Zhao Deyu, appointed as the Lingqiu County Magistrate, found himself unable to commit the act of slaughtering the common folk driven by the Tatars to attack the city, regardless of their lives.
However, Zhao Deyu was presented with only two options.
Either the able-bodied men of Lingqiu would cooperate with the驻防千户 Yang Xianghui to kill all the civilians driven by the Tatars to attack the city, or they would open the city gates and surrender, watching Lingqiu fall.
Beyond these, there was virtually no third path.
As the Tatar soldiers below the city began driving civilians towards the city walls, Zhao Deyu secretly tightened his grip on the concealed dagger in his sleeve, his face terribly somber, yet his voice tinged with resignation and reluctance, "If, and I mean if, Lingqiu cannot be defended, Commander Yang... if that time comes, I implore you to do your best to take the soldiers and able-bodied men of Lingqiu with you, to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Tatars."
Yang Xianghui, the驻防千户 of Lingqiu, also wore an extremely grim expression. Upon hearing this, he merely let out a cold snort, "Leave? Where can we go? The Jiannu have twenty thousand cavalry; with us on our two legs, do we think we can outrun their four legs?"
Speaking of which, Yang Xianghui couldn't help but glance back at the able-bodied men on the Lingqiu city walls, and the houses within the city. Taking a deep breath, he continued, "Stop thinking about these useless things. I know how to defend Lingqiu."
Zhao Deyu opened his mouth, wanting to stop Yang Xianghui, but ultimately, not a single word came out.
To tell Yang Xianghui not to slaughter the civilians being driven to attack the city? That would be to disregard the safety of all of Lingqiu and its people. The cautionary tale of the Southern Ming imperial court was not far behind.
To tell Yang Xianghui to quickly lead his men to escape? As Yang Xianghui had said, those on two legs could not outrun those on four legs. Even if many people fled now, they would inevitably be pursued and killed by the Tatar soldiers.
After a period of silence, Zhao Deyu could only sigh helplessly, once again tightening the concealed dagger in his sleeve, and said to Yang Xianghui, "I will arrange for people to boil the golden liquid."
Yang Xianghui grunted, then turned to his personal guards and ordered, "If all else fails, destroy these cannons on the city wall and all the firearms in your hands immediately. They must not fall into the hands of the Tatars."
...
Unlike Emperor Qianlong, who sat inside his imperial carriage with palace maids and eunuchs serving him during his personal expedition, the young wild boar, Aisin Gioro Yongyan, did not sit in a sedan chair. Instead, he wore a suit of armor made of bright yellow satin embroidered with auspicious clouds and golden dragons, with crashing waves and jagged peaks depicted at the hem, lined with moon-white silk.
This set of armor was bestowed by Emperor Qianlong, almost identical to the armor Emperor Qianlong wore when reviewing the Eight Banners. The only difference was that the young wild boar wore a four-clawed golden dragon, while Emperor Qianlong wore a five-clawed golden dragon.
The young wild boar Aisin Gioro Yongyan sat majestically on his horse, filled with pride and satisfaction. To his left, half a horse’s head behind him, was Shuangxi'er, a young eunuch who had been by his side since childhood. To his right, half a horse’s head behind him, was the commanding general Batulu Eledengbao.
Eledengbao was also seeing the young wild boar wear this set of armor for the first time.
The meaning behind the young wild boar receiving such a set of imperial armor was evident.
Thinking of the meaning behind this set of armor, Eledengbao’s heart couldn't help but burn with passion.
If nothing else, at the very least, he, as the commanding general Batulu, had accompanied his master in suppressing bandits. His future path, if not meteoric, would at least be much smoother than that of others.
Eledengbao’s heart burning, he subtly sized up the armor on the young wild boar, cupped his hands respectfully, and asked, "Master, shall we attack now?"
The young wild boar looked up at the Lingqiu city walls, where the great Zhu character flag fluttered. He hummed and replied, "You are the commanding general Batulu; you decide."
With the young wild boar's words, Eledengbao immediately responded with a "Zhe!" and then instructed his personal guards, "Beat the drums! Advance!"
At Eledengbao's command, the muffled sound of conch shells began to blow, and the war drums thundered.
However, while the drum and horn sounds were incredibly beautiful to the young wild boar and Eledengbao, they were no different from death knells to the civilians below the city and to Zhao Deyu and others on the city walls.
Seeing the civilians below being driven forward, followed closely by the Manchu infantry under the command of the young wild boar and Eledengbao, Yang Xianghui couldn't help but clench his fist and pound the city wall, cursing, "If I had three thousand cavalry, I wouldn't let these Tatars be so presumptuous!"
In reality, Yang Xianghui knew well that Lingqiu City had, at most, only a few inferior horses for hauling goods, and not a single warhorse capable of being ridden into battle. Not to mention, Lingqiu City lacked qualified cavalry, and even if they had warhorses, there was no one to ride them.
This was merely an outlet for his anger.
After cursing, and seeing the civilians below the city getting closer and closer to the city walls, while the Tatar infantry in the distance prepared to fire arrows, Zhao Xianghui could only sigh, force himself to gather his spirits, and shout, "Raise shields! Prepare artillery! Ignite!"
Zhao Deyu also knew that now was not the time for soft-heartedness. He could only endure the grief in his heart and instruct the able-bodied men, "Prepare the golden liquid!"
As soon as Zhao Deyu finished speaking, the cannons above their heads fired first.
Boom!
Boom!
Continuous explosions sounded. Zhao Deyu, initially bewildered, looked at the few cannons nearby, then followed the direction of the barrels towards the Tatar officers and soldiers.
To Zhao Deyu and Yang Xianghui's utter astonishment, the Manchu infantry below the city, who were driving the civilians towards the city walls, turned and fled backward the moment the cannons roared. The Tatar cavalry in the distance scattered even more, not only ignoring the "Nikan" civilians they were guarding but even abandoning the Manchu infantry!
Following this chaos, the civilians guarded by the Tatar cavalry immediately swarmed towards the city walls. Some of the civilians driven to attack the city from below also turned and ran with the Manchu infantry.
It was clear that the Tatars had indeed infiltrated the civilians being driven to attack the city with Manchu infantry. And after the sound of cannons, these cowardly Eight Banners lords chose to flee first.
Zhao Deyu looked at the scene below the city, then at Yang Xianghui, completely bewildered.
Is this my Great Qing Eight Banners?
I heard that the leader of this expedition was the fifteenth prince of the Tatar court, along with a commanding Batulu Helong?
Is that it?
Is this the Batulu that the Tatars boasted could rival Batu Khan of the Yuan Dynasty in bravery?
If those fierce individuals who were enfeoffed as Batulu during the Yuan Dynasty knew, they would likely be so angered that they would come back to life, strangle the Tatar Batulu, and then die again!
While Zhao Deyu was bewildered, Yang Xianghui was not. He excitedly shouted, "Quick! Keep blasting! Blast those curs!"
Yang Xianghui knew that they had won this battle today, because the Tatars below the city were clearly terrified by the cannons and had routed!
Yang Xianghui couldn't help but grab Zhao Deyu, his expression excited, and exclaimed, "The Emperor is wise, the Emperor is wise! We can repel the Tatars this time entirely thanks to the cannons and explosive shells purchased by the Emperor from Shandong. Without these cannons and explosive shells, Lingqiu would surely not have been saved today!"
Only then did the dagger that Zhao Deyu had been tightly gripping fall to the ground with a clang. Zhao Deyu himself, as if all his strength had been drained, slumped to the ground and said foolishly, "We won? We won?"
Yang Xianghui also sat down on the ground, looking at Zhao Deyu and smiling, "Yes, we won, we won. Those civilians below the city are saved!"
Zhao Deyu let out a foolish chuckle, but tears streamed from the corners of his eyes, "Originally, I was prepared to die for my country. Damn it, damn it."
Having narrowly escaped death, the usually refined Magistrate Zhao Deyu couldn't help but curse.
The fifteenth prince, the young wild boar, was also cursing, "What in the damn hell is going on? Huh! Can anyone give me an explanation? Huh!"
The young wild boar never expected that even though he had driven the civilians to attack the city, even though the goddess of victory had lifted her skirt and revealed her innermost underwear, how could the situation have taken such a sharp turn?
Just because of those few cannons?
Damn it, the military of my Great Qing Eight Banners also has cannons. Do the rebels on the city walls know how to use cannons to bombard you, and you servants don't know how to use cannons to bombard back?
Even if you don't know how to bombard back, you shouldn't have collapsed from just one bombardment, right?
Ten thousand Mongolian Eight Banners cavalry, ten thousand Manchu Eight Banners armor, plus twenty thousand Manchu Eight Banners infantry. If this force were in the hands of our ancestors, let alone sweeping across the entire Central Plains, they should have conquered the whole world, shouldn't they?
Now, it's come to this. After just a few blasts from the Nikan cannons, the Eight Banners soldiers that my Great Qing relies on for its foundation have collapsed?
Collapsed!
Collapsed!
Damn it, with the army in disarray, I, the fifteenth prince, as the master, have to flee along with them. It's a complete disgrace to my Great Qing!
After finally mustering his troops, the young wild boar angrily pointed at Eledengbao and cursed, "You tell me! You give this prince an explanation, what the hell is going on! Huh! If you can't give me an explanation today, I'll give you a reckoning!"
Eledengbao subtly sized up the young wild boar, but he felt extremely wronged in his heart.
Back then, I, Eledengbao, also participated in the campaign against the Jin Chuan. At that time, the main fighting force was the Green Standard Army. What was the situation with us Eight Banners lords? Doesn't the fifteenth prince have any idea?
Moreover, this Batulu is just a third-rank Imperial Guard. Although he has the title of Helong Batulu, the Batulu title in my Great Qing is hollow. Do you really think having a Batulu title makes you the same as those Batulus of the Yuan Dynasty?
Also, this Batulu clearly saw earlier that the first to break formation was the Plain Blue Banner under the command of the fifteenth prince. As for the Plain Yellow Banner where this Batulu belongs, the Plain White Banner, and the soldiers of the lower five banners, as well as the Mongolian Eight Banners, they actually broke formation later, didn't they?
While Eledengbao was complaining in his heart, he was also distressed about how to answer the fifteenth prince's question.
There was no choice. The master is the master, and the servant is the servant. Even if he came from the Plain Yellow Banner, one of the upper three banners, and was considered a master by the lower five banners, in front of the fifteenth prince, he was still a servant.
After considerable deliberation, Eledengbao tentatively said, "Your Highness, perhaps we should change our tactics and not attack the Nikan cities anymore?"
The young wild boar glanced at Eledengbao and asked, "What do you mean?"
Eledengbao bowed and replied, "Your Highness, look. Even a small county town like Lingqiu has Hongy夷 cannons on its walls. It is likely that other cities will also have them. We only have twenty thousand cavalry and twenty thousand infantry under our command. To fight siege warfare against the Nikans, we must advance under the Nikan's artillery fire.
Therefore, your servant believes that it would be better for us to bypass these cities and focus on attacking the Nikan villages, driving all those peasant commoners into the county towns.
Once all those peasant commoners enter the county towns, the crops in the fields will be left to go to waste. How much grain can a county town hold!"