The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 246 Liaoxi Iron Cavalry
On a raised earthen slope on the north bank of the Hun River, Ping Liaohou sat on a small stool, quietly watching the battle between the Second Guards Army and Liao Town.

He asked the central army guards to prepare this small stool so that they could experience what it was like for the Japanese Warring States daimyo to fight in battle.

It doesn't feel very friendly.

The height of the stool was limited, and the tall Liu Zhaosun felt very uncomfortable sitting on it.

On the distant battlefield, Zu Dale, full of confidence, was leading his elite servants to charge forward.

They first dispersed the Jianzhou Jurchens who were trying to climb the city wall in the front, and killed those poorly equipped Jurchens along the way, showing unprecedented bravery.

"So Liaozhen is so good at fighting. Did they just hide their strength and pretend to be weak before?"

Ping Liaohou muttered to himself.

After confirming that Song Yingsheng had escaped from Liaodong, Liu Zhaosun became dazed and had to force himself to focus on the present.

In this way, he wouldn't think of the woman on the other side of the mountains and seas.

Love is across mountains and seas.

The morale of Zu Dale's family servants was high. They killed the scattered infantry along the way, and then began to attack the Mongolian and Jurchen cavalry lined up behind them.

The arrogance of the Liaozhen servants made the foreign riders on the opposite side very unhappy.

This dissatisfaction is completely understandable.

In the past, they had suppressed the Liao army, and a dozen Bayalas could scare off thousands of Liao soldiers. What the hell happened today? A thousand retainers dared to attack a large Mongol-Jurchen formation of several thousand people.

However, with the support of the Kaiyuan soldiers behind them, these Mongolian and Jurchen riders, armed with bows and wielding swords, became more confident. They stood up bravely and decided to teach Zujia Army a good lesson.

At this time, the Black Tiger flag of the Second Guards Army suddenly tilted forward, and the sound of cavalry charge drums rang out on the battlefield.

Two three-pound field guns symbolically fired two shots at the Liaozhen servants in the distance, and then hurriedly withdrew from the battlefield. It was not known whether the guns exploded or the artillerymen had fled.

The two seemingly unreliable cannons could not shake Zu Dale's determination to kill Liu Zhaosun. The sporadic casualties caused by the field artillery further stimulated the brutal and bloodthirsty nature of the servants.

At this time, more than 2,000 foreign cavalry also drove their horses with strange shouts to fight against the Liaozhen cavalry that was coming in droves.

Ping Liaohou glanced towards the moat. He was not interested in Zu Dashou's younger brother. He just wanted to wipe out these thousand servants as soon as possible to intimidate the following cities.

The small stool under his butt made him very unhappy:
"Uesugi Kenshin, Takeda Shingen, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu, you are probably not tall."

It's a pity that the Warring States Period is long gone, otherwise when Liu Zhaosun immediately came to Fusang, he would definitely have a fight with these famous people who were touted as gods of war and generals.

At this time, Zu Dale's flag was flying across the battlefield, sweeping across the battlefield. The Jianzhou Jurchens suffered heavy casualties.

Ping Liaohou looked up at the fluttering flag, his eyes suddenly widened with anger, revealing deep hatred.

The messenger of the Second Guard Army rode up to the central army flag and asked Ping Liaohou whether the Kaiyuan army should launch an immediate counterattack against Liaozhen.

Marquis Ping Liao glanced at the messenger and suppressed his anger.

"Tell Commander Deng that 300,000 men have surrounded Shenyang. The enemy can't escape. He is in full command of the main attack. The enemy must be defeated before sunset. Zu Dale, capture them alive, otherwise you will be subject to military court!"

The messenger immediately rode away.

Ping Liaohou stood up from his stool and the guards brought him a throne. He sat on the throne, nodded with satisfaction, and continued to observe the dynamics of the battlefield.

The elite cavalry of Liaozhen engaged in a melee with the Mongolian and Jurchen cavalry.

This foreign cavalry was mainly composed of Later Jin captives, former Yehe tribesmen, and Mongolian herders who volunteered to join the battle. It could be said to be a motley crowd. Since they had joined the battle in a hurry, there was naturally no fence-riding charge. They just formed a hastily formed cavalry formation in the front and back.

Fortunately, they had excellent riding skills and could barely fight against the Liaozhen cavalry.

The Liaozhen servants were well-armed, most of them equipped with three-barreled guns. Their armor and horsepower were far superior to their opponents. In addition, they were well-organized and well-trained, and even with a thousand against two thousand, they were not at a disadvantage at all.

As time went on, the disadvantages of the foreign cavalry gradually emerged. First, the horses under the riders' crotch were insufficiently powered, and the momentum of their dogfighting charges began to wane. Second, their horse bows had limited lethality.

A Liaozhen cavalryman's armor was pierced by dense arrows. The servant raised his three-barreled gun and aimed it at a Mongolian herdsman who was rushing towards him with a knife.

Zu Dashou did not waste these two years. Stimulated by the huge amount of Liao salary, the strength of western Liaoning developed unprecedentedly, and the Zu family's military strength expanded rapidly.

Each of the three brothers commanded thousands of retainers, with General Zu Dashou commanding a staggering 2,500. Considering Li Chengliang's peak strength, he commanded only 4,000 retainers. Zu Dashou increased the number of firearms in each unit, equipping cavalry and combat troops with numerous muskets. He spent a fortune purchasing twenty red-haired cannons from the interior of China and installed them in cities like Guangning, Shanhaiguan, and Ningyuan. Although Shenyang was no longer under the control of the Liaoxi warlords, two massive cannons were still stationed on the city walls.

History always likes to play jokes on people. If nothing unexpected happens, Ping Liaohou and his 300,000 troops will continue to advance along the Liaoxi Corridor, and then be stopped by the stubborn Zu Dashou with red cannons at the city of Ningyuan or Guangning. Liu Zhaosun himself is likely to be hit by the red cannon like Nurhaci, ending his journey of travel early.

Of course, the above is just the assumption of some conspiracy theorists, and the facts may develop in another direction.

The lookout standing on the watchtower monitoring the battlefield waved the black tiger flag and reported the defeat of the foreign tribes on the front line to the messenger. The messenger with the small black tiger flag on his back hurriedly jumped off his horse and galloped quickly to the black tiger flag where Deng Changxiong was, and dismounted.

"Commander Deng, the Liaozhen defeated the Mongolian cavalry. They suffered about 200 casualties and are still chasing the Mongols!"

Deng Changxiong, who was pacing back and forth under the banner, immediately stopped and asked the messenger:
"Has the chariot camp been dispatched?"

"No! Only the Zu family servants went out to fight, and the six thousand soldiers in the chariot camp are still reinforcing the position."

Deng Changxiong's expression remained unchanged. He waved his hand to let the messenger retreat, and continued to pace back and forth under the 17-foot-tall black tiger flag.

The five officers of the Second Army Battalion standing around looked at Deng Changxiong anxiously, waiting for his orders.

At this moment, Zu Dale's servants have broken through the foreign cavalry in front and are only two miles away from the Second Army's formation, which is a quick distance for the cavalry.

The life and death of more than 5,000 people in the Second Army depended on a single thought.

When they reached the second circle, Deng Changxiong suddenly stopped and said loudly:

"Pass on my orders. The musketeers will provide cover. The spearmen of the first battalion will feign a rout toward the north bank of the Hun River. Once the enemy has crossed, have Officer Wang lead the first cavalry battalion to immediately cut off Zu Dale's retreat. Call in the artillery to intensively bombard him. The rocket force will simultaneously provide cover fire. Once Zu Dale's formation is broken, Zhu He will lead the second cavalry battalion to attack his left and right flanks. The front will be handed over to the second battalion."

He finished speaking in one breath and asked the messenger to repeat it. After confirming that it was correct, he let the messenger take his own flag to deliver the message to various departments.

Cheng Liang, the battalion commander of the First Battalion of the Second Army, was standing behind Deng Changxiong at this time. After listening to the commander's battle plan, he said cautiously:
"Boss Deng, the rank of the Guards is about the same as that of the Cavalry Regiment. Letting Wang Zengbin cover us is probably..."

Deng Changxiong put down the telescope in his hand, turned back and glared at the younger brother, and said in a firm tone:
"General Liu has handed over command of the front lines to me, so I must take full responsibility. Regardless of whether he agrees or not, I must execute the order! Don't you want to retreat?"

Cheng Liang touched the helmet on his head and smiled awkwardly.

"That's not the case, it's just..."

When Cheng Liang was still a halberd-wielding soldier, Deng Changxiong was his flag captain. The two had been together for over three years. As the commander, Deng Changxiong knew Cheng Liang's temper. This young man appeared affable and carefree, agreeing with everything others said. But in reality, he was a very petty person, always mumbling behind his back.

If I don't make it clear to him, I don't know how many times I'll be scolded by this kid when I carry out the order later.

"Do you feel ashamed to retreat?"

"Well, what I mean is that our Kaiyuan Army has always advanced and never retreated. I've never heard of them retreating before the battle even started. I'm afraid the other battalions will laugh at us."

"Advance without retreat requires obedience to orders. The instructor and the combat representative have told you so many times, but you just ignored them. Ping Liaohou demands the complete annihilation of Liaozhen. How can we annihilate them without luring them out? Go! Execute the order immediately! Otherwise, you will be subject to military court!"

Cheng Liang saluted and, although very reluctant, rode his horse towards the front.

Deng Changxiong looked at Cheng Liang's receding back. The low sounds of cymbals, gongs and trumpets of the Kaiyuan Army rang out all around him. The golden drummers beat the war drums on the drum carts, and the drum sounds were majestic and powerful.

Deng Changxiong looked beyond the messy battlefield in front of him and into the distance.

The defensive fortifications built by Zu Dale in Shenyang finally revealed their true form.

Deng Changxiong took a breath of cold air.

Outside the chariot camp, Liaozhen dug two wide and deep trenches, cut down trees outside the trenches, and built a wooden fence several feet high in three or four layers as an outer fortification.

The city walls and chariot camps were arranged at different heights, with firepower fired in an interlaced manner.

In this way, the defense of Liaozhen was divided into three parts: the defenders of the city wall, the defenders of the chariot camp, and Zu Dale's servants.

Only by breaking through the Cheying defense can Shenyang be captured.

Marquis Ping Liao gave him only one day to capture the city, so you can imagine how difficult it was.

Deng Changxiong's gaze narrowed and fell on the barrel of the red cannon protruding from the battlement on the city wall in the distance.

"When will Wang Jinglue's standard-bearing battalion start to exert its strength?"

(End of this chapter)