The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Liu Jin had almost reached the end of his rope.

Attack, but fail.

There is no way to retreat.

However, the food and grass were insufficient, and he could barely hold out for a day or two. If he did not retreat to Tucheng, he would be left alone outside the Great Wall and would be waiting for death. This would force him to make a choice: to fight the Tatars to the death without leaving any way out, or to withdraw his troops and wait for the court to punish him.

"Eunuch, the news I just heard came from the city. The troops of Wang Zhongcheng, the commander-in-chief of the Three Borders, are no longer able to come to Huamachi due to obstacles on the road. We originally thought that they would arrive in four or five days, but now it seems... a long time." Xu Shen said.

Not only Liu Jin, but also the soldiers on this road were all discouraged.

Liu Jin asked, "After all these days, those hundred corpses will soon rot, right?"

"Yes." Zheng Sui said, "The Tatars sent people to rob corpses again last night. We can no longer afford it. The ammunition we have left is only enough for one battle. We fired a few cannons yesterday as a symbolic gesture. The Tatars robbed a lot of corpses and took away a lot of our remaining property."

Xu Shen said angrily: "They are not stupid. They don't rob the bodies of our dead soldiers, but only care about robbing money and goods. This group of people are jackals."

Liu Jin seemed to have grasped something from this and asked, "In the past, would they have robbed our soldiers' heads or our property?"

Xu Shen, Zheng Sui and others looked at each other in bewilderment. Liu Jin's question was quite insightful.

Is it necessary to speak out such embarrassing things in public at a military meeting like this?
Xu Shen said: "In the past, they robbed everything. The heads of our soldiers were also military merits for them, and it would be convenient for them to determine the military merits if we took them back. As for our property, that was their purpose of attacking."

Liu Jin suddenly clenched his fists and said, "Didn't you hear it? The Tartars have reached the end of their rope. Now they don't even care about military merits, but only care about looting wealth. That means they are about to withdraw."

Zheng Sui said, "Your Excellency's opinion is excellent."

A group of generals couldn't help but frown.

I was thinking, why are you, Zheng Sui, still flattering Liu Jin? How much do you like flattery? But this eunuch Liu may even lose his life when he returns.

Liu Jin said, "Our food and grass are running out. Tonight is the last night. We need to finish the last battle and fire all the cannons we can. The Tartars are no longer interested in fighting. We don't ask for how many enemies we can kill tonight, but at least we need to get their heads back. This is your military merit. You can take these heads back to receive your reward when you return."

Xu Shen was a little nervous and asked, "Do you want to fight again?"

Liu Jin said angrily: "As a general, how can you disturb the morale of the army at this time? General Xu, do you want us to punish you?"

Xu Shen thought about it and said helplessly: "If tonight is the last battle, the soldiers can still support it. At worst..."

Before he could finish his words, he realized that people around him were looking at him with curiosity.

He stopped talking.

Everyone could understand what he didn't finish... After all, this is the last battle, and our goal is to snatch the bodies of the Tatars. We didn't have any success before, and we don't have any chance in this battle, so we have to grab as many as we can.

Anyway, after we go back, you, Liu Jin, will be sentenced to death, but we may still have a chance to find a way to survive.

After a group of people received the order and went out to prepare, Xu Shen also said to the generals around him: "It will be difficult to gain a foothold in the border in the future. We can't afford to lose this man. But being able to survive is enough."

……

……

That night.

A war to seize the bodies of the Tatars has begun again.

This was the eleventh day since Liu Jin led his troops into battle. Liu Jin was in a panic because he knew that if he failed in the battle tonight, he would be killed when he returned. Not to mention whether the emperor would let him go, even the censors would not let him go.

The reputation that he had painstakingly built up as the eunuch of the Yanwu Hall would also vanish after this night.

"Let's send out the troops." Liu Jin said, "We will lead the first group of troops and charge in the front."

Xu Shen, Zheng Sui and others hurried to stop them.

Xu Shen said, "Eunuch, you don't have to do this. Look at the night, it's dark, no matter where you are, there's no need to rush in."

This is telling Liu Jin that it is useless to show off now, and the Inspector General will not say a good word about you.

Liu Jin said with a bleak look on his face: "Do you think we are just pretending? This time, we are determined to sacrifice our lives for our country. If we don't succeed in this battle, we will die."

When Xu Shen heard this, his eyes widened.

You are so good, Eunuch Liu. After losing the battle, you knew you would be slaughtered when you returned, so you actually planned to take us brothers to risk our lives?
If you died for your country, perhaps you could reverse the situation and even gain a reputation for being loyal to your country. What did we brothers do to offend anyone?
You want to die, but we don't.

Liu Jin asked: "How many troops do the Tartars have ahead?"

Zheng Sui said quickly: "The main force of the Tartar army left here is at least 20,000. They are responsible for containing us. As long as we move, they will probably move as well. The Tartars in the earthen city behind also have several thousand soldiers and horses. If we turn back, we may be able to... catch them off guard."

Even Zheng Sui was a little scared.

This is telling Liu Jin that there is more to do than just rushing forward to fight. We can also turn back and go to the vicinity of Huamachi earthen city, where there are still thousands of Tartar soldiers, and they will be easier to kill.

Liu Jin shook his head and said, "It's only the Tatars in front of us who are not well prepared. They think we dare not come in, so they give us a chance. The Tatars behind us are cavalry who come and go without a trace. At the slightest sign of trouble, they flee faster than rabbits. We can't catch them."

Zheng Sui was also speechless after hearing this.

Anyone who heard Liu Jin's words would think in his heart that he sounded as if you could take advantage of these Tartars in front of you.

"Stop talking!" Liu Jin interrupted himself, with a sad and helpless look, "This battle may be our last. Tell the soldiers that we are worthy of the court and the soldiers. But we don't have the blessing to repay the appreciation of His Majesty and the Crown Prince! You should take my words back."

He wanted to earn a good reputation before he died.

You are a real dog.

Xu Shen, Zheng Sui and the others were exchanging glances at this moment, the general meaning of which was that if this guy really wanted to take us to risk our lives, we would hold him down no matter what. If he dared to take us to die, we would do something dirty and tie him up and take him back.

The person who is waiting to be held accountable and die must be him, Liu Jin. If the sky falls, it must be him, Liu Jin, who will hold it up.

……

……

More than 3,400 soldiers and horses set out at night and rushed towards the Tatar camp. There was no front or rear army, just a group of people, with a generous attitude of "the wind is whistling and the Yi River is cold, and the warriors will never return once they leave", and Liu Jin also fulfilled his words, being at the front of the team, with no intention of hiding behind.

Liu Jin was also afraid of death, but he knew that he would die anyway if he went back, so it would be better to die heroically.

The Tatars obviously did not expect that the Ming troops, which had been trapped there for more than ten days, would actually advance despite a serious shortage of troops and supplies, and with a posture of leaving no way out.

The actions of the Ming army had long been no secret. After all, there were only a few thousand of them and they had long been under the strict control of the Tatars. It was precisely because the Tatars saw that Liu Jin's army did not have much killing power, and they were also afraid of the artillery and muskets in Liu Jin's army, that they did not launch a final general attack on Liu Jin.

It is also related to the fact that there is no benefit in encircling and annihilating this group of people.

The price to pay for destroying this group of Ming troops is too high, while the Ming side can quickly replenish its troops, artillery and shells, etc., but what they paid on the grassland is real lives, and the lives on the grassland are not sustainable, so they have to cherish their lives.

Once Liu Jin started to fight for his life, the Tatars seemed to lack confidence.

"The valley is two miles ahead." Xu Shen pointed to the dark mountains in the distance and said, "After the valley, less than three miles away, the Tatar vanguard is stationed."

Liu Jin said: "What are you waiting for? Let us lead the troops to defeat the Tatars first!"

"Father-in-law, please be careful." Xu Shen quickly persuaded.

Liu Jin seemed to be unable to suppress his determination to die. He drew out his sword, grabbed the reins with one hand, and took the short gun in his other hand. He no longer intended to listen to anyone's advice.

"Charge!" Liu Jin gave the order.

The generals around looked at each other in bewilderment.

We agreed that we were here to steal the bodies, so why didn't you follow the rules and instead took us to attack the Tatars' vanguard camp?

Zheng Sui said: "Eunuch, the Tartars' front army has at least 6,000 to 7,000 soldiers and horses, and they are also equipped with artillery. They occupy the high ground. As long as we go over, their fire bombs will definitely fall on us first."

Liu Jin sneered, "It's just a death. Let's go!"

Now a group of people rode their horses to stop Liu Jin's horse, and Xu Shen also hurriedly persuaded him, "Eunuch, let's take a long-term view. How about this, we rush into the valley first. Although the Tartars have also ambushed artillery in the valley, the artillery fire is not so dense. We can fire a round of artillery first to scare the Tartars back. After the Tartars retreat, we will attack again. Do you think it's okay?"

Liu Jin said: "The Tartars have all retreated, so where can we get military merit?"

Xu Shen asked curiously, "Isn't our goal the corpses of the one hundred Tartars?"

Liu Jin was so angry that he kept humming.

Obviously, he, as the commander-in-chief, no longer has much say. Many people in the army are dissatisfied with him. It is no longer the case that when the troops were sent out, everyone was waiting to work with him to achieve great things.

This is what it means that practice makes perfect. Everyone can see that he is not capable, so of course no one is willing to follow him and risk their life.

Liu Jin ignored the chatter of the group of people. He found the right opportunity, rode out on his horse, and shouted in a hoarse voice: "My military order is to attack. This is the order of the generals. If you don't listen, even if I die, you will be buried with me when you return! Erlang, listen to me, go!"

Some of Liu Jin's trusted followers were also confused as to what was going on. When they saw Liu Jin leading his troops forward, they had no idea where he was going.

I thought he was going into the valley to steal the bodies, so of course I followed him head on.

This completely confused General Xu Shen, Lieutenant General Cao Wei, and Guerrilla General Zheng Sui.

Cao Wei saw that Liu Jin's troops had already rushed out, so he quickly asked, "General Xu, what should we do? Should we quickly arrest them?"

"What are you waiting for? Chase him." Zheng Sui shouted angrily.

The people around them didn't understand the situation for a moment, but then they seemed to understand something.

Even Zheng Sui, who usually flattered Liu Jin, knew that they had to chase after him quickly, so if they still stood here, it would be like waiting to die.

Xu Shen also shouted, "Catch up with him! Follow him! Eunuch Liu's life is our life, we can't let him get into trouble."

……

……

The Tatars initially thought that the Ming Dynasty was just bluffing and would just snatch a few corpses and leave.

They have even made preparations. This time they will just negotiate with the Ming Dynasty appropriately and let the Ming Dynasty take away most of their corpses or heads. In this way, when the Ming army withdraws, it will be very convenient for their troops that have invaded Ningxia to withdraw.

After all, Liu Jin's people are like toads. They don't bite people, but they are annoying.

Keeping this group of people around will always be a hidden danger.

At this moment, troops from Ningxia, Guyuan, Shaanxi, Yansui, Gansu and other places in the Ming Dynasty are approaching Huamachi. It's time for them to finish the looting and call it a day. It's also time to remove this thorn in Liu Jin as soon as possible.

Of course, no one wants to use a head-on combat approach to remove nails.

The Tatars were also divided into camps and tribes, and no one wanted to fight Liu Jin to death. Even if they swallowed up Liu Jin's isolated army, Dayan Khan Batu Mongke would not give them more benefits, because they also knew that the tribes under Dayan Khan were running out of food.

This reward based on merit is all nonsense.

Each group of troops had selected their elite troops to garrison here, and then each group of troops would go to the Ming territory to rob. This was also to ensure that each family could grab more food and supplies, while also involving the main force of the Ming stationed in Huamachi...

At the beginning, everyone worked together because no one had grabbed the items yet and they needed to buy time.

Now it is time to finish the work and distribute the spoils, but no one wants to be restrained by others, and the morale of the Tatars is beginning to rise.

When we come, we can work together, but when we leave, we will of course take care of ourselves.

But it was at this moment that they realized that Liu Jin's soldiers, who had been holding out for more than ten days and were almost out of food and had no food to eat, were not targeting the more than one hundred corpses in the valley, but them.

Are the people of the Ming Dynasty crazy?

This was the real reaction of the Tatar soldiers after hearing the news.

Why didn't you fight us earlier? Now that it's almost over, you actually want to fight us to death?
We have left prey for you. You just need to snatch the heads of our one hundred soldiers and get the credit. We also admit that your artillery is powerful and we can't beat you... Why are you playing against the rules?
Just as the Tatars were reorganizing their troops and preparing for a night battle with Liu Jin's troops.

An even more terrifying news came from the scout.

An unknown number of Ming cavalrymen crossed the vast grassland and attacked them from behind... (End of this chapter)