The Ming Dynasty: A bookstore sells the history of the Ming Dynasty, leaving Emperor Chongzhen bewil

Abatai, Nurhaci's seventh son, has followed Nurhaci in his campaigns since the 39th year of the Wanli reign (1594), nearly twenty years ago, and can be considered a general who has fought in countless battles.

Ajige was Nurhaci's twelfth son. He was favored by Nurhaci from a young age. He was over ten feet tall with a large waist and abdomen and was a well-known Baturu in the Jin army.

In the original history, after conquering Longjing Pass, Ajige led his army to Zunhua, where he ambushed and killed Zhao Lüjiao, the Ming general of Shanhaiguan, and also killed the four thousand elite soldiers that Zhao Lüjiao had brought to reinforce Zunhua.

Then there's Dorgon, Nurhaci's fourteenth son, who has already begun to distinguish himself in the army.

However, the left-wing army led by these three brothers has now encountered obstacles at Longjing Pass.

In order to deal with Huang Taiji, Abatai ordered the entire army to launch an attack.

Three thousand elite soldiers of the Plain White Banner, plus more than ten thousand other soldiers, totaling more than thirteen thousand men, pressed towards Longjing Pass of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty like a dark cloud pressing down on the city.

However, just as this dark cloud was about to press down on the Ming Great Wall, the land below the wall exploded again.

Rumble!

The second round of landmines exploded even more violently than the first.

Heaven knows how much gunpowder the Ming army buried.

The soldiers at the forefront were blown to pieces, some of them directly hit by the blast center were blown to pieces, and limbs and fragments flew all over the ground.

The three thousand Plain White Banner soldiers were elite troops, so they naturally wouldn't rush to the front to clear the minefield. Instead, they let the other soldiers rush in first. However, the minefield was terrifying. Those who rushed to the front would surely die. Some soldiers were so frightened that they wanted to retreat, but retreating meant being stabbed.

The army has already charged forward; there is no turning back.

"kill!"

"kill!"

"kill!"

As Abatai roared repeatedly, he swung his sword and slashed at the retreating soldiers.

However, before they could even break through the minefield, muskets on the city wall emerged again from behind the crenellations, bang bang bang, the incessant sound like firecrackers on New Year's Eve, never stopping.

Heaven knows how many muskets were there?

Besides muskets, there were also arrows flying in like rain.

At this moment, another loud bang was heard, delivering another blow to the more than 10,000 Jin soldiers who were already in dire straits.

Boom!

The Jin army veterans immediately recognized it as the Ming army's red-coated cannons, because these things were so unforgettable to them; just hearing the sound evoked a fear from the depths of their souls.

"Where the cannon passed, countless northern cavalrymen were killed, and even the Yellow Dragon Banner was destroyed." Back then, Nurhaci Khan was wounded by these red cannons and later died of illness.

Landmines, muskets, arrows, and cannons fired simultaneously, reaping the lives of Jin soldiers like harvesting wheat.

Before Longjing Pass, it had become a veritable hell. The sounds of cannon fire, the neighing of warhorses, and the screams of soldiers mingled together, like a symphony of hell.

The firepower was so fierce that even Ajige, who was known as the Baturu, was frightened.

Didn't they say the fortifications were crumbling and the army was in disarray? Didn't they say there was no main force of the Ming army?

But why does it feel like this firepower is the same as when we launched a strong attack on Ningyuan City during the Battle of Ningjin two years ago?

No, it should be said that it is even worse.

Abatai, who was holding the rear, was also stunned. Although he was still slashing at the fleeing soldiers with his sword, he was actually very nervous.

Should we continue the offensive?

An attack, and who knows how many more casualties there will be.

If they don't attack, the Great Khan's side has probably already broken through the pass and is waiting for them inside. If they retreat now, wouldn't they be deserters? Moreover, leaving the Great Khan inside the pass would put him in a desperate situation.

Attack! We must attack!

How can we attack?

When it comes to sieges, he first thinks of his father, Nurhaci, who has always been his idol. He learned everything about the battlefield from his father.

When attacking a city, the best choice is the siege weapon "shield cart," a specially modified heavy mobile shield. During a siege, soldiers push the shield cart forward, and the entire army is like carrying a "moving wall," thus covering the approach of subsequent troops to the city wall.

Once close to the city wall, they would dig deep into the base of the wall to create a breach. They might also have each soldier carry a bag of soil, rush down to the city wall, dump it, and pile it up to form a ramp level with the wall. Of course, the most common method was to set up ladders and forcibly scale the city wall under the cover of shield carts and archers.

However, since it is now an army of 100,000 that is marching over an extremely long distance, it is simply impossible to bring heavy "shield carts".

Secondly, there were the vanguard "suicide squads." Nurhaci established extremely strict military discipline, dividing them into "suicide soldiers" and "elite soldiers": "Suicide soldiers are in front, elite soldiers are behind... Even if those in front die, those behind will still advance, none dare to retreat, and if they retreat, the elite soldiers will kill them from behind!"

Now that there are no "shields" available, the only option is "suicide squads"!

To put it bluntly, it's about using human flesh to build a human shield.

Remembering his father's teachings, Abatai no longer hesitated.

"Rush!"

"Charge!"

Abatai repeatedly issued orders to charge, and the bugle call to charge sounded once again.

At this moment, Ajige stopped hiding in the back and took the lead in the charge.

If he, the Baturu, were still hiding in the back at this point, who would be willing to charge forward?

Under Ajige's leadership, the Jin army once again mustered their courage and launched a frenzied attack, like a mad bull that had lost all sense of death.

Though they died, they will rise again.

Although the rice stalks in front fell down row by row, like a typhoon sweeping across the fields, the whole column still moved forward.

It's unclear how many people died, but the hillside was covered with corpses, piled up and raising the entire hillside. Blood stained the hillside outside Longjing Pass red. The Jin army finally reached the walls of Longjing Pass.

At this moment, Ajige's eyes were red. So many of them had died, yet they hadn't even touched the hem of the Ming army's clothes. He had participated in many sieges, but he had never seen a siege with such devastating casualties.

"Erlangs!"

"Set up a ladder!"

"Charge!"

The Jin army erected siege ladders and climbed the Great Wall like ants. One by one, they fell down, and then another took their place. Although Ajige was huge, he was quite agile. Under the cover of the other soldiers, they were about to reach the top of the Great Wall at Longkou Pass.

In the chaos, he didn't notice that a pair of eyes were watching him the whole time.

That was an old general in white robes and silver armor, holding a long spear. He was Zhao Shuaijiao, the general of Shanhaiguan. Like an old hunter, he lay in wait, waiting for his prey to take the bait.

Suddenly, the gun shot out like a dragon.

Ajige's eyes were bloodshot, and he was focused on scaling the city walls. He was doing his best to deal with his opponents and only thought about killing the Light Army after scaling the walls.

He didn't notice that a long spear was silently thrusting at him from the side.

By the time he realized it, it was too late.

The spear tip pierced his ribs, went through his lungs, and emerged from his chest.

Ajige looked down at the bloodstained spear tip, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but only spat out a mouthful of blood.

Then, his massive body crashed down from the city wall like a fat wild boar, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

"Ajige!!!"

Abatai's eyes were bloodshot, and his roar echoed across the battlefield.

Ajige's death made him feel as if all the blood in his body had turned cold.

He suddenly understood.

This is a trap, a trap that the hunter had dug long ago.

They had known all along that the Later Jin would break through from here, and they were well prepared. They were waiting here, waiting for the Plain White Banner, their prey, to crash into them...