The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 103 The Eve of the Decisive Battle
Liu Zhaosun rode his horse past the phalanx of spears, the beautiful figure of Jin Yuji flashed through his mind, and the voice of Hunjiang when he first met her rang in his ears.

"General Liu Qian, please stay."

Seeing the long spears crossing each other in front of him, he suddenly woke up and quickly dodged a long spear and thrust forward.

Just as he dodged the spear, a flying axe came whizzing towards him.

Liu Zhaosun shouted loudly, swung his round shield and blocked the attack with all his strength, and the axe was bounced away.

A Later Jin soldier thrust his spear forward. Liu Zhaosun tilted his head, and the spear pierced the chest of a nearby halberd bearer. The spearhead got stuck in his ribs, and the horse's inertia carried the halberd bearer forward, dragging the Later Jin soldier along, who stumbled two steps.

In a flash, Liu Zhaosun swung his Miao Dao and slashed at the Later Jin soldiers. The Miao Dao cut through the chain mail, and the blade collided with the iron leaf, sparking sparks.

Seeing that the Miao Dao could not penetrate the armor, he tilted it slightly, and exerted force with his right hand that was tightly gripping the hilt. The sharp Miao Dao slashed towards the neck guard of the Later Jin soldier at the speed of the horse, instantly cutting off the neck of the Jiannu.

The warhorse galloped away in a cloud of dust.

Ten steps behind him, the head and helmet of the Later Jin soldier flew high into the air, and the double-layer iron armored corpse spurted out a stream of blood and fell to the ground with a bang.

"kill!"

Liu Zhaosun roared, turned his horse around, and charged towards the Later Jin soldiers again.

The Miao Dao whistled through the air, and the warhorse under his crotch felt the anger of his master, neighed, opened his eyes wide, and raised his front hooves with all his might.

In this round of infantry-cavalry battle, both sides suffered heavy casualties. Of course, the Later Jin soldiers suffered greater losses.

Liu Zhaosun's elite cavalry lost fifteen horses, with three missing. More than fifty of the Later Jin phalanx were killed, and more than thirty were injured by stone mines.

Of the three hundred Later Jin soldiers, thirty percent died in one round, and they basically lost their combat effectiveness.

The two war horses were unable to dodge and directly crashed into the sharp spear formation. The broken spear shafts flew everywhere, and the two Later Jin soldiers in the front row were directly knocked away by the horses.

More Later Jin soldiers were hit by long spears, and the huge inertia lifted them into the air. Most of the Jiannu soldiers who were stabbed by long spears or halberds were killed on the spot.

The flintlock cavalry's finishing blow was even more deadly. After firing with their short guns, they threw nearly a hundred stone mines into the spearman phalanx.

Stone mines filled with stones and nails exploded in the crowd. The flying stones and nails were more effective than any heavy arrows or muskets. They easily penetrated the double layer of armor and turned the Jiannu into a sieve.

Some of the surviving Later Jin soldiers had blood all over their faces and were crawling on the ground like ghosts, and were soon trampled to death by the galloping horses.

Tong Yangzhen was injured by the stone mine and sat paralyzed on the ground, his body covered with dust, staring blankly at the cavalry that was leaving in a cloud of dust.

Liu Zhaosun gathered the scattered cavalry while looking around.

As dusk fell, the Hunjiang River disappeared into darkness.

Two hundred steps away from Liu Zhaosun's side and front, the main force of the cavalry continued to charge and kill those Khorchin people who had lost their organization.

The surviving White Spear Soldiers began to regroup on the flanks to cover the cavalry's wall charge.

Further away, one could vaguely see the overwhelming number of soldiers under the Bordered Yellow Banner, and judging by their number, there were probably more than three thousand of them.

Jin Yu Ji is nowhere to be seen.

He knew that she was in great danger, and with grief and anger in his heart, he pointed his sword at the broken Later Jin army formation.

"Kill them all!"

Three rows of cavalry roared past, and another round of brutal spear thrusts began.

The second round of attack by the Kaiyuan cavalry was like a storm and even more brutal than the first.

Amid the sounds of cold weapons thrusting and fire bombs exploding, the already broken Later Jin front was completely broken through.

The cavalry passed by like the wind, leaving behind a mess of corpses and wounded soldiers. Only a dozen or so Later Jin soldiers were left standing around.

In the second round of attack, the cavalry lost only five people.

Liu Zhaosun Ce rode forward, stepped over the corpses of the Later Jin soldiers on the ground, and walked to Niulu Ezhen who was injured by the explosion.

"what's your name?"

The Miao Dao was pressed against Niulu Ezhen's neck.

"Master, I will be your servant..."

"what's your name?"

Liu Zhaosun dismounted and slowly raised the Miao Dao that had killed countless people.

"My name is Tong Yangzhen. It was Tong Yangxing who tricked me into becoming a bondservant..."

Before Tong Yangzhen could finish his words, a head flew high into the air.

Liu Zhaosun wiped the blood off the blade, kicked over the body kneeling on the ground, and said angrily:

"You bastard, you and Tong Yangxing should both be executed by slow slicing!"

The cavalry captured five Later Jin artillerymen.

When the gunner saw Liu Zhaosun, he immediately knelt down and shouted that he was forced by the Tartars to fire at the White Spear Soldiers, and begged the general to spare his life.

Liu Zhaosun drew his sword and killed one man, and the remaining four gunners collapsed to the ground, kowtowed repeatedly.

"You guys are Han men? You're serving as dogs to the Tartars, slaughtering the White-Pole Soldiers! I really want to skin you alive!"

Liu Zhaosun instructed a cavalry captain:

"Let's save these four dogs for now. After this battle, we'll take them back to Kaiyuan to dig coal. We'll have them push their cannons up and attack the Bordered Yellow Banner!"

After saying this, he mounted his horse and said to the surrounding cavalry:
"Those who are able to fight, follow me to join the cavalry formation and fight a decisive battle with the Jiannu!"

A group of elite cavalry responded loudly, leaving five riders to supervise the artillery, and the remaining more than 200 people followed General Liu and rushed towards the cavalry formation.

It was completely dark. Under the cover of night, the Later Jin soldiers lit a blazing bonfire on the banks of the Hun River, dyeing the river red with the flames. Countless Bayaras, with small triangular flags on their backs, gathered from all directions, wielding heavy swords and long axes, approaching the White Spear Soldiers and the cavalry battalion.

These elite soldiers of the two yellow flags, who are good at night combat, number nearly a thousand. They came with great momentum, followed by a large number of Zhenyi armored soldiers.

After nightfall, Shenyang was like a ghost town. The obedient people who had voluntarily surrendered to the Later Jin were about to be used as cannon fodder by their masters to charge into the enemy lines. The remaining people in the city were silent and dejected, waiting for the nightmare to come.

There were still flames rising into the sky and shouts of killing at the east gate of Shenyang.

Du Du personally led 3,000 white-armored soldiers to attack the city. Once he reached the wall of the city wall, he was going to cut the lieutenant general named Mao Wenlong into pieces.

The north bank was littered with the corpses of the Khorchin people. The last two thousand White Spear Soldiers who broke out of the siege killed the Mongols who had no time to escape.

The Khorchin cavalry, who were still charging forward half an hour ago, suffered heavy casualties under the continuous wall-like charges of the Kaiyuan cavalry.

They left more than 2,000 corpses on the north bank and fled hastily towards the two yellow flag formation. Many riders lost their horses.

According to Nurhaci's character, these unfortunate Khorchin people would be used as cannon fodder in the next battle, contributing their flesh and blood to the great achievements of the Later Jin Dynasty.

The great defeat of more than 10,000 Khorchin riders caused chaos among the bannermen of the two yellow flags.

These bannermen, who usually bullied the weak and feared the strong, thought that the Later Jin Dynasty was defeated, and fled frantically in all directions, almost causing the camp to explode.

The white-armored soldiers madly hacked and killed these fleeing bannermen. After killing dozens of them, these mad slaves calmed down a little.

Liu Zhaosun returned to the main formation and ordered a check on the troops. A total of 320 of the 1,200 cavalrymen were killed, wounded or missing, which was a heavy loss.

As expected, the Chahar cavalry suffered few casualties.

These riders had just witnessed the cavalry battalion charging into the Later Jin square formation. The Ming army's victory gave them more courage and made them feel that they could also defeat the Later Jin soldiers.

At the cost of 300 people, the cavalry battalion killed and wounded more than 2,000 Khorchin soldiers and 300 Later Jin armored soldiers.

Although the casualty ratio was one to ten, Liu Zhaosun was still very heartbroken. If the cavalry had been allowed to rest before charging, so many people would not have died.

The main forces of the two yellow flags were all sent up, and with only less than a thousand cavalrymen, they were sure to defeat the Later Jin army.

Pei Dahu and two guards were holding torches in front, and Liu Zhaosun walked towards the surviving white-pole soldiers.

A waning moon rose in the southwest sky, and the ground was littered with broken rattan shields and the incomplete limbs of white-pole soldiers.

Liu Zhaosun was heartbroken. He bit his fingers and continued to move forward. He walked very carefully, trying not to step on the remains of the fallen soldiers.

Qin Jianxun and his father Qin Bangping stood in front of a mountain of corpses, their bodies and faces covered in blood, the firelight illuminating their dull faces.

Qin Jianxun slowly saluted General Liu, stayed there for a long time, and then burst into tears without saying a word.

"Sir! All the Shizhu men are dead!"

"Uncle and General Chen were killed by artillery fire! Their bodies haven't even been found!"

"Why did you arrive only now, sir?! Why!"

Liu Zhaosun looked sad, lowered his head and said nothing.

The white-pole soldiers standing around stared at this side blankly. They were like puppets, moving slowly, with disheveled hair and dirty faces, and their bodies were covered in blood.

Pei Dahu beside him couldn't help but say:
"When the Lord heard about the battle at Hunhe, he traveled 140 miles in one day and arrived in Shenyang half an hour ago. He didn't even give everyone a break before charging into the battle. The cavalry battalion suffered over 300 casualties, not to mention the Lord's own injuries, and even Jin..."

Liu Zhaosun shouted at Pei Dahu to shut up. The image of Jin Yuji appeared before his eyes again. He was filled with grief and anger. He remembered the tragic scene of the White Spear Soldiers fighting the Jiannu. He knelt in front of Qin Bangping and shouted:
"I tried my best, but rescue was still late, causing heavy casualties among the White Spear soldiers. I feel ashamed! Please punish me, General!"

Qin Bangping was stunned for a moment, then staggered forward to help Liu Zhaosun up.

This famous general of the White Spear Army, with red eyes, looked up to the sky and roared:

"When they came, the clouds broke through and the moon was obscured. When they left, the weapons were gone. Of the six thousand men, only two thousand returned. How tragic! How magnificent!"

"If it weren't for General Liu who risked his life to rescue us, all the White Spear soldiers would have been killed here!"

"I've heard that General Liu is a hero of his time. Seeing you fight so hard for the Sichuan soldiers today, without regard for your own life, you are truly a true man. Even if I die in battle, it would be worth it for me to meet a young hero like you!"

A low conch shell sounded on the north bank of the Hun River, and the horns and drums of the Later Jin army sounded, and the two yellow flags' counterattack against Liu Zhaosun officially began.

"General Qin, the Jiannu are about to launch a general attack. Please lead your troops to evacuate immediately. There is a small hill five miles northwest of here. There are troops there to meet you. I will lead the cavalry to hold off the bandits!"

Qin Bangping laughed heartily and shook his head without saying anything.

"General Qin, in the bloody battle of Kaiyuan last time, a thousand Sichuan soldiers shed their blood at the north gate. We cannot let our entire army be annihilated again today. Please leave a bloodline for the White Spear Soldiers!"

Liu Zhaosun knelt on the ground and cried out loudly, his voice choked with sobs and he burst into tears.

Qin Bangping looked up at the waning moon in the west, struggled to climb the hill of corpses, looked down at the tragic battlefield, and said in a sad voice:
"Shizhu boys!"

"The slaves have killed so many of our men, and also killed quite a few Liao people. Now these beasts are coming again. Should we flee or seek revenge?!"

The waning moon looks like blood, and there is silence.

A moment later, the remaining White Spear Soldiers roared at the top of their lungs:

"Revenge! Kill all the Tartars!"

"Revenge! Kill all the Tartars!"

The flames in Hunhe River shot up into the sky.

Across the sea of blood and mountains of corpses, the veteran Sichuan looks back at the heroic young man:

"General Liu, I heard from others that you owe tens of thousands of lives in Kaiyuan, Hunjiang, and swore to repay them with the heads of the Tartars. Is this true?"

"That's true."

"Okay, today, let me help you fulfill this wish!"

(End of this chapter)