lcionline Chapter 629 Those who offend China, though far away, shall be punished.
Chapter 629 Those who offend China, though far away, shall be punished.
Hu Dawei's sudden statement surprised everyone. Yang Sichang, on the city wall, vaguely heard a few words and guessed the general meaning, but he was caught off guard. He paused for a moment, then gritted his teeth, "I'll remember this man! He'll pay for this later..."
Wang Pu was surprised that the usually composed Hu Dawei had so clearly stated his position under such circumstances. He couldn't help but ask, "Lord Pingnan, even if you promise to take responsibility for your actions, there is an imperial edict ordering us to arrest you. What if we let you go and face retribution later?"
Liu Ye sneered, "Whether the imperial edict is true or false is hard to say, and it cannot be ruled out that a treacherous person forged it. But your commander-in-chief is truly standing in front of you; he is the commander-in-chief of the army appointed by the emperor himself..."
Yan Guang reacted quickly. Upon hearing this, he searched Zhang Fengyi's body and found the neatly sealed imperial edict. He held it high above his head and shouted, "The edict appointing the commander-in-chief is here!"
Liu Ye turned back and gave Yan Guang an approving look, then continued, "Which do you choose to believe, the oral edict or the imperial decree?"
After a moment of silence, a loud voice rang out from the Xuanfu Town army: "I believe the imperial edict. His Majesty is a wise ruler and would never do such an absurd thing, turning against his own people when the enemy is at hand!"
Hu Dawei smiled and looked over. A military officer there exchanged a glance with him, and they recognized each other's thoughts in each other's eyes.
Seeing that both Shanxi General Hu Dawei and Xuanfu General Yang Guozhu had expressed their support, Wang Pu realized that even if he persisted, he would be isolated and helpless, so he had no choice but to go with the flow: "Since that's the case, I'll believe you this time. If it turns out to be a true imperial edict, don't implicate me..."
On the city wall, Yang Sichang's vision went black, and he almost fainted. Several generals joined forces to make his efforts go to waste, and the duck that was about to be eaten eventually flew away.
Liu Ye turned to Zhang Fengyi and said, "Commander-in-Chief, what are you waiting for? Give the order to kill the Tartars!"
The word "Commander-in-Chief" restored much of Zhang Fengyi's confidence and courage. He gritted his teeth, took the imperial edict from Yan Guang, raised it above his head, and shouted, "Hear my command! The entire army, attack! Kill the Tartars!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Fengyi felt that all his strength had been used up and he was about to collapse. The soldiers on both sides quickly supported him to prevent him from falling off his horse.
Liu Ye thought to himself: This is probably Zhang Fengyi's first and last moment of glory since he took office as Minister of War. However, this order is enough to wash away a lot of his negative reputation, which is not bad.
He drew his sword, raised his arm, and shouted: "Those who offend China, no matter how far away, shall be punished! Kill the Tartars!"
All the Qionghai soldiers raised their guns and shouted, "Kill the Tartars!"
Inspired by Liu Ye's words, Hu Dawei, Yang Guozhu, and others were filled with patriotic fervor and raised their sabers, shouting, "Kill the Tartars!"
The shouts seemed contagious, gradually spreading until over 100,000 people simultaneously cried out, "Kill the Tartars!"
The soldiers of the Beijing garrison on the city wall couldn't help but brandish their spears and swords, shouting along. Yang Sichang glared at them resentfully, and the soldiers he saw sheepishly lowered their weapons. But the shouts started coming from the other side. Yang Sichang looked left and right, and seeing that he couldn't stop them, he angrily flung his sleeves and, escorted by his entourage, walked down from the city wall, wanting to avoid seeing them altogether.
The sounds of battle were deafening and echoed through the sky. The Later Jin army, two miles away, could also faintly hear the noise, and many of them paled.
Ajige frowned and said, "Something's not right. Not only have the Ming dogs not started fighting, but they seem to be in high spirits."
Before Abatai and Yangguli could answer, the army that had just surrounded the Qionghai Army turned around and faced the direction of the Later Jin army. They parted to form a path in the middle, and the Qionghai soldiers filed out and lined up in front of the army. They had transformed from the targets of the encirclement into the leaders of all the armies.
Abatai angrily plunged his sword into the ground, exclaiming, "How could this be?" Just moments ago, he had been expecting the Ming army to fight amongst themselves, but in the blink of an eye, they had become united against a common enemy. What kind of magic did the Qionghai Army cast?
Ajige glanced at him contemptuously and said, "Seventh Brother, are you scared by those barbarians from Guangdong? No matter how many Ming dogs there are, they're nothing but chickens and dogs. What's there to fear? Even if they don't fight each other, they'll be routed in one blow when my Great Jin warriors arrive. You and Yingcheng Gong guard the people and property behind us. I'll cut off that barbarian general's head for you to see!"
Abatai suppressed his anger and replied in a low voice, "Very well, I will await the good news from Prince Ying..."
Seeing that Ajige's words were too harsh, Yangguli quickly tried to smooth things over: "Prince Raoyu, don't take it to heart. Prince Ying is straightforward and has no ill intentions. Your Zhenglan Banner has fought many tough battles and suffered heavy casualties. It's good for you to stay in the rear and rest. Let Prince Ying lead this battle."
With a clang, Ajige drew his saber and shouted, "All troops prepare for battle! Crush those Ming dogs on the other side!"
The Later Jin soldiers raised their weapons and shouted loudly, like the howls of wolves. Apart from the Plain Blue Banner soldiers, the rest of them still maintained a great psychological advantage over the Ming army, and they showed no fear even when facing an opponent three times their size.
The howls reached the Ming army ranks, and the long-standing fear of the Tartars made many instinctively shrink back.
Liu Ye instructed his men: "Send men to make contact with the various armies. Our army will be in the center, and they will protect the flanks. We will advance steadily and slowly. When we make contact, our army will be the main force..."
This tactic served two purposes: firstly, it fulfilled the previous promise that the Qionghai Army was willing to take on the main responsibility of attacking the Tartar main camp; secondly, it took into account the relative strengths of the various armies, with the Qionghai Army being the strongest link and a firearms force capable of both close and long-range combat, making it the most suitable to act as the spearhead. If other border towns were to charge ahead and be scattered by the Tartars, it would disrupt their own formation.
General Hu Dawei of Shanxi and General Yang Guozhu of Xuanfu had no objection to this tactical arrangement. They had the ability to behead thousands of Tartars, so they must have their own extraordinary skills and their strength was beyond doubt. They just had to listen to his arrangements. As long as they could kill Tartars, they were willing to do whatever it took.
Only Wang Pu, the general of Datong, objected when he heard this.
"Damn it, Qionghai Town has already made so many contributions, and they still have to be at the forefront. They get all the meat, but they should at least let others have some soup, right?"
He raised his sword and ordered, "Brothers, our Datong troops are not to be trifled with! Let's charge forward side by side, cut off a hundred or eighty Tartar heads, collect the reward, and we'll all eat and drink well. When we get back to Datong Prefecture, you can choose any prostitute you want!" In his view, with a hundred thousand troops as his backing, if he went out first and won, he would be rewarded; if he lost, he would have reinforcements. He was already in an invincible position.