MLMD -Chapter 266 Even Engertu Has a Temper

In ancient warfare, everything hinged on morale and physical strength. Once the soldiers engaged in battle began to falter in either stamina or spirit, serious problems would arise. Although the Datong Army, stirred up by Wang Pu, had erupted with great courage and fought with notable vigor in the earlier clash, the force under Wang Pu’s command also had a major weakness: it relied too heavily on his private troops (the household retainers). These retainers formed the core of the fighting strength, and when their casualties became too heavy, the army’s morale inevitably suffered.

Wang Pu commanded some three thousand cavalry, with more than five hundred household retainers. Yet in this single battle, nearly two hundred of those retainers had been lost. Such losses dealt a heavy blow to the army’s combat effectiveness. Thus, once Wang Pu issued the order to retreat, the remaining Datong cavalry desperately fled toward the rear.

Seeing the Ming troops collapse, Engertu and Buyandai naturally would not miss such a golden opportunity. Waving their sabers and shouting at the top of their lungs, they urged their men to pursue the retreating Datong forces.

Witnessing this scene, Ajige—who was observing the battle—smiled. Based on his understanding of the Ming army, he was certain that once this force collapsed, it would be extremely difficult for it to organize any effective counterattack. Engertu and Buyandai would never pass up the chance to beat a fallen enemy, especially after having suffered significant losses themselves—they would not be satisfied unless they took their pound of flesh.

Turning to Yangguli and Abatai beside him, Ajige said calmly, “Have your men prepare. Once Engertu and Buyandai tear open a breach in the Ming formation, you charge in immediately and strive to annihilate them in one stroke. If we can wipe out this Ming force entirely, then within six or seven hundred li of this area, it will all be our domain.”

“Yes!” Those nearby responded excitedly. Even the ever-fierce Abatai showed an eager, itching-to-fight expression. Only the seasoned Yangguli still harbored some doubts. Pointing at the several thousand Ming infantry in the distance, he said, “Prince, there’s still a Ming force ahead that hasn’t moved. Is it really appropriate for us to do this?”

“What’s there to fear?” Abatai laughed loudly. “Just drive the routed troops to smash into their own formation. If Engertu and Buyandai don’t even know how to make use of that, then they’ve wasted all these years.”

Ajige nodded as well. “Engertu and Buyandai are veterans too. If they can’t handle such a small matter, then they truly are useless.”

Sure enough, just as Ajige expected, Engertu and Buyandai were indeed experienced old hands. Without needing any instruction, they intended to drive the routed Ming troops toward the Yingzhou Army’s formation. However, this time they miscalculated. Wang Pu might not have been especially fearless in battle, but when it came to retreating, he seemed almost gifted. Under his direction, the Datong cavalry consciously veered off to both sides of the battlefield. The Mongol cavalry behind them, a step too slow, could only choke on dust.

When the Mongol cavalry led by Engertu and Buyandai charged up to the front of the Yingzhou Army, what greeted them were rows upon rows of dark, densely packed square formations—and before them, dozens of cannons with pitch-black muzzles gaping ominously.

At the center of the formation, dozens of six-pounder cannons were lined up in a row. The gunners had long since taken their positions; powder charges and shot were already loaded, the slow matches lit, and each gunner crouched beside his cannon holding a torch. Zhao Yongxin raised his curved saber high, eyes wide and fixed on the front. Soon, the thunder of hooves rolled in, and a vast mass of cavalry entered his field of vision.

Behind Zhao Yongxin, a company commander held a telescope, watching intently and calling out the enemy’s distance.

“Enemy at one thousand paces… nine hundred…”

“Eight hundred paces!”

“Fire!”

The instant Zhao Yongxin shouted the order, an ear-splitting roar erupted almost simultaneously. Thick clouds of smoke billowed up as cannonballs screamed forward, hurtling toward the enemy.

Not only Yue Yang within the formation, but also Ajige and the others behind him were watching the battle through their telescopes. They all eagerly hoped that Engertu and Buyandai would quickly tear open a breach, allowing them to sweep in with their main force and crush this last organized Ming army in the capital region.

In the age of cold weapons, formations were crucial. To increase impact, both sides often fought in dense arrays—and the Mongol cavalry was no exception. Having failed to catch Wang Pu’s Datong cavalry, they now vented their fury on the Yingzhou Army ahead. More than a thousand Mongol riders at the front charged the square formations under their officers’ command, convinced that these slow-moving, sluggish-reacting infantry would collapse at first contact with cavalry.

But something entirely unexpected happened.

With a thunderous roar, dozens of cannonballs flew toward them.

The Mongol cavalry’s charge formation was extremely dense—making it the artillery’s perfect target. One cannonball struck a rider square in the chest at near-invisible speed. Though he wore leather armor, before a six-pound iron shot he was utterly fragile. The high-speed projectile tore a massive, bloody hole through his body. Its momentum unspent, the cannonball continued forward, smashing down three or four more riders before finally exhausting its energy and dropping to the ground. Dozens of cannonballs ripped bloody lanes through the Mongol ranks with brutal force.

Seeing everything in their path shredded like rotten wood, fear seized the Mongols. Many riders instinctively slowed, intending to halt the attack, but were quickly shouted at by their officers.

“Are you still descendants of Genghis Khan? Look at the sorry state you’re in! Charge forward! Once the Ming fire their cannons, they’re useless—they need a long time to reload. Rush in now! Eternal Heaven does not bless cowards!”

The officers shouted and lashed their mounts, forcing the cavalry onward.

Opposite them, the Yingzhou gunners cranked their mechanisms, lowering the barrels. After swabbing the bores, they reloaded in less than a minute.

“Fire!”

With Zhao Yongxin’s thunderous command, the gunners lit their matches one by one, and dozens more cannonballs flew out.

This time the distance was even shorter. The gunners barely needed to aim. Once again, cannonballs carved bloody corridors through the Mongol cavalry.

“Charge! Kill them! I want to see how those Ming dogs fire again!”

Engertu had gone blood-mad. In just two volleys, dozens of cannonballs had taken the lives of at least one or two hundred Mongol riders. Their power was terrifying—death on contact, maiming on a graze. By now, Engertu’s Plain Red Banner had already lost over two thousand cavalry. The thought alone made his liver ache. Blinded by rage, he slashed wildly with his saber, driving his men forward, convinced that once they reached the Ming lines, those cowardly cannon- and gun-hiding soldiers would scatter like sheep.

The Mongol cavalry was now less than five hundred paces from the Yingzhou infantry. Seeing them still charging despite the losses, Zhao Yongxin sneered and shouted, “Swab the barrels—switch to canister shot!”

“Shua, shua…”

The gunners quickly brushed out the barrels, poured in powder, rammed it down, then loaded netted bags filled with iron balls. The slow matches were set.

At Zhao Yongxin’s booming command, the cannons roared again. By the time they fired, the Mongol cavalry was within three hundred paces.

White smoke surged upward. The netted canister burst apart shortly after leaving the muzzles, scattering dozens of thumb-sized iron balls like a storm toward the charging riders.

This volley was entirely different.

“Ah—!”

“Pch—pch—!”

An iron ball smashed into a rider’s head. He never even had time for a final word; his skull burst like a watermelon struck at high speed, blood and brain matter spraying through the air. Countless others met the same fate. Over thirty six-pounder cannons unleashed more than a thousand iron balls. Fired into such tightly packed ranks, they could not miss even with eyes closed. This single volley alone knocked nearly a hundred riders from their horses, thinning the once-dense front ranks dramatically.

Such horrific casualties terrified the Mongols, who had never faced firepower like this. Even Engertu and Buyandai, supervising from the rear, were shaken. One volley had killed over a hundred men—entire tribes didn’t even have that many riders to lose in a few shots.

The two exchanged a glance, no longer caring about glory, and shouted almost in unison, “Retreat—withdraw immediately!”

In truth, no order was needed. After repeated artillery strikes, the Mongol cavalry was already on the brink of collapse. Watching comrades fall one after another, these descendants of Genghis Khan—long stripped of their ancestors’ valor—were utterly terrified. Hundreds of riders at the front wheeled their horses aside and fled back the way they came.

Seeing the Mongols retreat, the Yingzhou Army erupted in cheers.

“Victory!”

“Great Ming victory!”

Zhao Yongxin even ordered the artillery to switch back to solid six-pound shot, blasting the fleeing Mongols again.

As the front ranks withdrew, the rest followed. Under Engertu and Buyandai’s orders, the Mongol troops returned to their main formation. The two commanders, dejected and ashamed, came before Ajige and knelt.

“Reporting to the Prince, we are incompetent and failed to break the Ming formation. We beg for punishment.”

“Bastards! Don’t they know this ruins everything?” Ajige’s face turned iron-blue. He lashed them furiously with his whip, then barked at a Niru officer beside him, “You—seize these two fools! I’ll cut off their heads and hang them on the flagpole!”

“Yes!”

Four guards rushed forward to restrain them—but were quickly stopped by Yangguli.

“Prince, you mustn’t!” Breaking into a cold sweat, Yangguli hurried to Ajige and said, “Prince, Engertu and Buyandai are banner lords personally appointed by the Khan. By rights, you have no authority to execute them. Moreover, if you kill them, their subordinates—over ten thousand men—will surely riot. How would we deal with that? If this provokes disaffection among the Mongol tribes, the consequences would be disastrous!”

His words were like cold water poured over Ajige’s heated head. He suddenly realized that he truly had no right to execute two banner lords. Maintaining good relations with the Mongols had long been a Qing state policy, faithfully upheld by both Nurhaci and Hong Taiji. Over decades, countless intermarriages had woven the two peoples together. If Ajige were to execute two banner lords on his own authority, the news reaching Shengjing would cause an earthquake—and even Hong Taiji could not bear the fallout.

Even Abatai came over to persuade him. “Twelfth Brother, these two cannot be killed. In my view, let them redeem themselves through merit.”

After much persuasion, Ajige’s expression finally softened. He waved for the guards to release them and shouted, “You’re lucky to have intercessors today. I’ll spare your lives—but though the death penalty is waived, punishment is not. Men, drag them out and give each twenty lashes!”

“Yes!”

The guards immediately dragged them aside and flogged them twenty times. After a long while, the two limped back and knelt. “We thank the Prince for sparing our lives!”

Ajige shouted coldly, “Don’t thank me. If it weren’t for the fact that you’re still of some use, even ten heads wouldn’t save you!”

Engertu hastily explained, “Prince, it’s not that we lacked resolve—the Ming artillery is simply too powerful, especially those canister shots. One volley scatters iron balls everywhere. Our warriors may be brave, but they’re flesh and blood—we simply can’t withstand it!”

“Nonsense!” Ajige lashed Engertu again with a sharp crack. “You were less than three hundred paces from the Ming lines. One more push and you’d have reached them! Once the cavalry hit, those Ming dogs would scatter and be slaughtered at will. Instead, you turned tail and ran. And you still dare call yourselves descendants of Genghis Khan? You’re cowards!”

The two could only endure the scolding in silence. When Ajige finally tired, he pointed at them and said, “I’ll give you one more chance. Lead your forces at once and annihilate that Ming unit—or I’ll make you regret it!”

“Ah…” Engertu and Buyandai stared, mouths agape. They had just been routed in utter defeat, and now they were being ordered to charge that formation again—wasn’t this sending them to their deaths?

Buyandai, banner lord of the Bordered Red Banner, panicked and shouted, “Prince, in that last battle our Mongol warriors suffered nearly three thousand casualties. They’re exhausted and need rest. It’s not appropriate to send us out again now!”

Ajige’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “You dare disobey my command?”

“To hell with your command!” Buyandai exploded. Even clay has some temper, and after a crushing defeat and twenty lashes, his humiliation was already unbearable. Now Ajige wanted to send them to die again. No matter how loyal he was to the Qing, this was too much. They had crossed the border to loot and profit—not to die for nothing. The Mongols might have submitted to the Manchus, but they were not their slaves. This kind of suicidal order—he refused!

Engertu steeled himself as well and said loudly, “Prince, when we set out, it was agreed—we came to seize spoils, not to fight the Ming to the death. Now the Ming are strong and their artillery fierce. Charging like this is nothing but suicide. If you force us to die for you, then forgive us—we will not comply. We will return to Shengjing and report this truthfully to the Khan. I’d like to see whether the Khan sides with you or with us!”

Their outburst stunned Ajige into silence. In theory, Manchus and Mongols were allies. Though the Manchus held seniority, they could not kill Mongol leaders at will. If this matter reached Hong Taiji, Ajige knew he would not escape unscathed. For a moment, he was at a complete loss for what to do.