The four men were still in a daze, but the canal worker running in the lead was already excited.
"Lord Zhang is indeed remarkable!"
"No wonder people always say that Master Gao is a celestial being. Even one of his apprentices can predict the future."
They never imagined that this was purely Zhang Xianzhong's good luck.
They simply assumed it was Zhang Xianzhong's brilliant strategy.
"It seems we're destined to win this battle!"
The canal workers' morale was greatly boosted, and with a roar, they charged towards the Jurchen troops who were crossing the Imjin River.
Hauge remained on the south bank at this time.
He was scolding his men for crossing the river too slowly.
"Didn't we tell you to prepare the ships a long time ago?"
"Why are there still only a few dozen dilapidated ships?"
The subordinate said with a wry smile, "Your Majesty, it's not that I'm not trying, it's just that the people of Goryeo are always causing trouble for us."
Haug's expression darkened.
"If that's the case, then kill more people, kill all the people nearby, wouldn't that solve the problem?"
It's not that Hauge was particularly cruel.
That's how the Jurchens always did it.
At this moment, Jirhalang quickly walked over and apologized to Hauge.
"Your Majesty, this is actually partly my fault."
"It was my idea that if we were to be unable to defeat the Ming Dynasty in the west in the future, we should take good care of Goryeo."
"That's why they didn't go on a killing spree."
In fact, Jirhalang's men also killed quite a few Goryeo people.
However, in the context of the Jurchens, not killing everyone meant it wasn't considered a massacre.
Hauge still trusted Zirhalang quite a bit.
He casually remarked, "What you said does make some sense."
"Alright, let's talk about this later. Let's get across the river quickly..."
Just as the two were talking, the shouts of the canal workers came from over.
Haug was startled.
"What...what's going on?"
Why are people suddenly shouting for war?
At first glance, he didn't realize that the Ming army was chasing after him; instead, he looked worriedly towards the north bank.
"Could it be that someone has rebelled and is trying to cut off my way home?"
Hearing Hauge's words, Jirhalang felt a little flustered.
He had long suspected that Dai Shan and his son in Shengjing were harboring ulterior motives.
"Could it really be that they suddenly made their move?"
Jirhalang quickly rode his horse to the riverbank and looked north.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there was no movement on the other side.
"It seems that Dai Shan and his men haven't gone completely mad yet!"
"At this moment, the Ming army is pressing in on our borders. If they take this opportunity to fight amongst themselves, then our Later Jin will truly be finished!"
He rode back to Hauge's side.
"Great Khan, it's not that there's a rebellion in the north."
"Not the north? Then how could it be the south?" Hauge hesitated and turned back.
What he saw turned out to be quite alarming.
Because of his momentary distraction, the canal workers had already reached him.
The Jurchen troops, lagging behind, dared not make any rash moves without Hauge's orders.
They could only rush over to meet the enemy.
In terms of actual combat strength, these Eight Banner troops were far superior to the canal workers brought by Zhang Xianzhong.
But firstly, they had no command, and secondly, they were somewhat panicked.
They can only unleash 30-50% of their original fighting strength.
Then they would be no match for the canal workers.
"Where did the Ming army suddenly appear from?"
"Why haven't we received any news from our scouts!"
"Oh dear, didn't someone say just a few days ago that the Ming army is elusive and that the scouts can't see them at all?"
"So the news was actually true!"
The Eight Banners soldiers were in a state of panic, and no one dared to fight against the Ming army. Instead, they all retreated northward.
"This is bad! It's said that the Ming army has sent tens of thousands of troops this time. We definitely can't defeat them with our small force."
"Let's evacuate across the river first and then talk about it."
There are still about 10,000 Jurchen troops south of Linjin.
But when they panicked, they actually couldn't stop the less than 10,000 canal workers.
Haug was completely at a loss.
"What are scouts supposed to do?"
"The Ming army actually managed to get right up to our noses!"
He cursed loudly as he dismounted, intending to run to the riverbank and seize a boat to cross the river.
However, at this moment, Jirhalang held him tightly.
"Great Khan, you can't leave!"
Jirhalang was well aware that if Hauge ran away at this time, then the more than 10,000 Eight Banners in the south would be finished.
They will definitely be wiped out by the Ming army.
Even if they return to Shengjing, they will not have a good ending.
Daishan would never hesitate to use this major defeat as an excuse to seize Hauge's military power.
What would happen to a Khan without military power?
Jirgalang gritted his teeth and said, "Great Khan, you must stay here and help our troops regain their strength!"
"The fact that the Ming army arrived so quickly means they have been traveling day and night without any time to rest."
"So, they're at their last gasp now. If we can withstand this initial attack, we can turn the tide and win!"
That makes a lot of sense.
But Haug was already getting impatient.
"Zirhalang, what nonsense are you spouting!"
"If you hadn't dragged your feet on killing people, giving the Koreans a chance to cause trouble, we would have retreated to Kaesong long ago!"
"Now that the Ming army is pursuing us, do you want me to stay here and die?"
"What exactly do you mean? Whose side are you on?"
Hauge looked coldly at Zirhalang.
The words that came out of his mouth already had the meaning of stabbing someone in the heart.
Jirhalang stood there stunned for a long while before finally speaking blankly:
"Great Khan, of course I'm yours!"
But after he finished speaking, he realized that Hauge had already taken advantage of his daze to find a fishing boat and cross the river.
Moreover, not only did he cross the river, but he also turned back and shouted at Jirhalang:
"Jirhalang, since you insist on staying here, I'll let you command the entire army!"
Haug thought the arrangement was very clever.
Regardless of what Jirhalang was really thinking, he could always get Jirhalang to take the fall for him.
But Jirhalang was immediately filled with despair.
How could the Great Khan do this?
"It's all over now!"
Sure enough, when Hauge shouted this, the Eight Banners who were still south of the Imjin River knew that their Khan had already fled.
Let them stay here and die.
Morale collapsed instantly.
"What's the point of fighting now?!"
"That damned Hauge Khan! If only the old Khan were still here!"
Many of the Eight Banner soldiers immediately mounted their horses and headed east along the Imjin River, heading upstream.
They wanted to cross the river from a shallow spot.
However, many more Manchu soldiers did not have time to escape.
They had no choice but to grit their teeth and fight the onrushing canal workers.
Before long, they were defeated and forced to retreat towards the riverbank.
At this moment, Haug, seeing this, was actually quite pleased with himself.
"Hmph, Jirhalang still wanted to fool me and make me stay in the south to die. Luckily, I didn't listen to him!"
He cracked his whip and said to the Eight Banners troops who had already crossed the river, "We don't need to worry about things in the south anymore, let's hurry north!"
As he spoke, he ran ahead again.
Upon seeing this, the Eight Banners soldiers' faces immediately darkened.
The Eight Banners of the Jurchens were different from the Ming army of today; they were more similar to the garrison troops of the early Ming Dynasty.
Soldiers from the same banner and the same niru (unit of military unit) would farm and practice martial arts together in peacetime, and serve as soldiers together in wartime.
They have a close relationship with each other.
Many of the soldiers south of Imjin are their brothers and fathers.
How could they bear to leave like this?
But Haug turned around angrily and said, "Why aren't you leaving yet?"
"Are you not going to listen to me, the Great Khan?"
Those people stared coldly at Hauge, then suddenly shouted, "Bullshit Khan!"
Many people actually rushed over to try and dismount Haugera.
Haug was shocked to see this.
"You've really gone too far!"
But he dared not stay where he was. He whipped his horse hard with his whip and galloped north in a flash.
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