Chapter 21: The Han Soul and the Traitor of the Han

  Ming army formed an arrow-shaped formation, Zhao Jun led the way as the arrowhead, with a fearless attitude, charging towards the dense and oppressive enemy troops.

  Such a large disparity in numbers, and even if they were killed, there would be no spoils of war. The Ba Ya La among the Tartars did not deign to fight, and those who charged towards the Ming army were mainly the poorly equipped Yu Ding and Mongolian Tartars.

  Unexpectedly, the arrow hit the Mongolian cavalry like a sharp pair of scissors cutting through fabric, and all the Mongolians who were hit fell off their horses. They quickly broke through the first line of the Mongolian charge. The Ming army did not suffer many casualties.

  Zhao wiped the blood of the first Tartar from his face and said with satisfaction. Then he charged into the next group of Tartars again.

  Successive collisions with the enemy's five lines of defense, our troops suffered casualties of less than half, while the enemy, estimated to be four or five thousand, went to see King Yan.

  The messenger reported to Huang Taiji, who was greatly surprised and went to observe the formation in person. He found that the morale of the Ming army was high, maintaining a tight arrowhead formation, wherever they clashed, they would open up and split apart. The Tartar cavalry at the forefront were already somewhat intimidated and dared not advance.

  Emperor Taizong hastily sent his own Baojia troops up.

  Niulu Ertu Shumu Lu, due to his merits, had already been promoted to Jiala Ertu. This time he was sent over.

  He was a seasoned veteran who knew that if the now overwhelmingly powerful Ming army were to engage in a fierce battle, the losses would be enormous. The arrow formation is the hardest with its arrowheads, but if the arrowheads are broken, it will also be the most fatal.

  Shu Mu Lu summoned his subordinates and followed a group of ordinary cavalrymen towards the arrow formation.

  Just as the arrow was about to hit the front of this group of Hu, Shumu Lu ordered his men to shoot three waves of heavy arrows.

  Ming army never thought that when they were close to the enemy, there would be a rain of arrows. The guards who protected Zhao Rate fell off their horses one after another, and Zhao Rate was also shot by multiple arrows in the last wave of arrow rain, falling off his horse. At the moment he fell off his horse, the image of Sun Chengzong appeared in Zhao Rate's mind, and he silently said: "General, I didn't disappoint your expectations again!"

  At this time, Zhao Zilong was already at the end of his strength. He was 61 years old and had been fighting for a long time, although he had the bravery of Lian Po and Huang Zhong, but now he was exhausted, relying solely on his will to continue fighting.

  The surrounding Ming army saw the general fall off his horse and rushed down to rescue him.

  When they helped Zhao Shuai up, he had already stopped breathing.

  "Avenge General Zhao! Protect General Zhao's body!" The Ming army formed a circle around General Zhao's corpse and fought to the death with the surrounding Tatars.

  The Ba Ya La soldiers replaced the ordinary cavalry and attacked. They thought that the main general of the Ming army had already died, and since they had been fighting for a long time, it should be easy to resolve.

  Ming army knew they would die, under the inspiration of Zhao's teachings, they were completely betting their lives. The casualties of the Eight Banners Army also slowly rose up.

  At this time, Huang Taiji arrived at the outer periphery of the battlefield and saw such a tragic battle, unexpectedly feeling very surprised in his heart. He was about to add more troops again.

  Fan Wen Cheng took a step forward and whispered to Huang Taiji, "Your Majesty, the Ming army has lost its cavalry power, surrounded in a circle, just right for bow and arrow greetings."

  Hong Taiji came to his senses and ordered the Bayara soldiers to retreat, allowing everyone to use bows and arrows to attack.

  After the battle, when the statistics of the battlefield came out, Huang Taiji took a cold breath. The 4,000-strong Ming army was completely annihilated, but his own side suffered more than 8,000 casualties, including over 400 Baoyi soldiers.

  If all countries in the world were like this army, how could our Great Jin survive?

  The emperor looked at Fan Wen Cheng beside him and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief: Fortunately, not all Han people have such bloodthirstiness and bravery.

  Actually, Zhao Rate's army did not completely perish. There was one more person, Zhu Yuanzhong, who had diarrhea. Ironically, his diarrhea saved him. When Zhu Yuanzhong finished having diarrhea and caught up with the main force, he happened to witness countless Tatars appearing and surrounding Zhao Rate's army.

  Zhu Yuanzhong, although brave and powerful, was not a fool who would rush forward to kill the enemy in such a situation. (Unless he was Ultraman.) At this time, Zhu Yuanzhong threw away his helmet and armor, lightening his load, and fled back to the road of no return.

  He knew that Jian Yu would end the battle soon, so it's better to leave here as soon as possible. After some thought, he didn't return to Santunying either, and ran directly to Shanhaiguan, where it was relatively safe, and could also warn the subsequent reinforcements.

  Hong Taiji was very depressed, opened a Supreme Treasure, but the opponent only bet one yuan, and when flipping the card, he even flipped off his own finger. As soon as the battle ended, he convened a military meeting, divided the troops into two, and attacked Zhuozhou and Santunying at the same time. The main force had already appeared, and it was meaningless to surround the city and fight for reinforcements.

  Emperor Taizong led the majority of his main force to Zhuozhou, and Fan Wencheng presented another plan: first send Mongolian allies to attack Malanyu Valley west of Zhuozhou. The governor of Shuntian, Wang Yuanye, would definitely dispatch troops from Zhuozhou to rescue them. By ambushing them en route, they could kill more Ming soldiers, capture Malanyu Valley, and lure the Ming army out of Zhuozhou, allowing Fan Yongdu's men inside the city to take action, with the aim of capturing Zhuozhou in one fell swoop.

  The emperor was overjoyed and adopted his plan, which proved to be effective. When Wang Yuan-ya heard the news of the danger at Ma Lan Pass, he hastily dispatched a general to provide reinforcements, with predictable results.

  It wasn't until the army surrounded the city that Wang Yuanye thoroughly understood the situation. Previously, because Jianyu had blocked all roads leading to Zunhua, Wang Yuanye had not received detailed military information about Jianyu's attack.

  Wang Yuan-ya, in addition to admiring Emperor Chongzhen's foresight, hastily deployed troops to defend the city and hold out for reinforcements.

  After Jian Erzi surrounded the city, the main force was stationed at the North Gate, but it did not attack the city and only made a show of force outside the city.

  Fan Yongdou's men had entered the city in batches the day before, all of whom were desperate and only recognized money. The leader was a local from Zhuozhou named Yu Haijing, who was strong and powerful, rough but with finesse, and had a set of skills to boot.

  He used to manage a group of street thugs in Zunhua, but he was extremely filial. His family had an elderly mother who had been ill for a long time, and seeing him mixing with rascals day and night, she often blamed him. So Yu Haijing bought a servant girl to take care of his mother, disbanded the thugs under his command, and joined Fan Yongdou to seek wealth and glory. He would return home to visit his mother from time to time.

  Years later, Yu Haijing had become the number one general under Fan Yongdou's command. Because he was a native of Zhuozhou and familiar with the situation, he was sent to coordinate with the Tartars in attacking the city.

  The night before the siege of the city, Yu Haijing brought people back home. His sister opened the door and saw that her brother had returned, she was very happy. (His sister is Ya Tou, because she has been serving her mother wholeheartedly for a long time, her mother recognized her as her daughter.) She busily entertained the people her brother brought back. Yu Haijing himself went to his mother's bedside to ask after her health, and when asked about the people he brought with him, he lied that they were friends from business together.

  After settling down, Hai Jing led his men to scout out the location, deciding which places to set on fire, when to gather, and which city gate to attack. Everything was arranged in an orderly manner.

  The next day, the enemy surrounded the city, and Yu Haijing and others did not go out. That night, after the third watch, he led his men to sneak out quietly, bypassing the night patrol, and acted separately. They set fires everywhere in the city, disrupting visibility, and while people were busy putting out fires, they regrouped and waited. At the second watch of the third watch, the enemy at the north gate began to attack the city. At the fourth watch, Yu Haijing led his men to attack the south gate according to the agreed-upon time, coordinating with the elite Ba Yan soldiers who had been lurking outside for a long time, and occupied the south gate, and the city of Yunzhou was broken.

  As soon as the south gate was opened, the Tatars rushed in like a flood and began to slaughter indiscriminately.

  Wang Yuan-ya heard the news and was so filled with regret for not listening to Emperor Chongzhen's words that he hanged himself.

  After the Tatars killed all the Ming soldiers, some Tatars started burning and looting. Others followed suit, no longer caring about military discipline. Those who were quick got something, while those who were slow got nothing. Everyone began to scatter and loot. Suddenly, flames filled the entire city, and cries of despair echoed through the air.

  The sky was slightly bright, and the bandits outside the city began to enter the city. Seeing that the first batch of bandits who entered the city were looting with great enthusiasm, they became jealous and started a second round of plundering on the basis of having already looted once.

  Yu Haijing returned home with his troops after cooperating with the Huns to capture the city gate, comforting his frightened sister and mother, and guarding the door.

  At first, the bandits saw that this family had white towels tied around their arms and knew they were their own people, so they didn't come to harass them, there were plenty of other places to rob.

  At dawn, the newly arrived bandits were looting everywhere, but they had already been robbed once by the bandits who had never seen such a prosperous world before, and they didn't get much leftover goods. The more they looted, the more anxious they became, their eyes turned red.

  Just then a group of people happened to pass by Hai Jing's house, seeing that the house was intact and not caring whether the person guarding the door was tied up with a white cloth or not, they directly rushed in and started looting.

  Yu Haijing really didn't dare to confront these Tartar masters head-on. He could only admit defeat. Anyway, this time, Fan Yongdou promised a rich reward.

  Before he could react, he heard his sister's shrill cry for help and rushed over to see several bandits pinning her down while doing their evil deed, his mother had already been hacked to death on the side.

  In an instant, a surge of blood rushed to Hai Jing's forehead and exploded. He grabbed his knife and was about to charge forward.

  He saw something was wrong and quickly hugged him, snatching his knife away.

  The knife was snatched away, but the man broke free and pounced on those several bandits like a fierce tiger.

  At this time, the Tartars did not have a desperate heart. When they encountered someone as fierce as a mad tiger, that was an opponent. Fortunately, with the help of Haijing's hands, they escaped to the gate.

  Just then, Wanyan Zongbi was on his way to the former residence of the original governor, where the Great Khan was holding a meeting. As he passed by here, he saw a Han person chasing and beating a Jurchen woman. This was unbearable, so he quickly ordered someone to take them down. Then, facing the Jurchen woman who had been chased, he said: "This is really losing face for the Great Jin. Come, take them away and give each of them twenty military cudgels."

  Duoduo had seen the white handkerchief tied around Yu Haijing's arm earlier and knew that this was Fan Yongdou's insider. He just didn't know how to trigger a conflict.

  Yu Haijing's subordinates hastily explained the reason for the matter.

  Duoduo listened and raised an eyebrow, saying: "The great Golden Warrior favors your sister because he looks up to you. Not only are you ungrateful, but you also dare to hit me, the great Golden Warrior. Come on, let's give him eighty military sticks again."

  After instructing, Duoduo turned his horse's head and continued to move forward. As he was leaving, he threw out a sentence: "I'll spare your life for opening the gate, otherwise you will be beheaded! Han dog, remember your identity at all times."

  Yu Haijing was completely unable to speak, only howling. The Tartar didn't care, after beating him with eighty military clubs, he threw down the unconscious Yu Haijing and left.

  Yu Haijing's subordinates had sympathetic hearts, but the other party was a Jurchen princess, and they didn't dare to take sides, so they could only carry Yu Haijing in for treatment.

  He had just been awakened by the pain of his wound when Yu Haijing was informed that his sister could no longer bear the humiliation and had hanged herself, so he fainted again.

  Things in the world are often like this, when misfortunes happen to others, they don't concern you, and you put them out of your mind, or even become one of those who create the misfortune; but when it really happens to yourself, only then do you realize how painful it is.