The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 199 Martial Arts
Darhan reined in his horse and saw the two Red Flag cavalry formations easily crushing the Yebushou line and approaching the artillery positions on the east bank, a look of pride appeared on his face.

"Hahaha! Liu Zhaosun is at the end of his rope. Order the Niulu Ezhen in front to make a concerted effort and drive the Kaiyuan artillery into the Suzi River to feed the fish!"

Bayara took the order and left. Darkhan felt an infinite sense of pride in his heart. He scanned the battlefield and a crescent-shaped position appeared in his sight three hundred steps ahead.

The huge Kirin battle flag fluttered in the wind. In front of the flag was a breastwork and a trench. Behind the breastwork stood teams of Kaiyuan soldiers ready for battle. They only showed their helmets over the wall. Under the red tasseled helmets, countless pairs of eyes were looking at the two red flag formations.

Darhan was one of the two great Jiala Ezhens of the Bordered Red Banner. He was a close confidant of the banner leader Abatai and a hard-line advocate of war in the Bordered Red Banner. He was arranged by Abatai to attack the artillery positions of the original army.

In the autumn of the 47th year of Wanli's reign, Dalhan was ordered to stay in Hetuala and did not follow the main force of the Eight Banners south, thus missing the bloody battle of Hunhe. The brave general always felt resentful about this.

Later, the Eight Banners Army suffered a crushing defeat, with only less than 40,000 of the 120,000 remaining. Even Du Du, the leader of the Bordered White Banner, was captured by Liu Zhaosun.

While Dalhan was shocked, he also developed a strong interest in the Kaiyuan Army.

Although he knew that this army was very strong, he still wanted to fight Liu Zhaosun personally if he had the chance.

Now, the opportunity has finally come.

Darkhan looked at the chaotic battlefield with hatred, and his expression became even more sinister.

The remaining Kaiyuan troops on the west bank were still gathering under the Suzi Bridge to cross the river. Although their number was close to 10,000, Dalhan believed that the Khan had his own ways to deal with these Nikans and he did not need to worry.

Darkhan turned his gaze back to the east bank. The Kaiyuan artillery two miles away gradually stopped firing after firing more than a dozen rounds of shells. The artillerymen were busy cleaning the barrels and dissipating heat from the guns.

In the center of the crescent-shaped formation, the black unicorn on the battle flag was particularly eye-catching. Darhan said to Niulu Ezhen next to him:
"Yangguli, Nikan has completed his fortifications so quickly. They're stuck right in the middle of a key road, with swamps and mud on both sides, making it difficult for a large army to pass. Look at the trenches and breastworks, they're laid out with great method. The general must be a veteran! This battle is going to be difficult. Can we bypass them?"

Niulu Ezhen Yangguli said quickly:

"Master, I've sent scouts to investigate. If we want to attack the artillery on the east coast, we have to go through this dirt slope. There is a road three miles to the north, but it's a roundabout way."

Darkhan shook his head quickly:
"No detours allowed, the cavalry must attack immediately. The flag master has ordered us to fight quickly and decisively, without delay!"

The two generals of the Bordered Red Banner were talking when they suddenly heard a commotion on the left wing of the cavalry formation, and the sound of bowstrings vibrating was heard on the left wing.

"Master, the Nikan cavalry is attacking the left wing! Hundreds of them are coming!"

Bayala, with a small red triangular flag on his back, rode his horse to Darhan and reported loudly in Manchu.

"Impossible! The Nikan cavalry on the other side haven't crossed the river yet. The cavalry that did cross the river has been dispersed by Uzhenhachao, with more than half of them killed or wounded. Where did the Nikan cavalry come from?"

Before Darkhan finished speaking, he heard the earth-shaking sound of fighting coming from the left wing.

A team of Kaiyuan cavalry rushed towards the waist of the two red flag cavalry formations like a whirlwind.

"It's the Nikan cavalry who weren't killed by the flintlock!"

"Just a few hundred cavalrymen, nothing to worry about!"

Darkhan roared and said to Yangguli:
"Pick out a thousand warriors, stop the Nikan cavalry, and kill them all!"

The two red flag formations immediately changed their formation. On the left wing, a thousand Jiannu soldiers brandished swords and hammers and rushed towards the exhausted Kaiyuan cavalry on the opposite side.

More than 400 Kaiyuan cavalrymen formed four lines. The first two rows were equipped with muskets and spears, the middle row was equipped with halberds and maces, and the last row was equipped with swords. Since many cavalrymen were injured, their lines were not tight.

The cavalry of both sides soon reached a position of 200 steps. The two red flag Niulu Ezhens shouted loudly and ordered the cavalry to shoot. A thousand riders raised their bows, and the light arrows slowly rose into the sky and fell rapidly from the highest point, making bursts of sharp screams.

The Kaiyuan cavalry's muskets fired at the same time, and the cavalry with bows shot light arrows at the Jiannu. Under the thick white smoke, screams were heard from the formation, and dozens of people from the two red flag cavalry who were rushing towards them fell off their horses. In the first round of attack, both sides lost fifty or sixty people each.

The distance of two hundred steps was quickly covered, and both sides entered the throwing distance of fifty steps. Both sides threw flying axes and iron bone flowers at the same time in tacit understanding.

The crossed weapons once again splashed a rain of blood among the cavalry on both sides.

"Rising your life for your life, Nikan is courting death!"

Yang Guli looked at the enemy riders who kept falling off their horses in front of him and smiled coldly.

Feng He tilted his head, barely dodging a flying iron axe. Without even looking, he swung his short axe. Ten steps ahead, a Bayala from the Zhenghong Banner was struck in the head by the flying axe, falling from his horse with a scream. Within twenty steps of a cavalry charge, thrown weapons were incredibly powerful. The flying axe and iron axe, leveraging the horse's speed, could produce terrifying lethality. Given the dense formation of the cavalry, any throw was guaranteed to hit its target.

After this round of throwing, more than one hundred people from both sides fell off their horses. Many were hit directly in the face, and more cavalrymen were hit in the body by the iron bones. After falling off their horses, they were trampled into meat paste by the cavalry.

After two waves of attacks, less than two hundred of the four hundred cavalrymen were left.

The dense wall-like charge line was torn open by the Jiannu, leaving countless gaps, the widest of which could even accommodate two war horses running side by side.

"Fill the position! Guns up!"

Feng He dodged two waves of Tieguduo's attacks in succession. His heart was beating so violently that it almost jumped out of his throat. He shouted with all his strength, but the surroundings were so noisy and filled with the shouts of people and horses that the cavalry could not hear his voice.

He didn't care about these things and raised the flag in his hand high.

Two hundred cavalrymen accelerated at the same time, and the flintlock rifles made a deafening roar. After the front-row cavalrymen pulled the trigger, they immediately inserted the flintlock rifles back into the gong belts, drew their swords, and slashed at the oncoming Jiannu cavalry.

At the same time, a wave of heavy arrows flew from the opposite side. The skilled archers of Bayala used heavy bows to shoot at close range. Under the attack of the heavy arrows, almost all the flintlock soldiers fell off their horses.

The second row of spearmen followed and they raised their spears diagonally and used the inertia of their horses to stab the neck of Bayala who was shooting arrows in front of them. Hundreds of spears pierced the necks of Bayala riders. The Kaiyuan Cavalry Battalion paid special attention to this kind of charge and thrust in normal training, requiring them to be able to stab the enemy's eyes, nose, throat and heart three times in a row while sprinting from a hundred steps away.

Some Bayalas promptly replaced their bows and arrows, and fought with long axes, long swords and long spears, causing casualties to the Kaiyuan cavalry again.

The two sides crossed each other, and hundreds of corpses were added to the battlefield.

After three waves of attacks, the cavalry battalion finally broke through the two Red Flag cavalry formations.

However, they also paid a heavy price.

Only a little over a hundred of the five hundred cavalrymen remained.

The cavalry that broke out of the Jiannu formation stopped two hundred meters away.

Feng He was covered in blood, but he gritted his teeth and persevered. He looked up and saw that there were only the last hundred brothers left on horseback.

If the attack continues like this, the East Coast Cavalry Battalion will be completely wiped out in one more round.

Feng He looked at his brothers, all of whom were filled with murderous intent. Many of them were wounded, and their blood mixed with the blood of the Jiannu people flowed over the saddles and dripped onto the dry grass in the field.

The surviving cavalry formed the last thin line, they were armed with a variety of weapons, there were halberds, there were long spears, there were waist knives, and some people were holding loaded flintlock short guns. Many of them had wounds in their hands and their bodies were shaking.

"Hold your weapons tight, don't act like sissies!"

Feng He's left arm was struck by an axe, and blood gushed out along his chain mail. He struggled to pull up the reins, holding a one-handed waist knife in his right hand. Without bothering to wipe the blood off his face, he looked up at the Later Jin cavalry charging across from him again and shouted:
"Charge! Kill the Tartars!"

More than a hundred cavalrymen slowly accelerated along the valley and began their final charge.

At the same time, the rapid sound of war drums rang out from the opposite side, and the Jiannu army immediately reorganized its troops. The previous charge had caused more than 500 casualties to the Later Jin soldiers, curbing the offensive momentum of the two red flags.

However, the Jiannu cavalry was quickly replenished, and with the arrival of reinforcements, their line became more tight.

The rumbling hooves of a thousand Later Jin cavalrymen were like a sea of death, crushing towards the Kaiyuan cavalry three hundred steps away.

Yang Guli waved the flag and shouted:

"Nikan only has a hundred men left. Kill them all! Then go kill the Nikan behind the breastwork!"

As soon as Niulu'e finished speaking the truth, the sound of artillery fire suddenly rang out behind him.

Yang Guli cursed angrily:
"Nikan has no moral principles. Our gunners have already stopped firing, so why did they suddenly open fire again?"

Four four-pound cannons hidden around the crescent position roared at the same time, and iron balls weighing more than three pounds whizzed towards the two Red Flag cavalrymen who were charging forward on Yangguli's flank.

(End of this chapter)