He relied more heavily on firearms. His battle formation was more rational. His defense was watertight, and he advanced steadily step by step. Even though Ambabel arrived in time, his several probing attacks all failed.
In reality, in the original history, Liu Ting was probably the only general who had a chance of winning the battle. Theoretically, as long as he didn't make any mistakes and relied on the superiority of his firearms to advance steadily step by step, he could at least inflict heavy losses on both sides. But the problem was that Liu Ting's army consisted not only of Han Chinese.
His army included three thousand Korean arquebusiers. These men had no confidence in the Ming army to begin with. Furthermore, their commander had accepted a large bribe from Nurhaci beforehand. Moreover, with the Korean troops stationed in the center of the formation, it was no wonder that they had a bad chance of winning.
Anba Beile mobilized his allies, the Mongol cavalry, and attacked from multiple angles. Suddenly, a strong wind arose, its direction greatly disadvantageous to the Ming army's firearms. Their retreat was also cut off by the Mongols. Liu Ting's troops began to fall into disarray. Their formation was broken by Anba Beile. At this moment, Jiang Hongli, the leader of the Han army, betrayed them. Liu Ting's troops were in dire straits. But then, Liu Ting suddenly sensed that the Tartar offensive had slowed.
Not only did the offensive slow down, but he could even clearly see that Anba Beile's main force of elite Later Jin troops was rapidly withdrawing from the battlefield. Although Liu Ting didn't know what had happened, he knew that the opportunity was too good to miss. He immediately rallied his personal guards and reorganized the resistance.
At this moment, both the Mongols and the South Korean army were completely bewildered. "Boss, one of us has already penetrated deep into the battlefield, and the other has started to betray us. Why did you, our leader, run away first?"
Embarrassingly, the combined forces of the Han and Mongols numbered less than ten thousand. Having lost the main force of the Later Jin, they found themselves falling into a disadvantageous position. After all, the Later Jin's retreat was far too obvious; many soldiers had witnessed it. The morale of the Ming army rebounded, while the morale of the Han and Mongol armies plummeted.
Relying on their elite cavalry, the Mongols also began attempting to disengage from the battlefield. Thus, the 3,000 defecting Han soldiers were surrounded by over 20,000 Ming troops. Adding to the woes, a sudden strong wind greatly reduced the effectiveness of their muskets. Jiang Hongli realized with dismay that he seemed to be doomed...
------------
Chapter 113 How did it fly?
Let's turn our attention back to Lu Xuan.
Nurhaci had traveled halfway through his journey without incident, and his guard gradually relaxed. He was ready to return to the capital and stabilize the situation. The expansion of his Great Jin dynasty was just around the corner.
The group then came to a relatively flat road. With a wide field of vision, the tired group relaxed somewhat.
However, in that moment of confusion, the previously calm ground suddenly ripped open. A figure leaped out from underground.
In this era, this scene was truly terrifying. So much so that the surrounding Tartars did not even think of being on guard, but instead scattered in all directions.
The moment he sprang into the air, Lu Xuan quickly sensed every detail of his surroundings. He confirmed that the person surrounded by guards in the center of the group was less than five meters away from him.
For the first time since arriving in this world, Lu Xuan used all his power. He hurled the heavy shield in his hand with all his might.
A violent whirlwind erupted on the spot. The ferocious force even tore through the swirling snow. The heavy shields transformed into a giant meat grinder. The four guards at the front were smashed in half at the waist. Although they weren't sliced in two like a sharp weapon, the enormous angle of twisting confirmed that their bodies had been broken.
Lu Xuan followed closely behind, charging directly into the gap created by the giant shield. In just two seconds, Lu Xuan had successfully broken through the formation and arrived in front of Nurhaci's horse.
Only then did Nurhaci finally come to his senses. Instinctively, he steered his warhorse, raising its front hooves high, ready to trample the assassin to death. But the next second, he and his horse were sent flying.
The violent impact left Nurhaci dizzy and disoriented. In his dazed state, he only felt his head being lifted up. Then came a sharp pain in his ear.
Nurhaci finally regained full consciousness. He managed to lift his head and saw his guards, all holding knives, nervously surrounding him. He was being held by the throat by a Han Chinese man. A sharp pain shot through his ear, accompanied by a feeling of emptiness. He realized with a start that one of his ears had been cut off.
The surrounding guards were also filled with shock and rage. In the blink of an eye, their leader had been captured. He'd even had his ear cut off right before their eyes. This made all the guards want to tear the man before them to pieces. But at the same time, they dared not make a move. They hadn't done anything, and His Majesty's ear had been cut off. If they made a sudden move and actually harmed His Majesty, even if the culprit couldn't escape, they, his personal guards, would all be executed.
A group of Tartars were babbling incoherently, and Lu Xuan couldn't understand what they were saying. It was Nurhaci, whom he was holding, who spoke. His Chinese was surprisingly fluent.
“This warrior is skilled. I, Nurhaci, have seen countless warriors, but none can compare to you.”
“I think so too. At least these good-for-nothings in front of us are far inferior to me.” Lu Xuan followed Nurhaci’s words without any modesty, silencing Nurhaci’s next words. He paused for a moment before speaking again.
“They are indeed inadequate. Therefore, if Your Excellency is willing, I can appoint you as the Great Jin's First Warrior, commanding these five thousand elite cavalrymen alone.”
"Nonsense, I just cut off your ear, so your words don't seem very sincere," Lu Xuan said, dragging Nurhaci away as he spoke nonsense. However, the surrounding Tartars kept him in the middle.
"Make them move aside."
“That’s probably impossible. Their duty is to protect me. If you take me out, they’ll die too. So… ah…”
Lu Xuan pressed his long sword against Nurhaci's other ear. He didn't cut it off directly, but instead used the sword like a saw, cutting downwards little by little.
With just three strikes, Nurhaci went limp, muttering incoherently. The surrounding guards slowly parted to make way. Lu Xuan dragged him, slowly moving him outside the encirclement. Suddenly, Lu Xuan jerked to the side. A long arrow grazed his chest.
However, he was a skilled archer hiding in the distance, attempting to kill Lu Xuan with his bow and arrow. Unfortunately, he was ultimately just an archer, not a sniper.
Lu Xuan retaliated without hesitation. He drew his knife and made another cut on Nurhaci's ear. Blood gushed out, and the ear was now half-severed.
"Ah..." Nurhaci let out another inhuman scream. He mumbled a lot of gibberish, and soon the opposing team dragged out an archer, who was slashed down in front of Lu Xuan.
Nurhaci took a breath and spoke with difficulty.
"Warrior, what do you want? Name your price. What the Ming Dynasty can afford, the Jin Dynasty will pay ten times."
Lu Xuan's hand paused for a moment, then quickly resumed normal. But Nurhaci still sensed it. Overjoyed, he immediately pressed his advantage.
“I have five thousand elite cavalry here, and it seems that you are the only brave warrior. You can’t escape no matter what. I swear in the name of the future Jin Emperor that as long as you release me, I will not only spare your life, but I will also grant you any request you may have.”
"Don't trust the Tartars, they're a bunch of barbarians. I want to marry a daughter from a wealthy family in Jiangnan. She has to be beautiful, smell nice, and be skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Look at you barbarians, you all stink, and who knows how filthy your women are. I have no interest."
Nurhaci: "...You have some really big ambitions."
However, these are thoughts that can only be kept to oneself. One must never say them aloud.
"Your skills and courage are unparalleled in the world. If you are willing to join my ranks, I will marry you the princess of the Ming Dynasty when I march into the Central Plains."
"I don't want a princess. Princesses stay in the palace all day. I heard they can't cook or do needlework. What's the use of marrying a woman like that?"
Nurhaci almost burst out laughing. He could only comply.
"Yes, yes, yes. No princess? I'll lay out all the women in the capital for you to choose from."
Lu Xuan's voice became more hesitant. His arm unconsciously relaxed a little.
"I'll help you conquer the capital, and you'll lay out all the women in the capital for me to choose from?"
"A ruler's word is law," Nurhaci said firmly.
"Then I want to marry three wives, no, five."