GBP Chapter 627 The mantis stalks the cicada, but the oriole follows behind
Chapter 627 The mantis stalks the cicada, but the oriole follows behind
The Later Jin army was almost entirely composed of cavalry, making them extremely fast. Just as Wang Pu and his men hesitated, a vast, dark mass appeared on the horizon. At the forefront was a white banner with a gold dragon and a red border, while to the sides and rear were blue banners with gold dragons. Those in the know understood that the former represented the Bordered White Banner, and the latter the Plain Blue Banner.
Tens of thousands of cavalrymen quickly approached the battlefield, treating the 100,000 loyalist troops as nothing, and marched leisurely side by side until they stopped directly in front of Yongding Gate.
Upon seeing the gleaming silver armor of the enemy's Bayara and the ferocious-looking soldiers, Wang Pu and the others remembered the terror of the Tartars. Ignoring Yang Sichang's orders, they all turned around and prepared for a major battle.
Although the Later Jin army was only one-third the size of the loyalist army, it completely overwhelmed its opponents in terms of morale. From the Bayara to the armored soldiers, everyone looked at their opponents with contempt, while Wang Pu and others showed fear, and both officers and soldiers involuntarily retreated.
The air suddenly fell silent. The three forces looked at each other, and a delicate stalemate ensued on the battlefield.
In the Later Jin army.
Ajige pointed his whip at the Qionghai Navy, which was sandwiched in the middle and whose flag with the character "琼" (Qiong) was vaguely visible. He asked Abatai beside him, "Seventh Brother, are these the Guangdong barbarians who defeated you and made you flee in disarray? What tricks are they playing?"
Abatai ignored his taunts, carefully observed the battlefield situation, and analyzed, "Judging from this situation, the Ming dogs are about to fight amongst themselves! Qionghai Town is surrounded on three sides, with the city wall behind it, leaving no way to retreat. Both sides are ready with swords drawn and arrows nocked. If we had arrived any later, they might have already started fighting. This is a golden opportunity!"
Yingcheng Gongyang Guli agreed with this view: "Rao Yu Beile is right. No matter why the Ming dogs are fighting amongst themselves, we might as well take advantage of it. We should retreat two miles and wait until the two sides start fighting and are both exhausted before we go up and pick up the pieces."
“But we’re not here to attack the capital. Wouldn’t it be better to just take our people and goods out of the pass? Why create unnecessary trouble?” Ajige asked, puzzled.
“Your Highness, you are mistaken,” Abatai said. “Look at the banners of these armies. They are clearly border troops from the Xuanfu-Datong and Taiyuan areas. They must be the troops that Chongzhen summoned to defend the capital. Apart from the Guan-Ning Army, these border troops are among the few strong armies of the Ming Dynasty. Only they can somewhat resist the iron hooves of our Great Jin. Don’t be fooled by the large number of people and valuables you’ve looted this time. If you take advantage of the chaos to wipe out these border troops, your merit will be even greater. The Khan will reward you, and you might even be promoted to a prince.”
Actually, there was something else he didn't say. The threat posed by the Qionghai Army was even greater than that of these border troops. If they weren't eliminated now, they would surely become a major problem in the future. After suffering greatly at the hands of the Qionghai Army, Abatai hoped to seize this golden opportunity to eliminate them, both for public and private reasons. However, Ajige disdained the Qionghai Army, so he had to use the border troops in Xuanda and other places to lure him into adopting his suggestions.
Ajige tilted his head and looked at Abatai for a long time, making sure he wasn't trying to trick him, then looked at Yangguli with a questioning gaze. Yangguli nodded slightly, indicating that the suggestion could be adopted.
Since the two men agreed, Ajige readily accepted their suggestion. The important thing was that the temptation of becoming a prince was too great.
He raised his whip and said, "The entire army shall retreat two miles and observe the situation. No one shall act without my order."
The Later Jin army demonstrated exceptional discipline to the Ming army. After the order was given, the army retreated in an orderly manner, organized into units called "niru". The only sounds were the thunderous sound of hooves and the occasional neighing of warhorses. In a very short time, they had all left the battlefield and retreated to a distance of two miles, gazing at this direction from afar.
This move stunned the Ming army from top to bottom. When the two armies met, the Tartars took the initiative to retreat. This was unprecedented!
Yang Sichang, who was on the city wall, was initially filled with regret, as the duck that was about to be eaten flew away. The arrival of the Tartars had actually saved Liu Ye's life. He was overjoyed at the unexpected move by the Tartars. He rushed to the wall and shouted, "Men, go down and give the order to continue attacking Qionghai Town. After dealing with these people, maintain a defensive posture and let the Tartars retreat on their own."
Someone nearby advised, "Minister, what if the Tartars are like the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind? What if they take advantage of our chaos after we start fighting?"
"Fortune favors the bold." Yang Sichang remained unmoved. "How will you know the outcome if you don't take a gamble?"
Several more people, carrying Yang Sichang's new instructions, were lowered down the city wall in baskets, intending to repeat the same trick.
Liu Ye kept an eye on the movements of the three border towns and the Tartars ahead, and also noticed Yang Sichang's little tricks. When he saw Yang Sichang lower a few more people down from the city wall, he spat out, "Damn it, do you think I'm stupid? You're still pulling this trick."
He ordered, "Men, seize these henchmen and don't let them pass."
The Qionghai Army was mainly composed of infantry, but also had a small number of cavalrymen serving as scouts. Several cavalrymen stepped forward and easily intercepted the minor officials, capturing them and bringing them back to their own lines.
Upon interrogation, Liu Ye discovered that Yang Sichang had indeed relayed the order to continue the attack. He was immediately enraged. "This Yang Sichang must be insane! The Tartars are watching us like tigers, and he actually harbors such wishful thinking! It's utterly foolish!"
He was just about to send someone to the central command tent to meet Qin Tian and Yan Guang, and to check on Zhang Fengyi's situation, when three cannon shots rang out behind him. He quickly turned around and saw Yang Sichang standing with his hands behind his back on the city wall, looking confident and composed.
An officer who had served in the Ming army said, "General, this is a signal from the officers and soldiers to attack. It is probably to urge the three major border towns to attack."
It turned out that when Yang Sichang saw that the messenger had been captured, he simply ordered the cannons on the city wall to fire, signaling the army to launch an attack.
After three cannon shots, the loyalist army hesitated for a moment, but ultimately dared not disobey the "imperial edict" represented by Yang Sichang. They turned around and continued to approach the Qionghai Army. The battle, which had been interrupted by the arrival of the Tartars, was about to resume.
A detachment of troops from the Datong Town forces rushed toward the central army camp, seemingly to stop Yang Youji and his men from taking Zhang Fengyi hostage.
Almost simultaneously, the tent flap was flung open, and Qin Tian and his men carried out a man dressed in a crimson official robe. They hurriedly mounted their horses and galloped towards the main Qionghai army camp without looking back, leaving the central command camp before the enemy could. The troops of Datong Town hesitated for a moment, merely holding their camp and not pursuing them further.
After returning to his own camp, Qin Tian threw the old man in the crimson official robe to the ground and said, panting, "General, that old fellow Zhang Fengyi is impervious to both soft and hard tactics, so we had no choice but to bring him out."