The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 93 Deer Hunter

Mao Yuanyi trembled as he inserted a red-hot iron rod into the vent at the rear end of the Red Cannon.

A cloud of white smoke immediately rose around the fire door, and the burning gunpowder made a crackling sound.

Qiao Yiqi stood in front of Mao Yuanyi, opened his eyes as wide as possible, and observed the entire process of him igniting the red cannon.

At this moment, he clasped his hands together, his face full of piety, and he was muttering something.

Han Zhenyi and Wang Changzhi did not pray to gods like General Qiao did. Instead, they looked across the moat and towards the Later Jin camp.

In the field of vision, a Later Jin soldier led a dozen Later Jin generals wearing fine armor into the central military tent. Two bondservants knelt at the door and kowtowed to their masters.

As gunners, Han Zhenyi and Wang Changzhi need to observe the entire process of the artillery shells hitting the target, and then evaluate the artillery shells' hit situation and damage effect, so as to continuously correct the artillery accuracy and quickly improve their artillery operation skills.

At the suggestion of Supervisor Joe, the two gunners set their target to the west of the tent.

The area west of the Later Jin Dynasty was more important, and as the leader of the Plain White Banner, Huang Taiji was most likely to sit there.

In order to give Huang Taiji a real surprise, Mao Yuanyi removed the fuse he had designed and replaced it with gunpowder.

There is a brief delay when the fuse is ignited, which is suitable for firing at stationary targets. If the gunpowder is ignited directly, the time from ignition to firing will be greatly shortened, and the shooting will naturally be more accurate.

Of course, the only drawback is that once the barrel explodes, the operator will be killed because the fire burns too fast and the person cannot escape.

General Liu suggested that Mao Yuanyi change the iron bullets to chain bullets or shotgun shells to increase the killing area of the artillery. However, Mao Yuanyi felt that in this way, the range of the red cannon would be shortened and it might not hit the target, so he rejected this suggestion.

boom!
A deafening thunderclap sounded from the top of the city wall. The bricks under everyone's feet shook slightly, and a huge recoil force was transmitted. The barrel of the Red Cannon suddenly retreated, and a cloud of white smoke rose in front of their eyes.

The ten-pound iron cannonball, propelled by gunpowder, shot out in a small arc before plummeting. Like a meteor, it flew over the heads of the Ming and Jin soldiers. The scorching hot iron ball, carrying the wrath of countless Liaodong heroes, roared down upon the Jianzhou Jurchens.

The armored soldiers Bayala who were charging in front of the breastwork all looked up at the sky.

Yang Tong, the musketeer covered in blood, leaned against the earth wall to catch his breath. He looked up and saw the meteor crashing towards the Later Jin camp, and muttered in Shaanxi dialect:
"Oh my god, you finally opened your eyes today."

Above the north gate, Qiao Yiqi and Mao Yuanyi glanced at each other and asked:
"Did you hit it?"

~~~
Huang Taiji woke up from a nightmare.

He stroked a pair of deer antlers in his hand, and his sharp eyes gradually became blurred.

These antlers belong to a strong and cunning male deer.

It was a summer many years ago. An old Yehe hunter with a white beard hunted a stag in the northern mountains of Hetuala and gave the antlers to Huang Taiji.

At that time, his father Khan had not yet started his army, and there were still Yehe and Huifa peoples around Hetuala. The young Huang Taiji would go hunting with them.

Later, Huang Taiji stopped hunting and followed his father Khan to fight wars everywhere.

From Hetuala to Haixi, they killed many people and massacred many cities.

Nurhaci chopped the body of the Yehe leader in half, saying that he did this to leave a lasting memory for himself.

It was not until his father Khan turned into a murderous monster in his later years and slaughtered millions of Liao people in the name of killing Wu Gu that Huang Taiji realized that the half of his father Khan's body that he had chopped off was actually his last remaining humanity.

Huang Taiji's thoughts are now on his desk.

The old Yehe hunter who had died many years ago can now only be seen again in dreams.

Qin lost his deer, and the world chased it.

Looking at Jiala Ezhen who walked into the big tent, the leader of the Zhengbai Banner's eyes became sharp again.

Three days ago, Huang Taiji led the Plain White Banner troops to leave Fushun and marched all the way to the northwest. Before they arrived in Kaiyuan, the scouts sent back news that the Kaiyuan army had captured Tieling in just half an hour.

Huang Taiji was shocked when he heard the news, and immediately notified Jirgalang to send troops to ambush between Tieling and Kaiyuan to prevent Liu Zhaosun from attacking the Zhengbai Banner from the south while Huang Taiji was attacking Kaiyuan.

The Bordered Blue Banner led by Jirgalang had a total of 8,000 people. As long as they advanced steadily and cautiously, they could completely trap the Kaiyuan army.

In Huang Taiji's view, Liu Zhaosun had reached a desperate situation.

He could either hide in Tieling City and wait for the opportunity to launch an ineffective attack on the Later Jin army in Shenyang, rescue hundreds of White Spear Soldiers and Zhejiang Soldiers, and then flee Liaodong in a hurry, perhaps saving his life.

Or he could immediately lead his troops south, take his 3,000 soldiers and join forces with the 4,000 defenders of Kaiyuan, and launch a full-scale attack on the Zhengbai Banner.

Of course, even a fool would know that according to the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao, a considerable number of Later Jin troops would be ambushed between Kaiyuan and Tieling at this time, waiting for the Kaiyuan army to die.

Jirgalang led 8,000 troops of the Bordered Blue Banner and had already sharpened their swords, waiting for Liu Zhaosun to attack the Plain White Banner. They wanted to give Liu Zhaosun a surprise and settle the new and old grudges between the Bordered Blue Banner and the Kaiyuan soldiers.

In short, no matter which of the above two paths is taken, Kaiyuan will be lost, and General Xuanwu's career in Liaodong will end prematurely.

If the two flag owners cooperated effectively, Liu Zhaosun would have died without a burial place this time.

Huang Taiji smiled and nodded.

The battle in Kaiyuan is about to end. When the army enters the city, it is necessary to follow the Khan's order and kill all the Nikans in the city, leaving no one alive.

Huang Taiji summoned five Jiala Ezhen and ten Niulu Ezhen at this time to arrange for them to massacre the city.

"After you capture the city, you must restrain the warriors of the Jahra. Do not covet wealth or steal women. You must quickly kill all the Nikans in the city."

Huang Taiji's eyes swept over the five Jiala Ezhens. The people in front of him controlled the Zhengbai Banner and this powerful military force.

"Liu Zhaosun is desperately trying to fight back, and he might march north from Tieling to attack Kaiyuan and attack us. To be on the safe side, I've arranged for the Bordered Blue Banner to ambush between the two cities. However, the warriors of the Plain White Banner must also be prepared to annihilate any that have slipped through the net! This time, we must completely annihilate the Kaiyuan army. You must continue the assault, and once you've broken through, we'll immediately massacre the entire city!"

Before Huang Taiji finished speaking, Jiala Ezhen Dumubu, who was sitting next to him, stood up and said:

"Master, if we want to capture the city as quickly as possible, we need to build more ladders. Put dozens of them on the city walls and attack from all sides. They have so few soldiers that they can't hold on."

Huang Taiji nodded to Dumubu, the most ferocious of the bannermen, Jiala Ezhen, who always rushed to the front in every battle and was one of Huang Taiji's confidants. Huang Taiji always listened carefully to his opinions.

In the original history, Du Mubu was killed by the White Spear Soldiers in the bloody battle of Hunhe River. In this plane, he came to the city of Kaiyuan.

Another Jia La Ezhen beside him said coldly:

"The bondservants weren't putting in the work, and the armored soldiers had to go out and build the shield carts themselves. It took two days, otherwise we could have taken Kaiyuan long ago!"

After hearing this, the other Jia La also shook their heads and sighed, with expressions of hatred on their faces.

"In the past, we took Fushun and Qinghe in less than half a day, but this time we haven't taken them in two days. Where are our banner's internal supporters in Kaiyuan City?"

Jiala Ezhen Yabahai asked in confusion.

"They were all killed by Liu Zhaosun. The few who remained in the Bordered Blue Banner were gone to mine. In September, these slaves didn't pass on a single piece of intelligence."

Du Mubu said unhappily.

"Look at how useful the Bordered Blue Banner's baoyi are. I heard a baoyi named Cao killed five or six white-pole soldiers under Kaiyuan City last time and raised his flag not long ago. The baoyi in our banner are useless. They can't even build a ladder!"

The Niulu began to ask the Baoyi to make shield vehicles and ladder vehicles the day before yesterday, but they have not been completed until now.

"Call those two dog slaves."

The personal attendant Goshiha took the order and left to find the unfortunate Han craftsman.

Huang Taiji was about to order the soldiers to disperse when he looked up and saw a soldier in white armor rushing in from outside.

Goshiha stopped the man at the door of the tent. Huang Taiji saw that he was wearing fine fish-scale armor and remembered that he was Baturu Langge from the Hetuala Palace.

"Langge, why are you here?"

Langge didn't have time to salute Master Gushan Ezhen, and said hurriedly:

"Eighth Prince! A Ming army, accompanied by many Mongols, has crossed the Fushun Pass on horseback and is now attacking Hetuala. The First Concubine sent me to ask for help, saying that the Ming general is very vicious."

"Is it Liu Zhaosun?"

Huang Taiji asked without hesitation.

"They raised a general's flag, and the Han ministers said it was the flag of the Kaiyuan general."

"Did you see clearly? The Kaiyuan Army has no cavalry. How did they rush from Tieling to Hetuala in such a short time? Could they have flown there?"

"A large number of cavalrymen arrived from Huduntu, shouting that they wanted to rob us all and divide up the wives of the various princes. That Ming general also rode a horse and said he wanted to massacre the city."

"Liu Zhaosun really went to attack Hetuala. He wants to perish together with the Great Jin!"

Huang Taiji stayed there.

After listening to Langge's report, all the Jiala'ezhen opened their mouths wide.

"Go to Hetuala. Even if you win, he won't be able to come back."

"He's crazy!"

"Hetuala only has 2,000 soldiers and many bannermen. They can't stop Hu Duntu and Liu Zhaosun. The Khan is still in Shenyang, hundreds of miles away from Hetuala. We are close, and it will only take a day to return."

"The warriors' families are all over there, as are the silver and food we looted from the Ming Dynasty. If we let Liu Zhaosun break into the city, he will massacre us and rob us..."

"The Zhengbai Banner must not leave. If it does, we don't know when we'll be able to capture Kaiyuan City next time!"

"Didn't that bastard Li Yongfang say that Liu Zhaosun drove the Mongol envoys away?"

"The Han people can't be trusted! Kill all the Han people in Kaiyuan first!"

·······
Huang Taiji suddenly roared, shocking the whole audience.

"Don't say anything!"

He turned to a Goshiha and said:
"Immediately send someone to inform the Sixth Prince to lead a part of the Bordered Blue Banner to rescue Hetuala. Then send someone to Shenyang to inform the Great Khan to mobilize troops and rush north to block the Huduntu cavalry."

Geshiha turned and left. Huang Taiji looked at the deer antlers on the table behind him and murmured:

"Sending envoys to Shenyang was a deception, intended to draw the Plain White Banner to Kaiyuan. The surprise attack on Tieling was also a deception, intended to divert the Bordered Blue Banner to Tieling. The Eight Banners army was dispersed across three locations, allowing him to launch a desperate attack on Hetuala. He employed deception and reality, maintaining the orthodoxy while employing the unexpected. Looking at Liu Zhaosun's military tactics, they flowed like flowing clouds and water, their strategies were ingenious and natural. No wonder Amin was defeated by him."

Du Mubu beside him said angrily:

"Master, don't encourage him! No matter what tricks he uses, Nikan only has a few thousand men, and he wants to attack Hetuala. We can't even surround the city with such a small force, so why should we be afraid of him? Our Eight Banners have a combined army of 120,000. Even if we divide them into four groups, we can crush him. I, your servant, will lead a group of troops back to Hetuala to destroy this man!"

Several other Jiala Ezhen also volunteered to fight.

Huang Taiji ignored Du Mubu. He was not sure how many troops Liu Zhaosun had at the moment. However, he was certain that he had more than 2,000 men. He might have other reinforcements, such as the Mongolian tribes.

Huang Taiji began to carefully review the entire battle, trying to recall where the flaws were.

Finally he discovered that the flaw was in Tieling.

Liu Zhaosun occupied Tieling, cutting off the connection between Shenyang and Kaiyuan. He must have killed the white-armored soldier who delivered the message, and the Later Jin's intelligence transmission was not smooth. This created the possibility for his final surprise attack on Hetuala.

Of course, the most important thing is that the appearance of Tiger Crouching Rabbit changed the situation on the battlefield.

If it was just Liu Zhaosun's few thousand infantrymen, he could attack wherever he wanted, and Huang Taiji would not worry.

It is undeniable that the Kaiyuan soldiers are fierce and good at fighting, and can fight ten people at a time, but after all, they are just infantry.

Infantry had very poor mobility, especially these spearmen, who had to stop to rest and resupply after walking dozens of miles.

If we really use infantry to attack Hetuala, we will be seeking death.

The Later Jin Dynasty only needed to send a few hundred cavalry to follow and harass them, and they could easily cut off their retreat and slowly wear these people down.

However, Liu Zhaosun now has the cavalry of Huduntu, and Huang Taiji estimates that Huduntu has sent several thousand cavalry.

The addition of cavalry expanded their combat radius by more than tenfold. Given Liu Zhaosun's temperament, even three hundred retainers dared to charge into a large formation of six thousand. It was no surprise that Liu Zhaosun was using this disregard for his own life, charging across vast distances to the bitter end of the Jin army. This was how he had always fought the Jin army.

He was like this during the Battle of Sarhu at Hunjiang, and he was even more like this during the last bloody battle of Kaiyuan.

The tiger squat rabbits were more concerned about money than their lives. Huang Taiji heard that the Ming Dynasty rewarded the tiger squat rabbits with only 10,000 or 20,000 silver coins, yet they dared to come and attack the Later Jin.

Liu Zhaosun only needed to tell Huduntu Khan (Lindan Khan) that Hetuala City was empty and would surely be conquered if attacked, as there were mountains of gold and silver in the city. This impoverished Mongols would probably fight to the death with the Later Jin.

Huang Taiji pondered for a long time, and finally said:

"They can't capture Hetuala for now. The White Banner will continue the assault! Dispatch the Bayalas from each Niulu, cross the river immediately, and attack the city with all their might. If Kaiyuan City isn't captured in half an hour, all Niulu Ezhen will be beheaded!"

After Huang Taiji finished speaking, he stood up and was about to walk out of the tent, leading Goshiha to the north gate to supervise the battle.

At this time, the two bondservants who were in charge of supervising the construction of the shield vehicles came. They knelt on the ground, curled up.

When the other masters in the big tent saw these two servants, they immediately flew into a rage. Du Mubu swung his scabbard and hit the servant hard.

"You little slaves! I told you to build shield carts the day before yesterday. You've been working on it for three days, and now it's still not enough. I told you to be lazy! I told you to be lazy!"

"Beat you, you little dog slave, to death and drag you off to feed the dogs!"

Dumubu struck him five or six times in quick succession. The nearby Jiala Ezhen simply watched, and the ten Niulu Ezhen dared not speak. Huang Taiji's expression was grim. The baoyi lay on the ground, spitting blood, already near death.

"Go to the north gate and attack the city!"

Huang Taiji stood up, and a group of Jiala Ezhen and Niulu Ezhen in the tent walked towards the door.

They lined up and filed out of the main gate, whispering to each other.

Suddenly, Huang Taiji heard a muffled sound coming from outside. It was the sound of a cannon he had never heard before. It sounded like a gun barrel exploding.

Du Mubu, who was walking in front, grinned and said:

"Hahaha, the southern barbarians' artillery exploded again..."

Before he could finish his words, the curtains at the main entrance of the tent swished open with a rustling sound. Before anyone could react, Du Mubu's head vanished.

Blood gushed out from between his shoulders like a fountain. The scabbard of the packing knife in his hand fell to the ground, and his body was still shaking rhythmically.

Almost at the same time, Yabahai behind Dumubu was hit in the lower abdomen, and his body flew out suddenly as if hit by a wild horse.

Next was Shiertai, the youngest Jiala Ezhen in the Zhengbai Banner. He had one leg knocked off by the black shadow. Shiertai stared at the broken leg in a daze for a while before he let out a howl that was not like a human voice.

Finally, the iron ball flew to the leader of the Zhengbai Banner.

Death is coming.

Just before the shell tore through the tent, Eighth Beilefu was shocked, staggered, and fell to the ground. The next second, he saw the bloody scene before him.

With the good luck of being the son of the plane, he barely escaped the attack and recovered from the shock.

"One shot destroyed dozens of miles of land."

Huang Taiji, who survived the disaster, sighed and somehow blurted out these words.

In a short moment, all the soldiers in the flag were killed or wounded, and it was unclear how they would fight the next battle.

Before Huang Taiji could finish his words, there was a crisp sound and the deer antlers behind him were smashed into pieces.

The iron ball's power remained undiminished as it rushed out of the central army tent and rolled into a group of Goshaha.

Huang Taiji opened his eyes wide.

The sharp deer antlers were hit by the high-speed flying iron ball, shattered and scattered, and dozens of broken bones whizzed like cannonballs and flew towards Huang Taiji.

Huang Taiji's eyes were filled with horror.

In the last moments of his life, he returned to that summer and met the old man who only appeared in nightmares.

The old man walked out of Huang Taiji's nightmare.

The blood-stained old hunter from Yehe hovered above the big tent, leaning over and looking at the dying Huang Taiji with a sneer.

"Now, it's your turn to be the prey."

That summer, Nurhaci took the young Huang Taiji to the back mountains of Hetuala to hunt the Yehe people.

His first kill that summer was a deer hunter.

In the central army tent, five Jiala Ezhen and three Niulu Ezhen of the Zhengbai Banner were either dead or wounded, their bodies covered in blood, rolling on the ground.

"The Eighth Prince is dead! Master Jiala'ezhen is still alive! Come and save the master!"

Aha, the bondservant who had not slept for several nights to make the shield chariot, looked up at the surroundings of the tent.

The ground was in a mess, with blood stains all the way from the door to the table, and broken bodies scattered on the ground.

The Eighth Prince fell to the ground with his face covered in blood. A deer antler was stuck in one of his eyes, and the other eye was looking at the top of the tent in horror, as if something was approaching.

Master Shiertai sat on the ground, holding his broken calf, and looked around blankly.

The uninjured people soon discovered Huang Taiji lying on the ground and shouted:
"Eighth Prince! You can't die! Master!"

Baoyi couldn't bear it anymore and suffered a mental breakdown.

He ran out of the tent, his face covered in blood, and howled wildly at the surrounding Later Jin soldiers:
"My master is dead, I will chop him into pieces and feed him to the dogs!"

Almost all the armored soldiers turned their heads to look at the main tent of the Zhengbai Banner Army and at the crazy bannerman. Some brave armored soldiers whispered to their companions what had happened. At this time, even more tragic howls were heard in the distance.

"It's Gushan Ezhen's Geshiha."

"They were hit by artillery shells, too!"

"How can the barbarians' cannons reach so far?"

The sinful iron ball committed several murders in the main tent of the Zhengbai Banner Army, but did not stop killing immediately. After smashing the deer antlers, it bounced on the ground and crashed into a group of resting Goshaha behind the tent without hesitation, splashing a rain of blood again.

Accompanied by a crackling sound of bones breaking, the iron ball easily tore through Gosha's fine armor, plowing a bloody groove in the crowd.

After slaughtering three more people, the iron ball, perhaps with a change of heart, lost its motivation to continue killing and slowly came to rest between the legs of a Goshiha. Goshiha urinated all over himself.

The ten-pound red cannon shell finally ended this killing journey.

The shell killed ten people and frightened a civilian mad.

There was one Gushan Ezhen, two Jiala Ezhen, two Niulu Ezhen, three Gosha, and two Baoyi.

Although it is still far from the world record of killing 33 armored soldiers with one shot in Spain.

However, considering that this was Mao Yuanyi's first time casting a cannon and firing it, it was already very good.

And those who were killed were the elite of the Zhengbai Banner, or to be more precise, the elite of the elite, except for the two baoyi, of course.

"The master is dead! I dragged him away and fed him to the dogs!"

The mad Baoyi shouted loudly all the way and ran past the armored soldiers beside the moat. He was covered in blood, and the braid on the back of his head turned black and red, like a skinned dog.

"Behead him!"

Niulu Ezhen said viciously that this Jurchen general had fought against Yehe and Huifa (a Jurchen tribe), and had personally killed Dusong's servants in Sarhu.

Having seen many mountains of corpses and seas of blood, he knew that now was not the time to panic.

A real Yi armored soldier stepped forward quickly and swung his sword at the mad Baoyi.

Just before the heavy sword came down, he suddenly rolled into the moat covered in blood.

"The master is dead, and the servant dragged him down to feed the dogs."

Bamboo sticks and caltrops laid in the river pierced his body, and he sank to the bottom of the river howling.

Such a horrifying and bizarre scene attracted the attention of the Later Jin soldiers on both sides of the strait, and the defenders on the city walls also looked at the mad Baoyi on the river.

Tens of thousands of eyes were staring at this baoyi who was driven crazy. Some were laughing, some were silent, and some Later Jin soldiers began to whisper about something.

"What are you all standing there for? Charge in and kill all the southern barbarians!"

The dozen or so Niulu'e who rushed to the other side shouted loudly as they realized what was happening behind them.

Kaiyuan City was about to fall, and it was impossible for them to withdraw their troops.

The two Jala Ezhen and Niulu Ezhen were killed by artillery shells, and Gushan Ezhen's life and death were unknown.

After a brief panic, these survivors of many battles quickly reacted. They reorganized their ranks, and Niulu Ezhen organized his troops to continue the siege.

According to the military law of the Later Jin Dynasty, if the flag leader died in battle and the city was not captured, all the Niulu Ezhen would be beheaded.

"They can't hold on any longer. Let's capture this city, kill all the southern barbarians, and avenge our masters!"

A fierce Niulu Ezhen wielded a heavy sword, knocked down several fleeing bannermen in front of him, and rushed onto the floating bridge. Behind him, three hundred Zhenyi armored soldiers roared to avenge their master and followed Niulu Ezhen to rush to the other side.

"Did you hit it?"

Mao Yuanyi and two gunners began to clean the barrel.

"If the King of Hell wants him dead, he can't escape."

Mao Yuanyi lifted the wool-wrapped brush, dipped it in water, and inserted the brush into the hot barrel. There was a sizzling sound, and white steam rose in front of Qiao Yiqi's eyes.

"Keep firing, don't stop!"

Qiao Yiqi shouted orders regardless of the injury on his leg.

"Where to fire?"

Mao Yuanyi asked Wang Changzhi and Han Zhenyi to load the shells, and he picked up the ruler to measure.

Qiao Yiqi's eyes rolled with excitement as he looked down at the densely packed Later Jin soldiers under the city, like a falcon observing its prey.

"Over there, there are those Baoyi who are pushing the shield cart, and there are a group of white-armored soldiers behind them. Attack them!"

"Here, fire at the front of the earth wall. There are probably thousands of Tartars there. One shot can kill dozens!"

"Kill all the Tartars!"

Mao Yuanyi said coldly:

"General Qiao, this isn't a double-barreled musket. You need to replace the sub-barrel after firing a shot. This barrel weighs several thousand pounds, so you can't replace the sub-barrel. General Liu said the gun is poorly made and might explode after firing ten rounds in a row."

"Explosion?"

Qiao Yiqi thought for a while and said seriously:
"The North Gate is about to be broken. If we don't stop this Jiannu offensive, Kaiyuan will be finished. We have to fire even if the barrel explodes. This is only the second shot. There are still nine to go. Reload quickly!"

"If you're afraid, then take your aim. I'll start the fire. Even if I die, I'll take a few Tartars with me!"

"Attack the pontoon bridge first, break the bridge, and make sure the Tartars who cross the river can't return!"

(End of this chapter)