red or white Niulu flags on the ground, as well as the dark masses of Jin army soldiers, horses, and Baoyi, with extreme clarity.

"Damn it, brothers, it's great, this is the first time I've seen so many Tartars, they are as densely packed as mushrooms after rain."

After cheering, Man Gui let go of the reins and galloped to the old soldiers of Xuanda and the new recruits of Dai County under his command. He and his deputy generals reviewed the formation and military appearance again, and at the same time boosted morale.

"My men, don't be scared by what I say. It's good to have more Tartars. What does it mean? It means there are more heads. It's enough for us to kill them happily and earn the reward money, right?"

"Yes!"

"Are you afraid of the Tartars?"

"Not afraid!"

"What is Baijia Bayala?"

"What a bird!"

"Will the Tartar's copper pipes misfire?"

"meeting!"

"What are you doing following the Sichuan Army brothers?"

"rush!"

"What will the military commander do if he retreats in the face of battle?"

"cut!"

"That's right," Man Gui raised his whip towards the blue sky, "Boys, you all have the surname Zhu, and our great grandfather blesses you from above. I'll lead the way for you. Remember, the Tartars on the other side are not as smart as the Japanese pirates, nor as strong as the northern barbarians. You didn't practice Qi Shaobao's mandarin duck formation in vain. General Ma's white-pole soldiers, one man and one horse can kill three or five armored soldiers. If the ten of you charge up together, the white-pole soldiers will have to call you masters!"

"Hahahaha..." Waves of laughter rolled through the crowd.

They were all young men in their prime, and if many of them were nervous when they set up camp last night, then at this moment, under the broad daylight, their morale was boosted by their confident and powerful leader. Looking ahead at the large Sichuan army surging like a river, these royal family members of Dai county no longer had time to think about the unknown fear of death, and were only left with the excitement before the charge.

At the end of the battle formation, He Zhuo, who was leading more than twenty cavalrymen from the Yehe tribe, curved his eyes and the corners of his mouth under his helmet.

This young woman of a foreign ethnic group walked out of her boudoir and entered the political and military arena filled with men for seven or eight years. She met too many Jurchen and Mongolian princes and nobles, and also encountered Ming generals like Ma Xianglin, whom she regarded as gods when she first met him.

But today, He Zhuo no longer doubts that the person he does not fear or worship, but only wants to walk side by side with, is this rough and tumble soldier who was still laughing and chatting before fighting for his life.

……

About half a mile ahead of Man Gui's troops, in the Sichuan Army formation, Ma Xianglin was holding a telescope, silent and silent.

Two days ago, in the south of Tieling, when the Ming army scouts from Kaiyuan were discussing the strategy of dividing and attacking together, they had clearly told several commanders that the Jin army had a firearms battalion. According to the confessions of the captured bondservants, one of the commanders was Mu Zaohua, a Nikan woman who had defected to the Great Jin.

At this moment, through the telescope, the gun barrels in front of the Zhengbai Banner formation can be vaguely seen.

Ma Xianglin recalled the words that Zheng Haizhu said in a cold tone when they were at the camp by the Luan River: "Xianglin, I have never doubted that your soldiers are incompetent, and you should not doubt the incompetence of my subordinates."

"Woo, woo..."

The shrill conch shells of the Jin army sounded, that was the clarion call for war.

Almost at the same time, the generals beside Ma Xianglin completed the response of each cavalry phalanx.

Ma Xianglin's white spear, which was originally parallel to the saddle, suddenly stood up, and the shining sickle-shaped spear head was dazzling under the scorching sun.

The owner of the silver spear roared and rushed out first.