weaving

"After the village is destroyed, leave no prisoners, kill them all!" Yuan Shizhong, on his warhorse, looked solemnly at Wangjia Village not far away.

At this moment, Yuan Shizhong had also heard the news that the troops stationed in Wangjiazhuang were all Han traitors of the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner, which is why he was so agitated.

Liu Jingyi whispered a reminder to him, "Marshal Yuan, should we leave some officers alive to interrogate them and extract some military intelligence?"

As he said this, he subtly winked at Yuan Shizhong, making a wink and a pursed-lip gesture. The implication was clear: with the garrison commander Wang Yuanjing present, it was not advisable to carry out such a large-scale massacre of surrendered soldiers.

However, Yuan Shizhong didn't care about any of that. He raised his riding whip and shouted, "If they only submitted to the Tartars to save their lives, I would not have treated them like this."

But these bastards have turned their butcher's knives and demonic hands against their own compatriots, willingly aiding and abetting evil, becoming enemies of us, and slaughtering innocent people. How can I forgive them?

Yuan Shizhong turned his head to look at Wang Yuanjing and said, "Commander Wang, even if I violate the orders of the Commander-in-Chief today, I, Yuan, will kill every single traitor in this village."

Wang Yuanjing smiled slightly and said, "Yuanjing is in charge of rewarding merits and punishing demerits. As long as the soldiers do not disturb the people and fight the enemy on the battlefield, I, the commander, will reward them according to their merits."

Yuan Shizhong smiled knowingly, then turned to the messenger and shouted, "Go and relay the order!"

At that moment, Zhu Chengju, another staff officer in Xiao Yuan's battalion, quietly approached Yuan Shitai, a centurion in the central army headquarters, and whispered something to him. Yuan Shitai nodded repeatedly...

…………

Yuan Shizhong was also ruthless, attacking from all sides without any distinction between primary and secondary forces. Whichever side attacked Wangjiazhuang first would be considered the one with the greatest merit.

Apart from Yuan Shitai's central force being kept as a reserve, the other four battalions of the Yuan camp each attacked one side, which can be said to be one of the few battles they had fought against since the Jurchens.

Although he was facing a small number of Jurchens, and the Han Banner Army was the weakest among them, Yuan Shizhong did not underestimate them at all. He immediately set up the most ferocious encirclement formation.

Although the four headquarters were all Yuan Shizhong's original subordinates, their mentality had gradually changed since they underwent reorganization and training, and they secretly harbored the idea of ​​establishing their own careers.

Although they are now all commanders in Xiao Yuan's camp, Xiao Yuan's camp is different from other Yongyi Army camps. On the surface, Xiao Yuan's camp actually exists independently of the Yongyi Army.

Therefore, although Xiao Yuan's camp only retained one battalion after reorganization, its five thousand-man headquarters did not strictly follow the organizational rules of the Yongyi Army. Each of its thousand-man headquarters had around 1,500 soldiers, which was equivalent to the combat power of a guerrilla general.

The entire Xiao Yuan Camp had a combat strength of nearly 8,000 men, which was comparable to the strength of a garrison commander, and the kind of strength that only a powerful garrison commander in a border town would have.

It was precisely because each of the captains secretly harbored their own ulterior motives: some wanted to curry favor with Yuan Shizhong, while others simply wanted to show off in front of the others.

Of course, some people did it to gain prestige, hoping to have the opportunity to meet the Earl of Yongning and join the great unity of the Yongyi Army to strive for their future.

Don't you see? Shen Jingbang and Ji Zhiying, who were under Li Jiyu's command, have already left Li Jiyu's troops to develop in other camps. Who knows, if they make more contributions in the future, they might even be able to stand on equal footing with Li Jiyu? All of us have been navigating the world for years, risking our lives to survive. To have survived to this day and become a general in Xiao Yuan's camp, aren't we all shrewd and capable?

They all see it clearly: the reason they are sticking together with Yuan Shih-chung is simply because of the current situation. After all, they have been together for a long time and have developed a tacit understanding and a sense of trust with each other.

However, if we want to continue moving forward in the future, we must break out of the small Yuanying camp and go to a larger pool to train and struggle, and that pool is the Yongyi Army.

…………

Therefore, in today's siege of Wangjiazhuang, although the enemy's scale was not large and their troops were not numerous, all the commanders went all out and left no room for retreat.

Adhering to the basic principle of bombarding rather than charging, and using guns and bows rather than engaging in close combat, they launched a barrage of artillery fire from the very beginning of the battle. Smoke and dust billowed all around Wangjiazhuang, and the sound of cannons boomed...

Fireballs rained down on the small Wangjiazhuang village as if they were free, and the already dilapidated houses could not withstand such a barrage of bombardment, collapsing instantly.

The village walls were also dilapidated from years of neglect. Although they had been repaired, they could only stop the charge of warhorses and the attack of manpower, but they were powerless to stop the bombardment of cannons.

After only one round of shelling, dozens of gaps of varying sizes appeared, including five or six large breaches that even cavalry could easily enter on horseback.

Amidst the shouts of battle, the orderly roar of muskets filled the air. As plumes of smoke rose, volleys of bullets rained down on Wangjiazhuang. The already dilapidated village walls were too heavy for even a single defender to stand on…

Several traitorous soldiers were still not convinced and mustered their courage to climb the village wall. They were about to use their muskets to fire back when, before they could even raise their muskets, three of them were shot down by a volley of muskets from the opposite Xiao Yuan camp. The remaining two fell to the ground, crying and crawling down the village wall, their bodies still trembling like leaves.

…………

Without a doubt, Wangjiazhuang was easily captured in a single charge. All 231 Manchu Plain Yellow Banner traitors in the village were annihilated, and not a single one escaped.

In this battle, Wang Shikui's vanguard and Liu Dengkai's rearguard entered the village at almost the same time. Because it was difficult to determine which unit deserved the greatest credit, they had to judge it by the number of enemies killed.

Wang Shikui's vanguard killed two more Jurchen traitors than Liu Dengkai's rearguard, so the credit for this battle went to the vanguard, which also made Wang Shikui famous in Xiao Yuan's camp.

However, Yuan Shitai's central force, which did not participate in the siege but only entered the city after Wangjiazhuang was breached, was also credited with a contribution.

Following instructions from his staff officer Zhu Chengju, Yuan Shitai's troops intensified their search for wounded but still alive Jurchen traitors after entering the village, especially the officers. This almost led to a conflict between him and Liu Dengkai in the rear.

It was because Yuan Shitai abducted three prisoners halfway through the journey that Liu Dengkai's troops lost the first merit when they were rewarded for killing two enemies.

Although Wang Yuanjing mediated afterward, and everyone outwardly let bygones be bygones, with Liu Dengkai shaking hands and making peace with Yuan Shitai, Liu Dengkai harbored some resentment towards Yuan Shitai and was also dissatisfied with Yuan Shizhong's protective behavior. (End of Chapter)