Chapter 116: Volume Three: Defender of Shunxiang Fort — Chapter 116: The Astonishment of Drillmaster Xu

Volume Three: Defender of Shunxiang Fort — Chapter 116: The Astonishment of Drillmaster Xu

The soldiers and civilians of Dongjiazhuang, upon the arrival of Wang Dou and his men, prostrated themselves one after another, each weeping and thanking the Shunxiang troops for their rescue.

Amid the thanks, the soldiers of Shunxiang Fort, heads held high and ranks in perfect order, entered Dongjiazhuang Fort through the gate column by column. Pride showed on every face, yet no one thought it inappropriate — they had risked their lives to come to the rescue from Shunxiang Fort, and they deserved this gratitude from the people of Dongjiazhuang.

Yang Tong hurriedly arranged for the Shunxiang Fort soldiers to rest in the barracks on Northwest Street, and the horses were led to the stables to be fed. Seeing that evening was approaching, Wang Dou dispatched two Night Scouts to return to Shunxiang Fort to report their safety, and also ordered fires lit and meals prepared. The slain and wounded Qing army horses were boiled and roasted for eating, and every soldier and civilian in the fort received a share — the whole place was jubilant.

Gao Shiyin, as host, naturally entertained Wang Dou and his men in the Dongjiazhuang Company Commander's hall, and everyone ate large chunks of horse meat.

All present were military men, and all were close brothers, so naturally there was none of that refined etiquette. Each wolfed down his food, cheeks and beards covered in broth and meat juices.

Yang Tong stood up, opened his gap-toothed mouth, raised his wine bowl, and said loudly, "My lord came from afar to rescue us — this grace and virtue I shall never forget. Come, come, let us all toast my lord."

Everyone roared in response, and Wang Dou also laughed, saying, "Good, I shall drink with you all."

He tilted his head back and drained the bowl of wine in one gulp.

Everyone cheered loudly, praising his capacity for drink.

Han Zhong called out to Gao Shiyin, "Old Gao, this time the lord and I braved extraordinary peril to come rescue you — how are you going to thank us?"

Gao Shiyin glared and said, "How am I to thank you? Old Gao here is so poor he clinks when he walks — do you expect me to pledge myself to you in marriage?"

The laughter grew even louder, and Wang Dou shook his head, smiling.

After the meal, the Disciplinary Officer Chi Dacheng also finished tallying the spoils of this engagement: sixty-eight heads taken, a large portion of which were elite armored cavalry, armored infantry, and Heavy Armor Soldiers among the Qing troops. Seized were one hundred fifty-three swords and spears, forty-six throwing axes, javelins, and iron maces, and fifty-seven infantry bows and horn bows.

Separated into categories of ironless cotton armor, iron-studded cotton armor, willow-leaf iron armor, and chain mail, they also captured one hundred thirty-two sets of Qing army armor, plus forty-one round shields and other shields. Also seized were thirteen fine warhorses and several dozen dead horses, all carried into the fort for meat.

As before, these captured armor sets, round shields, swords, and spears were all covered in holes and notches and would need repair.

Wang Dou estimated that the Qing army's actual casualties were higher, but in field combat, when the main enemy force does not break, it is impossible to seize all the enemy corpses into one's own hands. He reckoned some bodies had been snatched back by them, and since Wang Dou had not ordered pursuit, those wounded Qing soldiers who could still move had taken the chance to flee.

In addition, the Dongjiazhuang soldiers had taken fourteen heads and captured various Qing army armor, swords, spears, and shields.

Adding the one hundred forty-seven heads taken beneath the walls of Shunxiang Fort the day before, in total, over these few days of fighting, the Shunxiang army had already taken two hundred twenty-nine Qing soldier heads and seized countless spoils. In the Great Ming, this already counted as an enormously great merit.

Even though Wang Dou had only just been promoted, after this battle a promotion of two or three ranks was certain, and each unit would surely receive its own promotions and rewards — this made everyone beam with delight.

However, the Shunxiang army's casualties in this battle were not light. Not to mention the Dongjiazhuang soldiers, who suffered over thirty casualties, with as many as twenty-five killed in action. Even the Shunxiang Fort soldiers had sixty-six casualties, and counting those gravely wounded beyond help, the estimated death toll reached forty-four. Most of the casualties fell on Han Zhong's Left Picket and Han Chao's Right Picket.

In yesterday's fighting, the Shunxiang army had already suffered seventy-four casualties, and counting those gravely wounded who died, a total of fifty-one were killed in action. Adding today's, in just a few short days, the Shunxiang Fort soldiers alone had already lost nearly a hundred men in battle. Wang Dou sighed heavily — so many brothers dead and wounded, his own forces had suffered no small loss; by his reckoning, one full picket had been crippled.

Wang Dou led his men to visit the wounded soldiers being treated in the barracks. Many of them had suffered arrow wounds. The Qing army's archery was vicious — many of their arrowheads carried barbs. Pulling them out rashly would cause even greater injury, even severing the blood vessels within and causing the wounded man to bleed out and die.

For such arrows, the method Wang Tianxue and the physicians used was to insert a specially shaped spoon into the wound, attach the barbed arrowhead inside onto the spoon, and then pull it out, thus avoiding severe damage to the surrounding area.

However, in order to smoothly insert this spoon into the wound, when extracting the arrow, a sharp small knife had to be used to cut open the flesh on both sides of the wound a little more, and then the spoon was probed steadily inward. This process could be said to be excruciating, subjecting the wounded soldier to a second round of injury and agony. Yet however agonizing, it was still better than pulling out a barbed arrowhead directly.

When Wang Dou arrived at the place where the wounded were being treated, waves of piercing, wretched screams rang out, and wafts of medicinal smell and the stench of blood drifted over. Wang Tianxue and the physicians were bustling about without pause — cutting and digging out arrowheads, washing wounds, applying medicine and bandaging. In the vessels beside them, boiling water bubbled and seethed.

Looking at the scene before him, Han Zhong said bitterly, "The Tartar soldiers' arrows are truly vicious, but when they get hit by our musket balls, they fare no better."

Han Chao said, "After such a heavy setback, the slave bandits should withdraw their troops. I think there will be no more fighting in the Shunxiang Fort territory."

Gao Shiyin, Yang Tong, and Sun Sanjie all agreed with his view. Wang Dou said thoughtfully, "We must not let down our guard. The slave bandits bite back at the slightest provocation — who knows whether they will come again. We must still be vigilant."

Everyone nodded solemnly.

…

The eleventh day of the seventh month, ninth year of Chongzhen. Early morning.

At the beginning of the mao hour, just as the sky was starting to lighten, Wang Dou and his commanders were all gazing out from the walls of Dongjiazhuang. They saw that at the Qing army's main camp two li south of the town, men were shouting and horses neighing, and columns of Qing soldiers were striking camp and forming ranks. Gradually their red and white armor and banners merged into one mass. It looked as though they were about to withdraw.

These Qing soldiers had finally come to their senses — assaults on the town had gone badly, and in field combat, their pride, they had gained no advantage. Trying to plunder this area yielded no profit, resupply was inconvenient, and provisions were hard to sustain. At last they were leaving.

Seeing the Qing soldiers about to go, everyone on the wall was delighted. Yang Tong pressed his palms together and said devoutly, "Thank Heaven and thank Earth, these Tartars are finally leaving. Later I shall go to the City God Temple on East Street to pay my respects and burn incense to fulfill my vow."

Everyone looked at Wang Dou. Han Chao ventured, "My lord, shall we pursue?"

Wang Dou said coldly, "Of course we shall pursue. Do they think they can leave that easily? Do they take my Shunxiang Fort for an inn, coming and going as they please?"

"I will make them know the might of my Shunxiang army, so that hereafter the very thought of this place fills them with fear, and they will startle awake from nightmares."

He ordered Gao Shiyin and Yang Tong to continue guarding Dongjiazhuang Town strictly, while the Shunxiang Fort soldiers would follow him out of the town to pursue. But he added one instruction: "When leaving the town, maintain strict and orderly ranks. If no opportunity presents itself, do not act rashly. Also send word to Jingbian Fort — have them come out as well to beat the drowning dog!"

The pounding of alarm drums and clappers sounded, and picket by picket, the Shunxiang army again marched out of the town to assemble. They formed a square formation, though due to yesterday's casualties, this square was somewhat smaller than the day before. They arrayed themselves in strict battle order, keeping time with the drumbeats, pikes and firelances dense as a forest. Night Scouts rode their horses around the perimeter of the square, slowly closing to within two hundred paces of the Qing army's main camp.

Seeing these Ming troops come out of the town again, every Qing soldier, from the Jia-la ejen down, was greatly alarmed. What was the matter with this Ming unit? They fought yesterday, and now they come to fight again today? I want to leave and that's still not allowed? For a moment, many Qing officers felt both fury and grievance in their hearts.

After yesterday's battle, many Qing soldiers in this jia-la had already developed a fear of this Ming unit. In truth, if they had steeled themselves and launched a fierce assault, they might not have been unable to deal Wang Dou's army a heavy blow. But after these two days of fighting, each niru had suffered severe losses, and none were willing to fight again and lose more of their niru's precious armored combat soldiers.

Fortunately, these Ming troops merely stood in formation and watched from a distance, and did not come up to attack, which gave them some comfort. Yet with someone watching from the side, a sense of panic they had never felt before arose in many Qing soldiers' hearts. They struck camp even faster, and some unimportant items were simply abandoned.

Finally, they formed ranks and departed, elite infantry in the vanguard, some mounted and some on foot. Then came the followers, with or without horses, driving carts and baggage in the rear, and finally a contingent of Qing elite cavalry bringing up the very rear to screen the march of the followers and auxiliaries.

Wang Dou led his army, following neither too fast nor too slow. The terrain around Dongjiazhuang was flat, allowing his pursuing square formation to march across open ground without obstacle while maintaining its ranks at all times. The harsh formation drills Shunxiang Fort usually conducted also allowed the soldiers to keep the square marching as effortlessly as a casual stroll.

Seeing the Shunxiang army doggedly following and refusing to let go, the Qing elite cavalry turned back from time to time to harass them. When they came in small groups, the Shunxiang Fort Night Scouts rode out to intercept them. When they came in larger numbers, the Shunxiang army's pursuing square merely slowed its pace slightly, but at the sight of the dense, dark mass of raised firelance muzzles within the square, not a single Qing cavalryman dared charge in to hack at them. The Shunxiang Fort firelances had already struck terror into their hearts.

Many Qing soldiers in this jia-la had no horses, and among the auxiliaries and followers in particular, even fewer had mounts. Moreover, they were bringing along numerous mules, horses, and carts, making their march even slower. The Ming troops behind them simply followed at a few hundred paces' distance, neither fast nor slow, impossible to shake off no matter what. This inevitably bred a sense of panic in many Qing soldiers' hearts, and their marching steps grew disordered.

After pursuing for several li, by the time they neared Zhouzhuang, the Qing followers and auxiliaries at the rear had become strung out in a long, stretched column, and their marching steps were even more chaotic.

Just at that moment, dust rose from the east — it was Picket Officer Zhong Diaoyang of Jingbian Fort, leading his fort's soldiers. Seeing a formation approaching from that direction, with no way to tell how many there were, the Qing followers and auxiliaries panicked even more. Some let out a cry and fled forward, throwing their rear ranks into chaos. Even some of the Qing elite cavalry, thinking they had fallen into an ambush, galloped far ahead.

Wang Dou saw it clearly and shouted, "Each of the three pickets is to send out one squad of troops, together with the Night Scouts — pursue and kill!"

At once battle cries shook the heavens. Three squads of pikemen and firelance soldiers burst out of the square formation. In each squad and each jia, the firelance squads were in the center, with the pike squads guarding both flanks. They simply charged up, shouting battle cries, and the Qing rear fell into utter chaos.

…

"My lord, our army has taken another fourteen Tartar heads, captured twenty-one prisoners, and seized over sixty swords and spears, thirty-four mules and horses, and various carts and tents! None of our squads suffered any killed; six men were wounded."

Very soon, the pursuing squads returned one after another and reported their gains to Wang Dou.

Wang Dou nodded with satisfaction. Han Zhong, eager for more, said, "My lord, if we pursue further, perhaps we can seize even more."

Wang Dou waved a hand. "Enough. Do not press a desperate foe, lest the slave bandits, like cornered dogs, turn and bite back."

With this pursuit, Wang Dou only wanted to teach those Qing soldiers a lesson, lest they treat his Shunxiang Fort like an inn. But if the pursuit was too close and the killing too fierce, and those Qing soldiers steeled their hearts and turned back to fight, the outcome would be uncertain. Such gains were already quite good, and they could withdraw in victory.

Everyone nodded, jubilant once more, never expecting that this pursuit would yield such rewards.

Dust rolled — it was Zhong Diaoyang, who had arrived with the Jingbian Fort soldiers at a run. By the look of it, he had brought three squads of troops in total.

Zhong Diaoyang rode a warhorse, flanked by several guard standard-bearers. He galloped up to Wang Dou, hastily swung down from the saddle, clasped his fists in salute, and apologized for arriving late. By the time his three squads of troops had run up from afar, the fighting was already over.

Wang Dou smiled as he helped him up and said, “It’s not late. Picket Officer Zhong, you’ve worked hard leading your troops here.”

Han Zhong shouted toward him, “Old Zhong, you’ve been sitting safe and sound inside Jingbian Fort, while we’ve been fighting bloody battles day after day these past few days.”

Zhong Diaoyang looked at the state of the Shunxiang Army and saw that many of them still bore wounds from yesterday’s bitter fighting. He couldn’t help but be shocked. He quietly asked Han Chao about the situation at Shunxiang Fort over the past few days and marveled without end. He clasped his fists solemnly toward Wang Dou and saluted, saying, “My lord, your humble subordinate wishes to be transferred to Shunxiang Fort to fight shoulder to shoulder with all the brothers.”

Wang Dou smiled faintly. “We’ll discuss that once we’re back at the fort.”

Surrounded by the crowd, he inspected the newly captured supplies with satisfaction. Those mules, horses, tents, and carts were all quite good and would be useful for his own fort later. He also took a look at the captured Qing soldiers. These men were all support troops and servants. Most of them wore cotton armor without iron plates sewn in, and some did not even have cotton armor, wearing only cloth robes and leather coats. But without exception, their heads were all shaved bare, leaving only the thin, long queue like a money rat’s tail, and they spoke a Manchu language he could not understand.

Only the Han Chao brothers and a portion of the night scouts could understand their language.

These men were all bound tightly with ropes, some still bearing wounds on their bodies. They looked at the Ming soldiers before them, some defiant, some fearful. Beside them, many soldiers from Shunxiang Fort and Jingbian Fort pointed at them, curiously studying their eyes and noses, as if trying to see what differences there were between these Tatars and themselves.

The disposition of these men would later be decided by Wang Dou.

Amid rolling dust, another squad of night scouts from Shunxiang Fort galloped back. One after another, they tumbled from their saddles in front of Wang Dou. Every one of these night scouts was tall, burly, and fierce-looking, wearing light armor and carrying a variety of weapons on their persons. A round shield hung from each man’s horse.

The leader was a big man with a full beard, a red waist tag hanging at his belt — it was Wen Fangliang, the newly appointed squad leader of the Night Scouts’ Second Squad. He bore several wounds on his body but paid them no mind. He dismounted excitedly, hauled a man down from his horse, and reported to Wang Dou, “My lord, by good fortune your humble subordinate has captured a interpreter from the Tatar army. I have come especially to report back to you, my lord.”

“Oh.”

Wang Dou was greatly interested. Capturing an interpreter from the Qing army might allow him to learn some of the core secrets within the Qing forces. This was a tremendous gain.

He looked at that interpreter and saw that the man was dressed in Han style, around forty-some years old, standing to one side trembling with fear, his whole body shaking uncontrollably.

Wang Dou’s brow furrowed. He barked, “You are a Han. Why did you bow your body and surrender to the slaves, aiding the tiger in its savagery?”

The interpreter fell to his knees on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly. He wept loudly, “This student is ashamed. This student had no other way. This student’s wife and daughter were all captured by the thieving slaves. If I did not serve the thieving slaves, they would die miserably under the thieving slaves’ blades.”

Wang Dou questioned him a few times. It turned out that this interpreter had been a Han official interpreter at Dushikou on the northern route of the Xuanfu Garrison’s branch inspection circuit. After the Qing troops took Dushikou, the interpreter was captured by the Qing troops, who held his wife and daughter hostage and kept him serving among the Qing forces.

He shuffled forward on his knees, pulled an object from his bosom, and said in a trembling voice, “This student has an item to present to you, my lord.”

Wang Dou took it and looked — it was a wooden waist tag, carved on it in seal script were the large characters “Shunxiang Fort Night Scouts Second Squad Soldier Huang Guoxiang.” Wang Dou was startled and shouted, “This waist tag of Brother Huang Guoxiang — how did it come into your hands?”

Han Chao beside him was greatly alarmed and hurriedly took the waist tag from Wang Dou’s hand to examine it closely. Wen Fangliang and Li Youde, a night scout from the Second Squad, were equally shocked. They all cast their gazes at the waist tag in Han Chao’s hand and cried out, “It really is Brother Huang’s waist tag.”

The interpreter wept, “Soldier Huang was loyal and brave beyond compare. This student is endlessly moved with admiration, and also utterly ashamed.”

He recounted the events of that day and said, “Soldier Huang said at the end that he had no regrets, and that you, my lord, would surely avenge him!”

Han Chao and the others all broke into loud wails. Wen Fangliang let out a cry, rushed before those captured Qing soldiers, seized one man, and beat him savagely. Li Youde stood stunned for a moment, then likewise charged forward and began punching and kicking the Qing prisoners.

Wang Dou shouted for them to stop. He closed his eyes and faced east for a long time. Finally, he opened his eyes and called out loudly toward the sky, “Brother Huang, if your spirit is in heaven, I, Wang Dou, swear to you — I will surely avenge you. One day, I will use the heads of a million Manchu slaves to sacrifice to you.”

His rolling voice carried far into the distance. The entire Shunxiang Army stood solemnly. Volley after volley of firelocks resounded across the sky!

Wang Dou turned abruptly to Wen Daxing and said, “Wen Daxing, I want you to take a squad of night scouts and follow far behind those Tatar soldiers all the way to Huailai Guard. I also want you to scout the movements of the main Tatar force over there. Do you dare to go?”

Wen Daxing’s eyes were still red. He clasped his fists toward Wang Dou and said, “Losing my head is no bigger than a bowl-sized scar. This humble one will risk it all.”

Wang Dou gazed at him intently. “If you return having rendered meritorious service, you will be appointed squad officer of the entire night scouts!”

Wen Daxing swept the scarlet cape behind him aside and knelt on the ground, his suit of armor clanking resoundingly. “Willing to die for you, my lord!”

……

The twelfth day of the seventh month of the ninth year of Chongzhen.

After staying one more day at Dongjiazhuang and confirming that the Qing troops had indeed withdrawn from the territory of Shunxiang Fort, Wang Dou led the Shunxiang Army back inside Shunxiang Fort.

“What? The soldiers of Shunxiang Fort routed the slave bandits in a great victory, taking two hundred and forty-three heads?”

That afternoon, inside the garrison commander’s residence in Baoanzhou City, Garrison Commander Xu Zucheng stared at a night scout from Shunxiang Fort who had come to report the victory and was so shocked that he leaped up from his seat.