Chapter 854
Breaking through the siege
The emperor stared blankly at them, his gaze sweeping over the imperial guards. He saw no indignation on their faces, but instead avoided the pile of flesh on the ground, their eyes filled with disgust.
Looking at the others, apart from him, no one showed the slightest sadness over Wang Zhen's death. Even the eunuchs were trembling with fear, showing no anger or sorrow.
The emperor stared blankly, wondering if they hated Wang Zhen that much.
why?
Is it because they hate Wang Zhen, or because they hate me?
The emperor looked dazed.
The Duke of England has already ordered the army to immediately reorganize and prepare for a breakout.
The emperor snapped back to his senses and was about to object when General Fan Zhong, the bodyguard beside him, pulled the emperor to his feet and shouted, "Your Majesty, I will certainly protect you!"
The emperor quickly grabbed his hand, "Wait, wait! The army has just encamped and is exhausted. Wouldn't breaking out now be fighting a war that tires out the troops?"
Before the Duke of England could explain, Fan Zhong said, "Your Majesty, the encirclement has not yet been completed. Now is the perfect time to break out. If we wait any longer, we will be surrounded like an iron barrel."
The matter was urgent, and killing Wang Zhen had already delayed things for some time.
By the time the scouts reported, the four Oirat armies had closed in considerably.
At the Duke of England's command, all the civil and military officials sprang into action, abandoning their baggage and escorting the emperor as he mounted his horse and fled.
The British Duke directly commanded the army to retreat southeast.
This was inconsistent with the emperor's desired retreat direction; he preferred to retreat north or southwest.
But the Duke of England wouldn't listen to him at all, and the Emperor didn't even have a chance to speak.
The young emperor's gaze was deep and somber; the Duke of England's actions were remarkably reminiscent of a coup attempt.
Was he the emperor, or was he the emperor?
What frightened the young emperor even more was that even his bodyguard general obeyed the Duke of England's orders, not his.
Surrounded by the crowd, the young emperor's carriage rushed down the hillside. After only a short distance, shouts of battle rose up ahead.
In the darkness, Li Zhen's vanguard encountered the Oirat army that had rushed to surround them, and the two sides clashed.
The Oirat cavalry moved swiftly and quickly broke through to surround them.
The Duke of England took the lead, thrusting his spear at the approaching young Oirat general, and shouted, "Charge out!"
The crowd then protected the emperor's carriage and rushed out.
However, the Ming army was mainly composed of infantry, and they were almost powerless against the sabers of the Oirat cavalry.
Meanwhile, the Oirat army from the other three sides was also approaching, with a small troop of fast horses from each side already closing in and attacking directly from behind.
They liked to use flanking tactics; when they saw the emperor's carriage, they would rush straight towards it.
Fortunately, the Duke of England did not divide his troops and instead had his baggage train positioned behind him, which caused some disruption to the cavalry.
Amidst the chaos, the ministers protected the emperor's carriage as they broke through the encirclement and plunged into the darkness.
Oirat cavalry were in hot pursuit.
Seeing that they were about to catch up, Marquis Chen Ying of Taining gritted his teeth and led his personal guards to turn their horses around and intercept them.
When Fan Zhong had run about a hundred meters while protecting the carriage, he turned around and saw Chen Ying being shot off his horse by an arrow, with more than a dozen horses galloping over him.
Fan Zhong's eyes were bloodshot. He jumped onto the carriage frame, rushed inside, and began tearing at the emperor's clothes.
The emperor was so shaken around that he was completely disoriented. He had Fan Zhong tear off his clothes and quickly change him into a soldier's uniform before being pushed off the carriage.
As if he knew Fan Zhong’s plan, Marquis Shen Rong of Xiuwu immediately jumped from his horse onto the carriage, pushed the coachman into the carriage, and drove off, shouting, “Put on the emperor’s clothes, quick!”
Fan Zhong grabbed the emperor and tossed him onto Shen Rong's horse. He then jumped onto his own horse and, together with the other officials, protected the emperor as they continued their breakout. Meanwhile, the coachman climbed into the carriage and, weeping and trembling, draped the emperor's robes over himself.
Of course, he wasn't just a coachman; he was also an official of the Court of Imperial Stud, named Xia Zheng.
A troop of Oirat soldiers suddenly attacked from the southwest. The Duke of Ying turned around and gave Fan Zhong a look.
Fan Zhong indicated that he understood, and while slowing down his horse, he charged towards the enemy.
The courtiers tacitly surrounded the carriage, pushing the emperor to the back.
All the attacks were directed at the vehicle frame.
Shen Rong shouted loudly, pulled on the reins, and sped southwards, with the soldiers following the carts and the enemy troops also charging after them.
In the chaos, only Fan Zhong, Li Zhen, and others led a contingent of imperial guards to protect the emperor as they fled eastward, looking like a defeated army running away.
The Duke of Ying took the lead, staying close to the front of the carriage, while Cao Nai and other civil officials showed no intention of leaving.
More than twenty civil and military officials surrounded the carriage, and the Ming soldiers became convinced that their emperor was inside, so they guarded him with all their might.
The Oirat army also believed that the person inside was the Ming emperor, and several armies surrounded him.
In an instant, the grassland was filled with shouts of battle, and tens of thousands of people were fighting together, stretching for miles. At the forefront of the battle, a luxurious carriage was almost torn to pieces, like a fallen leaf bobbing up and down in the rapids.
Dark clouds loomed overhead, and Ming soldiers were being slaughtered and fleeing in all directions. The Oirat soldiers didn't pursue them; their eyes were fixed on the bright yellow carriage ahead...
A hundred or so arrows fell from the sky, heading straight for the carriage. Most were swept away by the soldiers, but three of them pierced Shen Rong's chest with a thud.
Shen Rong's eyes widened in anger. When he fell off the carriage, his gaze was still directed southeast, the direction the emperor had left, but which was also a scene of chaos.
The Oirat soldiers did indeed charge toward the bright yellow wagons, but they showed no mercy to the Ming soldiers they encountered on the way.
I wonder if His Majesty will be able to escape...
Shen Rong's eyes were wide open, and he never closed them until his death.
Lightning flashed silently across the sky, and moments later, thunder rumbled, a strong wind rose, and heavy rain poured down.
In the midst of the chaos, Cao Nai somehow pulled the double out of the carriage, shoved him onto a horse, and the two rode together, charging out right behind the Duke of Ying.
They broke through the encirclement in the torrential rain.
The lightning and thunder made the horses very uneasy, and the Oirat cavalry failed to catch up in time.
The Duke of England immediately abandoned his horse, then rallied his remaining troops, only to find that there were only about a thousand men who had charged out with them.
He knew that not all the other soldiers had died in battle; some had escaped, while others had been surrounded in the rear.
He wasn't in a hurry; he was very experienced in rallying the remaining troops.
The Duke of England looked up at the dark, low-hanging sky and said in a deep voice, "The Oirat can't continue tonight either, but they will definitely not give up searching for His Majesty. Let's go, find a place to hide for the night, and gather our remaining troops to continue tomorrow."
As long as the enemy's eyes remain on them, the emperor may be able to escape.
Cao Nai silently bandaged the wound on his arm, looked around, and said with a pained expression, "Minister Chen, he..."
“I saw it,” Wang Zuo said, his eyes filled with grief, “Minister Chen was cut down from his horse, I’m afraid it was…”
Everyone was filled with sorrow and remained silent.
A somber atmosphere permeated the air. (End of Chapter)