NCCnovel Chapter 749 Lure the snake out of its hole
Chapter 749 Lure the snake out of its hole
More and more Marines, guns in hand, crossed the beach and came ashore, rummaging through the corpses on the ground, and finishing off those who weren't quite dead.
Seeing that the shore had been cleared, Li Fei said to Borhu, "Go, my brother. Remember the method we agreed on, and slowly lure Hauge out."
Borchu placed his right hand on his chest, bowed slightly, and performed a Mongolian salute, respectfully replying, "Your subordinate will do his utmost and live up to your trust." After saying this, he turned and jumped into a sampan, and several soldiers rowed towards the beach.
After the two thousand marines landed, Borhu began to carry out Li Fei's plan: to divide the two thousand men into several teams, avoid the main Qing army in Jinzhou City, and search for lone Qing soldiers in the surrounding areas, thus beginning guerrilla warfare.
Although Taktan escaped with only a few men, he didn't have time to inform the rest of his unit, as he was focused on heading towards Jinzhou City. He needed to inform Prince Su of this crucial news.
"Large ships at sea, guns that can reach three hundred paces, and heavy cannons? You must be joking, haha..."
Haug laughed wildly when he heard Taktan's report.
Covered in the blood of his comrades, Taktan was disheveled and stammered, "What this servant said is all true, I would never dare to deceive my master..."
With a sharp crack, Hauge lashed out with his whip, striking Taktan's arm hard. The tattered fabric of his sleeve was rolled up, revealing a clear bloodstain.
"You dog of a lackey, how dare you lie to me!" Hauge rebuked viciously. "I have fought many battles with the Ming dogs, and I have never seen their arquebuses even reach within three paces and be able to injure a person, let alone penetrate heavy armor. You lackeys are all the elite of our banner, wearing cotton armor underneath chainmail, and you can hit them at three hundred paces and even penetrate their armor? As for the heavy cannons on the big ships, that's absurd. When have you ever seen the Ming dogs' naval ships still have heavy cannons?"
Taktan knelt on the ground with a thud and wailed, "Master, I have told you the truth. If I have lied even a little, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!"
Seeing him make such a solemn oath, Hauge became somewhat skeptical. Taktan was an old man of the Plain Blue Banner, who had followed him in battle for many years. He might occasionally exaggerate his achievements, but he had never blatantly lied.
He snorted and put away his riding whip. "I'll send some Bayara to check later. If you're telling the truth, I'll spare you; if you're lying, I'll chop off your dog's head with one stroke!"
Although he was flamboyant and arrogant, Hauge was, after all, a general honed in actual combat and possessed military talent. He did not ignore Taktan's words and immediately ordered the Bayara Banner Commander of the Plain Blue Banner to lead a group of Bayara out of the city to verify whether the words were true.
Several hours later, the Bayala Banner Commander did not return with any reports, but the men under the command of Taktan's Niru returned in a disheveled state.
These men went in groups of sixty or seventy, but now only a few have returned. One of the detachments, a shiku, reported with a mournful face: "The Ming army ambushed us, and they outnumbered us. Their arquebuses can shoot very far, and we, outnumbered, couldn't even get close..."
Haug wouldn't have believed it if only one person said it; he would have thought it was an excuse from the losers. But when two, three, or even more people said it in unison, Haug couldn't help but believe it a little. He asked suspiciously, "If the Ming dogs only have a large number of people, the warriors of the Qing Dynasty wouldn't be afraid of them. Why don't you charge into their ranks? In the past, when we encountered large Ming armies, we could win even if we were outnumbered, as long as we charged into their ranks."
The remaining survivors said, "Their muskets could shoot too far; their bows and arrows couldn't compare. Plus, they outnumbered us, and the bullets were so dense that we couldn't get close..."
A fierce glint flashed in Hauge's eyes, and he said in a deep voice, "Let's see when the rest of the people return. I want to see just how many Ming dogs have made it ashore."
……
Gunshots rang out incessantly, echoing through the quiet village.
Jinjiatun was a sparsely populated village; half the houses were abandoned, leaving only a few dozen households. These people were survivors of repeated Qing army raids, remaining in the village to cultivate dry land and barely manage to avoid starvation. Who knew that after several years of peace, a group of uninvited guests would suddenly arrive in the countryside—the very Tartars who had plunged them into misery. Dozens of Tartar cavalrymen roared into the village, shouting in broken Chinese, "Hand over your grain, and we'll grant you a proper burial!"
These words enraged the villagers. Stealing their grain was bad enough, but to kill them afterward was outrageous. Some tried to fight back, but how could unarmed soldiers possibly defeat professional soldiers? It was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
The Qing soldiers easily shot and killed several arrogant men who dared to attack the Qing warriors, took control of the situation, and allowed the remaining men to take out their meager remaining rations.
Just as the Qing soldiers were about to kill the Nikans after their success, gunshots rang out. Bullets, seemingly from nowhere, struck them accurately, and one after another, the Nikans screamed and fell off their horses.
The Qing soldiers panicked and tried to rein in their horses to escape, but the bullets relentlessly pursued them like death warrants, claiming their lives one after another. Before they even knew where the enemy was, they were already almost entirely wiped out.
After the last few cavalrymen abandoned their comrades and fled in despair, more than two hundred soldiers emerged from the woods, approached the corpses with guns in hand, and calmly finished them off.
The remaining villagers trembled as they watched these elite soldiers descend from the sky, wondering who they were.
The leading officer reassured the crowd: "Fellow villagers, we are soldiers. We only kill Tartars and will not harm the people. Don't worry."
Seeing that the other side had no intention of robbing the villagers or killing innocent people to claim credit, except for stabbing the wounded Tartar soldiers, the villagers were relieved and hugged each other, weeping with joy as they celebrated their escape.
"Heaven has opened its eyes and sent you soldiers to save us..."
After the last group of survivors escaped into Jinzhou City, they brought news of the attack, which enraged Hauge.
"Who are these Nikans, daring to provoke the warriors of our Plain Blue Banner?" Hauge drew his sword and shouted, "Let's go and meet them. I refuse to believe that these Nikans have three heads and six arms!"
Taktan couldn't help but advise, "Master, don't be impulsive. Abandoning the city and leaving will only play into their hands..."
Hauge turned around and kicked Taktan a meter away, roaring, "I, Aisin-Gioro Hauge, the eldest son of the Qing Emperor, in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, granted the title of Prince Su of the First Rank, and the banner lord of the Plain Blue Banner, have killed countless Ming dogs since I was seventeen years old and have never been defeated. Do you expect me to cower in this broken city like a tortoise?"
With their master enraged, no one dared to offer any further advice. Haug led his troops out of the city, their hooves thundering, kicking up clouds of dust. The Marines' plan to lure the enemy out had succeeded.