Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The Jurchens' reaction was completely unexpected by Li Zunzu.

Because he never expected that the Jurchens, after being attacked, would not organize a counterattack but would immediately flee.

What he didn't know was that after three defeats, the Jurchens had become completely terrified and couldn't find any way to deal with the Ming army's firearms.

The extremely pragmatic Huang Taiji even instructed his subordinates during their escape: if they were attacked by the Ming army's new troops armed with firearms, they should dismount and escape as quickly as possible.

Even though the women and children he was with included his own and his subordinates' wives and children, they still fled without hesitation upon hearing the sound of Ming army firearms, leaving these people behind.

Li Zunzu was caught off guard, and most of the real Jurchens escaped, leaving behind mostly women and children, as well as the Han soldiers who were protecting them.

These Han soldiers had no will to resist after the Jurchens fled. After some of the resisters were shot dead by the Ming army, they began to kneel and surrender.

Another person shouted:
"Is it the army of the Ming Dynasty?"

“I am Li Yangeng, the eldest son of Li Yongfang.”

"Currently a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

Li Zunzu was surprised to hear this, never expecting that the eldest son of Li Yongfang, a notorious traitor, would be a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Although he still had doubts, seeing that Li Yangeng had revealed his identity and was not attacked by the people around him, he felt that these people must have truly surrendered.

He immediately ordered his cousin, Li Yingzu, to go and detain the surrendered person.

Before long, Li Yangeng was brought over bound. Li Zunzu looked at his Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) badge and exclaimed in surprise:
"It looks real."

"I never expected that Li Yongfang's eldest son would become a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Li Yangeng said urgently:

"Does the general have a carrier pigeon? I have important news to send back."

“My identity is verified by secret documents, General, you need not doubt it.”

Li Zunzu certainly had carrier pigeons, which could be used to send messages to the Ningyuan Earldom and the Andong Protectorate.

However, the place where he was located was more than a thousand miles away from the two places, and the success rate of the carrier pigeons returning home was not high, only about half.

Each time a message is transmitted, several groups must be released simultaneously, and the carrier pigeons he carries cannot deliver the message more than a few times.

Li Zunzu certainly wouldn't use such a valuable channel for information transmission casually. He said:

"Is there any important message that needs to be delivered by carrier pigeon?"

Tell me what you have to say, and I will make my judgment.

Li Yangeng knew that Li Zunzu would find out sooner or later, so he didn't care about keeping it a secret and said:

"Huang Taiji was hiding among the fleeing Jurchens, along with his wife, children, and some others who were left behind."

"One of the concubines came from the Khorchin tribe; she was Consort Chen's younger sister."

This news greatly surprised Li Zunzu.

Because he hadn't expected to be able to confirm Huang Taiji's information.

Thinking of the bounty for Huang Taiji, Li Zunzu grabbed Li Yangeng's shoulder and pressed him for an answer:

"sure?"

"You saw Huang Taiji inside before?"

Li Yangeng said:

"Although I didn't witness it myself, there are several people around the Second Princess who frequently disappear from sight."

"If it's not Huang Taiji, who else could she possibly care about so much?"

Now that Li Zunzu was certain, he ordered his men to gather all the generals while holding Huang Taiji's bounty poster and asking Li Yangeng:
"Do you know this?"

"If Huang Taiji were disguised, would you be able to recognize him?"

Li Yangeng said with certainty:
"The image of Huang Taiji in military uniform on the playing card was provided by me; I saw it when he was hunting."

"I'll recognize him as soon as I see him."

Now Li Zunzu no longer cared about doubting Li Yangeng's identity, and personally untied him, apologizing:
"I was very rude just now and almost misunderstood you, brother."

"Brother, would you be willing to prepare horses with me and go after Huang Taiji?"

Li Yangeng was naturally willing, because he also knew about the bounty offered by Huang Taiji, the Marquis of Ten Thousand Households. He even provided information that:

“My father’s second wife’s father was in the group that just fled.”

“He is Abatai, who was marked with the Hundred after Yanguli’s death. Shooting him could potentially earn him a baronial title.”

The relationship was rather convoluted. Li Zunzu thought for a moment before realizing that Li Yangeng was referring to Li Yongfang's father-in-law, Abatai, whom he should call his maternal grandfather. However, Li Yangeng was unwilling to acknowledge this relationship, only saying that Abatai was the father of his father's second wife.

This could also be considered a big fish, further confirming that the Jurchens who just escaped were the Two Yellow Banners.

Because Abatai is now the Gushan Ejen of the Bordered Yellow Banner, and he actually led the banner after Hauge's death.
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Excited, Li Zunzu continued to question Li Yangeng while explaining to the assembled generals that he intended to catch up with Huang Taiji.

His cousins ​​Li Baozhong, Li Yuanzhong, and Li Delong, upon learning that Huang Taiji was among those fleeing ahead, immediately became eager to give chase.

No one would be indifferent to the reward of a marquis with ten thousand households.

Even at the height of the Li family's power, they were only granted the title of Earl of Ningyuan.

Li Zunzu was planning to take his third great-uncle along so he could identify the high-ranking officials of the Jurchens. However, after scanning the area, he couldn't find Li Ruzhen anywhere.

Remembering what had happened earlier, he hurriedly said:
"Where is Third Uncle?"

Why didn't you come?

His son, Li Yuanzhong, said:

"Father just led a troop of cavalry to chase after Seventh Uncle."

"He said he was determined to bring Uncle Qi back and wash away the Li family's stain."

Li Zunzu was so angry that he slapped his thigh, blaming Li Ruzhen for disobeying orders and causing him to lose a troop of soldiers.

However, Li Ruzhen did this for the sake of the Li family's reputation, and now was not the time to blame him. Li Zunzu could only order:

"Fifth Uncle, you take the men to watch over the prisoners. Sixth Uncle and Brother Long, come with me to chase after them."

"We must take down Huang Taiji this time. No one is allowed to back down until we do."

He ordered the remaining troops to hand over ammunition, food, and horses to the pursuers, preparing to continue the chase indefinitely.

Even though everyone was equipped with two horses, the supplies they carried were still quite heavy. Especially now that it was the dead of winter, they needed to bring cotton-padded clothes and blankets.

Seeing that their supplies nearly filled the horses, Li Zunzu realized they couldn't catch up with the Jurchens who had already galloped more than ten miles. Without hesitation, he stripped off his armor, threw his sword aside, and shouted to his soldiers:

"Those who are pursuing us should abandon their armor and follow me in a light cavalry attack."

He was dressed simply in a cotton-padded coat and a dog-skin hat, carrying only the necessary supplies. Then, with a musket on his back and ammunition belts wrapped around it, he rode two horses and chased after the Jurchens.

Such a configuration clearly makes it difficult to engage the Jurchens in close combat.

However, Li Zunzu was not worried about this, because he had gathered all the rifled muskets in the army.

Of the three thousand men he now commands, one thousand are armed with rifled muskets, with an effective range of up to four hundred meters.

Such a range was far beyond the reach of the Jurchen's bows and arrows.

As long as the Jurchens dare to retaliate, Li Zunzu can fight and retreat at the same time, calmly shooting them down.

This was a tactic he devised during his previous dealings with the Khorchin tribe, imitating the Mangudai, the Mongol ancestors who swept across the grasslands—

Back then, the Mongol cavalry used this tactic to almost sweep across the entire continent.

Now, Li Zunzu used muskets and mounted archery to give them the same shock.
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Huang Taiji quickly realized the power of this tactic; once Li Zunzu had them hooked, they had no way to escape.

Any attempt to turn around and fight back would result in being shot and killed by the Ming army as they fought and retreated.

If you're focused on escaping, you can't afford to relax for even a moment; falling behind means certain death.

In order to allow the main force to escape smoothly, Huang Taiji had no choice but to continuously send out troops, sacrificing them to hold back the Ming army.

The Jurchens were indeed elite at this time. Those who were assigned to die did not hesitate at all and used their flesh and blood to meet the Ming army.

However, their sacrifice did nothing more than buy time.

At most, it consumed some ammunition and exhausted some of the Ming army's physical strength.

However, this was far from enough to make Li Zunzu give up. While Huang Taiji was filled with resentment, he also became increasingly fearful of the Ming army's muskets.

He knew that the Ming army was able to overwhelm him in terms of combat power entirely because of its superior firearms.

Thinking of the situation in the Khorchin tribe, Huang Taiji understood:
"We cannot stay in the Khorchin tribe; staying here means certain death!"

"The northern deserts are no better; the Ming army has mastered muskets and mounted archery, and could easily catch up."

"We must escape as far as possible; the Western Regions are the promised land of our Great Jin!"

Huang Taiji has fully agreed to Ning Wanwo's proposal to establish the Western Jin Dynasty in the Western Regions, and even wants to continue westward—

He wanted to escape to a place inaccessible to the Ming army, thus escaping the crisis of life and death. (End of Chapter)