I

Ai Xing'a left behind the baggage and the old, weak, women and children, marched quickly with thousands of people, took the risk of loading cannons on the boats, and sailed upstream along the Suzi River.

The water flow in some parts of the Suzi River is rapid, and many rafting projects were developed hundreds of years later.

It just so happened that the flow rate in the section of the river near Maldun was very fast. Mardun is built on a high mountain, with the river at the foot of the cliff, mountains on both sides, and a huge height difference in the river bed.

To transport the cannon by boat, you not only have to row the boat, but you also have to pull the fiber on the shore.

Hurrying slowly, one of the Tatar gun-carrying ships capsized halfway. Being pressed for time and too lazy to salvage, Ai Xing'a docked on the west side of Maldun, and then entered the battlefield with cannon fire.

Unfortunately, there were no defensive artillery placed on the stone walls of Malton Castle at this time, as they had all been removed from the main battlefield before.

Yang Zhenqing could only watch helplessly as the enemy artillery advanced.

"You can't be passively beaten, you have to fight out!" Yang Zhenqing said to his soldiers.

Five hundred people were left to guard the stockade, and Yang Zhenqing led the remaining hundreds of people to fight out.

The Manchu artillery was being slowly carried up the mountain. In front of the artillery were more than 300 Tatar soldiers to protect the artillery from being surprised.

These more than 300 Tatar soldiers were all the few firepower troops of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

The mountain path is narrow and there are not many people allowed to stand.

Seeing Yang Zhenqing leading his troops to fight out, the Eight Banners Army immediately stopped advancing. More than three hundred Tatar gun soldiers were arrayed at the front, but they were feinting. The front row would block the shooting angle of the rear row. Even if a few Tatar soldiers squat in the front row, only the second row can shoot normally.

On the Datong Army side, the situation was just the opposite. They were condescending and could shoot from several rows in front.

"Bang bang bang!"

Don't talk nonsense when meeting, both sides will open fire directly.

More than ten Tatar gun soldiers fell, and only one soldier from the independent regiment was shot.

"Change the fire!"

The Datong troops in the back row who were unable to shoot quickly passed the filled muskets to the front and fired a second round at an extremely fast speed.

On the Manchu and Qing side, this could not be done.

Because the Tatar's musket is still a matchlock gun.

When shooting a matchlock gun, you need to stand dispersedly, and the width of the battlefield is seriously insufficient. On the narrow mountain road, it was even more embarrassing. Only three or four people could stand in a row, while the Datong Army could stand seven or eight people in a row. And they were afraid that the match rope would be entangled and get in the way. The fire gun soldiers always wrapped the match rope around themselves, and it was very troublesome to pass the fire gun around.

The terrain is disadvantageous and the muskets are inferior, so the Tatar musketeers can only be beaten passively.

More than sixty people fell one after another. The Tatars' front row of gunmen finally couldn't bear it anymore and shouted and asked to retreat down the mountain first.

Man Dahai and Ai Xing'a were further behind at the moment and couldn't see clearly what was going on in front of them.

Mandahai felt something was wrong and pushed forward in person. He crossed the artillery troops with difficulty, almost climbing over the barrel, and finally understood what happened to his gunmen.

"The Fire Gun Battalion held on, and the rest of the troops, the front army changed to the rear army, slowly retreated down the mountain." Mandahai made a prompt decision and quickly issued the order. If the fight continues like this, the entire army will collapse on the mountain road, and they can only use the lives of the fire rifle soldiers to buy time to retreat down the mountain.

This attack by the Tatars obviously failed again.

More than 300 Tatar gunmen were almost completely wiped out. Only a few dozen people were killed by bullets. The rest of the Tatar gun soldiers died in the pursuit when they were allowed to withdraw.

"Fire the bayonet and kill!"

Mandahai waited until the artillery troops had withdrawn far before blowing the trumpet to signal that the artillery troops could withdraw. These Tatars, who had been beaten all the time, turned around and fled for their lives, but were chased and stabbed randomly by Yang Zhenqing's troops.

In this battle, the Independent Regiment lost 3 people to death and 8 wounded, killed more than 300 Tatar soldiers, and picked up many ammunition bags from the corpses.

Back at the foot of the mountain, Mandahai looked gloomy.

The walls of Mardun could not withstand the bombardment. But if you want to use a cannon, you must push the cannon to a certain height, otherwise the cannonballs can hit who knows where.

"Where's the carriage?" Mandahai asked.

Ai Xing'a replied: "The carriages are still on the way, and there are not many of them."

These Tatars abandoned the city and fled with the purpose of breaking out quickly. Of course, it was impossible to bring all the heavy carriages with them.

Mandahai said: "When Taizu attacked Maldun, he was unable to defeat it. Finally, he blocked the mountain passes on both sides and cut off the drinking water in the village, forcing the enemies in the village to surrender. But we can't wait. What if the village fails? We have stored water for more than ten days, and the Nanmanzi behind us are about to catch up."

"Your Majesty is absolutely right," Ai Xing said.

"Our army can only attack by force," Mandahai continued. "The number of enemy troops in the village should not be large. Thousands of people should be separated from the river bank cliffs and cut off the water source at the foot of the mountain southeast of the village. etc. The carts are coming, and the north and the south are attacking together. Use the carts in the north to advance and cover the artillery going up the mountain. The carts in the south can't be transported, but they can still feign an attack and divert the enemy's forces to divide their forces for defense."

Aixing A said: "I will immediately send someone to rush the car."

Man Dahai said: "I can't wait any longer. I just need to select the elites to attack. We can no longer use firecrackers to cover the cannons going up the mountain. We must use infantry elites in front to fill the gap with human lives. The artillerymen will step on the corpses!"

"This...is this possible?" Ai Xing'a expressed doubts.

Facing the firecrackers of the Datong Army, the elite infantrymen charged on the narrow mountain road. I'm afraid that the elite infantrymen would be dead before they could rush in for close combat, or they would collapse even before they were dead.

Mandahai gritted his teeth and said: "We must give it a try and choose a warrior."

Before Ai Xing'a could move, a shout suddenly came from the hillside.

Anba, who had surrendered, held up an iron trumpet and stood on the hillside and shouted: "Jurchen brothers down the mountain, listen, I am also a Jurchen. My name is Anba, and I am the guard over the small fort. Just put down your weapons and surrender. , you will have a chance to survive. Look at me, am I not alive and well? I have been reused and can continue to fight and perform meritorious services..."

"Hetuala is gone. The Queen Mother and the Emperor have both died in the rebellion. The Qing court is gone. The Qing Dynasty is dead, who are you still working for?"

"Quickly put down your weapons and surrender. If you don't surrender, it will be too late. The main force of 200,000 Datong Heavenly Soldiers is coming from Saarhu. At the latest, they will reach Mardun in a day or two. By then, you will be captured from behind. Pincer attack!"

"Those who want to surrender can follow the cliff along the river bank and climb to the foot of the mountain in the southeast. After discarding their weapons, they can surrender at the Nanzhai Gate..."

On the Tatar side, the whole army was noisy.

The words shouted on the hillside can be heard clearly by the people down the mountain. There were two important things that made them panic. One was that the Manchu Queen Mother and the Emperor were dead, and the other was that the main force of the Datong Army would arrive soon.

Since the Datong army has occupied Mardun and blocked the Tatars' retreat, both of these news are very likely to be true.

Aixing A roared: "It's all rumors, don't believe it!"

The officers and soldiers of the Eight Banners Army were still panic-stricken, and there were many private discussions. Even the Eight Banners nobles wanted to escape for their lives.

"What a vicious plan!" Man Dahai was almost furious.

He originally wanted to send another unit along the river bank cliffs to the southeast side of Maldun and down the mountain. Then, the north and the south attacked together and filled the stronghold with human lives.

Unexpectedly, Yang Zhenqing asked someone to shout, telling those who surrendered to run south along the cliff.

This made Mandahai hesitate. If he sent thousands of people there, the Tatar soldiers going to the south might want to surrender before they could attack from the north and the south.

Man Dahai said to Ai Xing'a: "You personally lead the troops to the south!"

"I..." Ai Xing Ah also reacted and said immediately, "Okay, I'll go!"

Ai Xing'a persuaded some Eight Banners nobles not to believe the rumors, and then took their respective cattle records and walked back along the cliffs along the river bank.

Although there are cliffs on the river bank, it is still accessible because "access roads" were built during the Nurhaci era.

Those sidewalks are usually walked by trackers.

When Nurhachi returned in triumph, the rivers here were so fast that the materials needed to be pulled by trackers before they could be shipped back to Hetuala.

Ai Xing'a didn't dare to wear armor and walked tremblingly on the cliffs on the shore. It can only be passed by one person, and sometimes there is no room for both feet, and only one foot can touch the ground. Fortunately for him, the bottom of the cliff is concave. Even if the Datong Army on the mountain throws stones, they will basically not hit the people below.

"There are so many Nanbarbarians ahead!"

An Eight Banners noble exclaimed. Ai Xing'a was paying attention to his steps. He quickly raised his head and looked forward, and suddenly shouted in fright: "Get back quickly!"

But it was the main force of the independent regiment. After taking over Hetuala, the peasants and soldiers who accompanied the army were left to defend the city, and finally came with the peasants and baggage for reinforcements.

The Eight Banners Army led by Ai Xing'a is currently on the cliffs on the shore. If they continue to move forward, they will be blocked by the independent regiment.

When Ai Xing'a returned to the camp, Man Dahai had already selected a death squad.

"Why are you back?" Mandahai asked.

Ai Xing'a had a bitter look on his face: "The barbarians have come for reinforcements. I'm afraid there are tens of thousands of people (including the people who are transporting food)."

Mandahai hesitated to speak, and finally sighed: "There is no way to fight. Abandon the baggage, take some food with each person, and go into the ravine in the north. As long as you can get out alive."

Behind them, there are indeed several ravines to the north, but after walking through the ravines, they have to climb mountains, and it is impossible for the army to carry away supplies.

Ai Xing'a said: "If we don't set up an ambush in the ravine, maybe the enemy troops will advance unexpectedly and we will win again."

"We can only give it a try." Man Dahai gave up hope.

The Datong Army is not the army of the Ming Dynasty. Even if they win an ambush, it is impossible to defeat the main force of the Datong Army.

Mandahai missed the time when he fought with the Ming army. Tens of thousands of Ming troops came to kill them. As long as one part of the Eight Banners Army was defeated, the rest of the Ming army would take the initiative to flee. Moreover, when the Eight Banners Army attacked a part of the Ming Army, other Ming Army troops rarely took the initiative to rescue, and the Eight Banners Army could calmly move around the battlefield.

The Datong Army is different, every department is like a mad dog. Not to mention sitting back and watching friendly troops being attacked, even if the Eight Banners Army did not provoke them, the Datong Army would take the initiative to attack them.

"The entire army retreats into the mountains." Mandahai ordered helplessly.

They retreated along the same route and met up with most of the Tatars. Taking the old, weak, sick and disabled as well as their baggage, they plunged into the northern ravine.

It was a dead end, only a few miles long, and there were mountains beyond.