[{"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-255":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},1205544,1561,"Chapter 255: Man Jiang Hong","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-255",255,"\u003Cp>The earth seemed to tremble without pause. Gazing around at the tide of Qing soldiers surging in like a sea, the faces of the Xuan-Da troops all showed alarm: \"These Tartar soldiers — have they come in too great a number?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Xiangsheng, Wang Dou, and the others also wore grave expressions. The slave-thieves' strength was overwhelming, far beyond anyone's expectation. But since they had come, they would settle in! Fortunately, the great army had already made thorough preparations; now that the slave-thieves were advancing, the men could fight with peace of mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound of hoofbeats lasted for who knows how long before slowly weakening. The great clouds of dust that had risen also dispersed, revealing dense, layer upon layer of banners of every color all around, along with Qing cavalrymen wearing all manner of armor. They had gathered several li away, so densely packed that no one knew how many rings they had thrown around the Xuan-Da encampment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several li directly in front of the encampment stood many enormous gold-threaded dragon banners. Beneath one of those dragon banners was Dorgon, the Plain White Banner Commander of the Qing state, Prince Rui, and Generalissimo by Imperial Command, mounted on a divine steed and gazing toward the Xuan-Da encampment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Around and behind him thronged the banner lords of the Eight Banner Manchus and the Eight Banner Mongols, as well as the beile princes of each banner. According to their banner colors, the armor they wore also differed — some pure white, some bordered white, some pure red, some bordered red — but every single set was of superb quality, and the horses they rode were incomparably fine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dorgon gazed for a long time, then said thoughtfully, \"They set up camp and established defenses with astonishing speed. This Ming army is indeed a formidable foe!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not far from him, Yibai, the Plain White Banner lord of the Eight Banner Mongols, called out, \"Generalissimo, shall we let the warriors of each banner launch a wave of attacks first, to blunt their spirit?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dorgon shook his head. \"Do not underestimate the enemy. Wait until my sixty thousand troops are fully assembled, and the provisions, fodder, heavy artillery, war carts, and the captured Ming commoners have all arrived. Then we shall attack wave after wave without cease, giving them no chance to catch their breath. Now, by order of this Generalissimo, the warriors of every banner shall pitch camp on the spot. The encampment must be sturdy, and all precautions must be taken!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under Dorgon's orders, the Qing soldiers all around the Xuan-Da encampment began digging in and erecting stockades. Gradually, a continuous line of encampments appeared before the eyes of the Xuan-Da troops. From any direction one looked, there seemed to be an endless sea of Qing tents stretching beyond sight, with a riot of banners of every hue fluttering everywhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The signalmen on the lookout-pole carts kept relaying flag messages. The Qing encampments were thickest ten li to the east, along the banks of the Zhang River, and there were also quite a few hugging the upper and lower reaches of the Hao River right next to the Xuan-Da encampment. Only on the west side, on the far bank of the Hao River, did the encampments seem somewhat sparser.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Xuan-Da troops silently watched the Qing soldiers make camp, saw the men shouting and horses neighing, saw large squads of support troops and laborers braving the icy wind as they went out to fetch water and cook, a clamor of alien accents rising. Slowly, night fell, and in the Qing encampment, specks of lamplight flickered to life, eventually merging into a vast, brilliantly lit sea of lights. With the Xuan-Da encampment also ablaze with light, looking down from the sky, it was as if several immense cities of eternal night had sprung up around Julu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That night, Lu Xiangsheng again summoned the commanders to discuss strategy, and he exerted himself to boost morale. After the council, Lu Xiangsheng called Wang Dou to stay and asked him to accompany him on a walk. Lu Xiangsheng had his personal general Chen An beside him, and Wang Dou had only Xie Yike and a few other personal guards with him. The group walked in silence, simply patrolling the perimeter of the encampment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire Xuan-Da encampment was already under the strictest security. Patrols from each battalion moved ceaselessly, and the shouts of passwords rang out constantly. Beyond that, all was quiet and deserted around the tents, with only the scattered lanterns and torches before the tents giving off a dim glow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along the outer defensive perimeter of the Xuan-Da encampment, each battalion had also assigned large numbers of night-watch personnel. Rows of wooden poles driven into the ground bore tier upon tier of lanterns, which trembled from time to time in the cold wind and illuminated the surrounding terrain. To guard against a Qing night raid, in addition to these night-watch men and the lanterns and torches, the ground on three sides around the Xuan-Da encampment was strewn with dense layers of iron caltrops, and every critical area was barricaded with chevaux-de-frise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this era, launching a night raid was in fact extremely difficult. Night blindness was widespread, and the banners, drums, and signal flags of the cold-weapon age lost their function. A small raiding party might manage, but a large-scale night assault by a major force was pure chaos. Thus, it was exceedingly hard for the Qing soldiers to raid the Xuan-Da army's camp, and by the same token, it was no easy matter for the Xuan-Da army to raid the Qing encampment either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou and Lu Xiangsheng reached the outer defensive perimeter. Looking at the dense sea of lights in the Qing encampment opposite, Wang Dou felt his mind drift, as if he had somehow returned to the later age, facing the sea of lights of a modern city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The group made a circuit of the outer perimeter and finally arrived at the banks of the Hao River. On the far side, too, was the faint sea of lights of the Qing encampment, merging with the multitude of stars in the sky. It seemed impossible to tell where the sky ended and the earth began.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The deep-winter night was bone-chillingly cold, and the wind by the river was even fiercer. Wearing his armor, Wang Dou felt the cold pierce straight to his bones. At times, when a gust of frigid wind blew, Wang Dou could not help but shiver all over, and he frequently heard the sound of chattering teeth from those around him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The north of the Great Ming was truly cold. Wang Dou's soul was that of a southerner, and although this body was robust, after several years, he still could not quite adapt to the bitter cold of a northern deep winter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the darkness by the river, Lu Xiangsheng, Wang Dou, and the others saw a fire burning in one spot. Several men were leaping and hopping around the fire, and one of them kept scattering paper spirit-money, chanting under his breath, \"Return, return…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Xiangsheng's personal general Chen An strode over. He soon returned and reported: \"Lord Viceroy, it is Chen Ying, Yu Mao'er, and others from the Retainer Battalion performing a rite to release the soul of Li Youde, the brother who died at Bao'anzhou. They reported it during the day and received the Viceroy's permission.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Xiangsheng nodded. Everyone watched in silence as Chen Ying, Yu Mao'er, and the others from the Viceroy's Personal Battalion leaped and hopped. It was not laughable; rather, it was profoundly solemn. Wang Dou's eyes suddenly grew somewhat moist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After an unknown length of time, Chen Ying and the others dispersed. Lu Xiangsheng, wrapped in his greatcloak, simply gazed motionlessly at the sea of lights in the Qing camp across the river. After a long while, he suddenly asked, \"Guoqin, when this Viceroy summoned you to the capital's defense, did you ever regret it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although he had personally chosen Wang Dou's courtesy name, he rarely addressed him with such warmth, and seemed to treat him more sternly in public. Hearing this intimate tone from Lu Xiangsheng, Wang Dou was momentarily taken aback, then smiled slightly. \"What is there to regret? Following the Viceroy to slay the thieves — even if I die, it is a worthy death!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Xiangsheng sighed softly. \"You could have chosen not to come. You had already earned military merit in the eastern suburbs of the capital and at Tongzhou, and your prospects were bright. Following under Viceroy Chen's command, you would not be trapped in heavy encirclement like this, with your future uncertain!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou laughed heartily. \"The Viceroy has shown me the grace of recognition and the kindness of promotion. Though I am but a military man, I still understand the principle that a drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring. Trapped in heavy encirclement? So be it — it is the perfect chance to slay the thieves to my heart's content!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Xiangsheng murmured something under his breath, then sighed. \"Though you are a military man, you understand the principles of loyalty and righteousness better than most scholars. We who have read the sages' books to satiety — many of us are not your equal.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he added, \"Once this battle is over and the slave-thieves have retreated, this Viceroy intends to submit another memorial to His Majesty, earnestly requesting leave to return home for mourning. My late father has passed, and for a son not to be at his side observing the rites is truly a great unfiliality.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou consoled him: \"Since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety have rarely been both fulfilled. The Viceroy need not reproach himself too harshly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Xiangsheng nodded silently, then wrapped his greatcloak tighter around himself. \"The north is still far too cold. I truly long for the scenery of Jiangnan.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned his head and smiled at Wang Dou. \"In the future, when this Viceroy returns to Changzhou, if you, Guoqin, come to Yixing, this Viceroy shall certainly welcome you with shoes on the wrong feet.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou laughed. \"Then it is settled. When the chance comes, this humble general shall certainly come knocking for a meal.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone around them laughed, and Lu Xiangsheng, unable to suppress a smile, shook his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That night, when Wang Dou slept until the third watch, he suddenly heard the faint sound of Tartar pipes drifting from all around. It came from the Qing camp, like the Chu songs on all four sides — perhaps the Qing soldiers' attempt to sap the Xuan-Da army's fighting spirit. The pipe music was mournful and mysterious, echoing faintly and intermittently through the night sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou listened for a while, then simply sat up. His heart surged with emotion. Tomorrow's battle would surely be unimaginably difficult. Could all his painstaking efforts change the fate of Julu?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Scenes from the past appeared before his eyes one by one, from the fire-beacon mound at Shunxiang Fort, struggling all the way to the present. He could no longer turn back. Wang Dou sighed. \"Tomorrow, we fight to the death!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sat quietly thinking, and after who knows how long, Wang Dou sank back into deep sleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ninth day of the twelfth month, in the eleventh year of the Chongzhen reign.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From early morning, the horns in the Qing camp sounded without cease. From dawn to dusk, it seemed that large bodies of Qing troops kept arriving, merging into the great army that had come the day before. They pitched dense camps all around, encircling the Xuan-Da encampment three layers deep on the inside and three layers deep on the outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was still no battle that day, but it was abundantly clear that the Qing soldiers had already resolved to annihilate the entire Xuan-Da force in one stroke. The intelligence was already obvious: large bodies of Qing troops were massed to the east, north, and south of the Xuan-Da encampment; only to the west, across the river, were they somewhat fewer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was not an oversight on Dorgon's part, but a tactic of even greater malice — employing the strategy of \"surround on three sides, leave one open,\" seemingly giving the Xuan-Da army a route of escape to the west, so as to awaken a desire to survive in the whole army and thereby weaken their will to fight to the death. Lu Xiangsheng, Wang Dou, and the others could be certain that a large ambush force lay in the west. Even if there were no ambush, the moment the Xuan-Da army retreated and fled, the entire army would lose its fighting spirit, and with the Qing troops closing in from three directions in pursuit, not one in ten of the Xuan-Da force would survive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Throughout that day, Wang Dou, Lu Xiangsheng, and the others gazed toward the Qing camp, estimating the ever-increasing number of Qing troops and horses arriving. Wang Dou reckoned that the besieging Qing army this time was at least twice as large as in history. Wang Dou sneered: \"Either they scorn us utterly, or they overvalue us absurdly. Dorgon and his lot — they're sick!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tenth day of the twelfth month.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That day, the sun shone brightly and the weather was fine, but the wind was clearly even stronger than the day before. The frigid wind howled through from time to time, whipping the banners and robes until they snapped and fluttered loudly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Around the beginning of the si hour, the horns in the Qing camp sounded again. From every camp, dense masses of men and horses emerged, finally merging into an impenetrable, solid wall. On the distant horizon, from three directions, they surged toward the Xuan-Da encampment in a dark, crushing tide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Qing soldiers were finally about to begin the battle. Everyone exhaled deeply. Lu Xiangsheng came to the center of the outer defensive line, faced the several sides of the encampment, and bowed several times to all the officers and men, loudly rallying them. He declared in a clear voice: \"I and my soldiers have together received the grace of the imperial court. Let us worry not about dying, but about failing to die well!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone roared in exultation. Wang Dou bellowed: \"Brothers, slaughter those stunted Tartars until not a scrap of armor remains!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone burst into laughter, and Lu Xiangsheng laughed as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A dense forest of pikes rose. Among the Bao'anzhou troops, someone was the first to begin singing the Shunxiang army song, \"Man Jiang Hong\": \"My hair bristles with rage, I lean on the railing, the pattering rain has ceased. I lift my eyes, toward the heavens I roar, my heroic passion fierce. Thirty years of merit and fame, mere dust and dirt; eight thousand li of road, cloud and moon…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou, fervent and impassioned, took up the verse: \"…The shame of Jingkang, not yet avenged. When will the subject's hatred be quenched? Driving a long chariot, I shall trample through the Helan Mountain gap…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Xiangsheng, too, loudly joined in: \"With heroic resolve, I hunger to feast on the barbarians' flesh; laughing and chatting, I thirst to drink the Xiongnu's blood…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More and more people sang, and gradually the army song merged into a mighty, heroic chorus. From Lu Xiangsheng to Wang Dou, to Yang Guozhu, to Guo Yingxian, to Hu Dawei, to Zhang Yan — every officer and soldier was singing at the top of his lungs. In that moment, none of them felt fear; they were no longer afraid.\u003C\u002Fp>",2606,"2026-06-03T14:05:36.780Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","c614056a24bcaac48b832f99d04612c59c971339aca14e0224fad16fa91afb82","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-256","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-254",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]