Zhu Ci..
Does he have a green face and fangs?
He doesn't have a green face and fangs, but the Qing Army claims that the new Emperor of Pseudo-Ming is a cold-blooded killer who doesn't even spare his own people, even enjoys eating the hearts and livers of the Manchus, preferring them freshly carved out.
Consequently, when the Tartars who lacked the courage to commit suicide were captured, their first reaction was to wail and beg the Great Ming Emperor not to eat them.
Zhu Ci, who knew the truth..
Fine, the Lanling King needs to cover his face to intimidate his enemies, but he can skip that step entirely.
However, even the Tartars didn't know where Alna had arrived, which Zhu Ci found very strange.
He simply set the matter aside and asked directly, "Where is Li Cheng? Do they know his whereabouts?"
However, these people also did not know Li Cheng's whereabouts; they only knew that they had been fighting near Yongkang Town at the time.
Zhu Ci was somewhat puzzled.
This wasn't right. Li Cheng had brought a thousand soldiers with him at the time. Even if he wasn't a match for Alna and they fought to a stalemate, he shouldn't have just suddenly vanished, right?
Even Alna has gone missing.
This is very strange, it's as if everyone traveled through time together.
Thinking of this, Zhu Ci couldn't help but shudder. It couldn't.. could it?
The more Zhu Ci thought about it, the more confused he became, so he decisively ordered, "Let's go to Yongkang Town, Jiang Quan stays behind."
“Huh? Me?” Jiang Quan looked shocked.
Zhu Ci glanced at him. "You have not been by my side for just a day or two. If you still cannot hold a position of responsibility, I might as well promote someone else."
Jiang Quan said nervously, "I.. I am still young.."
“You are even older than I am,” Zhu Ci said, waving his sleeve.
He felt somewhat guilty when he said those words.
In terms of biological age, Zhu Ci was indeed younger than Jiang Quan; Jiang Quan himself was the oldest among the orphans he had adopted.
Jiang Xueyan glanced sideways at Jiang Quan and said, "If you don't dare, then let me stay. You should follow His Majesty and serve him well, in the future, just have yourself castrated. It's useless to have that thing anyway."
Jiang Quan immediately said in a panic, "What kind of way is that for a woman to speak? You're talking about castration all the time, yet you aren't even embarrassed."
Hah." Jiang Xueyan sneered. "What is there for me to be ashamed of? It's certainly better than you, having followed His Majesty for so long, yet you don't even dare to stay and defend a city that poses almost no threat. What a useless waste.
Did I say I didn't dare? I was simply afraid of failing His Majesty.
Isn't being afraid of failing His Majesty just a sign of self-awareness, knowing that you aren't up to the task?
You're the one who's no good!
Look at you, what are you rushing for?
Zhu Ci felt a massive headache coming on: "All of you, shut up! Jiang Quan, stay behind. It's settled."
Jiang Xueyan and Jiang Quan immediately ceased their bickering; of course, they were merely stopping their verbal sparring and continued to stand behind Zhu Ci, making faces at him.
Zhu Ci knew exactly what was going on and ignored them, focusing instead on the maps, wanting to know the situation over in Yongkang Town.
However, the maps of this era.. or rather, aside from the "Imperial Ming Defense Maps" drawn by the imperial court, most local maps were not very good.
Thinking of this, Zhu Ci became very angry.
According to Fu's account, when Zhu Yousong fled, he took all the maps of the Great Ming's administrative divisions with him and then vanished without a trace.
Vanished without a trace!
When Zhu Ci heard this, his vision went dark. In this era, how much manpower and material resources would it take to obtain such a complete General Map?
It was truly too easy for him to just throw Zhu Yousong's head into the river to feed the fish!
Zhu Ci headed to Yongkang Town with three hundred men. Alna could at most provide that many people, with the same numbers, he held superior firearms, so he had absolutely nothing to worry about.
However, after arriving in Yongkang Town, no one was seen. The only thing was that from the local people, he heard rumors that dragon roars and tiger roars had been heard in the mountains a few days ago.
Dragon roars and tiger bellows?" Zhu Ci asked in confusion, "What kind of sound was it?
I believe it was firearms, I heard the sound is even louder than firecrackers.
Zhu Ci listened and asked, "In which direction?"
To the north.
To the north, on the southern slopes of Moxie Mountain, the area wasn't truly deep mountains, but rather the gentle terrain where the hills transition into the plains.
Zhu Ci led his men over to take a look, then said with some confusion, "These mountains.. why do they not look like the natural formation of real mountains at all?"
Your Majesty, there are signs of combat here!
Zhu Ci could not worry about whether the terrain's orientation was strange, as his attention was immediately diverted.
The combat traces reported below were also very simple; craters from grenade explosions were visible.
The presence of craters from grenades means that Li Cheng had fought Alna here.
Zhu Ci immediately ordered his men to follow the tracks forward, as it turned out, they ended up near the Qingluo River.
Here, they encountered Alna's ambush.
The enemy's ambush was also very simple and crude; they imitated Zhu Ci's method by burying explosives in the ground.
Explosive packs and landmines were nothing special; once the enemy had suffered losses and been tricked before, they could immediately figure out how they were made.
It was just that Alna was destined to be disappointed; the scouts sent out by Zhu Ci were also experts at detecting landmines, they immediately noticed that there was something wrong with the vegetation and soil on the ground.
Simply put, the roots of some of the vegetation were exposed, yet the area looked lush and green overall; no matter how one looked at it, something felt wrong. Staying far away, he simply tossed a fire starter toward it.
As the sound of explosions rang out, almost all the explosives underground were detonated.
Zhu Ci pulled the reins, soothing the horse while saying, "Prepare to face the enemy!"
After the explosion, the dust and stones reduced visibility to a minimum, Zhu Ci guessed that Alna would not let such a good opportunity slip away.
enough, after the brief deafness caused by the explosion, Zhu Ci heard the sound of galloping horses.
It seemed that Alna had never believed this ambush could harm many Great Ming soldiers from the very beginning.
What he wanted was to rapidly close in on the Great Ming army while his line of sight was obstructed.
Most of the Great Ming firearms are long-range weapons, making it difficult for the Qing Army to compare with them in terms of firearms, but when it comes to cavalry, the Great Ming Army can hardly match the Qing Army.
Zhu Ci gave the decisive order: "Retreat!"
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: When the enemy advances, I retreat; when the enemy retreats, I pursue! A kitty waving a horsewhip. jpg
Next update at 6:00 PM~
Chapter 110
Alna had left almost all of the Han Army in Dingyuan County; the forces here in Yongkang Town should all be the elites under his command.
Zhu Ci was also very clear that when it came to mounted combat, his cavalry certainly couldn't compare to those who had grown up in the saddle since childhood.
Therefore, he was also very decisive, leading his troops in a direct retreat as soon as he heard the sound of galloping hooves.
Although it was called a retreat, it wasn't a true flight; rather, they were creating distance so they could use their bows and arrows.
His cavalry's archery was certainly not as good as theirs, but the problem was that they were using Exploding Arrows.
Zhu Ci had been at the very rear all along. After ordering the retreat, he turned his horse around and rode straight to the small hill where he had just mentioned the terrain looked strange. Then, from his high vantage point, he drew his bow and notched an arrow.
He aimed at Alna, who was charging toward this position while mounted on his horse.
A battle involving a thousand men on both sides might seem like nothing compared to armies of a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand that appear at the drop of a hat, but when they were actually gathered together, there were quite a few people.
It was extremely difficult to aim at a specific person during this process, especially since Zhu Ci's archery skills were truly beyond words.
Alna's heart tightened as he saw him take out that very thick arrow, he immediately quickened his pace.
As long as his men engaged the Ming army in close combat, he didn't believe Zhu Ci would dare to fire an arrow!
At this moment, Zhu Ci naturally no longer cared whether he could aim accurately; he wanted to cause as much destruction as possible. As long as one more Tartar died, one more of his own men might survive.
Zhu Ci loosened his grip and shouted, "Fire!"
Jiang Xueyan and the others beside him also fired their arrows together.
Alna immediately shouted as well, "Fire!"
He and his subordinates simultaneously drew their bows and nocked arrows, but they were not aiming at Zhu Ci; instead, they were aiming at the incoming Exploding Arrows.
The Qing Army's movements were extremely practiced; they released their arrows almost immediately without much aiming. Most of the Exploding Arrows flying through the air were hit, with very few actually landing on the ground, as they basically exploded in mid-air.
Zhu Ci let out a long breath: "Incredible skill!"
After saying that, he drew his Yanling Blade.
The Qing Army was already very close; using Exploding Arrows now might end up wounding his own people.
At this stage, it all comes down to personal bravery.
Zhu Ci trusted his soldiers, he trusted himself.
Aside from everything else, before setting out on the campaign, he had certainly reaped many benefits from Fu, acquiring quite a lot of leather armor, long spears, long blades.
In terms of weapons, his guards were certainly better than Alna's.
At any rate, they were the Emperor's personal guards. Even if they were just a makeshift crew, they were still the Emperor's. Alna's highest military rank was only a Jala E Zhen commanding fifteen hundred men; how could he compare to himself!
Zhu Ci was about to urge his warhorse forward when Jiang Xueyan, by his side, rushed out first: "Protect His Majesty!"
Zhu Ci?? Why is this little girl rushing out like that!
He was just about to rush forward when Yang Hongfei, who had replaced Jiang Quan at his side, also rushed out.
Alna brandished the waist saber in his hand: "Get out of my way!"
Jiang Xueyan thrust a long spear, which seemed quite disproportionate to her slight frame, straight forward.
Alna felt a jolt of surprise as he dodged; his attention was entirely focused on the tall, sturdy-looking Yang Hongfei, he didn't take the slightly slender Jiang Xueyan into account at all.