Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 509 Defeat
The team continued to advance, but Ding Xiu, the leader, still showed some kindness to the young leader. "I'm Turush, from the Yehe tribe, from the Sakda clan. What's your name?"

Hearing that it was the Yehe tribe, the young leader was stunned for a moment. "Sengge, my name is Sengge! Turush from the Sakda clan, you misunderstood, you misunderstood!"

"We attacked the Yehe tribe only because we were ordered by the Heavenly Mandate Khan. No! We were simply coerced by Nurhaci. We never had any ill intentions." Seeing that these "Yehe tribe" people were still advancing, Sengge couldn't help but get anxious: "We have never abused the Yehe people that Nurhaci assigned to us! Moreover, the two people you just killed were also from the Yehe tribe!"

"Stop." When they were about to pass the first tent, Ding Xiu stopped Cui Liu.

Seeing the remnants of the Yehe tribe halted their advance, the young leader felt a small sense of relief. "Tulushi of the Sakda clan, you shouldn't blame us! We're not even from the Jianzhou tribe! We're from the Hada tribe!" As if remembering something, the young leader spoke in a loud voice, "There's a settlement of the Dong'e clan of the Jianzhou tribe nearby! If you want revenge, you should go after them. Spare my people, spare my people! I can lead the way!" The young leader had completely dismissed the invaders as remnants of the Yehe tribe seeking revenge.

Ding Xiu's decision to stop Cui Liu wasn't due to some inexplicable emotional upheaval. The Yehe people were certainly friendly to the Ming, and those Yehe nobles who escaped were even treated as honored guests at the governor's headquarters. But all this presupposed they could safely escape to Ming-occupied territory. If they were killed like this, they would simply be two heads used to claim credit.

Ding Xiu turned his head slightly and whispered to Su Jiu, "Go, go see if there is anyone else in that tent. Don't worry, I will cover you."

"Okay." Su Jiu responded, walked to the side of the tent, and cut the tent open with a stab and a pull of the waist knife in his hand. "There's no one in this tent." Su Jiu also spoke in Jurchen.

Ding Xiu said to Cui Liu again, "Keep going."

"Yeah." Cui Liu continued to move forward.

Sengge understood that this group of people wanted to clear the area tent by tent and then round them up like cattle and sheep!

Should we continue to negotiate or charge forward?
Sengge was confused.

It was obvious at first glance that these five men were formidable. If Asangbu and Laduhun were still alive, Sengge's forces, with their sheer numbers, might have been able to hold their own. But now, Asangbu and Laduhun had been assassinated, leaving only himself and Tong'er, two relatively able-bodied men in the entire tribe. If the charge failed, his own death wouldn't be a big deal, but the women and children of the tribe would suffer.

Oh, right! Where's Tong Al? What's that bastard Tong Al doing?
"Sengge, Sengge!" Just as he was thinking, a terrified female voice suddenly came from behind Sengge. "Master Bashi and Tong'er were shot dead!"

Sengge was horrified. He felt a surge of angry blood mixed with a bone-chilling chill, driven by the powerful pumping of his heart, rushing from his tailbone straight up to his forehead.

These damn bastards are here to exterminate our clan! There's no turning back!

"Kill!" Sengge shouted and charged towards the "Yehe remnants". Seeing this, the weak old and weak people around Sengge and the brave women also followed his footsteps and bravely rushed forward.

On Ding Xiu's side, the first to launch a counterattack was the archer Ding Xiu, who was in charge of controlling the situation. He loosened his grip, and the wooden bow and ox sinew quickly rebounded, pushing out a feathered arrow with a fatal impact.

Sengge was ready to block, but the arrow was not aimed at him at all!
There was a short, sharp sound of breaking wind, and next to Sengge, a strong androgynous woman was shot through the shoulder blade by Ding Xiu's arrow. Ding Xiu still aimed for her throat, but the woman's forward movement pushed her body upwards. This action saved her life, at least for the time being.

After firing his first arrow, Ding Xiu fired a second, aiming for another strong woman. He had never considered shooting Sengge in armor. The copper nails on the armor's cloth indicated that Sengge's cotton armor was embedded with iron plates. He didn't know how thick the iron plates were, nor did he know if the young leader wore chain mail underneath.

If Sengge was really wearing chain mail underneath, his arrows would likely not penetrate his protection. Rather than wasting a possible attack opportunity, it would be better to strike at the more threatening manpower. After all, he had Cui Laoliu in front of him, and a master with a spear and a stick at his side.

When Ding Xiu shot down the second strong woman, the two armies met.

Sengge didn't use his sword, but instead charged at Cui Liu with his shield raised. He hoped to knock Cui Liu down and disrupt the invaders' formation. As long as the enemy's formation was disrupted, they still had a chance to use their numerical advantage to disperse and encircle them.

This is undoubtedly the right option, but the right option never means useful.

Boom!
The two shields collided head-on, knocking both men unconscious for a brief moment. Cui Liu withstood Sengge's all-out assault, only stumbling slightly before regaining his composure.

In a trance, Sengge suddenly felt a fleeting chill piercing his waist.

That’s Ding Baiying’s gun!
Sengge did wear a Ming-style chain mail armor stripped from the battlefield of Sarhu, but even with the protection of double iron armor, Sengge still could not block the shot.

Without any unnecessary movements, Ding Baiying pushed and retracted the gun lightly, and the tip of the gun made a fatal bloody hole on Sengge's left waist.

Sengge's left kidney and spleen were pierced at the same time!

Ding Baiying didn't launch a second attack on Sengge. She had an absolute sense of power, and before she put away her gun, she knew Sengge was already dead. Ding Baiying twisted, turned, and shook three times, and launched a short and powerful sweep at the second target.

The second target had no armor protection, and his ribs were broken by this blow!
Ding Baiying's attack has not yet ended. Her attack is just a side action to block the enemy's attack when she turns the gun.

Retract the gun quickly and stab sharply!
The gun body stabbed in a straight line, and the tip of the gun penetrated the human body!
In a split second, Ding Baiying killed a man and a woman. Just as she was about to relinquish her gun and attack her third target, this hasty and disorderly charge collapsed.

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Just as Sengge recovered from the dizziness caused by the collision, he felt an even greater dizziness set in. The vitality and energy that supported him were carried away by the surging blood, flowing out unhindered from the ruptured spleen and kidneys.

Sengge instinctively glanced towards his left waist, where he had been struck, only to hear a roar that threatened to pierce his eardrums. Immediately afterwards, his legs weakening, Sengge was thrown backward by a tremendous force. Almost no one noticed Ding Baiying's deft thrust. To the other tribesmen who were joining the charge, it looked like a fierce warrior had sent his own warrior flying with two powerful blows.

There was no chance of winning, and continuing to charge would only result in the loss of lives.

The remaining tribesmen stopped and slowly retreated. In front of them, the invaders, a group of Yehe remnants, did not pursue them.

"Your leader is dead!" Ding Xiu pointed the tip of his arrow at Sengge, who was gradually ceasing his struggle on the ground, and several other seriously wounded and dying tribesmen. "Everyone! Even those hiding in the tents! Put down your weapons and get out into the open!"

The charging tribesmen retreated, but for a moment no one docilely dropped their weapons. Their will to fight was already shattered, but they knew that no matter whether they held a sword, a spear, or a club, if they let go, they would be lambs to the slaughter. The decision to kill or not was a matter of a moment's thought. Furthermore, these "remnants of the Yehe tribe" were driven by a killing spree from the outset.

"Drop the knife!" Ding Xiu fired the feathered arrow in his hand. This was the first warning shot since the raid began. "If you don't drop it, the next arrow will go in your neck!" Ding Xiu shouted at the knife-wielding old man who had been squeezed to the front of the line, while pulling another arrow from his quiver.

The old man was a veteran warrior of this small tribe. In his youth, he was very brave, daring enough to fight wolves with his bare hands. But now, he was too old. He was too old to mount a warhorse, too old to charge, and even if he wanted to fight, he could only tremble and be left behind by the women. However, he was not too old to lose his courage.

"Ah!!" After a brief mental struggle, the old man rushed out alone towards the unharmed invaders. He took only three steps forward when a sharp feather arrow pierced his heart.

The old soldier eventually died on the way to charge.

"I'll say this one last time. Everyone, put down your weapons! As long as you put down your weapons, I, Turush, will spare your lives. If anyone dares to resist again, they will all be killed!" Ding Xiu tightened the bowstring again, but his nerves had already begun to relax.

The situation now was that the five of them had already wiped out all the threatening resistance forces in the camp. They could have carried out a wholesale massacre if they so desired. To them, the remaining elderly, weak, women, and children, even if armed, were merely lambs to be slaughtered.

Ding Xiu didn't order a massacre. The main reason was that the women's heads couldn't be exchanged for silver or military merit yet. Capturing them alive would allow him to find a way to sell them as slaves. Secondly, his men, especially the woman from the south, wouldn't necessarily listen. As for the victor's magnanimity, Ding Xiu might have had it in mind, but not much.

In any case, Ding Xiu's "moderate tolerance" completely crushed the remaining morale of the women and children. After the first person threw down his stick, the other tribesmen also threw down their weapons.

"Huh!" Ding Xiu let out a long breath and said to Cui Liu and Ding Baiying, "Go tie them up."

"Ah?" Ding Xiu still spoke in Jurchen, and Ding Baiying didn't understand.

Ding Xiu ignored her because Cui Liu had already gone to untie the rope that tied the tent.

"I'm going to chop off some heads right now!" Su Jiu came over and said excitedly.

"Don't rush." ​​Ding Xiu waved his hand, gesturing at Li Xian. "Go with him to see if there are any other people in these tents. Be careful, or you might be tricked." The Jin Empire hadn't yet developed a "first merit system," a quantitative merit-reward system to prevent false reporting of merit. Cutting off a head would mean exposing one's identity. And until everyone was under control, Ding Xiu didn't want to reveal his identity yet.

"Okay." If Su Jiu had previously had some doubts about Captain Ding, then after this surprise attack, he was completely convinced. Following Captain Ding, one could really make a fortune!
"You go over there." Su Jiu patted Li Xian's shoulder, indicating that he and he should act separately.

"Yeah." Li Xian could understand Jurchen, but he was not very good at speaking it and was too disdainful to do so.

For a moment, Cui Liu, Su Jiu, and Li Xian each went about their business, while Ding Xiu, armed with a bow and arrow, remained on guard, providing necessary cover for the team. Of the five who had stormed the camp, only Ding Baiying, who spoke no language at all, remained standing, steadying his chariot and holding his spear, appearing somewhat dazed.

"What should we do next?" After standing for a while, Ding Baiying moved behind Ding Xiu and asked softly.

"What else can I do? Of course I'll chop off my head and report back." Ding Xiu was extremely satisfied with this successful operation. Now, he even began to secretly calculate how to distribute the credit.

Ding Baiying nodded and asked, "How do we get back?"

"What nonsense! Of course we're walking back." Ding Xiu shrugged, speaking in Chinese and no longer trying to lower his voice. "Do you still want to ride in a sedan?"

"What I mean is," Ding Baiying frowned slightly. She had just started to have a slight liking for Captain Ding. "Which way should we go back?"

"We don't know yet. We need to determine our current location first. As long as we can find the Taizi River and then follow the river downstream, we will see Weining Fort. This is the fastest way." Ding Xiu's gaze shifted to a child who was driven out of the tent by Su Jiu.

It was a young boy with pigtails, clutching a small knife. However, Ding Xiu had no intention of shooting. This wasn't out of kindness, but rather because he felt that if Su Jiu were to be killed by a knife like that, he would be dead. Sure enough, the next moment, Su Jiu launched a flying kick, sending the ridiculously small knife flying. The force of the kick was so immense that one might even suspect Su Jiu was aiming to break the man's wrist.

However, his kick was indeed merciful. After all, he hadn't used the knife in his hand yet.

The boy couldn't bear the pain, and the strength he had tried so hard to maintain collapsed in an instant. He burst into tears.

What surprised Ding Xiu was that at this time no woman screamed to protect the boy.

Of course not, because the boy's mother was the woman who was shot in the carotid artery by Ding Xiu when she tried to shoot an arrow in retaliation. The woman was now lying on the ground, she no longer struggled, and she could not struggle.

(End of this chapter)