The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 18 Shooting
Fei Yingwu, dressed in fine chain mail, had a gloomy expression on his face. In front of him stood twenty short and strong Niulu Ezhen. These middle-level Jurchen generals all held their heads high, revealing the scars and arrow wounds on their faces, showing a fearless and powerful military posture.

"Supervisor Li Yongfang, lead the bannermen Ahab to charge. Once they've disrupted the opposing spearmen, you will lead the warriors from each Niulu to follow up. With heavy troops and thick shields, break through the spear formation and kill all of these Nikan soldiers!"

The Niulu Ezhens nodded one after another. These people had survived many battles and did not say much. They turned around and left to organize the Zhenyi attack in Niulu.

Soon, more than a dozen fierce white-armored soldiers appeared in front of the Bordered Blue Banner formation. They took the Jurchens who had just been defeated, pressed them down, made them kneel in a row on the ground, and began to behead them in public.

More than a thousand surviving Baoyi Aha, with their necks shrunk, stared blankly at the Zhenzhus being beheaded one by one, and some of them showed excitement on their faces.

The Baoyi Aha of this period were partners in the rise of the Jianzhou Jurchens. Many of them took the initiative to surrender, bringing their own food or weapons. They were similar to the technology stocks or capital stocks of a startup company. Naturally, their status was not comparable to that of the semi-slave Baoyi who were plundered later.

"Find some armor and put it on. Those who can shoot arrows, shoot arrows when you are fifty steps away from Nikan. The rest of you, throw your axes from twenty steps away. Tieguduo, chop off their spear heads at close range! These southern soldiers are here to die. Kill them all and raise the flag for you! Don't even think about running away. The master is watching from behind. Anyone who retreats will die!"

Several of Li Yongfang's servants shouted loudly in front of the bannerman Aha. After shouting several times, the servants put on armor and prepared to charge.

The Baoyi Aha reacted quickly. Those without armor began to strip the armor of the dead soldiers on the ground. Those who couldn't grab armor picked up shields and other protective gear. Those who didn't grab anything raised swords and sticks to give themselves courage.

Cao Zhongqing, with a scar on his face, put on the stolen chain mail, carried a bow on his back, carefully sorted the arrows, and after making sure that they were all heavy arrows, he carried a broken sword on his back.

"I want to raise the flag and be the master!"

The burly Cao Zhongqing looked at the Baoyi people around him. Many of them didn't even have swords, but they were holding wooden sticks in their hands. Their eyes were full of light, and they looked at the Ming army opposite with strange eyes.

Cao Zhongqing spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm and said viciously:
"Can this guy actually charge into the battle formation?"

This bondservant who was only eager to raise his status certainly did not take his fellow men seriously.

Cao Zhongqing was originally a military officer from Fushun, and was proficient in using both short and long weapons, as well as bows and arrows. When Fushun fell, he killed two Ming army night guards and surrendered to the Later Jin, a token of his loyalty.

This Liaoxi fighter is very strong all over his body except for his knees. It is no problem for him to knock down three or five soldiers with his strong skills. This is also the capital for him to be determined to raise the flag.

The Chongzhen Baoyi were right in front of the Ming army's spearmen. The terrain around Shajianzi Hill was narrow, and a formation of more than a thousand people could occupy the entire front. Unless someone could climb up the steep cliff, both sides did not have to worry about their flanks being attacked.

Cao Zhongqing squinted his eyes. After Fushun surrendered to the Jin Dynasty, he followed his master Li Yongfang and burned, killed and looted along the way. The Liao soldiers were no match for them. Sometimes, the Zhenyi master didn't even need to take action, as the spies deployed in the city could capture the city.

Although Dong'e Li had suffered a night attack by the Ming army a few days ago, Cao Zhongqing believed that those were just the elite servants of the Ming general Liu Jing, totaling only a few hundred people, and they had all been killed by their master.

Having just witnessed the Ming army's spearmen defeating the Jurchen leader, Cao Zhongqing felt quite frightened, but he believed that as long as the Jurchen leader took action, killing all the spearmen would be a piece of cake.

Teams of white-armored soldiers wearing silver armor appeared in front of Baoyi Aha. This was the most elite force of the Bordered Blue Banner. They were now raising their bows and shooting at the Korean musketeers at the foot of the mountain.

More than 300 strong white-armored soldiers quickly shot thousands of light arrows. The trenches of the Ming army were densely packed with arrows. Some Korean gunners who stuck their heads out to shoot were hit in the face by arrows and let out screams that were not like human voices.

Seeing people around them injured, the Korean soldiers who were so confident just now immediately became frightened and hid in the trenches, not daring to show their heads.

Cao Zhongqing looked at the white-armored soldiers passing by with envy. Seeing them suppress the Korean gunners, he shouted in his not-so-fluent Manchu:

"Master, you are so brave! Kill all the Koreans!"

A burly soldier in white armor holding a large axe retreated from the front and glanced at Cao Zhongqing as if he was looking at a dead object.

Cao Zhongqing's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly made way for his master in white armor with a smile on his face. After the elite white armor troops had all withdrawn, it was the Baoyi Aha's turn to charge the battle line. Like the other archers, Cao Zhongqing pulled an iron ring from his sleeve, slipped it on his thumb, and then pulled the bowstring to adjust the ring's position.

More than a thousand Baoyi Aha formed a chaotic array and approached the spearmen phalanx cautiously. Cao Zhongqing was in a complicated mood. He kept adjusting the position of his finger ring and secretly made up his mind that he must shoot and kill a few more southern soldiers later.

When they were less than a hundred steps away from the spearmen, some archers suddenly appeared behind the sharp spear tips on the opposite side. Judging from their armor and uniforms, they looked like Korean soldiers.

"The Koreans dared to engage the Jin army in a duel?"

Cao Zhongqing was confused. At this time, the Korean archers had already started shooting arrows at them. Some of the unarmored bannermen were hit by the light arrows and fell to the ground screaming.

These Korean soldiers shooting arrows were elite archers under the command of Deputy General Jin Yinghe. More than 200 of them were elite soldiers drawn from various camps. They had just participated in the night attack on the Bordered Blue Banner camp and had received a large sum of money from Liu Zhaosun. Naturally, their morale was not the same as those gunners at the foot of the mountain who could only fire bird guns.

Soon another Baoyi was hit by a light arrow. Without armor, the arrows posed a great threat to these infantrymen.

On the Baoyi side, some people also raised their bows and shot diagonally at the phalanx of spearmen. The archery skills of these Baoyi were already uneven, and the wind suddenly increased. The light arrows flew everywhere in the air, and not many of them landed on the Ming army.

Despite this, some people in the spearman phalanx were hit and screams were heard from afar.

After several rounds of shooting, the Baoyi were no match for the Korean soldiers with the wind. At this time, the Korean bird gunners at the foot of the mountain, who had been silent for a long time, fired again, and the sky above the Shajianzi camp was filled with arrows and lead bullets.

However, the Baoyi Aha took advantage of their numerical advantage, shooting light arrows and continuously approaching the Ming army's position.

This ruthless exchange of blows didn't last long, as neither the Baoyi nor the opposing gunners had strong fighting spirit. The North Koreans were even weaker by comparison. When casualties occurred in the exchange of fire, these fearless North Korean gunners quickly retreated back into their trenches. Some of the braver gunners, after completing their retreat, dared not show their heads, only firing randomly at the front.

In this way, the pressure of the attack in the front was completely thrown onto the less than two hundred archers behind the spearmen.

Fei Yingwu looked coldly at the Baoyi Aha who was approaching the spearmen's battle formation. This attack exposed the chaotic organizational ability of the Korean soldiers, but failed to reveal the true strength of the Ming army.

Behind the spearmen there must be Ming army servants supervising the battle. The cavalry that appeared in the last night attack left a deep impression on Fei Yingwu. Since the start of the war, this cavalry has not appeared yet, which makes Fei Yingwu feel vaguely uneasy.

A Niulu Ezhen who was supervising the battle at the front came back to report the battle situation. Fei Yingwu looked at Niulu Ezhen, who was a head taller than him, and said coldly:

"Tell the Baoyi not to shoot arrows, so they can save their energy for charging. The spearmen are armored, so light arrows will have a hard time killing them!"

Niulu Ezhen nodded and said angrily:
"Yesterday, when the wind was favorable, we should have dispatched the entire army and wiped out these Ming troops in one fell swoop. Li Yongfang delayed until today, and now the wind is not in our favor. The warriors can't unleash their might with their cavalry and archery. Instead, these Korean soldiers, from their superior position, are constantly ambushing us with their muskets! How despicable! Once we capture the front position, I will kill all the Korean soldiers!"

Fei Yingwu was also angry. He could have attacked yesterday, but the Fushun prince consort kept obstructing him and even said that he had to go back to Hetuala to report to the Khan first.

"Let's take them first. No matter which way the wind blows, we'll kill all these southern barbarians today! If you dare to attack our camp at night, the Second Prince has said that Liu Jing must be captured alive. Furthermore, we'll attack the enemy generals at night and chop them into pieces!"

Fei Yingwu looked solemn. He was thinking about making a shield car, which was delayed because of the argument between Jirgalang and Li Yongfang yesterday.

It is too late to make shield carts today, and this group of Ming troops have cut down all the surrounding trees. The Khan will soon march south, and if he sees the Bordered Blue Banner in such a predicament, it will not be as simple as punishment.

The young prince thought about it and had a plan in mind:

"Each Niulu will leave behind twenty cavalrymen, and the remaining infantry will charge! Hold thick shields and heavy axes, break through these spearmen, and let the cavalry charge forward to kill all those pesky Koreans!
(End of this chapter)