weaving

Chapter 1613 Disengage from the Battle!

A dramatic scene unfolded on the narrow stretch of land, just over two miles long, from the east gate of Zhaojialing Village to the official road.

The Jurchen army on the official road remained completely detached, maintaining a fairly orderly formation as they slowly made their way south, seemingly unrelated to the carnage beneath the road.

Meanwhile, in the open fields below the official road, four cavalry units were engaged in a fierce battle, chasing each other back and forth...

Morigen led his less than 500 rangers, galloping straight to the west of the Guleta tribe's Tatar cavalry, his intention being quite clear: to sever the Tatar cavalry's connection with the official road.

Meanwhile, Ahanikan was right behind Morigen's cavalry, chasing after them. His Tatar cavalry was only two hundred paces away from Morigen's troops.

Guleta was unaware of Morigen's intentions and had no time to pay attention to the Ming cavalry that had charged out of Zhaojialing Village. He had no time to change the direction of his charge and could only grit his teeth and head towards Morigen's troops.

The most eye-catching were the Ming cavalry who rushed out from the west gate of Zhaojialing Village. They were roughly in rows of five, and after rushing out of the west gate, they headed straight for Guleta. Although they scattered slightly after leaving the village, the cavalry stretched for a mile, making quite an impressive sight.

As it was a place of great interest to many Jurchen Tartars, the moment the west gate of Zhao Jialing Manor opened, Baiyintu frowned and stared intently at the cavalrymen.

As the last cavalryman galloped out of the west gate, a smile appeared on Baiyintu's lips: "Order the warriors to mount their horses and follow Bengushan to take that abandoned village ahead."

As he spoke, he strode towards the warhorse two zhang away, grabbed the saddle armrest, stepped onto the stirrup with one foot, and with a graceful flip, leaped onto the horse's back and sat steadily on the saddle.

At the same time, Akdun led five hundred carefully selected warriors from the Jianzhou Bordered Yellow Banner, all leaping onto their horses, each holding the reins in one hand, awaiting Baiyintu's final charge command.

Without a word, Baiyintu gripped the reins of his warhorse with his left hand and held a short wolf-tooth club in his right. After swinging it in a circle in the air, he spurred his horse toward Zhaojialing, with five hundred elite Jurchen cavalry close behind...

…………

Xiang Jinbao galloped in the middle of the cavalry and shouted, "Spread the word to the front and back: be careful to avoid the Tartars' arrows, get as close as possible, and blast them with your pistols!"

The cavalrymen in front and behind him immediately shouted the order, quickly relaying it to every soldier in the unit. Moments later, the order was relayed back from the front and back until it reached Jinbao's ears, letting him know that the entire cavalry had heard it.

It happened quickly, no sooner said than done.

In just a short while, Xiang Jinbao had already approached the flank of the Tartar cavalry. Han Zhenggang, the captain in the lead, took the lead and, unafraid of the arrows and flying axes and javelins thrown by the Tartars, moved diagonally towards the Tartar cavalry.

When they were fifty or sixty paces away from the Tartar soldiers, Commander Han Zhenggang gave a whistle and led his cavalry to approach the Tartars from the east, braving the Tartars' arrows and flying axes, until they were thirty or forty paces away.

"beat!"

As Han Zheng shouted, he held the reins with his left hand to control the horse's speed, turned his body slightly to the left, and raised his right hand to fire a shot. In a flash of smoke, a deadly bullet flew away—it was unknown which Tartar soldier's life it would reap!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!..." The pistols exploded one after another, and deadly bullets flew out incessantly. Occasionally, bullets hit flying arrows and throwing axes, and were intercepted halfway. Although the two sides passed each other in an instant, both the Tartar soldiers and the Vermilion Bird Camp's cavalrymen were wounded and fell from their horses.

However, when comparing the two sides, it was indeed the Tartar soldiers who suffered more casualties. After all, even with two or three layers of armor, it is difficult for a human body to withstand the bombardment of handgun bullets.

Moreover, it was at such a close distance.
Even if the Tartar soldiers wearing three layers of armor could not penetrate the armor when the bullets were fired, the force at such close range was so astonishing that it would still cause them unbearable pain, and they might even faint and fall off their horses.

Furthermore, many of the hand cannons were actually aimed at the Tartar soldiers' warhorses. No matter how strong those warhorses were, they could not withstand the bombardment of the hand cannons. Once hit, they would immediately fall to the ground and be unable to move.

Of course, some of the cavalrymen on Xiang Jinbao's side also fell from their horses. Some were shot by Tartar arrows, while others had their horses shot by Tartar soldiers. However, the number of them was much smaller than that of the Tartar soldiers, and most of their injuries were not fatal.

Moreover, most of the Vermilion Bird Camp rangers who fell from their horses were rescued and helped onto their own warhorses by the knights behind them, and very few actually ended up on the battlefield.

…………

The most tragic group was the Jianzhou Bordered Yellow Banner Tartar soldiers led by Guleta. They were attacked from both sides by a thousand Zhuque Camp cavalry, truly caught between a rock and a hard place. Although they fought back with all their might, relying on ranged weapons such as bows and arrows and throwing axes, casualties were inevitable.

Guleta originally intended to rush out and join Ahanikan, who was charging towards him, but unexpectedly, the rear of Morigen's cavalry unit connected with the head of Xiang Jinbao's cavalry unit, completely encircling his Bordered Yellow Banner Tartar troops.

Faced with the musket fire of the Vermilion Bird Camp cavalry, Guleta was unable to break through their encirclement. He roared in anger, but was powerless to do anything. He could only turn back north, hoping to rejoin Bayintu who was on his way.

At this moment, Guleta was surrounded by the Vermilion Bird Camp's rangers, forming a large circle around him. The smoke from the occasional gunfire and the dust kicked up by the galloping horses completely obscured Guleta's vision.

Guleta had no idea that Baiyintu had already run towards Zhaojialing and did not come to help him; otherwise, he would have collapsed and screamed in despair...

However, Ahanikan's side performed very well. His Tatar troops suffered few losses, and with him personally leading the way, they quickly broke through the encirclement of the rangers.

However, instead of rushing north to meet Guleta, he ordered his Tartar soldiers to chase after Morgen's troops, who were separated from Guleta by the official road.

With a soft "thump," a colored bullet shot towards Jinbao's cavalry, soaring into the sky before exploding with a "bang"...

If it weren't during the day, it would surely have created a stunning display of fireworks!
The moment the paintball exploded, Morgen's rangers seemed to receive some kind of instruction. They quickly disengaged from the battle and, like cunning rabbits, headed northeast along the main road.

At the same time, the five hundred rangers heading towards Jinbao ceased their fighting and sped off in the southeast, showing no reluctance to leave the battlefield.

Both of their cavalry squads used the same tactics: the soldiers lagging behind the cavalry would casually toss out lumps of iron, which would explode shortly after landing, sending dust, grass clippings, and grayish-white smoke billowing into the air and completely obscuring the Tartar soldiers' vision.

Both sides were the same, with more than ten men each capable of fighting ten thousand men being thrown out, completely cutting off the possibility of the Tartar soldiers pursuing them!