Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

October 6th, Jiazhuang, Julu, night.

The moon was bright in the sky, everything was quiet all around, and the air was filled with the smell of blood.

There was a brazier burning in the Ming army camp. Within the light, many soldiers were lying in all directions. They were all extremely tired after fighting for a whole day.

Occasionally, bursts of wailing could be heard. Those were the wounded soldiers who could no longer bear the pain. In order not to disturb the rest of other comrades, Lu Xiangsheng gathered the wounded soldiers in a corner of the barracks.

There were even more corpses, which were placed in rows in another corner, taking up a considerable space in the military camp. Due to the lack of cloth, these dead soldiers were only covered with a two-foot square white cloth to preserve their final dignity.

Lu Xiangsheng stayed alone in the central army tent. He did not take off his armor. His left arm was injured. His right hand was resting under his ribs. He was looking at the map intently.

After a long time, Lu Xiangsheng sighed.

It has been two whole days, during which he has sent troops to ask for help many times, but until now he has not received any news. He knows that Gao Qiquan may have done it on purpose and wanted to kill him.

This afternoon, the Jiannu army received reinforcements from Kong Youde and have now surrounded his camp. Perhaps everything will be over at dawn tomorrow.

Somehow, not only was he not afraid, he actually felt a sense of relief.

Compared to the desolate Ming army camp, the Qing army camp not far away was much more lively, with many screams, but most of them were women's voices.

Those were slaves captured by the Jurchens from various cities within the Ming Dynasty. To be exact, this batch of women were only sent here this afternoon. Kong Youde was highly praised by the Jurchens in the military camp because of this.

General Yangwu and Beile Yuetuo sat in the central army tent. His eyes were fierce and violent, and he turned a deaf ear to his subordinates who were venting their animal desires outside the tent.

In order to wash away the shame of the last battle, Yuetuo repeatedly requested, and only then did Dorgon give him the opportunity to attack Julu.

The last time he fought against the Ming Dynasty, he lost more than 900 warriors in just one hour. Although it was because he underestimated the enemy, Yuetuo felt resentful about it for a long time.

You have to know that all the Eight Banners of Manchuria in the Qing Dynasty were fierce warriors. It was exaggerated that one could defeat a hundred, and one could defeat ten. The first ones to scare away were definitely the sheep-like Ming army.

Each of these warriors is fearless and valiant. It is not for nothing that they say that if there are less than 10,000 Eight Bannersmen, they are invincible if there are more than 10,000.

One of the main reasons why Yuetuo was worried was that they had too few people. The death of any warrior would weaken their combat effectiveness, not to mention that more than 900 warriors died in a small battle.

Yuetuo felt like his heart was bleeding. As the leader of the Manchu Red Banner, he had only 8,000 Manchu warriors in his entire army.

This time he came to Julu, not only to wash away the shame, but also to avenge the more than 900 warriors who died. He also knew the name of the enemy general - Lu Xiangsheng.

In preparation for this battle, he had already asked his scouts to find out Lu Xiangsheng's details. The full quota was no more than 8,000, except for his own headquarters of more than 3,000, and the rest were border troops from Shanxi, Datong and Xuanfu.

He had 8,000 Eight Banner warriors alone, and 10,000 Han troops as vassal troops. Although he knew that Lu Xiangsheng was a tough nut to crack, they were outside the city after all. Relying on the bravery of his 8,000 warriors, Yuetuo felt that he could avenge his dead brothers in one day at most.

To this end, he decided to kill Lu Xiangsheng and even planned to skin him alive as a tribute to the warriors who died in the battle.

But two days passed, and the enemy was on the brink of collapse several times, but he was able to repel his attacks every time.

After two unsuccessful charges, he had to send the Han army to fight a rotation battle.

He looked down on the Han people. In his eyes, the Han army was just sheep and consumables. As long as the enemy's ammunition and arrows were used up, their death would be worth it.

Anyway, there are so many Han people that they will never die and new Han people will surrender to them.

By this evening, Lu Xiangsheng had run out of ammunition and food, and had begun hand-to-hand combat with his Han army.

In the past two days, Yuetuo has actually been worried that the Ming Dynasty would send reinforcements, so he sent out more than 20 scouts.

But he was overthinking it. Another Ming garrison a hundred miles away turned a deaf ear to the war here.

The Han Chinese generals in his camp guessed that it was an internal struggle within the Ming court. Yuetuo scoffed at this, but was happy to see it happen.

The enemy had no help, but reinforcements arrived in his own camp - the King Gongshun Kong Youde. It was really God's will for Lu Xiangsheng.

As soon as tomorrow morning comes, Lu Xiangsheng will die. Not only will this group of Han people die, but all the Han people in Julu City will also be buried with him!

"Your Highness, they are all out enjoying themselves. I am afraid that Your Highness will be lonely, so I have specially sent you a beautiful woman. I hope Your Highness will accept her."

Kong Youde bowed very respectfully outside the big tent, pointed at the tightly tied up girl behind him and said in a flattering tone.

"This girl is fourteen years old, and she is from a royal family of the Pseudo-Ming Dynasty. She is very tender and pretty. I did not touch her, and left her for Your Highness to enjoy."

After Kong Youde finished speaking, the girl's face was filled with fear, but her hands and feet were tied, her mouth was stuffed with sackcloth, and only her eyes were shedding tears.

"You have had a hard time marching all the way. You should stay here and tell those outside to return to the camp quickly. Anyone who disobeys the order will be executed. Don't delay the battle tomorrow."

Yuetuo's expression was relatively gentle, but his Chinese was extremely stiff. After Kong Youde received the order and walked away, Yuetuo's expression suddenly became sinister.

Just now, King Gongshun called him "Your Highness", which made him extremely unhappy. He was demoted by His Majesty for his crimes and was no longer Prince Chengqin. He also didn't like these fawning Han people calling him that.

Although he looked down on these traitors, His Majesty repeatedly asked them not to be rude to Han officials and said that the conquest of the Ming Dynasty depended on them.

Although Yuetuo disagreed with His Majesty's words, he did not dare to openly bully Han officials. What's more, he was counting on this obedient king to be dedicated in the decisive battle tomorrow, so that his Eight Banners warriors would suffer fewer casualties.

After receiving Yuetuo's order, the Eight Banners generals outside the big tent quickly pulled up their trousers and returned to the tent. The women were also dragged away by the Han soldiers, and the scene outside the big tent soon became quiet.

Yue Tuo ordered his personal soldiers to lower the curtain of the tent, and walked towards the bound woman with a sinister look...

October 7th, got up early in the morning.

The weather was very gloomy, the north wind had begun to howl, and just as the sky was getting light, the Jiannu army had already pressed forward from all directions.

From the Ming army camp, shouts of generals at all levels to meet the enemy were heard. Lu Xiangsheng had already put on his armor, a brand new Ming-style Ming Guang armor. It was his favorite set of armor and he had been reluctant to wear it before.

Although the armor looks a bit old, it has been well maintained. Each piece of armor has been polished to a shine, and the lining of the armor is a set of mourning clothes.

When his father passed away, the emperor ordered him to take back his love, so he had no choice but to mourn in this way.

Lu Xiangsheng put on his helmet and walked out of the tent. After mounting his horse, he drew his steel knife and rushed towards the enemy.

When the Ming army soldiers saw the governor going into battle with injuries, their morale was boosted for a moment, but they still fought to the bitter end. They knew that even if they surrendered they would be dead.

But the enemy troops were too numerous and casualties were still increasing. Half an hour later, the Ming army's line had been compressed to a square of one hundred steps, and there were less than two thousand soldiers still holding on.

Lu Xiangsheng was covered in blood, his helmet was gone, his left arm was stabbed, and he was hit by an arrow in the right chest, back, and left leg. But he still stood like a king, even though his right hand was weak.

Hu Dawei and Yang Guozhu rushed to his side desperately. Hu Dawei grabbed Lu Xiangsheng's reins and said with tears in his eyes:

"Governor, I will cover the rear while you break through!"

Lu Xiangsheng's eyes widened. He knew that he would be executed even if he broke through. He looked at the enemy so close and said:

"The general will never retreat until his death!"

After a pause, he continued:

"You can stay alive and serve the court, and I will cover your retreat."

After saying that, Lu Xiangsheng rushed towards the enemy camp again. Hu Dawei and Yang Guozhu looked at each other, and saw the determination in each other's eyes, and immediately followed Lu Xiangsheng.

After another quarter of an hour, the haze suddenly dissipated.

A morning sun rose from the east, illuminating the blood-stained earth with exceptional brightness.

Hu Dawei, who was determined to die, stared at the north for a moment. He thought he had seen it wrong, but after confirming it, a look of ecstasy appeared on his face, and then he shouted in the direction of Lu Xiangsheng:

"Governor, look!"

Lu Xiangsheng killed an enemy and looked in the direction of Hu Dawei's finger, but saw dust flying hundreds of steps away from the battle formation and a team of cavalry emerging from the dust.

A young general took the lead, holding a steel knife in his hand, and rushed straight towards the Eight Banners of the Han Army in the front line, shouting loudly as he rushed:

"Sun Dasheng, the guerrilla commander in front of the commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp, is coming to reinforce us!"

……