Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"kill!"

Li Jiucheng roared and killed an Eight Banners general.

He then led his guards to repel the enemy's attack.

He was the last to cross the river and was responsible for guarding the bridge, making him an obvious thorn in the side of the Jurchens. Several enemy generals had already attempted to capture the area.

Li Jiucheng led his thousand guards in a fierce battle, refusing to retreat.

These thousand guards came from his chiliarchy. As a baron, he had a chiliarchy under his command.

At this moment, there was no fear in his eyes, but rather extreme excitement.

Since Man Gui was ennobled for all his military achievements, and the court decided to calculate the merits of vassal generals as a whole, every military noble wanted to achieve the same merits.

During a lull in the fighting, Li Jiucheng began to calculate how many enemies he and his guards had killed, how many heads he could earn, and when he could be promoted to the rank of viscount.

What displeased him was that he was Mao Wenlong's vassal baron, and all the credit for his command had to be split equally between Mao Wenlong and Mao Wenlong.
"No wonder Marshal Mao wanted to break away from North Korea."

"Being a vassal noble is really boring!"

Muttering about this, Li Jiucheng realized that after giving half of his more than two hundred heads to Mao Wenlong, he only had a little over one hundred left. He immediately had the idea of ​​breaking away from Mao Wenlong.

It's true that Mao Wenlong was kind to him, but his achievements shouldn't allow Mao Wenlong to continue exploiting him like this.

Having helped Mao Wenlong lead a brigade with a thousand guards, he was capable of raising a battalion on his own and achieving great success independently.

With this thought in mind, Li Jiucheng saw another group of enemies coming up and continued to fight his way up.

The reason the enemy kept coming in was to block the bridge exits and even cut down the bridges to prevent the Ming army on the south bank of the Hun River from crossing.

Cao Wenzhao shouted anxiously on the bridge, but the Ming army, which was already locked in a fierce battle with the Jurchens, couldn't make way for him.

Soon, the murky river turned blood red, the source of which was unknown.

After a long and fierce battle, Cao Wenzhao finally seized an opportunity, firing several shots in quick succession, killing several Jurchen soldiers who had rushed to the bridge, and then led his personal guards across.

Then he brandished his spear, and almost none of his men could withstand a single blow—

After the emperor recruited brave warriors and established martial arts competitions and research institutes at all levels, top generals like Cao Wenzhao saw their martial arts skills improve further.

At this point, his marksmanship became not only more concise but also more deadly.

The armor he wore was a combination of plate armor and cloth armor custom-made for him using high-quality steel.

Wearing this armor, Cao Wenzhao had no flaws whatsoever. He charged forward with all his might, heading towards the place where the Jurchens were the most numerous.

Seeing his bravery, the Ming soldiers shouted loudly in response.

The Jurchens were alarmed, realizing that another formidable enemy had arrived.

In particular, this group of Ming cavalry were not only skilled in close combat, but many of them also bought revolver pistols at their own expense. They would suddenly fire a shot while the fighting was going on, and even the bravest generals could not stop them.
-
Looking at the situation before him, Dorgon almost couldn't resist rushing forward.

But knowing that Huang Taiji was going to retreat, he didn't dare to actually rush forward—

If he were trapped in battle, Huang Taiji would never send anyone to rescue him.

However, Dodo couldn't help himself. Before Dorgon could notice, he saw his younger brother leading his personal guards to meet Cao Wenzhao.

He shouted anxiously, but on the battlefield, no one could hear him clearly.

They could only watch helplessly as Dodo and Cao Wenzhao fought each other.

"Well done!"

"Hahaha!"

Upon seeing Dodo leading his cavalry, Cao Wenzhao was not alarmed but rather delighted.

Since the bounty boards became widespread in the army, almost everyone in the Ming army, from top to bottom, could tell the Jurchen high command something.

As one of the four minor princes with a reward of two thousand households on the thousand-character plaque, Cao Wenzhao was naturally familiar with Dodo. He immediately led his personal guards to meet him, wanting to personally claim this achievement.

His soldiers knew their commander's intentions, and none dared to claim credit.

This is different from ordinary meritorious service in killing enemies; the reward cards are mainly given to the meritorious person.

If it was one of his soldiers who performed meritorious service, Cao Wenzhao would only receive a small share of the credit, perhaps one or two tenths.

No one was willing to relinquish such a great achievement, especially one that seemed so easy.

"You treacherous dog, Dorgon, prepare to die!"

With his spear swung around, Cao Wenzhao swung it with all his might.

Dodo raised his troops to meet the enemy, but unexpectedly a gunshot rang out, and a bloody hole appeared in his chest.

Looking at his opponent Cao Wenzhao, he was nowhere to be seen with the imposing aura he had displayed earlier. He was holding a pistol in his left hand and blowing away the smoke from the muzzle.

He looked at Dodo's unseeing eyes and laughed loudly:

"Ha ha!"

"Foolish Tartar, you thought I would fight you head-on?"

"What era are we living in? There are still people who rely on brute force!"

He ordered his personal guards to block Dodo's personal guards, drew his sword, and beheaded Dodo.

Then, holding up his spear, he shouted:
"Dodo is beheaded!"

"Dodo is beheaded!"

"We have won today..."

The cheers were deafening. The Ming soldiers, who had fought the Jurchens for a long time and were almost exhausted, regained their strength. They cheered and hacked away, celebrating their victory.

The morale of the Jurchen troops under the Plain White Banner was greatly shaken. They recognized their master when they saw Dodo's head and helmet.

Dorgon was so heartbroken he almost fell off his horse, but he knew that the most important thing at this moment was to bring the troops back.

Otherwise, if both white flags were lost, even if the three brothers survived, they would not survive in the future.

Commanding his personal guards to shout loudly, Dorgon directed the Plain White Banner to retreat.

The generals of the Plain White Banner were completely bewildered at this moment, but were willing to follow the orders of their master's elder brother.

However, the Ming army was unwilling to let them go; they wanted to obtain more heads.

The same was true for the Zuo army camp that kept coming from the pontoon bridge. The Guan Ning army generals and their servants almost all made contributions, while they themselves did not have many achievements later on.

After Cao Wenzhao achieved his greatest victory, they swarmed forward, pursuing the Jurchen Niru in large groups.

Soon, the Jurchen troops of the Plain White Banner were killed in battle, suffering losses far greater than before.

Dorgon watched this scene with heartache, but there was nothing he could do to save them.

Even he himself had to run, because Cao Wenzhao was carrying Dodo's head and heading straight for him.

Dorgon, familiar with the range of Ming army muskets, naturally did not want to be killed like his brother. He hurriedly led his troops in a flight, disregarding the Plain White Banner behind him.

A group of soldiers from the Left Army Camp pursued Cao Wenzhao, while the other soldiers did not give up their gains and continued to surround and intercept the remaining Jurchens.

Soon, they were wiped out by the Ming soldiers. Mao Wenlong, who had crossed the Hun River, roughly counted that there were no fewer than six thousand heads.

The remaining Jurchen troops of the Plain White Banner were almost entirely annihilated.

Including the bondservants captured earlier, this battle can be considered a major campaign.

Overjoyed, Mao Wenlong beamed and searched everywhere for Hou Shilu to offer his congratulations. (End of Chapter)