Jingtai: Making the Ming Dynasty Great Again

"Gather! Gather around me!"

Bayan Temur roared loudly in Mongolian.

Dozens of his personal guards fought a bloody battle and finally fought their way through to join him.

They formed a circular formation back to back, with their curved swords all pointing outwards.

Zhu Qiyu's gaze swept across the battlefield from the city tower.

He saw the Oirat cavalry trying to break through into the alleyways on both sides, and he also saw scattered flames rising in the distance.

At the same time, deafening horns and the sound of horses' hooves came from outside the city.

A lookout rushed over and knelt on one knee: "Your Majesty! There are estimated to be nearly ten thousand Oirat cavalry charging towards Zhangyi Gate at full speed outside the city!"

Yu Qian urgently replied, "General Sun Tang's troops are still outside the city!"

Zhu Qiyu strode quickly to the crenellation facing outwards from the city.

A dark mass of Oirat cavalry surged forth like a flood bursting its banks.

Leading the way, a large white banner with yak tails fluttered wildly in the wind; it was Esen's elite main force.

Sun Tang's original force of 3,000 men had dwindled to only 2,500.

These soldiers were now standing with their backs to the city wall, facing the charge of ten thousand cavalry.

Zhu Qiyu clenched his fist: "General Sun..."

He saw Sun Tang standing in front of the formation, his long sword raised high, shouting something in a hoarse voice.

Sun Tang knew that Bayan Temur was being besieged and annihilated inside the city, and the city gates must not be opened.

At this moment, the only way to survive is to hold out and wait for reinforcements.

Once Bayan Temur is dealt with within the city, they will naturally be able to spare the resources to rescue him.

Their only advantage was that the city walls were behind them, preventing the cavalry from charging.

But with 2,500 to 10,000, the advantage lies with the enemy!

Zhu Qiyu whirled around: "Issue the order: I don't want him alive. I want to see Bayan Temur's head within half an incense stick's time!"

Soon Shi Heng received Zhu Qiyu's orders.

He had left the winch and arrived in the middle of the barbican.

Shi Heng raised his spear, pointing it at the surrounded Bayan Temur formation: "His Majesty has decreed that whoever slays Bayan Temur will be rewarded with one hundred gold pieces!"

The Ming army's morale soared after receiving generous rewards.

Bayan Temur roared repeatedly and felled three Ming soldiers in succession.

However, his personal guards dwindled while the Ming army grew ever larger.

A Ming soldier seized an opening and stabbed Bayan Temur in the thigh with his spear.

Bayan Temur groaned and staggered half a step.

A thunderous roar exploded: "Die, you Tartars!"

A Ming army captain, as burly as an iron tower, charged at them from the side, holding a thick-backed cleaver high in both hands!

This man was named Wang Meng, one of the thousand-household commanders promoted by Zhu Qiyu from the eight hundred guards of the Imperial Guard, and was known for his amazing arm strength.

Bayan Temur raised his sword to parry. "Clang!"

The sound of metal clashing echoed through the streets and alleys. Bayan Temur felt his hand split open, and his scimitar was smashed out of his hand and flew away!

Before he could react, Wang Meng's second slash came straight at his neck without any fancy moves!

A head rolled to the ground, its eyes, which had once looked down upon the grasslands, still wide open, filled with shock, anger, and disbelief.

Bayan Temur, a famous general of the Oirat Mongols and the younger brother of Esen, died in the streets inside Zhangyi Gate in Beijing.

With their commander beheaded, the remaining Oirat cavalry collapsed immediately.

Some knelt down and begged to surrender, while others scattered and fled in all directions like madmen.

Meanwhile, some cavalrymen had already taken advantage of the chaos to rush into the crisscrossing streets and alleys in the distance of the inner city.

A Oirat centurion, his face contorted in a ferocious grimace, threw a torch at the wooden eaves of a shop: "Burn! Burn all these Han Chinese houses!"

Dry autumn wood ignites instantly upon contact with fire, and flames leap up rapidly.

Other fleeing soldiers followed suit, launching rockets at houses, warehouses, and haystacks along the way.

Black smoke rose simultaneously from multiple city blocks.

However, before the fire spread, many figures appeared on the rooftops of the previously empty houses.

They were patrolmen from the Five Cities Garrison and able-bodied laborers who had been temporarily organized.

Each person had a bucket of water, sand, and a wet blanket next to them.

More water-filled fire trucks shuttled out.

This is something Zhu Qiyu only learned after he traveled through time: the Ming Dynasty actually had fire trucks!

This fire truck integrates a water pump, water gun, and water cannon into one unit.

A junior officer from the Imperial Guard shouted orders at the street corner: "Put out the fire! Quickly!"

This was precisely the contingency plan that Zhu Qiyu had devised with Yu Qian, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Five Cities Garrison before the war.

The city of Beijing is densely populated with houses, most of which are made of wood and are extremely vulnerable to fire attacks. How could Zhu Qiyu not take precautions?

He ordered Lu Zhong to select 500 men from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who, together with the original city patrol soldiers, had secretly practiced fire prevention and emergency response procedures multiple times before the battle.

Large quantities of clean water were stored in wells in advance, sand piles were placed in the main streets and alleys, and laborers were organized into teams to stand by.

The Oirat soldiers who set fires were often killed by stray arrows that came from nowhere before they could even start one or two fires.

Or they might be surrounded and killed by Imperial Guards and patrolmen who would come from both ends of the alley.

The newly ignited flames were extinguished in their initial stages.

Only a few fires were slightly larger, but they were quickly brought under control.

Wang Meng, carrying Bayan Temur's bloodied head, strode up the city wall and knelt on one knee, saying, "Your Majesty! I have fulfilled my mission and slew the enemy chieftain Bayan Temur in battle!"

Zhu Qiyu glanced at the severed head and nodded: "Yes, hang the head on the city wall and let the Oirat outside see it!"

Arrows rained down from the cavalry formation like locusts from outside the city walls.

Sun Tang's troops were constantly being caught off guard and fell to the ground, wounded by arrows.

The Oirat cavalry faced a stalemate with Sun Tang, who was fighting against the wall.

Without being able to charge and ram, the cavalry's greatest advantage cannot be utilized.

Under the central army banner, Esen personally supervised the battle.

He frowned, surprised that this isolated army could be so tenacious even with the city gates closed.

"Give the order: charge forward at all costs and raze them to the ground!"

Subsequently, the Oirat cavalry stopped their hit-and-run tactics and began to retreat and regroup.

This is preparation for launching an attack.

Even if there isn't enough buffer distance behind them, they will crash into the city walls after charging.

Sun Tang licked his chapped lips as he saw the Oirat cavalry regrouping.

They won't be able to withstand the next attack!

At the same time, Zhu Qiyu quickly issued the order: "Shi Heng!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

How many combat-ready cavalry do you have left?

Shi Heng estimated the losses of the rapid reinforcement cavalry: "Approximately... four thousand!"

"Good! You lead these four thousand cavalrymen out of the city through Fucheng Gate!"

They circled around to the flank of the Oirat army and launched a feigned attack to harass them!

Remember, this is a feint attack to distract and restrain, not a prolonged battle!

Your mission is to make Esen believe that a large number of our reinforcements are attacking from the flank.

This would distract him and shake his resolve to continue the siege of General Sun!

"This subordinate obeys!"

At the same time, Yu Qian also ordered the generals defending the city to fire arrows and muskets without reservation.

Although these weapons had little effect on Esen's 10,000 fully armed cavalry.

Zhu Qiyu had a sudden inspiration: "Take the cannons apart, have a few men carry them, and fire at the city walls!"

These cannons were all fixed inside the city wall; only a few had rotating bases, but even those could only rotate left and right.

To adjust the range of the cannons, they had to be knocked down from inside the city wall and then manually lifted to adjust the range.

Zhu Qiyu also realized that this battle would be the final one.

He didn't know why the other 20,000 cavalrymen hadn't charged over.

The most likely explanation is that Arajiin and Esen had a disagreement.

Then Arajiin "sold" Yesen.

But that's not important. What's important is that Esen missed the opportunity for Bayan Temur to enter the city.

It was impossible for him to enter the city again; he could only vent his anger by slaughtering Sun Tang's troops.

Zhu Qiyu looked at Sun Tang and said quietly, "General Sun, this is all I can do. The rest depends on your luck."