Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

The setting sun was like blood. The defeated Ming army retreated to Jiangling City listlessly. The sun and moon flags representing the Ming Dynasty, which consisted of a red sun and a yellow moon on a dark background, hung down on the ground. Li Laiheng sat astride a yellow horse. The once divine horse was now covered with scars and its tail was cut off. The owner of the divine horse tried to remain calm, but the armor that once shone brightly was covered with dents and bloodstains. The damaged parts seemed to tell the pain of defeat. He straightened his helmet, even though the tassel on the helmet had disappeared. His messy hair was soaked with sweat and blood, sticking to his tired face.

"Brothers, a mere defeat is nothing. When we reach Jiangling, we will get reinforcements and can fight again after a period of rest! Raise the flag of our Ming Dynasty and move forward!" He encouraged his subordinates with a smile.

Hearing the order from King Jiangling, the flag bearers raised their flags and marched forward. The overlapping sun and moon form "Ming", which is located in the middle, meaning "China is located in the four directions". The yellow in the center represents the skin color of the Han people. The red light symbolizes that the Ming Dynasty belongs to the virtue of fire. The twelve rays of light refer to the twelve hours of a day and the twelve months of a year. The light is located above the blue sky, indicating that the glory of the Ming Dynasty is always shining everywhere. The four sharp corners point to the four directions of up, down, left, and right, which means "the sky and the earth are all submissive", and also represent courtesy, righteousness, integrity and shame, and the four dimensions of the country. The black color used as the background has been the color of the Han people since ancient times. What a beautiful flag! It seems to remind the world that the glorious Ming Dynasty is sacred and inviolable! In order to boost morale, Li Laiheng ordered the army to fly this flag in addition to the traditional flags and flags, to show that they will not forget the Ming Dynasty. Even if the cold wind is whistling, it can't stop the Ming flag from fluttering, and the depressed people's hearts have become cheered up again.

Li Laiheng slowly raised his head and looked in the direction of Songzi City. That was where he planned to defeat the Wei army, but now it has become his nightmare. If he was not in a hurry to attack, if he took a defensive position on both wings, or if he did not send Bai Minghe to the left wing and replaced him with Wang Jiayu who was good at defense, it might be a different situation. But defeat on the battlefield is defeat, there are no so many ifs! Although his heart was filled with guilt for the dead soldiers and endless regret for the defeat, as the commander of the entire army, he still had to make a decision for the future of the entire army! Don't look at him saying that he would be replenished and rested in Jiangling, but he knew in his heart that the Wei army would never give him time to rest and must retreat immediately.

"Your Highness, I have ordered the civil and military officials of Jiangling to immediately load the supplies in the treasury onto ships and make preparations to retreat along the Yangtze River to Gong'an," Xinhua Earl Feng Qifeng came to report.

"Well, this matter must be kept secret so as not to shake the morale of the army," Li Laiheng warned softly.

"Yes," Feng Qifeng hesitated to speak.

"What happened? Feel free to tell me," Li Laiheng frowned and asked slowly.

"Your Highness, Governor Mao is missing. Someone saw him heading towards Songzi with his entourage, as if he was going to surrender to the Wei Dynasty," Feng Qifeng said angrily. Governor-General of Huguang, Mao Shoudeng, was the highest official stationed in Kuidong by Emperor Wanli. He should have been loyal to the Ming Dynasty, but he surrendered to the enemy. His surrender inevitably caused people to be uneasy. How could they not hate him?
"Damn it! These spineless civil servants usually talk about loyalty to the emperor and serving the country in front of us, but they surrender to the enemy as soon as our army is defeated. I am willing to lead the cavalry to capture those guys and let Your Highness decide their fate," said Yidu Hou Ta Tianbao, who was furious.

"Marquis Yidu should be careful with his words. Most civil officials are still willing to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty. Mao Shoudeng alone cannot prove anything." Li Laiheng raised his sword-like eyebrows and then lowered them again, smiling, "Everyone has their own aspirations and cannot be forced. Mao Shoudeng shamelessly knelt down and begged for mercy from the Tartars. Thousands of years later, he could not escape the pens of historians. The pursuers are approaching and we should not delay him for such a despicable person. Let him go. Pass the order down and rush to Jiangling day and night."

Urged by the military order, the Ming army quickly returned to Jiangling City. After hearing the news of the defeat, the people in the city were in panic, and only calmed down when they saw the return of King Jiangling.

"General Hu reported from the army that Yang Laijia, deputy admiral of the Wei army navy, led the navy from Zhangshui into Shangbailizhou. After meeting with Ma Zhilin, deputy general under the pseudo-King of Qi, they approached Jiangling on more than 300 large and small warships. They are fighting fiercely with our army in Xiabailizhou. General Hu said that our army has fewer warships than the Wei army, and I am afraid we can't hold out for too long." Just after entering the city, another piece of news came.

"Wasn't Yang Laijia in Zhongxiang before? He came quickly. When he came, Hu Maozhen would probably be here soon too." Li Laiheng sighed. He knew that after his defeat, the pseudo-King of Qi's troops alone would be hard to resist. Now that the enemy had reinforcements, they were no match for him. After thinking for a moment, he decisively ordered, "Pass on my military order to go to Gong'an immediately. Pass on another order to Hu Jungui to hold on for three days no matter what!"

The meaning of this military order was obvious, that is, to sacrifice Hu Jungui's naval camp to buy time for the entire army to retreat. On Xiabailizhou, Hu Jungui, the general of the Ming army's naval camp, did not get angry but laughed after receiving the military order, and said to the flag officer who delivered the order: "My family is all in the army, please treat them well, King Jiangling."

"Take care, General Hu!" Upon hearing this, the flag officer bowed solemnly to Hu Jungui and rode away on a fast horse. Looking at the Ming army flag on Xializhou, Yang Laijia, deputy admiral of the Huguang Navy of the Dawei Kingdom and the general of Xiangyang, said to the deputy general Hong Fu with a smile: "Your Highness the Prince of Qi is brave and defeated the Kuidong bandits. If we don't work harder, I'm afraid that the credit for destroying the Ming will be taken by others."

"Don't worry, General, our army will be the first to enter Jiangling City," Hong Fu boasted.

"Okay! You will lead the elite troops to climb the mountain first later, and make sure you show your ability to His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi," Yang Laijia patted Hongfu's shoulder approvingly.

Encouraged by the commander, Hong Fu was full of fighting spirit. He led more than a thousand men to land bravely in small boats, braving the artillery fire of the defenders. Eager to make a contribution, he rushed to the front, and the standard-bearer behind him ran breathlessly to catch up.

Seeing Hongfu's flag, Hu Jungui calmly ordered his musketeers, "Don't worry, wait until the barbarians enter the range before shooting. Remember, shoot near the enemy's flag!" More than 300 musketeers held their breath and waited quietly for the arrival of the enemy, the figure in their pupils getting closer and closer.

"Shoot!" Hu Jungui finally gave the order.

"Bang~Bang~Bang~" The sound of gunfire continued, shooting down the densely packed guards in large numbers.

Hong Fu was stunned. He had not expected that after the defeat of the Ming army, there would still be so many gunners on Xiabailizhou. As a veteran of the battlefield, he knew that if he retreated at this moment, he would be exposed to the enemy's shooting. He could only rush forward desperately. If he rushed forward, the fire guns would not work. "Soldiers, kill! Today is the day to confer titles on my wife and son!" He roared, encouraging his men to move forward, but he subconsciously shrank back.

Unfortunately, he rushed too close. "Bang~Bang~Bang~" another row of gunshots rang out, and a big hole appeared on Hong Fu's chest. He fell down holding his chest in disbelief. His death frustrated the offensive of the guards. The guards who had been bravely advancing just now suddenly panicked and retreated one after another.

"Damn it!" Seeing his beloved general die tragically, Yang Laijia was furious. He ordered his subordinates to attack the island again, but the morale had been crushed and they were unable to attack for a while.

Three days later, the smoke of gunpowder on Xiabaili Island finally subsided, and the Wei army relied on its large numbers to attack the island. Yang Laijia and Ma Zhilin commanded their men to tightly surround the remaining Ming army. The number of Ming soldiers became smaller and smaller, until only Hu Jungui was left.

"King Jiangling, I have completed the military order in three days! Not a moment less!" He laughed and rushed towards Yang Laijia's flag with his sword, but fell down in the midst of the swords and guns. (End of this chapter)