The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 196: Iron Horse and Ice River (I)

"Everyone thought this attack on the Later Jin would be a battle of destruction, but it turned out to be a life-and-death battle."

Kang Yingqian looked at the soldier who fell into the river, his face pale and his voice trembling.

The battle was a whirlwind, a dream, and ultimately a crushing defeat. Before the battle even began, the 5,000th headquarters had been completely wiped out by casualties.

Without the protection of the combat soldiers, the fate of the artillery and cavalry who crossed the river was sealed.

Kang Yingqian's face was filled with shame. If he and Shao Jiechun had not been so greedy for merit and reckless, and had not frequently urged the troops to advance, the army would not have fallen into this desperate situation.

Seeing that the foundation he had worked hard for two years was about to be destroyed, how could Kang Yingqian not be heartbroken.

After the great defeat, Kang Yingqian would surely die without a burial place. Even if he could escape back to the interior of the country, Shandong and the officials in the capital would kill him.

The Kaiyuan army seized land and money and massacred Duke Yansheng, and Kang Yingqian was behind the scenes giving advice.

Once Liu Zhaosun was defeated, even without waiting for Emperor Wei Zhongxian to deal with him, the gentry in Shandong who had lost their land would be able to eat Kang Yinggan alive.

"This humble official deserves death. I should have listened to Lord Sun's advice and not been so reckless!"

Liu Zhaosun looked at the rapidly cracking ice and said calmly:
"Now that things have come to this, there's no need to say more! We'll settle our sins after this battle! But it's Huang Taiji who died today, not me!"

Kang Yingqian felt a little relieved, and a bright light flashed in his gray eyes.

Auxiliary troops from each battalion have been dispatched and started laying straw under the bridge to prevent soldiers from slipping during the march. Some auxiliary troops brought in wooden planks to repair the bridge surface.

The cavalrymen on the west bank, who had been waiting for a long time, roared across the glacier to reinforce their brothers in the cavalry battalion on the east bank.

The cracks from the explosion point two miles away were rapidly coming towards this side, and the ice surface shattered in a flash.

"All battalions, speed up! Leave baggage, fodder, and artillery on the west bank. Do not carry them! Everyone must cross the river within half an hour! Those who fail to do so will be executed!"

The surrounding generals took orders and left. Deng Changxiong felt something was wrong and whispered, "General Liu, the baggage and artillery are fine, but the food is already insufficient. If..."

Liu Zhaosun drove his horse forward and shouted, "If you can't win, you will die. The food is for the living."

He looked at this calm general and suddenly remembered something:
"Captain Deng, you will lead a thousand soldiers to guard the west bank and guard against a surprise attack from Zu Dashou and his men."

At this time, if the soldiers crossed the river, they would be in danger of death, but if they stayed on the west bank, their chances of survival would be greater.

Deng Changxiong knew that Ping Liaohou wanted to leave some bloodline for the Kaiyuan Army.

However, at the last moment, he was unwilling to live:
"Marquis Ping Liao, since I followed you, I've never lost a battle! At Sarhu, Du Song died, Li Rubai fled, and we followed you to fight the Bordered Blue Banner! The four Tartar banners, with tens of thousands of troops, besieged Kaiyuan, but we crushed them. In the bloody battle of Hunhe, you killed the chieftain. This time, we can still win! I don't want to be a deserter on the west bank. I'd rather die on the east bank, with you!"

Seeing his resolute attitude, Liu Zhaosun patted Deng Changxiong on the shoulder and said with emotion:

"Okay! Then let's cross the river together! We'll die together!"

Kang Yingqian raised his whip and wanted to follow him across the river.

He would rather die with Liu Zhaosun in Liaodong than fall into the hands of the Censorate.

Kang Yingqian put on iron armor and carried a large bow on his back. Liu Zhaosun was stunned on the spot.

I have never seen such bravery from General Kang: "General Kang, you stay on the west bank to prevent a surprise attack from Liaozhen. If the army on the east bank is annihilated, you will take them back to Kaiyuan to protect the imperial concubine. If you go to Tianjin, Yang Jinglie may be able to save your life!"

Kang Yingqian shook his head and said, "If you all die, what's the point of an old man like me living?"

"Don't worry. I'm an expert archer and horseman. Twenty years ago, I was the coastal defense commander in Dengzhou and killed Japanese pirates with my own hands. Now I'm old and not so good at close combat, but I can easily help you shoot a few Tartars! Yang Hao can't protect himself, and neither can Madam Gaoming and General Anyuan. We should fight with all our might! If we lose, you, me, our army of tens of thousands, as well as Yang Hao, Yang Qing'er, and Jin Yuji, will all be killed without a burial place!"

Liu Zhaosun nodded silently.

Kang Yingqian suddenly stabbed his horse's butt. The warhorse under his crotch neighed in pain, jumped over the ice, and galloped towards the east bank.

Liu Zhaosun also rode his horse towards the east bank.

Mountains of baggage, food, and field artillery were abandoned on the west bank.

The two thousand headquarters each dispatched 500 combat soldiers to be responsible for guarding, and the cavalry battalion left 500 cavalrymen to be distributed in a radius of ten miles to guard.

Zu Dashou is like a group of carrion vultures. No matter when and where a corpse falls, they will always arrive first.

~~~~
Liu Zhaosun straightened his back and rode his horse across the frozen river.

He ignored the cannon fire and musketry from the other side and looked around. To his left were auxiliary troops repairing the bridge, to his right were endless lines of soldiers. Farther away, the crackling of ice broke. The fierce cold wind swept across his stern face, clearing his thoughts.

The 5000th headquarters has suffered heavy casualties, and together with the cavalry auxiliary troops and musketeers drawn from various units, more than 2,000 Kaiyuan troops have just fallen into the Suzi River. They are wearing heavy armor and are unable to swim to the shore. Moreover, they fell into the water in the twelfth lunar month in Liaodong, and there is basically no possibility of survival.

There are 13,000 troops, minus the 2,000 soldiers guarding the bridge, there are less than 10,000 left.

Ten thousand versus forty thousand, the best outcome is that both sides suffer losses and perish together.

The ice was covered with endless teams of soldiers, and tens of thousands of troops were scattered on this narrow river surface, like countless giant snakes crawling.

The snake's head is provoking on the east coast, while its belly is still roaming on the west coast.

The image of a giant snake being cut in half appeared in Liu Zhaosun's mind...

The first and second thousand headquarters are the elite of the Kaiyuan Army, most of whom are veterans of hundreds of battles.

The ice could collapse at any moment, and who knows how many people would die then.

At this moment, a cry of surprise came from the other side:

"The Tartars burned the bridge!"

Liu Zhaosun quickly collected his thoughts and looked up at the east bank of Suzi Bridge.

The bridge pier on the east bank was engulfed in flames. In the firelight, several blurry figures wrapped in cloth were jumping and running wildly.

The cavalrymen who rushed across the river were brandishing their swords and madly hacking at the baoyi soldiers who were setting the fire.

The cavalry chased out, chopped off a few covered heads, and then quickly turned back.

The cavalry commander blew his whistle, and the cavalry that had landed immediately began to assemble.

They were going to rescue the cavalry who had landed earlier.

~~~~~
The first batch of cavalrymen who landed were hit by intensive attacks from the Later Jin musketeers. Their neat cavalry formation disappeared, their wall-like charge line was riddled with holes, and they lost more than 300 of their 1,000 cavalrymen.

After suffering several rounds of flintlock fire, the more than 600 surviving cavalrymen all stayed away from the city walls and did not dare to gather easily. They were distributed at the four gates of Hetuala in a guerrilla state.

Cavalry that lost their formation were like fish on the chopping board on the battlefield, at the mercy of others.

Liu Zhaosun couldn't bear to witness the cavalry's plight. Just as he was about to turn to look at the artillerymen crossing the river, he felt the ice beneath his feet tremble slightly. He thought he was in trouble, but he hadn't expected the crack to spread so quickly. He looked toward the surrounding river, but the ice remained unchanged. Then, the rumble of hooves echoed from the east bank.

Hadn't the cavalry dispersed?

Just as he was wondering, he heard the soldier next to him scream:
"The Tartar cavalry is moving out!"

The four gates of Hetuala opened at the same time, the drawbridge was slowly lowered, and the neatly-formed Later Jin cavalry moved out at the same time.

Thousands of cavalrymen with red flags on their backs quickly formed up in front of the moat under the cover of musketeers. They endured the limited damage from the Kaiyuan army's artillery, and after forming up, they immediately launched a charge.

~~~~
Of the one thousand cavalrymen that crossed the river, only five hundred were still able to fight.

The original organization of the cavalry battalion was disrupted, only one of the three captains was left, half of the flag captains died, and the surviving captain was called Feng He.

In the distance, the two red flags had finished forming up, the conch shells rang out, and countless fluttering red flags merged into a sea of blood, which was about to engulf the Kaiyuan cavalry.

Feng He pointed behind him. On the river bank a mile away, the artillery roared without stopping for a moment.

The four-pound cannons smashed their shells into the two Red Flag cavalry formations, plowing bloody grooves in the crowd and causing horrific casualties.

The eight-pound cannons continued to bombard the west gate of Hetuala, providing artillery support for the soldiers approaching the city wall.

Feng He pointed at the puppet-like artillerymen behind him and said in a hoarse voice:

"Our lives are not our lives, theirs are! The Tartars' target is not the soldiers attacking the city, but the artillery! If they take over the artillery, the Kaiyuan army will be finished!"

After General Feng finished speaking, he raised his bloody flagpole tremblingly and pointed it obliquely at the large formation of Later Jin cavalry approaching three miles away, shouting desperately and excitedly:
"Cavalry battalion, charge!"

~~~~~
The west gate of Hetuala suddenly opened, and the real Yi armored soldiers with two yellow flags and two red flags formed a strict formation.

The sword and shield soldiers held up long shields and thick shields in the front, the spearmen and long swordmen were in the middle, and the archers shot from behind the formation, charging head-on into the remnants of the 5,000th headquarters who were attacking the city outside the moat.

(End of this chapter)