Chapter 115: Volume Three: Shunxiang Fort Garrison Commander, Chapter 114: Mounted Archery

Volume Three: Shunxiang Fort Garrison Commander, Chapter 114: Mounted Archery

These White Armor soldiers all wore gleaming helmets and gleaming armor. Inside they wore chain mail, outside they wore iron-studded cotton armor, the armor plates exposed, each piece that kind of fine, thick, solid willow-leaf iron plate, coated with silver-glittering white lacquer. On the front and back chest was a huge protective bronze mirror, on their iron helmets tall red tassels, ear guards, neck guards, brow guards all complete, and on their backs a flame-bordered banner danced with the wind.

These White Armor soldiers all carried heavy weapons in their hands — some held huge round hammers, some held thick iron whips, some carried heavy iron swords, some held thick long tiger spears, some carried long-handled iron slicing blades or tiger-tooth blades. On their backs they all bore large foot-archery bow cases, and some were also covered with throwing weapons like flying axes and iron bone-spikes.

Among these White Armor soldiers, the one charging at the very front was again a White Armor squad leader, this squad leader had a full-cheeked curly beard, his bronze-colored face covered with the marks of wind and frost, broad-shouldered and long-armed. Tiger-backed and bear-waisted, one look told he was the kind of battle-hardened, combat-experienced warrior. On his body too were red-tasseled gleaming armor, and on his back was stuck a slant-tipped flame-bordered banner pole.

In his right hand at some point a heavy flying axe had already appeared, his gaze sharp as a hawk's, as if he had already locked onto some prey to strike.

Behind these White Armor soldiers was that niru commander holding the great banner, several White Armor soldiers and kabsha soldiers tightly guarding his side, those armored and unarmored Qing soldiers and followers, also under the lead of their respective squad leaders and junior headmen, shouting as they charged up.

After scattering those armored cavalry soldiers, Right Sentinel Company B's company commander Huang Yujin again directed his brothers to continue charging and killing, his left arm somewhat stiff — in the melee just now, an armored cavalry soldier had slashed him heavily with one blade, luckily the iron armor on his body held firm, this blade did not cause him much injury, but under the heavy slashing force, the muscle tissue of his left arm was already somewhat damaged.

The two guards beside him likewise bore wounds, one had the armor on his right chest split open, the wound there incessantly oozing fresh blood, he was utterly unaware, only shouting and charging along with Huang Yujin. The standard-bearer before him was intact and unharmed.

Seeing those White Armor soldiers coming to kill, Huang Yujin raised his long blade and bellowed: "Brothers, kill the Tatars!"

Squad after squad of long-spear soldiers, again shouting, followed him as they lunged forward. In charging and killing the enemy, the harsh training Shunxiang Fort usually conducted exerted its instinct. Right Sentinel Company B indeed placed great emphasis on formation coordination, their company banner in the center, on both sides one squad each of long-spearmen, behind them likewise one row of three squads of long-spear soldiers.

Every row of soldiers was on the same straight line, no soldier or long-spear squad was permitted to exceed this line. If a certain squad's soldiers had no enemy before them, then that squad's soldiers, under the judgment and command of the squad leader, would assist the adjacent long-spear squad in launching attacks against the enemy's two flanks.

Precisely because of such coordination, Right Sentinel Company B's ordinary long-spear soldiers scattered those Qing armored cavalry who displayed only individual valor, making them flee in terror in all directions.

However, in the battle just now, Right Sentinel Company B also had three men killed in action, several wounded, among them one squad leader, that squad's command authority already transferred to the squad deputy. After the formation was split and deployed, the squad leader fought together with the long-spear squad, with the squad leader's command, the squad deputies had already become ordinary combat soldiers, but according to Shunxiang Fort's regulations, if in battle the squad leader was killed, the squad deputy would take over the command authority. Wang Dou also stipulated that if the squad deputy was killed, the soldier in the squad with deeper skill would take over command authority — in short, keeping the army's command structure from scattering.

Besides the soldiers killed in action, at this moment all wounded soldiers of Right Sentinel Company B were persisting in fighting, the close combat with the Qing soldiers just now had doubled their courage. Han Chao's Right Sentinel had only fought mountain bandits before, but through the experience just now, they discovered they too could fight those elite Tatars to a standstill — it seemed the rumored ferociously brave Tatar soldiers were nothing more than this.

The confidence and courage to kill the enemy made them overcome fatigue and pain, under company commander Huang Yujin's command, their battle cries rolled across the earth like spring thunder.

Huang Yujin commanded the soldiers to charge, seeing those White Armor soldiers lunging toward them, suddenly his vision darkened, as he saw several things flying this way, those heavy objects spinning and whirling, exceedingly fierce.

Huang Yujin gave a great shout, deflected an iron bone-spike flying toward his face, one guard beside him gave a miserable cry, a flying axe had cut into his neck, that flying axe had a rope wound around it, it seemed the other side at the instant of throwing had pulled the rope, that flying axe spun as it advanced, when it cut into that guard's neck, it caused him a huge wound, the other side pulled again, that flying axe left him. A gush of fresh blood sprayed from that guard's neck.

That guard still staggered forward charging, until after running several steps, he weakly collapsed to the ground.

Then there was the squad leader of a long-spear squad on the right of the company banner, an iron bone-spike stuck in his right face, the bone there completely shattered, and on the iron armor of his chest, a flying axe was also deeply cut in. That squad leader held his banner-spear upright, plus his squad's long-spearmen were charging at the front, especially drawing attention, among the wave of sharp weapons thrown, two had greeted him.

Pained groans sounded one after another, this wave of weapon throwing had actually caused the death and injury of several soldiers in the front and rear of Right Sentinel Company B, several Shunxiang soldiers crying out in pain as they fell to the ground.

The foremost wave already had seven or eight White Armor soldiers lunging close, metal clashing against metal, the two sides collided together.

That White Armor squad leader, after he threw his flying axe and killed one of Huang Yujin's guards, Huang Yujin along with the remaining guard and standard-bearer had already charged close, that guard's long spear thrust straight at his heart, that squad leader nimbly twisted his body, that long spear scraped past the armor plates at his side, he had already drawn the two-handed heavy sword from his waist and back, that heavy sword slashed down heavily. That guard's head flew up into the air, a rain of blood sprayed out, his headless corpse twisted a few times, heavily crashed to the ground.

Huang Yujin's eyes went red, this guard was like his own blood brother to him, yet died so miserably, he gave a great roar, from that squad leader's side and rear, the long blade in his hand slashed heavily toward his head. This blade was bound to be unavoidable, unexpectedly that squad leader without any hesitation, threw his head back. Raised his arm, using the armor on his arm and waist-back to meet Huang Yujin's long blade, a heavy clang, the sound of bone shattering came, that squad leader although wearing double layers of heavy armor, his entire arm and shoulder area was still nearly chopped off by Huang Yujin.

That squad leader roared in agony, the heavy sword in his right hand swung up and slashed down fiercely, heavily slashing across Huang Yujin's shoulder and neck area, the iron armor split open, revealing the stark white bone inside, Huang Yujin was in so much pain he nearly fainted, he swayed unsteadily, that standard-bearer rushed a step forward, went up and supported him.

That squad leader lunged forward again, just about to add another sword strike, three long spears from the squad of long-spearmen in the middle of the rear row had already thrust toward him, he chopped and broke two spearheads, but the long spear thrusting toward his right rib area he could not break, that long spear broke through his two layers of heavy armor, from his right rib area deeply stabbed into his body.

That squad leader's whole body convulsed in pain, suddenly he gave a roar, actually used his left hand to twist and break the shaft of that long spear, pressed a step closer, the heavy sword in his hand thrust straight into that long-spear soldier's lower abdomen, that long-spear soldier was in unbearable pain, large clumps of blood surged from his mouth, he tightly grabbed that sword blade and would not let go.

From the corner of his eye, that squad leader saw a long-spear soldier whose spearhead he had chopped off, discard the wooden shaft in his hand, draw the long blade at his waist, viciously slashing fiercely toward his head.

…

At the same time as fighting this squad leader, this squad's remaining long-spear soldiers, including the squad leader, again faced the two White Armor soldiers lunging from behind.

A rain of blood sprayed, that squad leader's head flew into the sky, those two White Armor soldiers seeing that squad leader beheaded, their eyes all showed expressions of disbelief. They roared like thunder. Very quickly, those two long-spear soldiers whose spearheads had been chopped off, after drawing blades and killing that squad leader, also urgently brandished their blades and charged forward to meet them.

Huang Yujin was heavily wounded, he struggled to support himself on the company banner, only directing the battle, that standard-bearer then drew his blade, guarding at his side.

The melee on the battlefield was bloody and cruel, in the blink of an eye, several men on both sides were already dead or wounded. Many times when the two sides made contact, after one exchange there was no more chance, this required the coordination of eyesight and strength, any technique was useless.

Just now the squad leader of the long-spear squad on the right of the company banner had been hit, he roared in extreme pain, from some unknown source of strength, still held his spear upright and struggled to charge forward. Facing his squad were two White Armor soldiers, among them the one on the right holding a thick iron whip, the one on the left holding an iron long-handled slicing blade.

Amid that squad leader's great shout, this squad's long-spear soldiers split into two groups to meet the two men, two long spears thrust toward that White Armor soldier holding the iron whip, one long spear thrust from the front at his heart position, one long spear thrust from the side at his left rib position, that squad leader with an iron bone-spike stuck in his face, a flying axe stuck in his chest, his face and body covered in blood, he swayed unsteadily, still held his banner-spear upright and persisted in commanding, the gaze from the corner of his eye still watching the White Armor soldiers continuing to charge from behind.

Shunxiang Fort soldiers bitterly practiced thrusting every day, many people practicing thrusting from twenty paces away could all hit the target position, they screamed as they charged, their might not to be underestimated. The two long spears thrusting toward that White Armor soldier holding the iron whip had fierce momentum, cleverly coordinated, extremely difficult to block, whichever one hit would be fatal.

Watching the long spears thrusting at him, that White Armor soldier's eyes flashed with a surprised expression, he had not expected Ming army spear momentum to be so fierce and vicious, in his many years in the army, he seemed to have rarely encountered this, but he was battle-hardened, alarmed but not flustered, fiercely whipped at the long spear thrusting toward his heart, knocking its spearhead askew, and also bumped into the adjacent long spear, making it scrape past the armor at his side.

At the same time he rushed a step forward, the iron whip in his hand heavily struck the head of that soldier thrusting toward his heart, that soldier's helmet shattered, brain matter and fresh blood splattered everywhere, he screamed as he fell backward, rolling on the ground crying out in pain.

But he forgot that squad leader standing to the side, as that squad leader seized this opportunity, he gave a roar, used all the strength in his body, spear like a swimming dragon, the banner-spear in his hand in one thrust stabbed into that White Armor soldier's throat. That White Armor soldier struggled to look at that squad leader, his eyes full of disbelief.

That squad leader's face revealed a joyful smile, his face covered in blood, an iron bone-spike still stuck in his right face, that smile however appeared somewhat hideous. After he thrust out that one spear, the strength in his whole body also seemed to leave him, he could hold on no longer, crashed to the ground with a boom, already dead, only that joyful and proud smile still remaining on his face.

The White Armor soldiers behind continued to come killing, the long-spear soldiers of the rear squad charged forward several steps, protecting the flank of the front squad of long-spear soldiers.

…

Wang Dou closed his eyes, the fierce melee ahead was only a dozen, twenty-some paces from the circular formation, looking from a small raised platform temporarily erected at the central army, the situation ahead could be seen clearly.

It could be seen that the battle was incomparably brutal, his own side's soldiers' coordination and tactics were also highly effective, after all combat relied not on individual valor but on group coordination, on the battlefield no matter how formidable an individual was, they could not match collective strength, very few enemy troops could defend against long spears thrusting from several directions at once.

However his own side after all were soldiers newly drilled not long ago, their battlefield combat experience and skill were far from comparable to the most elite White Armor soldiers among the Qing troops, perhaps for every White Armor soldier killed, it required exchanging two to three of his own long-spear soldiers, although this exchange ratio was worth it, after all White Armor soldiers were the elite of each Qing niru, requiring at least ten years to cultivate, one dead meant one fewer, while he could train a long-spear soldier in less than a year.

But men are not grass and trees, how can one be without feeling? Those soldiers were all painstakingly cultivated by himself, watching them killed and wounded, how could Wang Dou not feel heartache?

Wang Dou estimated Right Sentinel Company B's soldier casualties were not small, his heart felt like it was being cut by a knife, sighing he closed both eyes.

But very quickly, he opened his eyes again, a resolute expression appearing in his eyes, and shouted: "Right Sentinel Company C, enter the battle."

Han Chao gritted his teeth, and also heavily nodded his head.

The drumbeats rose again, a wave of several dozen Shunxiang soldiers again shouting charged out, they held their long spears upright, urgently rushing past the front of Right Sentinel Company B to engage the battle. The remaining soldiers of Right Sentinel Company B, then took the chance to withdraw back and regroup.

When withdrawing to regroup, Company B's company commander Huang Yujin could not help shedding tears, in this wave of battle, he estimated they had killed four Qing armored cavalry soldiers, wounded three, and also killed three or four Qing archers and unarmored followers. Of those White Armor soldiers they also killed five, and estimated wounded three of them. But he himself had also lost thirteen men killed in action, among them two were his own guards, one was a squad leader, two were squad deputies, in addition seven or eight men had wounds of varying severity, even he himself was heavily wounded.

His company's long-spear soldiers, were already completely crippled.

Wang Dou summoned Huang Yujin over, comforted him with kind words, Wang Dou promised him that after the battle, he would certainly request commendations for this company's soldiers. Seeing him sway unsteadily, Wang Dou had Wang Tianxue lead the medics to treat Huang Yujin and the others' wounds, the people inside the circular formation also looked with admiration at Huang Yujin and the others, fighting to the death without retreating, bodies bearing multiple wounds, truly brave men.

Wang Dou looked toward the forward position, from there again came the sounds of fierce melee, Wang Dou estimated that including the earlier arquebus fire, plus the close-quarters bloody battle just now, this niru of Qing soldiers, the total casualties before and after should be above sixty men, among them more than half were the most elite armored cavalry soldiers and White Armor soldiers of this niru, they should also be nearly unable to hold on.

…

Dust and smoke rolled, the sound of iron hooves rang out, after Han Chao's Right Sentinel sent out another company of long-spear soldiers to battle, that unit of Qing elite cavalry Wang Dou had been watching all along moved out.

Earlier they had gathered far away at a place over two hundred paces outside the Shunxiang army's circular formation, utterly silent, but toward their movements, Wang Dou had not dared to be the slightest bit careless, now that they moved out, Wang Dou instead breathed a sigh of relief.

Battle cries rose, yet another niru commander led his several hundred infantry, charging toward the circular formation's right side at Sun Sanjie's Rear Sentinel position. Wang Dou was even more at ease, directly in front of the circular formation the enemy and his own side were locked in tangled combat, cavalry could not attack, on the right there was also enemy infantry attacking, it seemed the Qing iron cavalry would only attack the left and rear parts of his circular formation.

Then those Qing cavalry charged closer and closer, and indeed it was so.

Fortunately the circular formation Wang Dou had deployed had no concept of left and right flanks or rear, every facing was a front, forces were evenly distributed, in defense, there were no weak points.

He loudly shouted orders to meet the battle, the arquebus soldiers at the remaining three positions of the circular formation all prepared, at Han Zhong's Left Sentinel position, a company commander in charge of the arquebus soldiers there loudly shouted: "Arquebusiers, prepare."

After yesterday’s battle, because of casualties in the Left Picket, and because a squad of soldiers had been transferred to defend the rear of the circular formation, only sixty-five arquebusiers were deployed here. The front three ranks still numbered forty-five men; only the arquebusiers posted at the two corners of the circular formation numbered twenty men, ten on each side, each divided into two ranks standing solemnly.

At the squad commander’s order, with a clatter, the arquebusiers directly to the front all had their first two ranks crouch and the rear rank stand, and again checked their match cords, powder, and other conditions. Only at the two corners did the arquebusiers’ front rank crouch while the rear rank stood solemnly.

Seeing that the Qing cavalry over there had already quickened their charge and were about to enter a hundred paces, the squad commander again shouted: “Rear rank, prepare to fire.”

Amid the sounds of arquebuses shifting, at once the arquebusiers standing in the third rank directly to the front, as well as the second-rank arquebusiers at the two corners, all raised their pieces and aimed at the charging Qing armored cavalry. Those horsemen, each man with two horses, were all the finest Heavy Armor Soldiers, horse-armored soldiers, and foot-armored soldiers of that niru, numbering over a hundred men. The hoofbeats of several hundred horses were dense, dust flew, and the very earth seemed to shake violently under the pounding of the iron hooves.

The impact of this cavalry charge was so awe-inspiring that not only were the hearts of those arquebusiers in front pounding violently without cease and their faces flushing bright red, but even the Left Picket pikemen inside the circular formation all changed color; many had bean-sized beads of sweat rolling down their foreheads, whether from the sun or from their own tension.

In the blink of an eye, the Qing elite cavalry charged within a hundred paces, the shaking of the earth growing even more violent, pounding at men’s hearts with a thumping din. Watching the dense mass of cavalry surging in like a tide, many arquebusiers gripped their pieces so tightly that their knuckles turned white.

Sixty paces.

“Fire!”

A cloud of smoke billowed up from the left side of the circular formation; first several flashes of flame rose from the left corner, then spread across the entire left face of the circular formation.

The deafening roar of arquebuses rang out; the twenty-five arquebusiers of the rear rank fired in unison. Men shouted and horses screamed, and at once several Qing soldiers were knocked from their mounts. Shoot the horse before the rider; because of the arc of the circular formation, starting from the left corner, some arquebusiers fired at those cavalrymen from the flank. Moreover, horses were large targets, and the Qing soldiers each had two horses; in all, over ten horses were struck by the Shunxiang Fort arquebus fire.

The Qing army’s horses had never heard such loud arquebus fire; the deafening sound frightened them. In addition, some horses were hit, and the immense pain and shock drove them into a rage; they bucked and plunged wildly or rolled on the ground. Some Qing soldiers could not control the maddened horses; several were thrown from their mounts, and two unlucky wretches were even trampled into pulp by the horses charging up from behind. The Qing cavalry charge was instantly thrown into disorder.

The squad commander had no time to carefully observe the results ahead; he merely shouted: “Rear rank, withdraw and disperse. First and second ranks, prepare.”

At once the arquebusiers who had fired hurriedly withdrew into the formation. Of the two crouching front ranks, the second rank stood up while the first rank continued to crouch; they again nervously aimed their arquebuses at the Qing elite cavalry continuing to charge forward.

Those Qing soldiers struggled to control their horses, keeping their bodies as low as possible; in the blink of an eye they charged up again. The deafening roar of arquebuses rang out once more; a total of forty arquebuses poured scorching shot and smoke at those elite cavalrymen with abandon.

At such close range, at once another ten-odd Qing soldiers screamed and were knocked from their horses, and more than twenty horses were killed or gravely wounded. Drenched in blood, they went even more berserk, bolting wildly to the rear or to the sides, throwing the Qing soldiers’ ranks into even greater chaos.

Seeing this situation, Wang Dou’s anxious heart settled. He estimated that over half of the horse-armored soldiers charging at the very front of the first wave had already been lost. Although the foot-armored and Heavy Armor cavalry behind still spurred their horses on, charging from both sides of the disordered horses, the impact of these men’s charge had already greatly diminished and posed no real threat to his own side.

From the fighting just now, Wang Dou could also be certain that in the future, without needing chevaux-de-frise or wagon formations, he could use arquebusiers alone to effectively withstand the attacks of Qing armored cavalry.

After those arquebusiers finished firing, they hurriedly dashed back into the formation. At the same time, the spear-and-shield soldiers and pikemen inside the Left Picket circular formation also prepared to meet the attack; they raised their long pikes, and a forest of coldly gleaming pike-points at once aimed at those charging horses. The two front ranks of spear-and-shield soldiers also urgently raised their shields, completely screening the entire formation.

Wave after wave of Qing elite cavalry reined their horses past, just over ten paces outside the circular formation, flinging a shower of throwing knives, javelins, as well as throwing axes and iron-bone maces, while some skilled archers loosed arrows. A series of muffled groans came from within the circular formation; those Qing soldiers, mounted high on their horses with a broad field of view, from time to time struck some of the Shunxiang troops inside the circular formation with javelins or throwing axes.

Moreover, their throwing axes and javelins mostly had a cord wound around the rear end; at the moment of release, pulling the cord made the throwing axe or javelin spin forward, embedding itself in the opponent’s shield upon impact. With a single pull back, it could pierce and destroy the shield or armor.

After the first several waves of Qing elite cavalry swept past, the shields of the spear-and-shield soldiers on the left side of the circular formation were nearly swept clean away. The Qing armored cavalry following behind spurred their horses on, loosing sharp arrows in volleys and again hurling a great quantity of throwing knives, throwing axes, iron-bone maces, and the like. The Qing soldiers’ cavalry bows were of low power, and the Shunxiang troops were nearly all armored; as long as they were not struck in the face, wounds were generally not serious. But what was deadly were their throwing axes, javelins, and such; if struck by one, a man would be gravely wounded if not killed.

Groans of pain rang out continuously; the pikemen and spear-and-shield soldiers arrayed on this side were struck one after another. In the blink of an eye, over ten men on this side became casualties. Because the arquebusiers here had just fired and had no time to reload, and had no cover, the feeling of only being able to take hits without being able to strike back was enough to make a man break down.

Fortunately, at that moment the Right Picket arquebusiers, who had been idle inside the circular formation, surged over. From the two corners of that section of the circular formation, or boldly rushing in front of the spear-and-shield soldiers, they opened fire one after another at the Qing cavalrymen spurring their horses toward them.

At a distance of a dozen-odd paces, such a large target, and firing from the flank — by the time these Qing cavalrymen finished charging past this section of the circular formation, over a dozen of them, along with numerous horses, had fallen under the bombardment of the Right Picket arquebusiers.

What the Qing soldiers found even more unexpected was that after their first several waves of cavalry charged past this section of the circular formation and passed through the defensive zone at the rear of the formation, the arquebuses at the corner and the front face there likewise opened fire from the flank in volleys. By the time they came to their senses and frantically spurred their horses into the distance, at this rear position of the circular formation they had left behind another dozen-odd corpses, as well as many horses killed or wounded.