weaving

Chapter 1537 The city has fallen, time to snatch the women!
The battle outside the west gate of Hejian Prefecture was not a one-sided massacre, but a battle that was almost evenly matched.

The enemy cavalry were excellent horsemen, making full use of the mobility advantage of cavalry, and they could shoot arrows from galloping horses with great accuracy, which was much better than the Manchu Eight Banners soldiers.

They maintained a team size of forty to fifty people, with each team maintaining a close yet separate relationship. They cooperated with each other while remaining independent, engaging in harassment, charging, and support. Their tactics were indeed impressive.

But today they've met their match—a real match!

Qiu Yingquan's vanguard cavalry were well-equipped. In addition to their cloth armor, each of them had a small round shield on their left arm, and their lances were hung on the hooks of their warhorses. Their left hands would sometimes hold the reins to control their horses, and sometimes use the shields to block arrows, while their right hands held handguns. As soon as they were within twenty or thirty paces, they would raise their hands and fire a shot.

Although the arrows fired by the enemy cavalry were sharp, they did very little damage to the armored front-line cavalry. On the contrary, their warhorses could hardly withstand the rapid-fire arrows.

Conversely, once the cavalrymen entered within thirty paces, their pistols would strike, causing all those hit to fall from their horses, either dead or wounded, with the wounded often not surviving.

Moreover, Qiu Yingquan's vanguard cavalry was both brave and disciplined, and under his command, they quickly adapted to the fighting style of the Mongol Plain White Banner.

They formed a central force of 500 cavalry, with each 100 cavalrymen forming a squad to engage the Northern Barbarian cavalry in one-on-one combat. Meanwhile, the other 500 cavalrymen were scattered around the perimeter, gradually encircling the Northern Barbarian cavalry and constantly compressing their fighting space.

Seeing that Qiu Yingquan had taken control of the battlefield, the Northern Barbarian cavalry had no choice but to abandon their thirty or forty dead and wounded and retreat.

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Seeing that the Northern barbarians had retreated, Qiu Yingquan did not pursue them relentlessly. Instead, he sent three hundred cavalrymen to follow them in case the Northern barbarians suddenly turned back and attacked.

While ordering his cavalry to dismount but forbidding them from removing their armor, he also deployed patrols and sent messages to the city of Hejian.

Soon, upon receiving the news, Yan Yinshao, the prefect of Hejian, personally led a group of officials and gentry from the city to open the west gate and welcome them out of the city.

Qiu Yingquan refused Yan Yinshao's invitation to enter the city and chose to stay outside the west gate to guard the city and await the arrival of the main force. Yan Yinshao had no choice but to order the soldiers and civilians in the city to send the cooked food out of the city for the army to eat.

Just as the cavalrymen were about to have a hot meal, they received news that more than two thousand northern barbarians had attacked again.

After Qiu Yingquan ordered the soldiers and civilians on the city wall to close the city gates, he sent someone to inform the rear army while organizing the cavalry to form ranks.

He himself led two hundred cavalrymen in the center, with four hundred cavalrymen on each of the left and right flanks. This arrangement required the commander to have great courage, to draw the enemy's main cavalry force with himself, and to create an opportunity for the cavalry on the flanks to launch a surprise attack.

Soon, the Northern Barbarian cavalry appeared in Qiu Yingquan's field of vision. They stopped three hundred paces away. The more than two thousand Northern Barbarian cavalry were spread out, and in terms of sheer force, they were far larger than Qiu Yingquan's side.

Ibai did not seem to be in a hurry to attack. He sent 500 cavalrymen to form a formation in the middle, while sending 800 cavalrymen to harass Qiu Yingquan's army formation on the right flank. It was also a formation with a weak main force and a strong flank.

The only difference is that Ibai still has a reserve force of more than a thousand cavalry, while Qiu Yingquan has committed all of them.

"The entire army shall form five columns and prepare to charge!" Qiu Yingquan shouted the order.

The knights immediately formed ranks, with those in the front raising their left arms to protect their heads and faces, and gripping their pistols tightly in their right hands, while those in the back took out their tiger lances and held them in their hands, all ready to attack.

The Northern barbarian cavalry moved out, advancing slowly at first before accelerating when they were about two hundred paces away. "Central army, attack!" It was at this moment that Qiu Yingquan ordered the attack.

Both sides' cavalry charged forward together, and the distance of two hundred paces was covered in an instant for them.

As always, the northern barbarians' arrows arrived before their men did.

This time they seemed to have learned their lesson. Instead of shooting directly at the cavalrymen on their horses, they aimed at the horses beneath them. Fortunately, the horses had bridles and visors on the front, which provided some protection.

Moreover, the high speed of the galloping warhorse provided excellent protection, but the Northern barbarians were skilled in archery and horsemanship, and some warhorses were still hit and fell to the ground.

"Pistols ready, lances clipped up, charge!" Qiu Yingquan shouted.

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Outside the west gate of Hejian City, it was as if two flocks of birds were colliding, with swarms of cavalry in groups and patches, creating quite a scene.

The two flanks of the Tengshe Camp also launched a deadly charge forward the moment the central army attacked. They stretched out like human arms, determined to strike the enemy.

The right flank of the Northern Barbarians was stronger, with eight hundred men charging forward in a column formation, seemingly poised to encircle the left flank and the central army.

They continued to use the Northern Barbarians' consistent tactics, not engaging the flanks in front, but instead focusing on harassing from a distance with mounted archery, making full use of their mounted archery advantage.

The right flank of the Tengshe Camp rushed forward at breakneck speed, almost hugging the moat. After passing the position of the Northern Barbarian Central Army, it immediately turned around to the center and outflank the rear of the Northern Barbarian Central Army.

The Northern Barbarian central army followed its usual practice; instead of directly confronting Qiu Yingquan, they suddenly split into two groups, left and right, when they were within forty paces of him, attempting to flank him from both sides.

"Split up, rear guard!" Qiu Yingquan shouted.

He had anticipated the Northern Barbarians' tactics and immediately ordered his rear guard to disperse and charge towards them, determined to engage them in close combat to counter their advantage in archery.

This tactic is correct. As long as the two sides get close, the Northern Barbarians can no longer exert their advantage in horse archery, while close combat can make full use of the power of their hand cannons. Even if the two sides only fight with cold weapons, it doesn't matter!
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Ibai looked at his five hundred warriors in the center, who were about to be surrounded by the Ming army's cavalry on both flanks. He glared and roared, "Irgen, you lead eight hundred warriors to charge up, turn the Ming dogs around, and kill them all!"

Irgen, the chieftain of the Plain White Banner of Mongolia, shouted as he received the order and led eight hundred Plain White Banner warriors out of the formation, rushing straight to the battlefield where the fighting was taking place.

"Kill...warriors! Kill the dogs of light! Break through the city! Seize the women!"

Shouts of "Kill...kill the dogs of light...steal the women..." instantly filled the air...

Eight hundred Mongol soldiers from the Plain White Banner, led by Irgen, roared like wolves and tigers and charged madly toward the battlefield outside the western city of Hejian.

The tide of battle was turning in Ibai's favor; victory was in sight. He smiled as he looked at the bloody battlefield before him, a surge of excitement washing over him. Images of himself triumphantly standing before Ye Chen flashed through his mind…