Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen, led ten elite cavalrymen and was intercepted by Tatar thieves. He led everyone to leave the group and ran westward.
Everyone thought that Yang Guozhu sized up the situation and chose to break out to the west when he saw that there were interceptions in front and pursuers behind. But in fact, there was another hidden reason.
He led his 500 soldiers and the Tatar bandits under Dorgon's command and had been fighting fiercely for half a day. Neither the soldiers nor their horses had any rest. On the other hand, the Tatar bandits were able to rely on the advantage of their large number of men and horses to fight in turns. Rest.
Now they are trapped in a tight siege by the Tartars. After several fierce battles, nearly half of them were killed and wounded, but they still cannot be relieved. Moreover, reinforcements have not yet appeared. With men and horses exhausted, it will definitely be difficult to support them for a long time.
Although Yang Guozhu was already prepared to die on the battlefield, he had to consider the soldiers under his command. Especially the words of the slave chief Dorgon just now further contributed to his idea.
At that moment, Yang Guozhu suddenly thought that Dorgon was mostly interested in him. If his attempt to persuade him to surrender failed, he must still want to capture him alive.
Otherwise, they would have attacked with all their strength. If that were the case, even if they could not wipe out all their troops here, at least the war here would have ended long ago.
It was based on this judgment that Yang Guozhu decided to take a desperate risk and use himself as bait to lure the Qing army to pursue him. This would definitely reduce the pressure on Huang Baozhong, and perhaps their more than 200 soldiers could break through and go back.
Yang Guozhu's prediction was correct, Dorgon's intention was indeed on him, but Yang Guozhu underestimated Dorgon's strategy and cunning.
It was only at this moment, looking at the more than 300 Tatar knights on the hills ahead, that he deeply realized Dorgon's cunning, but he had no choice. At this moment, he could only be tough.
As the saying goes: "A general will die first after a hundred battles, and he will drive slaves from the battlefield without any time to return!"
"Xuanzhen is mighty, Ming Dynasty is victorious!"
Yang Guozhu let out his final roar, inspiring the pro-army soldiers around him to rush towards the three hundred captives first.
"... mighty... victorious..."
Although Yang Guozhu was only as good as the eleven cavalry, they still roared with momentum. They rushed towards the Tatars like eleven man-eating tiger beasts.
At the same time, on the distant mountains, Guo Yingxian also saw Yang Guozhu's soldiers and horses, riding quickly to join him, but Yang Guozhu didn't know it at this time.
Even with 11 cavalry against the 300 elite cavalry of the Manchurian Zhengbai Banner Qing Army, Yang Guozhu and the servants did not have the slightest fear on their faces. Their eyes were resolute, and there was a fierceness all over their bodies.
Yang Guozhu's tiger spear has long been hung back on Desheng ditch. At this moment, he is holding the bow and arrow in his right hand and is controlling the horse with the rein in his left hand to rush towards the three hundred Qing cavalry.
Next to him, Tan Zhenlin and four other knights held three-eyed blunderbuss. In addition, three knights also held bows and arrows, and the remaining two held long knives and maces.
The eleven of them formed a tight cavalry formation, with Yang Guozhu in the middle and five knights on each side. Even though they knew that they were doomed to a narrow escape, no one left the camp.
But the Zhengbai Banner Qing army on the opposite side was spread out widely. The three hundred cavalry were each spread out into a large fan shape. There were about a hundred cavalry on each side of them, and they had already accelerated in advance, like two long tentacles. Generally speaking, Yang Guozhu and others should be surrounded.
The Qing cavalry did not seem to be in a hurry. The knights in front of them just walked forward slowly. Directly opposite Yang Guozhu, there were also about a hundred Qing cavalry. They staggered each other into two horizontal rows. More than half of them were holding bows and arrows. On the war horse, he aimed at Yang Guozhu and others.
Seeing the two sides getting closer, Yang Guozhu shouted: "Speed up, change your attack steps, the Tatars in front of you, kill them!"
"kill……"
Everyone shouted in unison and rushed forward.
Tan Zhenlin was determined to protect Yang Guozhu. He had already started to accelerate before that, and now he was obviously a horse's head ahead of Yang Guozhu and rushed to the front.
"Whoosh...whoosh...whoosh..."
Arrows were flying, and the sound of "ding...ding...ding..." was heard everywhere. They were all wearing iron armor. Even if they were hit by arrows, as long as they were not in vital parts such as eyes, ears, nose, etc., most of them would not be fatal, or even not fatal. affect the battle.
For example, Yang Zaixing, a famous general in the Southern Song Dynasty, led 300 soldiers of the Yue Family Army to fight against 120,000 Jin soldiers at Xiaoshangqiao with an iron spear. He killed more than 2,000 Jin soldiers with all his strength, and assassinated Sa Babo, the head of ten thousand households, before the formation. Jin, the remaining heads of thousands of households, and more than a hundred heads of hundreds of households.
At that time, arrows from the Jin soldiers came like rain. Every time Yang Zaixing was hit by an enemy arrow, he would break the arrow shaft and fight again. In the end, his horse got stuck in the mud of Xiaoshang River, and he died in battle.
After the battle, the Jin soldiers found Yang Zaixing's body. After burning it, more than two liters of iron arrowheads were burned out, which shows that there were many arrows in it.
It can be seen that wearing iron armor is still very effective in protecting bows and arrows. Yang Guozhu also had more than a dozen arrows hanging on his body. Only a few arrows on his chest were broken by him, so as not to affect the riding and shooting. war.
Seeing the right opportunity, Yang Guozhu let go of the horse's rein with his left hand, stepped on the stirrup firmly with both feet, and controlled the horse with his legs to run as steadily as possible. Then he drew his bow and aimed an arrow at the head and face of a Qing rider on the opposite side. With a "swish" sound, he shot The first arrow.
"ah!"
A knight next to Yang Guozhu was shot in the throat by a Tatar. Although he was protected by his collar, the distance was too close, and the Tatar's heavy arrow actually shot through his collar and went straight into the knight's throat.
He just screamed and fell under the horse. He covered his throat with his hands, rolled and struggled feebly on the ground, and gradually lost his breath.
Yang Guozhu only shot one arrow, then threw away his bow and arrow, quickly took out the tiger spear on Desheng ditch, deflected an arrow from a Tatar, roared and rushed forward with the spear drawn.
"Bang bang bang..."
After the three-eyed muskets exploded, the cavalry and horses of both sides crossed each other, slashing, smashing and stabbing with swords, guns, axes and sticks. The neighing of the horses corresponded to the screams of people.
Yang Guozhu and others were able to rush through the first row of Qing cavalry. Only six of the ten servants under his command were still with him. They killed eight Qing cavalry at the cost of losing four.
Although it was a profit, it did not benefit the war in any way. After all, the difference in military strength was too huge.
At this moment, there were nearly fifty Qing cavalry blocking them in front of them, and the Qing cavalry on both wings were also outflanking them. Yang Guozhu and the other seven people were like dumpling fillings, being wrapped in dumpling wrappers by the Qing cavalry outside.
The fifty Qing cavalry facing them didn't seem impatient. They controlled their horses and were slowly approaching Yang Guozhu and others at a slow pace. Yang Guozhu understood that they were waiting for the Qing cavalry on both wings to come over and join up before launching an attack.
But the Qing army was waiting, but Yang Guozhu couldn't afford to wait, so what could they do? After a long battle and the charge duel just now, their horses' legs were exhausted and they were destined to be unable to escape from the encirclement of the Qing cavalry.
…………
Yang Guozhu's mind was all on Qing Qi. He didn't notice that in the northeast and southwest directions, large amounts of dust were flying in the sky, rolling towards him like a green dragon.
To the northeast, there were more than a thousand fine cavalry led by Guo Yingxian, the general of the Zhenbiao camp under Yang Guozhu. After he looked at Yang Guozhu's location on the distant mountains, he first saw Yang Guozhu leaving the formation with only ten cavalry. He didn't know the specific situation. I didn’t dare to act rashly for a while.
It wasn't until he saw Yang Guozhu galloping back that he led the knights to gallop forward to join them. However, halfway through, he saw a large group of Qing army's Zhengbai flag cavalry suddenly appear on the hill on the left in front.
Because he was really concerned about Yang Guozhu's safety, Guo Yingxian actually ignored the strength of his horses. He led more than 300 of his elite cavalrymen, whipped their horses, galloped with all their might, and arrived at the battlefield ahead of the brigade.
Large clouds of smoke and dust were raised along the way, and he finally saw Yang Guozhu and seven other riders being surrounded by Tatar thieves. Guo Yingxian shouted: "Kill, kill him, save Yang Shuai!"
"kill……"
All the soldiers roared in unison, galloping their horses and whipping their whips.
At this time, Yang Guozhu had just used his tiger spear to knock a Qing cavalry off his horse. Only Tan Zhenlin and two other elite cavalry were left beside him. The rest were missing. They might have been surrounded by Tatar thieves elsewhere. May have been killed in battle.
Tan Zhenlin was covered in blood, and he could no longer tell whether it was his own or the Tatars'. It was all black and red, and he was also like a madman, controlling the reins with his left hand, and using the three-eyed gun in his right hand as a hammer, shouting and firing in all directions. Hit hard.
Yang Guozhu set his sights on a Qing soldier with a white flag, Fende Bashiku. He urged his horse to charge forward, drew his spear and stabbed him. The Qing soldier Bashiku had a powerful figure, and the horse under his crotch was also majestic.
Seeing Yang Guozhu's tiger spear stabbing him, he moved up to block with the mace stick in his hand. There was a loud "bang" sound, and both of them were shocked to the point of numbness and pain.
Tan Zhenlin has been following Yang Guozhu and refused to leave even half a step. He took advantage of this opportunity and swung his three-eyed blunderbuss and hit Nabo Shiku on the back, until Nabo Shiku spit out a "Wow" sound. The mouth is bright red.
But he was tall and strong. Although he was hit hard and vomited blood, he did not flinch. The mace was still swinging with great force. Yang Guozhu and Tan Zhenlin were unable to defeat him for a while.
A Ming cavalryman happened to be rushing towards him on horseback. He found an opening, jumped up from his horse, and jumped on him. He hugged the Qing soldier Bashiku and fell off his horse, rolling on the ground.
At this moment, Yang Guozhu suddenly saw smoke and dust flying in the distance, and then heard the rumble of hoofbeats. He swung his tiger spear to stop the approach of several Qing cavalry.
Taking advantage of this time, he hurriedly turned around and looked around. In addition to the flying dust in the northeast that he had just seen, there was a red color, which turned out to be the army horses of the Ming Dynasty. But at a glance, he could not tell which one it was. .
At the same time, another puff of dust rose into the sky slightly far to the southwest, and it appeared that a large group of cavalry was coming, but it was not yet certain whether it was an enemy or a friend.
At this time, Huang Baozhong also led the more than 200 cavalrymen and Ding Qinjun, who also turned back and rushed here to rescue Yang Guozhu. Although he was moved in his heart, he also cursed secretly: "You bastard, how dare you disobey my military orders!"
Suddenly, the horse under Yang Guozhu's crotch paused, and his front hooves suddenly seemed to be caught by something. At this moment, Yang Guozhu had just knocked a Qing cavalry off the horse with a tiger spear. He did not expect such a change at all.
Caught off guard, his center of gravity became unstable and he could not stop his body from leaning forward. He immediately rolled in front of the horse. He held the tiger gun tightly in his hand and did not give up. He swept across the horse's legs the moment he landed, and he did not know how many legs of the horse were broken.
At this time, he turned around and saw that the Qing army's Bashiku, who had just been thrown off his horse by the Ming army's cavalry, was laying his body in front of the horse, holding the front legs of Yang Guozhu's horse tightly with both hands, and turned to face Yang Guozhu Jie. Jie couldn't stop laughing.
Na Bashiku's helmet had fallen from nowhere, and his head and face were covered with blood. His hands were still holding the horse's legs tightly, and mouthfuls of blood kept gushing out from his mouth. His body was also shaking constantly. It was obvious that he could only breathe out, not in. Qi, already on the verge of death.
"Commander...Commander..."
In Yang Guozhu's ears, he heard Tan Zhenlin roaring loudly, as if he was looking around for him. He swung the tiger gun around again, then stood up. He heard a loud "bang" and felt that he was being hit hard by a heavy object. Hit on the back.
It turned out that a Qing cavalryman came from nowhere. Taking advantage of the moment when Yang Guozhu stood up, he rode over and swung his stick and hit Yang Guozhu on the back. Under the strong blow, Yang Guozhu's shoulder bones were injured. Shattered.
A mouthful of blood spattered from Yang Guozhu's mouth, and the slightly gray beard on his chest was suddenly dyed bright red.
He endured the excruciating pain and threw out the tiger spear in his hand, hitting the Qing cavalry in the back. His huge body fell under the horse, and the remaining horse continued to run forward at a vigorous pace.
"puff!"
A spear flew from nowhere and hit Yang Guozhu's right ribs, penetrating through his back. The tip of the spear came out from the lower part of his chest. Another large mouthful of blood spurted out from Yang Guozhu's body, and he fell to the ground helplessly.
"Master General...Master General..."
Tan Zhenlin happened to be running over. He first saw Yang Guozhu's horse falling down not far away. He was extremely anxious and worried that Yang Guozhu had made a mistake. After running a few steps forward, he saw Yang Guozhu spurting out a mouthful of blood and throwing himself to the ground.
In his excitement, he jumped off the horse, staggered to Yang Guozhu's side, and began to cry bitterly. At this moment, he seemed to have forgotten where he was, the fight just now, and was concerned about the people around him. The shouting and fighting fell on deaf ears.
…………
Guo Yingxian galloped on his horse. They formed a horizontal column of fifty cavalry, with a total of six columns of fine cavalry. When he saw Yang Guozhu, he was surrounded by more than fifty Qing cavalry, just a stone's throw away.
He yelled and rushed forward, then shot out an arrow. "Swish, swish, swish..." the sound continued. Seeing their large numbers, the Qing cavalry in front also retreated towards the formation.
In the end, this small killing field was littered with the corpses of war horses and soldiers, and a mournful cry reached the sky at this moment.
"Master General...Master General...can't die..."
Guo Yingxian rushed forward with a face full of grief and anger, turned over and fell off his horse. He almost crawled to Yang Guozhu, snatched Yang Guozhu from Tan Zhenlin's arms, hugged him and shouted: "Commander! Marshal! Marshal..."
"Cough...cough cough..."
Yang Guozhu was so tormented by him that he couldn't help but cough rapidly. Every time he coughed, a mouthful of bright red spurted out, and in the end it was a mouthful of blood foam.
"Ahem... Lao Guo... this is the place where my brother fought... and died for his country... his bones are buried... here... without regrets..."
"Commander..."
"Lao Guo... take the boys... kill the slaves... and return to Xuan Mansion..."
