Chapter 111: Volume 3: Defender of Shunxiang Fort, Chapter 111: Deploying the Formation

Suddenly, the Jia Lamel Zhangjing furrowed his brow. He saw, in the southwest direction, over ten of their own scouts galloping madly toward them.

Those ten-odd riders were all Qing armored troopers, led by a Fende Boshiku. He had been ordered to remain near Shunxiang Fort to monitor the movements of the Shunxiang army. Now he came in haste, his swift horse arriving before the Jia Lamel Zhangjing's great banner. He tumbled from the saddle, knelt on the ground, and reported: "Yanzha my lord, the Ming troops inside the fort have already marched out to come to the rescue. This slave estimates their numbers to be as many as a thousand men. Their armor and weapons are dense and imposing — all are elite soldiers from within the fort."

The Qing commanders present all drew a sharp breath, never expecting the Ming troops would truly dare to leave the fort and come to the rescue. The Jia Lamel Zhangjing sneered: "These Ming men have outrageous gall, truly daring to lead troops to relieve them. Very well, we shall wipe them out in one sweep in the open field, slaughter them until not a single piece of armor remains."

He bellowed the order to sound the gongs and withdraw the troops. Immediately, the sound of horns rang out, echoing across the skies above Dongjiazhuang and the entire battlefield. The Qing soldiers fighting atop the walls of Dongjiazhuang were all stunned. Many faces showed expressions of unwillingness, but at that moment Qing military discipline was ironclad. Once the withdrawal order sounded, not a single man dared disobey the command. They all scrambled down from the walls, fleeing by way of the various scaling ladders.

Seeing the Qing soldiers suddenly depart, Gao Shiyin and the others atop the wall all wore expressions of disbelief, scarcely daring to trust what they saw before their eyes. The Tartar soldiers had been on the verge of success, yet they abruptly left — could there be some trick or deception in this?

Everyone looked down below the wall and saw the attacking Qing soldiers receding like the tide, and it did not seem like a ruse.

As if a great burden had been lifted, everyone said one after another: "What happened?"

"Why did the Tartars withdraw?"

"Could it be that relief troops have arrived?"

Suddenly, a soldier pointed into the distance and shouted with joy: "The banner of Shunxiang Fort! It truly is my lord — my lord's relief troops have come."

The men looked urgently and indeed, under the sunlight, on the distant ground, many banners emerged. They could faintly make out that the banner color was the Ming army's favored red. Looking further, beneath each banner was a neatly ordered square formation. Within each square formation, most were a silver-gray expanse — the trademark unpainted gray iron armor unique to the Shunxiang army.

Those several square formations advanced slowly, and the sound of their orderly, powerful footsteps seemed to reach even Dongjiazhuang. That distinctive marching and combat formation — if not the Shunxiang army, then who else could it be?

A wave of cheering erupted atop the wall. Gao Shiyin and Yang Tong saw it clearly and laughed heartily at each other: "It truly is my lord come. My lord has not abandoned us brothers of Dongjiazhuang."

Yang Tong shouted ceaselessly with joy toward outside the wall. Suddenly, he recalled something, and his expression changed drastically: "My lord has marched out to rescue us, but to face the Tartar soldiers on this open ground..."

Gao Shiyin's laughter came to an abrupt halt.

The land surrounding Shunxiang Fort was flat and open, convenient for marching. In order to form battle ranks more quickly, after assembling the troops and setting out from the Shunxiang Fort parade ground, Wang Dou ordered every squad of soldiers to march in battle-square formation. From Shunxiang Fort to Dongjiazhuang, they traveled the entire way. Although everyone marched at a rapid pace, the Shunxiang army's daily training was grueling, and the concept of formation had long been ingrained in their minds. Thus, even during this march, their formation remained impeccably aligned. Should they encounter a large enemy force, they could be thrown into battle swiftly with only a slight reorganization.

During the march, they were divided into three echelons, front and rear. Han Zhong's Left Squad formed the vanguard, with some Night Scouts serving as picket riders. Sun Sanjie's Rear Squad formed the rearguard. Wang Dou's personal guard, standard-bearers, and Han Chao's Right Squad formed the main body. Additionally, within the main body were the Provost Chi Dacheng and some discipline officers, as well as Wang Tianxue leading some medical officers as medical personnel.

After these three squads of soldiers marched out of Shunxiang Fort, wave after wave of Qing picket riders came to scout them. Some picket riders even boldly rode close to observe. However, under the fire of several dozen Shunxiang Fort arquebusiers, they left behind some corpses and fled far away, merely monitoring from a distance, keeping their distance but not leaving.

Wang Dou could not be bothered with them. His party swaggered openly out of Shunxiang Fort, vigilantly maintaining their marching formation the entire way, and finally arrived below Dongjiazhuang Fort. Gazing at the distant walls of Dongjiazhuang, Wang Dou breathed a sigh of relief. The rescue had been timely after all; Dongjiazhuang had not yet fallen, and he could set his mind at ease.

Han Chao beside Wang Dou was also gazing intently at the walls of Dongjiazhuang. He suddenly said to Wang Dou in a low voice: "My lord braves extraordinary danger, personally leading troops to the rescue. I believe Brother Gao and the others must be overwhelmed with gratitude, moved to tears."

Wang Dou nodded and sighed: "Brother Han, I, Wang Dou, am a man of little talent, but I will never abandon any brother."

He looked toward the distant grand formation of Qing troops and laughed: "The Tartar soldiers are coming to meet us."

The sound of Qing horns rose continuously, and gradually they massed together, steadily advancing to meet them. Just outside Dongjiazhuang, at a distance of less than one li from each other, both sides came to a halt.

The Qing side, seeing that the Shunxiang army could maintain such order and solemnity while marching in the field, were all considerably startled. At the same time, each man's eyes blazed with fury. It was plainly evident that some of the armor worn by the Ming troops belonged to their own warriors who had fallen in battle. They never imagined these Ming men would dare to swagger about wearing it openly — it truly made one seethe with rage. When the field battle came, they must slaughter every one of these reckless, audacious Ming men.

Several Niru Zhangjing clustered beneath the great banner of the Jia Lamel Zhangjing. Around the Jia Lamel Zhangjing were all Bayara soldiers with red-tasseled flame-pole banners and Kabashe soldiers with flying-plume tiger banners. The Jia Lamel Zhangjing was a veteran of many battles. He had long since heard the detailed reports of the picket riders and had observed the Ming army's formation from afar.

He sneered: "By estimate, the Ming army opposite numbers six to seven hundred men, all uniformly able-bodied fighting men. Truly, that fort has a major general in command. Yet observing the Ming army's banners, it seems the Ming side has merely a lowly Squad Commander. Why would he have so many soldiers? How strange."

The others also pondered, all finding it peculiar.

The Jia Lamel Zhangjing stroked his beard and laughed heartily: "No matter what, they have come to their deaths. These Ming men are outrageously bold, daring to leave the city to do battle with us. Our Great Qing soldiers are invincible in the field. We shall certainly slaughter them here until not a single piece of armor remains, then charge into the fort and slaughter those Ming men until not even a chicken or dog is left alive."

"While they are weary from the march, it is the perfect moment to launch an immediate attack."

The Niru Zhangjing Ning'erjia hurriedly said: "Yanzha my lord, the firearms of the Ming troops in this region are sharp and deadly, unlike anything our Great Qing soldiers have ever seen. Moreover, for them to dare march out of the city, they must be emboldened by some reliance. This slave believes caution is still the wiser course."

The Jia Lamel Zhangjing roared in fury: "Ning'erjia, you dog of a slave, have those Ming men shattered your courage? You lost troops and commanders beneath that Ming fort, with hundreds of brave warriors dead or wounded — do you still have the face to speak here?"

The Niru Zhangjing Ning'erjia's face flushed crimson. He muttered obsequiously and withdrew. Yesterday, he had lost troops and commanders beneath Shunxiang Fort, not only squandering the elite soldiers of other Niru but also utterly depleting the finest of his own Niru. Within this Jia Lamel, he no longer had any standing to speak.

Seeing him rebuked by the Jia Lamel Zhangjing, the other Niru Zhangjing all cast gloating glances his way. His in-law, Niugulu, glanced at him but could not easily say anything.

The Jia Lamel Zhangjing deployed his troops and arranged his formation, preparing to attack. It turned out that within his Jia Lamel's Qing forces, there were over 1,500 soldiers in total, of whom over 500 were armored fighting men, and the remainder were unarmored attendants and auxiliary troops.

However, in yesterday's battle, the Qing troops had suffered over two hundred casualties beneath the walls of Shunxiang Fort. Among them, over 120 were heavily armored fighting men, along with the seventeen most elite Heavy Armor Soldiers of the Niru Zhangjing's own Niru. Beneath Dongjiazhuang, there had been another fifty-odd casualties, of whom over twenty more were heavily armored fighting men.

Thus, the fighting men within this Jia Lamel had already lost over 140 men, with fewer than 400 fighting men remaining. Yet this Jia Lamel believed that in a field battle, merely dispatching one hundred fighting men and three hundred auxiliaries would be sufficient to shatter those audacious Ming troops opposite them.

However, after the battles at Shunxiang Fort and Dongjiazhuang, the Jia Lamel Zhangjing also recognized that the Ming troops of this region were out of the ordinary. He decided to send forth over three hundred fighting men and three hundred auxiliaries to launch the attack, using the force of a thunderbolt to utterly annihilate this Ming force before his eyes.

He issued a flurry of orders, and the fighting men and auxiliaries of each Niru Zhangjing came forth in succession. Apart from the two Niru Zhangjing, Ning'erjia and Niugulu, who had suffered grievous losses yesterday, the remaining three Niru Zhangjing all personally led their troops into battle.

Two of the Niru Zhangjing led the infantry. Each assigned forty armored horsemen from his own Niru to serve as death soldiers, clad in double-layered heavy armor, to spearhead the charge against the formation. Then, the foot archers from each Niru would provide archery support. Finally, the two Niru Zhangjing would each lead the seventeen Bayara soldiers and two Kabashe soldiers from their own Niru to serve as shock troops, every man clad in triple-layered heavy armor, leading and supervising the 150 auxiliaries from each Niru to exploit the breach and assault the formation.

The remaining one Niru Zhangjing led over a hundred elite cavalry, each man clad in double-layered heavy armor, with two horses per man. They waited on the flank, poised to strike. Once the forward echelon scattered the Ming formation, or if any gap appeared, they would launch continuous charges and pursuit.

It was evident that with such an arrangement, the Jia Lamel Zhangjing had staked a great deal. Setting aside those fighting men, even the Qing auxiliaries, armed with blades and spears, though most wore no armor, the Jia Lamel Zhangjing believed that even the combat power of these unarmored attendants under his command was more than sufficient to surpass the fighting men of those Ming troops opposite.

Watching the Qing infantry and cavalry emerge from their formation and press forward, their red-and-white intermingled banners and armor becoming ever clearer, the Shunxiang army's side was uniformly solemn and silent.

Han Chao said to Wang Dou in a low voice: "When the slave-thieves do battle, the death soldiers are in front, the shock troops behind. The death soldiers wear heavy armor and do not retreat even in death; behind them follow lightly armored soldiers skilled in archery. Last are the slave-thieves' elite cavalry, both man and horse clad in heavy armor. They wait until our firearms have discharged, then burst forth suddenly, especially adept at striking left and right. They do not advance unless they see advantage — now distant, now near, now many, now few, now massed, now scattered, now appearing, now vanishing. Between movement and stillness, their momentum is extremely treacherous and most difficult to defend against."

Wang Dou nodded slightly. Based on his understanding of history, and the battle at Shunxiang Fort the previous day, the Qing infantry indeed employed this kind of tactic.

As for their cavalry, they were exceedingly difficult to guard against — erratic and unpredictable, often striking from both flanks or attacking the side. One moment of carelessness, and if they found an opening, they would break through from the flank. In truth, their cavalry had yet another tactic: using death soldiers to spur their horses and charge the formation. Those death soldiers not only wore double-layered heavy armor themselves, but their horses were likewise draped in iron armor and padded cotton armor. Moreover, each man had two horses, so if one horse was injured, he could switch to the spare.

However, such heavy armored cavalry were extremely elite, the kind of crack troops found only under the Gushan Ejen of each banner or under the various Beile of the banners. Ordinary Jia Lamel presumably did not possess them.