Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 232 The Ming army is dissatisfied, but the Manchus are invincible.

Chapter 232 A Ming army of less than a hundred is invincible; a hundred or more is not.

Dust billowed across the land at midday.

The sight of thousands of warhorses galloping together caused a shockwave and raised clouds of dust.

Dorgon led a total of 120,000 troops from the Manchu Eight Banners, Mongol Eight Banners, Han Eight Banners, as well as the Three Shun Princes, Chahar Eight Banners, and other tribes from the Outer Mongols to raid the border.

If we add the 30,000 Guan Ning cavalrymen of Wu Sangui who surrendered, the total number of troops has reached as many as 150,000.

Dorgon's younger brother, Dodo, led 40,000 men around Jiaoshan and came to Shanhaiguan. He also sent more than 10,000 generals to harass the capital region and put pressure on Beijing.

In an instant, smoke signals rose everywhere within Shanhaiguan Pass.

Scattered Jurchen cavalry could be seen everywhere, slaughtering any Han Chinese they encountered like a pack of wolves charging through the land.

The Ming army in Guanzhong fought like cornered beasts, and within a few days, Dongluo City, Weiyuan City, and Weihai City were captured.

Meanwhile, a small Ming army unit swaggered across the plains as if it were empty, heading towards Shanhaiguan.

After wiping out the Boluo tribe, Zhou An continued his march.

In the wilderness, by the river, the Ming army's horses rested, eating some fodder and drinking some water.

The soldiers ate chocolate and marching rations, and also fed the horses some soybeans they had brought with them to ensure they had enough energy.

Dust swept in from afar.

Someone chuckled and said, "Another bunch of fearless people have arrived."

Zhou An, however, said with a serious expression, "Eat faster, everyone. The area inside Shanhaiguan is full of Tartars, which means that Shanhaiguan has been surrounded by Tartars."

"I don't know if there are enough Tartars to kill. I only brought ten magazines, and I've already used one."

"First, we must repel the Tartars and secure Shanhaiguan. The rest is up to Your Highness to decide."

"What a pity, we didn't bring enough ammunition, otherwise we really wanted to fight our way to the border."

The group talked amongst themselves.

As elite soldiers of the Ming Dynasty's Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard), they were completely different from the later Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty, and were composed of the most powerful soldiers during the Hongwu era.

These people had followed Xu Da on his Northern Expedition and Zhu Yuanzhang in his campaigns beyond the Great Wall. They were veterans of countless battles and were unstoppable in their advance.

The spiritedness of the founding soldiers and the Jurchen soldiers who had not yet entered the Central Plains and had not yet developed that invincible spirit were two different concepts.

It can be said that even if they had no firearms, only cold weapons, and wore Ming Dynasty armor, they would still be the ones to survive the last one charging against a hundred of the most elite Manchu soldiers.

However, despite their arrogance, they are not blindly arrogant.

This time, they went into battle lightly equipped, with each soldier carrying only a basic load of 300 bullets. A 100-man volley could fire 3 rounds.

However, given that the Qing dynasty possessed a large number of artillery pieces, whose range was generally greater than that of automatic rifles, they still could not be careless.

Zhou An ordered, "Scatter them and head to Shanhaiguan first."

At a command, the soldiers mounted their horses and charged at the attacking enemy like tigers.

At this moment, Shanhaiguan is already in imminent danger.

For days, the Jurchens launched fierce attacks on the city. Wang Jiayan led the Ming army to repel their attacks many times, but he also suffered heavy casualties, with thousands killed or wounded, and the morale of the army was very low.

In the morning, as the southern wing of the city wall was breached, the Qing troops on it swarmed down the steps.

The defending troops inside the city either surrendered or fled. Shanhaiguan lost another city, leaving only the main city and the northern wing city still in the hands of the Ming army.

Even Wang Jiayan did not expect his army to be so vulnerable; in close combat, they were no match for the Jurchens.

If it weren't for the large number of troops stationed at the pass and its absolute geographical advantage, it would probably have fallen long ago.

“Governor, this can’t go on. We’re running out of arrows.”

By late afternoon, as the Jurchens launched another fierce attack, the section of the city wall that had been recaptured the previous night was lost again.

Most importantly, although the fortress had the largest reserves of supplies, the Ming Dynasty was so poor that it was lucky if it could pay salaries and provide some food and fodder. The reserves of arrows were simply not large.

The result was that prolonged suppression by crossbows led to a rapid decrease in the number of arrows.

As for firearms.

The rate of gun blasts was so high that even the soldiers in the artillery battalion dared not fire indiscriminately.

Therefore, Yu Anxing had no choice but to seek out Wang Jiayan to see if he could come up with any ideas.

"If we hadn't done this, the city would have been breached long ago. The morale of the army is low now. If we were to engage the Jurchens in close combat, we would all be dead."

Wang Jiayan's face was bitter.

He knew this all too well, but close-quarters combat was a poor choice. They had tried it recently, but the Ming army suffered heavy casualties, so they had to suppress them with long-range firepower.

However, the Jurchens had even more crossbows to suppress them, and if they didn't retaliate, they would probably all die.

Yu Anxing sighed, standing on the city wall with his eyes full of anxiety.

Both of them look very haggard. They have been sleeping very little lately, and they have both lost at least ten kilograms while taking over command of the operation.

Just then, outside the west city, Zhou An's troops finally arrived. Their appearance quickly attracted the attention of the Dodo tribe, and soon more than a thousand Jiannu soldiers surged forward to attack.

After a burst of gunfire, the Jurchens were scattered.

Seeing this, Dodo immediately mobilized his troops again, but they were scattered and killed. Moreover, the enemy was very brave and attacked towards his commander's camp.

"Run, run, run!"

"Quickly, retreat to the area outside the pass."

"Ding ding ding ding!"

The clanging sound of gongs echoed through the sky.

Dodo then realized the seriousness of the situation and abandoned the camp, ordering an immediate withdrawal of troops.

A large number of Jurchen soldiers rode out of the camp on horseback and headed north.

Zhou An sat calmly on his horse, replacing the magazine in his AK. He glanced sideways at the fleeing Jurchens, his eyes filled with indifference.

As long as they don't use artillery, they are invincible in open field battles.

Artillery was too cumbersome to be used in field battles, so with each soldier having a basic load of ammunition, even a hundred men were not afraid of being surrounded by tens of thousands of enemy soldiers.

"Inspector General, Inspector General, reinforcements have arrived."

The Ming soldiers on the west city wall of Shanhaiguan witnessed Zhou An's troops outside the city brutally beating up Dodo and immediately reported it to Wang Jiayan and his men.

Upon hearing the news, Wang Jiayan rushed to the west city wall, only to find the ground littered with the corpses of the Jurchens and soldiers outside the city.

A knight galloped to the foot of the city wall and shouted, "We are subordinates of Emperor Taizu, and we have come to Shanhaiguan to reinforce it on the orders of His Highness Prince Yan. Who is the commander here?"

"I am, I am."

Wang Jiayan hurriedly called out, "Please wait a moment, General, we will open the city gate immediately."

Someone asked, "Inspector General, could this be a scam?"

"If you were trying to kill so many men by trickery, do you think it's possible to send only a hundred?"

Wang Jiayan countered with a question.

The man immediately fell silent.

There were thousands of corpses outside the city. If Dorgon had sent a hundred men into the city to kill so many of his subordinates, he must have been out of his mind.

Soon the city gate slowly opened, and key figures such as Wang Jiayan, Yu Anxing, and Du Xun hurriedly came out to greet them.

Zhou An rode his horse into the city.

A Jinyiwei soldier during the Hongwu reign never treated the high-ranking officials of the Chongzhen reign as human beings, let alone Zhou An, a Jinyiwei centurion.

He swaggered ahead, and when he got closer, he bent down and said, "I am Zhou An, a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. I am a member of His Majesty the Taizu's personal guard and have been ordered by Prince Yan to reinforce Shanhaiguan. Emperor Chongzhen has already been deposed by Prince Yan. Prince Yan and Prince Wu are now in charge of Beijing. The Taizu will be arriving in Beijing soon. What is the situation here?"

Before Wang Jiayan could speak, Du Xun hurriedly flattered, "Reporting to Your Excellency, Wu Sangui has rebelled and led the Tartars into the pass."

"Who are you?"

Zhou An frowned and asked, "I am Du Xun, the military supervisor of Xuanfu. I am here on His Majesty's orders to capture Gao Qiqian and bring him back."

"boom!"

Zhou An drew a pistol from his waist and shot him dead.

Du Xun opened his eyes wide, blood gushing from the bullet hole in his forehead, and slowly collapsed.

"His Highness the King of Wu said before leaving the city that Du Xun had surrendered to the enemy and should be killed on sight."

Zhou An calmly toyed with his pistol, looked at Wang Jiayan and Yu Anxing and said, "State your names and official ranks."

Wang Jiayan and other officials couldn't help but swallow hard, saying, "I am Wang Jiayan, Governor-General of Jiliao; Yu Anxing, Governor of Shanhaiguan; Li Yutian, Governor of Liaodong; and Zhu Guodong, Military Commissioner of Shanhaiguan."

"boom!"

Zhou An shot Li Yutian dead with another shot, then put his pistol back on his waist and said, "Take me to the front line."

"Yes."

Wang Jiayan and the others quickly agreed and led Zhou An up the city wall.

When they arrived at the eastern city wall, they could see from afar that the sections of the city wall connecting Shanhaiguan Pass and Dongluo City were full of people.

Neither side dared to relax their vigilance at any moment, and a large number of guards were constantly being redeployed, maintaining a distance of about twenty or thirty zhang each day.

The people at the front held shields and hid behind them, while archers would occasionally peek out from further away and aim at the weak points to fire.

This has become the norm when neither side launches an attack.

Both sides are tense, and no one knows when they will break down, so this method is sometimes a form of oppression.

The drone took off quickly, and Zhou An looked at the terrain and fell into deep thought.

Both the Ming army and the Jurchens were on the narrow city walls, and they had no good place to set up their guns. They either had to have the soldiers in front withdraw and they could directly push forward.

However, doing so would actually make it difficult for them to inflict significant casualties on the Jurchens; they would merely drive them back from the city walls.

"What a pity, we didn't bring any cannons."

Zhou An smacked his lips. If they had rapid-fire cannons, even if they bombarded the entire city wall of Dongluo City, none of the Jurchens on the wall could escape.

“I think we can send a team of men along the city wall to slowly squeeze in from both sides of the wall, shoot the men in the front row, and then order the garrison at Shanhaiguan to retreat while we push forward.”

"I think it's a good idea. We should advance quickly from both sides. In this crowded situation, their formation will inevitably be thrown into chaos, and we can take advantage of the situation to launch a surprise attack and wipe them out."

"Then let's do it."

The two captains discussed tactics with Zhou An, who immediately decided: "Wang Jiayan."

"The subordinate is here."

Although Wang Jiayan knew that a centurion was just a low-ranking military officer, he voluntarily referred to himself as a low-ranking official in front of centurions during the Hongwu era.

Zhou An said, "You immediately order the soldiers near the right side of the city wall to slowly retreat."

"Yes."

"Wang Jie".

"exist."

"Take your men and go up there."

"Yes."

A captain then led more than ten guards and pressed themselves against the right city wall.

Zhou An then ordered another captain to lead his men to advance along the other side of the city wall, forming a pincer attack that encircled the city from both sides.

The Jurchens had just completed an attack and were now in a resting phase, having retreated to a distance of thirty zhang.

Because the city wall was curved, they couldn't see what was happening to the Ming soldiers crouching behind it, but the Jurchens on the city tower of Dongluo City in the distance could see it clearly.

They noticed that the Ming army's troops on one side were slowly retreating, seemingly to rotate. Although they didn't understand why the Ming army was rotating so quickly, the general still launched a probing attack.

In fact, they always have to push during each rotation; it's a long-standing practice. Both sides know why: if a player makes a mistake in positioning during a rotation, they could be overwhelmed.

So both sides are playing their cards openly, it's all about who has more resilience.

"Beep beep beep beep!"

A sharp bone whistle rang out, and the Jurchen soldiers in front immediately raised their shields and charged forward with small, quick steps.

However, to their surprise, the Ming army suddenly began to retreat as a whole. About a dozen people, who were not wearing armor but were dressed in strange gray cloth, rushed out and were carrying unknown weapons.

"Da da da da da da!"

Before the Jurchens could figure out what was happening, the enemy's weapons suddenly burst into flames, and in an instant, the shields in front of them were pierced, wood chips flew everywhere, and bullets pierced their chests.

Many Manchu bannermen fell like pieces of paper.

Wang Jie, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, became extremely excited. He quickly changed the magazine and fired while laughing loudly, as if he had gone mad.

More than a dozen guards marched forward while firing their guns. Zhou An ordered the others to follow behind, to finish off the fallen, and to provide cover fire by alternating fire at any time.

In reality, the Jurchens had absolutely no ability to resist. Soon, hundreds of people on the city wall were wiped out, and the remaining people retreated towards the city gate tower.

At the same time, the Ming army on the other side also began to exert its strength.

Both sides fired at each other from the left and right like bulldozers. In less than 10 minutes, there were hardly any survivors left on the one-kilometer-long city wall. The remaining Jurchens fled frantically down the city wall as if they had seen a ghost.

"Report!"

At this moment, Dorgon was still waiting for good news from the front lines in his camp tent.

The messenger rushed in like a madman, covered in sweat, and said in Manchu, "Master, our men have been driven back."

"what?"

Dorgon was furious and asked, "What's going on?"

"The Ming reinforcements have arrived! They're incredibly powerful; they quickly wiped out everyone on our city walls!"

"How can it be!"

Dorgon was shocked and said, "I have tens of thousands of people in the city. Even if they slaughtered tens of thousands of pigs, it's impossible for them to be wiped out so quickly. How many of them have come?"

"About a hundred people."

The messenger answered, panting heavily.

"Can you say that again?"

Dorgon's eyes widened in disbelief, then he looked at the messenger with a fierce glint in his eyes.

He felt that the messenger was playing a trick on him.

However, the messenger, with an expression worse than tears, said, "It's true, they only have a hundred men!"

Dorgon's face was filled with rage.

However, just as Dorgon was about to execute him, the tent was opened again, and a group of defeated generals rushed in, crying and pleading.

"Oh no, Your Majesty, we have been defeated!"

“Brother Zhalhei, more than a hundred Ming soldiers are coming.”

"Their weapons glow, and after the flash, our men will fall. We must retreat."

Hearing these Eight Banner generals, all of whom were his own relatives, he realized that they were all from his own family.