The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 626 Decisive Battle (Part )

On September 20th of the tenth year of Qiansheng, the west wind was blowing fiercely, and war clouds were gathering over the sky of Ningyuan City. The passing birds fled in panic, as if they also sensed the cold and heavy murderous aura.

At this moment, the three armies that came to support, totaling 60,000 people, all followed Jia Huan's orders and lined up in front of Ningyuan City, with their backs against the high walls and defending the trenches, facing the Jurchen army head-on.

Southeast of the city, the Jurchen army also deployed their battle formations. They were a black mass, with spears like a forest and horses like dragons, flags covering the sky. The rows of shield carts were connected into layer upon layer of iron walls. Countless spears poked out from the gaps between the shield carts, flashing cold light that made people's scalps numb.

The individual combat power of the Jurchens was far superior to that of the Jin army, and they had the advantage in manpower at the moment. So when Nurhaci learned that the reinforcements of the Jin army did not enter the city but were lined up outside the city, he was surprised and happy. He immediately sent his troops forward to avenge the arrow.

As for the general Ma Shilong of Qiantun, the general Jiang Yingzhao of Shanhaiguan, and the military supervisor Yan Mingqin, they were all frightened and trembling at the sight of the overwhelming Jurchen army approaching them. If they had not had the Ningyuan City behind them, they would have probably run away.

In recent years, the Jin army has been really scared by the Jurchens, and the fear of the Jurchen army is almost engraved in their bones. Unlike the soldiers under Jia Huan, who have at least defeated the Jurchens and basically overcome their fear of the Jurchens, the soldiers under Ma Shilong and others have not done so, so they are still very afraid of the Jurchens. At this time, watching the Jurchen army coming, their formation has begun to become uneasy before the battle has even started.

At this moment, Nurhaci was perched high on his horse in the Jurchen army formation, looking at the Jin army arrayed opposite him, with a flash of disdain in his eyes. He stroked his beard and said, "Jia Huan only won a small victory by a sneak attack, but he actually dared to go out of the city and fight this Khan head-on. His courage is commendable, but he is extremely stupid!"

Amin, Yugurtai, Ajige and Dorgon, four great and small beiles, surrounded Nurhaci. With the naked eye, one could see that the formation of the Jin army was in turmoil, which showed that the enemy soldiers must be very scared at this moment.

Amin sneered, "Without the protection of the high walls, these cowardly Jin dogs will probably flee at the first sight. Khan, let me lead the charge. I guarantee that not a single Jin dog will be left alive."

Nurhaci nodded and said, "Okay! Go!"

beep...

The attack horn sounded, and the Jurchen army's shield chariot formation immediately pressed forward, followed by armored cavalry, and then light cavalry. The rumbling sound of horse hooves shook the earth.

On the top of the city wall, all the generals were sweating. The general Zu Tianshou said in a deep voice: "I'm afraid Ma Shilong and his men can't resist!"

Sure enough, as soon as the words were spoken, some of the Jin army under the city tried to escape from their positions. However, they were shot dead by the supervisory team on the top of the city before they had escaped far.

It turned out that Jia Huan had anticipated this situation, so he specially selected a thousand sharpshooters with excellent spear and archery skills to form a supervision team, and stood on the top of the city to supervise the battle. Any soldier who left the battle formation would be killed immediately!

"The governor has issued an order that those who are loyal to the country will be rewarded generously, and those who desert in battle will be killed without mercy!" The loudspeaker shouted in a stern voice.

After a dozen soldiers who tried to escape were ruthlessly shot, no one dared to flee anymore. They could only grit their teeth and hold their weapons tightly, staring at the Jurchen army coming from the opposite side. Their originally fearful eyes gradually became firm.

This is human nature. When there is absolutely no way out, people will give it a try. The fear in their hearts will turn into endless motivation to fight. They will die anyway, so instead of dying in worthless humiliation, they might as well take someone with them to die with them. Even if they die, their family will receive generous compensation!
Of course, Jia Huan would not let his own men die in vain, and relying solely on high-pressure tactics could only temporarily make the soldiers obey, and would ultimately be unpopular. The most brilliant way of commanding soldiers was to make the soldiers willingly die.

So when he saw that the enemy was at a suitable distance, Jia Huan decisively gave the order: "Fire!"

Boom boom boom...

The artillery on the top of the city wall roared immediately, and with the earth-shaking sound, shells poured into the enemy camp one after another, blowing people and horses to the ground, with blood and flesh flying everywhere, and casualties everywhere.

Seeing such an exciting scene, the 60,000 Jin troops outside the city were all greatly encouraged and the fear in their hearts quickly subsided.

"Kill!" The Jurchen army shouted and continued to advance forward amid the continuous artillery fire. Catapults, Huihui cannons, Portuguese cannons and other weapons were also used to bombard the Jin army's positions. When they were within the range of bows and arrows, wave after wave of arrows poured down madly.

The Jin army also fought back frantically. Three-barreled guns, matchlock guns, bowl-mouth guns, tiger-crouching cannons, and all kinds of firearms were used in the battle. The sound of the cannons was like thunder, and the sound of the guns was like popping beans.

Under the interweaving of terrifying firepower, human lives were like grass, falling one after another. When both sides were blood-thirsty, they no longer had any fear, but just mechanically performed repetitive actions, using all the weapons in their hands to kill the enemy until they fell. A tragic battle lasted for nearly an hour, and both sides suffered heavy casualties. In the end, the defending side took advantage. The Jurchen army, which had been unable to attack for a long time, could only retreat temporarily, recharge its strength, and prepare to launch a second wave of attacks. The Jin army took the time to repair fortifications, collect corpses, and treat the wounded. All the wounded were sent to the city for treatment as soon as possible, and the logistics supply was smooth and sufficient.

The Jin troops outside the city were originally quite resentful, but now they had calmed down. Moreover, they had withstood the first wave of fierce attacks from the Jurchens, which gave them confidence. In addition, they had sufficient ammunition supplies, so they were even more confident.

Amin thought that one wave of attack would be enough to defeat the Jin army outside the city, but he hit a wall. He became angry and humiliated. Only half an hour later, he gathered more troops and launched a second wave of offensive. However, he was still stubbornly repelled, with more than a thousand casualties.

Dorgon frowned and said, "Father Khan, the Jin army is defending the city with its back to the city, and has the best terrain. The Jin army on the top of the city is using cannons, crossbows, muskets and other long-range weapons to cover the Jin army outside the city. They are a great threat to us. We can't attack them brute force anymore. We have to make a long-term plan."

Seeing that Amin was about to launch a third wave of attack, Nurhaci hurriedly called a halt, temporarily called off the troops and retreated, gathering his generals to discuss countermeasures.

Watching the Jurchens retreat like a tide, the Jin army outside the city was overjoyed and then cheered.

"Damn it! It turns out that the Jiannu aren't so powerful after all. We still defeated them!" Ma Shilong spat fiercely. The soldiers under his command were also smiling and proud.

Before, they were very afraid of the Jurchens and wanted to run away. Now that they had resisted the attack, their confidence was boosted and their minds naturally became active. Who among the soldiers didn't want to be made a marquis immediately? This was a real military achievement. Let alone defeating Nurhaci, if they could keep Ningyuan City under Nurhaci's attack, it would also be a feat worth boasting about.

As a result, the three Jin troops outside the city went from being afraid of fighting at the beginning to gradually gaining morale, and even becoming eager to try.

Jia Huan on the top of the city wall naturally noticed the changes in the Jin army and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Although he was always calm and composed, he was actually quite nervous at the beginning, fearing that the three Jin troops outside the city would be hopeless and would collapse after not being able to withstand the first wave. Now that he has successfully resisted, his courage has been shown, which can be said to be a good start.

However, Jia Huan still did not dare to take it lightly, because the real test was still ahead. Nurhaci had been able to dominate the battlefield for decades, conquer such a large territory, and even snatch the entire Liaodong and most of Liaoxi from the Jin Dynasty. Naturally, he had more than just this ability.

Sure enough, the Jin soldiers' subsequent attack became more fierce and more flexible. They attacked from all sides, dug tunnels and trenches, and advanced forward little by little. In this way, the firepower threat on the top of the city was greatly reduced, while the pressure on the Jin army outside the city increased greatly.

As casualties continued to rise, the morale of the three Jin troops outside the city also dropped rapidly. If this continued, the situation would be very bad, so Jia Huan decisively sent out the Guanning Cavalry to charge.

Three thousand armored cavalry charged forward, forcing the Jurchens to retreat step by step. In the end, they had no choice but to send out their own cavalry to fight back, and they were able to hold out. The two sides fought for two incense sticks of time, and then both retreated due to exhaustion.

In this way, once the Jin army outside the city was about to be overwhelmed, Jia Huan sent out cavalry to charge and repel the enemy, and it worked every time. However, if the same card was played repeatedly, the enemy would definitely try every means to eat it. Jia Huan was naturally very clear about this, so he kept waiting for Nurhaci to take action.

Sure enough, on the third day of the fierce battle, when Jia Huan sent the Guanning Iron Cavalry to charge again, Nurhaci took action. He first pretended to be unable to resist and retreated. After the Guanning Iron Cavalry advanced deep into the enemy's territory, he immediately sent out his own cavalry to cut off their retreat, and surrounded them with chariots and shieldmen, trying to trap and eat the Guanning Iron Cavalry.

Wu Sangui, Tiehu and Mangui sensed the danger and led their cavalry to charge madly in one direction. Nurhaci was obviously determined to wipe out the Guanning cavalry, so he used the human wave tactic at all costs.

The three thousand Guanning Iron Cavalry fought hard, killing corpses like mountains and blood like rivers. They were about to break out of the encirclement, but the gap was immediately blocked by the Jurchen soldiers who rushed forward in an endless stream.

"Damn it, these Jiannu bastards are really not afraid of death!" Tiehu spat out a mouthful of blood foam and cursed. Even though he was born with supernatural power, he couldn't bear it at the moment. His arms were swollen and painful, and the warhorse under his crotch was panting.

Wu Sangui also gritted his teeth and held on. Mangui's eyes were bloodshot and he continued to charge like a madman, but his movements were obviously much slower. He was stabbed in the back and almost fell off his horse. Fortunately, he was protected by iron armor, otherwise he would have lost his life.

At the critical moment, the gate of Ningyuan city suddenly opened, and a light cavalry of about two thousand people rushed out like an arrow. Each cavalryman was holding a flintlock rifle in one hand and galloping on horseback.

Nurhaci saw this and shouted: "Mang Gurtai, stop him!"

Seeing that success was imminent, Nurhaci naturally did not want to fail, so he immediately sent Manggurtai to lead a thousand elite cavalry under the Zhenghuang Banner to intercept.

(End of this chapter)