Chapter 65

Amid the thunderous cries of "Long live Your Majesty," Huang Taiji fixed his gaze intently on the Eight Banners warriors before him and roared aloud.

"My sons, most of you already know: the Han have returned to kill us."

"Today, I can tell you clearly."

"That Hong Hong Chengchou, the Viceroy of Jiliao, has already informed the refugees of Liaodong."

"On the day Shengjing falls, he will exact revenge for the Han people of Liaodong!"

"They intend to reenact the events of the Chenghua era here in Jianzhou today!"

At these words, the faces of the Qing soldiers throughout the entire camp instantly changed.

Before this, it had been nothing more than rumor.

Huang Taiji's words today were tantamount to confirming that all those rumors were true.

Fear suddenly surfaced on the faces of all the Eight Banners warriors.

Yet after that brief moment of terror, the expressions on their faces turned to rage.

"Kill them, kill them! These Han should all obediently serve us masters as bondsmen!"

"Since death awaits us either way, let us fight to the end!"

"..."

Listening to the curses of these Eight Banners warriors beneath the tent,

a smile, subtle enough to escape notice, appeared on Huang Taiji's face.

He immediately drew the saber from his hand and cried out loudly.

"My sons, don your armor, take up your sabers, and fight the Han to the death!"

"If we win this battle, the riches and honors of the Central Plains will be endless."

"If we lose this battle, I shall die before any of you!"

"Break camp and engage the enemy!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

No sooner had Huang Taiji finished speaking than cries of "Kill!" erupted everywhere within the camp.

Accompanied by the blaring of horns, the Eight Banners cavalry broke camp one after another and headed straight for the Dalinghe.

Mounted on his warhorse, Huang Taiji gazed toward the distant Dalinghe, his eyes already bloodshot.

Meanwhile, in the forests on the eastern bank of the Dalinghe,

the Ming troops, who had long since crossed the river, naturally saw the sky to the east filled with dust and smoke.

Just when they were less than twenty li from the Dalinghe,

a series of deafening explosions, all too familiar to them, suddenly rang out from the distant mountains and woods.

It was the Ming army's Red Barbarian Cannons!

The tremendous blasts instantly sent the Eight Banners iron cavalry tumbling, men and horses alike.

Yet not a single one of these Eight Banners warriors bothered to attend to their fallen comrades.

Instead, everyone's eyes, sharp as falcons', scanned the distance for the Ming forces.

Seeing this scene, the Ming soldiers were visibly stunned.

The troops under Bai Bai Guangen immediately arranged all the war wagons they had brought across the Dalinghe in formation across the battlefield,

intending to blunt the Qing army's offensive edge.

However, contrary to Bai Bai Guangen's expectations,

before these war wagons could even take their positions,

the wagon troops who first engaged the Qing forces, after offering only slight resistance, immediately showed signs of collapse.

Cao Cao Bianjiao, stationed to the north of Bai Bai Guangen, sensed that something was wrong.

He immediately led his own men charging out from the forest, barely managing to halt the Ming army's rout.

And all of this was merely the opening move of this century-defining gamble...

67, Urgent report from Liaoxi! Urgent report from Songshan! Urgent report from Guanning!

Clad in armor, Cao Cao Bianjiao led the charge, cutting down three Ming soldiers assigned to supervise the battle before he could barely reverse the dire situation.

As the war wagons barely took their positions,

the Ming troops who had been lying in ambush everywhere also rushed out to fight.

However, when these Ming soldiers, clad in brand-new armor and wielding fine firearms, charged forth,

the result was exactly opposite to Hong Hong Chengchou's expectations.

The bloody battle at Hunhe had destroyed the Ming army's most elite units: the Qi Family Army and the White Pole Soldiers.

In the Battle of Liaoyang, the Liaodong Iron Cavalry either surrendered or were annihilated, with the survivors incorporated into the Guanning Iron Cavalry.

Kong Kong Youde's defection took with him the Deng-Lai New Army, a firearm unit trained by Frankish mercenaries hired at great expense by Chongzhen.

Then, in the fourth year of Chongzhen, with Zu Zu Dashou's surrender, the Guanning Iron Cavalry—the last force outside the pass built with the entire nation's strength—was completely wiped out.

Since then, only the so-called "Guanning Army," formed from the thirty thousand ragged survivors desperately brought back by Wu Xiang and his son Wu Wu Sangui, could barely be considered elite.

In other words,

the spirit and morale of the Ming army had already been shattered through defeat after defeat.

This was not something that could be restored merely by spending money or issuing new armor.

When these Eight Banners soldiers steeled themselves to fight fiercely, the Ming troops, who were already seasoned but cynical veterans, still collapsed at the first touch.

Most laughably and tragically, these troops were still the most capable border army in the entire Great Ming Empire.

As Cao Cao Bianjiao's unit plunged into the chaotic melee, he heard with his own ears the terrified cries of countless soldiers:

"If the Jurchens number less than ten thousand, they can be resisted; if they reach ten thousand, they are invincible..."

"So many Tartars; how can we possibly fight them?"

"The court's ferries will only take the officials; what is to become of us?"

"..."

Cao Cao Bianjiao's expression grew grave, and he immediately shouted sternly amidst the chaotic ranks:

"Whoever shakes the army's morale shall be beheaded!"

With that, Cao Cao Bianjiao drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and immediately shot dead several Ming soldiers who were leading the rout.

Alas.

In the distance, the Eight Banners troops clad in white and blue armor launched an even fiercer assault once the Ming army showed signs of cowardice.

Even large forces from the Plain Yellow Banner and the Bordered Yellow Banner appeared at the rear!

Even the Tartar Chieftain has arrived!

The moment the Plain Yellow Banner and the Bordered Yellow Banner appeared.

Cao Cao Bianjiao knew.

This battle was likely lost!

Yet Cao Cao Bianjiao remained unmoved, grabbing a scout and asking through gritted teeth in a low voice:

"Can you swim?"

"General, this humble one is from Liangshan; I can swim."

Cao Cao Bianjiao immediately ordered:

"Send someone back at once to inform Marshal Hong to deploy decoy troops beneath Daling City and prepare the entire army to retreat to Songshan; we can barely hold out here at Dalinghe."

"Tell him that I, Cao Cao Bianjiao, will do my utmost to buy the Marshal a few days; this is the court's last reserve and cannot all be thrown away in Liaodong!"

After releasing the scout.

Cao Cao Bianjiao stared fixedly at the Eight Banners army in the distance, a cold sneer curling his lips.

"The Plain Yellow Banner? I was just hoping to meet the Tartar Chieftain!"

"Send a signal arrow to the Red Barbarian Cannon positions at the rear; open fire toward the northeast!"

"Yes!"

As a signal arrow soared into the sky.

The Red Barbarian Cannon positions deployed within the woods shifted their aim within a quarter-hour, firing in unison directly at Hong Taiji's central command.

At that same moment, the Qing army also spotted the Ming army's Red Barbarian Cannon positions.

The Deng-Lai New Army, which had earlier defected with Kong Kong Youde, had now transformed into the Qing army's firearms unit; they shifted their cannons and immediately began pouring shot onto the Ming troops along the banks of Dalinghe.

For a moment, the artillery fire from the Deng-Lai New Army actually suppressed the Ming army's guns!

At the very instant the Ming artillery fell silent.