weaving

Chapter 1528 Never Fight a Battle Unprepared
In Gonghua City, within the Yongning Earl's headquarters, a constellation of generals gathered.

But one man was different; his left leg and left arm were wrapped in white cloth, and there was blood seeping through his left arm, clearly indicating that he had been wounded in battle.

Yongning Bo sat high on the tiger-skin general's chair, looking coldly at Niu Sheng, the head manager of Yuanchanglong, who was stationed in the capital. Although he did not say a word, he exuded authority.

"Niu Sheng, do you know your crime?"

Upon hearing this, Niu Sheng trembled slightly and immediately tried to get up.

Zhang Cheng knew he wanted to kneel down, so he said, "Considering you are injured, please sit down and answer the questions."

Niu Sheng still struggled to stand up, but Wang Zhaozheng, the manager of Tongchunlou who was sitting next to him, quickly reached out to stop him and said, "You dare to disobey the commander-in-chief's orders?"

Niu Sheng was taken aback, then stopped struggling to get up and sat down in the chair, saying, "Reporting to the commander, Niu Sheng knows his crime and is willing to accept the commander's punishment."

"We'll discuss your punishment later," Zhang Cheng said, looking at Niu Sheng. "Tell me how you were injured."

"Yes, Commander. Just the day before yesterday..."

…………

It turned out that after learning of the Jurchen invasion, Niu Sheng had already foreseen that the Earl of Yongning would also lead his army to the capital to defend the emperor. Therefore, he began to gather his caravans and bodyguards, focusing on guarding the inns and horse farms outside the West Gate.

At the same time, he sent someone to deliver the message to the Earl of Yongning in Xuanfu Town, and personally led twenty horsemen to Baoding, Hejian, Zhengding and the three prefectures of Shunde, Guangping and Daming in southern Hebei to inquire about the grain and fodder that had been stored in shops in various prefectures and counties.

But on the way back, in Huangcun, not far south of the capital, they encountered a group of Jurchen cavalry who were raiding...

Niu Sheng didn't want to provoke the Jurchen spies. He led twenty horsemen to hide by a tributary of the Lugou River outside Huang Village, planning to return to the Jingxi Horse Ranch when the Tartars retreated or when it got dark.

However, the Tartars were far too cruel. They were worse than animals. They not only harmed the elderly, but also children. The younger women suffered even more, being wantonly violated. The young men who resisted were slaughtered.

The bodyguards and bodyguards who followed Niu Sheng were either soldiers from the Yongyi Army or local martial arts experts. How could they tolerate the Tartars' behavior?

However, the bodyguards who came from the brave and resolute army still had a sense of discipline. They glared at Niu Sheng and would never act without orders. But the martial arts practitioners recruited from all over the country were completely different.

They were already skilled in martial arts and were confident in their abilities, so how could they just sit idly by and watch the Tartars harm their own compatriots?
Moreover, there were only twelve Tartar soldiers in Huang Village, while their own forces outnumbered the Tartars by almost two. Under such circumstances, how could these young and strong martial arts experts resist taking action?

In truth, Niu Sheng was also seething with anger. Coupled with the fact that he hadn't been on the battlefield for years, he had been feeling pent-up frustration. Now that he felt the morale of the troops was good, he went along with everyone's wishes...

He divided his forces into three groups. One group detoured to the north of Huangcun and attacked directly from the north entrance of the village, catching the Tartars off guard. Meanwhile, he led the second group to rush into Huangcun from the east amidst the chaos, coordinating with the first group to attack the Tartar soldiers from both sides.

As for the third group, which also consisted of seven people, they would rush into Huangcun from the south last, forming a three-sided encirclement of the Tartar soldiers in the village and forcing them to escape from the west.

In terms of sheer numbers, Niu Sheng's side did indeed have the advantage. However, in terms of actual combat strength, the Tartar soldiers were slightly superior. After all, they were veterans who had fought countless battles and crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and naturally, they were not comparable to ordinary martial arts practitioners who knew a little bit of fighting!

As expected, Niu Sheng and his men initially gained a slight advantage due to the surprise of their attack. They were also equipped with some long and short guns, and killed several Tartar soldiers as soon as the battle began.

But the Tartar soldiers quickly calmed down. They seized advantageous terrain and used their superior bows and arrows to inflict some casualties on Niu Sheng and his men.

Just then, a third force joined the battle from the south. Surrounded on three sides, the Tartars' arrogance was suppressed. Not knowing how many Ming troops were outside the village, they ultimately chose to retreat from the west end of the village.

But it was here that Niu Sheng made a big mistake—don't pursue a cornered enemy!
He left three men to care for the seven wounded, while he led eight bodyguards on horseback to pursue them. However, they were killed by five Tartar soldiers. In exchange for the deaths of three bodyguards and the injuries of four others, he managed to capture the heads of three Tartar soldiers.

In this battle, the surprise attack still gave them the upper hand, and with the added advantage of long and short muskets, they still suffered five dead and eleven wounded. The next day, four more wounded soldiers succumbed to their injuries, bringing the total number of dead skilled bodyguards to nine.

Although eight Tartar soldiers were killed and two Tartar prisoners were captured alive, the casualty ratio was more than one to one, which was indeed a loss that did not outweigh the gains!

…………

“Niu Sheng, as a soldier, you should know the principle of ‘never fighting a battle you are not prepared for.’”

After listening to Niu Sheng's account, the Earl of Yongning began his lecture: "Since you did not have a comprehensive plan and your forces were not in a completely overwhelming position, you should not have launched a hasty attack."

"Yes, Commander, Niu Sheng now knows he was wrong."

"You think 'You know you were wrong now' is enough?" Zhang Cheng was clearly furious. "The nine soldiers who died at the hands of the Tartars, could they possibly come back to life?"

He looked at Niu Sheng, who remained silent, and continued, "I know that this matter cannot be entirely blamed on you. Our retired soldiers of the Yongyi Army are alright, but those martial arts practitioners we recruited are indeed difficult to control."

This battle also made them realize the ferocity of the Tartar soldiers and the importance of formation and fighting on the battlefield, preventing them from becoming arrogant and acting like they were the best in the world.

"Yes, Niu Sheng has noted it down."

"Okay. Now tell everyone about the intelligence you have on the Tartars."

"The Jurchens still occupy Jizhou City and have divided their forces to plunder the cities of Sanhe, Xianghe, Baodi, Wuqing, Yongqing, and Gu'an. They have even advanced as far south as Bazhou. The court's Hunhe River defense line has been completely ineffective against the Tartars. I estimate that Bazhou has probably already fallen by now."

"Our commander-in-chief of Miyun, Tang Tong, has joined forces with Zhong Minggao and Xue Minzhong, and has been ordered to seize an opportunity to recapture Jizhou. However, they are stationed in Pinggu and dare not launch a strong attack on Jizhou City. It seems that they are waiting for the Tartars to withdraw before they can recapture Jizhou."

Tongzhou was personally overseen by Zhao Guangbian, the governor of Jizhou, with over ten thousand government troops stationed within the city. The Tartars attacked twice, but both attempts failed. General Chen of the Shenji Battalion was stationed within Tongzhou. Additionally, General Liu Zeqing of Shandong was ordered to defend the city, and his vanguard had already entered Xian County, Hejian Prefecture.

"How's it going with the things I asked you to do?"