weaving

Chapter 1549 Cao Bianjiao Unleashes His Power

The 29th day of the intercalary eleventh month.

With the last wave of Jurchen cavalry withdrawing from Linqing, the burning, killing, and looting that had lasted for sixteen days in Linqing finally came to an end.

The city of Linqing was deathly silent. More than 7,000 villagers had been slaughtered. Children as young as three or five had died of cold and hunger, and many women died naked, with the majority of them barely clothed.

The city had fewer than a thousand people, but those who had fled to the nearby hills earlier escaped the disaster. The number of young men and women who were captured by the Jurchens was countless.

The houses on both the east and west sides of the area from the horse market to the bridge in Linqing City were destroyed. The gauze shops on the north and south sides from the pot market to the pontoon bridge were also burned down. The houses on the east side of the temple were also burned down.

Even the overpass was burned down by the fire in the city. The area around the paper shop to the east of the overpass was destroyed. The houses on the east and west sides of Baibu Lane were also burned down. The houses on the east and west sides from the south gate of the old city to the Confucian Temple were still emitting black smoke. The houses on the east and west sides from the south gate to the Drum Tower were still sparkling. The houses on the left and right sides of the Ministry of Works were completely destroyed.

All four gates of the old city were burned down, and all the city towers in the new city were also destroyed by fire, leaving them incomplete. The crenellations of the city walls were also demolished by the Jurchens who forced captured men to do so.

The once prosperous Linqing City, a key to the Grand Canal and a hub for grain transport, was destroyed by the war and ravages of the Jurchen invasion. The thriving commercial scene of the past was gone, replaced by a desolate and tragic scene, with corpses of victims everywhere and bloodstains everywhere, resembling a living hell.

…………

On the first day of the twelfth month, another group of the rebels under Turge broke through the city of Shouzhang.

The officials in charge of the seal of Shouzhang County, Huang Can, the clerk Yang Kongmo, and the local gentry Wang Danian, all suffered merciless slaughter at the hands of the Jurchen cavalry for their desperate resistance.

This Jurchen force did not set out south for Yuncheng until the third day of the month.

On the second day of the twelfth month, a group of more than 300 Jurchen spies entered Zou County. They attempted to attack the city but failed. After extorting some grain and money, they left.

Also on the first day of the twelfth month, Shuo Tuo led a Jurchen cavalry force to capture Puzhou City, where students Wang Bingchun and Su Shiqiang fought bravely and died for their country.

The Jurchens plundered Puzhou City for three days before heading south towards Caozhou to join another Jurchen force.

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The Jurchens, under the command of their Grand General Abatai, led a large cavalry force that split into three routes after leaving Linqing, and attacked and captured the three county towns of Wucheng, Xiajin, and Qingping.

Xiajin and Wucheng counties were successively captured by the Jurchens.

Zhu Yongying, the instructor of Xiajin County, Liu Yikai, the selected scholar, and Dai Zhangfu, a student, fought fiercely against the enemy and were killed. Ren Wanmin, the magistrate of Wucheng County, knew that the county was undefended and could not be held, so he instructed the people in the city to flee. He also died when the city fell.

Only Qingping County was well-defended. When the Jurchens saw this, they did not attack the city but went directly to it, thus saving the county.

Afterwards, the Abatai tribe of the Jiannu regrouped and launched a fierce attack on Gaotang Prefecture. They finally broke through Gaotang Prefecture on the afternoon of the second day, looted the city for two days, and then left one after another.

The Jurchens once again divided their forces to plunder from Gaotang Prefecture, one heading northeast to En County, another heading east to Yucheng, and the third heading southeast to attack Qihe.

They successfully attacked and captured En County on their way northeast, but suffered a setback at the city of Pingyuan and failed to capture Pingyuan. They then headed northeast to Ling County.

As for the route to attack Yucheng, since Yucheng was already prepared, they did not attack Yucheng. On the first day of the twelfth month, they captured Linyi County. County Magistrate Zhang Yuanpin and Instructor Su Shiyang fought bravely and died.

On the second day of the month, the county seat of Shanghe was captured by the Jurchens.

County Magistrate Liu Guohui, Clerk Wang Fufang, former Cangzhou Prefect Ma Taizhong, and others rallied the gentry and villagers of the city to defend their territories, but they were all brutally murdered by the Jurchen bandits. On the third day, a group of Jurchen cavalry entered the territory of Leling County. They first circled the city to scout before launching their attack.

Magistrate Ma Jingbang personally climbed the city wall to set an example, inspiring the gentry and villagers to gather and defend the city. The Jurchens attacked for several days without success. Just when things were at a critical moment, Shandong Deputy General Zhang Dengke sent reinforcements to the city.

When the enemy saw that reinforcements had arrived, they retreated. Although the county town of Leling was saved, countless villagers in the surrounding areas were captured, and more than a thousand were massacred.

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Qihe, as the western gateway to Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, had long been on high alert for the enemy's attack.

As early as the 29th day of the intercalary eleventh month, a group of about three hundred Jurchen cavalrymen had already arrived at the city of Qihe. Just as they were circling the city to spy, Cao Bianjiao, the general of Shanhaiguan who had arrived at Qihe earlier, suddenly led his elite cavalry out to attack.

Caught off guard, the Jurchen cavalry suffered heavy casualties, leaving behind the bodies of about two hundred of their comrades as they fled in panic.

Upon receiving the report, Abatai initially did not take it too seriously, assuming it was the work of some unknown Ming general in Shandong. He did not summon the other raiding forces to return and instead led his three thousand-plus enemy cavalry to Qihe.

But when he saw the Ming cavalry arrayed outside the city, it was too late for regrets.

However, even if it was Cao Bianjiao, a fierce general who was famous throughout Liaodong, what could he do?

Could they possibly be stronger than the warriors of the Qing Dynasty?
Abatai immediately issued an order to the entire army: the Ming general on the other side was the same Ming dog who ambushed the emperor at Songshan last year. Now that they had met him here, they could not let him go. Whoever captured the Ming general alive would receive three promotions, and even if he died, he would receive one and a half promotions. Even if they took an arm or a leg, it would be worth half a promotion.

For a moment, the Jurchen army was filled with excitement, everyone was eager to show their skills, and if they could get in front of Cao Bianjiao, that treacherous dog, they would bite off a piece of his flesh even if they had to use their mouths.

The bandits who could follow Abatai were all elite warriors, and there would not be a single coward among them. Moreover, Abatai had indeed suffered a great loss.

The reward he offered was enough to make these murderous tyrants risk their lives for it!

"dong dong dong"

As the war drums sounded, a thousand enemy cavalrymen immediately charged out of the formation. They split into two groups and rushed to encircle Cao Bianjiao's army. The faster the drumbeats, the faster they galloped.

But the Ming cavalry formation opposite them remained unmoved, as if they knew they dared not actually charge!

One hundred steps... eighty steps... fifty steps...

When they were fifty paces away, the enemy cavalry began to fire arrows and took the opportunity to turn their horses around, bypassing Cao Bianjiao's army formation from both sides, without actually charging straight into Cao Bianjiao's main formation.

However, the fact that the enemy cavalry did not charge did not mean that Cao Bianjiao's side would not charge either!
Cao Bianjiao had probably been in Liaodong for many years, and he was well aware of the tactics of the Tartar cavalry, if not completely familiar with them.

He had long ago ordered all his soldiers to hold their positions firmly, and arranged for a thousand knights to dismount and stand in the front to raise their shields in order to prevent the Jurchen cavalry from charging and shooting arrows. He also secretly arranged for four generals to each lead three hundred elite cavalry to prepare to charge the Jurchen formation.

Just as the enemy cavalry that had come to probe turned their horses around and retreated, Cao Bianjiao shouted: "Kill...kill the Tartars!"

Taking the lead.

As the commander-in-chief of the army, Cao Bianjiao still maintained his style and tactics from back then. In every battle, he would always be the first to charge forward, making himself the vanguard of the army and leading the charge on the front line.