nucmednet Chapter 368 Attempt to Steal a Kill Backfires
Chapter 368 Attempt to Steal a Kill Backfires
When the order was received, the Qiongzhou camp was having breakfast. The governor's personal guard found Liu Ye and relayed the order: "The governor has ordered that the Qiongzhou camp, together with the Shandong Volunteer Army General and the Dengzhou General, assist the Guan Ning Army in fighting the rebels and set off immediately. After engaging the enemy, all units will be under the command of the Liaodong Deputy General Zu Dabi."
Liu Ye put down his bowl, quite excited: "We've got a battle to fight right away, that's great! Our chance to make a name for ourselves in Qiongzhou has come. Shi Ying, Yi Fan, gather our men and let's have a go at the rebels."
After two years of fighting, often starting a battle the moment they opened their eyes, they were very familiar with each other. Both sides moved quickly from detecting the enemy to the vanguard making contact. When the Qiongzhou camp arrived at the battlefield, which was ten miles east of the main camp, the Guan Ning army's cavalry was already engaged in fierce fighting with the rebel army led by Li Jiucheng.
The Guan Ning army was mainly composed of cavalry, while Li Jiucheng's side also had a considerable number of cavalry. Both sides immediately sent out a thousand cavalrymen to probe each other. The sound of hooves thundered, and dust filled the air as more than two thousand cavalrymen brandished their sabers and slashed at each other on the flat open ground between the two armies. Every now and then, cavalrymen fell from their horses and were trampled into mincemeat in the blink of an eye.
After arranging their troops in battle formation, the Qiongzhou camp remained inactive for the time being, refraining from launching an attack. The enemy possessed several thousand experienced cavalrymen, whose mobility far surpassed their own; therefore, a proactive offensive was not a wise strategy.
After observing the chaotic cavalry battle in front of the lines, Liu Ye asked Xu Yifan, "Why do both sides have five or six thousand men, but instead of committing all their forces at once to fight it out, each side only sends one thousand men?"
Xu Yifan explained: "When the forces are close, neither side will commit all their forces without absolute certainty, leaving no way out. The reason why both sides only send about a thousand cavalry to fight is to open up the situation. If one side gains the upper hand, taking advantage of the enemy cavalry's retreat, their own cavalry can launch a large-scale attack and often use the opportunity of the fleeing soldiers charging into their own ranks to establish victory."
Liu Ye said "Oh," so this is how battles between cold weapon units were fought. It wasn't like in movies and TV dramas, where both sides rushed at each other under the leadership of their generals, like street thugs fighting. Instead, they probed each other, seized opportunities, and deployed their forces to attack the enemy's weaknesses based on the battlefield situation.
After watching the melee for a while and still not understanding what was going on, he asked, "In your opinion, who will win this battle?"
Xu Yifan observed as he answered, "The Guan Ning Army is, after all, a powerful army of the Ming Dynasty, and has fought against the Tartars for many years. Not only are their individual martial prowess superior to that of the rebels, but their coordination between three or five riders is also quite disciplined. The rebels mostly fight individually, and it seems they won't last long..."
It must be said that Xu Yifan's military skills were excellent, and his judgment of the battle's progress was very accurate. Half an hour later, the rebel cavalry showed signs of weakness and gradually retreated towards their own lines.
Liu Ye also saw the clues. "Now Zu Dabi should send the remaining cavalry in, with the infantry following closely behind. With such a charge, the rebels should have a hard time stopping them."
Xu Yifan replied, "That's right. Zu Dabi is a seasoned general who has fought countless battles; he should be able to seize this opportunity."
Just then, a force of men rushed out from beside the Qiongzhou camp and charged towards the rebel ranks. However, it was not the Guan Ning Army carrying the banner with the character "Zu" on it, but rather the army carrying the banner with the character "Liu".
Liu Ye was taken aback. Could this be Liu Zeqing's main force? He turned to look in the direction of the Guan Ning Army and saw Zu Dabi cursing angrily in the Guan Ning Army formation. It seemed that he had not sent Liu Zeqing to fight.
Liu Ye clapped his hands: "I understand! Liu Zeqing saw an opportunity and wanted to steal the credit!"
As he predicted, Liu Zeqing was originally tasked with covering the flanks of the Guan Ning army alongside Wu Anbang, the general of Dengzhou. He was essentially a bystander, and the outcome of the battles at the front had little to do with him. However, he was unwilling to accept this situation. Before the Guan Ning army marched south, he had been routed by the rebels, losing more than half of his men. If he didn't earn some real military merits, his life would likely be difficult after the pacification of Shandong. The imperial court always treated generals with great favor, while showing no mercy to those who couldn't win battles and had few troops left.
To avoid the consequences of being punished later, Liu Zeqing decided to take a risk. Although he was also reluctant to offend the powerful and unruly Guan Ning Army, the prospect of being purged by the court and potentially made a scapegoat for the rebellion was far more terrifying. Therefore, seeing the rebels showing signs of defeat, Liu Zeqing immediately led his only thousand or so cavalrymen to seize the credit. Any later, and the Guan Ning Army would send in their reserves, leaving him with nothing to do.
The Guan Ning cavalry, who were fighting fiercely ahead, saw that the approaching force was not their own men, but Shandong soldiers. They were instantly enraged. "We're fighting to the death, and you cowards are trying to steal our credit!" So they deliberately or unintentionally dispersed their formation, blocking Liu Zeqing's advance.
Liu Zeqing was already feeling guilty and dared not clash with the Guan Ning army. He ordered his men to circle around and follow the retreating rebel cavalry.
Zu Dabi, who was in the rear, was so anxious that he jumped up and down and shouted, "Damn it, this son of a bitch is usually as cowardly as a tortoise, what's wrong with him today?" Liu Zeqing rushed up and blocked the way for his reserve team to charge into the rebel army's main camp, causing his plan to press on to victory to fail, and a great opportunity slipped away.
The rebel leader, Li Jiucheng, was a seasoned veteran. Upon seeing this scene, he knew there was an opportunity to take advantage of the situation. He knew all too well what kind of local Shandong troops were, so he ordered the remaining two thousand cavalry to charge directly at Liu Zeqing's forces.
Seeing the rebels directly attack Liu Zeqing's troops, the thousand Guan Ning cavalrymen beside them tacitly remained still, failing to intercept them from the flanks. The two thousand rebels, without any resistance, rammed directly into the Shandong troops.
The two cavalry forces collided with a loud crash. The horses of the lead cavalrymen collided and fell heavily to the ground. The cavalrymen behind them brandished their sabers and roared, using the momentum to charge forward and launch an attack.
Unlike the previous battle, the rebels were cutting through Liu Zeqing's troops like vegetables. In just one exchange, the Shandong soldiers left behind more than a hundred corpses. The rest had no will to fight and turned to run away, resulting in instant death!
Liu Zeqing was in a terrible mood at this moment. He never expected that the Guan Ning Army would rather miss the opportunity than let him reap the rewards. In a one-on-one fight, how could he possibly defeat the rebels? He had no choice but to run away.
Liu Ye, watching from the back, thoroughly enjoyed the view and sneered, "This is what happens when you try to steal someone's head but end up getting slapped instead. Serves you right!"
Seeing that the Guan Ning army stood by and did nothing, the rebels became bolder and followed the Shandong soldiers, chasing them relentlessly. Just as they were about to charge the main force of the imperial army, the situation on the battlefield was instantly reversed.