That night, everything within a few dozen miles from Hetuala City to Qiyun Mountain and Zaotu Mountain fell into huge chaos. Whether it was the Chinese Army or the Eight Banners soldiers, everyone from Gushan Ezhen or the division commander to the lower level Even an ordinary soldier can only remember what happened within a dozen steps around him on this dark night.
The Chinese army’s black uniforms and flintlock muskets, as well as long-term training on combat doctrine, have caused the Chinese army to fall into chaos. However, it can still rely on officers, non-commissioned officers, and veterans at all levels to control the troops. Moreover, the sudden burst out in the dark night The flames of muskets and artillery fire often frightened the horses of the Eight Banners soldiers into running around. The Eight Banners soldiers, who had never seen night fighting with firearms, were also frightened and helpless.
Compared with the clear-cut, simple and well-disciplined unit structure of the Chinese Army, the Eight Banners Army relied entirely on the master-servant relationship between officers and soldiers to maintain order at the grassroots level. On this dark and chaotic night, the Eight Banners Army system collapsed from top to bottom, and some Eight Banners soldiers also The grassroots troops resisted resolutely to the end, but after the generals and leaders died in battle, everyone dispersed.
Yan Siqi's last order before nightfall was to launch a full-scale assault. He sent out six regiments of infantry on the central and southern lines, and only controlled one regiment and heavy cavalry as reserves.
It took the infantrymen of the Eastern Route Army a little time to expand from the square formation to a horizontal formation. Then when the whole army started to attack, everyone was competing. You rush forward. Soon, chaos began: each regiment was facing the enemy. The degree of resistance varied, and as a result, the infantry lost its entire front shortly after the battle began.
Needless to say, the Eight Banners soldiers. It is said that King Lao Han has withdrawn to Jiefan City. The soldiers suffered for two days under continuous artillery fire and bullets. At this time, the morale had fallen to the bottom, and soon the main forces of each banner were in retreat. .
Nurhaci did not expect that the Chinese army would dare to fight him at night. In this era, night battles in the east and west were rare.
Shortly after the Chinese army counterattacked across the entire front, the messenger he sent reported that he had completely lost contact with the two red flags, two white flags and other northern troops. Nurhachi instinctively felt the crisis and realized that the defeat of the battle was certain. He immediately decided to take advantage of the opportunity. At first, the main force of the two yellow flags, Mang Gurtai's Zhenglan Banner and his own Bagal soldiers, immediately retreated to Jiefan City.
Huang Taiji led the remnants of the Zhengbai Banner to break out of the siege by the Suzi River, and joined the other remaining Eight Banners soldiers on the northern front to retreat west toward Qiyun Mountain. He did not expect that when he reached the foot of the mountain, there were no troops who had not been dispatched for the past two days. The Chinese Army's special battalion used rafts to go down the Suzi River, sneak attack on Qiyun Mountain, and captured the top of the mountain in one fell swoop.
The dense and accurate bullets immediately knocked Huang Taiji off his horse. Huang Taiji did not expect that the bullets fired from the hilltop 500 steps away could still hurt people. He also did not expect that the hilltop had already been occupied by the enemy, so he fought against a group of people holding high torches. Surrounded by the escort soldiers and coming to the foot of the mountain, Luo Daquan, the colonel commander of the special battalion and the first sharpshooter of the Chinese army, used the latest rifled gun and shot Huang Taiji with a soft lead bullet wrapped in deerskin. Although this One shot only hit Huang Taiji's shoulder. However, due to the lethality of lead bullets and the primitive medical conditions of the Eight Banners soldiers, Huang Taiji's life could already be counted in heaven.
Huang Taiji fled under the protection of his own soldiers. The troops that Huang Taiji worked hard to gather also lost their command and fled in all directions. The pursuing Marine Corps of Yang Qi easily captured a large number of prisoners. After the general disappeared and his morale was depleted, The Eight Banners soldiers are no longer fearless warriors. They have become masterless slaves. Nurhaci’s main generals are all his sons and nephews. The relationship between the Eight Banners soldiers is based on the hierarchical relationship between masters and servants and father and son’s family members. Rely on these to maintain military discipline.
The Chinese Army relies on military discipline to maintain military ranks and troop command systems. Therefore, the Eight Banners of the Later Jin Dynasty is a typical example of soldiers following generals. The generals are like the medieval army of feudal lords. Once the general or leader disappears or loses influence, this army will Completely disintegrated.
The northern front completely collapsed, allowing the two regiments of the First Division to progress smoothly. Although the troops were in chaos, all the Chinese army officers knew that the enemy general was in the direction of Zaotu Mountain. The ground rushes towards Zaotu Mountain.
In the fields, shrubs, grass, woods, and villages within a radius of dozens of miles, the flames of firearms flashed everywhere. All the Eight Banners soldiers were fleeing to the west. After Nurhaci retreated with the Bagal soldiers, the two yellow flags and the Zhenglan flags A few Niulu troops were left behind in Qidu. These thousands of men and horses held torches in the dark night, and were soon engulfed by the muzzle and muzzle flames that erupted from all directions.
At this time, it started to rain lightly.
The Type II flintlock rifles on hand in the Chinese Army Infantry are all designed with fire door covers that are windproof and rainproof, so they can still shoot in light rain.
The effectiveness of the Eight Banners soldiers' bows and arrows was greatly reduced in rainy weather, so the collapse of the Eight Banners soldiers accelerated in the rain.
Ten miles after leaving Zaotu Mountain, Nurhaci found that the Chinese army was still following him closely, so he had to order Mang Gurtai's Zhenglan Banner to stay behind.
There were still more than 4,500 people in the Zhenglan Banner, riding on their horses, shivering in the rainy night. They formed three rows and rushed towards the east where the black figures were flashing. Suddenly, countless huge flames burst out in front of them. , this is the field artillery unit of the Chinese Army pushing 50 light field guns onto the battlefield, and at the same time firing shotgun shells at Mang Gurtai's troops. A sudden metal storm blew up on the battlefield, beating Mang Gurtai who was charging forward. Sieve, together with more than a hundred soldiers on his left and right.
The remaining troops of the Zhenglan Banner did not know that their general had been killed in the battle, so they still charged forward, and most of them were killed by the subsequent Chinese Army infantry volleys.
Zheng Lanqi's desperate attack bought Nurhachi half an hour.
At this moment, Colonel Yan Siqi, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Chinese Army's Liaodong March and the commander-in-chief of the East Route Army, has personally led the heavy cavalry to fight up. At this time, he only left one regiment as a reserve team, and the rest included the Marine Corps, the militia battalion, and the logistics department. All personnel were sent to the battlefield by him.
After he passed through the chaotic front line of his own troops, he found that the troops had been dispersed into sentry units. The troops were chasing each other and rushing forward. The shouts of "Wan Sheng!" were heard everywhere, and everyone was fighting for it. The first step: capture Nu Chief alive or kill Nu Chief.
Yan Siqi breathed a sigh of relief at this time, patted his crotch on the horse and said to his left and right: "Give me the order, the troops should not pursue more than thirty miles, and assemble west of Qiyun Mountain tomorrow morning."
…
Zheng Zhihu pursued the cavalry too far because it was dark and did not receive the order from Yan Siqi. He first followed the cavalry group to attack the Eight Banners Middle Road Camp north of Zaotu Mountain. Then the troops advanced in the dark, chasing the enemy in front. They fired guns from their backs and slashed with knives, and they fought with great joy. They did not stop until both the horses and the men were exhausted.
Only then did he realize that he was standing by the Suzi River, with no more than 300 cavalrymen following him. In the center of the dark river, there was a floating raft. Some blue-clad marines with torches were shouting on the raft: "By the river!" Listen, hurry up and sign up, our cannon is pointed at you,"
"One of our own, the cavalry liaison officer of the West Route Army and the operational staff officer Zheng Zhihu are here,"
"Hey, it's Hu Zai. I'm Liu Xiang from Anhai, Quanzhou. I'm from the Taiwan Fleet Marine Corps. I'm a brother of the same class as your eldest brother Zheng Zhilong in the military academy."
Zheng Zhihu waved the torch towards the center of the river a few times. Suddenly he had an idea and shouted loudly: "Brother Liu, can there be room for three hundred riders on the raft?"
…
Nurhachi led a large group of troops to escape westward overnight. The battle under the city of Hetuala was a rare defeat for him, and it was a defeat that damaged the foundation of the Eight Banners.
Full of sorrow and remorse, he rode on his horse and advanced along the Suzi River under the escort of Bagal's soldiers holding torches.
Bagal's soldiers still performed their duties faithfully, sending out sentries to the front and left to detect fast horses, and the forward sentinels were sent out a mile away. They were the only Eight Banners troops that still maintained a complete organization and the basic backbone of the force.
However, the hurried march in the dark night, and the march after the defeat of the battle, caused Bagal's soldiers to neglect the woods on the south bank of the Suzi River fifty steps away. This was a place searched by forward sentries, but Bagal's soldiers ignored As soon as the Le cavalry forwards left, a group of Chinese cavalry sneaked into the woods.
Li Xiao finally followed Nurhaci's footsteps and came to the Suzi River. He met several Eight Banners sentries, and there seemed to be a large group of people behind them.
Under the cover of darkness, Li Xiao led his 600 brothers from the forward battalion of the Cavalry Regiment to avoid the Eight Banners sentries in the dense forest in the south. As soon as the sentries left, he took his brothers back to the river and happened to find Nurhaci's middle. A large army of troops passed by.
He didn't know who the Eight Banners general in front of him was surrounded by thousands of people.
He ordered all his brothers to aim their rifles at this closely protected Eight Banners general. In the dark night, there were the most torches around this general.
Li Xiao took a deep breath, put the gun in his left hand, pulled the trigger and fired first, and then 600 flintlock lances fired one after another. It was like a rain of lead bullets fell around Nurhachi. His tall horse looked up to the sky and roared before falling to the ground. At the same time, Nurhaci himself also fell to the ground without saying a word, with many sparks and gunpowder smoke coming out of his body.
Nurhaci was the spiritual pillar of Jianzhou Jurchen, the Eight Banners Army and even the Later Jin Dynasty. He was suddenly shot down by a bullet, almost immediately causing the collective collapse of Baya Lebing.
Most of the Eight Banners soldiers rushed in the direction of Nurhaci, causing huge chaos in the dark night. Another group of Baya soldiers turned over in despair and rushed towards the Chinese army that was chasing after them. They died in fierce hand-to-hand combat. The soldier commander Abatai was also injured, and he led his men to carry Nurhachi, whose life or death was unknown, onto his horse and dashed to the west, cutting through the blood.
After the second round of pistol volley, Li Xiao's troops immediately retreated deep into the dense forest, avoiding some Eight Banners soldiers who were eager for revenge. They did not run far in the dark night, and soon returned to the edge of the forest, heading towards In the chaos, the Eight Banners soldiers fired two volleys: the first with lances, the second with cavalry-specific flintlock pistols, and then took advantage of the chaos to leave the battlefield again.
Throughout the night, Li Xiao and his men continued to play this shooting game endlessly, so that the defeated Eight Banners troops on the south bank of the Suzi River had to risk their lives to cross the Suzi River north in the dark night, and continued to retreat westward on the north bank of the river. As a result, the Marine Corps' raft hit these Eight Banners soldiers in the middle of the river. Zheng Zhihu jumped directly into the river with men and horses on the raft. After firing a round of lances, he brandished his saber and slashed at the backs of countless Eight Banners soldiers.
The Marine Corps set up rapid-fire guns on the raft and fired dense rounds of bullets at the dark crowd of Eight Banners soldiers on both sides of the river in the middle of the river. The bullets were almost unmissable, creating a massacre-like effect.
In the dark night, the Chinese Army also had a mistaken attack, but the Eight Banners soldiers, who had completely lost their command, had completely collapsed. No Eight Banners troops could take advantage of the Chinese Army's chaos.
…
Zhao Tie, the general manager of the Liaodong March, led his directly affiliated cavalry battalion and the guard battalion traveled day and night. Finally, they arrived at the battlefield in the morning after the Battle of Hetuala. This place had become a hell on earth, with tens of thousands of corpses lying around. Within ten miles, there were as many dead war horses as human corpses. Every stream and ditch here was red. In some sections of the Suzi River, the corpses of Eight Banners soldiers and horses were piled on both sides of the Suzi River. They could almost block the Suzi River and build a corpse line. Dam, the smell of blood is the only smell within a dozen miles of Hetuala City.
The wounded soldiers of the Chinese army were sitting or lying on horse-drawn carriages and human-powered wheelbarrows, and were being transported to the Hetuala camp. The lethality of musket bullets at that time increased sharply at close range. All Eight Banners soldiers who suffered gunshot wounds would be injured even if they were not injured. They will die immediately, and 80% of them will die miserably in physical and mental pain due to various infections and complications, while the mortality rate of wounded soldiers in the Chinese Army is much smaller.
The exhausted Chinese army was gathering by the Suzi River. Yan Siqi's cavalry discovered Zhao Tie and hurried to report the news.
Zhao Tie looked at the corpses scattered all over the area for more than ten miles and was speechless: "Mother Mazu, I have never seen such a scene before. If I collect all the dead in all the battles I have fought in the past, I am afraid that there are none." There’s a lot here,”
He saw Yan Siqi and a small team of people galloping towards him from a distance, and said to Zeng Rui, who was also shocked and speechless beside him: "We are late, and now we can only do the work of the corpse collection team,"
Zeng Rui smiled faintly and pointed his riding whip at Yan Siqi: "After this battle, Yan Zhenquan will be the number one general in our Chinese army. The ship owner once said: This man will have a bright future in the future, and it is true..."
At the end of the Battle of Hetuala, out of the originally mighty 88,000 bannermen, only 4,000 Baya soldiers were left who could gather in groups and run towards Jiefan City. They encountered several soldiers on the north bank of the Suzi River. Qian Zhengbai Banner was defeated, and Huang Taiji, who was seriously injured and unconscious, was among them. Nurhaci was already on his deathbed. With the support of Abatai, he took one last look at Huang Taiji, who was seriously injured and unconscious. He sighed: "The pirates are not capable of defeating the Eight Banners. This is the enemy." It’s the heaven that wants to kill me.”
Nurhachi, a heroic leader of the Jurchen tribe and a great warlord in the Liaodong border of the Ming Dynasty, was seriously injured during his defeat and died on the bank of the Suzi River two miles south of Gule Village.
Abatai tried his best to keep the news of Nurhachi's death secret. He collected the defeated Eight Banners soldiers along the way, rested briefly in Gule Village, and collected more than 10,000 retreating troops from each banner.