[{"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-122":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},1205411,1561,"Chapter 122: Defense Preparations","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-122",122,"\u003Cp>July 15, ninth year of the Chongzhen reign. Afternoon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Qing troops had not yet arrived. According to the reconnaissance reports of the night scouts, they were expected to reach the borders of Baoanzhou by tomorrow morning. Seizing this opportunity, the soldiers and civilians of Shunxiang Fort raced against time to manufacture defensive equipment and dug trenches and pits outside the fort's eastern and northern sides to strengthen its defensive capabilities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment outside Shunxiang Fort, large groups of auxiliary soldiers and able-bodied men were busily at work, digging the moat along the fort's perimeter deeper and wider. On the outer side of the moat, at certain important locations, obstacles such as chevaux-de-frise and caltrops were also deployed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the flat ground outside the northeastern sides of the old Shunxiang Fort, countless uneven pits had already been dug, varying in depth. There was one principle, however: the closer to the city wall, the deeper the pits were dug. Moreover, the pits were staggered and interwoven, turning the empty spaces between them into twisted zigzag paths, making it impossible to walk through easily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The excavated earth was used on the spot in some open areas to build rough, low walls, each less than a meter high. One could not hide behind these walls, but they could effectively delay the advance of the Qing shield troops.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since early this morning, the area outside Shunxiang Fort had been densely packed with bustling crowds. Among them were not only men but also strong women. Under the command of the fort's officers, they simply swung their hoes and fought with all their might. Teams of newly organized auxiliary men also hurried out from within the fort to join the labor army below the walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shunxiang Fort originally had over twenty squads of able-bodied auxiliary soldiers, each squad of fifty men, totaling over a thousand people. Since last night, all the military households from Jingbian Fort had moved to Shunxiang Fort, comprising over two Company Commander and more than a thousand individuals. The military households from Dongjiazhuang had also all moved to Shunxiang Fort, comprising over one Company Commander and more than five hundred individuals. There was also Xinzhuang, which contained seventy to eighty households and over four hundred individuals; together with the villagers from nearby Yizhuang who had all fled into Xinzhuang, it totaled nearly one Company Commander and over five hundred individuals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, a portion of the able-bodied men from Jingbian Fort and Dongjiazhuang had been organized and trained as new troops. Wang Dou organized the remaining men from the several forts, gathering nearly two thousand able-bodied auxiliary soldiers, among whom were also mixed some elderly and weaker men.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The newly arrived military households, combined with the original ones—these men and women packed the old and new Shunxiang Forts as tightly as sardines in a can. Not another person could be squeezed in. The newcomers were likewise urgently organized and led by the officers and squad leaders from their respective forts to jointly assist in defending the city and fighting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many hands make light work, and with effective organization, in just a single day, the digging of trenches and pits outside Shunxiang Fort had already begun to take shape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After making an inspection round outside the fort, Wang Dou felt slightly reassured. He entered the fort and went up onto the city wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, the city wall was defended by his several sentries of combat troops. Wen Fangliang and Sun Sanjie led their units to defend the south gate of the old fort and the walls at both ends. Zhong Diaoyang and Han Chao led their units to defend the northeastern walls of the old fort. Han Zhong led his unit to patrol various places within the fort, ready to lead his troops to support any location that encountered an emergency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shunxiang Fort originally had four sentries of troops, a force of about one thousand men. In the fighting over these past few days, the soldiers of Shunxiang Fort had suffered a total of one hundred and forty casualties, among whom nearly one hundred were killed. Most of the casualties were in Han Zhong's Left Sentry and Han Chao's Right Sentry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One sentry of Shunxiang Fort had two hundred and forty-nine men. With one hundred and forty casualties, this meant one sentry had already been crippled. Fortunately, Zhong Diaoyang's Central Sentry of two hundred and forty-nine soldiers had also been moved here, ensuring that Shunxiang Fort would not lack defending combat troops.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the thirteenth, Wang Dou implemented a uniform organization of pure pikeman squads and arquebusier squads within each sentry. After two days of reorganization, Han Chao and Han Zhong together reorganized two full-strength squads of arquebusiers, all veterans. As for the two squads of pikemen, each squad was supplemented with a large number of able-bodied auxiliary soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Sanjie's Rear Sentry soldiers had also suffered twenty-five casualties. They reorganized two full-strength squads of arquebusiers and one full-strength squad of pikemen, all veterans. The remaining one squad of pikemen was likewise supplemented with a portion of auxiliary soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two squads of troops from Dongjiazhuang, totaling one hundred and twenty soldiers, had suffered over thirty casualties while defending Dongjiazhuang. They were similarly reorganized into an arquebusier squad and a pikeman squad. After being supplemented with some men from the Shunxiang Fort auxiliary troops, they were led by Gao Shiyin and Yang Tong and all transferred to Huiyao Fort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The defense of the Shunxiang Fort city wall followed the old rule: for the wall section defended by each sentry, every combat squad within that sentry built one straw shed on the wall for the soldiers to rest and keep watch inside. Each sentry's combat troops also had a portion of auxiliary soldiers at their disposal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Wang Dou arrived at the top of the wall, the soldiers of each squad were all chatting idly inside their straw sheds. Everyone was in high spirits. Through these past few days of fighting the Qing troops, they had greatly strengthened their self-confidence, and their fear of the Qing troops had significantly diminished. Although it was said that five thousand Qing troops were coming, the soldiers showed no signs of fear or panic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They chatted relaxedly and also boasted to the auxiliary soldiers about their combat experiences over the past few days, eliciting exclamations of astonishment from the auxiliary soldiers listening nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Wang Dou approach, they all jumped up and vied with one another to greet and salute him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou smiled and nodded to each of them, telling them to rest easy, conserve their energy, and prepare to kill the enemy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He made a round on the city wall. Seeing that military morale was high, Wang Dou felt gratified in his heart. The troops he had painstakingly trained were already beginning to show the bearing of a strong army. Still, he exhorted each sentry officer not to let down their guard and to treat the situation with the utmost seriousness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At present, on the battlements everywhere along the city wall, the hanging protective screens and soft walls used before were no longer hung. Through the past few days of fighting the Qing troops, the soldiers of Shunxiang Fort had already grasped the general pattern of the Qing archers. Hanging protective screens and soft walls at the battlements, while providing good cover against arrows shot from outside the city, also obstructed their own soldiers from shooting outward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, after discussing with the various sentry officers, Wang Dou decided to have the arquebusiers wear more armor and have the auxiliary soldiers raise more shields to protect against arrows shot from outside the city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At present, Shunxiang Fort, combining its original armor with the armor captured from the Qing troops, possessed over seven hundred and eighty sets of armor, in addition to more than one hundred and fifty shields. The arquebusiers fighting on the city wall could each don a set of thick armor, most of which was iron armor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the fighting of the past few days, some of the Shunxiang Army's armor had been slightly damaged, and the armor and shields captured from the Qing troops also bore gashes. Wang Dou had already instructed Li Maosen to lead the craftsmen of Shunxiang Fort, with the help of some able-bodied auxiliary soldiers, to repair all this armor, patching the holes torn in the armor with thick iron plates. After repairs, this armor was all usable. Although some of it looked unsightly, having armor was always better than having none.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The same was true for the shields.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In terms of arquebuses, the Shunxiang Army's supply was also ample. After replacing the arquebuses damaged in the previous days, the Shunxiang Fort armory still had a reserve stock of over one hundred arquebuses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the Qing army swords and spears captured, aside from a portion issued to the combat troops for use, the majority were distributed to the able-bodied auxiliary soldiers within the fort for their use.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou and the others decided to exploit the advantages of defending a city, using firearms and cannons to deal a severe blow to the Qing troops outside the city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides the hanging screens and soft walls, the chevaux-de-frise originally set up at many battlements were also removed. Although these obstacles had the effect of hindering Qing troops from scaling the wall, their disadvantage in obstructing their own side's operations was equally obvious. Those chevaux-de-frise were mostly redeployed to the outer side of the city wall moat. Inside the south gate of Shunxiang Fort, dense rows of chevaux-de-frise were also set up; Wang Dou had a significant use for them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the hanging screens and chevaux-de-frise removed, Wang Dou and the others increased the quantity of rolling logs and stone missiles on the city wall. Fire pots made with \"fierce fire oil\" were also plentiful beside the wall section defended by each combat squad. In addition, the auxiliary soldiers on the city wall were also equipped with large numbers of ramming poles, forked staves, and other items to topple the scaling ladders set up by the Qing troops.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only that, but at various places on the city wall, following the method described by that squad officer of monk origin, over a dozen suspended battering rams were also constructed. These were to be used to knock Qing soldiers off the wall with the ramming pole after they set up their scaling ladders and poked their heads over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In terms of defense, Wang Dou was generally satisfied. What worried him was the utilization of the cannons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the thirteenth, Wang Dou had requested a batch of cannon equipment from the prefectural city. Combined with the cannons Shunxiang Fort originally had, the fort now possessed fifteen bronze and iron breech-loading swivel guns, twenty-three small bronze and iron cannons, and fifteen crouching-tiger cannons, along with a large quantity of rocket equipment and the like.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most of these cannons were mounted on the south gate and the city walls at both ends. Only one bronze breech-loading swivel gun, one small bronze cannon, and two crouching-tiger cannons were mounted at the west gate of the new fort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to Wang Dou's estimation, the Qing troops would mainly attack from the south gate. Even if they attacked other parts of Shunxiang Fort, these cannons were all light artillery. Moreover, they were mounted on carriages, and with the large amount of manpower inside the fort, transporting these cannons to other parts of the city wall would be entirely feasible in time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou's main worry was the issue of cannon personnel. After the cannons from the prefectural city were transported over, the gunners did not follow. Shunxiang Fort only had one cannon squad of just over fifty men. Strictly speaking, there were only about twenty gunners: three gunners per bronze breech-loading swivel gun, and two gunners per small cannon. The rest were soldiers providing protection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who would fire the cannons that had been brought over? This was a serious problem. Wang Dou could only completely break up this one cannon squad. Including those soldiers who had been protecting the cannon squad, each man was made responsible for one cannon. Each of them then selected several auxiliary soldiers as assistants and urgently taught them the basics of firing cannons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, as for the results of the firing when the time came, that was an unknown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carrying his worries about the gunners, Wang Dou descended the city wall. At this moment, the streets of Shunxiang Fort were a hubbub of noise, crowded with people everywhere. The streets were full of large contingents of able-bodied auxiliary soldiers heading out of the fort to work, as well as large groups of auxiliary soldiers busily transporting defensive equipment up to the city wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou strolled casually through the streets. Although the fort was tense and busy, it was not chaotic or panicked. Everything was in perfect order. Every squad of able-bodied men had someone leading them and knew what they were supposed to do. It seemed that Lin Daofu and the others were quite capable, having organized the military households that had moved into the fort in such a short time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Wang Dou approach, the military households within the fort all saluted him respectfully. At this critical moment with a powerful enemy approaching, Wang Dou was their pillar of support. With Wang Dou calm, their hearts were also at ease. Although it was said that a large army of Tatars was coming, as long as everyone worked together and pooled their wisdom, this Shunxiang Fort could still be defended.\u003C\u002Fp>",2269,"2026-06-03T14:05:19.908Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","e4e576f3aabaef72c513347dc8a69d0665b076d7023a297e4e734f9232514aa4","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-123","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-121",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]