[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army":3,"chapter-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-121":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","A Little Soldier of the Late Ming Border Army",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1205410,1561,"Chapter 121: Evacuation","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-121",121,"\u003Cp>Wen Daxing and his men returned by winding paths through the mountains. They traveled without rest, only switching to galloping horses, and after half the horses had been ridden to death, they finally rushed back to Shunxiang Fort by dusk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They charged into the fort and reported the arrival of the main Qing force to Wang Dou. Wen Daxing reported: \"The Tatar troops are estimated at five thousand. They are advancing along the main road from Huailai to Baoanzhou. Judging by their marching speed, they will likely reach Baoanzhou by tomorrow evening, or the morning after at the latest!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Daofu, Han Chao, Sun Sanjie, Wen Fangliang, and the others standing nearby were all silent. Even Han Zhong, who usually loved to shout and bluster, was utterly quiet. Everyone's face was pale. Five thousand troops... What was it about Shunxiang Fort? A remote little fort, first fifteen hundred Qing soldiers came, and now five thousand troops were arriving. Was Shunxiang Fort really that attractive to the enemy? Could the feng shui here truly be cursed?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their gazes involuntarily turned toward Wang Dou. Wang Dou's face was ashen. He questioned Wen Daxing in detail about the intelligence gathered, and upon hearing that there were also an estimated two thousand Mongol soldiers among them, he gave a cold laugh: \"The eastern slaves are not yet satisfied, and now the western barbarians come to join the excitement.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those two thousand Mongol soldiers were likely troops from the Outer Vassal Mongols, though it was unclear which banner they belonged to. It was just as well they were coming — the Mongols' fighting strength was far inferior to the Manchus', which would somewhat lighten the defensive burden on Shunxiang Fort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to Wen Daxing's report, those Qing soldiers were still troops of the Bordered White Banner. On the march, there was also a massive woven-gold dragon banner, a standard only permitted for the banner lord, the gūsa ejen, or a beile commanding the banner's army. Based on Wang Dou's understanding of history, the Bordered White Banner's lord, Hooge, had not accompanied the army on this campaign, so the commander was likely Abatai.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou reckoned these Qing soldiers had come for revenge. They had suffered losses beneath Shunxiang Fort, and given how vindictively the Qing troops always bit back, it would be strange if they did not seek revenge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But for Abatai to personally lead the troops here — those Qing soldiers thought far too highly of him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou looked around him. Everyone was watching him. With a great enemy bearing down, only Wang Dou could give them confidence and someone to lean on, and his composure slowly restored their calm. Wang Dou said: \"Pass the order: summon Zhong Diaoyang of Jingbian Fort, Gao Shiyin of Dongjiazhuang Fort, and Chang Zhengwei of Huiyao Fort to come for a council of war.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, these men arrived. Hearing the military situation Wang Dou described, they too were dumbstruck, unable to speak for a long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They could think of no good plan either, and simply looked at Wang Dou, waiting to hear what he would say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou remained silent for a long while. Then he slowly rose to his feet and barked: \"I give the order!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice was stern. With a sharp rustle, everyone snapped rigidly upright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou pointed at the fort defense map before him and shouted: \"From tonight onward, all soldiers and civilians in the fort will work through the night to manufacture defensive equipment. I want the fort to have ample defensive weapons by the day the slaver bandits arrive. Magistrate Lin, you will organize the able-bodied auxiliaries in the fort to go outside the walls. Except for the south gate, dig trenches and pits on the remaining two sides of the old fort. I want to force the slaver bandits to attack only from the south gate, so we can concentrate all the firearms and cannons in the fort and deal the enemy the heaviest possible blow!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Daofu loudly acknowledged the order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou swept his gaze over everyone: \"Starting tonight, all military households and civilians from Dongjiazhuang Fort and Jingbian Fort are to evacuate entirely to Shunxiang Fort. The civilians of Xinzhuang, likewise!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"By noon tomorrow, all civilian personnel and supplies must be completely evacuated. The officers and soldiers of each fort must organize the civilians' withdrawal. Anyone who dares disobey shall be executed without mercy!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He clenched his teeth and forced out a sentence through gritted teeth: \"Once the military households and civilians have finished evacuating, set fire and burn these three forts to the ground. Leave not a single blade of grass or piece of wood for the slaver bandits!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone stood ramrod straight, each face pale. To burn the three forts to the ground — the cost was far too devastating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou also shut his eyes in anguish. Setting aside Dongjiazhuang Fort, Jingbian Fort alone embodied countless efforts of his heart and soul, and Xinzhuang was where his family's ancestral home lay. To burn all three forts to ashes tore at his heart like a knife.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet devastating as the cost was, it was the only way for everyone to survive. Five thousand Qing soldiers were no trifling matter. Only by concentrating all the manpower and resources of the entire Shunxiang Fort territory, seeking life in the midst of death, and stubbornly defending the walled fort, was there a sliver of hope.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shunxiang Fort had once organized the evacuation of civilians from the various stockades and forts within its territory. At that time, those stockades had not been burned, because everyone had clung to wishful thinking, hoping the Qing troops would not burn them down, so that rebuilding their homes after the Qing withdrew would be easier. But later Wang Dou discovered that the Qing soldiers had torn down much of the timber in the stockades to build siege equipment. He could not make the same mistake again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the silence, Gao Shiyin, the Company Commander of Dongjiazhuang, heard Wang Dou's voice: \"Company Commander Gao, after you finish evacuating all the military households from the fort tomorrow, I want you and Yang Tong to lead all the troops of Dongjiazhuang to Huiyao Fort and assist Company Commander Chang in defending the fort!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Shiyin jolted alert and, together with Chang Zhengwei, loudly acknowledged the order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huiyao Fort occupied a strategically critical position, situated on a key pass, and the fort itself was built on a hillside. Wang Dou estimated that the Qing troops probably would not attack Huiyao Fort, but to guard against any contingency, he still decided to transfer Gao Shiyin and Yang Tong to Huiyao Fort to assist Chang Zhengwei in its defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou then addressed Zhong Diaoyang: \"Picket Officer Zhong, after you finish evacuating all the military households from the fort tomorrow, likewise lead all the troops of Jingbian Fort here to Shunxiang Fort. There must be no error!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhong Diaoyang also loudly acknowledged the order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou raised his head to the sky. Today was the fourteenth day of the seventh month in the ninth year of Chongzhen. If the Qing troops arrived tomorrow or the day after, based on Wang Dou's understanding of history, if the Qing army intended to maintain their strategic objective of breaching the passes unchanged, they would at most remain beneath his fort until the nineteenth. He only needed to hold out for five days, or perhaps even less, and the situation would turn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After deep contemplation, he looked at everyone and made a deep, formal bow: \"Gentlemen, the safety of Shunxiang Fort is entrusted to you!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone clasped their fists and roared: \"We swear to live and die with Shunxiang Fort!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fifteenth day of the seventh month, ninth year of Chongzhen, early morning, Jingbian Fort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the previous night, a continuous line of torches had stretched inside and outside Jingbian Fort. Under Wang Dou's emergency evacuation order, the military households of the fort, supporting the elderly and carrying the young, shouldering poles of grain, pushing carts, and driving pigs and sheep, evacuated through the night toward Shunxiang Fort. Everyone knew the great Tatar army was about to arrive, and for the safety of the fort's military households, they all had to evacuate to Shunxiang Fort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The military households of Jingbian Fort obeyed Wang Dou's order without question. Their withdrawal was orderly, and in just one night, they had all completed the transfer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment inside Jingbian Fort, Zhong Diaoyang held a torch in his hand, surrounded by a large group of soldiers as guards. Several times he moved to hurl the torch in his hand onto the building before him, but he could not bring himself to do it. Jingbian Fort — this was the fruit of his lord's labors and his own. Every brick and tile had been laid by their own hands. To burn it all with one fire — he truly could not bear it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long while, a look of resolve emerged in Zhong Diaoyang's eyes. He abruptly flung the torch in his hand onto the barracks before him and barked harshly: \"Burn it! Burn it all! Leave not a single blade of grass or piece of wood for the slaver bandits!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Large squads of soldiers set fires in all directions. Watching the flames surge skyward within the fort, past events flooding his heart, Zhong Diaoyang shut his eyes in anguish. The military households walking on the road to Shunxiang Fort turned their heads back, and seeing the smoke and fire rising from the fort, tears streamed down their faces as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Near noon, Dongjiazhuang Fort likewise blazed with fire on all sides. All the military and civilian personnel and supplies within the fort had also been completely evacuated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jingbian Fort and Dongjiazhuang obeyed Wang Dou's order with awe and strict adherence, but in Xinzhuang, trouble arose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The villagers of Xinzhuang could not bear to leave their homeland. Even less could they bear to burn it all down. After an entire night, only a small portion of them had evacuated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Near noon, Han Zhong arrived with two squads of soldiers. He bellowed the order: \"By order of the Defense Commander, all villagers of Xinzhuang must evacuate entirely to Shunxiang Fort. Xinzhuang is to be burned. Anyone who dares disobey shall be treated as a collaborator aiding the enemy and executed on the spot!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a sharp clatter, row upon row of Shunxiang Fort arquebusiers raised their matchlocks, the dark muzzles aimed directly at the hesitating villagers. Facing those wolf-like, tiger-fierce Shunxiang troops, the villagers inside the fort were scared out of their wits. These military lords had just days ago fought off and killed several thousand Tatar soldiers. Word throughout the village was that they were heavenly soldiers descended to earth. If anyone dared disobey their orders, the matchlocks in their hands were no joke. With only the village's own militia, they could not possibly contend against them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, the village headman, Jiang An, stepped forward. He said to the crowd: \"Everyone, let's go. The Tatar soldiers are almost here. Lord Wang came from our village — he would not harm us. Though our Xinzhuang is burned to the ground, as long as the people remain, there will be a day to rebuild.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the afternoon, the villagers of Xinzhuang had also all evacuated. Soon after, flames rose on all sides within the village as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Smoke and dust blotted out the sky. Jingbian Fort, Dongjiazhuang Fort, and Xinzhuang Fort ignited one after another from several directions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fiery glow and smoke from the three burning forts could be seen for several li!\u003C\u002Fp>",1950,"2026-06-03T14:05:19.908Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","71b024d54dff09eece03d90f96d7aef09b9e459c3c28c1bd566c9f6943254908","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-122","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-120",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]