Chapter 106: Book 3 — Garrison Commander of Shunxiang Fortress, Chapter 106: Harvest of Heads

Book 3 — Garrison Commander of Shunxiang Fortress, Chapter 106: Harvest of Heads

“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!” — several thunderous roars of firelocks. Three more Heavy Armor Soldiers were knocked to the ground.

At a distance of a few paces, no matter how many layers of heavy armor they wore, the firelock pellets easily tore through their cotton-padded and iron armor, killing or wounding them one by one.

At the same time, howls of extreme agony rang out. As two Heavy Armor Soldiers died, the iron clubs and short axes they hurled also slashed through the iron armor of a pikeman and drove deep into his chest. Another flying axe struck a firelock soldier square on the forehead, splitting his iron helmet and embedding itself deep inside.

The martial valor of these Heavy Armor Soldiers was extraordinary; their dying counterattacks and struggles still inflicted considerable harm on the Shunxiang troops atop the wall.

The moment the firelocks roared, a rank of iron-armored pikemen charged forward.

“Kill!”

The long spears in their hands either stabbed into a Qing soldier already gravely wounded by firelock fire, or several spears thrust simultaneously into a Qing soldier’s body. The long spears easily pierced their heavy armor, or stabbed into vital spots like their eyes and throats.

As they died, those Qing soldiers clutched the spear shafts driven deep into their bodies; the immense agony made them fall to their knees in unbearable torment. When the pikemen pulled out their spears, the Qing soldiers’ blood and entrails gushed together from the wounds.

Wu Zhengchun pulled his long spear from the throat of a Heavy Armor Soldier. Blood sprayed from the man’s throat, some of it splashing onto Wu Zhengchun’s face and lips. He subconsciously licked the blood from his lips; the brutal slaughter made his blood boil with fervor. He no longer felt the slightest fear — only one word filled his mind: “Kill!”

Perhaps, as the Garrison Commander said, he was born for war!

He wore iron armor and gripped a long spear; his armor was covered everywhere with enemy blood. After pulling out his spear, he cast a sidelong glance at the Qing soldiers ahead. Faced with that wolf-like glare, every Qing soldier before him felt a chill rise in their hearts, and several even involuntarily stepped back.

The Qing soldiers on the wall had already taken note of this dark, lean Ming soldier’s difference. A red waist badge hung at his belt. They had noticed that enemy soldiers who wore red waist badges fought with exceptional ferocity and wielded their spears with particular ruthlessness; many of their own had already died on those spears.

It was now past noon. The sunlight was no longer so harsh, but the smell of gunpowder smoke and blood in the air had grown even thicker.

“Firelock soldiers, advance!”

After those firelock soldiers fired, Han Zhong, the Left Picket Officer commanding from the outer edge of the melee, swept his long blade forward. Immediately another squad of firelock soldiers filled the gap. Beside them, several iron-armored pikemen watched with predatory intent, their spears leveled. The moment the firelock soldiers finished firing, they would charge in to fight at once.

On the walltop, the coordination between the Shunxiang Army’s firelock soldiers and pikemen grew more and more practiced. They pressed forward step by step, while the Qing soldiers before them turned ashen-faced and retreated step by step.

By now, the Qing soldiers on the wall were few, and the Heavy Armor Soldiers in particular had been swept away entirely. But those Heavy Armor Soldiers had been exceptionally fierce. Apart from the several Heavy Armor Soldiers knocked down by firelocks at the very start, killing the remaining ones had already cost their own side three or four soldiers dead or wounded.

Now fewer than thirty Qing soldiers remained on the walltop, each of two Fende Boshiku leading a dozen or so armored soldiers. Every one of them was battered and disheveled, many bearing wounds. Under the combined assault of Shunxiang Fortress’s firelock soldiers and pikemen, they watched their warriors fall one after another, yet were utterly helpless to do anything about it.

The most ruthless tactic of these Ming troops was to first fire with their firelock soldiers, killing or wounding many of their own warriors, and then have the pikemen charge in right after — wave after wave of assault, and it worked every time.

Those Qing soldiers saw the Ming troops on both sides of the walltop pressing closer and closer, the dense black muzzles at both ends lifting to take aim again. One Fende Boshiku cried out in despair: “Warriors of the Great Qing, let us die in battle here!”

They roared their war cries. The deafening roar of firelocks rang out once more, mingled with the clash of metal and iron, and the loud agonized screams of both sides as they died.

The two Fende Boshiku were shot down by firelocks. A dozen or so Qing soldiers were slain by the firelock soldiers and pikemen of Shunxiang Fortress. The last remaining Qing soldiers could not endure the terror in their hearts; one after another they scrambled and jumped down the scaling ladders, and several even leaped directly from the walltop. Without exception, they all broke their legs.

In the course of their flight, several more of them were killed by the firelock soldiers and pikemen on the wall. Those Qing soldiers who fell below the wall were either dead or wounded; most of them would likely have to quit the soldier’s life for good.

…

Watching their own soldiers flee in disgrace or fall from the walltop, the Qing soldiers below the wall were all stupefied. None of them could believe that warriors of the Great Qing could ever have such a wretched day. Those fleeing warriors all wore expressions of sheer terror; they paid absolutely no heed to the enemies behind them or on the walltop. Their one thought was to flee for their lives, and they did not hesitate to break their legs in the process.

Watching the few battered survivors flee down from the wall, the Niru Zhangjing stared blankly at the walltop. He had failed — and failed disastrously! Even if the Niru Zhangjing was unwilling to accept it, the facts told him exactly that.

Of the thirty-odd warriors who had stormed the walltop, and the fifty-seven warriors who had followed as reinforcements to scale the wall, aside from fewer than ten who fell wounded below the wall or fled down in terror, the rest, it seemed, had all perished.

He had brought two hundred battle soldiers and three hundred auxiliaries here. Before this mere Battalion Commander’s fortress, on the left-side wall alone, over one hundred seventy had been killed or wounded. Together with the forty-odd casualties on the right-side wall, his losses exceeded two hundred men. Among them were over one hundred twenty heavily armored battle soldiers, and even more critically, the seventeen most elite Heavy Armor Soldiers of his entire Niru.

In addition, multiple Fende Boshiku, Boshiku, and other officers of the Jalan and Niru had died. Losses so grievous made the Niru Zhangjing overcome with grief; he wept bitterly. He could well imagine the Jalan commander’s utterly furious expression when he returned.

Yet he lacked the courage to take his own life, and merely gave a frantic order to withdraw.

Horn calls rang out. The Qing troops below the wall all fled, leaving behind only corpses and equipment strewn across the walltop and below. Even their gravely wounded were abandoned without a second thought.

Yet they were defeated but not disordered; even in flight they remained methodical, giving the Ming troops on the wall no opening to exploit.

Watching the Qing troops flee, cheers erupted across the walltop. Word of victory spread into the fortress, and inside the walls there was also jubilation; several merchant households even set off firecrackers.

Wang Dou laughed heartily. Surrounded by a cluster of officers, he descended from the gate tower. Looking at the joy written on everyone’s faces, he issued a string of orders: “Clear the battlefield, tally equipment and heads, and tend to the wounded!”

He then said to Lin Daofu beside him: “Magistrate Lin, organize a group of able-bodied auxiliaries. Go outside the walls, take the heads and equipment of those Tartars, burn them, and then dig open the trenches again. Set up chevaux-de-frise, caltrops, and the like!”

He also instructed Lin Daofu to collect every weapon of the Qing dead and wounded outside the walls, strip off all their armor — let nothing go to waste. After their heads and corpses were dealt with, throw them all into the great pit in front of the new fortress west of the city. The many great pits there could bury at least ten thousand enemy corpses, and would also prevent the outbreak of plague in the sweltering heat.

The able-bodied men inside the fortress were under Lin Daofu’s unified management and organization. He clasped his fists, answered with a loud acknowledgment, and hurried off.

Wang Dou led his officers on an inspection of the walltop. He looked at the shattered hanging screens and straw sheds on the battlements, the chevaux-de-frise lying toppled and torn in every direction, the blood and corpses covering the ground. In his heart he sighed: “Truly brutal!”

It could not be denied: the fighting strength of the Qing soldiers at this time was extremely formidable, and the Shunxiang Fortress troops were mostly newly trained recruits. This daytime battle could be said to have been exceedingly difficult. Fortunately, Shunxiang Fortress had pulled through. With this invaluable battle experience, the Shunxiang Army would no longer harbor any fear when facing Qing soldiers in the future.

Swiftly, under Wang Dou’s orders, the battlefield cleanup began above and below the wall. Their own dead and wounded were all carried away and tended to. Auxiliaries lugged great buckets of water to wash down the walltop. As for the dead Qing soldiers’ bodies: their weapons were collected, their armor stripped off, their heads all chopped away. The naked corpses were all piled in one place, awaiting disposal. Qing wounded who were not yet dead were likewise dispatched with a spear thrust, and then their heads were hacked off with blades and axes. Later, these heads would be treated with lime — precious military merits.

The city gates opened. Several hundred able-bodied auxiliaries went outside the walls. They collected the heads, armor, and corpses of the Qing soldiers outside the city, burned the scaling ladders beneath the walls, burned the Qing shield-carts not far from the walls, dug open the trenches once more, and reset the chevaux-de-frise, caltrops, and other obstacles.

Under the covering aim of the Shunxiang Army’s firelock soldiers on the walltop, no Qing soldiers dared to come and harass them.

Moreover, after a burst of clamor, the other side had also fallen silent. It seemed they had begun to set up camp and light cooking fires.

…

“Come, come, everyone eat up, eat up.”

Large squads of auxiliaries organized by Lin Daofu carried up bucket after bucket of provisions.

The meal was sumptuous: great buckets of rice and steamed buns, great buckets of vegetable soup and meat broth, and two huge buckets of glistening, oily chunks of meat — all for the two pickets of soldiers who had fought to eat and drink their fill. Wang Dou had painstakingly prepared, stockpiling large quantities of grain, pigs, and sheep, precisely in readiness for this day.

As the auxiliaries carried the provisions up, smelling the aroma of the food, they could not stop swallowing their saliva. The battle-soldier brothers who had fought ate so well! Yet none of them felt envy. Every man looked at the soldiers of the two pickets who had fought with eyes full of admiration. These brothers had dared to fight the Tartars with real blades and real spears, using their own lives to protect the safety of the soldiers and civilians inside the fortress. All of Shunxiang Fortress, high and low, was filled with gratitude toward them.

The soldiers of the Shunxiang Army’s Right Picket and Front Picket, who had not fought just now, also came over one after another. They raised their thumbs to the soldiers of the Left Picket and Rear Picket: “Brothers, well done! Next, it’s our turn!”

The walltop was filled with laughter and cheerful talk. At noon, no one had eaten; all the way until this afternoon, they had fought on empty stomachs. Now that the food had arrived, they felt especially ravenous. The soldiers of the Left Picket and Rear Picket sat on the ground in formation atop the wall, each man eating and devouring meat in great mouthfuls. The tension and sorrow from moments before were swept clean away.

They talked and laughed loudly, discussing only the battle just fought. But when the talk turned to the brothers in their squads who had fallen during the fierce fighting, many again shed tears.

In the highest chamber of the gate tower, a large table had also been set. Upon it were laid wine and dishes. Wang Dou, Han Zhong, Han Chao, Wen Fangliang, Sun Sanjie, and the Disciplinary Officer Chi Dacheng sat around the table, also eating and drinking heartily.

Han Zhong wolfed down his food, stuffing chunk after chunk of meat into his mouth. Wang Dou watched him with a smile, lifted the wine pot, and poured him a small cup of wine, saying: “Brother Han, eat slower — careful you don’t choke.”

Han Zhong only responded with an incoherent mumble. Han Chao frowned at his younger brother and reproached him: “Second Brother, in front of His Excellency, you must mind your official bearing and decorum.”

Han Zhong still answered with an incoherent mumble, head lowered, still stuffing chunk after chunk of meat into his mouth.

Wang Dou said to Sun Sanjie, who was likewise buried in his food and drink: “Picket Officer Sun, your marksmanship is indeed outstanding. Killing two Tartar officers in succession greatly boosted our army’s morale — no small merit.”

On the right side of the wall, Sun Sanjie had sniped and killed a Qing Fende Boshiku and a Boshiku of the foot soldiers in succession, greatly lifting the morale of the Shunxiang Army on the walltop.

However, after killing that foot-soldier Boshiku, he had left the barbican’s crenellated wall to go direct his picket’s firelock soldiers in killing Qing soldiers on the right-side walltop — unaware that he had thereby escaped a calamity. Had he been a step later, the bows of several Qing Heavy Armor Soldiers below the wall would already have been aimed at him.

Now, hearing Wang Dou’s words, he hurriedly stood up and said: “This is entirely thanks to Your Excellency’s cultivation, which allowed this humble officer to command a full picket of soldiers. Your Excellency’s grace in promoting me — even if I were to go through fire and water, I could never repay it fully!”

His features were rough and rugged, but his voice was soft and spongy, which sounded rather bizarre.

Wang Dou smiled faintly. "Squad Commander Sun, you're too formal. Sit down and eat."

Sun Sanjie thanked him again, and only then sat down respectfully, his manner of eating much more refined than before.

Wen Fangliang glanced somewhat enviously at Han Zhong and Sun Sanjie. After this battle, the two men had earned no small military merit, and promotion was unavoidable.

He grinned cheekily at Wang Dou. "My lord, if there is more fighting, it should be our Forward Picket's turn, along with Squad Commander Han's Right Picket, to do battle?"

Han Zhong raised his head at that moment, his mouth still mumbling indistinctly. He called out, "Old Wen, with that tender fair skin of yours, I doubt those wives and concubines of yours at home would feel easy letting you go to the battlefield?"

Everyone laughed at that, though none dared laugh openly. Wang Dou had also heard that ever since the Qing troops invaded at the end of the sixth month, Wen Fangliang's wives and concubines, both senior and junior, had flocked to the temples to beseech the gods, begging the Buddha and deities to ensure their master was not struck by cannon fire, and preferably not sent to the battlefield at all — a matter that had become a private joke among the fort's officers.

Wen Fangliang did not get angry; he merely snorted. "The shallow views of women. What do those wenches understand? Only on the battlefield can we men prove our true worth."

Wang Dou smiled faintly. "Your turns will come. This war, I fear, has much fighting yet to come."

Everyone fell silent. Although the Qing troops outside the city had suffered a minor setback, their main force remained, especially since the raiding Qing army this time was not small. Shunxiang Fort would likely face a series of bitter battles ahead.

At that moment, Lin Daofu entered. He had been outside directing the auxiliary soldiers in clearing the battlefield while chewing on a few steamed buns. Wang Dou beckoned him to sit and eat, but he only repeatedly said there was no hurry; he would eat after the battlefield was cleared.

Now this tall officer strode in with great vigor, brimming with energy from head to toe. Beaming all over his face, he saluted Wang Dou and reported, "My lord, the results of this battle are in. In total, we took one hundred and forty-seven heads of the rebel slaves, among them seven enemy officers — Juandada, Zhuangda, and Fendeboshiku — and nineteen White Armor Soldiers of the slave rebels. We captured two hundred and fifteen long and short swords and spears of the slave rebels, thirty-four bows, and fifteen banners and standards. A great victory, my lord!"