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Chapter 1550 The Dangers of the Qing Dynasty?

Who is Cao Bianjiao?

He was one of the most famous and fierce generals in the mid-Ming Dynasty. He was a shining star, both on the battlefields of suppressing bandits in China and on the battlefields of resisting the Jurchens in Liaodong.

His figure could be seen on Tongguan Plain, leading his elite cavalry straight into the enemy's formation, fighting from beginning to end, killing over a thousand enemy soldiers, and directly defeating Li Zicheng, leaving only seventeen men to escape into Shangluo Mountain.

It is foreseeable that if it weren't for this crucial moment when Cao Bianjiao was selected by the court to follow Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting to defend the emperor, there would be no glory for the rebel king today.
On the killing field in Liaodong, Cao Bianjiao's performance was even more outstanding!
Whether in real history or in the timeline altered by Zhang Cheng after his time travel, Cao Bianjiao was equally glorious.

It was he who personally led over a thousand of his elite cavalrymen into the camp of the slave chieftain Huang Taiji. They cut through thorns and brambles, slicing through melons and vegetables, and came within three zhang of Huang Taiji's tent. He even cleaved the yellow dragon curtain in two with his long sword.

If it weren't for the desperate resistance of Huang Taiji's guards, this commander, who was even stronger than Nurhaci, would probably have died on the spot.

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Abatai, as a fierce general of the Jurchens, may not be considered the top-tier general in the Jurchen army, but the fact that the Jurchen chieftain Huang Taiji dared to send him as the commander of the army invading the Ming Dynasty shows that he was definitely not bad.

It is conceivable that although the Jurchens only sent half of their troops to invade the Ming Dynasty, while leaving the other half to guard the country and support Abatai, who was invading the Ming Dynasty, the troops sent out must have been the bravest half.

This is the source of Abatai's confidence—he led the most ferocious beasts of the Qing Dynasty!
However, Abatai made a mistake: in this world, there is no such thing as "most ferocious," only "more ferocious"...

The real basis for determining how fierce a team is mainly depends on who is leading the team.
As the saying goes, "A train runs fast because of its locomotive," and "A bad soldier is just one bad soldier, but a bad general makes a bad army."

The warriors under Cao Bianjiao were all veterans who had followed him into battle. Even the Liao people he recruited later were fearless and valiant under his care and leadership.

It can be said that Cao Bianjiao was like a banner in his army; wherever he charged, the soldiers would follow...

Cao Bianjiao is like the alpha wolf in a pack. As long as he leads the way, the pack will charge forward without hesitation and will never back down!

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If the government troops were like a nail, then Cao Bianjiao was like the sharp end of that nail, charging straight into Abatai's central army.

All of this happened too suddenly, completely beyond Abatai's expectations. He never imagined that the Ming army would dare to launch a proactive attack on his main formation.

"Ehante, I'll give you five hundred warriors to intercept the Ming dogs." Abatai first sent out elite cavalry to intercept them, then shouted loudly, "Send word: the flank cavalry will charge the Ming dogs' rear."

"Form ranks! The entire army, form ranks and await the enemy!" Under the current circumstances, Abatai has no choice but to passively engage in battle.

His tactics were not problematic. He sent 500 cavalry to meet Cao Bianjiao's charge, slowing down his advance, while he led 1,500 Jurchen warriors to press forward, using superior numbers to ruthlessly crush Cao Bianjiao's 1,000 Ming cavalry.

At the same time, Abatai ordered the thousand enemy cavalry that had just charged and harassed to immediately turn back to the battlefield and charge straight at Cao Bianjiao's rear cavalry, intending to defeat Cao Bianjiao's three thousand men in one fell swoop.

The idea was great, but reality was far from it!
Cao Bianjiao loudly ordered his thousand elite cavalry to maintain their wedge formation and launch a desperate charge, completely ignoring the five hundred enemy cavalry coming towards them, and charging straight at Abatai's central army according to his own plan.

Ehante was a Niru Zhangjing of the Mongol Eight Banners. He had never met Cao Bianjiao before, and although he knew his name, he was very resentful. He charged straight at Cao Bianjiao who was coming towards him. In his view, this battle would be his last chance to make a name for himself. If he could defeat Cao Bianjiao in one battle, he would become the most dazzling star in this round of invasion of the Ming Dynasty.

However, he overestimated himself...

Cao Bianjiao roared and charged forward, completely disregarding everything. He held his spear under his arm, the tip of which protruded steadily forward without trembling, pointing directly at Ehante who was coming towards him.

Their roars merged together...

As the warhorses clashed, Cao Bianjiao subtly shifted his position to the left, dodging Ehante's lance thrust. However, the tiger-shaped spear in his hand shifted with Ehante's dodges, its tip always aimed at Ehante's chest.

With a loud thud, Cao Bianjiao's spear tip pierced Ehante's chest. Despite the protection of two layers of armor, the spear still penetrated into his flesh.

As Erhante and Cao Bianjiao crossed paths on horseback, an expression of disbelief flashed in their eyes...

He couldn't believe that Cao Bianjiao would dodge his desperate thrust, and he couldn't believe that with his years of experience in battle, he couldn't dodge Cao Bianjiao's ordinary spear.

What shocked him even more was that Cao Bianjiao didn't even glance at him; his large, ruthless eyes remained fixed on the battlefield ahead...

Although the shot didn't kill Erhant, the massive impact left him dizzy and breathless, causing him to fall backward.

As Erhante and Cao Bianjiao's horses passed each other, Erhante fainted due to stagnation of breath.

At the same time, his left foot slipped out of the stirrup, and his entire body tumbled backward to the right, leaving only his right foot hanging in the stirrup. He was now off the saddle and being dragged along by the warhorse...

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On this day, Abatai encountered the most brutal battle since its invasion of the Ming Dynasty.

He and Cao Bianjiao fought from 9 am to 1 pm, engaging in a fierce battle with almost equal forces. The battle ended with Abatai withdrawing his troops and fleeing.

Cao Bianjiao led his troops in pursuit of Abatai for more than ten miles before withdrawing and returning to camp.

In this battle, Cao Bianjiao's forces suffered 217 dead and 480 wounded. Fortunately, as the victors, they were able to treat the wounded and sick at their leisure, thus avoiding some unnecessary casualties.

Most of these wounded soldiers, after receiving treatment, can return to the battlefield and become true battle-hardened elites!

Abatai fared much worse, leaving behind 348 corpses of enemy cavalry and 537 wounded soldiers, which they hadn't had time to bring back.

Roughly estimated, among the fleeing enemy cavalry with Abatai were dozens of enemy corpses and over a hundred wounded and sick soldiers.

The loss of more than a third of its total forces in World War I was a devastating blow to Abatai...

So much so that he issued an order to the other groups of enemy cavalry who were plundering separately—to come to Qihe immediately to join forces and wipe out Cao Bianjiao's Liaodong troops, thus eliminating this threat to the Great Qing!