Chapter 19: Ambush

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  The sun slowly emerged, and as I looked around, everywhere was bathed in a mesmerizing golden light.

  All the scouts had returned, except for this forest, where there was no one in sight. About an hour later, a dozen or so slave cavalry scouts wearing riveted armor appeared on the horizon, slowly dispersing as they advanced cautiously to survey the desolate wilderness with no signs of human habitation.

  Yangliuqing is a small town, located in the strategic location of Jingji, which is the hub of the South-North Canal and a commercial distribution center. It is situated on the west side of Tianjin's three guards. During the Song Dynasty, from the Jingde to Yuanfeng years, the Yellow River burst its banks and flowed northward, forming the "Three Triangle Ponds" (East Pond) in the northern part of the town. The rivers and lakes within the town boundaries then flowed eastward again, earning it the name "Liu Kou". Song soldiers built the "He Pu Defense Line" along the riverbank (now the Daqing River), planting willows everywhere, with this place being the eastern end, and due to the dense growth of willows, it was also named "Liu Kou". After experiencing many changes and historical events, it gradually came to be known as "Yangliuqing".

  This small forest is a marker, Jian Nu's team will turn northeast from here, via Yangliuqing Town, and then enter the territory of Liaodong through Jizhou. Now that Liaodong has completely belonged to the Qing Dynasty, entering the territory of Liaodong also means the end of this mission.

  The troops responsible for this transport mission were the Bordered White Banner soldiers under Prince Zheng of the first rank, Jirgalang. The leader was Mele Ejitü Tolo. This team was too large, with nearly 100,000 people, in addition to a large number of servants, there were also more than 30,000 captured civilians, a large amount of gold and silver, and various materials. Only 3,000 Bordered White Banner soldiers and 2,000 Hanjun soldiers could fight, and there was also a thousand Jurchen Bordered White Banner armored cavalry that could be relied on. The rest were mostly miscellaneous duties and Ming troops who had surrendered not long ago, the two thousand Mongolian cavalry were pastoral teams from Doyan Three Guards, basically no combat effectiveness, let alone those newly surrendered Ming soldiers, simply can't be trusted.

  Although he knew that the Ming army was weak and that they did not dare to fight, this place was after all the heartland of the Great Ming, so Turo still maintained his vigilance.

  The number of scouts was increased again, and they were sent out very far. Once there was any movement, Tuluo would immediately withdraw his troops and use the iron bucket formation to respond. These goods and people were too important for the Qing dynasty, and once something unexpected happened, Tuluo could not afford to take responsibility. Now is the most critical moment, as long as they pass through Tianjin Wei and turn northeast out of Shuntian Prefecture, this large army will be completely safe.

  At this time, more than a dozen Jian Nu slaves had already begun approaching the forest.

  To prevent the enemy scouts from discovering the ambush in the forest, all personnel hid in the woods. To prevent the war horses from neighing, all the war horses were covered with cloth over their mouths, and the soldiers also had to calm down their mounts on the side. According to individual habits, many cavalrymen who were not good at shooting had already helped each other, tying their swords tightly to their hands with cloth strips so that the swords would not fall off easily in the intense battle.

  There are many graves in this forest, and Zhou Huachen and others hid behind these mounds.

  Everyone was slightly tense, and the reason for the tension was these slave candidates. Although the soldiers had carefully concealed the traces, those traces could not be completely covered up. As long as these slave candidates entered the forest, it would not be difficult to discover abnormalities if they were careful.

  Over a hundred arrows were already strung on the bowstrings. Jian Nu Xi Hou had no choice but to shoot and kill them if they entered the forest, although it was not the most ideal timing and distance. The ambushing cavalry had to take the initiative, and launching an attack ahead of time was unavoidable. This was the worst possible outcome.

  Faintly audible, the Jin slaves' scouts were saying something, and then two of the Jin slaves' scouts approached the woods while the others led their horses in a slow circle around the perimeter.

  Two Janissary guards dismounted at the edge of the forest, wearing a type of quilted armor. This armor was very thick, like a large down jacket, and its fabric was embedded with iron scales, which could increase protection and keep warm. Due to the cold climate of the Janissary territory, this armor was extremely popular among Janissary soldiers.

  These two Jian slaves did not enter the forest, they approached the forest and glanced at it briefly, then lifted the lower hem of their cotton armor on one side and started urinating.

  They quickly resolved the issue and didn't even glance at the situation in the forest again. The two Jian Nu slaves flipped onto their war horses, and then a dozen or so Jian Nu slaves shouted loudly as they headed towards Yang Liu Qing Town.

  Again, dozens of Jinan cavalrymen galloped past in succession, followed by a vast black shadow gradually entering the field of vision. The team was so large that it was breathtaking, like an ocean of people, with a mouth more than two miles wide completely occupied, and the team moved slowly, as if a slow-moving Great Wall, making people's scalps numb.

  Zhou Huchen gritted his white teeth, took a cold breath, and the army of 100,000 people was beyond his imagination. The team of over a thousand people wanted to shake this moving giant fortress, which seemed quite difficult.

  After another half-hour of helpless waiting, Jian Nu's troops finally all came out of the Liugoukou and began to turn northeast, with their target clearly being Yangliuqing Town.

  Jian Nu's vanguard has reached the edge of the forest, which means the raid is now on countdown.

  Zhou Yuji turned his head and whispered to Liu Qi beside him, "Liu Qi, after the surprise attack begins, you will be in charge of our army's central route. Let Xiaohu accompany you."

  The middle section of the team is obviously the safest place, and Zhou Yuji's task for Liu Qi is to protect Zhou Huchen. It seems that Zhou Yuji wants to take on the most dangerous vanguard personally, while in the past, this task belonged to the fierce Liu Qi.

  It was unexpected that the normally disobedient young master Zhou would be so well-behaved this time. He didn't utter a word, but instead listened silently and expressionlessly to Zhou Yuji's tactical arrangements.

  The distance was very close, and you could almost see the faces of the Janissaries moving slowly.

  It's now, Jian Nu's vast army only has a few scattered cavalry guarding the left wing. Zhou Yuji raised his right arm, confirming again whether the soldiers were ready. No one made a sound, and the preparations seemed to be perfect.

  Zhou Yu tightened the girth of his warhorse, then drew out his own battle knife. This battle knife was four fingers wide, nearly twice as wide as an ordinary one, and extremely thick. He casually threw away the cloth cover on the horse's mouth, all the cavalry began to mount their horses, Zhou Yu's battle knife pointed forward.

  "Charge!" As the command was given, Zhou Yuji fiercely urged on his warhorse, he took the lead and charged out of the woods, while the knights behind him followed closely in an orderly manner.

  Fierce iron cavalry one by one rushed out of the forest, one, two, three... As more and more cavalry came out of the forest, the speed of the war horses became faster and faster. The distance between Jian Nu's cavalry and infantry was not far from this forest, and in their astonishment, they finally discovered this suddenly appearing cavalry team.

  When Zhou Huchen rushed out of the forest on the middle road of the troops, Zhou Yuji had already made contact with the enemy cavalry.

  The timing chosen by Zhou Yuji was to create the most favorable distance for himself, and Jian Nu's troops were caught off guard. These left-wing Jian Nu cavalrymen could not get their warhorses to reach top charging speed in such a short period of time, so an advantage was created, which is the effect of a surprise attack.

  The hastily responding Jian Nu cavalry had no power to fight back, because the horses couldn't run and didn't have the strength. For cavalrymen, if their warhorses can't run, it means a drastic decrease in combat effectiveness, meaning they will be suppressed by stronger opponents. The first Jian Nu knight who encountered Zhou Yuji was unfortunate; his weapon was a lance, and as he urged on his horse, passed over the lance, raised his shield, and hastily responded to the battle, Zhou Yuji's heavy war sword flashed across diagonally.

  Blood burst forth, the spear was severed in two, one arm and the severed spear shaft flew into the sky...

  Zhou Yu's backhand slash was even more relaxed, his war knife lightly swung, and the hastily responding Jian Nu cavalry exposed a bloody rain.

  The second Jinyu cavalryman was not far from Zhou Yuji, but he was obviously more experienced than the first Jinyu cavalryman. Before his warhorse could accelerate, he decisively pulled it back to avoid Zhou Yuji.

  Cavalry is the king of mobility, and Zhou Yu's backhand knife was already in front of him. Although it didn't split this Jian Nu Qi Bing, there were still a third, fourth... The rotating blade of the riders behind had already reached his eyes.

  The cavalry troops that formed a long snake-like formation were taking turns attacking, and the unprepared enemy had to endure the wheel war. Due to the smaller number of enemy cavalrymen, Zhou Huachen, who was in the middle route, didn't even have a chance to swing his sword, he could only follow the big team's crazy charge. The linear attack of the cavalry was the enemy's nightmare, and under unprepared circumstances, the left-wing Jian Nu cavalry had become sheep waiting to be slaughtered, they had to face countless incoming war knives, the only way to survive was to escape.

  No matter how strong a rider is, he can't cope with the alternate attacks of thousands of people. This is a massacre, a beautiful and helpless massacre.