weaving

Although the pre-battle mobilization was very successful, the soldiers were still dumbfounded when they saw what was in front of them. Their fighting spirit, which had just been ignited, was wiped out by half in an instant.

What appeared before them were not the wicked Tartar soldiers, but the ragged, expressionless captive civilians of southern Ji, who slowly approached Hu Zichen and Sha Shiguang with weak steps.

…………

The military formations of Sha Shiguang and Hu Zichen were less than two miles apart, and they could see each other. This was originally intended to facilitate observation of each other and mutual rescue.

But at this moment, both military formations fell silent, a deathly stillness that infected each other, and even dragged the entire battlefield into a somber mood.

That oppressive sense of powerlessness spread, and the morale of the Ming army became even lower.

Driving civilians into battle was a specialty of the Tartars, but they rarely used it on the Liaodong battlefield because they didn't have many prisoners at the time. Even the Han Chinese on their own land had become slaves of the Tartar soldiers, and they were expected to cultivate the land for them. How could they bear to use them as cannon fodder in battle?

Even when invading the Ming Dynasty's interior, the Tartars rarely used this tactic. After all, the Ming people they had already seized would become their future slaves and their wealth, so why would they waste them?

However, Tan Tai was acting strangely today. He valued Hu Zichen's Ming army so much that he was willing to use these civilians to fight.

Hu Zichen's situation is actually somewhat better...

Because they had been fighting the rebels in Henan for over a year, they had already seen this underhanded tactic of using ordinary people to lead the charge from Li Zicheng himself.

However, I never expected that the Tartars, who are fearless and claim to be "invincible with ten thousand men," would resort to such underhanded tactics. It's really shameless!

Hu Zichen had followed Hu Dawei in battle for many years and had seen all kinds of scenes. When he heard that the roars from Sha Shiguang's side had stopped, he knew what had happened. He quickly called over a personal guard: "Quickly, go to General Sha's camp and relay my military order. No matter if they are Tartars or not, if they don't want to die, beat them to death."

Finally, Hu Zichen stopped the guard again and roared, "Today's battle is a fight to the death! He'd better watch himself!"

Seeing the guard ride away, Hu Zichen immediately shouted, "Fire the signal cannon and order the entire army to prepare for battle!"

He then shouted, "Send orders to Chen Zeyue's cavalry, instructing them to be prepared and ready to attack the Tartars' rear lines at any time."

Hu Zichen rode slowly around his formation on his warhorse, shouting repeatedly: "The Tartars are cowardly, which is why they forced the people to charge into battle. We cannot let the Tartars' plot succeed."

"Everyone, shout with me now, 'The government troops won't kill civilians! Run in two directions at a distance of a hundred paces, clear the middle so we can kill the Tartars!' Listen to me, everyone!"

He still seemed uneasy, so he sent his personal guards to shout in the ranks: "Anyone who charges into the formation, whether Tartar or civilian, is not to be allowed in. If you don't want to die, you can't be soft-hearted. Only by fighting to the death will you have a chance to survive!"

The roar of "I don't want to die... fight to the death..." finally came from Hu Zichen's army formation...

Hearing these roars, Hu Zichen finally felt somewhat calm, but his gaze turned towards Sha Shiguang's army formation, observing the changes and movements there.

"Kill...kill...kill the Tartars..."

Finally, roars echoed from Sha Shiguang's army formation. Although the soldiers shouted very concisely, their determination could be felt from their shouts, and Hu Zichen was relieved.

…………

"If you don't want to die, charge! Charge into the Ming army's formation and you'll live!" Some Jurchens who could speak Chinese shouted in broken accents, urging the three thousand captured civilians to act as cannon fodder and charge into the Ming army's formation. They threatened them with killing while urging and enticing them with words, forcing them to act as cannon fodder.

Although everyone knew in their hearts that such an action might not guarantee their survival, they had long been terrified by the brutality of the Tartars and charged into Hu Zichen and Sha Shiguang's army like walking corpses.

They dared not negotiate with the Tartars, but dared to ask the Ming army for favors.

These captured refugees, terrified of the slaves, shouted at the government troops opposite them, "Don't shoot arrows! We are citizens of the Ming Dynasty! The government troops don't kill Han people! Don't shoot arrows!"

They cried, shouted, yelled, and wailed, desperately pleading with the government troops opposite them, placing all their hopes on the government troops' mercy, attempting to drag the government troops down with their kinship and morality, and to exchange the lives of the government soldiers for their own chance to survive...

…………

Hu Zichen slammed his fist on the flagpole beside him and roared, "Cannons ready! Gunners, prepare! Shieldmen, form ranks!"

The soldiers had calmed down and were acting strictly according to military orders. The cannons, which had been placed in their positions, began to be loaded, the musketeers were checking their long guns, and the shield bearers gripped their iron shields tightly.

Their movements were noticed by sharp-eyed refugees, who cried out, "The...the government troops are going to fire artillery...we're doomed..."

"Damn these dog soldiers! They don't kill the Tartars, they kill us... Do they have no conscience at all?!"

"They're all sons of bitches, they're all going to die anyway, let's fight the government soldiers."

Faced with the ferocious Tartar soldiers who wanted them dead, they had no courage to resist. When they realized that the government troops would not spare them just because they were citizens of the Ming Dynasty, their anger flared up instantly, and they charged headlong into the government troops' camp.

Human nature is often just that realistic!

He should have cooperated with the government troops to kill the Tartars, but instead he regarded the government troops as his enemies and completely sided with the Jurchen Tartars.

They dared not turn around to kill the Tartars, but they dared to charge straight into the Ming army's battle formation. Can you say they had no courage at all?

However, this damn courage was misplaced.

Hu Zichen's gaze was unusually resolute; he had only one thought in mind—to kill the Tartars!

If there is a second thought—that is to try to ensure that as many of your soldiers as possible survive.

He stood on a makeshift wooden platform, raised his binoculars to observe the crowd surging towards him. There were about a thousand refugees, and a dozen paces behind them were more than a thousand Tartar infantrymen following closely behind.

Suddenly, Hu Zichen noticed something unusual. He quickly moved the binoculars in his hand and carefully observed the refugee group again. He saw a few people scattered among them. Although they were also dressed in rags, their figures were quite different from others.

These people were noticeably more robust than the average refugee, and it would have been difficult to detect this abnormality with the naked eye if it weren't for a telescope.

"Quickly, send someone to inform Sha Shiguang that there are Tartars mixed in with the refugees; not a single one can be allowed to approach!" (End of Chapter)