The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 104: Infantry and Cavalry Strangling the Divine Fire Crow
This time, in order to reinforce Shenyang, the Shizhu chieftain almost mobilized all the white-flag soldiers in the territory, and all 6,000 soldiers and horses rushed to Liaodong.

Liu Zhaosun did not want this powerful army to be completely destroyed in the bloody battle of Hunhe as happened in history.

At least, leave some seeds for the white-pole soldiers.

He was about to speak again to persuade her, but he heard Qin Bangping say loudly:

"My mind is made up, no need to say more. General Liu, I see that you fight with great method. The Jiannu army is far more powerful than mine. How should we fight them?"

The sound of conch shells rang out continuously on both sides of the Hunhe River.

Nurhaci organized all the Zhenyi armored soldiers and Baoyi Aha of the two yellow flags who were capable of fighting at night, and formed an army of tens of thousands, slowly advancing from east to west.

The Yehe cavalry capable of night combat covered the two wings of the Later Jin infantry formation and rode westward.

There are more than ten thousand soldiers, and they are endless.

The two Yellow Banners, the two most powerful of the Eight Banners, gave the impression of a powerful army in their deployment. They were very different from the Bordered Blue Banner and Plain White Banner used in the Battle of Hunjiang and the bloody Battle of Kaiyuan.

Under the cover of night, the two yellow flag formations looked like a ferocious beast. Just revealing a tiny corner of its hideous form gave people a tremendous sense of oppression.

How should we fight when the enemy outnumbers us?

After traveling through time, Liu Zhaosun tried his best to change the course of history. He walked all the way from Sarhu to the present day, fought bloody battles for half a year, and survived many life-threatening situations, just for this day!

Liu Zhaosun raised his head and looked at everyone, saying loudly:
"We have a cavalry battalion of 900, Ligdan Khan's cavalry of 4,000, White Spear Soldiers of 2,000, and an additional 3,600 elite combat troops. We will arrive at Hunhe River at dawn tomorrow. Ten thousand troops versus two yellow flags, the outcome is uncertain!"

Seeing Qin Bangping's worried look, Liu Zhaosun explained:
"The falconet cannons and the divine fire crows disrupted the enemy formation, while the cavalry charged and tore through the enemy lines. Finally, the old general led the white-pole soldiers through the gap and defeated the enemy in one fell swoop!"

After listening to Liu Zhaosun's words, Qin Bangping's eyes flashed with light.

He knew both the falconet and the divine fire crow, especially the falconet. Just now, the Jiannu used the falconet to bombard the shield formation of the white-pole soldiers, leaving them unable to fight back. It must be said that this was a powerful weapon.

"Did General Liu also bring the Portuguese cannon with him when he came to reinforce us with cavalry this time?"

Liu Zhaosun smiled faintly and pointed ahead. In the distance, under a campfire, a team of gunners were busy loading shells into the falconet.

"The chieftain brought all the artillery from Shenyang and sent 300 armored soldiers to guard it, but I killed them all. I destroyed a few of them when I took them away just now. The remaining artillery is enough to fight the Tartars!
"Today, Liu will join the general in killing the bandits and spilling their blood in the Hun River!"

After Liu Zhaosun finished speaking, he saluted Qin Bangping and rode his horse towards the cavalry camp.

Qin Bangping looked at Liu Zhaosun's receding figure and said silently in his heart:
"Work hard to kill the bandits, and spill their blood in the Hun River!"

Li Yuchen ordered the fried noodles and dry food brought by his subordinates to be distributed to the white-pole soldiers.

Bonfires were lit in the camp where the White Spear Soldiers were stationed. The surviving soldiers took the time to rest while eating fried noodles.

These Tusi soldiers from the southwest fought fiercely on the banks of the Hun River for a whole day. All of them had reached the limit of their physical endurance, but they continued to hold on with their tenacious will.

Half an hour ago, when they were rescued by the cavalry, some soldiers were exhausted and fell to the ground, never to stand up again.

Teams of cavalrymen rode past the White Spear Army formation and headed towards the Later Jin soldiers approaching from the east.

The white-pole soldiers who were resting looked up at the cavalry with high morale, and everyone realized that they were no longer fighting alone this time.

On the north bank of the Hun River, piles of bonfires were burning in the flat east-west valley, and the commanders of the Ming army camps were busy directing the cavalry to form battle formations.

The remaining 960 cavalrymen after the bloody battle were divided into nine columns, each with three rows.

The front row has spears, the second row has harrows, and the third row has sabers and muskets.

The formation was slightly different from the last time, with the high-spirited cavalry of Ligdan Khan being divided into the left and right flanks.

Most of these Mongolian friends were able to fight at night and had better riding skills. Liu Zhaosun used them to deal with the Yehe cavalry, who had better riding skills.

This was a truly bloody battle for the Kaiyuan Cavalry Battalion. To train this cavalry unit, Liu Zhaosun had invested heavily, spending over 70,000 taels of silver in just three months.

The cavalry's monthly salary was twice that of the combat soldiers, and their meals were also more abundant, with meat, fresh vegetables or tea supplied every day.

Good food not only makes the cavalry physically strong, but also prevents the occurrence of diseases such as night blindness.

Every two weeks, Li Yuchen would organize a cavalry night combat exercise to simulate various actual combat environments and assess the cavalry's tactical movements. Soldiers who failed the assessment would be eliminated.

After more than three months of rigorous training, the combat effectiveness of the cavalry under Liu Zhaosun's command grew rapidly, and had already surpassed the Ming army's Ye Bushu and even the Later Jin's white-armored soldiers.

Just now, three hundred cavalrymen were killed in the battle with Khorchin. These elite cavalrymen should have been used to cover the infantry's charge, intercept and harass the enemy's fleeing soldiers, but they were used in a frontal charge in such a cruel battlefield. How could Liu Zhaosun not feel heartbroken?

However, things had come to this point and Liu Zhaosun had no better choice.

In the next battle, cavalry will still be the main force, which will only make him more heartbroken.

The well-trained Kaiyuan Cavalry Battalion quickly formed up, and the cavalrymen in the front row raised their spears at an angle and thrust them into the dark and boundless night, waiting calmly for the flag captain to give the order to charge.

In the dark night, only the sound of the Jiannu's trumpets and drums could be heard in the distance.

The sounds of trumpets and drums from the Later Jin soldiers gradually approached, and their orderly footsteps made the earth tremble slightly.

The Kaiyuan Cavalry Battalion stood still as a mountain, and the Chahar riders on both sides poked their heads out to look into the darkness.

This was Liu Zhaosun's first time commanding a large-scale night battle.

During the night attack on Hunjiang, he actually only led 300 family servants to fight, and it was just an attack, not a full-scale battle.

This time, he commanded a cavalry of nearly 5,000 men.

Pei Dahu rode out of the darkness and came close to General Liu under the dim campfire.

Liu Zhaosun glanced at him and said calmly:
"Are you all ready?"

Pei Dahu's face was full of excitement, and the flickering bonfire made the scar on his face more obvious.

"My Lord, everything is ready. The falconets are loaded. Three hundred and sixty divine fire crows will be launched in three batches. The people in the workshop have been settled. We can ignite them directly."

"it is good."

Liu Zhaosun's expression remained unchanged as he spoke coldly to the approaching two yellow flag formations:
"Nurhaci, I have a surprise for you."

On the flank of the Hun River, two miles away from the cavalry camp, one hundred and twenty rockets were pointed obliquely forward, aimed at the flank of the Later Jin army formation, which was slowly moving westward five hundred steps away.

The twelve workshop craftsmen who came with the cavalry hurriedly retreated to their own formation.

Under the command of several flag captains, one hundred and twenty soldiers raised the matchlock and together lit the fuse at the tail end of the sacred fire crow.

This improved version of the rocket imitates the style of Congreve's rocket. It weighs about 30 kilograms, the arrow is three feet long, and is equipped with a 13-foot-long balance rod. The range can reach three miles.

It relies on the combustion of its own propellant to propel it forward. The fire shoots the wooden pole into the air, igniting the rocket inside the pole. The rocket is then fired again and explodes when it approaches the target. It is equivalent to a two-stage rocket.

Suddenly, a sharp whistle resounded across both sides of the Hun River, followed by the sound of explosions from Portuguese cannons.

Liu Zhaosun rode his horse under the blood moon and looked up at the sky.

Countless flames rose above the valley, like meteors across the sky in the dark night, and fell into the Later Jin formation with a shrill scream.

With a gleam in his eyes, he murmured:
"What a beautiful fireworks display, Jin Yuji, did you see it?"

(End of this chapter)