weaving

How confident are we in Chapter 1598?
On the Wang'erzhuang side, Tang Tong felt confident because he had Cao Bianjiao's troops by his side. After all, they had fought against the Tartars together in Liaodong, and Tang Tong was very clear about Cao Bianjiao's abilities and performance.

Tang Tong had personally witnessed the formidable reputation of the night raid on the enemy chieftain!
Upon receiving the initial warning, Tang Tong immediately deployed defenses. Both his and Cao Bianjiao's camps were equipped with cannons and rapid-fire muskets produced in Yunzhou, which they had purchased from Zhang Cheng. Their power was far superior to that of the Jurchen Han army.

Tang Tong and Cao Bianjiao did not set up separate camps. They used Wang'erzhuang as the center, built a defensive line based on the original village walls, and stored the grain and supplies there. They also set up two camps on the left and right sides of Wang'erzhuang, and the two of them stationed troops to guard the core camp of Wang'erzhuang.

The two sides fought fiercely all day, but no clear winner emerged.

Tang Tong's camp was breached twice by Liu Zhiyuan's Bordered Yellow Banner Han Army, but he managed to repel them both times. Although he suffered considerable losses, he managed to hold the camp without it being breached.

As darkness fell, Tang Tong immediately organized his soldiers to repair the defensive positions and intensify efforts to treat the wounded. The lightly wounded were bandaged and returned to their posts to prepare for the next day's battle.

However, Cao Bianjiao's situation is quite different.

As expected of a valiant general, Cao Bianjiao did not simply defend his camp and passively endure attacks. Instead, he led his elite cavalry out of the camp three times to attack Hushibu's Mongol Bordered Blue Banner Northern Barbarians, forcing them to retreat and cease their attack.

They even charged into Hushibu's central army formation at one point, but due to the exhaustion of their warhorses and soldiers, they failed to defeat Hushibu's Mongol Bordered Blue Banner Northern Barbarians in one fell swoop.

However, after the ceasefire that night, Hu Shibu and Liu Zhiyuan retreated nearly fifteen miles away and chose a hilly highland to set up camp. This was probably because of Cao Bianjiao's fierce attack, and they did so to avoid being attacked and harassed by him again.

…………

Meanwhile, at the Ming army camp in Sucunji to the west, the Jurchen troops led by Dulei, Tongtulai, and Li Guohan failed to break through the defenses of Zhou Yuji and Zhang Dengke.

However, the situation here is different from that of Tang Tong and Cao Bianjiao.

Zhang Dengke's troops were stationed in a camp east of Sucunji, near a small river, while Zhou Yuji's troops were stationed inside Sucunji.

After arriving with his troops, Du Lei quickly determined to focus his main attack on Zhang Dengke's forces, aiming to defeat them, cut off the water supply to Sucunji, and then besiege them to force them to surrender.

The main force attacking Zhang Dengke's camp was led by the traitorous army of Tong Tulai and Li Guohan, while Du Lei's Plain Red Banner was positioned outside Sucunji, mainly responsible for blocking Zhou Yuji's troops from going to support Zhang Dengke.

Li Guohan was originally from Qinghe, under the jurisdiction of Tieling Guard in Liaodong Town of the Ming Dynasty. In the first year of the Tianqi reign of the Ming Dynasty, when the Jurchens attacked Liaoyang, he surrendered to Nurhaci along with his father, Li Jixue.

His father, Li Jixue, was originally a merchant in Liaodong during the Ming Dynasty. Because he often traded with various Jurchen tribes, he was very familiar with the Jurchen tribes and was also fluent in the Tartar language. So, on the surface, he was doing business, but on the surface, he was also collecting intelligence on the Jurchens for the Ming army. He could be considered a secret spy for the Ming Dynasty.

However, it was this experience as a Ming Dynasty military spy that allowed him to not only make money through business but also gain a deeper understanding of the Jurchen tribes and, through this, to meet Nurhaci.

Therefore, when Nurhaci captured Liaoyang, Li Jixue surrendered to the Jurchens with his son and continued to use his expertise to engage in espionage and counter-espionage work.

While Li Guohan's appointment as the Gushan Ejen of the Bordered Blue Banner of the Jurchen Han Army was partly due to the influence of his ancestors, it was mainly due to the military achievements he earned through his own battles.

This time, Li Guohan was also determined to make a name for himself, surpassing other Han bannermen to become the most capable Han army in the Qing Dynasty, so as to secure a bright future for his descendants.

In the eyes of these Han traitors and generals who had surrendered to the Jurchens, Huang Taiji was truly a wise ruler sent from heaven. They firmly believed that Huang Taiji would one day rule the Central Plains and make the Jurchens replace the Ming Dynasty as the rulers of the world. It was under the stimulation of this mentality that Li Guohan and Tong Tulai fought with all their might, sparing no effort and using their best skills to desperately charge into Zhang Dengke's camp.

Faced with such a powerful and fierce offensive, Zhang Dengke was naturally unable to withstand it. He immediately sent people to Sucunji to ask Zhou Yuji for help, but several waves of troops were blocked and turned back...

Left with no other option, Zhang Dengke ordered his men to set fire to the middle of the camp, hoping that Zhou Yuji would see the thick black smoke rising into the sky and send troops to rescue him.

…………

In fact, Zhou Yuji had already realized that the situation was not good.

Seeing that Zhang Dengke's side was fighting fiercely, while he had no Tartars on his side, he guessed that the Tartars must have a conspiracy. However, all the scouts he sent out were intercepted, and he could not find out any information.

Zhou Yuji naturally wouldn't wait idly. He made a decisive move and personally led his elite troops out of the camp, heading straight for Zhang Dengke's camp.

However, they encountered fierce resistance from the Red Banner of Dulei halfway through. Although Zhou Yuji was ruthless and skilled in battle, and his cavalry were no cowards, the disparity in troop strength was too great, and they were fighting unprepared against a well-prepared force, so it was inevitable that they would suffer a loss.

However, Zhou Yuji's reputation as a fierce general in the late Ming Dynasty was not unfounded; there must be a reason for it.

After returning to his camp, he immediately assembled all his troops. Apart from leaving 1,000 infantrymen to garrison the Sucunji camp, he sent out more than 2,000 cavalrymen and 1,500 infantrymen to rescue Zhang Dengke.

Zhou Yuji now had only one thought in his mind—to rescue Zhang Dengke from the Tartar siege and then work together to resist the Tartar attack.

He led the way with cavalry and followed by infantry, preventing Du Lei from completing the encirclement in a short time. He fought his way through with fierce attacks and actually managed to carve out a bloody path.

However, Zhang Dengke's side had already broken through the defenses of the Jurchen traitors' army, and seeing that the camp could no longer be held, he had no choice but to follow Zhou Yuji back to the Sucunji camp.

On their return journey, they were once again ambushed by the Manchu Plain Red Banner. Although they managed to escape in a bloody battle, Zhou Yuji and Zhang Dengke suffered losses once more, especially Zhang Dengke's troops, which were reduced to less than half their original strength.

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"Are you crazy..." Tang Tong stared wide-eyed at Cao Bianjiao: "We've been fighting all day and need a good rest to prepare for tomorrow's battle, but you want to launch a night raid on the enemy. If you don't win, what will you do tomorrow?"

Cao Bianjiao's expression was resolute, and he said in a serious voice, "Even if we don't launch a night attack on the Jurchens tonight, do you think we can hold out tomorrow?"

Tang Tong's expression tightened, his emotions shifting uncertainly. After a quarter of an hour, he finally said, "But... how confident are we in launching a night raid on the slave bandits?"

“I’m not sure…” Cao Bianjiao grinned. “It’s precisely because I’m not sure that I have to fight to the death. If I were 100% sure, I wouldn’t be willing to put in the effort.”

After he finished speaking, he got up to leave, but after taking two steps he stopped and turned to ask, "Brother Tang, I only need one word from you: are you willing to join me in a night raid on the Jurchens?"