The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 17: Bloody Battle of Hunjiang River

The Qi family army had very strict requirements for training in marksmanship.

Set up a human-shaped wooden target twenty steps away, five feet high and eight inches wide.

Seven one-inch round holes were dug out at the eyes, throat, chest, waist, and feet, and wooden balls were placed in the holes.

At the flag captain's command, the soldiers raised their spears and made a gesture, then flew forward and thrust. Only those who thrust five times and hit the wooden ball with all of them were considered qualified. Those who missed the target or hit the wrong side would be beaten with a military stick.

The soldiers of the Bordered Blue Banner were covered in armor, but their eyes were exposed, and their eyes became their weak spot.

Although these Jurchen hunters in the depths of the Greater Khingan Range were skilled in combat and wielded their swords and clubs with great vigor, they were stabbed in the eyes by spears before they could reach the spearmen, and died miserably.

Before this, the Jiannu had never had the experience of facing off against the Qi family army.

Sometimes, experience comes at a price.

The Jiannu soldiers who managed to break through the spear charge and rushed to the front of the spearmen had their swords and clubs blocked by rattan shields. The halberd and mace soldiers took the opportunity to come out and swung their halberds, leaving bloody holes on the bodies of the dead Jiannu soldiers.

The brave Jurchens would face the three-dimensional attack of three to four Ming troops at the same time, with both long and short attacks. No matter how strong each person's military force was, they would be defeated under such an attack.

Perhaps it was because the attack on Juniper and Marin a few days ago was too easy, or because of the deep-rooted contempt for the southern barbarians, but the Jiannu army obviously overestimated its own combat power. With only a few hundred dead soldiers, they wanted to break through the 4,000-man Mandarin Duck battle formation in one fell swoop.

The Zhejiang soldiers under Deng Qilong usually used the Qi Family Army's drill manual for their daily training.

After the Japanese pirates were pacified, the Mongolian Tatars became rampant, and their cavalry once approached the gates of the capital.

In the first year of the Longqing reign, Qi Jiguang was promoted to deputy general of the Shenjinying Camp. The following year, he arrived in Liao and Ji to train new recruits.

Qi Shaobao was particular about adapting his military tactics to local conditions. The Mandarin Duck Formation, which originated in the southern mountains, changed rapidly when it reached the north.

Infantry and chariots fought together, with every twenty soldiers assigned to a chariot, and ten people directly attached to the chariot, responsible for launching the falconets.

The other ten people are the "killer team", whose task is to fight the enemy with rattan shields, halberds and long-handled swords.

This is the evolved variant of the Mandarin Duck Formation in the north.

After Zhang Juzheng died of illness, Qi Jiguang lost his internal support. The censors rose up to attack him, and the memorials impeaching Qi Jiguang piled up like a mountain. Qi Shaobao was forced to leave the north, and was then demoted again and again, and finally died of depression.

After Qi Jiguang left office, the power of the southern army plummeted. A mutiny broke out in Jizhou, and thousands of Qi's soldiers were slaughtered. This powerful army, which was once ahead of its time, eventually gradually withdrew from the stage of history.

The Mandarin Duck Formation practiced by the Southern Army in Jizhou was ultimately put to no use due to the departure of its commander-in-chief. It was buried in the pile of old papers with the demise of the Ming Dynasty, which is a pity.

But when Liu Zhaosun came, things were different.

When the Bordered Blue Banner attacked this time, Deng Qilong used the Mandarin Duck Formation that Qi Shaobao had taught him in Jizhen.

Due to the lack of equipment and insufficient chariot camps of the Eastern Army, Deng Qilong was unable to perform the combined chariot and artillery formation.

Fortunately, spearmen, halberd bearers and rattan shield bearers are enough to deal with just a few hundred dead Jiannu soldiers.

Among the 5,000 Zhejiang soldiers, except for some halberd and rattan shield bearers, the rest were spearmen.

The spearmen used bamboo spears, which were 17 feet long and weighed no more than 4 taels. The spear head was either like a duck's bill, or like a thin knife, or had two edges, and was extremely sharp.

Before Nurhaci's rebellion, he had close relations with Liaozhen and was deeply influenced by Liaozhen.

As the representative of the northern troops, Liaozhen has a deep-rooted contempt for the southern troops. The two sides not only have regional differences, but also real conflicts of interest.

After Nurhaci launched his rebellion, he focused his attention on the border troops in Xuanda, Shaanxi and other places under Du Song's command. He also focused his intelligence gathering on the northern troops and paid no attention to the southern troops who came to support him from thousands of miles away.

It's not that Nu Chief had never seen Qi's army before. During the Imjin War, Wu Weizhong led Qi's army to capture Pyongyang and annihilate the Japanese pirates. When Nurhaci heard about it, he thought it was nothing special.

At that time, Ming army generals generally believed that one slave (Jiannu) could resist ten Japanese (Wokou).

In other words, the Qi family army could defeat the Japanese pirates, but was no match for the Jiannu.

In the Battle of Sarhu, the appearance of a team suspected to be from the Qi family army did not attract the attention of the Later Jin high-ranking officials.

It really doesn't require too much attention.

In the original historical dimension, the Zhejiang soldiers in the east were surrounded by the Bordered Blue Banner. Before they could form a battle line, they were dispersed by the impenetrable cavalry formation.

Although the remnants of the Qi family army fought desperately, they were eventually all killed.

To the Later Jin soldiers, the Zhejiang soldiers they destroyed were no different from the rest of the Ming army, as easy to deal with as cutting melons and vegetables.

But today, the spearmen Amin faced were different from the Zhejiang soldiers in the original historical dimension.

The Zhejiang soldiers had just received their salaries and were participating in a night attack, so their morale reached its highest point.

When spears are engaged in battle, morale comes first.

"kill!"

Every thrust of the spear would take the life of one or two dead soldiers.

The spear line advanced towards the Bordered Blue Banner's position. The dead soldiers, having thrown their flying axes and iron bones, had no ranged weapons left and were forced to fight with swords, iron hammers, and spears. The Jiannu with bows raised their bows and fired, but after just a few arrows, the spearmen quickly closed in, forcing them to abandon their bows and arrows and switch to short weapons.

The number of dead soldiers was decreasing, and they kept retreating, and soon they retreated to the front of the white-armored soldiers who were supervising the battle.

Amin looked at the defeated dead soldiers, veins bulged on his face, his expression kept changing, and he began to think of some terrible things.

Standing nearby were Jirgalang, Fei Yingwu, Li Yongfang, and other generals, all with solemn expressions. Last night, Fei Yingwu had been shot in the chest by an arrow. Fortunately, he was wearing scale armor underneath, and a mountain-patterned breastplate outside to protect him. The arrow penetrated only an inch into his flesh, and he was unconscious that night, but his life was not in danger.

Normally, Jirgalang, Li Yongfang and Amin did not get along with each other. They tried every means to weaken Amin. However, the Second Beile was the Second Beile after all, and his subordinates were all warriors of the Bordered Blue Banner.

Of course we can't just watch them die in vain.

Yesterday, the Bordered Blue Banner approached the Shajianzi camp, and the generals had disagreements on the issue of attacking Liu Jing, especially Jirgalang and Amin, who had a very fierce argument.

Amin and Fei Yingwu advocated encircling but not attacking. According to the intelligence previously intercepted by the Jin Dynasty, the food and grass that Liu Jing brought with him from Kuandian could only last for fifteen days at most. After a few days, the Ming army would run out of food and grass and would collapse on its own.

Of course, Amin did this just to preserve the strength of the Bordered Blue Banner. If the Bordered Blue Banner's Zhenyi soldiers were dispatched, they might be able to defeat the spearmen in front of them. However, in that case, each Niulu would be seriously injured, and he, Gushan Ezhen, was afraid that he could not do it.

For Amin, if he lost his position as Gushan Ezhen, the only thing waiting for him was death.

Being imprisoned and dying by the Khan was the inevitable fate for him and his father Shurhaci.

Jirgalang obviously did not have to consider these problems. He had already defected to Huang Taiji. Now he joined forces with a dozen warlike Niulu Ezhen in the Bordered Blue Banner and was determined to attack the Ming army immediately to avenge the warriors who died in the night attack.

Fushun Prince Consort Li Yongfang asked everyone to be patient and to return to Hetuala to ask the Khan for instructions, or to make peace with Liu Jing or to send more troops for siege.

Li Yongfang really wanted to ask General Liu in person what this southern barbarian wanted, silver or women.

In Li Yongfang's view, it would be best to defeat the enemy without fighting, just like he surrendered to the Khan in Fushun last year.

The three factions refused to give in to each other's opinions. Finally, with the support of the majority of Niulu Ezhen, Jirgalang's opinion prevailed.

All the main forces of the Bordered Blue Banner were dispatched. The Baoyi Aha filled the trenches first, the dead soldiers charged forward, and the Zhenyi armored soldiers held the line, which led to the fierce battle at the Shajianzi camp today.

"Second Prince, it looks like this group of Ming troops are well prepared. Why don't we wait for the Khan to transport the artillery and then break their formation!"

Three miles north of Shajianzi Hill, in the Bordered Blue Banner Camp, Fuxi Prince Consort Li Yongfang spoke to the Second Beile in an almost pleading tone.

Amin knew what this bondservant was thinking, and without even looking at him, he said coldly:

"The Khan fought against the Yehe tribe and the Wailanikan tribe in previous years. Didn't he just not fight without artillery?"

Amin knew clearly that if Nurhaci was allowed to lead his troops over, he would certainly come to him to punish him and take advantage of the situation to suppress him. Even if he was lucky enough to be spared, he would force the Bordered Blue Banner to fight to the death with Liu Jing.

The Second Prince was not interested in the "Seven Great Hates" or anything like that. That was the grudge between his old Khan and the Ming Dynasty. As for Amin himself, his father Shurhaci was once close to the Ming Dynasty and was imprisoned by Nurhaci because of this.

In short, the Second Prince did not have any deep blood feud with the Ming army, nor was he willing to destroy the Bordered Blue Banner left by his father for the sake of an enemy who killed his father.

"Second brother, make up your mind quickly. We can't let the southern barbarians continue to charge like this!"

Fei Yingwu reined in his horse and came to Amin. He had just gone to the white-armored soldiers to supervise the battle and had personally killed several dead soldiers who had fled back. His body was still stained with blood.

Amin's thoughts returned to the present, and his eyes refocused. Two miles away from where he was, the Ming army's spearmen swarmed forward like a wave, chasing the defeated dead soldiers, stabbing with their spears, and assassinating the Blue Banner dead soldiers running behind them.

The Jiannu dead soldiers who were so powerful before suddenly became the targets of slaughter. Among the six hundred dead soldiers who went into battle, including those who were still fleeing, there were only less than three hundred.

"A bunch of trash!"

Amin said viciously that he looked down on these Jurchens from the bottom of his heart. Although these people were brave in battle, they were still uncivilized. Not only could they not understand Manchu, but their brains were not very good when fighting.

"Let the flag bearers go out to fight, make way, and let these dead soldiers pass!"

Fei Yingwu wiped the blood off his face, looking shocked:

"Second brother, are you going to let these deserters go?!"

Amin smiled coldly and said angrily:

"If we let them go, will there still be military law in the Great Jin? We'll keep them as cannon fodder later. If we don't let them go and they break up our formation, we'll be in trouble!"

Amin had followed Nurhaci in battle since he was a child, and he saw at a glance that the core of the Ming army lay in this group of spearmen. As long as they were defeated, the Korean musketeers behind them would not be a threat at all.

To deal with the spearmen, it is not enough to rely solely on dead soldiers. These Jurchens only have brute force, heavy armor, and slow movements. They are no match for these spearmen at all. Even if they can rush close, they will be sitting ducks for the Koreans.

Amin's facial muscles twitched. These dead soldiers were captured from remote areas such as Sauron and Ningguta and distributed to various flags. They were more precious resources than the real barbarians. One less dead was one less.
In just half an hour, nearly half of their supplies were lost.

"Have Yilantong lead his men forward and suppress the Koreans with their bows. Have the bannermen charge! The bannermen will follow closely behind and use flying axes and clubs to break open the spear formation!"

At this time, the Blue Banner was against the wind, so the light arrows could not be shot out, and the heavy arrows could not be shot far. The white-armored soldiers used bows and arrows to shoot against the Ming army's muskets, but they could not gain much advantage at all.

But now that things have come to this, there is no way back and I can only fight to the death.

Amin saw Fei Yingwu's thoughts and said helplessly:
"Hurry! Take advantage of the disarray in the spearmen's formation and have the Baoyi charge. There's no such thing as a war without casualties. Are we going to wait for the Khan to come and help us fight?"

(End of this chapter)