Chapter 394: The Death of Amin

Xiong Tingbi stood atop the city wall, his face dark and grim.

Just as he had suspected, Nurhaci was setting an ambush. The attack just now had been exactly that—a ploy to lure Old Xiong out, so they could strike him unprepared.

However, Nurhaci clearly had not anticipated that Shenyang had great cannons, and this caused that cunning Wild Boar Skin's scheme to come to nothing.

Without this great cannon, the men Old Xiong had sent out would likely have been surrounded by now, and would surely have been forced to retreat in defeat. If he had let them back into the city, Nurhaci would certainly have seized the opportunity to charge straight in.

But Nurhaci's scheme was bound to fail regardless—even without this great cannon, Old Xiong would not have opened the city gates to receive Li Guangrong into the city, but would instead have ordered Li Guangrong to run to the rear.

As for how far he could run, or whether he could escape at all—that was no longer something Old Xiong could control; it would depend on Li Guangrong's own luck.

Otherwise, if the Wild Boar Skin pressed the attack, Old Xiong could not guarantee the safety of Shenyang city either.

But now the situation was not what Xiong Tingbi had originally envisioned. Not only did he not need to open the gates to receive them, he instead needed to open the gates and go out to attack. Otherwise, with Li Guangrong's strength, he would likely be unable to fight his way up to the hillside where Nurhaci was positioned.

Thinking this, Xiong Tingbi turned and walked down from the gate tower.

As he walked, Xiong Tingbi shouted loudly: "Assemble! Pass down this commander's order—follow me out to kill the enemy and earn merit!"

Once this order went out, the soldiers on the walls of Shenyang sprang into motion, rapidly gathering below the walls.

The city gates were thrown open, and the great army poured out in a swarm.

Xiong Tingbi, at the front of the formation, rode his horse and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Charge up! Capture the Wild Boar Skin alive!"

"Capture the Wild Boar Skin alive!" The Ming army echoed in unison, and for a moment, their morale soared like a rainbow.

The fighting outside was still ongoing. Li Guangrong kept slaughtering his way forward, but the distance he advanced was not much.

Once cavalry could not build up a charge, they lost their power. Li Guangrong had already fallen into a bitter struggle.

Li Yan atop the city wall had also finished his preparations by now, directly swiveling the cannon barrel.

At this point, there was naturally no more need to attack that hillside—instead, he aimed at the Wild Boar Skin's battle formation and began to bombard it.

Wherever people gathered densely, that was where the cannon fired. Solid shot smashed straight over—great iron balls rolling across the ground, inevitably sending men and horses tumbling.

Against dense, packed formations, solid shot was extremely effective.

Xiong Tingbi at this time also led the infantry charging up.

For a moment, the sounds of gunfire and battle cries rose from all directions.

The Wild Boar Skin's formation had not yet collapsed. Xiong Tingbi also advanced in formation, with cavalry guarding both flanks. Sword-and-shield soldiers in front, musketeers behind, and archers on both sides.

At the rear of the formation, a group of men carried small cannons on their shoulders, racing swiftly. They did not follow the main force, but instead, under the protection of squads of infantry, peeled off to both flanks, quickly finding suitable positions and beginning to set up their guns.

These cannons were not large in size—one man could carry one on his shoulder and walk with it. Three men formed a unit to set up the gun, loaded it with explosive shells, and then opened fire on the Wild Boar Skin's formation.

If there had been few of these small cannons, they would not have posed much threat or caused much damage. But there were many of them—fully two hundred or more cannons were deployed on both flanks of the battlefield, and some were even loaded with grapeshot, meant to guard against the Wild Boar Skin charging up—the grapeshot could blast apart his formation.

Over two hundred cannons hurled their fire at the Wild Boar Skin's rear.

For a moment, the sound of explosions on the battlefield shook the heavens.

Added to that, the great cannon atop the city wall also fired from time to time, and in an instant, countless clouds of gunsmoke filled the battlefield.

By this time, Manggūltai had already fought until his eyes were bloodshot, his face filled with anxiety.

The instant the Ming army's cannons began firing, Manggūltai knew things were about to go very wrong this time.

How could the Ming army have this many cannons?

And this was not even counting the heavy artillery on the city walls—within the formations were all light cannons that a single man could carry away.

For a moment, cannon fire erupted from all directions. Wherever a formation gathered, Ming artillery would blanket that area. The situation on the battlefield reversed in an instant, and the Ming army's main force pressed forward rapidly.

At this moment, the sound of bronze gongs suddenly rang out from behind the formation.

Manggūltai knew this was the signal to withdraw—it meant they could retreat. But now that they were entangled with the Ming army, how could they pull out so easily?

Whoever had struck the gong—were they looking for death?

That was what Manggūltai thought, but the ordinary soldiers did not think the same. The troops who had long since been unable to hold the line collapsed and fled in defeat at once.

The Ming army pursued and slaughtered without cease, chasing them for over thirty li before finally stopping.

Xiong Tingbi was delighted in his heart, but his face did not show a happy expression.

This pursuit had gone a bit too deep. He hurriedly said: "Quickly, reform the ranks! Leave some men to clean up the battlefield, and the rest return to the city."

Although this battle had been won, Xiong Tingbi also knew it was because the attack had come as a sudden surprise.

One cannon shot had blasted Nurhaci away, foiling his plan to ambush the Great Ming's official army. He had merely seized the momentum to pursue and slaughter.

Even so, the Great Ming's official army had not gained too great an advantage. The Wild Boar Skin could endure bitter fighting—far better than their own side.

On the other side, Manggūltai returned to the rear, an arrow shaft protruding from his shoulder.

But there was no time to worry about that now. Manggūltai strode quickly to the commander's tent, and at a glance saw his third elder brother, Abai.

Manggūltai hurried over to meet him, asking with deep concern: "Third Brother, how is the Khan Father?"

"The Khan Father was wounded and fell unconscious," Abai said with a grim face. "He has woken up now. When the Ming cannons fired, the Khan Father was pinned beneath his personal guards, which is why he did not suffer severe wounds. But the first shot caused the Khan Father to fall from his horse, and he still sustained some injuries."

"But Amin..." At this point, Abai's expression turned desolate, and he could not continue.

Manggūltai was stunned. Of course he knew what Abai meant.

Amin had been at the Khan Father's side the whole time, ready to ride out when they ambushed the Ming army.

Who would have thought that before he could even ride out, Amin would be struck by cannon fire.

"What exactly happened?" Manggūltai asked with a dark face.

"When the cannons fired, the Khan Father was pinned beneath his personal guards. Everyone was busy protecting the Khan Father, and Amin was hit by the barrage. The second shot landed beside him. Amin suffered grievous wounds—he has just passed." Abai spoke in a low, somber tone.

Upon hearing this, Manggūltai's face instantly turned ugly, and his eyes reddened.

"This is no time for grief." Abai looked at Manggūltai and said directly: "We do not know whether the Ming army will pursue further. We must now escort the Khan Father in a rapid retreat, while simultaneously reorganizing the troops and preparing for battle, to guard against a Ming attack."

Manggūltai looked at Abai and saw a hint of gravity in his eyes.

This made Manggūltai realize something—the Khan Father's injuries were not as light as Abai had made them sound. There might be other complications to come, only there was no way to speak of them here.

So Manggūltai nodded.

Unlike the mournful atmosphere among the Wild Boar Skin's forces, the Ming side could be said to be celebrating wildly.

Only, as the battlefield was being cleaned up, the atmosphere gradually turned somewhat somber.

Everyone had been fighting, and victory had made them happy. But now, as they cleared the battlefield and the bodies of many Ming defenders were carried out, the atmosphere naturally grew heavy.

As the battlefield was cleared, a rough picture of the outcome of this battle emerged.

Xiong Tingbi looked at Li Guangrong, listening to his report, and slowly nodded, saying: "Pass down the order—I will immediately report all meritorious officers and men to the court and request that merits be recorded. As for those who died in battle, I will also report them to the court and request increased compensation for their families."

"Yes, Commander." Li Guangrong acknowledged.

Having won this battle, these were also matters of due course. Spreading such words now could be considered a way to soothe the troops' morale and give everyone some psychological preparation.

Xiong Tingbi said directly: "I will write a report of victory at once and send it by fast horse to the capital."

"Then this subordinate will take his leave." Li Guangrong acknowledged, turned around, and walked out.

This sort of matter was not something Li Guangrong could participate in. It was Xiong Tingbi's prerogative; what Li Guangrong needed to do was other things.

Meanwhile, in the capital, the atmosphere was as harmonious as ever. Only, some people were happy, and some were not.

Inside the Shuntian Prefecture yamen.

Wei Dazhong angrily looked at the official before him and demanded: "What evidence do you have to lock me up? You're wronging an innocent man! Is this how the Shuntian Prefecture handles arrests and cases?"

Standing before Wei Dazhong was a man in his fifties, wearing the official robe of a civil officer. By his appearance, he should be an Assistant Prefect of the Shuntian Prefecture.

Hearing Wei Dazhong's words, the Assistant Prefect's face sank as he said: "Considering you are a scholar, we have already been more than courteous. Don't be ungrateful. I am Chen Qihe—if you have any grievances, you may go and appeal."

Chen Qihe said angrily: "As a scholar, how can you be so lacking in understanding?"

"This time, you are implicated in a major theft case. Anyone involved naturally must be arrested. Once your innocence is proven, you will naturally be released. You must cooperate with the authorities in investigating the case—does a scholar not even have this much awareness?"

Wei Dazhong glared at Chen Qihe and said: "Instead of pursuing the real culprit, you arrest everyone—this is negligence of duty. Is this how you serve His Majesty?"

Chen Qihe looked at Wei Dazhong and couldn't be bothered to respond.

In fact, within the yamen, this sort of thing was very common. Arresting you because you were suspected of involvement, then throwing you into the prison to investigate—this was to prevent suspects from fleeing.

However, Chen Qihe also knew that this method could be used to frame people.

Many times, when an official wanted to destroy someone, he would use this method to throw the person into prison. Once inside, there would naturally be all sorts of torture, or some insidious means to kill them.

By the time the case was investigated and cleared, and the person had nothing to do with it, the person would already be dead. Naturally, it would be said that they had contracted an illness in prison and died unexpectedly.

The court would express condolences and give some compensation to the deceased's family, and local officials might even personally visit to offer comfort.

But these were all surface gestures. In reality, someone wanted this person dead, and that was why they had been thrown into the prison.