Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 628 One Man Quells Off an Army

The loyalist army advanced mechanically and silently. Apart from the clanging of metal and the heavy footsteps, almost no one spoke. Perhaps because they were fighting their own people under the "surveillance" of the Tartars, no one had ever experienced such a battle before. Even the generals, including Wang Pu, were at a loss. There was no mobilization before the battle, no orders from officers. It seemed that only by continuing to advance could they avoid the risk of "disobeying the imperial decree."

The enemy had entered the optimal firing range of the field artillery and was steadily closing in. The artillery battalion's firing preparations were complete. Every soldier in the artillery battalion looked at their battalion commander, who in turn looked at Xu Yifan and other regimental commanders. Xu Yifan and Shi Ying, on the other hand, were looking towards the central command where Liu Ye was located. Everyone was waiting for the order to fire!

Liu Ye hesitated to issue the order. He knew that once the artillery opened fire, causing heavy casualties, even if the opposing troops didn't want to fight to the death, the situation would spiral out of control once they were enraged. Like the鹬蚌相争，渔翁得利 (鹬蚌相争，渔翁得利 - meaning "when two parties fight, a third party benefits"), even if the Qionghai Army achieved a Pyrrhic victory against ten opponents, the Later Jin army would certainly take advantage of the chaos, resulting in a catastrophic outcome. The heavily wounded Qionghai Army, along with the 100,000 border troops who had come to the emperor's aid, might be wiped out. Until all hope was lost, he wanted to try to resolve the current predicament.

He grabbed Zhang Fengyi by the collar and shouted, "Zhang Boqi, open your eyes and see! Because of your weakness and incompetence, and Yang Sichang's treacherous intentions, the Qionghai Army and the 100,000 loyalist troops are about to fight each other right under the noses of the Tartars! An unprecedented farce is about to unfold today!"

Zhang Fengyi barely opened his eyes, his gaze unfocused, and asked, "What exactly happened?"

Liu Ye pulled him up and pointed him towards the approaching army. "Look! Our own people are going to fight against foreign enemies. You, the commander-in-chief, will die at the hands of your own troops, and then the Tartars will take advantage of the chaos and wipe you out! If you continue to live in a daze, you'll go to see the King of Hell with this laughingstock. You'll carry this stain even after death, and your descendants will be ashamed of you!"

When it came to matters concerning his legacy and reputation, Zhang Fengyi perked up a bit. His eyes finally cleared, and he spoke more coherently.

"No, I am still the commander-in-chief of this army, and I am the Minister of War. I cannot die at the hands of the army I command!"

Liu Ye nodded. "Finally figured it out? Go! Prevent this tragedy from happening, save these hundreds of thousands of troops, preserve the Ming Dynasty's hope of resisting the Tartars, turn the tide, and you will be a hero of the Ming Dynasty!"

Several soldiers pushed and pulled Zhang Fengyi onto a horse, then supported him to prevent him from falling off the horse due to his excessive rhubarb intake and weakened state.

Facing the forest of swords and spears and the dense crowd, Zhang Fengyi licked his lips, suppressed his panic, and shouted hoarsely, "Everyone, don't go any further! Hear my command, retreat!"

But the rushing footsteps drowned out his voice; hundreds of paces away, no one heard his shouts. The army continued its advance.

Liu Ye instructed several loud-voiced soldiers to stand in front of Zhang Fengyi and shouted, "The commander-in-chief has ordered a halt to the advance!"

Perhaps it was the sight of Zhang Fengyi's conspicuous official robes, or perhaps the shouts had reached the other side, but the soldiers from Datong Town directly in front slowed down first. After a while, the soldiers from Shanxi Town and Xuanfu Town on both sides also slowed down in unison.

Seeing his chance, Liu Ye leaped onto a warhorse, unarmed, and walked alone to the open ground in front of the two armies. He shouted, "Brothers of the three border towns, the Tartars are right behind you, watching you like hawks. Why should you follow someone's absurd orders, killing your own people and causing pain to your loved ones and joy to your enemies?"

Liu Ye moved too fast; Qin Tian and the guards didn't even have time to react. Seeing that the general was alone within the enemy's attack range and in great danger, Qin Tian led the soldiers to rush up to protect him, but Liu Ye gestured for them not to get close.

The border troops in Shanxi Town were clearly better trained than those in Datong Town. When the "enemy leader" appeared recklessly in front of their lines, hundreds of elite archers instinctively lined up, drew their powerful bows, and aimed their arrows at the target. As soon as they released the bowstring, Liu Ye would be riddled with arrows and have no hope of survival.

Just as the archer was about to release his arrow, a heavily armored figure rode up on horseback and whispered the order: "Stop!"

The archers turned around and were astonished. "The commander?"

This man was Hu Dawei, the general of Shanxi, renowned for his bravery throughout the nine border regions, and also the main force in this campaign to defend the emperor. He stared at Liu Ye in front of him and said, "Don't rush to act, let's see what he has to say?" In fact, he himself did not want to kill each other with his own people. As long as there was a suitable reason and he did not have to disobey the "imperial decree," he would turn around and fight the Tartars.

At Hu Dawei's signal, the troops of Shanxi Town slowed their pace and eventually stopped altogether. Xuanfu Town followed suit and also halted.

Wang Pu looked around, spat, and said, "Nobody wants to offend anyone, and I'm not stupid either!" He then ordered Datong Town to halt its advance.

So the 100,000-strong army stopped a few hundred paces away, and countless eyes were fixed on Liu Ye and his horse.

Despite being in a perilous situation, Liu Ye showed no fear. He calmly declared, "I am Liu Ye, the General of Qionghai. I crossed the sea here half a month ago and landed in Dengzhou. From Shandong to Tianjin, I fought two major battles against the Manchu Prince Abatai's Plain Blue Banner army, beheading thousands and wounding countless enemies. If it weren't for the treacherous officials in the court who cut off my supplies and blocked my reinforcements, I could have taken Abatai's head right here in Tianjin!"

These words caused an uproar. To fight against the main force of the Tartars in open battle by one's own strength and still behead thousands of them was such a glorious achievement!

Hu Dawei nodded repeatedly, praising, "If it weren't for exaggerating his achievements, no one in the dynasty could match this feat!"

Wang Pu was filled with envy: "These heads could be exchanged for at least tens of thousands of taels of silver, and a noble title would be within reach..."

Liu Ye continued, “We are soldiers who defend our country. We may not understand the intrigues and backstabbing of officialdom, nor do we need to. We only need to understand one principle: the swords and spears in our hands are for killing the enemy and defending our country, not for slaughtering our own people! The Tartars are just two miles away, watching us make a fool of ourselves. If you are willing to make way for us, my Qionghai Army is willing to be the first to charge and fight the Tartars to the death! Let the officials do their dirty work. We'll deal with everything after we drive the Tartars away. As for whether they want to kill or torture me afterward, I am willing to take full responsibility and will never cause you any trouble!”

"Good! This is what a true man should do!" Hu Dawei shouted. "General Liu, whether you are black or white, just for your vow to fight the Tartars to the death, no matter how the higher-ups judge you, I will not be your enemy until the Tartars retreat. Besides, how can we stand aside when it comes to killing the Tartars? Count me in, let's fight side by side!"