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Yushan is located at the border of Huai'an Prefecture in Southern Zhili and Yanzhou Prefecture in Shandong Province, and is under the jurisdiction of Tancheng County in Yanzhou Prefecture, Shandong Province.

This mountain runs east to west, is more than six miles long and a little over three miles wide, and its highest point is only 270 meters. Although it is not very high, it is a famous mountain throughout the ages that "backs onto Qi and Lu and embraces Wu and Chu", and there are many legends associated with it.

The legends and stories related to Yushan are not described in detail here; those who are interested can look them up on their own.

Yushan has three main peaks arranged in a typical "mountain" shape. The central main peak is the highest point of Yushan, while the peaks on the east and west sides are only about 100 meters high.

Currently, the left flank of the Xuanwu Camp is stationed at the Central Peak, the right flank at the East Peak, and the rear flank at the West Peak. The commander in charge here is Gou Changsheng, the deputy general of the Xuanwu Camp, whose command headquarters is located at the Central Peak along with the left flank.

Li Jiyu led the other two units of the Xuanwu Camp, along with officers and soldiers from the three central military commands, to garrison in Daxing Town, a market town twelve miles north of Yushan Mountain.

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When the Xuanwu Camp entered Henan to suppress the bandits, it lost two thousand-man headquarters troops and three generals. First, Liu Shizun, the deputy general of the Xuanwu Camp, was sent to serve as the commander of the independent battalion. Second, Shen Jingbang, the commander of the vanguard, was sent to the independent battalion. Third, Ji Zhiying, the commander of the rearguard, remained in the Central Plains.

Although the personnel were all in place, with the new deputy general He Shihui, the vanguard commander Fang Han, and the rearguard commander Du Chun all taking up their posts, Li Jiyu still felt that things were not as smooth as before.

He Shihui, Fang Han, and Du Chun were all old subordinates who followed Marquis Yongning Zhang Cheng in the Battle of Julu. This time, arranging them into the Xuanwu Camp not only shows the importance that Marquis Yongning attaches to the Xuanwu Camp, but also prevents Li Jiyu from forming an independent kingdom, so as to avoid him eventually having the idea of ​​breaking away from the Marquis Yongning system.

He Shihui had been stationed in Xuanfu Town and had not had the opportunity to participate in several battles, so Zhang Cheng sent him to serve as the deputy general of the Xuanwu Camp this time.

"General Li, judging from the flag color, they should be Tartars of the Plain Red Banner."

Li Jiyu glanced at He Shihui: "Are they the Jurchens or the Northern Barbarians?"

“This…” He Shihui hesitated slightly: “We have not fought them, and we cannot tell from the color of their flags whether they are Tartars or Northern barbarians.”

"Hmm. How many men?"

"Around 1,500."

"With so few men... they dare to spy on our military camp?"

"Li Shuai means...we should go out and give him a piece of our mind?"

"Damn it, let's get him, let him know we're not to be trifled with either." Li Jiyu looked at He Shihui: "Tell Zhou Ruli to send someone to call Ma Benshan and Fang Han over, let's come up with a strategy, let's get him."

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Gadahun was a Jurchen from Liaodong, surnamed Nara. He was a brave warrior who accumulated merits and served as a Bayara Jiala Zhangjing and a Manchu Plain Red Banner Meile Ezhen. He was currently the Gushan Ezhen of the Mongol Plain Red Banner.

Two years ago, during the Battle of Songjin, Gadahun also participated. Although the Jurchens did not actually win this battle, Gadahun was rewarded by the Jurchen chieftain Huang Taiji for his bravery.

Gadahun was also resentful about the defeat in the Songjin campaign. He always believed that the Ming army was just lucky that the Consort Chen fell seriously ill and that his own Emperor Huang Taiji of the Great Qing Dynasty was worried about his beloved consort, so he hastily withdrew his troops, which benefited the Ming dogs in Liaodong.

The defeat at the Battle of Jinzhou was not a loss, nor was the Ming army the victor; they merely gained an advantage on the battlefield!
Therefore, although he did not launch an attack on Daxing Town today, he did put on a show of force five miles northwest of Daxing Town. Despite having only 1,500 Northern Barbarian cavalrymen, he made it seem like there were five or six thousand of them.

Gadahun even ordered one-third of his cavalry to dismount and rest, and sent another third to Daxing Town to shout and demonstrate, leaving only one-third of his cavalry in the central army to guard and prepare for battle.

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Just after noon, a cavalry squad of over a hundred men charged out from the west of Gadahun, braving the howling north wind.

Apart from the clatter of hooves, there was not a single shout or whistle. By the time Gadahun's side realized what was happening, the two sides were less than two hundred paces apart. "Enemy attack... mount up... mount up quickly... meet the enemy..."

The Mongol Plain Red Banner army immediately descended into chaos. Many of the northern barbarian cavalrymen didn't even have time to put on their armor again. They leaped up and rushed to their warhorses, grabbing their weapons stuck in the frozen ground just before mounting.

Many warhorses didn't even have saddles or stirrups, but that didn't affect the speed and courage of the Northern Barbarian cavalrymen as they mounted their horses!
They truly deserve to be called "a people on horseback." These northern cavalrymen, who grew up on horseback, were able to fight on horseback even without saddles and bridles.

Gadahun himself was fully clothed and armored, but he was sitting on a rock with what appeared to be a northern barbarian saddle under his buttocks, looking quite relaxed.

Hearing the commotion coming from the army ranks, he quickly stood up, looked westward for a moment, and smirked: "Damn, so few people? Not even enough to fill my teeth!"

As a veteran general who had fought on the front lines for many years, he could tell at a glance that the approaching Ming cavalry could not exceed two hundred men.

"Pass down the order: have the unarmored children play with Ming Gou, while the armored cavalry stand by and intercept him. We must not let Ming Gou escape back."

"Whoo!"

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The leader of the assault was Zhou Ruli, an officer in the Xuanwu Camp. He charged straight towards the Mongol Plain Red Banner Army formation, followed by 156 cavalrymen from the Xuanwu Camp's cavalry division.

Although they were facing more than a thousand northern barbarian cavalry, Zhou Ruli and his men were not afraid at all. Everyone was determined to teach the Tartars a lesson.

"Whom do you look down on?"

Seeing the more than four hundred Northern Barbarian cavalry charging towards him, Zhou Ruli smirked and then shouted, "Pistols, fire once, then turn right and retreat!"

"Kill!" the soldiers shouted in unison to show they had received the order.

When they were still fifty or sixty paces apart, the Northern cavalry had already turned south and had no intention of engaging Zhou Ruli's side in battle. They simply fired a series of sharp arrows from afar.

The arrows struck the Xuanwu Camp cavalrymen, producing a series of clanging sounds. For armored warriors, these mounted arrows were generally difficult to inflict damage unless they hit a vulnerable spot.

Apart from the occasional warhorse going mad after being hit by an arrow, there were no other injuries. The fallen knights were pulled onto their horses by their comrades, and the two of them rode together on one horse.

The handguns equipped by Zhou Ruli and his men had been improved, but their effective firing range still failed to exceed forty paces. Even with a slight increase in the barrel length of the cavalry handguns, they were still no match for the power of the long guns used by infantry.

However, the Northern barbarian cavalry that came to meet them were not armored, which meant they lacked an important layer of protection, so it was not impossible to shoot them dead or wounded.

Just as the Northern barbarian cavalry unleashed a barrage of arrows, Zhou Ruli shouted, "Pistols, fire!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!..."

The sound of gunfire rang out incessantly, and as the smoke rose, Zhou Ruli led his knights to turn and charge south.

It can be vaguely seen that some of the Northern Barbarian cavalrymen have fallen off their horses, which shows that at a distance of fifty or sixty paces, the cavalry handguns with extended barrels can still inflict damage on unarmored enemies!
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At this moment, Gadahun, who had been calm and composed, suddenly changed his expression and exclaimed, "Oh no, we've fallen into a trap!"

He then shouted, "Prepare the horses! Quickly order the armored soldiers to attack! The Ming dogs have an ambush!" (End of Chapter)