The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 595: First Battle with the Jurchen Cavalry
Just when Second Beile Amin was being fooled and almost lost his mind, the scouts finally got a useful piece of information: the main force of the Jin army was stationed in Tashan Town, about fifty miles away from Daxing Fort.

Amin was so angry that he wanted to tear all the Jin troops into pieces and capture that damn general Jia Huan and eat him alive, so without thinking, he immediately led two thousand Jurchen cavalry and attacked Tashan Town.

With the speed of the Jurchen cavalry, fifty miles was only half an hour's work, so Amin soon led the cavalry to Tashan Town. From afar, he saw a camp with waving flags and many tents, but there was no one in sight. It seemed to be an empty camp.

At this time, Amin, who was full of anger, became a little sober. He quickly raised his hand to signal the cavalry behind him to stop, and sent out several spies to find out the truth, so as to avoid falling into the opponent's trap.

Six Jurchen spies galloped out of the team, dispersed, and quickly approached the Jin army camp opposite. They first circled around and found nothing unusual. Later, they boldly broke into the camp to check and found that the cooking utensils of the fire army were still there, and there was even some food left. It can be seen that the Jin army retreated very hastily.

After hearing the scout's report, Amin was overjoyed and grinned, "You hypocritical and ridiculous Jin dog, since you don't dare to fight, why bother to provoke death? It's too late to escape now!"

"Chase!" Amin gave the order and two thousand riders galloped away again. The sound of horse hooves shook the earth and raised dust.

However, at this moment, Amin suddenly felt the mount under his crotch sink and fall rapidly. Fortunately, he had superb riding skills and quickly released the stirrups and flew out with a front flip.

Boom boom...

With a loud bang, Amin's mount let out a mournful howl and fell into a horse pit several meters deep, where it was pierced by sharp spears on the spot.

Boom boom boom…

Apparently, there were many horse traps dug on this official road. One after another, Jurchen cavalrymen were trapped and fell into the pits with their horses. Those who reacted quickly survived, but those who reacted slowly were stabbed to death with their horses. The Jurchen cavalrymen behind hurriedly reined in their horses, and in an instant, people and horses neighed, and the team was in chaos.

Amin was wearing a suit of iron armor. He stood up with great difficulty under the help of his personal soldiers. He was dizzy from the fall. He rested for a while to calm down the turbulent blood in his chest. He moved his hands and feet and found that he had no broken bones, only slight scratches. He breathed a sigh of relief. However, when he saw his mount that had been stabbed like a hedgehog by the spear, he could not help but be shocked and angry. He drew his sword and roared to the sky: "Cunning Jin dog, I will chop off your dog head!"

At this moment, a mixed Jin army of about 4,000 infantry and cavalry was retreating at full speed towards Ningyuan City. Jia Huan and Zu Tianshou were leading the army.

In order to contain the Jurchens in Jinzhou City and assist the Denglai Navy in rescuing the refugees in the Thirteen Mountains from the sea, Jia Huan made a desperate effort this time. He personally led 4,000 infantry and cavalry to advance to Tashan, using himself as bait to attract the Jurchen cavalry to chase him.

There is no doubt that he succeeded. Amin, the second prince in charge of guarding Jinzhou, was leading two thousand Jurchen cavalry to chase him, but this move was undoubtedly quite risky, because Tashan Town was about sixty miles away from Ningyuan City, and it would take two or three hours for light infantry to march at full speed. Once caught up, it would be a one-sided massacre and the entire army would most likely be wiped out.

The Jin army obviously understood that danger was approaching, so they ran as fast as they could, but how could two legs outrun four legs?
Although the Jurchen cavalry led by Amin was slowed down for half an hour by the trap set by the Jin army, they gradually caught up.

"Report! Jiannu cavalry is less than 20 miles away."

"Report! Jiannu cavalry is fifteen miles away!"

"Report..."

As urgent reports from the scouts came in like snowflakes, the Jin army couldn't help but panic, dragging their weapons and running at full speed. Some soldiers even threw away their weapons to save energy.

Zu Tianshou looked back at the clearly visible cloud of dust behind him, and cold sweat broke out on both of his hands. He then glanced at Jia Huan who was riding his horse quickly beside him, and found that he was still calm and composed. He couldn't help but admire him and feel a little ashamed. After all, he was a veteran who had experienced many battles, but his composure was not as good as that of a civil servant?
At this time, Jia Huan suddenly said, "Please ask General Zu to pass on the order. Anyone who dares to discard his weapon will be executed immediately!"

Zu Tianshou nodded and immediately shouted, "Anyone who dares to discard his weapon will be killed immediately!"

Military orders are as heavy as mountains. When the order is given, the cavalry in charge of supervising the army will patrol around the team. If they find a soldier with empty hands, they will immediately drag him out and kill him. The other soldiers are so scared that they hurriedly hold their weapons tightly for fear of losing them.

At this time, the Jurchen cavalry behind him were getting closer and closer, and the sound of horse hooves could be faintly heard. However, they were still at least twenty miles away from Ningyuan City, so it was impossible for them to escape.

Jia Huan looked back and saw dust all over the sky. A dark cloud-like thing was approaching rapidly from behind. Its momentum was truly frightening.

Jia Huan could not help but frown. The Jurchen cavalry arrived faster than he expected. He was afraid that they would not have time to enter the city. It seemed that he had to activate the backup plan. So he turned around and ordered: "Tie Niu and Shi Tou, you lead the light cavalry to guard the rear. Remember, do not fight with your own strength." Tie Niu and Shi Tou nodded sternly, and led 500 light cavalry to turn around and meet the enemy, while Jia Huan and Zu Tianshou led the main force of the army to quickly turn to the nearby Lianshan City.

Lianshan City is located twenty miles southeast of Ningyuan City, only two miles away from where they are now. Although it is far smaller than Ningyuan City and has no moat, it is at least blocked by city walls, which is better than a field battle with the Jiannu cavalry.

Moreover, as a backup plan, Jia Huan and Sun Chengzong also made preparations in advance and stored food and supplies for defending the city, enough for a team of thousands of people to hold out for half a month.

The second prince, Amin, had been teased repeatedly in recent days, and even his beloved mount had died in a horse pit. He was now burning with anger. Seeing that the fleeing Jin army was already within reach, he was ecstatic and roared ferociously: "Listen to my orders, kill all the Jin dogs!"

The Jurchen cavalrymen also shouted and roared excitedly, like hunters who saw their prey, spurring their horses and waving their swords: "Kill!"

At this time, a group of light cavalry suddenly came out from the Jin army and rushed over. Amin was stunned. These light cavalry of the Jin army actually had the courage to fight against his Manchu cavalry. They were really brave, but they were just going to die, hehe!
When the two cavalry units were about fifty meters apart, the sound of gunfire rang out, and the Jin army's musketeers fired first. However, the front row of the Jurchen cavalry were all wearing armored cavalry, and the power of the muskets was not enough to penetrate the armor, so the damage caused was not great.

"Shoot!" Amin grinned and bent his bow and drew his arrow. With a buzzing sound, countless sharp arrows shot up into the sky and fell like raindrops, heading straight for the light cavalry of the Jin army.

Shitou and Tieniu felt their scalps tingling involuntarily. They wielded their weapons so tightly that the arrows were swept down with clanging sounds. However, not all Jin cavalrymen had such skills. In addition, the light cavalry did not carry shields, which put them at a disadvantage. Therefore, when a wave of arrows rained down on them, they fell down on the spot like wheat being cut.

boom……

The distance of fifty meters was reached in the blink of an eye. Both sides only had time to launch a round of long-range attacks before hand-to-hand combat. Instantly, the sky was filled with sword lights and blood mist, and heads of people rolled and broken limbs flew everywhere.

Tie Niu was extremely strong and cut down a Jurchen cavalryman with one blow, while he shouted, "Shitou, Third Master said we can't fight!"

In fact, Shitou didn't need Tieniu's reminder. He didn't dare to fight anymore. It was too disadvantageous to use light cavalry against iron cavalry. If it wasn't for delaying time and allowing the main force to enter the city, he wouldn't even want to fight in close combat. So he rushed forward diagonally while fighting.

The fighting power of the Jurchen cavalry was truly terrifying, like a landslide. In just a short period of time, the close combat lasted for a cup of tea, and the Jin army lost nearly sixty of its five hundred light cavalry. They quickly broke away from the contact and rushed north.

Fortunately, the advantage of light cavalry is their fast speed. The Jurchen cavalry gave up chasing them after a while and turned to chase the large force of the Jin army.

At this time, Jia Huan and others had already rushed to the north gate of Lianshan City. The defenders in the city had opened the gate in advance, and the army swarmed in.

When the Jurchen cavalry chased to the city, there were still about a hundred people who had not had time to enter the city. In order to cover the remaining brothers, the two Portuguese cannons on the top of the city opened fire at full speed.

Boom boom boom...

Fierce artillery fire and arrow rain poured down from the top of the city wall, and the Jurchen cavalry that was rushing up like a raging wave was immediately blocked. However, these Jurchen cavalry were obviously very experienced in combat, and the team immediately dispersed and launched attacks from blind spots on both sides.

The general defending the city was obviously afraid of being attacked by the Jurchen cavalry, so he ordered the city gates to be closed without waiting for all the Jin troops to enter the city. Dozens of Jin soldiers who did not have time to enter the city were shot to death at the city gates by the Jurchens' sharp arrows.

At this time, Jia Huan had already climbed to the top of the city wall. Seeing the Jurchen cavalry rushing towards the city like a raging wave, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

It can be seen that the individual combat effectiveness of these Jurchen cavalrymen is very high, and they are fearless of death, especially the armored soldiers in the front row. They held up their shields to protect their brothers behind them, and rushed on their horses under the rain of arrows from the top of the city wall, all the way to the city gate, and then slashed the city gate with their swords. Soon, the copper-plated city gate was chopped into pieces. If they continued to chop, they might really chop down the city gate.

However, the defenders in the city would naturally not give them such an opportunity. A "Ten Thousand Enemies" bomb was thrown down in time. With a loud bang, it blew people and horses to the ground, causing countless casualties.

"Ten Thousand Enemies" was one of the Jin army's most important weapons for defending the city. It was made of oilcloth wrapped with hundreds of kilograms of gunpowder, filled with gravel, iron nails, etc., and the surface was covered with mud and allowed to dry. It was about the size of a water tank and stored on a wooden frame. When used, one only had to ignite the fuse and throw it under the city. The power of the explosion was quite terrifying. Just one bomb was enough to kill a dozen Jurchen cavalrymen who were gathered in front of the city gate to chop down the door.

(End of this chapter)