Chapter 457: Prince, Don't Blame Me! (Fifth Update)

So Zhu Cilang had long since abandoned his own "Grand Ancestor Emperor Reborn" banner and shifted position!

Did he not know how to use the golden cicada shedding its shell? Not only had he slipped away to the hillside across Qingliu Creek, he had also ordered Feng Sizhong to drag his twenty-four 3-pounder battalion guns into ambush beneath the Grand Ancestor Emperor Reborn banner, specifically to strike the Tartars foolishly charging the formation.

The twenty-four cannon were distributed across four directions, six guns to a direction, all loaded with canister. A 3-pounder canister round held eighty half-ounce lead balls wrapped in deerskin; six canister rounds meant four hundred and eighty half-ounce lead balls, raining down like a shower upon the cavalry commanded by Yierde. The furious storm of shot swept across men and warhorses, and in an instant a mist of blood exploded into the air. The foremost charging cavalry were mowed down in swathes; human screams and the shrieks of horses mingled into one din.

Yierde, who had ridden at the very front, had been slowing as he went and was no longer in the vanguard of the cavalry, so the canister from the 3-pounders did not wound him. But the thunderous roar of cannon at close range startled the warhorse beneath him. The galloping horse let out a shriek, suddenly halted, and reared high on its forelegs, hurling Yierde from the saddle and slamming him hard to the ground. Dazed and seeing stars, Yierde struggled to his feet and found the scene around him ghastly: dead men and dead horses lay everywhere. Some not yet dead were screaming in agony; others seemed unwounded but had still been thrown from their horses, and now stood dumbly or sat in a stupor, every face filled with terror and shock.

The remaining cavalrymen whose backsides were still stuck to their saddles no longer dared charge forward either. All of them frantically wheeled their horses about, desperate to flee. And Yierde's own warhorse had slipped off to who knew where.

He immediately jumped up and roared in fury, "None of you may run! Stand your ground for me! Brave warriors of the Eight Banners fear not even death — are you afraid of the southern barbarians' cannon?"

A few hot-blooded young Eight Banners soldiers, shamed by his rebuke, flushed with mortification and lost the face to flee. Yierde fixed his eye on the nearest fearless Eight Banners cavalryman, lunged at him in two or three strides, and dragged the man down from his horse.

That was a youth of eighteen or nineteen, stirred by Yierde's words and just about to charge the Ming cannon to the death, when Yierde yanked him off his horse.

"Meiren Zhangjing, what are you—" Before he could finish, he saw Yierde vault onto his warhorse, wheel the horse about, draw his saber, and strike the horse's rump a fierce blow. The horse, stung by pain, instantly broke into a gallop.

Yierde, the Manchu baturu who moments ago had been all righteous fervor, looking ready to fight the Ming cannon to the death, had now seized his horse and fled! But he did not get far before a turtle-dove-foot arquebus shot him from the saddle, and he perished on the spot!

"The Grand Ancestor Emperor Reborn is ever-victorious!"

At the very moment Yierde fell from his horse, the Ming battle cry had already rung out.

Wang Guoyong personally led the charge, two companies following him, pursuing with pikes and bayonets for a while, though not too far. After all, they had only two legs and could not catch the mounted Eight Banners troops. After turning back, he set about reforming the ranks while dispatching one pike company to sweep the battlefield.

Before long, a platoon leader came beaming to him holding a blue banner with a red dragon that he had picked up from who knew where. "Battalion Commander... can you tell whose banner this is?"

Wang Guoyong, having come from the Wu family retainers, was thoroughly familiar with Qing affairs and recognized at a glance that this was the great standard of the Plain Blue Banner lord.

"This is the banner-sign of Hooge, lord of the Tartar Plain Blue Banner!" Wang Guoyong drew a sharp breath. "Could Hooge have personally led the charge? Quickly, quickly, go search — see if Hooge's corpse is anywhere about!"

Hooge's corpse was not found — a matter that would remain an eternal mystery thereafter! According to the histories, Hooge had clearly been leading his troops in a charge against the main body of the Ming Army-Pacifying Crown Prince Zhu Cilang's central force when the peerless-in-arms Grand Crown Prince Zhu stabbed him in the belly with a single spear thrust and took his life. Yet his body was carried off by his personal guards and buried no one knows where.

At this moment, Hooge — who by rights should already have been slain by Zhu Cilang — was being escorted by two or three hundred riders, galloping swiftly northward. The horses were fast, the wind whistling past his ears, and his whole mind was in a daze. He still could not accept the reality that the Qing heavenly troops under his command had been defeated... In his memory, the Eight Banners heavenly troops were invincible! Even if they occasionally suffered a setback because of the enemy's cunning and treachery, it was only temporary and never brought serious consequences.

Then his own defeat should also be temporary... The more than ten thousand Eight Banners warriors under his command should also be able to withdraw intact, and then recover their standing around Fengyang Prefecture. Perhaps he might even kill the southern barbarian Crown Prince Zhu Cilang!

In his daze, Hooge seemed to see himself already completely victorious, leading the Eight Banners heavenly troops across the Yangtze to storm Jinling!

Suddenly, he faintly heard someone shouting in Manchu: "Disaster! The Banner Lord Prince is gone! The Banner Lord Prince has ascended to heaven..."

The Banner Lord Prince has ascended to heaven? Hooge was startled. Who? Was it his eldest uncle Daishan who had died? At his great age, it was time for him to pass peacefully... But how had word of Daishan's death reached here?

"My Prince! My Prince, this is bad — the men below think you are dead!" the flustered Luotuo suddenly shouted.

Hooge turned and shot him an annoyed glare. "Luotuo, are you cursing your prince? This prince will not die! This prince—"

It was only then that he remembered: had he not ordered Yierde to charge under his own great standard? Yierde had been struck by cannon fire, the formation scattered, and the great standard of the Plain Blue Banner lord had fallen. Plenty of Eight Banners troops around the battlefield must have seen it and mistakenly believed he was dead!

What was to be done?

Hooge was stunned. At that moment Luotuo shouted again, "My Prince, pursuers are upon us! This slave will hold them off — you must ride north at once! Once you cross the Chi River you will be safe!"

"Ah," Hooge responded. "Luotuo, you are a good slave. Do take care."

Luotuo cried out, "My Prince, go quickly! This slave goes to fight the Nikan to the death! My Prince, we shall meet in the next life!"

Having shouted this nonsense, Luotuo wheeled about with the greater part of Hooge's warriors to meet the Ming light cavalry pursuing them — in truth there were not many, just one company, chasing along quite merrily, but they could not defeat Luotuo's white-armored and red-armored troops. After a brief clash they took minor losses and fell back, not daring to pursue further.

But the victorious Luotuo did not dare linger in battle either. He led the hundred-odd riders under his command into the woods to the northeast, hoping to find Hooge. Yet after searching for a long while, he saw no trace of Hooge. By now the fighting by Qingliu Creek was nearly over: a great Ming victory, a crushing Qing defeat. All around the battlefield, Eight Banners troops were fleeing northward in every direction.

Luotuo reckoned that Hooge must have fled as well, so he led his men toward the Chi River — earlier Kong Youde and Shang Kexi had sent dispatches saying they intended to cross the Chi River southward. So as long as he made for the Chi River and joined up with those two traitors, he would be essentially safe.

Just as Luotuo gave up searching for Hooge and headed north alone, Hooge had almost escaped danger. He and his few dozen riders (mostly Luotuo's artillerymen) had encountered Bahana, the Gushan Ejen of the Plain Blue Banner — the very Aisin Gioro Bahana whom Hooge had left behind at the camp on the western slope of Daqiang Ridge to delay the Ming night-raiding force.

This fellow was truly tough-fated: he had not died. Not only had he not died, he had slipped away to the east bank of Qingliu Creek, raised the Gushan Ejen's banner on a hilltop at Shigu Mountain, and gathered a good number of scattered fugitives, all milling about across a broad hillside. No one much noticed the crestfallen Hooge arriving as well.

On the Huainan battlefield, Hooge the Banner Lord Prince was the foremost figure. Beneath him were two Gushan Ejens: one was Oboi, the other Bahana. Now that the Banner Lord Prince was "gone," and Oboi had vanished to who knew where, Bahana was the ranking man left — and he was of the imperial clan besides. Qing troops retreating from the battlefield saw his banner and naturally rallied to him. Hooge was no exception, thinking to join him first and then gather the remnants and withdraw.

On seeing Hooge, Bahana was first taken aback, clearly not expecting this lord to still be alive! After a moment's hesitation, he asked Hooge to his temporary field headquarters on the pretext of reporting urgent military matters — it was set up in a grove of trees, ringed by Bahana's trusted men.

Before any formal report began, Bahana suddenly pointed behind Hooge. "My Prince, look quickly — Oboi has come. He has awakened."

Oboi has awakened? Excellent!

Concerned for Oboi, Hooge hastily turned to look, but saw nothing. Just as he was wondering, he suddenly felt a searing pain from his back and chest. Looking down, he saw a bloodied blade-tip bursting out through his chest!

Then came Bahana's voice: "My Prince, do not blame me. This is the Prince Regent's will..."

(End of Chapter)