Chapter 1703: Zhu Youjian — Valor Surpassing the Entire Army!

After making such a bold boast, Zhu Youjian had no intention of donning armor and riding into battle himself. Instead, he glanced left and right, spotted Wu Sangui, and beckoned to him: "Sangui, come here, quickly!"

Hearing Zhu Youjian call him, Wu Sangui scurried over eagerly and made his obeisance. "Your Majesty, what does Your Majesty require of this subject?"

Zhu Youjian smiled and said in a low voice: "Sangui, in a moment you will represent Us in single combat against Ligdan Batur! Remember, don't let Ligdan Batur take you down — We will use a Rumi musket to help you win!"

Ah! This is too...

Man Gui took it in stride, but Hei Yunlong and Fang Zikun were both stunned — this young Son of Heaven was actually so despicable. No, so full of stratagems! No wonder his martial prowess was the greatest under heaven — so that was how he got it! With such a valiant and martial sovereign, how could the Great Ming fail to achieve restoration?

Wu Sangui was not at all surprised by Zhu Youjian's order, because he had followed Zhu Youjian for some time now and had long since discovered that this young Son of Heaven's scheming was extraordinary — and extremely treacherous. Moreover, he and Hei Wentao were both of a build similar to Zhu Youjian's, and had more than once impersonated him. Because Zhu Youjian feared assassination, every time he left the Forbidden City for the Nanhaizi encampment, he would have Hei Wentao or Wu Sangui disguise themselves as him, while he himself dressed as an ordinary cavalryman and followed along.

"This subject obeys the imperial decree!" Wu Sangui received the edict and went down to don his armor and enter the fray.

His armor was the same as Zhu Youjian's — a long golden body armor, with arm guards likewise golden; only the helmet differed. Zhu Youjian's helmet was a golden phoenix-wing helmet, quite gorgeously decorated. Wu Sangui's helmet, by contrast, was a golden conical-brimmed helmet with a rather broad brim (to ward off arrows).

Now Wu Sangui changed into Zhu Youjian's golden phoenix-wing helmet, mounted a particularly tall and powerful warhorse, and led over a hundred young warriors likewise in golden helmets and golden armor as they charged out of the just-formed crescent-moon formation.

The moment Wu Sangui and the others rode out, cheers erupted simultaneously.

"Long live! Long live! Long live the Emperor!"

A group of young warriors in golden helmets and golden armor charged onto the battlefield amid a sea of "Long live" cries, galloping back and forth before the great crescent-moon formation. Wherever they rode, there was jubilation.

Well now — the Emperor of the Great Ming riding out to slay the enemy!

Such a thing had not been seen in how many years, and now they had actually witnessed it today — truly a rare sight! And earlier someone had been shouting that the Ming Emperor had slain a foremost Mongol champion in battle — who knew whether that was true? If it was, then that was truly formidable! The Great Ming had finally produced a ruthless emperor!

Morale on the Ming side was soaring, and the Mongols on the other side were not lacking either — they too were shouting "Long live the Great Khan." Although they could not be certain whether the one leading a band of ironclad cavalry around the battlefield was their "Fleeing Khan," at a moment like this they still had to cheer. This was the critical moment of two armies facing off — they could not afford to lose in spirit!

And they were also hoping the Great Khan would be a bit braver! A descendant of Genghis Khan, of the direct line of the Golden Family, chased all over the place by the Aisin Gioro clan who called themselves the Great Jin, having lost their homeland and not daring to fight even once... If Genghis Khan knew, he would surely be so furious he'd come back to life!

This time they absolutely could not let a Ming Emperor who dared charge into battle outdo them — otherwise it would be too humiliating.

But these Mongols could never have imagined that the one preparing to duel the Ming Emperor on the battlefield at this moment was not their Fleeing Khan, but the Fleeing Khan's younger sister, the Great Princess of the Uriankhai.

This Great Princess was far braver than her brother the Fleeing Khan — otherwise she could never have become second-in-command of the Chahar central army's ten-thousand-household unit!

And her personally leading a sumun of ironclad cavalry to the front of the Ming crescent-moon formation today, pretending to be the Great Khan and challenging Zhu Youjian to single combat, was not a hotheaded impulse, but a deliberate move to suppress the Ming army's momentum.

In warfare these days, momentum mattered enormously — when momentum surged, one truly could fight ten!

And what sort of stuff made up the Chahar "ten"? How could the Great Princess of the Uriankhai not know? Of the eighty thousand troops, at least sixty thousand were herders incapable of charging into battle, only able to shoot arrows from a distance — and with no good bows or arrows at that, utterly unable to kill ironclad soldiers.

Of the remaining twenty thousand, apart from four or five thousand iron-lance Konnot cavalry and the Great Khan's Gol Tumun personal guard cavalry, the rest were at best light cavalry. Deployed in open battle, they were simply no match for the Ming ironclad cavalry.

This was the true strength of the so-called Northern Yuan khan's court, the Chahar — the Mongols of today were truly incapable. Their productive capacity was lacking, they had insufficient iron, and even less in the way of firearms, so they could not equip many ironclad soldiers, and even their grain supply was barely sufficient. And their courage had declined too — after so long a diet of vegetarianism and Buddhist prayer, they could not compare with their ancestors who believed in the Eternal Blue Sky.

Otherwise, back in Li Chengliang's day, how could the Ming troops of the Liao garrison have bullied the Chahar so freely?

If their strength had not truly been lacking, Ligdan Batur would not have become the Fleeing Khan! If he had not fled, but instead fought a decisive battle against the Eight Banners on the Liao River bend grasslands, he would have been beaten to death long ago...

But the Great Princess of the Uriankhai knew that her useless brother could not be the Fleeing Khan again this time. Fleeing at the sight of Hong Taiji was one thing, but now fleeing at the sight of the young Ming Emperor as well... how could he command respect in the future? So this Mongol Great Khan of yours only knows how to bully Mongols? The moment he meets outsiders, he runs?

So the Great Princess of the Uriankhai had thrown caution to the wind. She knew her brother was timid and would not dare answer the challenge, so she took the field herself, disguised as the Great Khan.

But she never expected that the Ming Emperor truly had incredible nerve and had personally taken the field!

This was the enemy who had killed her husband! Seeing the swaggering "Zhu Youjian," the Great Princess of the Uriankhai's fury flared up at once.

Without even considering that the Southern Emperor's martial prowess was the greatest under heaven, she raised her long spear, spurred her horse forward, and charged straight at "Zhu Youjian."

This "Zhu Youjian" was of course Wu Sangui in disguise, but he also did not know that the "Ligdan Batur" before him was likewise a fake, so he tucked his long spear under his arm and charged at "Ligdan Batur" with a howl. Their manner of combat was different from the fighting in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms — not two riders locked in close combat, but mounted charges at each other, each using their long spear to stab or strike the other. Whoever fell from the horse first was finished.

And the path of their mutual charges ran parallel to the two armies' formations, roughly midway between the two lines, slightly closer to the Ming side.

The escort riders accompanying the two did not join the fight — it was single combat, not a brawl. So these attendants formed a line on either side, with their backs to their own army's main formation.

Probably because "Zhu Youjian's" side had fewer men and looked somewhat unfair, after those golden-armored riders had taken their positions, a group of spearmen — about three or four hundred — strolled out from the Ming crescent-moon formation and formed a spear square among the golden-armored riders.

The Mongols paid little attention to this infantry square; they all held their breath and watched the Great Princess disguised as the Great Khan dueling with the "Ming Emperor"!

The two sides' mounted charges had already gone seven or eight rounds, but no victor had emerged, because both fought conservatively, prioritizing self-preservation first. Thus the distance when the two horses crossed was relatively far, making it hard to strike the opponent, and they would not collide either.

And just as both sides were preparing for the ninth round of charging, a black-muzzled Rumi musket was already extended from within the Ming spear formation, taking aim — by the light of the moon and the torches and bonfires — at the "Mongol Great Khan's" mount.

The reason for aiming at the horse was that the Great Princess of the Uriankhai's suit of silver armor looked very sturdy, and her position was also far from the muzzle; the Rumi musket's destructive power was insufficient and might not penetrate the armor plates. So Zhu Youjian, whose martial prowess was the greatest under heaven, chose to shoot the horse...

"Long live! Long live! Long live..."

As the two warhorses galloped at full speed toward each other, the cheers on the battlefield rose once more. Under cover of the cheering, Zhu Youjian pulled the trigger without hesitation and fired the lead ball.

The fine horse beneath the Great Princess of the Uriankhai was just galloping joyfully, hooves flying, when something struck its neck hard — then a burst of searing pain. A horse is flesh and blood too; how could it withstand a lead ball? It let out a piercing whinny — the pain!

But this brave warhorse still held on... though soon it was hit again. This time the lead ball struck the horse's leg directly, likely breaking the bone. The warhorse screamed again, its forelegs buckled, and it toppled to the ground. The Great Princess of the Uriankhai on its back suffered terribly — flung off by the suddenly collapsing horse, her body sailed through the air for a stretch before slamming heavily to the ground. Stars burst before her eyes, and then she lost consciousness.

And on the battlefield, the mountain-shaking cries of "Long live!" soared at once!

The Ming Emperor — his valor surpassed the entire army!

(End of Chapter)