Chapter 7: Capturing Dai Shan Alive

  "Hmm hmm hmm……"

  Piercing whistles sounded continuously, and the six hundred elite soldiers hidden in the high embankments along the road launched a surprise attack. Sharp crossbow arrows crisscrossed like dense spider silk, and the Jinluo cavalrymen riding horses and holding torches became the best targets for shooting. There was no blind spot for shooting at all. In just a short while, seventy or eighty Jinluo cavalrymen fell off their horses with mournful cries.

  "Assassins!"

  "Protect the master!"

  "Protect the master and charge forward!"

  The remaining Jian Nu cavalry quickly reacted, surrounding Daisan in the middle and charging forward. Wang Pu would not let them have their way, immediately jumping up from the high beam, holding his large knife forward with force, shouting: "Big Beard, you bring two hundred brothers to attack the manor, the rest of the brothers follow me, absolutely cannot let Jian Nu run away, kill!"

  "Kill all the Janissaries, don't leave a single one! Kill, kill, kill!"

  Six hundred households rushed out of the high beam land, like a pack of hungry wolves pouncing on the sheep in the enclosure. However, the Jian Nu cavalry in the enclosure were not lambs. In the previous raid, more than half of the Jian Nu cavalry had been killed or injured, but the remaining thirty-odd riders were all seasoned veterans who were not only highly skilled in martial arts but also exceptional archers.

  Even before they got close, several of their men had already fallen under the arrows of the Jinuo cavalry.

  After sacrificing more than a dozen casualties, the family guards finally rushed to the front of the Jianlu cavalry, and the two armies began hand-to-hand combat. Although the Jianlu cavalry was highly skilled in martial arts, they were ultimately no match for the family guards' superior numbers. After a fierce battle that lasted for nearly half an hour, the family guards finally eliminated the remaining thirty-odd Jianlu cavalrymen and captured Dai Shansheng alive.

  Looking at the family servants lying all over the floor in a mess, Wang Pu involuntarily took a cold breath.

  With 600 family soldiers, they launched a surprise attack on more than 100 Jianlu cavalry. First, they shot down 70-80 cavalry with chaotic arrows, but in order to solve the last 30+ Jianlu cavalry, they actually paid several tens of people's casualties!

  The early Eight Banners troops, due to their outdated equipment, relied solely on their bravery in battle, and their actual combat effectiveness was not very strong. However, by the later period of Huang Taiji's rule, with improvements in the equipment of the Eight Banners troops and their repeated victories in foreign wars, the Eight Banners troops had elevated their confidence and combat experience to a considerable height. At this time, the Eight Banners troops had entered their heyday, and their combat effectiveness was indeed not to be underestimated.

  Fortunately, Wang Pu was cautious enough. If he had led the 600 household troops to launch a fierce attack from the beginning, it would have inevitably turned into a head-on confrontation between the two armies. With the powerful combat effectiveness of the Jianzhou cavalry, the outcome would be really hard to say. This is still the most elite household troop in the Ming army. If it were replaced with ordinary Ming troops, their combat effectiveness would be even more negligible compared to the Jianzhou cavalry.

  Two family slaves pushed Daishan forward to Wang Pu and said: "General, kill this old slave with one sword too?"

  "Hold on." Wang Pu waved his hand to stop the two servants, then took a moment to size up Daishan before saying, "Look at the clothes he's wearing. This guy should be one of the nobles among the Jurchen slaves. Let's keep him for now."

  "Hmph." Dai Shan grunted, and surprisingly spoke in Chinese, "This king's surname remains unchanged, his name remains unchanged, the Great Qing Dynasty's Shuo Li Qin Wang, Aixinjueluo Dai Shan."

  "Is it Dai Shan? You are Dai Shan!" Wang Pu was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing, "Haha, this is indeed heaven helping me."

  Dai Shan furrowed his brow and asked: "What are you laughing at? Who are you?"

  Wang Pu stopped his laughter and replied, "I am Wang Pu, the General of Datong in the Great Ming Empire. I have been ordered by Commander Hong of Ji Liao to lead a crack troop to attack your Jurchen lair - Shengjing."

  "Hmph, hahaha... " Dai Shan first sneered, then burst out laughing. Half a day later, he said disdainfully, "The capital of Shengjing has 30,000 elite soldiers of the Qing Dynasty stationed there. Do you think this mob can go and touch the tiger's whiskers? It's simply not knowing one's own strength. Young man, I advise you to give up this idea as soon as possible."

  "Haha, isn't it overestimating one's abilities? You'll find out soon enough, Your Highness." Wang Pu said with a wave of his hand, "Leave two hundred brothers to clean up the battlefield, burn the bodies of our fallen brothers and bring back their ashes. Give each of these slaves an extra two slashes to prevent any from escaping, then strip them of their clothes and armor. The remaining brothers will take the wounded to the village for treatment."

  At this moment, the big beard had already led two hundred households into the village, and the more than three hundred slaves in the village were all old, weak, sick and disabled, and they were killed without any effort. The remaining seven hundred or so Ah Ha were all Han people, seeing the Ming army killing into the village, one by one was overjoyed, some of the bolder ones even picked up hoes and rushed out to help kill the slaves.

  In less than half an hour, the Big Beard had already completely controlled the entire manor. Even more than a dozen Jian Nu children hiding in the cellar were searched out by the excited Han people Ah Ha and dragged to the courtyard to be beaten to death with sticks. These Han people Ah Ha had suffered enough humiliation from the Jian Nu before, so now that they had grasped the opportunity, of course they would take revenge ruthlessly, and their methods of revenge were not one bit inferior to those of the Jian Nu.

  Under the surging crowd, these Han people almost burned down the entire manor with a fire.

  In the end, Wang Pu had no choice but to come forward himself and weave a lie to calm down these out-of-control Han people.

  "Everyone, don't get excited, listen to me, I have some great news to tell you. The Jurchen army has been defeated by our Ming army at Songshan City, the 200,000-strong Jurchen army was completely annihilated, and their leader, Huang Taiji, was killed in battle! Now, Commander Hong Chengchou is leading an army of 300,000 to Xipingbao, and soon they will cross the Liao River to attack Shengjing. You will be able to return home soon, and you won't have to serve as slaves for the Jurchens anymore..."

  The Han people in the courtyard all cheered when they heard this.

  Until the cheers in the courtyard gradually subsided, Wang Pu continued to say: "The task of our army is to deceive the gate of Shengjing City and clear the obstacles for the attack of the follow-up troops. Therefore, the action must be kept secret. Please everyone calm down and stay here for a few more days. Don't go out privately, if you leak the route of our army and let the Jurchen people in Shengjing City have defense beforehand, then you will become sinners of the Ming Dynasty."

  Someone in the crowd responded: "General, rest assured that we will fully cooperate with the imperial army's actions."

  "That's good." Wang Pu nodded and said, "Now please everyone return to their own quarters, cook some food, our soldiers haven't had a hot meal in several days. If anyone knows medicine, please come out and help bandage the wounded soldiers."

  "I'm somewhat familiar with medicine." Just as Wang Pu's words fell, a robust old man led a young fellow out of the crowd and walked up to Wang Pu, saying, "General, I've been practicing medicine for decades and can be considered roughly proficient. If you trust me, let me take a look at your soldiers. If it's just ordinary knife wounds or arrow injuries, that shouldn't be too difficult for me."

  "This is really great." Wang Pu said with joy, "How should I address you, old sir?"

  "This is old Li Changfu." The old man said, pulling over the young man beside him, "This is my grandson Li Bao, General can call him Little Leopard, Little Leopard quickly pay respects to the General."

  The young man knelt down on the ground and saluted: "Xiao Baozi pays respects to General."

  "Ah, don't mention it." Wang Pu hastily stepped forward to help up the little leopard and then turned his head to instruct Big Whiskers, "Big Whiskers, quickly take Mr. Li to see the injured brothers."

  "Ah." The big man bowed respectfully and gestured with his hands, "Please come this way, sir."