weaving

Chapter 1538 General Xie's Kindness in Not Blaming Me

When Jiala Zhangjing Yiergen led eight hundred warriors to charge, they saw about ten northern barbarians rushing back from the west. One of the leaders rushed straight to Yibai's horse and reported from his horse: "Reporting to Yibaigushan, there is a large force of southern troops in the west, numbering more than two thousand, including five or six hundred cavalry. They are advancing rapidly towards this place and are less than ten miles from the battlefield."

"what!"

Ibai was taken aback. He couldn't understand why the Ming soldiers he encountered this time were so fearless.
"Megan, can you see clearly and confirm that they are Ming soldiers?"

“Back at Ibaigu Mountain, it really is the army of the Southern Kingdom…” He casually pointed to the battlefield not far away: “Their flags are the same color as these Ming dogs.”

"Another Ming dog from Xuanfu?" Ibai pulled on the reins of his warhorse and ordered, "Megan, go and tell Irgen not to join the battle, but only to harass from the outside."

He then shouted again, "Kids, come with me to meet Ming Gouzi from the west!"

Ibai spurred his horse and galloped westward to a high hill, followed closely by more than two hundred northern barbarian cavalry.

Five or six hundred paces to the west, billowing dust could be seen, and hundreds of cavalrymen could be vaguely seen marching across the open field. On the official road, it seemed that a large contingent of troops was also rushing toward Hejian City.

Although reluctant, Ibai made the right decision: "Withdraw! Order a retreat! Let Irgen cover the rear! Sound the horns! Sound the gongs!"

…………

"They've retreated...the Tartars have retreated!"

A cheer suddenly erupted from the west city wall of Hejian Prefecture.

"Fire! Bomb the Tartars to death!"

Taking advantage of the lull in the Tartars' battle with Qiu Yingquan, and the fact that they were not attacking the city, Yan Yinshao, the prefect of Hejian, ordered his men to move the cannons that were originally placed on the north city wall to the three gates on the west city wall.

At that moment, he gave the order, and the cannon fuses were lit. The booming sounds of the cannons echoed through the sky, and the dark cannonballs, trailing trails of black smoke, crashed straight into the fleeing Northern Barbarian cavalry formation.

Qiu Yingquan was already feeling the strain. Facing a Northern barbarian cavalry force that outnumbered his own by more than two times, even the elite cavalry of the Yongyi Army was struggling to cope. If it weren't for Wei Zhice's timely reinforcements, he would have suffered heavy losses.

He led his men north to the northwest corner of the city wall, where they stopped. Instead of continuing the pursuit, they treated the wounded, gathered the scattered warhorses, and began to clean up the battlefield.

In this battle, Qiu Yingquan's vanguard lost 115 warhorses, 35 soldiers were killed, and 127 were wounded. The losses were indeed considerable, reaching almost 15% of the casualties.

However, it also caused considerable losses to the Mongolian Plain White Banner.

In this battle, 75 warhorses were captured, 35 were wounded, more than 70 Northern barbarians were killed, and more than 100 Northern barbarians were killed or wounded. Nearly half of them were wounded by handguns, and given the medical treatment level of the Northern barbarians, most of them could not be saved.

…………

The west gate of Hejian Prefecture was opened wide again, and Prefect Yan Yinshao led the officials and gentry of the city out of the city, where they beat drums and gongs to congratulate Qiu Yingquan on his success.

Upon learning that Wei Zhice, the deputy general of Xuanfu, was leading a large army to arrive, they waited for him outside the city gate. At the same time, they arranged for people to return to the city and gather the only pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks they had to reward the reinforcements led by Wei Zhice.

Soon, Wei Zhice, deputy commander of the Tengshe Battalion of the Xuanfu Yongyi Army of the Ming Dynasty, arrived with his army. Prefect Yan Yinshao, Zhou Erchun, supervising secretary of the Ministry of War, Zhang Zipu, assistant prefect, Jing Guozhi, registrar, and Zhang Xianyu, the prefect in charge of the river, and other officials and gentry met with Wei Zhice.

Prefect Yan Yinshao flattered, "I have long heard that the Earl of Yongning has a large army that has never been defeated in suppressing bandits within the country and defending against the Tartars without. It is truly an honor to see it today."

Looking at the dashing Wei Zhice before him, he exclaimed, "I never imagined that General Wei would be so young! He is truly a blessing to the nation and to His Majesty!"

Zhou Erchun also politely said, "I thank General Wei for leading his troops to our aid and saving the entire city of Hejian. Please rest assured, General, I will definitely report this matter to the court and the Emperor. Your merit will not be forgotten."

Wei Zhice clasped his hands and replied, "I was ordered by the Earl of Yongning to lead the troops here. The credit does not belong to me, but to the Earl of Yongning."

"It is truly rare for a general to not be greedy for credit." Yan Yinshao then asked, "I wonder where the Earl of Yongning is now? I would also like to pay my respects to the Earl of Yongning." "Prefect Yan, there is no need to be in such a hurry. The Earl of Yongning is leading a large army on his way and should arrive in Suning by tomorrow afternoon."

“Very well. I will personally go to Suning tomorrow to welcome the Earl of Yongning.” Yan Yinshao then said to Wei Zhice, “General Wei, I have prepared wine and food in the yamen. I hope that you and the other generals can give me this opportunity.”

Wei Zhice smiled and said, "Prefect Yan, there is no need to be so polite. My ancestral home is Huolu in Baoding Prefecture, which is adjacent to Hejian Prefecture. In principle, it should be me who pays respects to Prefect Yan."

How could Yan Yinshao allow Wei Zhice to pay his respects to him? He immediately stopped him, saying, "It's a pity that my Hejian Prefecture doesn't have a talent like General Wei."

After exchanging pleasantries, Yan Yinshao led the officials and gentry back into the city, while Wei Zhice arranged for camping outside the city.

…………

Wei Zhice chose a high hill two miles west of the city, the same high ground where Gushan Ezhen Yibai of the Plain White Banner of Mongolia had just stopped his horse to observe.

A camp was set up around this center, with the rear of Ji Donglai's cavalry, the left flank of Zheng Youjin's infantry, and the artillery troops of Li Youcai stationed there, forming a defensive triangle with the city of Hejian.

Tang Xiancheng, the deputy general of the Tengshe Battalion, was also left here by Wei Zhice as the camp commander to oversee the overall situation.

Meanwhile, Qiu Yingquan's cavalry vanguard and Gao Chengshan's infantry right wing followed Wei Zhice into the city to garrison, together with Deputy General Jin Yong, Garrison Commander Qin Dazhong, and officers and soldiers of the Central Army, entering Hejian Prefecture City.

…………

Doctors from the medical clinics in Hejian City were all summoned to help the medical officers of the Tengshe Camp treat the wounded and sick at the forefront of the cavalry.

After inspecting the wounded and sick soldiers, Wei Zhice went to a side hall of the camp. He and the garrison commander Qin Dazhong sat on the left and right sides of the head of the table, respectively, while the officers Yu Deshui and Qiu Yingquan stood below.

"Qiu Yingquan, do you know your mistake?" Wei Zhice shouted.

Qiu Yingquan trembled, knelt down, and kowtowed, saying, "This humble general knows his mistake."

Where did you go wrong?

“This humble general should not have lined up outside the city and taken the initiative to fight the enemy in the open field, resulting in heavy casualties among the soldiers in my troops.”

"Tragic? You know there were tragic casualties?"

Qiu Yingquan remained silent. Seeing this, Qin Dazhong, the garrison commander, quickly spoke up to ease the situation: "General, please calm down. Yingquan is stationed outside the city because he doesn't want his soldiers to enter the city and disturb the people. In addition, he also intends to support the follow-up army."

He glanced at Qiu Yingquan and continued, "Besides, Yingquan's command in the battle against the enemy was not improper. Although our front-line soldiers suffered some losses, they also achieved great success and inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy, which greatly boosted the morale of our army."

"Hmph." Wei Zhice's anger had not subsided: "If it weren't for the timely arrival of our main force, the losses of his vanguard would have been far greater than this."

"Yingquan knows he was wrong, please punish him, General!"

"The army is currently out in the field and we are in dire need of manpower. Since you have admitted your mistake, you will be spared punishment this time. However, if you commit the same offense again, you will be punished for both offenses. Do you understand?"

"This humble general has noted it down. This humble general thanks the general for not punishing me!"

Wei Zhice looked at Qiu Yingquan and said, "Get up."

"Yes."

"Don't just sit around doing nothing, go to the wounded soldiers' camp and comfort the injured soldiers."

"Yes."