Chapter 4: Heartfelt Openness When We Meet

"This group of Jiannu are still eager for merit." Li Hao sighed in a low voice as he looked at the traces of the Tartars that appeared.

They hid behind a small hill one mile south of the Tashan Fortress, and the soldiers of the sentry camp fled south along the post road three or four hundred steps southwest of them.

At a distance of about 1,200 steps, Gou Quanzhong, a professional scout who was born in the Night Army, discovered the traces of the Tartars. He keenly pointed out that four to six people made a circle and came towards the hill where Li Hao and others were.

"The Bai Bayala was not among them. He was riding two horses towards the soldiers in the camp, probably preparing to fly a kite, but he was riding very slowly. There were at least four Tartars in the group heading towards us, and we could see six horses, and they were moving at full speed."

Gou Quanzhong took off his helmet and lay on the hill, continuing to add details.

In good weather and open terrain, his sight range can reach 1,500 steps. Now it is winter, and with the obstruction of woods and hills, he can only see a little more than 1,000 steps.

"They are not coming for us. They may be using this hill to block the sight of the soldiers and block the post road in advance. After the encirclement of the bannermen is completed, the Bayala will start to fly the kite and shoot to prevent the cavalry soldiers from escaping to the south."

Few of the camp soldiers recruited from the mainland were good at riding and archery. Compared with the Jiannu and Liaoxi military, the camp soldiers were better at using firearms such as bird guns, long three-eyed guns and small general cannons, as well as using bows and arrows such as Kaiyuan bows, small-shouldered bows and grooved-shouldered bows on the ground.

The Qing bow is a tendon-horn recurve compound bow, characterized by a large bow tip that can provide leverage and two-stage force reduction. At a shorter distance, its lethality is equivalent to that of a lance charging at full speed.

It is worth mentioning that the range and shooting efficiency of the bows and arrows equipped by the Ming army were greater than those of the Qing bows.

Therefore, in the small-scale cavalry encounters in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, a special fighting method was formed: the heavily armored Eight Banners cavalry drew their bows and shot from outside the range of the Ming army's bird guns and fire guns. Although the Ming army's bows and arrows could also hit the Eight Banners cavalry, they could not cause much effective damage.

"Brother, you have thought it through very well. Before the encircling Tartars arrive, that Bayara will not get within a hundred steps of the range of our soldiers' bows and arrows, so our soldiers are safe for the time being. How do we deal with this group of Tartars?" Li Tianyang flattered his elder brother.

The Tartars came and went like the wind, leaving Li Hao and others little time to react.

"Tian Yang and Gou Quanzhong follow me. Ride and shoot from behind me to distract the Tartars' line of sight. The others will wait first. Follow me at a distance. I will rush up and cut them down. When I start to fight them in close combat, the remaining three will move north to outflank them and prevent them from escaping."

The tactics were simple, so simple that several servants were a little worried.

"Master Baizai, isn't this too reckless? Let's go together and quickly finish off these four. As for the Ming-armored Tartar, killing that one is going to be a big job."

Liu Maocai was a kind-hearted man and felt that his own team was too reckless.

Li Hao jumped on his horse and pulled out his broadsword from his back. "The Tartars are not equipped with this thing. At close range, the longer the weapon, the stronger it is. Don't say anything more, just follow my orders!"

The Jiannu cavalry, like the Liaodong Ming cavalry, had bows and arrows, muskets, and waist knives as their primary and secondary weapons. Only the elite Ming army servants would be equipped with long-handled weapons such as broadswords. Li Hao's five servants, like their superiors, were equipped with broadswords.

The chief officer insisted, and the servants had no objection. After Liu Maocai checked the reins of the two pack horses that had been tied long ago, he handed his long three-barreled gun to his superior.

"Master Baizai, the gun is loaded with gunpowder. Just ignite it when you are 20 or 30 steps away."

Li Hao took it. As a team officer, he was equipped with a short three-barreled gun by Ningyuan Weicheng. Generally speaking, the short three-barreled gun is purely used as a signal gun, while the long three-barreled gun is a medium and short-range combat firearm.

But the advantage is that the short three-barreled gun can be used directly as a hammer or a sledgehammer, and it is very effective in breaking armor.

"Like a mace." Li Hao quite likes the feel of this thing.

After riding their horses for dozens of steps with the two men, four Tartars came into Li Hao's sight with their heads shining brightly.

"Here you go, a dual-wielded three-barreled gun." He handed the musket to Li Tianyang. Gou Quanzhong was good at riding and shooting, and with the skill of using a gun, he could shoot several more arrows. After this delay, the three began to charge on horseback.

Li Baihu raised his broadsword and yelled, "Bibala Universe General Li Hao."

Bibara is Mongolian, meaning "I am". The Manchu word for "I" is bi, and the pronunciation of "I am" is very similar to Bibara.

General of the Universe is one of Li Hao’s favorite titles.

Almost at the same time, the Tatars discovered the Ming cavalry rushing out from behind the hill, so they stopped to observe the enemy situation.

"You are so brave to charge with three heads and two legs! What a dare you take me as a rabbit? Is it Achina or Seth Black?"

The small leader Boshiku's face turned red after being provoked by Bayara's words in front of the Khan. Now that he saw that the enemy was even fewer than his own but he dared to be so arrogant, he felt insulted and despised.

"Batubashiku, what should we do? Should we retreat and reunite with Goshha?" A flagman suggested this out of caution.

"I think you are just an Aqina." Batu spat at his subordinate. "When the Khan first started his army, he often rushed forward alone to fight with dozens of people. That Goshaha was even braver enough to fight with a dozen Ming soldiers alone. There are four of us against three. What is there to be afraid of? If you continue to be so cowardly, you should stop being an armored man and go back to raising your horses and farming your land!"

In Manchu, Aqina means a person who is worse than pigs and dogs, and Saishehei means a hateful wild boar. Manchu has not had much inheritance, and even a few swear words have not evolved. From the Great Khan, the banner owner to the Niulu Ezhen and Bashiku, the swear words are always the same two words.

The flag bearer who was spat at did not dare to speak any more. He was afraid that he would be deprived of his status as an armored man by Bashiku, and decided to rush to the front in the next battle to show his determination to fight bravely.

The armored man was the common bannerman who could enjoy various preferential policies in the Later Jin regime. Generally speaking, only one armored man could be selected from every three strong bannermen.

The armored men need to undertake various combat tasks, and their families do not have to do complicated labor. The amount of grain they need to pay is much less than that of the other two households, and they generally do not need to raise extra horses.

The other two flagmen were eager to try, so the four Tatars adjusted their mounts and bows and arrows and began to charge.

With the two-way charge, in just a dozen breaths both sides reached the medium and short-range attack barrier of fifty steps, so they slowed down their horse steps, some fired their guns, some shot their arrows, and each did their own work.

Only Li Hao charged forward with his sword, and reached the enemy's face when the Tartars only fired one round of arrows.

"Take my knife first!"

The Jiannu also used throat guards, heart guards and other local reinforced protective gear, so they could only use force between the gaps in the armor to chop people. Li Hao seized the opportunity and chopped down hard along the edge of the first Tartar's right armpit while the first Tartar was drawing his sword with his right hand.

The effect was obvious. The Tartars were so sincere to Li Hao after just meeting him once.

Because the wound was close to the heart, the flag bearer's blood spurted out more than a foot high after being split into two pieces.

"How rude! You haven't even said thank you to me yet!"

Li Hao yelled and then started to attack the other three Tartars.

Batu was nearby. Seeing his elite Jiaqi being cut in two by a single blow, he was horrified and exclaimed, "Keshitu, Sele, let's go together. He may not be able to kill all of us before we shoot him dead."

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(End of this chapter)