The First Prince of the Ming Dynasty

After several rounds of probing and confirming that the Ming Dynasty had no ambushes, the Doyan cavalry launched their attack.

This was also thanks to the presence of the Ming emperor himself.

Under normal circumstances, an ambush involving nearly five thousand men would be almost impossible. After all, the generals were under the supervision of the Censorate, the Ming border army advocated taking the initiative, and the steppe cavalry were known for their mobility, making ambushes difficult.

But this time...

When the Doyan cavalry began their charge, they moved at a very high speed.

The cavalry that followed had begun to light torches.

After all, they were less than three miles away from the Ming army camp. Lighting torches now would not only burn down the Ming army camp later, but also create a sense of intimidation for the Ming army, hoping to make them collapse without a fight.

Just as the vanguard cavalry was about to reach the Ming camp, they discovered that the Ming cavalry had already lined up and were waiting.

"call!"

It was not the Ming Dynasty that initiated the war, but the Doyan Guard cavalry.

They also had firearms, although most of them were captured from the Ming army, but they were still effective for surprise attacks in critical moments.

Whether the shot hits or not is another matter; the point is to make a preemptive strike. Even just making a noise would seem enough to scare away the Ming soldiers.

This trick used to work.

But today, the situation is clearly different. The Ming cavalry are able to stand in neat formation and remain perfectly still.

"Ururu..." A bugle call sounded from the Duoyan Guard cavalry, seemingly an order to launch a general offensive.

But as the bugle sounded, the Ming Dynasty began firing signal flares into the valley.

Blue, red, orange, all sorts of colors are available.

The Doyan army was clearly not prepared for this either; how come there were people on the nearby hill?

Immediately, the remaining cavalry of the Duoyan Guard began firing arrows up the mountain.

However, due to the considerable distance and the complete lack of line of sight, this type of bow and arrow was mostly used for probing.

It wasn't until the Doyan cavalry fired rockets that more people launched lit rockets up the mountain, and in some places, faint flames began to appear... These were not torches lit by Ming soldiers, but rather rockets that ignited some thatch on the mountain.

"call……"

More fireworks were launched.

But this time it wasn't aimed at the valley floor, but rather launched into the sky.

Then more signal flares began to be launched into the sky.

The Ming artillerymen began to take their positions. In addition to the fourteen breech-loading cannons, there were also dozens of ordinary cannons that Zhu Houzhao had sourced from various places in Jizhou. Even the ordinary cannons and muskets, because of their wide barrels, looked like hand-held cannons when they were fired.

"Boom boom boom boom... Bang bang bang bang..."

Various sounds were mixed together.

Immediately, flames erupted on the mountain, this time from the fire of artillery, followed by a barrage of shotgun shells pounding into the positions in the valley.

The Doyan Guard cavalry were also seeing the breech-loading cannon, a type of shotgun, for the first time.

Previously, they would simply launch a large iron ball, and whether it hit or not was another matter. The impact of the iron ball hitting the ground created small-scale damage, such as flying debris, which was quite effective against cavalry.

This time it was like a rain of flowers. Although it was not as destructive as the big iron ball in terms of overall power, its strength lay in its wide range. Even the thickest shield could hardly withstand this constant impact.

With the neighing of horses.

Many of the Doyan Guard cavalrymen began to fall from their horses.

They hadn't even figured out the strength of the Ming forces, and they didn't even know where the enemy was.

They were even more unsure whether they should continue south to break through the valley, retreat the way they came, or charge up the mountain to fight the Ming soldiers and try to capture the Ming cannons.

"Bang! Bang!"

The sound of cannon fire continued unabated.

The advantages of the mother-and-child cannon are also evident.

The cannon is like a magazine. After it's empty, you can simply remove the cannon and replace it with a new one to continue firing. The removed cannon is then handed over to someone nearby to clean and reload the gunpowder and fuse.

Although the mother-and-child cannon would significantly reduce the sealing of the cannon barrel, Zhu Yi's modifications have maximized the fit. Combined with a good cleaning and maintenance mechanism, this will increase the firing rate of the cannon by more than three times.

In addition, there were ordinary artillery pieces responsible for creating a stir.

It would make the Doyan Guard cavalry feel as if cannons were firing everywhere, and they seemed to be completely surrounded.

……

……

At this moment, his son and grandson were in the center of the army.

He originally ordered his troops to continue advancing directly from the front, intending to charge straight into the Ming army camp ahead.

After all, the vanguard has already advanced and needs reinforcements.

But as his cannons continued to fire, he began to realize that the Ming army had deliberately laid an ambush here... and that he had fallen into the Ming army's encirclement and had to find a way to break out from another direction.

He remained selfless and immediately dispatched his personal guards to rush up the hillside, attempting to find a breakthrough from some of the more easily attacked hills.

Even at this point, he still did not believe that the Ming Dynasty had a large number of troops.

But when several attacks failed, and even his personal guards began to fall.

He also realized that it was time to choose between advancing or retreating.

If it were a few years ago, he might have directly ordered all troops to continue south and directly attack the Ming army camp to avoid the Ming army's attack, and then look for an opportunity to counterattack, or retreat to the outside of the pass from another place.

But right now...

Batu Mongke had completed the unification of the grasslands. Although the Doyan Guard had submitted to Batu Mongke, and Batu Mongke agreed to send only his son to take over the three Doyan Guards of Eastern Mongolia, he still firmly believed that as long as his main force suffered significant losses in the process of attacking the Ming Dynasty in the south, Batu Mongke would completely annex his tribe at any time.

At that time, the men, women, and children of his tribe will become vassals of the Chahar tribe behind Batumonke, and the three Uriyangkhai tribes may even become history.

At that moment, he made an extremely wise decision.

That is to retreat.

As the bugle calls changed, it was time for the Doyan Guard cavalry to decide whether to stay or leave.

After all, the orders from above are one thing, but the smaller tribes below also have to choose whether to advance or retreat on their own.

They originally came with their children and grandchildren to rob the place, so breaking through the gates was very easy for them.

This made them a little complacent.

But right now...

The battle had barely begun, and they were already being forced to withdraw. For many proud and ambitious steppe cavalrymen, this was a bitter pill to swallow.

However, as more shell fragments fell from the sky, their own losses began to increase, and more tribes began to join the retreat to the north.

By this time, the Ming army still hadn't broken into the valley.

This was a situation that had never occurred in previous wars. After all, the rule of the Ming Dynasty was that one should not retreat when encountering the enemy. Since they wanted to escape, the Ming army had no reason to sit idly by.