[{"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-229":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},1205518,1561,"Chapter 229","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-229",229,"\u003Cp>At Wang Dou's command, the entire army sat down on the spot to rest. The battalion fire soldiers poured the cold water from the water skins into pots, quickly set up iron cauldrons, and began heating water. Soon every soldier in the army was drinking steaming hot boiled water and eating their lunch of dry grain cakes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone ate and drank their fill, then waited for quite a while longer, yet the Qing troops' side remained long without movement. It turned out they wanted to make a show of might — the soldiers with horses had galloped wildly for a stretch, leaving large numbers of horseless auxiliary soldiers and servants behind, and to wait for these men, they delayed their attack again and again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Noon arrived, and they would have to eat another meal. All this back and forth gave the Shunxiang Fort soldiers quite a long wait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou ate a few cakes and drank several cups of hot water, having long since eaten his fill. He still stood on his command wagon gazing into the distance. Through the snowflakes the cold wind occasionally swept in, Wang Dou saw that across the way there seemed to be more than one great woven-gold dragon banner — it looked like there were three.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, beneath two of the woven-gold dragon banners stood Qing cavalrymen clad in red armor with white trim. Wang Dou also seemed to see, beneath one woven-gold dragon banner, a group of cavalrymen clad in all-red armor standing firm — even their banners and insignia were the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It appeared that among those Qing troops were forces from the Eight Banners Mongol Plain Red Banner and Bordered Red Banner. Their banner colors and official system were the same as the Eight Banners Manchu, making them difficult to tell apart. The flag signals sent from the signalman standing high on the tall watchtower wagon's crow's nest also confirmed Wang Dou's guess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the Qing troops across the way remain long without movement, Wang Dou slowly shook his head. The Qing troops had large numbers of horses and could choose the moment to launch battle at will — that was their advantage, and his own disadvantage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Wang Dou waited patiently, Du Du, the Banner Lord of the Eight Banners Manchu Bordered Red Banner, was likewise gazing toward Wang Dou's side. Beside him were the Banner Lord of the Eight Banners Mongol Plain Red Banner, Gushan Ejen Enggetu, and the Banner Lord of the Bordered Red Banner, Gushan Ejen Buyandai — the latter was also an imperial son-in-law, having married one of Huang Taiji's daughters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to the Eight Banners Manchu, where each banner had several thousand to nearly ten thousand able-bodied men, a single banner of the Eight Banners Mongol had only a little over a thousand able-bodied men, and only one in five men was issued armor. Thus, though they held the same title of Gushan Ejen, Enggetu and Buyandai carried far less weight than Du Du.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On this campaign, the Yangwu Grand General Yoto commanded the Right Wing Army in chief, and Du Du was merely his subordinate deputy — Enggetu and Buyandai were even less comparable. Though each of the two had a woven-gold dragon banner, the armored combat soldiers under their command numbered only a few hundred. Those unarmored soldiers wearing leather robes were mostly in the role of porters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the Ming army across the way stand silent and still, a look of surprise flashed through Du Du's eyes as well. His instincts told him this Ming unit was no simple foe, but that was as far as it went. The brave warriors of his Great Qing Bordered Red Banner had rampaged across the lands of the Great Ming — naturally they would not fear a mere few thousand Ming soldiers opposite them. In his mind, routing the Ming army's wagon and artillery camp would be a matter of moments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Scouts had told him that fluttering among the Ming army across the way was a banner bearing the character Wang. A Wang banner? Du Du's heart stirred. He called over the Jalai Zhangjing Kuda from a few days earlier and barked, \"Kuda, you slave, look carefully — is the Ming army across the way that Ming state army that defeated you a few days ago?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the looks of contempt and disdain drifting toward him from all around, the Jalai Zhangjing Kuda, despite the bitter cold, was drenched in sweat. He strained to gaze toward Wang Dou's army and muttered, \"It seems... it seems it is.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Du Du shouted sternly, \"Is it or is it not?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jalai Zhangjing Kuda hurriedly said, \"It is, it is. That Ming army's firearms are deadly sharp — my lord Beile should still take caution.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Du Du was Cuyen's eldest son and considered himself a veteran of decades of campaigning, peerlessly fierce and brave — how could he take Kuda's warning to heart? This Ming army unit across the way had eaten the gall of a bear and the heart of a leopard, daring with a mere few thousand men to come into the Tongzhou region. If he did not rout them utterly, he would fail to display the might of his Great Qing Bordered Red Banner!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So as soon as he received the scouts' report, Du Du swiftly assembled the troops from the Tongzhou and Zhangjiawan area and came. Of course, he was inwardly puzzled — the Ming army over there had only a few thousand men and could not possibly be retaking any city or town. Could they have come to seize grain? The thought flashed through Du Du's mind. If that were so, it was all the more intolerable. It had always been him seizing from them — how could the reverse ever be justified? Had the sun risen from the west?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it were truly so, it was all the more hateful!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Du Du shouted sternly at the Jalai Zhangjing Kuda, \"Kuda, you slave, so cowardly and afraid of battle — you have utterly disgraced the face of our Great Qing's brave warriors! In a moment you shall serve as the vanguard, lead troops to charge the formation, and use fresh blood to wash away your shame!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jalai Zhangjing Kuda's face turned green, then white. He certainly could not refuse — otherwise he would be beheaded on the spot. Yet recalling the power of that Ming army's firelocks that day, he could not help feeling uneasy at heart. He could only pray that the Buddha or the Great Shaman Spirit would protect him, and that this Ming army unit was not the same force he had encountered at the stone bridge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Horn calls rang out. The Bordered Red Banner cavalrymen under Du Du's command led their horses out of formation one after another, assembling in front of the battle line. The several hundred armored soldiers of the Eight Banners Mongol Plain Red Banner and Bordered Red Banner likewise assembled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Du Du's Eight Banners Manchu Bordered Red Banner contained twenty-six niru. After the military reorganization, his banner's Aliha Cooha camp also had over two thousand armored combat soldiers. The banner also had a Bayara camp, with over four hundred Bayara soldiers inside, commanded by a Bayara Jalai Zhangjing under Du Du's direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike the old Eight Banners niru system, where men were soldiers when they went out and civilians when they stayed in, the Qing state now had a standing army that could be pulled out to fight at any time and place. Only the auxiliary soldiers in each banner were still constrained by the seasons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One after another, the Jalai Zhangjing commanding troops, or the Niru Zhangjing holding Jalai rank, led the armored soldiers of their companies out. Those in each banner who had the qualifications to be armored and were selected for the Aliha Cooha camp were at the very least foot-armored soldiers or horse-armored soldiers from their respective banners. As for the Bayara camp, they were all horse-armored soldiers of many years' standing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The foot-armored soldiers of each company all wore cotton armor lined with iron plates, the armor studded with large copper nails, and on their heads tall black helmets with red tassels. On horseback they carried long and short weapons, and infantry bows and horn bows were mandatory equipment. Those horse-armored soldiers wore two layers of heavy armor, carried long spears and great halberds, and were likewise fully equipped with all manner of heavy short weapons on horseback — strong bows and powerful arrows went without saying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the Fende Boshoku of each company, they wore a full three layers of heavy armor. The Beile's intent was to use mounted archery to shoot the Ming army's formation into chaos, then seize the opportunity to break through. As for dismounting to fight, that would presumably be unnecessary. So company after company of foot-armored and horse-armored soldiers swiftly sorted the arrows in their quivers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every one of them was expressionless, utterly unconcerned about the coming battle. These Qing soldiers had experienced who knew how many battles and certainly did not think the Ming army across the way was anything significant. As they glanced about, all that could be seen were faces full of arrogance and the thick murderous aura in each other's eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Bayara Jalai Zhangjing under Du Du's command also received orders to set out, leading his Bayara camp to bring up the rear and await the chance to break the formation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Privately, that Bayara Jalai Zhangjing thought the Beile was making a mountain out of a molehill. A mere few thousand Ming troops, and nearly the entire banner's armored soldiers were taking the field — and they even needed the most elite Bayara soldiers to join the attack. But of course he would say nothing, and led his several hundred Bayara soldiers to swiftly make preparations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The soldiers under his command all wore iron helmets and iron armor, the armor plates coated with gleaming silver-white lacquer — hence the Bayara soldiers were also known as the Quicksilver Army. These soldiers sorted their heavy weapons, their faces bearing an even more casual, indifferent expression, certain that the coming battle would be a brief, tedious, small-scale engagement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps they would not even be needed at all — they need only do their duty as a battle-supervision unit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides these roughly three thousand armored combat soldiers, the Qing army's main formation also had all manner of auxiliary soldiers and servants numbering six or seven thousand. Du Du further selected two thousand auxiliary soldiers who had horses and battlefield combat experience, placing them behind the combat soldiers of each Jalai. Wearing cotton armor without iron lining and carrying swords, spears, bows, and other weapons, they would join the fight and swell the momentum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, the first wave of Qing troops to attack numbered five thousand, the majority of them armored soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Du Du held the Ming army across the way in contempt, his years of combat experience meant he was no slouch in tactical arrangements. With five thousand fierce and brave troops against three thousand Ming soldiers, he was certain to overwhelm them in one stroke. He had a proud name for this tactic: the Fierce Tiger Pouncing on the Rabbit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the horn calls, the attacking Qing troops slowly coalesced into a mass. From Wang Dou's side looking over, it was a vast sea of banners.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"These Qing soldiers have finally made their move.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the horn calls from the opposite side, several thousand Qing cavalry slowly spurred their horses forward. At this moment the main Qing force was still far from their own side, so they merely controlled their horses and advanced at a walk, not yet charging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the enemy make their move, Wang Dou secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The taste of waiting was unpleasant, but now that things had finally begun, it was nothing more than this. The flag signals from the crow's nest reported that the Qing troops were now advancing directly toward the front of the wagon formation, numbering around five or six thousand, with armored soldiers estimated to make up half of them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By calculation, both sides were roughly equal in armored numbers. In the balance of strength, the enemy had the advantage in numbers, while their own side had the advantage of defense, plus the wagon formation, cannons, and so on. For Wang Dou, this was the first battle of matched strength and evenly balanced forces. If they could endure this test, the change in this army's morale and combat power would be earth-shaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou stood motionless inside the command wagon, regretting only that he had no telescope — otherwise he could see the enemy's situation far more clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When they were about one li from the wagon formation, Wang Dou saw the Qing troops' pace gradually quicken. Their cavalry units spread out wider to the front, rear, left, and right, giving one the feeling that the entire field ahead was everywhere filled with cavalry — a dark mass of horses and heads, and a cloud-like expanse of banners twisting madly in the wind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once these Qing cavalry spread out like this, there seemed to be an oppressive momentum bearing down from all directions, sweeping across the land. As the saying goes, when men surpass ten thousand, they stretch boundless and endless. A single horse charging a formation occupies the space of several men — several thousand cavalry charging a formation was even more imposing than tens of thousands of infantry on the assault.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou heard the heavy, ragged breathing of the officers and soldiers beside him. He looked instinctively at each of them. All the soldiers were waiting with all their might, staring wide-eyed straight at that direction, as if they wanted to drag those Qing soldiers over there right off their horses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou also saw Zhao Xuan, the officer commanding the forward artillery unit, with both hands on his hips, his body twisting backward with all his might. Wang Dou could not see his face and did not know what expression he wore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Woo.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From behind the Qing army formation rose the bleak call of horns once more. Abruptly those several thousand Qing cavalry quickened their pace, their hoofbeats like thunder. Five thousand cavalry, like a bursting dike's floodwaters, came rolling and surging forward.\u003C\u002Fp>",2399,"2026-06-03T14:05:36.780Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","ebf05e804205c2754024b1edc52dfdc55275e4f0f66c8645101c0eed6c760db3","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-230","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-228",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]