The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 100: Mad King: Nurhaci

The sun gradually sets, the red glow permeates the sky, and under the blood-red sky, the Hunhe battlefield enters the final madness.

In the corridor of the north gate, the Liao men were threatened and driven away by the Later Jin bannermen, and they shouted slogans while dragging the Portuguese cannons out of the city.

The strong man walked with heavy steps, his shoulders and back were bleeding from being rubbed by the hemp rope, and his feet were stepping on the bloodstains of the strong man in front of him.

However, this did not arouse the sympathy of the two Tartars at all.

On the evening of the tenth day of the tenth month of the forty-seventh year of the Wanli reign, at the north gate of Shenyang, justice may be absent, but the horsewhip will not.

Perhaps because of the high status of their lords, the baoyi under the Plain Yellow Banner and the Bordered Yellow Banner, led by Nurhaci, the Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty, had a more noble status than the baoyi under the other six banners.

Under the influence of this mentality, the two yellow flags' baoyi aha were all ruthless people like Cao Zhongqing. Of course, this was limited to their treatment of Han people, Nikan.

At this moment, two yellow flag bannermen followed the able-bodied men with whips in their hands, whipping those Nikans who were unwilling to work as if they were driving horses.

In fact, these Nikans who were pulling the cannons were Liao people who were welcoming the royal army half an hour ago.

These Jurchenized or Mongolized Han people are gradually drifting away from orthodox Han people in terms of their appearance and language.

Historically, when the Later Jin attacked Shenyang, these obedient people (1) who had decorated their homes with lanterns and dressed up in their best to welcome the "royal army" all participated in the robbery of other Liao people, and reaped a rich harvest.

However, in this dimension, the most beloved and obedient people of the Later Jin regime were actually taken away by the bannermen and treated like beasts of burden.

Manggurtai's sudden death caused the Later Jin Khan to become even more insane. At the most critical moment of the bloody battle of Hunhe River, the Khan ordered the artillery from the west and south gates to be transported to the north gate, to the front of the white-pole soldiers' shield formation, and to blast open the shield formation.

The Later Jin army was short of troops and lacked manpower, so the obedient people who came to welcome the royal army were naturally used like cattle and horses to pull cannons.

"Snapped!"

"Don't be lazy, you bastard! Get going! The Khan is waiting to kill the Sichuan soldiers with artillery!"

The horse whip hit the back of a lagging civilian hard, leaving a bloody mark.

There was also a lot of activity outside the corridor. The young men threw the bodies of the white-pole soldiers farther away to make way for the artillery to pass quickly.

The artillery was dragged out of the north gate, across the pontoon bridge, and headed towards the north bank of the Hunhe River.

Under the fierce beating of the baoyi, the thirteen Portuguese cannons and two large general cannons finally reached their destination: the White Spear Army formation.

Thousands of cavalrymen from the Yehe and Khorchin tribes were riding their horses past the front of the battle formation, shooting their arrows diagonally.

The white-armored soldiers of the Bordered Yellow Banner approached and shot heavy arrows directly at the shield formation of the white-pole soldiers.

The light arrows shot by five or six thousand cavalrymen formed a rain of arrows in the sky. The light arrows were like a swarm of locusts passing by, making an unsettling buzzing sound.

The light arrows that rose into the air poured down from the sky above the shield formation like raindrops, landing on the shield formation of the white-pole soldiers, making dull thumping sounds, like the croaking of frogs in early spring.

The rattan shields carried by the chieftain soldiers were made of rattan woven and soaked in oil. They were tough and smooth, disc-shaped, with a bulge in the center, and shaped like a big round hat.

This rattan shield is the final form of the evolution of the ancient shield and was popular among the Ming army as early as the period when Qi Jiguang fought against the Japanese pirates.

Two rattan strips are woven inside the rattan shield for holding by the arms. It is light in texture and much more flexible than a heavy wooden shield. This is one of the reasons why the white-pole soldiers have persisted until now without being exhausted.

The effective range of the Mongolian horse bows was only twenty steps, and they could not penetrate armor at all, so it was difficult to cause substantial damage to the White Spear Soldiers.

Their attack was more like child's play.

Nurhaci looked quietly at the Mongolian cavalry participating in the battle.

They strolled leisurely in front of the shield formation, occasionally shooting an arrow nonchalantly.

The anger in the Khan's heart gradually accumulated, and the familiar buzzing sound sounded in his ears again.

~~~~~~~

The thirty-seventh year of Wanli's reign.

At the age of fifty, Nurhaci led the Jianzhou Jurchens to fight against the Huifa tribe.

Killing people and massacring the city.

A cold arrow flew past the sweaty head and hit the helmet, making a deafening sound.

The archer who attacked Yingming Khan was a thirteen-year-old boy.

His entire family was killed by the Jianzhou Jurchens, even his newborn baby was not spared, and the young man who attacked the Khan was soon sent to reunite with his family.

Stories like this happen every day in the Jurchen tribe and are not surprising.

In Nurhaci's great journey of conquering Liaodong, this young man was just an insignificant dot, a dot under the feet of the Khan.

However, after the boy died, the arrow still haunted him.

It buzzed in the Khan's ears for many years, until finally, when Nurhaci became the Mad King, the buzzing sound finally disappeared.

From then on, whenever there was a major battle, the Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty would suffer from migraines. In the severe dizziness, he would see a young man covered in blood in the air.

~~~~~
Nurhaci suppressed his severe dizziness, retracted his gaze from afar, and said to the people in front of him:
"I summoned you to Shenyang, not to let you sit on the banks of the Hun River and watch the fire!"

Before the woven golden dragon banner stood four leaders from the Khorchin and Yehe tribes. They were:
Aolebu and Zaisanbu of Khorchin, and Niyaha and Delger of Yehe.

The Khan hoped that they would organize their troops and participate in the battle against the White Spear Soldiers.

To be precise, the goal was to force these cavalrymen, who only knew how to walk around the shield formation, to dismount and engage in a head-on battle on foot with the white-pole soldiers.

The light arrows shot by the cavalry alone were effective in killing the white-pole soldiers, but they could not break through the shield formation formed by rattan shields.

The Later Jin master was short of troops, and Nurhaci did not want his warriors to continue fighting with the White Spear Soldiers.

The only troops Nurhaci could freely mobilize were the Zhenglan Banner, Zhenghuang Banner and Xianglan Banner.

The Bordered Yellow Banner fought a bloody battle yesterday, suffering over 2,000 casualties. Their morale is low and they need to rest and recuperate.

The Zhenghuang Banner and the Zhenglan Banner have a total of no more than 30,000 people.

There were still over two thousand White-Pole Soldiers remaining in the shield formation. At this rate, if they were to kill them all, the two Yellow Flags would still lose at least five thousand men.

The two yellow flags were the guarantee of Nurhaci's Khanship. He could not take any risks and could not exchange his life for the lives of the white-pole soldiers.

Originally in history, Khorchin was only responsible for recruiting accomplices within the city and robbing the people.

Now, they have become cannon fodder, and they are cannon fodder facing the white-pole soldiers.

They will contribute their own little bit of strength to the Later Jin's conquest of Liaodong.

"I have mobilized the Liao people in the city to move all the Portuguese cannons and general cannons from the west and south gates. I will use the Jin artillerymen to fire at the Sichuan soldiers' shield formation! When a gap appears in the shield formation, you can take the opportunity to charge in..."

Nurhaci said in a commanding tone.

Yehe was fine, after all, it was annexed by the Later Jin and became part of the Great Jin.

The Khorchin tribe and the Houjin tribe were related by marriage, and intermarriage had been going on for many years. Historically, the Khorchin little girl Bumbutai married Huang Taiji and became the famous Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang.

"Khorchin and the Great Jin have been intermarried for generations, and their relationship is like one family."

Nurhaci paused for a moment and continued:

"Yehe, Yehe and Jianzhou share the same roots, so you should all work together to kill the enemy without retreating. Break through their shield formation in one fell swoop and kill all the Sichuan soldiers."

Seeing the four people's embarrassed expressions, the Later Jin Khan paused and promised them:
"Break through the Sichuan soldiers' shield formation, and you will be allowed to plunder Shenyang for three days."

When the leaders of the Yehe and Khorchin tribes heard that they were going to be cannon fodder, and that they were going to be cannon fodder in front of the white-spear soldiers' shield formation, they were a little panicked.

Everyone is not a fool. The Later Jin soldiers were so powerful, but they couldn't defeat us. If they were to attack now, more people would only die.

"Great Khan, I have the warriors on horseback shooting arrows. If we shoot more, we can kill these Sichuan soldiers. They can't hold their shields up for too long. As long as..."

Manggus' son Zaisangbuhe explained in a low voice.

This time he led 5,000 Khorchin cavalry to Shenyang to help his in-laws.

After his silver and women were robbed by Burhanggu and his men, Bumbutai's father, Zaisangbuhe, wanted to come to the Ming Kingdom to make a fortune and make up for his losses.

When the Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty invited him to Shenyang to divide the silver, Zaisangbuhe led his troops there overnight.

I didn't expect that I would be used as cannon fodder in a fight to the death with the white-pole soldiers without getting the silver.

How willing he is.

Nurhaci did not listen to his father-in-law's explanation at all, and ordered in the tone of the Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty:
"You can't fight on horseback! I've got the artillery ready. Use it to blast through their shield formation first, then you can charge in and kill them all. If we delay until dark, and the White Spear soldiers escape at night, the Jin army will be defeated! I have no choice but to kill you!"

Upon hearing this, Zaisang Buhe knew he had no way out. He had no hope for firearms, and doubted the Portuguese cannon could pierce the shield formation. He was irritated and didn't want the Khorchin cavalry and the white-pole soldiers to clash to the bitter end, resulting in widespread casualties. Zaisang Buhe had a good relationship with the Han official Tong Yangxing, and in previous years, whenever the Khorchin came to Liaodong for trade, they would offer the son-in-law benefits.

At the critical moment, Zaisangbuhe quickly winked at Tong Yangxing.

Tong Yangxing gritted his teeth and said to Nurhaci:
"Great Khan, I believe the Khorchin are skilled in cavalry warfare but not in infantry. They should be used to guard the perimeter of Shenyang. If they are withdrawn to the north bank to attack the White Spear Army, it will be more effective. Furthermore, if there is a sudden attack by the Ming army..."

"A surprise attack?"

Nurhaci seemed to have heard a very good joke, interrupted Tong Yangxing and said loudly:
"Xiong Tingbi's standard-bearing battalion has been wiped out, over half of the White Spear soldiers have been killed or wounded, and the Zhejiang troops are on the verge of collapse. Liu Zhaosun is surrounded in Kaiyuan. Now, which Ming army can attack the Great Jin? Zu Dashou? Shanhaiguan? Guangning? Or Ningyuan?"

Tong Yangxing did not dare to answer and kept silent with his head down. Nurhaci said angrily:

"The warriors of the Great Jin Dynasty can dismount and fight on foot, and so can the Yehe Korchin! If you dare to stop me, I will kill you without mercy!"

"Tong Efu, you go to the front of the shield formation and supervise the battle. If you still can't take down the shield formation after sunset, I will kill you first!"

Tong Yangxing was extremely regretful at this moment. He had only mentioned it, but the Khan made him a target. It was really unjust that he died.

He felt that the Khan was a little strange today, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.

He retreated in dismay and said hurriedly to his soldiers:
"Immediately go find the leaders of the Bordered White Banner and the Plain Red Banner and have them come here quickly to persuade the Khan."

Tong Yangzhen, who was wearing armor, saw his brother being sent away, so he walked up to Nurhaci and whispered:

"Great Khan, the four gunners right now are unreliable. If any more gunners harbor malicious intentions..."

Nurhaci thought for a moment and said to Tong Yangzhen:

"Replace all the Ming gunners with the Jin's own gunners."

Tong Yangzhen continued:
"Khan, our gunners are not familiar with the artillery and ammunition used in Shenyang. If we let them operate the guns later, they may easily explode."

Nurhaci smiled coldly:
"Then use less gunpowder. Even if the barrel explodes, we have to fire! If the Han Nikan dies, then so be it!"

Tong Yangzhen was stunned for a moment, then he turned around and gathered people to pull the cannon.

Nurhaci watched his receding figure. Thinking of Tong Yangxing and Tong Yangzhen, both of them were good servants who worked diligently for the Jin Dynasty, his irritable heart was slightly relieved. Thinking of Li Yongfang who was blown to pieces, he said to Fan Wencheng:
"Li Efu died for his country, a heroic death. His family must be well cared for."

"Yes! I will handle this matter when I return to Hetuala!"

According to Jurchen customs, if a soldier or general died in battle, as long as his body was brought back to the tribe, he would be able to get half of the deceased's property and his wife.

Now that Li Yongfang is dead, his wealth will definitely be temporarily kept by the Khan.

As for his attractive wife from Jianzhou, probably no one wanted her. Only a loyal minister of the Jin Dynasty like Li Efu could perform the Zhougong ritual with that woman.

Nurhaci lamented the unfortunate death of Li Yongfang in battle, and that there were fewer and fewer Han ministers he could rely on.

At this moment, a Bayala came galloping along the Hun River towards the Zhijin Dragon Banner. Goshiha stood before the Khan, his short crossbow raised, watching intently.

Nurhaci recognized this man as the personal guard of Huang Taiji, the eighth prince. Why did he not follow the eighth prince to besiege Kaiyuan at this time, but ran to Shenyang, hundreds of miles away?
"Khan! It's bad!"

The fierce Bayala actually started to cry and knelt down in front of the Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty, sobbing uncontrollably.

Nurhaci's voice trembled, and an ominous premonition came to his heart.

"Say, what's wrong?"

"The Eighth Prince was hit by a Nikan cannonball in Kaiyuan. He lost an eye, was covered in blood, and was still unconscious. Six people including the Jiala Zhangjing Niulu Ezhen died."

"The southern barbarians are firing cannons from the city walls. Each shot will kill more than a dozen of us. The warriors are attacking the city. Master Yakhai sent a servant here..."

Nurhaci closed his eyes slightly, and his emotions, which had just relaxed, became tense again. His face was gloomy, and a familiar buzzing sound came from his ears. The crying and wailing of the white-armored soldier beside him seemed to be very far away from him.

Manggurtai had just been killed in a bombing.

Huang Taiji couldn't survive either.

Just as Xiong Tingbi said, Liu Zhaosun is a killer! He made his sons die one after another, and made him send off his young ones with his old hair.

Fine beads of sweat oozed from Nurhaci's forehead, his whole body was trembling, and the dizziness was getting worse. The gray-haired young man who was eventually executed by him by slow slicing was muttering in his ear again.

"Oh oh, today, will you lose your third son?"

Nurhaci suddenly drew out his sword and slashed at the ghost in the void...

Goshiha handed him a coconut ladle. He drank two sips of water, and after regaining some energy, he said with a cold look:

"Attack the white-pole soldiers' shield formation, let the Khorchin charge in for hand-to-hand combat, and send a Niulu white-armored soldier to hold the line. Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed immediately! Once all the Khorchin are dead, let the Yehe people take over!"

The loyal Goshiha immediately took the order and left.

Several Han officials looked at the wise Khan in front of them with concern, feeling that the Khan was heading towards terrible madness.

They had already asked the two flag leaders to come over to discuss matters, but for some reason Du Du and Dai Shan were still not here.

At this time and place, the Eighth Beile was not there, and only these two Beile could persuade the Khan to remain calm.

Looking at the increasingly crazy Nurhaci, Fan Wencheng felt an inexplicable fear in his heart.

The wise Khan is repeating the same path taken by countless tyrants such as Xia Jie, Shang Zhou and Song Yan.

As a loyal minister of the Jin Dynasty, he should have died in remonstration, but he didn't know where to start.

With Fan Wencheng's perspective, he was unable and unwilling to understand the dark past of the Jurchens, nor could he see the young man who was executed by the Khan.

At this time, a roaring sound like the sea tide came from the north, and then the ground began to shake slightly, as if thunder exploded in the Hunhe River Valley.

The Khan's attention was on the white-pole soldiers' shield formation.

The falconet cannons transported to the front of the White Spear Army immediately began a bloody killing.

The cannonballs rained down on the rattan shields, quickly knocking over the chieftain's soldiers' shield formation.

The Great General Cannon roared. Flesh and blood were so fragile before the three-jin cannonball! The White-Pole Soldiers, who stubbornly resisted behind their rattan shields, were like jade figurines filled with paint. One by one, they were struck by the iron balls and shattered into bloody fragments. The White-Pole Soldiers in the back row continued to charge, spears in hand.

With the support of artillery, the Khorchin people were in high spirits. They rushed into the shield formation waving scimitars and killed the injured white-pole soldiers who fell to the ground one by one.

The first batch of Mongols who rushed into the shield formation were quickly stabbed to death by rows of spears after killing the wounded.

Then came another round of artillery fire, leaving more bodies of white-pole soldiers on the ground.

When the white-pole soldiers formed a long spear line and approached, these loach-like Mongolian cavalry immediately fled from the shield formation. The people behind them were stabbed by the long spears, crawled on the ground, and struggled to climb out of the shield formation.

The Portuguese cannons bombarded the chieftain soldiers who were chasing them, indiscriminately attacking all those who rushed out of the shield formation.

Some brave white-pole soldiers rushed out of the shield formation and rushed towards the Portuguese cannon that was changing its muskets. They stabbed the Later Jin gunners to death with their white-pole spears. After killing one or two people, they were immediately shot into hedgehogs by Bayala who was ambushing behind them with dense heavy arrows.

"Alright, hahahaha, kill all the Sichuan soldiers, then go kill the Zhejiang soldiers! Kill all the Nikans!"

Looking at the Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty who was behaving out of character, Fan Wencheng suddenly felt a deep chill.

The afterglow of the setting sun over Hunhe River illuminated the battlefield, and the shield formation of the white-pole soldiers collapsed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

After two days of bloody fighting, the soldiers, already exhausted, were unable to stop the Khorchin people who swarmed in through the gaps in the shield formation.

Countless white-pole soldiers fell one after another under the attacks of artillery and scimitars, and fell asleep on the land of Liaodong.

The sound of artillery covered up the enemy attack in the distance.

When Nurhaci thought that the White Spear Army's formation was about to be broken, Zaisangbuhe's Taiji came running over and said hurriedly:

"Great Khan, a group of Ming cavalry, accompanied by Yehe people and Huduntu, are rushing over with fire guns they've never seen before. They're attacking anyone they see, using stone mines to kill them with a single blast..."

The surroundings suddenly fell into panic.

Fan Wencheng caught a running Geshiha and shouted at him, ordering him to find the two Beile and have them rush to the north gate immediately.

The Khan went mad.

~~~~~

"He's coming, he's coming to kill you. Oh, today, your third son will die."

Nurhaci, who was physically and mentally exhausted, heard the voice and slowly raised his head.

The young man with shiny hair, with only half of his face left, twisted his body into an incredible shape. He was suspended on the golden dragon banner and slowly crawled towards the terrified Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty.

(1) When the Later Jin attacked Shenyang, the people in the city: "Many houses opened their doors and lit torches as if waiting, and the women also dressed up to welcome the door." - "The Veritable Records of Emperor Shenzong"

(End of this chapter)