nashuaworldcup Chapter 608 Baoding Reinforcements
Chapter 608 Baoding Reinforcements
As the gap between the Later Jin army and the Qionghai army widened, good news finally arrived.
The thunderous sound of hooves came from the west, and a large group of cavalry appeared on the other side of the plain. Liu Ye raised his binoculars and saw that the commander's banner of this cavalry had a large "Liu" character on it.
Liu Ye was overjoyed. "It must be General Liu Guozhu of Baoding!" He led the group to greet him.
The large cavalry force quickly approached, and a general dressed in pangolin armor stepped forward from the crowd, shouting from afar, "Is that General Liu from Guangdong ahead?"
Liu Ye replied, "Indeed, may I ask if you are General Liu?"
"It is indeed Liu."
Liu Guozhu was in his forties, with a simple and honest appearance, like a farmer. He dismounted, walked over, took Liu Ye's hand, and said warmly, "General Liu is truly young and promising. I admire you greatly for being able to pursue the Tartar prince all by yourself."
Liu Ye grasped his hand tightly, feeling the thick calluses on his hands, likely from years of wielding swords and spears. He realized this wasn't some fancy-looking general who'd gotten his position through connections, and immediately felt a sense of goodwill towards this farmer-like general. He humbly replied, "It was merely fulfilling a soldier's duty. But General Liu personally led his troops on this long journey to assist me; I am deeply grateful."
"Look at what you're saying! Killing the Tartars is what we should do. I hate the Tartars more than anything in my life. They burn, kill, loot, and commit all sorts of atrocities. If they fall into my hands, I'll cut them down one by one, and two by two." Liu Guozhu said solemnly. "I'm more than grateful to General Liu for giving me this opportunity. Enough of this nonsense. Which way did the Tartars run off to? I'll go after them now!"
Liu Ye was impressed when he saw that he had rushed over from Baoding without resting for a moment and was only concerned with killing the enemy. He pointed to the north and said, "They've run north. We are all infantry and can't catch up. Now it's up to General Liu! As long as you can catch up with and entangle the Tartars and make them unable to run, wait for us. The rest is up to us."
"Hehe, I, Liu, dare not boast. I cannot guarantee whether I can keep the Tartars here, but unless I die in battle, the Tartars will not be able to shake us off!" Liu Guozhu turned his horse and added, "By the way, General Liu, as we agreed beforehand, I can forgo the other rewards, but you have to find a way to provide me with provisions. We set off lightly to save time and did not bring any rations, and we are still hungry!"
Liu Ye patted his chest and said, "Absolutely. Leave the supplies to me. You go first, brother. I'll have someone bring the supplies and come over later. After we defeat the Tartars, we'll cook right here."
"Alright, I'm leaving these things to you," Liu Guozhu shouted. "All you real men, come with me!"
A large group of cavalrymen shouted and brandished their sabers, following Liu Guozhu away like a gust of wind.
After dealing with the surrendered Han soldiers, the three regiments of the Qionghai Army immediately marched north, following the Baoding cavalry in pursuit. Meanwhile, Liu Ye ordered Qin Tian to lead a portion of the special forces and a part of the guards away from the main force to Tianjin to borrow provisions.
The Later Jin army, at the cost of over two thousand Han soldiers and a couple hundred armored soldiers, successfully broke through the flank of the Qionghai army. Without the dense army blocking their path, the land ahead was flat and open. Soon, Jinghai County came into view, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Gartu warned, "Your Highness, this should be the county town where the Tianjin General is stationed. Be careful they don't come out and entangle us." Gartu and his men usually didn't take the Tianjin General seriously, but now, in order to get rid of the Qionghai Army's pursuit, they couldn't underestimate this usually insignificant opponent. If they were entangled, the Qionghai Army would follow, which would be a big problem for the Later Jin army.
Abatai snorted: "You've been so overwhelmed by the fighting in Qionghai Town that you're paranoid and easily alarmed. I guarantee that the Tianjin General will never step out of this county."
Gartu was somewhat surprised: "Why is Your Highness so certain?"
Abatai pointed his riding whip at Jinghai County and explained, "If they really wanted to be our enemy, they should have joined forces with Qionghai Town to intercept us instead of acting separately. That would make them easy to defeat one by one. Now that our army has arrived here, there's not a sound from the city. This shows that the Tianjin General doesn't want to fight at all. You'll see, the garrison in the city will be just like the Ming army in other places, watching us pass by without daring to utter a sound."
Gartu was both surprised and delighted: "If that's the case, we can get rid of Qionghai Town smoothly. Most of them are infantry, so we can't catch them no matter what."
Abatai smiled and said, "In the end, a strong army like Qionghai Town is just one family. The rest are still the same as we know them. They are all cowards who dare not oppose our Great Jin."
When the long cavalry column arrived at the city wall of Jinghai County, just as Abatai had said, the city's garrison was densely packed with soldiers, their swords and spears standing ready, as if facing a formidable enemy. However, the city gates were tightly closed, showing no sign of opening.
Gartu breathed a sigh of relief, regaining his confidence and psychological advantage against the Ming army. He raised his uninjured right hand, pointed to the city wall, and said, "There is only one Qionghai Town. If the Ming Dynasty has an army like this, it will perish sooner or later. Our Great Jin will take its place sooner or later."
The officers of the Niru who were following behind also relaxed and pointed at the city wall.
The soldiers guarding the city wall watched the Later Jin army pass by, pointing and whispering with mocking expressions. Although they were too far away to hear what they were saying, they knew it wasn't anything pleasant. They felt extremely aggrieved and wanted nothing more than to fight them. However, General Wang Hong did not give the order, so all their efforts were in vain.
Wang Hong watched the army pass by, thinking to himself that once the Tartars were gone and the area outside the city was safe, he would immediately go to the capital to report to Yang Sichang and finalize the transfer to Huai'an while the iron was hot.
Just when he thought Abatai's army could pass smoothly, a large cloud of dust suddenly rose from the south, and several thousand cavalrymen aggressively pursued the Later Jin army. Wang Hong was taken aback. Whose army was this, daring to pursue more than ten thousand Tartars? As the cavalry approached, the character "Liu" on their banners came into view, and Wang Hong knew who it was—nearby, besides himself, the only other person capable of deploying several thousand cavalry was Liu Guozhu, the general of Baoding.
"That Liu Erlengzi, he'd rather die than ruin my plans!" Wang Hong said angrily.
Abatai and his men, who thought they had escaped, were shocked to discover the cavalry force, thinking that Qionghai Town was feigning weakness and had a hidden cavalry unit. However, upon seeing the flag, they realized it was a different unit altogether.
Abatai, his face contorted with rage, ordered: "The army continues its advance! Leave two Niru behind, along with the Han soldiers and the remaining men, and kill them! If we don't teach these Ming dogs a lesson, they'll think we're pushovers that anyone can bully!"