The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 621: Battle of Ningyuan (Part )

The Jurchen army was like a flood that broke through the dam, with thousands of shield carts leading the charge. These formed a tight wall and slowly advanced forward. Following them came the feared Jurchen cavalry, with men and horses wearing armor, like a torrent of steel, their horses' hooves causing the earth to shake and mountains to collapse.

Boom boom boom...

The Portuguese artillery on the top of the city opened fire first. Although this breech-loading smoothbore artillery was not as powerful as the Red Cannon, it had the advantage of a fast firing rate. Countless shrapnel and solid bullets poured down, exploding in the enemy's formation, causing people and horses to fall to the ground, with blood and flesh flying everywhere.

Solid bullets are the most powerful. If they hit a shield cart, the cart will be destroyed and the people on it will be killed. If they hit a horse, both the person and the horse will be killed, but the killing area is too small. Shrapnel bullets are relatively weak in power, but the killing area is large. One shot can injure a large area.

Although the Jin army's artillery fire was fierce and caused great casualties to the enemy, the Jurchen soldiers were unfazed and continued to rush forward fearlessly, and soon reached the front of the trench.

It is said that Jia Huan ordered his men to dig two trenches around Ningyuan City, each more than ten meters wide and more than ten feet deep, to block the charge of the Jurchen cavalry. At this time, the Jurchen shield carts were blocked when they advanced to the first trench. The Jin army on the top of the city took the opportunity to shoot and shoot arrows, madly harvesting lives.

Arrows rained down and bullets flew like locusts, making the Jurchens unable to raise their heads. However, these Jurchens were indeed experienced in combat and had a very clear division of labor. They used a shield wall composed of armored cavalry and shield carts to block in front, archers fired back on the top of the city, and engineers transported soil to fill the trenches.

The two sides fought fiercely for more than half an hour. The Jurchen army suffered heavy casualties and finally retreated like a tide, leaving behind nearly a thousand corpses. The ground was truly littered with corpses and blood.

The first wave of attack by the Jurchen army ended in failure, but it was not without gain. At least the first trench was half filled, and some places were even passable.

Seeing the Jurchens retreating, leaving behind countless corpses, the defenders on the city walls cheered thunderously and their morale reached its peak.

Wu Sangui glanced at Jia Huan, who still looked calm, and asked in confusion, "There is one thing I don't understand, Lord Jia, why didn't you use the more powerful Red Cannon?"

"I have my reasons!" Jia Huan said calmly. Wu Sangui's eyes flashed, and he tactfully did not ask any more questions.

About an hour later, the Jurchen army launched another attack, but this time they attacked from all sides. The scale of the attack was not large and was obviously tentative. On the one hand, they were looking for weak points in the city defense, and on the other hand, they were consuming the defenders' ammunition.

The guards on the top of the city were not stupid either. They stopped the bombardment and only used arrows and stones to deal with the enemy's attack, trying to save ammunition. Although there were a lot of ammunition and supplies stored on Juehua Island, it was not easy to transport them in under the eyes of the Jin soldiers, so they tried to save as much as possible.

When the sun set, Nurhaci finally ordered his troops to return to the camp.

Although the city was not captured today and more than a thousand people were killed or injured, Nurhaci was not moved at all. A veteran like him who had experienced hundreds of battles was already accustomed to it. More than a thousand deaths and injuries were just a drizzle to him. As the saying goes, a battle is built on the bones of thousands of soldiers. There is a price to be paid for fighting.

After two attempts at attack, Nurhaci thought he had figured out the strength of Ningyuan City and was well aware of the weak links in its defense. As long as he formulated an attack strategy tonight, he would be able to capture Ningyuan City in two days and chop off Jia Huan's son's head!
…………

The ninth month of the lunar calendar was already deep autumn in Liao, especially at night, when it was chilly. At this moment, Jia Huan and his generals were standing on the east wall of Ningyuan City, including General Zu Tianshou, Deputy General Wu Sangui, Lieutenant General Zhao Lujiao, Lieutenant General Tiehu, Lieutenant General Zhang Guizhang of the Navy, and Guerrilla Generals Xing Wei and Tie Niu.

Just as it was getting dark, Admiral Zhang Guizhang of the Navy took advantage of the cover of night to transport several ships of ammunition from Juehua Island to the shore and sent them into the city through the west gate, so that the ammunition consumed in the city that day was replenished.

At this time, all the generals were looking in the direction of the Jurchen camp, with expectant expressions.

It is said that Nurhaci set up his military camp about five miles east of Ningyuan City, thinking it was very safe. However, he made a mistake by underestimating the range of the Jin army's artillery.

That's right, the old-fashioned Portuguese artillery used by the Jin army, even the longest-range General Cannon, could only fire one or two miles. However, the red cannon that Jia Huan seized from Westerners had a range of five or six miles, and the two heaviest ones could even reach ten miles, enough to crack a stone city.

In other words, at this moment the Jin soldiers' camp was completely within the range of the Red Cannon. This was also the reason why Jia Huan did not use the Red Cannon during the day, so as not to expose the range of the Red Cannon and arouse Nurhaci's vigilance.

At this time, Jia Huan only uttered two words indifferently: "Fire!"

The artillery positions at the two east corners of the city had been ready long ago. The four red cannons were loaded with ammunition, and the angles were also adjusted by Mandarin herself. Following Jia Huan's order, the gunners immediately lit the fuse.

Boom-boom-boom-boom!

The red cannon let out an earth-shattering roar, tearing the silence of the cold night in late autumn into pieces, as if the sky was falling and the earth was splitting apart, and the burning fireballs roared towards the Jin soldiers' camp.

Most of the Jin soldiers in the camp had fallen asleep, but were awakened by the sudden sound of artillery fire. They hurriedly got up, and then heard a terrifying scream, followed by a loud bang, the ground shook, and sand and rocks fell everywhere!
A Jin soldier ran out of the tent and saw a huge radioactive mud pit on the ground nearby. The air was filled with a burnt smell. Just as he was stunned, there was another sharp scream, and a cannonball fell with a long tongue of fire and hit a tent.

--boom!

The tent and the Jin soldiers inside were instantly reduced to dust, and a raging fire engulfed them. Broken limbs flew everywhere, and the Jin soldiers around were drenched in blood and flesh. At this time, the Jin soldiers realized what had happened, and at this time, the shells from the top of Ningyuan City were still flying, blowing people and horses to the ground. The Jin soldiers' camp soon fell into a sea of ​​fire, with people screaming and horses neighing, and chaos.

Ajige, Dorgon, Amin and others rushed out of the camp and rushed towards the Khan's tent in the central army. Someone shouted: "Protect the Khan!"

Suddenly there was a loud bang and a violent explosion occurred in the rear camp of the Jin soldiers. A mushroom cloud rose into the sky and the horrific shock wave swept across, overturning countless tents. The nearby war horses and Jin soldiers were shocked and bled from all their orifices. Everything in the middle of the explosion, whether it was people or objects, was completely destroyed.

It turned out that the temporary warehouse where gunpowder was stored in the rear camp of the Jin soldiers was hit by artillery fire, triggering a series of explosions with incredible power. Even Jia Huan and others standing on the top of the city wall felt the shock wave coming towards them.

"Haha, we must have hit the Jiannu's medicine storehouse!" Xing Wei laughed wildly, pointing at the Jin soldiers' camp. The generals were also overjoyed, clapping and cheering as they watched the flames rising into the sky.

Boom boom boom...

The Jin army's artillery bombardment continued, and one of the shells hit the Khan's tent, instantly collapsing half of it. The scorching temperature ignited the tent cloth.

"Father Khan!"

Dorgon and others arrived just in time and were so frightened when they saw this scene that they rushed forward in a swarm and rescued Nurhaci from under the collapsed tent.

"Ahem, I'm fine... Agultai, immediately order the entire army to retreat. Amin, Ajige, each of you lead the cavalry to guard the rear to prevent the Jin army from pursuing us!"

Nurhaci was indeed a commander who had experienced many battles. Even though he was covered in dust and looked extremely embarrassed at the moment, he still remained calm.

"Understood sir!" Gultai and others hurriedly took the order and left, leaving only Dorgon to guard Nurhaci.

"Are you okay, Father?" Dorgon supported Nurhaci and asked him with concern. Nurhaci coughed and shook his head, saying, "It's okay. Help me... Wow!"

Nurhaci spat out a mouthful of blood before he finished speaking, obviously he was injured internally. Dorgon was shocked and blurted out: "Father, you are injured!"

Nurhaci hurriedly shouted, "Shut up, don't make any noise, help me get on the horse."

Dorgon dared not say anything more and hurriedly helped Nurhaci onto the horse. He felt that the latter was trembling all over, as if he couldn't even stand steadily. He was horrified and shouted repeatedly: "Protect the Khan, retreat!"

Dorgon protected his father and retreated eastward in a hurry. The Jin soldiers even abandoned their tents and evacuated in a hurry. However, they were a powerful army after all, and even the retreat was orderly in chaos. The two beiles, Amin and Ajige, each led a thousand cavalry to cover the rear.

At this time, the east gate of Ningyuan City suddenly opened, the drawbridge was lowered, and a group of armored cavalry swarmed out and rushed towards the Jin army's camp.

That’s right, the cavalry that rushed out of the city at this time was none other than the Guanning Iron Cavalry! !

It took Jia Huan nearly two years to build this 3,000-man cavalry. The soldiers and horses were equipped with armor and their power should not be underestimated. They were led by three powerful generals: Wu Sangui, Tiehu and Mangui.

At this time, a large number of cavalry rushed out of the city. The heavy iron hooves made a rumbling sound, as if they were going to crush the earth. Their power was so terrifying that even Kemin and Ajige changed color slightly when they saw it.

"Oh my goodness, this kid Jia Huan actually secretly trained an armored cavalry. This is trouble!" Ajige gasped.

This Ajige was the Fifth Beile who used the alias Zhu Jinfu, the twelfth son of Nurhaci, and the brother of Dorgon. In Yangzhou, Ajige and Dorgon used aliases to join the pirate Kang Dayong and had dealings with Jia Huan.

Let's get back to the topic. Wu Sangui, Tiehu and Mangui each led a thousand armored cavalry and crushed towards the Jin army camp, like a tiger descending from the mountain or a dragon emerging from the sea.

To be honest, these three thousand armored cavalry are the trump card in Jia Huan's hand, and he is reluctant to use them easily. Now that he sees the Jin soldiers retreating, he can release them for a charge and practice at the same time.

"Kill!" Amin and Ajige led their respective cavalry to meet the Guanning Iron Cavalry.

Boom boom...

The troops of both sides collided fiercely, and a brutal fight broke out, while the red cannons on the top of the city were still pouring down on the Jin army camp.

(End of this chapter)