Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

At the Songhua River in the early morning, white reed flowers were looming in the thick fog, and the yellow reed leaves were swaying slightly in the intermittent wind. Everything was so calm and peaceful. Suddenly, countless small boats, rafts and sheepskin rafts emerged from the reeds and rushed to the other side of the river like sharp arrows. Toroshihu, the general of Yarkand in the David Kingdom, and Buhealtu, the general of the Western Regions, led a makeshift "fleet" of 10,000 soldiers in the front and on both wings to guard the 10,000 infantrymen of the Khoshut Wanhu Chief Suhe and the Huite Wanhu Chief Mandulatu to cross the river. Due to the lack of boats, most of Suhe and Mandulatu's subordinates could only cross the river on rafts and sheepskin rafts. No matter how dangerous it was, it was just a journey in the eyes of warriors who were used to life and death.

The boats, rafts and rafts carrying 20,000 people were densely packed on the river, like swarms of ants, and the number was astonishing. However, they were only the vanguard of the guards, and there were more rafts and sheepskin rafts behind them. The Great Khan of Lotus issued a strict order, "The whole army must cross the river and advance, not retreat. Those who retreat without orders will be beheaded!" Experienced veterans knew that if the Khan ordered, retreating would mean death, and the only way to survive was to bravely move forward. Even if they died in battle, their families could receive compensation, which was much better than being beheaded for fear of fighting and not receiving any compensation at all.

Even with the thick fog in the early morning, the noise could not be hidden from the patrol boat of the Jilin Navy Battalion that was patrolling on the river. The alarm horn sounded on the patrol boat, and the smoke at the stern was burning.

"Enemy attack, hurry! Get on board!" Nihari, deputy governor of Ningguta, ordered anxiously. After all, the Jilin Navy Battalion had fought in battles and was well-trained. Under the leadership of their respective officers, they quickly ran towards the warships on the dock and set up their tents to go out to the harbor to fight.

"The Wei troops crossed the river? Where did they get the boats?" Jiala Zhangjing Anzhuhu muttered, quickly put on his armor, boarded the boat and commanded his subordinates to sail towards the landing Wei troops.

"Boom~Boom~Boom~" The fleet led by Toroshihu, Buhe Artu fiercely fired at the oncoming Qing warships. Most of their warships were small boats made in a hurry, and most of the artillery was temporarily installed on the ships from the army. However, the morale of the guards, who had won many battles and rested for a winter, was very high. They did not feel that they were not good at water battles. The gunners bravely fired at the enemy ships to cover the infantry to land.

"Boom~Boom~Boom~" The Qing army's warships also began to fire. They had more combat experience than the guards, and their artillery fire was more accurate. Soon, more than ten guard ships were set on fire. However, the thick fog in the early morning made most of the shells miss. Although the casualties on the guards' warships were heavy, they were not fatal. Under their cover, more and more small boats, rafts, and sheepskin rafts began to approach the shore.

"Damn it!" Anzhuhu aimed at an enemy ship and fired a shot himself.

"Boom~" The bomb hit the hull directly, creating a big hole in the ship, and it sank rapidly.

The boat belonged to the Wei army's Jirige County Prince Seleng. Although Seleng grew up by the Nen River, he was not proficient in naval warfare and was actually thrown into the water by the Qing army's artillery fire. Fortunately, he could swim and did not drown, but just struggled desperately in the water.

"Don't panic, brother. I'm here to save you!" Seeing this, the third brother Taben beside him hurriedly sailed to rescue and took Seleng aboard. Seleng was filled with emotion. At first, he was afraid of his third brother's power and his occupation of the important town of Henjirigen in Nenjiang. He was worried that he would compete with him for the whip of the Nenjiang Durbert tribe. But at the critical moment, it was his third brother who came to save him! Alas! Brothers fight together, and fathers and sons fight together. It's true!
Anzhuhu also found Taben's ship and fired a few shots but missed. He ordered his men to bring the ship closer to the enemy and engage in boarding battle. The well-trained Qing army put the ship's planks on the enemy's ship and jumped on board one by one. The guards on the ship bravely fought back, but due to insufficient training, some soldiers could not even stand steadily on the bumpy ship and were soon killed or wounded by the Qing army, which was familiar with boarding battles.

"Damn it!" Taben swung his sword and rushed towards Anzhu Lake. As long as he killed the enemy general, the enemy would be in chaos.

"Come on!" Anzhuhu grinned fiercely, and used force with his feet to nail himself on the boat like nails. He slightly tilted his body to avoid the attacking knife, and thrust the long sword in his hand fiercely, straight into Taben's abdomen.

"Ugh~" Taben covered his stomach with his hands and screamed, bending over.

An Zhuhu kicked him hard into the river. A bubble appeared on the surface of the river, and then there was no movement.

"Third brother!" Seleng's eyes turned red, and he rushed towards Anzhu Lake with a knife like a madman.

"Hmph!" Anzhuhu shouted, dodging the knife's momentum and striking the back of the knife with his sword, knocking Seleng's knife off. The long sword thrust back and penetrated Seleng's chest.

"Go to hell!" Anzhuhu tried to draw out his sword viciously to strike the enemy again, but found that he could not pull it out. Seleng grabbed the sword with one hand and did not let go even when blood was pouring out, and grabbed Anzhuhu's neck with the other hand.

Anzhuhu tried to break free but failed, and was hugged by Seleng who rushed over. Seleng hugged him and slowly moved towards the boat.

"What do you want to do? Let go~" Anzhuhu screamed in horror, but to no avail.

"Splash~" Seleng hugged him and jumped into the Songhua River. After a few splashes, there was no movement on the river.

More than 40 ships of the Guards Navy were sunk, and more than 50 were damaged. In addition, a large number of rafts and sheepskin rafts were sunk, and most of the Guards infantry on them died at the bottom of the river. However, Suhe and Mandulatu's men finally made it to shore. More than 8,000 of the 10,000 infantry successfully landed, but they were scattered all over the river.

"Raise the flag, blow the horn, gather the troops, and line up!" Suhe yelled at the top of his lungs. The flag and drum officer raised the vanguard flag with all his strength, and the hundreds of well-trained elite soldiers around him immediately formed a neat circle according to the order. At the same time, a loud horn sounded, and the guards from all places quickly gathered at the flag, and the army formation continued to expand. Another brave general, Mandulatu, also gathered his troops not far from Suhe.

"We must not let the guards successfully form their battle array! Xiluganu and Fu Sennei, you two lead the cavalry to attack the guards' battle array, and the rest of you follow me to shoot and kill the guards who land!" Fengtian Deputy Governor Dadu yelled to his subordinates.

The Qing army dug a deep trench not far from the beach, and upon hearing the order, they lined up behind the trench and shot arrows with bows. Xiluganu and Fu Sennei led their men on deer and horses, and galloped through the trench through the cavalry passage reserved in the middle of the trench to kill the infantry of the guards.

"Raise your guns! Fire your guns, shoot your arrows, and shoot the enemy's horses!" Su He shouted.

Under the command of the general, the battle-hardened guards held their spears at an angle in the front row, the gunners in the front row took out their three-barreled guns and fired straight at the enemy, and the archers in the back row fired in the direction the enemy was rushing. There were also infantrymen beside the gunners and archers who raised their large shields to block the enemy's arrows.

"Whirl~Whirl~Whirl~" The arrows and muskets of the Guards caused heavy casualties to the Qing cavalry, and men and horses fell one after another. Even if some cavalry rushed to the front of the Guards, they were restricted by the long spears in front of the formation and could not cause heavy casualties to the Guards.

"Yo Yo~hiss~" The reindeer under Xiluganu screamed before dying after being shot by an arrow. The Qiler tribe's Harada (clan leader, chief) who valued the reindeer as his life was extremely sad and angry.

"Awoo~" He let out a wild roar and strode forward with a tiger fork in his hand, vowing to avenge his beloved deer with the enemy's blood.

"Bang~" A huge force knocked the tiger fork in his hand away.

The fierce general Su He of the Wei army took a fancy to this enemy general and became fierce. He first swung his axe to knock away the tiger fork, and then chopped Xilu Ganu's body with another axe. Once the leader was killed, the morale of the Qiler people riding deer suddenly collapsed and they fled in all directions.

On the other side, Mandulatu also commanded his subordinates to block the attack of the Evenk (Yakut) cavalry led by Fu Sennei.

The two warriors successfully established a solid beachhead on the river bank. More and more guards landed behind them, and more and more infantry gathered around them, and soon the number increased to more than 5,000. "Shoot arrows! Build a pontoon bridge!" Su He gave the order.

The guards' archers stood in front of the trench and shot at the Qing archers behind the trench, while the infantry carried the rafts for landing and pushed them over the trench to form simple "floating bridges".

"Warriors, follow me!" Su He raised his axe with a fierce smile, stepped onto the floating bridge, and rushed to the other side in a few steps. Wherever the axe flashed, the Qing army on the other side was either dead or injured. The general is the courage of the soldiers. Seeing the dignified Duke (Second-class Baili Duke) so brave, the morale of his subordinates was greatly boosted, and they rushed forward one after another. After killing the enemies around him, Su He felt that he rushed very fast. He looked around proudly, but was surprised to find that a friendly army was actually rushing in front of him. Looking closely, it was the flag of the first-class Luntai Marquis Mandulatu.

"This kid wants to steal my credit! Bah! Speed ​​up~ Speed ​​up~" Su He panicked and ordered his subordinates to speed up.

"Haorui~Haorui~Haorui~"

Suddenly, there was a huge cheer on the battlefield, and a huge dragon and lion banner appeared, and the Great Khan Lianhua arrived in person. His appearance indicated that the main force of the Wei army had successfully crossed the river, and the Qing army's Songhua River defense line was about to collapse.

The eyes of Fengtian Vice Governor Dadu widened. Not far away, the flag of the Udehe tribe's Harada Sodorkai fell, and Sodorkai himself was chopped into pieces by the whistling guards. The veteran general knew that the Songhua River defense line had collapsed. All he could do was to try his best to delay the landing of the guards and give Marshal Bahai more time to prepare. "The whole army retreats to Jilin Ula!" He howled and ordered, intending to rely on the city to kill as many enemies as possible.

The Feyaka tribe's Harada Feiyaka led the remaining men and Dadu's Manchu Eight Banners to retreat into Jilin Ula City. However, not everyone was as determined as they were to die for the Qing Dynasty. Seeing the situation was not good, Harada Fusennei of the Ewenki (Yakut) tribe led the remaining 500 cavalrymen to run away. They ran very fast, without even looking at the friendly troops retreating into the city.

The battle on the river continued, the Qing navy still had the upper hand, and ships on both sides were constantly sunk. The Wei army "navy" finally escorted all the infantry ashore at the cost of nearly half of their casualties.

"Woo~Woo~Woo~" the horn of retreat sounded. Upon hearing the military order, Toroshihu sighed and led his men to the dock of Jilin Wula.

Nihari, the deputy governor of Ningguta, ordered a pursuit. Jilin Ula was estimated to be lost. He wanted to kill more guards to vent his anger, but was shot at by the shore artillery. The dock and the artillery next to the dock had been captured by the guards' infantry. The guards on the shore fired to cover their fleet. The guards' fleet that had retreated to the dock also fired at the pursuing Qing army. Inadvertently, several of his large ships were hit by enemy artillery and caught fire.

Nihari knew that he would not gain anything by continuing the battle, so he angrily led his men to patrol the river. He could not actually provide any help to the friendly forces in Jilin Wula City, but could only let them see that the Qing navy was still there and had not abandoned them to escape.

"Soldiers, look, we are not fighting alone! Our navy is still here!" Dadu stood on the top of the city wall, pointing at his own ships on the river and loudly encouraging his men. "Long live the emperor~Long live the emperor~Long live the emperor~" The soldiers of the Manchu Eight Banners were inspired and shouted long live the emperor. This shout infected the warriors of the various Sauron tribes who retreated into the city, and they followed suit. For a while, the shouts on the top of the city wall shook the sky.

When the Great Khan Lianhua heard the shouts from the city, he could not help but sneer and asked the veteran general Tarhun: "How much artillery did the artillery camp lose when crossing the river? How much is left?"

"Your Majesty, our army's heavy artillery is left in Hetuala because it is too heavy and inconvenient to carry. More than 60 Portuguese cannons and Tuotu cannons were lost when crossing the river, and there are still more than 160," Tarhun replied with a bow.

"Okay! Set up all your cannons, don't be stingy with the ammunition, and fire hard at me. I heard that Jilin Ula is just a wooden village with some earthen walls around it. Don't tell me that your artillery camp can't even blast open the earthen wall."

"Don't worry, Khan. I will definitely blast open Jilin Ula to avenge the dead warriors!" Tarhun knew that the Khan was angry because of the heavy losses in the battle of crossing the river and was eager to vent his anger, so he made a firm statement.

"Boom~Boom~Boom~"

The fierce artillery fire lasted for two days, and finally destroyed many sections of the city wall of Jilin Wula. The guards, eager for revenge, rushed into the city and killed anyone they saw. The Qing army, which was at the end of its strength, could no longer resist. Except for a few who were captured, most of them became corpses. One of them was the body of Fengtian Vice Governor Dadu, who was covered with wounds all over his body, without a single piece of good flesh.

"Is this the body of the enemy's garrison commander?" Even the Lotus Khan, who was used to witnessing life and death, couldn't help but feel pity. He sighed and said, "This man was a good man. Let's bury him properly."

"Great Khan, we have captured an enemy general," the commanders of the central army, Chang'en and Batu, ordered their men to bring Feiyakahaladafeiyaka up.

When he saw the captured enemy general wearing clothes made of fish skin, Sultan knew that he was not a bannerman, but came from the remote Solon tribe. He said with a smile: "The pseudo-Qing Dynasty is doomed. You are a Solon. Why do you want to work for the pseudo-Qing Dynasty? If you are willing to surrender to me, you can be the head of a thousand households. How about it?" In his opinion, the Solon people were not loyal to the Qing court and could be disturbed, so he planned to persuade them to surrender.

"If you want to kill me, then kill me. Why are you talking so much? Bah!" Fei Yaka was a real man. Not only did he refuse to surrender, he also spat a mouthful of thick phlegm at the Khan.

The war god was careless for a moment and failed to dodge. He was irritated by the disgusting phlegm and howled, "Drag this guy out and tear him to pieces!"

In this battle, although the guards successfully crossed the river and captured Jilin Ula, they suffered 8,000 casualties, which could only be regarded as a bitter victory and needed to rest. However, the Great Khan, who knew that speed was of the essence in war, did not dare to let his men rest, but ordered the 52,000 guards who were still able to fight to continue to advance towards Ningguta, intending to take advantage of the Qing army's scattered along the Songhua River and the lack of troops in Ningguta to capture Ningguta in one fell swoop and completely eliminate Bahai, the great worry in his heart. In order to boost morale, he ordered Norbu, the son of Seleng, the Prince of Henjirige, who died in the battle, to inherit the title of Prince of Henjirige.

Inspired by the cruelty of war, this great hero wrote a poem to commemorate it:
Crossing the Songhua River

Traveling thousands of miles with banners rolled up,
Horses gallop across the river and birds cry.

Who says northerners don’t know water?
I vow to kill the dragon.

The river is filled with bones, drifting away with the waves.
The sound of the flute is hard to understand the sorrow of the soldiers.

When the nine provinces are unified,

The grass along the Songhua River is not yet fully grown.

On the Songhua River, looking at the fallen Qing army flag on the top of Jilin Wula City, Nihari knew that it was impossible to do anything. He sighed and led the remaining Qing navy up the Songhua River and retreated to Sachhahewei. (End of this chapter)