[{"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-127":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},1205416,1561,"Chapter 127: Fallen Heroes, Withdrawal","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-127",127,"\u003Cp>Such heavy casualties chilled the Qing troops to the bone. After hearing the reports from the returning scouts, Abatai's face was ashen. The moat outside the city had yet to be filled, and already nearly three hundred of their own brave warriors had fallen. With such tight defenses, with shield carts and wooden shields massed together, and still such heavy losses — if they took the city, would the warriors of his banner have to suffer a thousand more dead?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought back to the Jalanggin of a few days ago. That man had, on the contrary, charged up the city wall in one fierce push. He truly was the fiercest and bravest warrior in his banner. He had wronged him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside him, Omubuchuhuer, the Gūsa Ejen of the Tumed Right Banner, closed his eyes and murmured something unintelligible. He opened his eyes and said softly to Abatai, \"Prince Raoyu, withdraw the troops. For our Great Qing's brave warriors to be broken here — it is not worth it!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Abatai's face was cold. He barked, \"Continue the attack! Drive those Ming commoners forward. Make them fill the moat!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Horn calls rang out. The Qing troops outside the city quieted down. Except for those few carefully crafted Qing shield carts at the front, the rest of the timber and large shields withdrew considerably, doing their best to avoid the range of the crouching-tiger cannons on the wall, or hiding behind the shield carts. The Qing troops outside the city were also in a clamor of noise and confusion; no one knew what trickery they were up to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the Qing troops outside the city motionless, the Shunxiang Fort arquebusiers on the wall took the chance to rest. The four hundred arquebuses on the southern wall, after the battle just now, had on average fired three volleys each. Every arquebus in the soldiers' hands was somewhat hot, the muzzles continuously emitting wisps of smoke. They needed to stop and let them cool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through these days of battle, the Shunxiang Fort arquebuses had shone brilliantly. Under the generous rewards and the punishment system where substandard work meant beheading, every arquebus forged at Shunxiang Fort was of excellent quality. There were almost no barrel bursts, and the misfire rate was remarkably low. Each time two hundred arquebuses fired, the misfire rate was less than one in ten. Thus, with only three volleys from four hundred arquebuses, they could kill and wound so many Qing soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the Frankish cannons and small cannons on the wall, when they were transported here, the Shunxiang Fort craftsmen had already inspected them; there were no substandard products. At this time, the Great Ming army generally used pre-packaged gunpowder charges. For each type of cannon, how much propellant and shot to load was specified in detail. As long as operating procedures were followed and no excess powder was added, there was no worry of barrel bursts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, these cannons had fired only two rounds of ammunition in total, so there was no hidden danger of overheating the barrels from excessive firing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shunxiang Fort wall had many crouching-tiger cannons. After the first volley, even though these crouching-tiger cannons needed three or four minutes to reload, the sheer number of them on the wall meant that those reloaded in the second wave — two or three at a time — aimed and bombarded the dense areas outside the city. With over a dozen crouching-tiger cannons, they could perhaps keep firing until the battle ended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through these days of fighting, Wang Dou also believed that large and medium cannons were of little use in battle; they were better at frightening people than hitting them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this era, cannons were mostly used to break up dense enemy formations. Unfortunately, Qing troop formations were never dense. On the contrary, crouching-tiger cannons had great power in close combat. After the war, he should vigorously develop close-range small cannons like the crouching-tiger cannon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the Qing offensive outside the city halt, the various officers all looked down from the wall. Han Zhong stood beside Wang Dou, his mouth agape as he shouted, \"What trickery are those Tartar soldiers up to? Why have they stopped?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A look of delight appeared on his face: \"Could it be the Tartars are withdrawing?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Daofu beside him frowned and said, \"I fear it's not that simple.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Successive horn calls rang out from the Qing troops outside the city. Suddenly, the sound of weeping and shouting arose. It was a large group of Great Ming commoners being driven by the Qing soldiers toward the city wall. They numbered in the hundreds, mostly women and children. They carried grass, wood, bricks, stones, and cloth bags filled with earth, driven forward relentlessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They came stumbling and staggering. A large group of Qing soldiers followed behind them, ducking and dodging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those women and children came forward. They cried out toward the Shunxiang Army on the wall, \"Soldiers on the wall, we are all fellow villagers and neighbors, we beg you, do not fire cannons or shoot arrows.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing their familiar local Bao'an Prefecture accent, the Shunxiang Army on the wall fell silent as a crow. Everyone looked toward Wang Dou's gate tower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Abatai, nothing more than this!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou saw the situation below the wall clearly. He was first enraged, then a look of disdain surfaced on his face. His schemes exhausted, his wits short, he could only drive commoners to attack the city. The combat strength of such an army was limited. To think he had once been full of fear toward them. The famous Qing general Abatai was like this; one could imagine what sort of goods Ajige, Dorgon, and Huang Taiji were. It seemed he had overestimated them. Casting aside the awe of history, they were just ordinary characters!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the Great Ming commoners below the wall, listening to their wails, Lin Daofu's face also showed hesitation. He said softly to Wang Dou, \"My lord, do we fire or not?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou barked, \"Attacking the city makes them enemies. I must think of the nearly ten thousand soldiers and civilians inside the fort.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gave a few instructions to Han Zhong. Shortly after, Wang Dou descended from the gate tower. He came to the parapet and shouted, \"Elders, sisters, outside the fort, do not blame me, Wang Dou, for being hard-hearted. With nearly ten thousand people inside the fort, I cannot surrender to the Tartars. If you die, I, Wang Dou, will offer sacrifices for you! Look, these Tartar hearts and livers are the first incense offerings I give you. There will be more to come!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Waves of shrill, miserable screams came from the city wall. The Qing troops below looked up and saw a tall incense altar set up on the wall, with a large bundle of incense sticks planted in it. Then, those ten Qing prisoners who had been erected on the barbican, stripped naked, each had their hearts cut out and livers dug up, and were placed on the incense altar as offerings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This conduct of the Ming army caused an uproar among the Qing troops below the wall. At the same time, a chill rose in their hearts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Abatai, rat! Manchu slave, coward, inferior army!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On Wang Dou's order, Han Zhong stood beside him and bellowed these words in Manchu toward the outside of the city. His rough, grating voice carried far and wide. The thousands of Qing soldiers below the wall all heard it clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ming troops on the wall also jeered loudly in the same manner. The faces of those Qing soldiers turned ashen. They endured the humiliation from the Ming troops on the wall, helpless. Many of them had already developed an indescribable fear of the Ming army on the wall. They made up their minds: if they encountered this Shunxiang Fort army in the future, they would keep their distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The commoners below the wall all wept bitterly. The Ming troops on the wall had resolute expressions. They all knew their fate. The suffering of chaotic times was beyond words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the weeping, suddenly an old man below the wall shouted, \"Fellow villagers, since death is certain, let us fight the Tartars to the death.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He let out a long laugh: \"This old man can still enjoy incense offerings while alive, and have Tartar soldiers' hearts and livers as sacrificial offerings. It is worth it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He raised a brick in his hand and shouted with all his might, his voice tearing at heart and lung: \"Countrymen, kill the Tartars!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He took the lead and charged toward the rear. The women, children, and commoners beside him also screamed at the top of their lungs and charged after him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had no weapons, so they fought the Qing soldiers with their fists and teeth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, they all died in battle. When they died, their faces were full of relief. From the suffering of the human world, they were finally released.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the battle, Wang Dou built a righteous commoners' burial mound for these people. Beside it, he also established a temple, where incense offerings burned vigorously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The authorities heard of this and dispatched officials in plain white robes to offer sacrifices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Abatai heard Han Zhong's loud shouting from the city wall, he was at first extremely furious. But then, seeing the actions of those commoners below the wall, he could not help but exclaim in shock, \"The commoners of this place are so fierce in nature!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside him, Omubuchuhuer, the Gūsa Ejen of the Tumed Right Banner, and Shanba, the Gūsa Ejen of the Tumed Left Banner, both earnestly urged retreat. Finally, the several Jalanggins of the Plain White Banner also joined the ranks of those earnestly pleading. They all said with absolute certainty, \"If we continue attacking, even if we take the wall, at least a thousand more brave warriors will die. The Ming army in this place has a resolute will to fight. Taking the wall does not mean taking the city. To force the soldiers and civilians inside the fort to submit, perhaps another thousand will have to die!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If two thousand men die, will the Plain White Banner still exist?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Such a small fort, with no profit to be had, why break our banner's brave warriors here?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That Ming defending officer is indeed a threat. But to eliminate this threat and cause the Plain White Banner to collapse — is it worth it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Better to move to other castles and see if there are people and valuables to plunder.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The assault on the city had met with setbacks, and they had witnessed the staunchness and valor of the defending troops on the wall. The deep-rooted vices of nomadic and fishing-hunting peoples then surfaced. Moreover, Abatai was not the Banner Lord of the Plain White Banner; his authority was insufficient. Although he had strategic vision, he could not stop the complaints of his subordinate generals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They clamored one after another, unwilling to assault the city again. Especially those several Jalanggins, seeing the auxiliaries in their own Jalan falling one after another under the Ming army's fierce gun and cannon fire, were already chilled to the heart. So many had died before the moat was even filled. If they continued attacking for two days, three days, how many more would die?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A Jalan had fifteen hundred men. Even if two hundred died, it would severely wound the vitality of the entire Jalan. And if the brave warriors in the Jalan all died, would they become Jalanggins with no troops? Would there be people and brave warriors from the banner to replenish them then?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the determination of the Ming army on the wall, driving Ming commoners to fill the moat was also meaningless. It only allowed the Ming army on the wall to slaughter prisoners in great numbers, damaging their own army's morale. The defending general of this place was the most resolute and ruthless he had ever seen in his life. He would not stop defending the city just because commoners were driven to fill the moat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To take this meaningless city, the blood of countless brave warriors of the banner would have to be spilled. They could not afford this price!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing his allies and subordinate generals clamoring, Abatai's brow furrowed tightly. At this moment, the intention to retreat had already arisen in his heart. But he had made grand declarations, and the entire army had come with soaring momentum. To slink back dejectedly — would that not make this military operation of his a laughingstock?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where would his prestige be in the future? And how would the morale the Plain White Banner troops had lost under this city wall be restored?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just then, several riders came rolling in from the east. Judging by their armor and banners, they were subordinates of Prince Wuying, Ajige.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing these men coming urgently, Abatai and the others all looked over in surprise. Wasn't Ajige's main force in Yanqing Prefecture? Why were they coming to Bao'an Prefecture? Had something happened?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those riders galloped over urgently. From afar, they shouted, \"Prince Wuying has orders! Prince Raoyu Abatai, withdraw your troops from Bao'an territory immediately...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Our Great Qing troops have already taken Changping, Juyong, and other places of the Ming. Our western route army has all entered the pass. Join forces with the eastern route troops to seize the Ming capital region.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the early seventh month of the ninth year of Chongzhen, Qing troops invaded. One force took Dushikou, another took Xifengkou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Qing troops entered Xifengkou, the Ming Patrol Censor Wang Zhaokun rallied his troops to resist. Unable to hold, he retreated to defend Changping. On the tenth, Changping was besieged. Wang Zhaokun, along with the Tomb-Guarding Eunuch Wang Xizhong, Regional Commander Chao Pichang, Ministry of Revenue Secretaries Wang Yigui and Zhao Yue, and the acting Prefectural Magistrate Baoding Assistant Prefect Wang Yuzuo, divided the gates and defended them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the morning of the sixteenth, Juyong Pass was breached from the inside. On the night of the sixteenth, two thousand Duoyan Mongols inside Changping acted as internal collaborators and let the Qing troops into the city. Patrol Censor Wang Zhaokun died in battle. Also dying in battle were Ministry of Revenue Secretary Wang Yigui, Baoding Assistant Prefect Wang Yuzuo, Tomb-Guarding Eunuch Wang Xizhong, Judge Hu Weizhong, Clerk Guo Yong, Education Instructor Xie Huailiang, Assistant Instructor Chang Shiguang, Garrison Commander Xian Zhenji, and others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regional Commander Chao Pichang surrendered and came out; the Qing troops burned the De Mausoleum on Mount Tianshou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The eastern-route army stormed Changping and Juyong. Ajige was overjoyed at the report. While preparing to link up with the eastern-route army, on the sixteenth he also urgently dispatched messengers to Abatai, Yangguli, and others who were out plundering everywhere, ordering them to lead their troops to Yanqing Prefecture to rendezvous with him, combine with the eastern-route army’s forces, and, according to the pre-battle strategy, prepare to join forces and plunder the prosperous capital region of the Great Ming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing the messenger’s order, Abatai was quite disappointed, yet at the same time secretly breathed a sigh of relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The commanders around him, however, were overjoyed — at last they could withdraw their troops with full justification.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Abatai watched the commanders beside him, their faces alight with delight, for a moment, then raised his voice and said: “Pass the order — withdraw the troops!”\u003C\u002Fp>",2577,"2026-06-03T14:05:19.908Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","99c543f14dc902d8fb6aebe3f4694626999e1462240fab3f7a7fd3c37fbd0f46","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-128","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-126",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]