mtl008 Chapter 606 Abatai's Secret
Chapter 606 Abatai's Secret
Abatai gazed towards Jinghai, his face calm but his heart filled with unease. He decided to take a gamble, betting that the various Ming army units were not a monolithic entity and that there were loopholes to exploit.
He had participated in the Battle of Hunhe, a battle that left a profound impression on him. Four thousand Sichuan White-Spear Soldiers and three thousand Zhejiang Soldiers stood firm for a full day under the siege of tens of thousands of Later Jin troops, while the Eight Banners cavalry suffered countless casualties. The turning point of the battle was that the other Ming armies, for various reasons, failed to provide timely reinforcements and chose to observe. Ultimately, the White-Spear Soldiers and Zhejiang Soldiers, outnumbered several times over by the Later Jin army's relentless attacks, ran out of ammunition and food, and fought to the death.
In Abatai's view, the Han people are characterized by the saying "the tallest tree in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind." An army that is too outstanding may not receive full support from allies, and may even be envied. Since the banner of the Tianjin General has not appeared on the battlefield, they may not join forces with Qionghai Town to attack him, and this is his opportunity.
As the conch shells sounded, several thousand men stepped out from the Later Jin army and headed straight for the Qionghai Navy's position.
Having learned from the lessons of the Battle of Changyi, the Qionghai Army no longer deployed in a hollow square formation. Instead, they arranged themselves into alternating double-row ranks, resembling speed bumps on a modern road when viewed from above. This formation meant that whether the Tartars charged in cavalry or infantry, they would be caught in a maelstrom of countless ranks, and even if they broke through one rank, they would be stopped by a second or third. Based on the experience of the previous battle, everyone in the Qionghai Army reached a consensus: the Tartars excelled in infantry combat and were not keen on heavy cavalry charges; therefore, this formation was specifically designed for them.
This time, Xu Yifan's Second Regiment was at the forefront. The First Regiment had suffered considerable casualties in the Battle of Changyi, so it was placed in the middle. The Independent Regiment, lacking 10-pound field guns, was still deployed at the rear. Xu Yifan saw the several thousand men charging towards him and assumed they were the vanguard launching a probing attack, so he ordered the artillery battalion to attack.
"Boom boom boom," the shells flew towards the opposite side, carving bloody grooves in the crowd.
Xu Yifan carefully observed the effects of the artillery fire, but he noticed that the Tartars were a bit strange. They were almost all infantry, none of them were on horseback, and their attack was not directed at the center of the Qionghai Navy formation, but at the eastern flank.
He raised his binoculars and examined the area closely. He discovered that apart from the one or two hundred men at the very front who were armored Tartar infantry, the rest of the army consisted of lightly armored Han soldiers. The Han soldiers were easily distinguishable from the Tartars. The former had not kept their queues for long, and the shaved marks on their foreheads were clearly visible, while the latter had shaved their heads since childhood, and the area around the spiky queue on their foreheads was completely shaved.
The Han army would never be the main force for field assaults; they were generally cannon fodder during sieges. Xu Yifan fell into deep thought: using the Han army to charge, and heading towards the eastern flank—was it to use these cannon fodder to disrupt the Qionghai navy's flank and achieve some other objective?
At this moment, the blue flags with golden dragons of the Later Jin army began to move, slowly shifting eastward. Seeing this, Xu Yifan immediately understood the enemy's intention: to use cannon fodder troops to entangle the flank of the Qionghai army, and then use the mobility advantage of the cavalry to force their way through!
He quickly summoned a messenger: "Go to the central army and inform the general that the Tartars are planning to break through from the eastern flank. Please tell him how to deal with this and ask him to make a decision immediately!"
"Are the Tartars planning to break through from the east?"
Liu Ye quickly raised his binoculars. Sure enough, the troops attacking the flank of the Second Regiment could hardly see any armored men; they were all infantrymen wearing only cotton armor or no armor at all. Liu Ye didn't bother to distinguish whether these people were Han soldiers or Manchu bannermen of the Later Jin. In any case, they were not the main force. Abatai was up to something.
He was somewhat annoyed. He had overestimated Abatai's pride, and after getting into a fight, the other guy simply walked away. It was like two people agreeing to a fight; one person got all worked up and ready to go, but the other just turned tail and ran, leaving him standing there dumbfounded. He could almost see Abatai's mocking expression: "This Beile isn't playing with you anymore, how about that? Surprised? Unexpected?"
However, now is not the time to despise Abatai's integrity; finding a way to stop him is the priority. Liu Ye calmed himself down and ordered, "The First Regiment and the Independent Regiment, change from horizontal to vertical formation, prepare for interception, and do everything we can to hold off the Tartars while we wait for the troops from Baoding to arrive!"
Shi Ying said, "General, if the Tartars are determined to escape, it will be difficult for our two regiments to catch up. And who knows when the troops from Baoding will arrive? It's too late to help them now. Why don't we send someone to persuade Wang Hong, the General of Tianjin? No matter what, he is a military officer who has risen to the position of General through his military achievements. He must have some backbone. The Tartars have already passed right under our noses. I don't believe he can sit still in Jinghai City!"
Liu Ye hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Sending someone to try is fine. Perhaps the appearance of the Tartars can stimulate his conscience."
One cavalryman broke away from the Qionghai army's ranks and rushed ahead of the Later Jin army towards Jinghai.
Jinghai County wasn't far from the battlefield, and the plains offered no mountain barriers, so the sound of artillery fire had already reached them. Wang Hong, fully armed, climbed the city wall to inspect the area. A trusted lieutenant asked in a low voice, "Should the garrison commander go out of the city to intercept the Tartars? I heard they'll pass under Jinghai City..."
Wang Hong glanced at him and asked casually, "If you were in charge, what would you do?"
A hint of excitement appeared on the adjutant's face, eager to try: "If the Tartars are routed by those Guangdong soldiers, why not go out of the city and pick up some easy kills? If we can cut off a few heads, that would be incredibly lucky..."
Wang Hong snorted but didn't say anything, continuing his inspection of the city wall. The adjutant was somewhat embarrassed and quickly shut his mouth.
As Wang Hong walked, he thought to himself: "They really don't know their place. Even if they suffered a setback with the Cantonese, are the Tartars easy to deal with? They'll still beat them to a pulp. Rather than risking heavy losses to hunt down a few heads, it's better to stay safely in the city and wait for the ready-made benefits to come their way. Those two Imperial Guards have brought over Yang Sichang's words: as long as they help the Qionghai Army and let the Tartars pass, they'll transfer him from Tianjin to Huai'an, still as the commander-in-chief. Although it's a lateral transfer, Huai'an is adjacent to the Grand Canal, a hub for grain transport and salt transport, ranking alongside Yangzhou, Suzhou, and Hangzhou as one of the four major cities along the canal. It's a prosperous and lucrative post. Being a commander-in-chief there is a top-notch lucrative position, far superior to the dilapidated Tianjin."
Wang Hong may not have the guts to fight the Tartars, but letting them go is his specialty. When Abatai passed through Tianjin on his way south, Wang Hong turned a blind eye, and now he's just repeating the same trick.