Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 144: Execution by Cannon (There is a map of Dianshan Lake after the previous chapter)
After learning that the road ahead was blocked, Nikan did not wait for news from the rear route to arrive but directly ordered his army to march east.

This is actually not difficult to understand. Since the narrower river was blocked, how could the Ming army fail to capture Dahuangpu?

Therefore, heading eastward became the only way out for the Qing army.

Up to this point, Nikan was not too panicked. After all, according to the map, there were only a few small rivers blocking the way to the east. Even if the Ming army was guarding the river, he was confident that he could break through the blockade with his strong combat power.

But when he led his troops to the scene, he was dumbfounded.

The imagined small river was actually three or four feet wide. What was even more outrageous was that the Ming army had actually built a row of wooden walls along the river bank.

Seeing this situation, how could the Qing army not know that the Ming army wanted to trap them to death in the crack of the river which was only more than ten miles in radius?
The Qing army, which had been unstoppable since entering the Pass, finally showed signs of morale disorder.

"Bebele Master!"

Hetuo was a little panicked at this time. The terrain here was not conducive to the army's march, and there were also a large number of Ming troops guarding it. In this situation, even the soldiers could see that they were in a desperate situation, let alone him, Mele Ezhen?
"Why panic?!"

Nikan was extremely disgusted by Hetuo's performance. As the head of a banner, he not only failed to assist the commander in stabilizing the morale of the troops in times of crisis, but he himself was so panicked that he couldn't even speak or get ready.

Old Daishan actually had the nerve to promote such a person as the rank of Mele Ezhen, which shows to what extent the two red flags have gone in order to expand their power.

But no matter how much he was scolded, as the commander-in-chief of the army, the burden of stabilizing the morale of the troops ultimately fell on Nikan.

He was seen pondering for a moment under the anxious gazes of the generals, and then he said to Goshha beside him: "Go to the other side and tell them that I want to see them to defeat the leader."

Goshha took the order and left, but Nikan seemed to have not yet completed his arrangements. Without waiting for the general to react, he continued, "Spread the word that the army is willing to surrender, but the price is too high and they are negotiating with me."

"How can these soldiers believe it?"

Hetuo was shocked. He stammered something and looked at Nikan in surprise.

He didn't think too much when he uttered the first "this". He just felt that Nikan was probably scared crazy by the sudden change.

The Ming army was in a desperate situation while their own side was at ease. Under such circumstances, the Ming army would be crazy to think of surrendering.

What's more, the Ming army never sent anyone here. If Nikan wasn't crazy, how could he say such nonsense as "the Ming army intends to surrender"?

But he had fought in wars for many years, and he realized Nikan's true intention in the blink of an eye.

But after he understood it, he became even more convinced that Nikan was crazy than before he understood it.

They don't even have a single new soldier under their command. Some of the old soldiers are even more aware of their current situation than some generals.

It would be much more difficult to deceive them with lies than to break through the Ming army's defense line in one go.

Seeing Hetuo's shocked face, Nikan almost whipped him with the whip.

In the current situation, some people think that they should attack decisively before the army's morale is thrown into chaos. However, Nikan is very clear that if the army's morale is not stabilized first, it will be of no use even if the entire army fights to the death.

Therefore, he thought of deceiving the soldiers with lies first.

It takes time to distinguish lies between the left and right, and it also takes time for the soldiers to argue with each other. As long as he can get them through the initial panic, he will be able to find a response plan when the morale of the army is stabilized.

As for whether this method will affect his prestige in the army.
This is not military intelligence conveyed through official channels. Wouldn't it be easy to find a few people who "spread rumors" after the war?

Seeing that the idiot Hetuo was still looking at him with shock, Nikan wanted to whip him in the face with the whip again?
just
Forcing down the desire in his heart, Nikan turned his head to look at Goshaha who was walking towards the Ming army.

Honestly speaking, if he were around, he would certainly give Hetuo a good beating, but now he only brought half a Jiala, while Hetuo brought one and a half Jiala. Considering that he would need to rely on them a lot in the future charge, even if Nikan had other ideas in his mind, he could only divert his attention by observing Goshaha's movements.

At this time, Nagoshaha had walked between the two armies, constantly shouting something to the opposite side, and a young general walked out from the Ming army a moment later.

"What for?!"

After watching his own formation for a long time, Xu Wenjue finally felt that this Tartar might be here to surrender. After replying loudly, he quietly waited for the other side's response.

As if he felt it was a bit troublesome to speak at the top of his voice, or as if he was worried that his words would be known by his own soldiers, after seeing the response from the Ming army, Goshaha bravely walked forward for a while.

"My Lord Beile wants to meet your general!"

Want to see the general?

I'm afraid he's really here to discuss surrender.

With this in mind, he responded again, then turned around and ran to the back of the formation.

At this time, Zhu Cilang and Chang Guanlin, who had learned of the Qing army's arrival, also arrived. After listening to his story, Zhu Cilang seemed to have not yet understood the key point, but Chang Guanlin said immediately: "Your Highness, the Tartars are trying to delay time, fire the cannon."

Delaying time?

Shouldn't we be the ones delaying the time?
Zhu Cilang's plan was to use the geographical advantages and the help of the navy to trap the Qing army here. As long as the effort lasted for six or seven days, the Qing army would be so hungry that they would be defeated without a fight.

In such a situation, why did the Qing army delay time?

Noticing the Crown Prince's confusion, Chang Guanlin explained the reasons in detail. At the end, he added a sentence and waited for His Highness's decision.

"In any case, we must not allow other things to distract the enemy. If we let them get through the initial panic, it would cause a lot of trouble."

Zhu Cilang naturally found it difficult to understand this statement.

To him, the pressure was always there, so why would the enemy postpone the initial panic thoughts to the future?
However, Chang Guanlin had been in the Nine Frontiers after all, so there would naturally be nothing wrong with what he said. In addition, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was a man who listened to advice after all, so after a little thought he tentatively concluded.

"Strategically delaying time, but tactically forcing the enemy?"

"Your Highness has extraordinary comprehension."

"Okay, since there's nothing wrong with my understanding, let's do it this way."

After some arrangements and instructions, the two men left.

A moment later, Nagosha saw Xu Wenjue coming to the front of the battle again.

"My general asks, what do you want?"

Hearing these words, the tense nerves in Gosha's heart suddenly relaxed a little.

He saw that the archers in the Ming army seemed to be getting ready, and the warships patrolling on the creek were also approaching this side. He thought that the Ming army did not intend to negotiate anymore, and was worried that they had not delayed for much time.

However, since someone responded, it means that the discussion can still continue. The unusual movements in the Ming army should be regarded as normal preparations and should not be taken too seriously.

"My prince said that as long as you surrender, the court will not hesitate to reward you."

As soon as the words fell, there was a burst of laughter in the Ming army.

Seeing this, although Goshaha was angry, he did not think much about it. He just thought that the Ming army felt that he had spoken too much.

"Don't laugh. My prince is trusted by the Prince Regent and Prince Yu. As long as you are willing to surrender, you will definitely be promoted several levels!"

There was another round of laughter, and Gosha felt both annoyed and confused.

Just when he wanted to reprimand the young general and ask him to control his soldiers, he saw a large bright yellow banner suddenly raised behind the Ming army's formation.

Bright yellow banner!

The Crown Prince of Ming!

At this moment, he suddenly understood why the enemy troops laughed so many times. If they were not stingy with their rewards, could they still give him the throne?

After all, Gosha had been with Nikam for many years. As soon as he realized this, he immediately realized that he was in danger.

But is it for nothing that Xu Wenjue comes out to delay time?

Just as he was about to turn around and flee, a command came from the Ming army's formation, followed by bursts of roars that reached the ears of all the soldiers of both armies.

"boom!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

Hearing the voice, Nagosha felt a little relieved but his pace suddenly quickened.

He had fought against the Dashun Army together with Wuzhen Chaoha, so he knew that as long as he was not hit by artillery, nothing would happen.

Use a cannon to shoot someone?

The Crown Prince of Ming must be a fool.

With this in mind, Goshaha quickened his pace.

In fact, in his heart, if he had not seen the Ming army archers preparing, he would definitely stand there and mock them.

"Oh!"

Just as this thought came to his mind, he heard the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground behind him.

Seeing this, Goshha was shocked: Could he be so unlucky as to be hit by a shell? !

As soon as the thought came to his mind, his pace quickened a bit, and at the same time he turned his head slightly to glance back.

"call."

A black ball suddenly flew forward from an arm's length away from him. Thinking he was going to die, he heaved a sigh of relief.

"Hurry up! We'll be back in the formation in just another 10 or 20 steps!"

As he was about to escape from danger, the fear and tension in his heart suddenly turned into joy of escaping death, but at this moment he suddenly felt a numbness in his waist, and then his vision gradually moved towards the ground as if he fell.

"What happened? You didn't get tripped by anything."

Waves of doubt arose in his mind, but he could not find the answer after searching through his decades of battlefield experience.

At this moment, for some reason his attention was suddenly focused on the black ball that passed over him. Then he was surprised to find that there seemed to be a black line connected to the ball, and the other end of the black line was connected to another ball.

"What the hell is this? Hiss~~!"

Doubts about life and belated pain appeared at the same time. Gosha, who was already lying on the ground, tried to use his hands and feet to support his body as usual, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not get any feedback from his lower body.

Although he had already made a guess at this time, he still wanted to turn back to confirm. However, when he just turned his head back, another black line came into his sight.

"It turns out that the body was cut off by it."

The thought dissipated as the head shattered.

Then, after hitting the ground, the chain bullets bounced up again due to inertia until they landed in front of the Qing army's formation, scaring the soldiers and causing them to retreat one after another before their last bit of strength was exhausted.

Nearly a hundred artillery pieces of various types fired at the same time just to take one life. This had never happened in China since the invention of firearms.

But after seeing with their own eyes how Goshaha was cut in half, his blood splattered in the air, and how his head was smashed and turned into powder, the soldiers of both the Ming and Qing dynasties not only did not feel the slightest joy of witnessing history, but instead felt a chill in their bones.

Realizing what kind of horrific existence they were facing, not to mention the surrendered soldiers, even the Eight Banners troops could not help but take a few steps back.

How cruel!

Broken limbs and ruptured intestines are common in battle, but how many people can endure the shock of seeing a heavily armored man torn into pieces for the first time and not collapse?

"Lord Beile! We can't get out! Let's find a way to negotiate peace!"

Just when Nikan was still immersed in the shock brought by the execution, someone in the Eight Banners Army formation cried out loudly.

If it were an ordinary time, anyone who dared to shout out such words in battle would be beheaded by the surrounding generals without the need for Nikan's personal order.

But from the time the sound arose until it faded away, there was no noise anywhere in the army formation. How could Nikan not know what this situation meant?

"What the hell! Ming Gou has gone to great lengths to trap us here, will he let us out?"

After the words fell, although everyone still felt terrified in their hearts, the fact was before them. The Ming army had spent so much effort and deployed so many troops here, how could they let these Manchus go?
"If you shrink back, you will die. If you fight bravely, you may still have a chance to survive. As long as I am here."

"Surrender without killing!"

"Surrender without killing!"

"Surrender without killing!"

Just as Nikan was using words to encourage his soldiers and trying to fight a desperate battle with their will to survive, the roars of the Ming army were clearly heard by all the Qing troops.

As a result, the soldiers' determination to die because they had no way out suddenly disappeared.

"Baile, why not give it a try?"

"This"

After saying something to Hetuo, Nikan paced on the ground as if hesitant.

Seeing this, he was going to persuade her again, but before he could open his mouth, he felt a chill on his neck, followed by a stream of hot blood gushing out. When he tried to cover his mouth with his hands, he already felt dizzy and couldn't even stand steadily.

"Beizi!"

“Oh my god!”

"Nikan, how dare you."

Hetuo brought an army of half a dozen soldiers with him. Seeing that their master had been killed, the soldiers under his command naturally wanted an explanation. However, they were in a panic and could not even utter a complete sentence, but they heard Nikan shouting first.

"He Tuo disturbed the morale of the army and deserves death. I will apologize to the prince who owns the banner when I return to Beijing!"

In this situation, the two sides are more than just at loggerheads.

It was also because Goshaha, one of Nikan's subordinates, was extremely elite. While everyone's attention was attracted by his words, he decisively subdued all the people of the Red Banner. Otherwise, the Eight Banners soldiers would have killed each other to death before waiting for the Ming army to attack.

"Today's matter has nothing to do with others. You can take a rest for now. I will explain it to you after we defeat the enemy."

After he finished speaking, no one dared to say a word. Under the current circumstances, it was impossible to launch an attack on the Ming army's defense line. Nikan could only order the entire army to set up camp.

However, when he was focusing his energy on resolving the internal conflicts within the Eight Banners, a certain Han general in the distance had a flickering look in his eyes, and no one knew what he was thinking about.

(End of this chapter)