The water of the Liuzhou River was bone-chilling. The river was frozen, and the ice floes flowed into the sea. Mangurtai stood by the river in despair. The narrowest part of the river was less than 100 meters, but it cut off the 30,000 men of the Jin Kingdom's Plain Blue Flag.
Half a month ago, Mangurtai led the army and rushed across the frozen river from the north. But half a month later, it became an extravagant hope for him to escape. In just half a month, the situation of the war had changed from obscure to complete collapse. The Jin Kingdom was on the verge of collapse.
Two days ago, the messenger on a crane was still able to send messages to Mangurtai from the north. He knew that his retreat was cut off, that Amin was defeated and died, that Guangning was occupied, and that his father insisted on going south to save him despite everyone's dissuasion. He knew that it was not only to save him, but also to save the Jin Kingdom.
The Jin Empire was essentially an alliance of tribes. The so-called Eight Banners were actually eight tribes that had a close relationship with each other. They were led by slave chieftains and were connected by blood. In history, when Hwang Tae-gil ascended to the throne, he also sat on the same seat as the four Beilei. Their power was equal.
Until the death of Hwang Tae-gil, he was not able to completely settle the internal power of his brothers. His eldest son, Hauge, who was supposed to succeed him, was deposed as a commoner, and his ninth son, Fulin, who was only six years old, ascended to the throne. The power fell into the hands of Dorgon.
There were many conflicts of interest in this kind of tribal alliance. The customs of the Jurchen were full of brothers devouring each other, and father and son killing each other. If there were benefits, everyone would fight, and if there were disadvantages, everyone would hide. Nurhachi built the Jin Kingdom on the basis that he could win the war. But if he lost … the Jurchen might still exist, but the Jin Kingdom would inevitably fall apart.
Why did Nurhachi ignore Shenyang and insist on going south? It was not that he could not see the threat of He Zhuo, but he wanted to use the war to control all the manpower and material resources, and even use the enemy to destroy the dissidents and erase the forces that might threaten him after the war was lost. Nurhachi had seen through the mysteries of power. Saving Mangurtai was just a matter of convenience. His real goal was to save himself.
Mangurtai knew this, he knew that his father would definitely come to save him because of his loyalty to his father. For the sake of loyalty, he could even ruthlessly kill his own mother in history. He was not the ambitious Chu Ying, not the seemingly submissive Dai Shan, not the unruly Ah Min, not the scheming Hwang Tae-gil. He was a fool, a loyal dog to his father.
But now, Mangurtai had been trapped on the banks of the Six States for two days, and his father still hadn't come. The distance from Suizhong to Ningyuan was less than a hundred li. Light cavalry could arrive there in half a day, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't see any reinforcements.
"Ahhh …" Mangurtai stood by the river and screamed his lungs out. His tall stature seemed to have gone mad, like a trapped beast. Three days ago, he abandoned Engdeli and retreated to the north. But the moment he retreated, the entire front line collapsed.
Engdeli only gathered three thousand men to cover his retreat. In less than two hours, they were drowned by the Han army. Seeing that the Kennu wanted to escape, Gao Daniu, who was stationed at Shanhai Pass, immediately launched an all-out assault. Twenty thousand men rushed out from behind the wall. Among them, Han Shi's cavalry was the most vicious. Two thousand men on Arabian horses were like a scalding hot knife, stabbing the fleeing Kennu into pieces.
After fleeing for a day and a night, Mangurtai finally managed to pull the ten thousand defeated soldiers to the southern bank of the Six States. What followed was a scene of despair. Five thousand Han soldiers waited at ease at the northern bank of the Six States. They used the cannons to bombard unceasingly, stopping the brave and courageous Big Jin San Bei Lei here.
Because the frozen river was blasted open by the explosives, the remaining ten thousand soldiers of the Plain Blue Flag could only stare at the cold river in a daze. They had already lost all their supplies and slaves. It was impossible for them to organize an effective attack. Building a pontoon bridge was even more impossible.
In order to escape, some of the Daoist Masters even braved the Han's cannons to cross the river. But when the horses jumped into the river, they jumped back. Even if they entered the water by force, they would be frozen to death in a minute or two. Even if they were lucky enough to avoid the bullets and cross the river to the northern bank, they would be frozen to the point of losing their ability to fight. The Han on the northern bank could use a fork to push the Daoist Masters back into the river.
Mangurtai saw with his own eyes those brave Daoist soldiers trembling as they reached the northern bank. Facing the cowardly Han, they immediately kneeled and begged for mercy. But those Han did not want to surrender. They wanted all the Daoist Masters dead.
There was a blockade in front and pursuers behind.
The Han blocking the way were waiting for the exhausted while the pursuing Han were like wolves and tigers.
Mangurtai had also thought about whether he should enter the Swallow Mountain Range from the west. Although the road was difficult and bitter, he might be able to survive. But Gao Daniu, who was hot on his tail, was not willing. He led the 20,000 Han soldiers and kept in contact with the Plain Blue Banner's remnant soldiers like sticky candy. He also cut off any possibility of Mangurtai heading west.
The 10,000 remnant Daoist soldiers were trapped on the southern bank of the six provinces and repeatedly bombarded by cannons. By the end of the day, the sound of the cannons had died down. Clearly, the battle was gradually coming to a stop.
"Master, you should escape by yourself." The last two generals of the Plain Blue Banner, Tun Bulu and Aibari, were still guarding Mangurtai. They were Mangurtai's trusted aides and had repeatedly charged and killed on the battlefield. Both of them had gunshot wounds on their bodies. Now, they could only let Mangurtai leave by himself.
Finally, there was still one person following beside Mangurtai. It was the lucky Commander of the Heaven's Blessing Corps, Gao Hongzhong. This traitor had been trying to escape but failed. In the end, he followed by Mangurtai's side like a life-saving straw. Seeing that there were only a few people left beside this 3rd Beilei, he could only use a pitiful tone to beg: "Master, take this servant with you."
"You still want to live?" Mangurtai was filled with anger when he saw Gao Hongzhong. "So many of my Great Jin's warriors have died. You should die too. Go and serve them." As he spoke, he grabbed Gao Hongzhong by the collar and flung him into the icy cold waters of the Six Provinces River. Gao Hongzhong fell into the river and struggled a few times. However, after drinking a few mouthfuls of cold water, he did not come out again.
"Master, let's go quickly." Tun Bulu and Aibari still wanted to push Mangurtai away.
However, it was already too late. Han soldiers surrounded them from all directions. Rows after rows of soldiers carrying flintlocks advanced towards Mangurtai's position. There were even cannons being pushed forward. It was obvious that it was impossible to escape.
Tun Bulu and Aibari immediately grabbed their weapons and stood in front of Mangurtai to protect him. Mangurtai shouted: "I am Mangurtai. I once fought with your Grand Marshal. If you want me to die today, I can. But a famous general must come out and fight with me. "
Boom … The cannons opened fire first. Hundreds of steel balls hit Mangurtai and the other two. During this process, no one paid any attention to his request. The Jin's number one expert, the Third Beilei, the leader of the Plain Blue Banner, was smashed into pieces just like that.
After three days of pursuit, the thirty thousand men of the Plain Blue Banner were annihilated on the banks of the Six Provinces River. Mangurtai died with a grievance, announcing the Han's victory in this battle. The news was sent to the capital through telepathy. Zhou Qingfeng was busy preparing for the Nation Founding Ceremony. When he heard of this, he heaved a sigh of relief and asked: "How is the situation in Ningyuan Empire?"
The staff officer reported: "We do not have telepathy in Ningyuan Empire. However, for the past two days, Flat Hair has been using a biplane to transport supplies. The news we received said that the ten thousand men in Ningyuan Empire City were attacked by at least sixty thousand men under the command of Nurhachi. They have suffered heavy losses. "
"Is our secret weapon ready?" Zhou Qingfeng asked again.
"According to the news from Imperial Consort Wen in the Academy of Sciences, the Number One Heaven project is progressing smoothly. However, there are not many that can be used in the battle," the staff officer said.
"Use as many as you can. If we can reduce the number of casualties, we will. It's not easy for the soldiers in the front line of Ningyuan Empire. Many of them are temporary militias. Facing tens of thousands of enemy troops, they have done their duty by holding out until now. Try to get as many of them home as possible, "Zhou Qingfeng said.
"Yes." The staff officer nodded. "We will do it right away."
At this moment, in Ningyuan Empire, the entire city defense system had collapsed. More than ten thousand people were guarding this small city. Half of them were ordinary militias who lacked training. It was not easy for them to fight alone until now.
Since last night, Nurhaci had been urging the tens of thousands of troops to take turns to go into battle, constantly attacking. More than a dozen heavy cannons even fired at the National Defense Army artillery on the city wall. Both sides had suffered heavy losses.
It had to be said that Nurhachi's efforts were not in vain. The Han army defending Ningyuan Empire had lost four to five thousand men in one night. They had no choice but to abandon the outer city wall and retreat into the city to fight in the streets.
The mobilized militias from Tianjin had suffered heavy losses. Sang Quanlai only had less than a third of his men left. The rest had all died on the front line. Last night, the enemy had rushed in by the hundreds at every turn. They could not kill them all. Corpses had piled up and filled the trench, but there were still people rushing up from behind.
Sang Quanlai was lying on a street in the city, his back leaning against a broken wall. His leg was tightly bandaged, but it still could not stop the bleeding. This injury was left from the fight with the Kennu last night. It had almost pierced through his main artery. But now he still felt cold all over. He could not stop his body from trembling and feeling dizzy.
"It's over. We're really finished this time." The old cook who had entered the trench last night was still alive. He was very clever and had not suffered any injuries after fighting all night. He stuck his head out to look in the direction of the street, then turned around and pushed Sang Quanlai, shouting, "Company Commander, Company Commander, the Tatars are coming up."
Sang Quanlai had lost a lot of blood and his eyelids were drooping. He said weakly, "I'm not a company commander, I'm a platoon commander. But I don't even have a squad under me. "
The old cook shouted again, "Didn't the deputy company commander say that if he's dead, you'll be the company commander?"
"Hahaha …" Sang Quanlai laughed bitterly. He only had this little strength left. "You old man, hurry up and run. We won't be able to escape."
Behind Sang Quanlai, there were not many people who could move. The remaining people in the platoon were all injured. Some were missing arms or legs. They really did not have any fighting strength left. The old cook looked at him and sighed. "You young people are not running, so why should I, who is half buried in the ground, run?"
As he said this, the old cook stuck his head out to look behind the wall again. A dozen or so elite Tatars wearing cotton armor and iron helmets had appeared. They were carefully searching and clearing the streets. He turned his head and grabbed a bag of explosives from Sang Quanlai's side.
Sang Quanlai reached out to grab it but failed. He asked weakly, "Old man, what are you doing? I'm going to use this for my last struggle. "
The old cook cheered him up. His wrinkled face chuckled. "I'm old and can't stand that crime. I don't want to be a slave for the Tatars. Little Sang, you can fight with your life later. I'm leaving first. I'll make some good food for you when we get to the netherworld. "
Finished speaking, the old cook lit the fuse on the bag of explosives and scurried out with his back bent. In a short while, the sound of the Tatars fleeing could be heard from the street, followed by an earth-shattering explosion.
Rocks flew everywhere from the explosion. Sang Quanlai's eyes were blurred by the smoke and dust, and he couldn't stop his tears from falling. He obviously had no strength left, but he still stood up with the help of a musket with a bayonet on it. He turned his head and shouted, "Brothers, is there anyone else who can breathe? Follow me out, let's have one last fight. "
Behind the wall, a dozen or so wounded soldiers stood up. They supported each other and followed their company commander into battle.
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