After the Jurchens withdrew, they thought the Ming army would not dare to pursue them.
After all, in the past few years, the Jurchens were not truly invincible.
Even when they suffered setbacks, the Ming army almost never pursued their victories.
So after they retreated seven or eight miles, they relaxed their vigilance and stopped their warhorses again to avoid wasting their strength.
They charged all the way from Kaesong, and their warhorses were exhausted.
If they charge all the way back to Kaesong, most of these horses will surely die of exhaustion.
"Ugh, this is really bad luck!"
"I thought I could come to Hanjing and get a great deal, but who knew I would fall into the Ming army's trap!"
"What's the point of saying all this now? Let's hurry up and think about what we should say when we see Jirhalang!"
"We can't escape responsibility for Nikan's death this time!"
Upon hearing that last sentence, the morale of all the Jurchen cavalrymen plummeted even further.
As for the more than one hundred robes and vests that Nikan had brought with him, he cried out in a low voice.
"We're completely finished after we get back this time!"
This sentiment quickly spread.
The cavalrymen, dejected and disheartened, retreated northwards.
They even deliberately slowed down, wishing they could never return to Kaesong.
Just then, someone with keen hearing suddenly frowned.
"Huh? What's that shouting of killing?"
The others were immediately displeased.
"You must have misheard! There are shouts of battle coming from here!"
"Even if there is such a commotion, it is our people looting food and killing those Goryeo people."
"Do you think the Ming army would dare to pursue us? Don't be so worried!"
After hearing this, the man nodded and said, "It seems I was overthinking it."
He then said helplessly, "Sigh, if we hadn't had those messy thoughts, we would be having a great time just like the brothers over there!"
Upon hearing this, the cavalrymen were completely devastated, and they lowered their heads in silence.
I no longer care about the shouts of killing.
After a full incense stick's time had passed, someone finally looked up, displeased, and said:
"Whose banner is this? Why is he so sloppy in his work?"
"Murder, arson, and robbery are one thing, but why bring it to the main street?"
As the shouts of battle drew closer, many more people heard the commotion.
However, due to their preconceived notions, they all thought that their own troops had gone crazy with joy and started killing and setting fires on both sides of the road.
“Our General Jirhalang cannot stand such things.”
Jirhalang didn't sympathize with the Goryeo people; he simply treated them all as his own servants and couldn't bear to let his men kill them so easily.
"Let's go teach them a lesson and vent our anger!"
Someone cracked their whip, turned their horse around, and rode away.
But not long after, they rushed back in a panic.
"No...this is terrible!"
"What's wrong?" The others were somewhat displeased.
"What did you see?"
"We see the Ming army!" they exclaimed, but before anyone else could voice their doubts, the Ming army had already reached them from behind.
Zhang Xianzhong took the lead, his face beaming with barely suppressed excitement.
"I told you, today is a day fit for victory!"
"Brothers, charge with me!"
The Jurchen cavalry were strong and brave, and the soldiers were terrified.
"What's going on with this group of Ming soldiers? Why do they actually dare to chase us?"
"This is bad! They're probably just the vanguard; there's definitely a large Ming army force behind them!"
"Run! Don't fight!"
After having this thought, the Jurchens fled again.
But then they realized that their warhorses were almost completely exhausted.
It didn't bother me to carry them at a slow pace.
But getting those warhorses to charge was simply impossible.
The warhorses of the Eight Banners were extremely precious, and their endurance was nowhere near that of ordinary people.
In a real long march, most cavalrymen are indeed slower than infantrymen.
Only the Mongol tribes, who had plenty of horses and were not too concerned about losses, marched with large herds of horses.
Only then can high speed be maintained with difficulty.
The Jurchens, however, did not possess this ability.
Although they were focused on escaping, they were quickly caught up by the Ming army.
After the two armies clashed, the Jurchens dared not linger in the battle, fearing that they would be caught by the so-called large Ming army. So they immediately dismounted and continued to flee.
The Ming army, however, did not have this concern.
They now believe that Zhang Xianzhong may actually have some merit.
"With Lord Zhang by our side, we're truly going to win this battle!"
They were extremely excited and pursued the pursuers relentlessly.
They actually killed over a hundred Jurchens, cut off their heads, and removed their armor.
When the sky began to lighten, they looked up and realized they had gone too far in their pursuit.
The city walls of Kaesong are almost visible now.
The Ming army commander realized something was wrong.
"Oh no, there's a large Jurchen army here!"
But he was even more surprised.
"From Kaesong to Hanjing, there is a distance of over a hundred li."
"Although we set up an ambush outside Hanjing, it can reduce the distance."
"But after chasing them all night, they actually made it through?"
Even they themselves found it hard to believe.
But at this moment, they had no time to think too much.
Several commanders rushed to Zhang Xianzhong's side: "Lord Zhang, we've gone too far. Shouldn't we retreat?"
"Yes, that's the Jurchen vanguard camp ahead, with tens of thousands of Jurchen cavalry inside."
"If we don't retreat, we're really doomed!"
But Zhang Xianzhong didn't care at all.
His mental state was already somewhat... abnormal.
After following Gao Qingyun for more than half a year, he turned into a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur).
Last night, his plan was almost completely executed, giving him a great victory.
At this moment, his confidence soared, not to mention that there were only 10,000 Jurchen cavalrymen in front of him.
Even if you tell him that the Jurchen main force is ahead, he won't be afraid at all.
What's with those expressions on your faces?
Zhang Xianzhong waved his hand dismissively.
"Don't worry, these Jurchens are nothing but small fry, they're not worth my attention at all."
"Let's set up camp outside the city and see how they respond!"
The Ming army was dumbfounded:
"Lord Zhang, are you serious?"
Zhang Xianzhong rolled his eyes: "Do you think I'd joke around?"
"Let's go, let's set up camp!"
As he spoke, he actually arrived at a place a few miles south of Kaesong and sat down cross-legged on the ground.
Seeing this, the other Ming soldiers had no choice but to risk their lives to accompany him.
"We've come this far, and we can't run away anymore. We can only gamble on this Lord Zhang's abilities!"
"That's right. Anyway, he has Master Gao protecting him, so he can probably protect us too!"
At this moment, they all began to pray in their hearts for Gao Qingyun, whom they had no connection with whatsoever.
Hopefully, this Master Gao, out of respect for Zhang Xianzhong, will use his wisdom to persuade the Jurchens not to break out of the city.
They followed Zhang Xianzhong to set up camp in fear and waited for more than an hour, but they still didn't see a trace of the Jurchens.
I finally breathed a sigh of relief, and then a wave of panic washed over me.
"This Master Gao... is he really that skilled?"
"Oh no, I once secretly cursed at this Master Gao. Will this cause me trouble?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com