Chapter 173: Li Yan, How Are You Still Alive? (14th Update, Please Vote)

On the south bank of the Wei River, another fierce battle erupted in the blink of an eye!

Because Li Yan and Red Lady's troops were positioned precisely in front of the bridgehead fortress at the south end of the pontoon bridge. With their backs to the bridgehead, they had formed a crescent-moon formation, blocking Duolong's only escape route. So Duolong, heedless of his men's and horses' exhaustion, had no choice but to steel himself and lead his five or six hundred Two Hundred Banner warriors in a ferocious charge straight at the crescent-moon spear wall laid down by Li Yan and Red Lady.

But before these Manchu warriors could crash into the spear wall, a piercing wooden clapper sounded suddenly. Then came the twang of bowstrings as hundreds of arrows left their strings, traced arcs through the air, and fell among the charging Tartar cavalry.

Screams of men, neighing of horses, and the thud-thud of bodies hitting the ground followed one after another — no one knew how many more warriors had been shot from their saddles. But Duolong no longer had the mind to care about any of that. The spear wall standing before him, motionless as a mountain forest, was the real death threat.

If he could not break through, his days as the foremost warrior of the Manchus were over!

He spurred his horse to the front and led the charge. His eyes, however, were fixed dead ahead on the spear wall drawing ever closer, watching row upon row of cold-gleaming spear points aimed at his side, not wavering in the slightest.

The Eight Banners soldiers galloping behind Duolong also began shooting. Two or three hundred feathered arrows loosed by the mounted Manchu riders fell into the spear wall ahead. Duolong clearly saw many men struck down by arrows, yet the remaining soldiers still did not waver.

These people are foolish Nikans too! Duolong truly felt like weeping but had no tears left. He had fought the Ming army to the death so many times, yet before today he had never seen a Ming infantry force of fewer than three to five thousand withstand the charge of five or six hundred Eight Banners armored cavalry.

But today, for some unknown reason, every Ming soldier he encountered was unafraid of the Eight Banners troops and dared to meet them head-on.

Boom!

The violent collision had already happened!

Duolong's warhorse slammed into a long spear at high speed. The spear tip pierced into the horse's body, and the tall steed let out a desperate neigh, while the soldier gripping the spear was struck by the horse's forward momentum and sent flying, knocking over several soldiers behind him in the process.

Duolong, the foremost warrior of the Manchus, fared no better. He too was thrown from the saddle, flew over the heads of several "blue-coated soldiers," and crashed heavily into the muddy ground. But his reflexes were truly immediate — while still in midair he clasped his hands over his head and curled his body into a ball, hitting the ground like a sphere and minimizing the damage from the impact.

And after landing, heedless of the pain shooting through every part of his body, he sprang up with a sparrow-hawk flip, drew his waist saber, and with a wild cry lunged at a rider before him, seemingly intent on seizing the other's horse.

As he lunged, Duolong also took in the rider's appearance — somewhat alluring, no beard, not looking like a man but rather like a woman. Should be a soft persimmon!

Duolong was the foremost warrior of the Manchus! His martial skill was extremely high — otherwise he could not possibly have worn several dozen jin of heavy armor, fallen from a horse, and still suddenly exploded into an attack.

"Wa-ya-ya!"

As Duolong exploded into motion, he also let out a terrifying wild cry, his eyes bloodshot and gleaming with ferocity. That "female rider" was indeed stunned — she could not even raise a blade, and simply raised two hand cannons!

It turned out that Red Lady had suffered at the hands of firearms last time. After being trussed up like a rice dumpling and delivered to Zhu Cilang, she had learned her lesson. She figured that no matter how high one's martial skill, it could not beat a firearm, so she had acquired two hand cannons for self-defense — and today they truly came in handy.

Hand cannons!? How despicable!

The moment Duolong saw the other raise the hand cannons, he knew things were bad. He had just begun to dodge when he saw both hand cannons belch smoke and fire, and then his right chest and left arm were struck hard twice. A piercing, bone-deep agony shot through him, instantly draining all strength from his body. Yet his body still hurtled toward that "female rider" under its own momentum. He was about to crash into her when two long spears thrust in from the side. The spear tips stabbed hard against the solid armor plates, barely piercing them before lodging between the plates of the long coat of armor and the chain mail beneath, unable to penetrate a fraction further.

But those two long spears still blocked Duolong's body, sending him crashing heavily to the ground. His helmet fell off in the process, exposing his shaved forehead and the queue at the back of his head.

"Eh? How is it a Tartar?" Red Lady on horseback recognized that hairstyle as uniquely Manchu, and was momentarily stunned.

Li Yan beside her was also somewhat puzzled. "Could it be Tartars disguised as Ming soldiers?"

Duolong, lying on the ground, had not yet breathed his last. Hearing Red Lady and Li Yan's words, he could not help but smile bitterly: Only now do you realize your grandpa is a heavenly soldier of the Eight Banners.

At the same moment that Duolong, the foremost warrior of the Manchus, was defeated by Red Lady's two firearms, more Eight Banners iron cavalry surged into the crescent-moon spear wall like a gale. Sharp spear tips pierced into the bodies of warhorses and Eight Banners soldiers, while at the same time many of Li Yan and Red Lady's soldiers were sent flying by the charging horses.

The crescent-moon formation laid down by Li Yan and Red Lady was still too thin, and the Eight Banners troops, fighting like madmen, hurled themselves at a single point. After paying a price of nearly two hundred dead and wounded, they finally broke open a corner.

Li Yan and Red Lady, who had just been startled by the foremost warrior of the Manchus, had by now withdrawn with several dozen mounted bodyguards to the edge of the bridgehead fortress by the pontoon bridge. Seeing their crescent-moon formation breached, they directed their cavalry to counterattack. They did not have many cavalry — only a little over three hundred riders, divided into six squads. The two of them each led one squad, while the remaining five attacked in sequence, striking from the flank at the Eight Banners troops who had broken into the crescent-moon formation.

This cavalry had been painstakingly trained by Li Yan according to ancient methods. Small in number, but battle-hardened and highly effective. Against Eight Banners troops at full strength they would certainly be no match, but by now these Eight Banners troops were far from their best. They had run into two waves of Ming soldiers unafraid of Tartars, been blasted by firearms, been blocked by the crescent-moon spear wall, and even their foremost Manchu warrior had fallen in battle. Truly misfortune upon misfortune — nothing was going right, and who still had the heart to keep fighting?

Moreover, Li Yan had deliberately had the gates of the bridgehead fortress opened, and had placed no blocking force in front of them.

In other words, what lay before the Eight Banners troops who had broken through the crescent-moon formation was a road of survival — flight to the north bank of the Wei River!

Seeing the path to survival right before them, the Eight Banners troops, long since drained of fighting spirit, no longer cared about their flanks. They all surged toward the bridgehead in one mass, wishing they could sprout wings and fly across the Wei River at once. In the end, only about three-tenths of the Tartar soldiers who had charged into the crescent-moon formation made it across the pontoon bridge; the rest were all cut down by Li Yan and Red Lady's cavalry.

Just as Li Yan and Red Lady, husband and wife, were about to lead their cavalry across the bridge in pursuit, they were stopped by Chen Yidao, who arrived at a gallop.

"Are you Red Lady?"

Red Lady recognized Chen Yidao, so she cupped her hands from horseback and said, "General Chen, this humble one and my husband have brought our troops to join Thousand Years! Is Thousand Years well? He wasn't startled by those Tartars, was he?"

"How could Thousand Years be startled by Tartars?" Chen Yidao said. "Thousand Years is the reincarnation of the Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor!"

"That is excellent!" Red Lady gave a cold snort. "General Chen, there are still bandits here to pursue. We shall take our leave for now!"

"Wait!" Chen Yidao said hastily. "Lady Red, please do not go in person. Thousand Years still has several hundred iron cavalry under his command — if they join the pursuit, they can kill the Tartars until barely a few remain. Lady Red, please accompany this humble official to pay respects to Thousand Years! Thousand Years has asked about you no small number of times these days — he must truly miss you. Which one is Master Li? Come along as well."

Miss me? Red Lady's cheeks warmed slightly. He wants to tie me up with ropes again, doesn't he?

Li Yan frowned deeply. These words sounded far too awkward! Was this fellow Chen simply bad with words, or was the Zhu family's crown prince truly debauched and profligate, cuckolding him?

Seeing Li Yan and Red Lady come to join him together, Zhu Cilang was of course extremely pleased! He had never imagined that Master Li Yan would actually come to submit — it was said that he was one of the rare men under Li Zicheng accomplished in both civil and military affairs.

And moreover, he was from Henan!

Now Shandong had Su Guansheng, but in Henan there was still no one to carry on Mobile Corps Commander warfare! Li Yan was just the man to go — though he would have to be careful. The situation in Henan was not so good, and this Master Li must not let himself be killed by the accursed Tartars, or else there would be no one left to look after Red Lady!

(End of Chapter)