Daming Yinghua

Chapter 474: Peach Blossoms in the World Are Like Previous Years (The Main Text of the Book is Completed)

Huang Taiji's eyelids kept blinking.

Without his father Nurhaci staring at him, he didn't have to suppress this instinctive reaction.

A moment ago, he wished so much that Oboi's mace could hit Ma Xianglin hard and take his life.

However, a strong general has no weak soldiers. The servants of the Sichuan barbarians were like evil spirits, and they beat many brave warriors of the Jin army, including Oboi, so hard that they could only defend themselves and were about to lose the upper hand.

"Master Beile, please step back a little, and let us shoot that Sichuan barbarian to death!"

Huang Taiji's personal guards and family generals were all top-notch heavy archers among the Jurchens. They dismounted their horses and quickly formed a semi-moon formation.

Among them were two personal guards, holding sixteen-force bows, which had a force equivalent to that of a drawn bow, and could lift and swing a person weighing 160 to 170 kilograms.

Ma Xianglin, like a flash of lightning, came within the hundred-step range of this ultra-long-range heavy bow. The arrows of the two Tartars flew over without any hesitation.

Ma Xianglin was a skilled spearman with excellent eyesight. Not only had he fought against the archers of the Zhenglan Banner in Luanhe River, but in the past few years in Daning, he had He Zhuo recruit some former members of the Yehe Jurchens to practice the shooting power, shooting range, and armor-piercing capabilities of the sixth-class infantry bows in the Ming army. Therefore, he was familiar with all the details of the Jin army's archers, from formation to shooting.

He quickly turned his horse's head and accelerated suddenly. Sure enough, the two arrows that were shot in a wedge shape and tried to form a death angle still fell behind Ma Xianglin.

Then, when the bowstrings of the other soldiers were about to be pulled to the full, they heard a few "bangs", and the archers' camp was filled with flying sand and dust. Accompanied by screams, people and bows fell to the ground.

Huang Taiji, who had already retreated a hundred steps on his horse, was shocked. He looked around and saw the Korean musketeers presented by Daishan. Those foreign musketeers who had been trailing behind the Jin army like a tail after the battle between the two armies, were now shooting at their own Jin army without any warning.

The words "Ming army spy" just appeared in Huang Taiji's mind when Ma Xianglin, wearing a white robe and holding a silver spear, had already approached the defense line of the royal guards. Relying on the sophisticated reflexes formed after more than ten years of fighting, Huang Taiji turned the horse's head, squeezed the horse's belly, and galloped towards the direction of Yuetuo's red flag on the right wing.

The grassland between the Plain White Banner and the Red Banner had a clear downhill slope, so Huang Taiji could use more economical time to get the horse to high speed. When Ma Xianglin rushed over, the slope was slightly upward, and he adjusted his route to chase Huang Taiji and his personal guards, and immediately slowed down.

Several Ming Dynasty musketeers who were hiding near the bronze cannon suddenly appeared, lit the primer, and opened fire in the direction of Huang Taiji.

However, the Rat King was surrounded by his loyal subordinates, and the diving horses were galloping, which seriously affected the effectiveness of the long-range attack of the firearms.

After a burst of gunfire, only one of Huang Taiji's guards fell off his horse. Two other horses were hit by lead bullets and tumbled forward several times, with their skulls shattered and necks broken. The knights who fell off their backs also died in an instant.

Huang Taiji and the remaining guards continued to run as fast as they could.

Suddenly, a fast horse appeared on the flank of the Guards.

"The Fourth Prince and the Fourteenth Prince are on my horse. I will go with you two masters to place the red flag together!"

While shouting, Mu Zaohua raised her horse bow, turned around and shot arrows in the direction of Ma Xianglin and the Sichuan Army servants who were chasing them.

Her actions did not immediately arouse the vigilance of the guards on the side.

When the chestnut horse came closer and the knight with a drawn bow suddenly aimed his arrow at the guards, the latter only reacted, but it was too late.

With a "whoosh" sound, at such a close distance, Mu Zaohua shot the horse's butt without any suspense. The horse screamed and neighed, raised its front hooves, threw off its master, and staggered and slowed down.

"Master! Zaohua Ezhen... No, this slave Nikan is also a spy of the Ming army!"

"Master, the Fourteenth Prince is coming soon. Do you want us to shoot arrows?"

Huang Taiji was angry and hesitant. Due to this delay, Mu Zaohua released the second arrow, which brushed past Huang Taiji's shoulder guard.

Huang Taiji did not hesitate any longer: "Shoot this Nikan dog slave to death!"

But it was too late. A cavalry of dozens of people appeared on the other side, shouting in Jurchen and shooting arrows at Huang Taiji's guards.

"Hezhuo! Yehe people!"

Mu Zaohua on the right wing and Ma Xianglin in the back simultaneously confirmed the identity of the friendly forces supporting Ying.

Under attack from three sides, the horses of Huang Taiji and his personal guards finally slowed down.

The loyal servants of the Fourth Prince realized that they could not escape and had to face the enemy and fight to the death.

All the tribesmen led by Hezhuo had their loved ones killed in the bloody massacre of the Yehe tribe by the Jianzhou tribe.

As Jurchens, their hatred for Nurhaci and Huang Taiji was actually far greater than that of the Sichuan Army, which was a member of the Ming Dynasty's camp.

When the Yehe tribe and the Sichuan army servants rushed towards the army of the leader of the Plain White Banner, Ma Xianglin rushed towards Huang Taiji with his spear.

The confrontation between the two men today is more arduous than when they faced off as cavalry commanders outside Fushun City.

Huang Taiji knew the power of the Han people's spears, whose attack range far exceeded the steel knife in his hand, not to mention the hook-and-sickle spear.

The cunning fox, who was trapped, fought to the death. After spurring his horse to fight and shortening the distance between him and Ma Xianglin, he suddenly took out a flying axe from his waist and threw it at Ma Xianglin.

Ma Xianglin dodged the oncoming black shadow and stabbed the tip of his sickle spear straight towards Huang Taiji's waist and abdomen, intending to hook the enemy off his horse, but his body suddenly shook, and then his beloved horse, which was wailing, shook him violently several times.

It turned out that one of Huang Taiji's personal guards fought hard to break out of the encirclement of the Yehe people. Before he fell to the ground seriously injured, he swung his sword and injured Ma Xianglin's mount.

But at the same time, Huang Taiji also fell from power.

Mu Zaohua shouted at some Ming army musketeers who had seized the Jin army's war horses and rushed over. After taking over Dorgon who had been knocked unconscious by her, she picked up the sword of the Jin army soldier who had been shot dead and rushed over to chop at Huang Taiji's mount.

"Zaohua, if you dodge my spear, I will take his life!" The fierce Sichuan Army general jumped off his horse and shouted loudly.

Mu Zaohua knew very well that she was no match for the experienced Huang Taiji in close combat, and that lingering there would only delay Ma Xianglin, so she quickly picked up her sword and ran towards her own camp.

Huang Taiji no longer had any way to retreat. At this moment, he could only try his best to withstand the moves of the Sichuan barbarian in front of him and gamble that even if the Red Banner was in a difficult situation, Yue Tuo would be able to see that his Plain White Banner commander's flag was here and quickly bring people to rescue.

But this was just his unrealistic fantasy.

After both of them stood on solid ground, the spear had a crushing effect on the goose-feather knife.

For the simplest three moves of blocking, grabbing and stabbing, Huang Taiji could only rely on his experience in judging the attack points of cold weapons in close combat, and use his knife to barely block the hook and sickle spear tip.

But when Ma Xianglin actually used a more complex move that gathered all his body's strength and released it in one blow, and stabbed Huang Taiji nimbly and ruthlessly in a short period of time with the weight of thousands of pounds, the speed of lightning, and the subtlety of the tip of the needle, the latter's swordsmanship was simply unable to withstand such a devastating force.

There were still a few surviving guards who rushed over to protect their leader.

One of them had even approached Ma Xianglin from behind, but Ma Xianglin seemed to have eyes on the back of his head. He stabbed back fiercely with the spear controlled by his hollow fist. The spear had no sharp blade, but with the power exerted by its owner alone, it knocked the attacker ten steps away.

Immediately, taking advantage of Huang Taiji's brief moment of distraction, Ma Xianglin skillfully used the tip of his spear to hook Huang Taiji's Yanling knife away.

Huang Taiji was shocked and staggered back, eventually tripping over the body of a guard.

After a moment of dizziness, when he refocused his eyes, the silver hook was already pressing against his throat. "Negotiation, negotiation! I am willing to persuade the Khan to negotiate peace with the Ming Dynasty!" At a critical moment, Huang Taiji would no longer hold on, and simply and loudly shouted the words of surrender in Chinese that he thought would work.

Ma Xianglin looked down at his defeated opponent.

The words Zheng Haizhu said to him when they parted rang in his ears: "Since ancient times, it is unlucky to kill the surrendered. However, if the fox kneels down and begs for mercy, it is not really surrendering."

There is another saying: "If we want to keep alive the flag owners, it must not be Nurhaci and Huang Taiji."

Ma Xianglin then spat out two words to Huang Taiji: "It's too late."

With a "puff" sound, the gun tip entered the throat and blood splattered.

……

Two hundred miles away, Sarhu.

"Master, our vanguard guerrillas have already attacked Jiefan Mountain, killed 500 Zhenyi and captured more than 300 Zhenyi alive. Among them is Amin's son, who has been identified by the Tartar captives and is currently imprisoned in our military camp."

At the entrance of Sarhu Valley, Tangma came galloping with news of victory.

Du Song was overjoyed, and turned to Zheng Haizhu and said, "Mr. Zheng, when we get back to the State Affairs Temple, you must give me credit for this trip."

Zheng Haizhu left Liaoyang seven or eight days ago and met Du Song on the banks of the Taizi River. At that time, Nurhaci had just captured Jing'an Fort and began to besiege Kaiyuan City.

As a frontier governor, Yang Lian had to stay in Liaoyang and listen to military reports from various routes. He knew that his relationship with Du Song was average, so he readily agreed to let Zheng Haizhu go to Sarhu.

Du Song was even more willing. He and this woman had been doing business in private ports for three years, and their interests were tied together, so everything would be easy to talk about before the battle.

But at this moment, Zheng Haizhu said solemnly: "This time, our Ming Dynasty has many troops, fighting in several places, and annihilating the Tartar flags one by one. There is no such thing as first place merit or not. If General Qi won a great victory in Cheying on Hunhe River, and Governor Yang gave him the first merit on the grounds that Qi Jin's troops defeated Nurhaci, I would also object."

Du Song was about to be displeased after hearing the first few sentences, but after listening to Zheng Haizhu's words in full and thinking about them carefully, he felt relieved.

"Zheng Siqing, is this also what His Majesty meant?"

"That is His Majesty's intention, and it is also the justice that warriors all over the world want."

"Haha," Du Song smiled, and then cast his gaze back to the dense forest valley of Sarhu, and said in a deep and slow voice, "I have fought for decades, and among the trustworthy people, you are the first one who whispered in my ear not to think about taking the first place."

Another guerrilla general under Du Song came forward and volunteered, "Master, we have already eliminated the Tartars on Jiefan Mountain, and we have also occupied several other scattered high grounds. I am willing to lead my troops to the valley on the south bank of the Hun River, capture these Tartars, and then our army can attack Hetuala directly."

The Henan Valley mentioned here is actually Sarhu, which is more like the hilly terrain of Jiangnan.

"Go and ask General Zou, the Lieutenant General of Fushun, to come over." Zheng Haizhu gave orders to the soldiers of Liaoyang Battalion outside the tent without waiting for Du Song to respond to the guerrilla.

Yang Lian had been sent abroad for several years, and his mind and strength had become more mature. He was afraid that it would be difficult for Zheng Haizhu to dispatch the main army and the guest army, so he also selected some soldiers from the governor's camp to bring to Sarhu for her. These soldiers were all locals in Liaodong, but they did not belong to the new or old warlords of various factions, so they would not cause any discomfort to the guest army.

After Fushun Lieutenant General Zou Chuxian entered the tent, he bowed politely to Du Song and said a few pleasant words of congratulations before saying to Zheng Haizhu: "Mr. Zheng Si, I would like to fight with Grand Tutor Du's elite troops to attack the Tartar defenders in the Sarhu Valley."

Du Song smiled and said, "Look, everyone's morale is at its highest. Does Zheng Siqing still want to wait? The Tartars' bondservants are working desperately to build fortifications."

"Wait," Zheng Haizhu said firmly, "wait for news from Kaiyuan and the north of Hunhe, and Huining."

Du Song and Zou Chuxian's faces were about to fall, but they heard the woman's words: "But don't wait any longer, just wait one night. If there is no news by the time of tomorrow, we will send troops to the valley."

That night, Zheng Haizhu did not rest and sat in front of the tent the whole time.

Ten years after traveling through the Ming Dynasty, she finally arrived at this place: Sarhu.

The biggest advantage for her as a time traveler is the perfect timing window.

Nurhaci's Khanate had just been established, and the national strength of the Jurchens was still in its early stages.

After the Age of Discovery began, the European powers were just beginning to try to get involved in the Ming Dynasty.

In the court, Donglin had not yet taken control of the government, and Wei Zhongxian was still far from becoming the Nine Thousand Year Old Emperor. Many wise ministers and generals, and even the middle-aged emperor Zhu Changluo, could still be rescued.

If she had opened her eyes in this life, even if it was only five years later, even if she had a not stupid mind and a sufficient reserve of knowledge, as well as the progressive thinking and tenacious will of a modern person, even if she relied on hard work and coincidence, and made friends with all kinds of capable people like a chicken with blood, and tried to figure out the minds of everyone from the emperor to the ministers, she, Zheng Haizhu, might not have been able to earn the money from sea merchants, change the outcome of the Battle of Fushun, force the Dutch to submit to the majesty of the Celestial Empire, have her own armed forces at the gateway to the East China Sea, go on a diplomatic mission to Chahar to conduct good diplomacy, and finally become an official of the top power organ of the central government.

However, the above is not enough to give her a sense of accomplishment.

Sarhu, the Sarhu after tonight, will witness the real stage victory that she is going to achieve in her thirty years old.

The Fujian bodyguards and the soldiers from the Liaoyang Governor's Battalion were taking turns walking around.

They couldn't help but wonder what the hostess and female boss were thinking under the light of the small bonfire.

  It shouldn't be cowardice, right?

Du Song's troops are so powerful. The Sichuan and Zhejiang armies that are probably fighting fiercely in the north are also very powerful.

It was impossible for these young people to believe that in another time and space, Du Song, Liu Ying, Ma Lin, Qi Jin, and generals of the Shizhu Qin family had indeed died in Liaodong at the hands of the Tartars.

As the sky began to break at dawn, the sound of the Ming army's horses' hooves broke the silence of dawn.

"Urgent report from Kaiyuan: Ma Xianglin's troops in Daning Town killed the leader of the Plain White Banner, Huang Taiji, and obtained more than 4,000 heads of the Zhenyi. They also captured the leader of the Bordered Red Banner, Yuetuo, and Nurhaci's fourteenth son, Dorgon. The siege of Kaiyuan has been lifted, and Jing'an Fort and other places have been recovered."

"An urgent report from Tieling: Ma Lin and Ma Chengxun's troops killed Du Du of the Bordered White Banner and obtained more than 2,000 heads of the Zhenyi."

"An urgent report from Sanchaerbao: Qi Jin's troops in Zhenjiang killed Nurhaci's twelfth son Ajige and obtained more than 3,000 heads of Zhenyi. In addition, the Ming army used firearms to attack Nurhaci in the central army's Khan's tent, causing the chieftain's tent to flee northward into the old city of Yehe. Nurhaci's life or death is unknown."

"Huining reported urgently that the troops of Yan Siqi, the envoy of Taiwan, and Xu Yilong, the guerrilla of Chongming, killed Daishan, the leader of the Zhenghong Banner, and obtained 2,000 heads of the Zhenyi in the area from Huining to Maolianwei."

After listening to several reports, Zou Chuxian was happy to get the boxing case.

He was a general of Liao. His right-hand men and even his own relatives had all died at the hands of the Tartars. How could he not be excited by such earth-shaking good news?

Although Du Song was not as happy as Zou Chuxian, he was actually somewhat relieved in his heart.

He should have listened to Zheng Haizhu and trusted the other friendly forces. At the very least, he should have waited one more night. Otherwise, if he had launched an attack on the Sarhu Valley yesterday evening, no matter how advantageous the Ming army was, many of his own men would have suffered casualties.

The result of taking the Jiannu's lair directly may be achieved today without fighting.

Zheng Haizhu stopped a horse coming from Kaiyuan outside the tent and asked: "Among the Zhengbai Banner and Zhenghong Banner, is there a Ming woman named Mu Zaohua and more than a hundred Ming musketeers disguised as Koreans alive?"

Natang Ma hurriedly reported: "General Ma ordered me to tell the temple minister that Mu Zaohua is safe. It was she who captured Dorgon. About ten Ming army musketeers were killed in the battle."

Zheng Haizhu nodded, and after calming down a little, he walked into Du Song's tent and said, "General Du, ask Jie Fanshan to send Amin's son down. I want him to go back to Sarhu now and send a letter to Amin asking him to surrender."

(The main text of this book ends. There is a chapter later that will tell the story of the youth of another important figure in the late Ming Dynasty.)