Chapter 256: Sea of Blood (Part 1)

The heroic song of the Ming army carried far and wide. The Qing soldiers closing in from three sides heard it, and many of them looked grim. This Ming unit was different from the rest — everyone had to be truly careful.

Amid the sea of banners of the Qing army pressing forward from the front, the gold-threaded dragon banners of the Qing's Fengming Grand General Dorgon and Yangwu Grand General Yoto churned ceaselessly in the cold wind. Behind their banners, besides their numerous household slaves and guards, followed the dragon banners of the two banners' Bayara Garrison Commandants. Behind those dragon banners, all were Bayara soldiers in gleaming silver armor, mounted on fine steeds. Only behind the Bayara soldiers came the dense ranks of the two banners' Aliha Chao Ha camp warriors.

"What are those Nikans singing?"

Tan Bai, Niru Janggin of the Eight Banners Manchu Plain Red Banner Bayara Garrison, heard the muttering of the Jalan Janggin Buyantu ahead of him and sneered. Buyantu could not even read a single Manchu character, let alone understand Chinese. The only reason he had obtained the position of Bayara Jalan Janggin was sheer brute strength.

Tan Bai had studied Chinese since childhood, so he certainly knew what the Ming army across from them was singing. Seeing the arrogant expressions still showing on the faces of many Bayara soldiers beside him, he was extremely cautious about the battle to come. That Ming force opposite was the greatest adversary of his combat career — he must not underestimate them in the slightest, Tan Bai silently reminded himself.

He would never forget the scene a few days ago when he led his garrison's Bayara soldiers in pursuit of that Ming night scout. After forcing him into a dead end, the man had calmly dismounted. When he turned around, a massive grenade was already lit in his hand. The moment the grenade exploded, the serene expression on that Ming soldier's face was forever etched into his heart.

The several Bayara soldiers who had lunged at him were killed or wounded on the spot. Flying flesh and blood had splattered onto Tan Bai's face and body. Even now, thinking back, he still felt lingering terror.

This Tan Bai was no ordinary figure in history. A Manchu of the Tala clan, Plain White Banner, in the fifth year of Qing Tiancong he had followed the siege of Dalinghe, when Zu Dashou sent over a hundred cavalry to break out. Tan Bai and the then Niru Janggin Buyantu pursued and killed over thirty of them, capturing twenty-four horses. In the eighth year of Qing Tiancong, he was granted the hereditary rank of Niru Janggin.

In the years that followed, Tan Bai achieved many merits. During this year's Qing incursion, Tan Bai followed under Yoto's command, entered Qiangziling, attacked Fengrun, and also routed the forces of the Ming eunuch Feng Yongsheng. In the next few years, Tan Bai led Bayara soldiers to repeated victories, successively defeating the Ming Viceroy Zhao Guangbian, Fan Zhiwan, and the Regional Commanders Wu Sangui and Bai Guangen's forces, earning promotion to Third-Class Jalan Janggin. In the third year of Shunzhi, Tan Bai was promoted to Minister of War. He followed Prince Su, Hooge, on the western campaign against Zhang Xianzhong, repeatedly smashing Zhang Xianzhong's troops. In the fourth year of Shunzhi, he was transferred to Minister of Personnel and annihilated Zhang Xianzhong.

Although Tan Bai was now the most cautious and clear-headed man in the Eight Banners Manchu Plain Red Banner Bayara Garrison, like most Manchus, his appearance was not good. He was not tall, but rather stocky, and when he opened his mouth, it was full of yellow teeth.

He too wore fine quicksilver iron armor, riding with the tide-like Qing army formation as it surged toward the Ming army camp opposite.

The Qing infantry and cavalry pressed forward in dense layers, their dark mass of banners rolling in the wind. They drew closer and closer — five li, four li, three li, two li.

At two li, the tide-like Qing formations on three sides halted. Horns sounded, their formations parted, and countless densely packed shield carts were pushed out. Among those shield carts, the front rows were all those fine shield carts, with wheels and mantlets, wrapped in thick cowhide and doused with water. The shield carts behind were made of rough timbers lashed together into crude wooden shields. This type of wooden shield had been used by Abatai below Shunxiang Fort in the ninth year of Chongzhen; unexpectedly, they were reusing the old trick now.

Dense ranks of Qing auxiliary soldiers and camp followers pushed layers of shield carts and wooden shields forward. Behind them followed a dark mass of archers. Behind them again came dense layers of heavy armor from each banner, holding large shields, their right hands gripping heavy short weapons. At the very rear were countless Qing mounted infantry and Bayara soldiers astride fine steeds.

They closed in from three sides, and for the moment it was impossible to tell which side they would make their main assault on.

The Xuan-Da army soldiers stood ready in strict formation. Watching those dense layers of Qing shield carts, they could imagine the fierce battle to come, and each man gripped his weapon tightly.

The Qing army advanced another half li. With a sound like great thunderclaps, volleys of cannonballs screamed toward the Qing camp. At this distance, the five six-pounder red-barbarian cannons positioned in the Viceroy's Personal Battalion within the Shunxiang Army's defense line could already reach, needing only to elevate their muzzles high, and the Shunxiang Army had even built a raised platform specifically for these cannons.

Amid the shrieking, one after another scorching iron ball weighing several jin smashed down. The red-barbarian cannon's large shot either crashed into the Qing shield carts or into the Qing ranks, bouncing and tumbling across the hard ground, directly carving out trails of blood. The dozen or so smaller shot fired alongside the main ball scattered wildly in all directions, and Qing soldiers screamed and rolled to the ground.

The Qing shield carts and soldier formations were simply too dense — it was hard to miss. The red-barbarian cannons' long-range dense-kill effect was still decent, but they were just too heavy. Even this six-pounder cannon, including the barrel, had a total weight exceeding a thousand jin, making long-distance transport rather difficult.

Those cannoneers of the Viceroy's Personal Battalion, under the direction of their battery officers, calmly fired and reloaded. These cannoneers were meticulously maintained in the Viceroy's Personal Battalion in peacetime, and their training was regularly conducted. Although their firing results were still slightly unsatisfactory in Wang Dou's eyes, it was undeniable that they were among the few elite troops in the current Great Ming army.

The cannoneers beside each cannon constantly estimated range using the parallax method. Amid their shouted count commands, another cannoneer continuously adjusted the muzzle with crank and screw. Under their aimed fire, one Qing shield cart after another was smashed to pieces, and Qing warriors in the formation were sent flying in showers of blood and flesh.

The Ming army's fierce cannon fire stirred waves of unrest within the advancing Qing formations, as if the shield carts beside them could offer no safety at all. Yet under the suppression of the various Qing officers, they still pressed forward through the cannon fire, soon advancing within one li.

Wang Dou felt some regret. In truth, if the cannon quality were up to standard and each cannon had several skilled cannoneers, the cannon's rate of fire would far exceed that of firelocks. Even though the Shunxiang Army used fixed paper cartridge ammunition and could fire six rounds from their firelocks, the cannons could actually fire eight. But the current cannon-casting craftsmanship was still far inferior to later ages. After firing several rounds, the cannons had to cease fire to cool down and clean the bore; otherwise, the gunpowder was extremely prone to self-ignite.

The red-barbarian cannons in particular could not fire more than three times consecutively, and after every forty shots they had to pause for an hour to allow the barrel to cool. The operational requirements in every aspect were too high; otherwise, a barrel burst accident was extremely likely.

Originally, once the Qing army entered one li, that was precisely the effective killing range of the six-pounder red-barbarian cannons, but now these cannons were firing only intermittently, their power greatly diminished.

Watching the still densely advancing Qing shield carts, Zhao Xuan, who had been glaring at those red-barbarian cannoneers firing, showed an expression of pride and shouted, "Great Folangji, prepare!"

At his command, the fifteen Folangji medium cannons on the Shunxiang Army defense line all swiveled their muzzles upward in unison. At the same time, from all three sides of the Xuan-Da army's defense lines came the rising and falling shouts of command: "Rockets, prepare!"

"Fire!"

Like great thunderclaps bursting one after another, thick clouds of smoke billowed up from all three sides of the Xuan-Da camp. A sky-covering barrage of rockets shrieked forth, trailing trails of smoke and fire, sweeping toward the entire Qing position like a sudden storm of wind and rain. The Ming army's fine flying-spears, flying-knives, flying-swords, and other large rockets fired thirty per launcher and could reach three hundred paces after ignition. The Hundred-Tiger Volley and other large rockets fired one hundred per launcher and could reach over one li after ignition.

As the Viceroy's Personal Battalion, and the two garrison Regional Commanders, both Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei's armies carried large quantities of rockets. Wang Dou had supported both with large numbers of cannons. They had likewise supported Wang Dou with large bundles of flying-spears, flying-knives, Hundred-Tiger Volley, and other large rockets. Moreover, as the commanding officers of the three garrisons, their rocket equipment was, needless to say, mostly of fine quality.

Explosive booms thundered like rolling thunder. Many of the Shunxiang Army's firelock soldiers acted as rocketeers. They crouched on the earthen wall, one man aiming, one man igniting. Each tube of rockets that flew out launched thirty or one hundred arrows shrieking away.

A sky-covering rain of arrows seemed to blanket the Qing position. The power of technology was something the nomadic peoples could not imagine. They might need thousands or tens of thousands of men firing in volley to produce such an arrow storm. Even though the densely packed Qing soldiers raised their shields, men and horses still constantly fell with arrows in them, to say nothing of those Qing auxiliary soldiers and camp followers pushing the shield carts who had no shields raised.

Amid the thunderous roar of rocket launches, many Qing warhorses were startled into leaping up. The shield carts in the front ranks of the Qing troops were studded like hedgehogs with the rocket arrows that had flown into them.

Those Qing auxiliary soldiers and camp followers fell in swathes. Many shield carts halted. Some auxiliaries, in their terror, turned and fled. These deserters were, without exception, cut down on the spot. Then another wave of Qing auxiliaries came up from behind the formation to replace the cart-pushers.

"Open fire!"

The dense layers of Qing shield carts, braving the cannon fire, pushed within three hundred paces. Amid the roar of six-pounder red-barbarian cannons, flying-spears, flying-knives, and rockets, and under Zhao Xuan's hoarse shouts of command, the fifteen Folangji cannons in front of the Shunxiang Army's position fired in unison. At the same moment, the thunderous volley of Folangji cannons also came from the other two sides of the Xuan-Da camp.

The volley fire of cannons was indeed powerful. After a dozen iron balls were fired together, Wang Dou saw the opposite side erupt in a cacophony of shouting men and neighing horses, the Qing position thrown into considerable chaos.

The battle results were good, Wang Dou nodded to himself. His army now had ample provisions and fodder. As for ammunition, even if the fierce battle lasted until nightfall today, the rockets could be used for at least five days. The cannon ammunition could also last ten days to half a month. As for the fixed paper cartridge ammunition for the firelocks, even in the most intense fighting, a firelock soldier probably would not fire ten rounds in a day. With the army's stockpile of fixed paper cartridges, it would be no problem to finish this Qing siege and even keep fighting until they withdrew beyond the passes.

In Lu Xiangsheng's command camp not far from Wang Dou's central army headquarters, Lu Xiangsheng also nodded in approval. The slave rebels had not even reached the front line, yet just these few waves of strikes had greatly dampened their ardor.

"This Ming unit is indeed a formidable foe!"

In the great Qing formation two li away, a massive platform several meters high had been built from earth and timber. On the high platform, Dorgon and Yoto stood beneath the gold-threaded dragon banners, gazing out toward the front lines. Hearing Dorgon's thoughtful words, Yoto likewise nodded: "Though we have many war carts for cover, our brave warriors still suffer considerable casualties. Their cannon and rocket fire is too fierce. Fortunately, we have also captured large quantities of Ming cannons and rockets, and taken many Ming cannoneers prisoner — they can now be put to good use!"

His expression was excited: "In just a few more days, those two several-thousand-jin red-barbarian cannons our grand army seized from Tongzhou will be transported here. Then we will be even more confident of breaking through the Ming army's Xuan-Da camp!"

Dorgon nodded slowly. He issued orders to his subordinates: "Bring the cannons forward. Let the warriors continue to advance and keep probing!"

"Fire!"

Facing those dense Qing shield carts continuing to press forward, Zhao Xuan again shouted the order to fire.

The front of the Shunxiang Army's position shuddered. A great cloud of gunpowder smoke billowed up. The fifteen Folangji cannons roared in unison again. Amid the deafening cannonade, several more Qing shield carts were overturned, and the remaining cannonballs carved out trail after trail of blood.

Seeing the power of the Shunxiang Fort's cannon volley, the cannoneer officer of the Viceroy's Personal Battalion who continued directing his six-pounder red-barbarian cannons to fire showed a thoughtful expression.

Just at that moment, they suddenly saw passageways open up among the Qing shield carts closing in from three sides. Then, to the even greater shock of Wang Dou and the others, the Qing army pushed out multiple Folangji cannons, and among them even six-pounder and three-pounder red-barbarian cannons. Even more Qing soldiers likewise raised dense clusters of large-tube rockets.

That the Qing troops actually had cannons and rockets was far beyond the expectations of the Xuan-Da army soldiers, and many were at a loss. Then the officers of each battalion urgently shouted orders to take cover and protect themselves. Wang Dou also urgently ordered the sword-and-shield soldiers behind each earthen wall to use their shields to protect the cannoneers firing the cannons.

A deafening cannonade came from the Qing side, followed by the thunderous roar of rocket launches. Cannonballs likewise shrieked toward the Xuan-Da camp. Waves of arrows also howled over, reaching the Xuan-Da army's faces in the blink of an eye.

Many Shunxiang Army cannoneers who could not take cover in time were directly blasted away by the rockets. Several cannoneers of the Viceroy's Personal Battalion were likewise shot down by sharp arrows. Iron balls shrieked into the Xuan-Da camp, some striking the outer defense lines of the Xuan-Da army, some flying directly into the tents of the inner defense line, wreaking havoc everywhere.

Wang Dou saw firelock soldiers and pikemen beside him constantly struck by bouncing cannonballs, their flesh mangled, limbs severed. There was even one pikeman whose head was directly carried away by a glancing cannonball; his headless corpse sprayed fountains of blood mist and crashed to the ground. One red-barbarian cannonball even struck beside Lu Xiangsheng's central army command post, carving a bloody path through the guards clustered around him.

Besides these cannonballs, the dense rain of rockets also inflicted considerable casualties on the Xuan-Da army. The direct fire of rockets was powerful. Within the Qing army's line of fire, the Ming troops had earthen walls for cover, so the situation inside was not clearly visible. The Ming cannoneers at the gaps in the earthen walls were excellent targets. Besides direct fire at these men, the remaining Qing soldiers using rockets ignited their large rocket tubes one by one, raised their elevation angle, and conducted saturation fire over the entire Xuan-Da camp.

As the dense rain of arrows fell, among the Shunxiang Army pikemen, every man wore fine full-body iron armor. Arrows fell from the sky, and many men had several arrows stuck in them. These men fared relatively well, as the arrows mostly could not penetrate their iron armor. But those firelock soldiers wore only breastplates and had no shield protection; many were struck in the arms by arrows and fell with muffled groans.

In the outer defense line of the Shunxiang Army, there was blood everywhere, and the wails of the wounded. Especially those struck by cannonballs looked horrifically mangled. Many arrows even fell on Wang Dou himself; several were stuck in his armor.

Wang Dou's eyes nearly burst with rage. This round of Qing strikes had cost his own unit no small losses. Even with the Shunxiang Army's strict discipline, under this sudden, unprepared assault, waves of unrest were unavoidable. He imagined the casualties on the other two sides of the Ming army were even greater.

Wang Dou urgently sent men to Lu Xiangsheng's central army camp to request a portion of shields to provide cover for his firelock soldiers who were not yet engaged. A large group of medics from the Xuan-Da camp's core defense line, under the heavy protection of shield soldiers, also braved the arrow rain to come out and carry the wounded one by one to the rear of the camp.

Wang Dou shouted his order even louder: “Cannoneers, knock out those Tartar cannons!”

“Rocket men, knock out those Tartar rockets!”

Amid Wang Dou’s bellowed commands, rockets exploded in waves. The firelock soldiers serving as rocket men in the Shunxiang Army kept launching rockets at the Qing positions through the gaps in the earthen wall, and the two sides traded volleys for quite a while.

The rockets from the Great Ming interior, after all, could not compare with those of the Nine Frontier Garrisons’ Xuan-Da Army. At most, their forces had large thirty-shot rockets like flying spears, flying blades, and flying swords, and the quality could not be mentioned in the same breath, especially compared to the finest rocket equipment of the Three Garrisons. Many of their rockets failed to ignite, and when they did, their range was at most three hundred paces, with weak killing power.

The Shunxiang Army’s Hundred-Tiger Salvo large rockets, on the other hand, came in bundles of one hundred shots each, with longer range and greater power. Every time a huge thunderclap erupted, a whistling storm of arrows followed. Moreover, with the whole army’s attention and their own protective cover, this exchange of fire steadily suppressed those Qing rocket men.

……

Zhao Xuan was furious. Caught off guard, he had lost several more of his cannoneers; luckily, one or two cannoneers still remained beside each cannon. Crouching behind the earthen wall, he calmly estimated the bearings of the Qing cannons opposite and rapidly calculated the distance data. At his order, the fifteen folangji cannons adjusted their muzzles in unison once more.

Beside each of the five red-barbarian six-pounder cannons of the Viceroy’s Personal Battalion, a few cannoneers also remained. Under the cannon officer’s shouted orders, they too adjusted rapidly. Seeming to have learned from the Shunxiang Army’s volley-fire experience, that cannon unit was ordered not to fire individually, but to wait for his command and fire a single salvo.

The Qing cannons opposite numbered about thirty, mostly folangji medium cannons, whose range and power were roughly equal to the Shunxiang Army’s folangji medium cannons. Among them were five red-barbarian three-pounder and three-pounder cannons; no one knew where they had captured them.

After that last salvo, those captured Ming cannoneers were once again frantically loading ammunition. In this moment, the difference in quality between them and the cannoneers of the Viceroy’s Personal Battalion and the Shunxiang Army became starkly clear — they were plainly no match for the cannoneers of the Viceroy’s Personal Battalion and the Shunxiang Army.

These captured Ming cannoneers had no idea of the situation behind the Ming earthen walls; they were simply firing blindly at the encampment. Knowing that after the earlier bombardment, the Ming cannoneers opposite must have already aimed at them, every one of them wore a panicked expression, and their loading speed grew even slower.

“Fire!”

From the Shunxiang Army’s formation, five red-barbarian six-pounder cannons and fifteen folangji roared in unison, belching great clouds of gunpowder smoke.

In all that time, the captured Ming cannoneers opposite still had not finished loading their ammunition. A huge swath of iron balls came howling down, mixed with dozens of wildly scattering small balls, instantly blasting those cannoneers into flying chunks of flesh and blood, and even wrecking a good fraction of those cannons on the spot.

The ghastly sight of the cannoneers beside them made the remaining cannoneers tremble with fear. Under the threat of the Qing troops behind the shield carts, they helplessly resumed loading and firing. But after the remaining cannons managed to fire one after another, another wave of screams from the cannoneers followed.

The folangji is a thing that demands the utmost care in loading. Although the rear-loaded pre-filled chambers allow rapid loading, the mother barrel and the chamber must fit tightly together. Otherwise, the hot gas will burst out; that scalding gas can, at the least, inflict severe burns on the cannoneers nearby, and at worst, kill them on the spot.

These captured Ming cannoneers had neglected their training in normal times, and now, flustered and panicked, hardly any of them could load a chamber properly. It was only to be expected that hot gas leaked from many of the folangji cannons.

Those burned cannoneers were rolling on the ground shrieking when suddenly a thunderous boom erupted, like a sudden clap of thunder on level ground. A wide area around them — Qing troops and captured Ming cannoneers alike — was blasted into flying flesh and blood. It turned out that the crew of a red-barbarian six-pounder cannon had loaded improperly; in their panic, they had packed in too much gunpowder. The cannon burst its barrel on the spot, killing everyone in a circle around it, and even overturning several Qing shield carts.

The sight of the Qing soldiers’ plight drew a burst of laughter from the Shunxiang Army side. By now, Zhao Xuan and the others had finished reloading their cannons, and the twenty cannons fired another salvo. The Qing cannons on the other side fell completely silent.

The tremendous noise also startled Dorgon and the others behind the formation. After hearing the report of the situation at the front, Dorgon pondered for a moment and said flatly, “Those captured Ming cannoneers are useless. It seems that in future cannon and musket battles against the Ming army, we will have to use the cannoneers from Prince Gongshun’s camp!”

“Still, those Ming rockets are not bad!”

He gave the order for the Qing shield carts to continue advancing.

……

The Qing shield carts on three sides closed in densely, layer upon layer; no one knew how many war carts they had deployed as cover. At two hundred paces, the Qing troops drew nearer and nearer. The volley fire from the Xuan-Da Army’s cannons had already ceased; Zhao Xuan had ordered all the army’s cannons to switch to canister shot.

The five red-barbarian six-pounder cannons of the Viceroy’s Personal Battalion likewise switched to canister shot. Compared to the folangji cannons, their canister load was eight catties, a somewhat larger charge. The canister range was a bit over two hundred paces. These several red-barbarian six-pounder cannons had already been pushed down from the high platform and moved to several gaps in the earthen wall.

The cannon officer of the Viceroy’s Personal Battalion had already consulted with Zhao Xuan: they would all fire a single canister salvo together and give the Tartar soldiers opposite a nasty blow.

At one hundred fifty paces, stirring war drums suddenly rang out from the great Qing formation. Countless Qing soldiers let out a battle cry and pushed their war carts forward with a thunderous rumble; all at once, banners and flags were raised high, instantly forming a dark, oppressive mass like a bank of black clouds. The Qing soldiers closed in from three sides, surging toward the Xuan-Da encampment like towering waves that blotted out the sky.

“Brothers, keep your nerve! Wait for my order — let the Tartar soldiers get closer before we fire!”

Zhao Xuan, crouched behind the earthen wall, was jumping up and down, nervously glaring at the Qing soldiers on the other side of the wall, watching their war carts and banners charge forward like an ocean. Despite the freezing weather, sweat beaded on his forehead.

Along the Shunxiang Fort defense line, in the gaps of the earthen wall, the fifteen folangji medium cannons, twenty-five small folangji bronze cannons, and thirty crouching-tiger cannons all had their muzzles leveled. Under the protection of the blade-and-shield soldiers’ shields, the various cannoneers also watched the charging Qing soldiers nervously, ears pricked, waiting for Zhao Xuan’s command.

Although Wang Dou’s Shunxiang Army defense line was long, there were only five flat passageways a dozen or so paces wide that the Qing could use to charge; in front of the rest of the earthen wall were lines of trenches and low walls. At each of these gaps in the earthen wall, at least one folangji cannon and one crouching-tiger cannon were mounted. At two slightly wider passageways in the center, two folangji cannons and two crouching-tiger cannons were mounted. In front of the remaining cannons, there were no passageways, only several deep trenches.

The several hundred firelock soldiers under Han Zhong defending the earthen wall were divided into three ranks. The front-rank firelock soldiers had their firelocks propped densely on the earthen wall, watching the charging Qing shield carts nervously. Under Wang Dou’s arrangement, most of the firelock soldiers would serve as flanking fire along both sides of the passageways. Due to the habit of right-handed shooting, Wang Dou had long since ordered that when battle commenced, the firelock soldiers to the right of a gap would all fire to the left.

Company Commander Han Zhong, in charge of the defense, watched the imposing momentum of the Qing soldiers charging outside the wall and broke out in a cold sweat. Inhaling deeply, he paced back and forth shouting, “Lads, steady now! Wait until the brothers in the cannon unit fire, then shoot!”

In the blink of an eye, the dense mass of Qing war carts charged to within a hundred-odd paces. Groups of Qing archers seemed to emerge from behind the war carts, holding captured Ming rocket tubes and clutching fire sticks, about to ignite them and fire at the cannoneers in the earthen wall gaps.

“Fire!”

Amid Zhao Xuan’s hoarse, desperate shout, the earth trembled, and great billows of fierce gunpowder smoke rose. In the deafening roar of cannon fire, the Shunxiang Fort defense line’s fifteen folangji medium cannons, twenty-five small folangji bronze cannons, and five red-barbarian six-pounder cannons fired as one.

As if a mighty gale had swept through, amid the howl of dense lead balls and iron shot, several of the Qing soldiers’ finely-made war carts were sent tumbling to the ground. The ranks of Qing archers or auxiliary soldiers and camp followers behind them were mowed down in great swaths, every man’s body riddled with dense, bloody holes.

The crackle of firelocks erupted like popping beans. Apart from these passageways, the remaining Qing war carts, once pushed to within sixty or seventy paces of the earthen wall, could advance no further. Here, they encountered the obstruction of the Ming army’s low walls and trenches. Those Qing archers darted out from both sides of the war carts, firing desperately at the Shunxiang Army firelock soldiers behind the earthen wall, while some kept setting off the captured Ming rockets.

Dense ranks of heavily armored Qing blade-and-shield men charged and leaped over the low walls, only to fall, every last one of them, into the deep trenches behind them, where the sharp wooden stakes inside instantly skewered them into meat skewers. Because the Xuan-Da Army had conducted battlefield screening, the Qing soldiers could not get close to the defense line and had little understanding of the Ming army’s dispositions. Who could have known there was a deep trench behind the low wall?

With this kind of low wall and trench, the trench could still be filled in, but the earthen wall was extremely difficult to surmount, especially for horses; this kind of continuous hurdle was a highly difficult maneuver. Even if they wanted to dig through the low wall, that incredibly hard earthen wall would be a colossal engineering task. Perhaps they could heat water to soften it, but clearly, the Ming army opposite would not let them calmly boil water.

Wave after wave of charging Qing soldiers were simply too many; very quickly, they nearly filled the first trench in front of them, and needless to say, everyone inside was trampled into meat paste.

Qing soldiers kept tumbling and falling into the several trenches, filling them up. These heavily armored Qing troops, desperately scaling walls and crossing ditches, were shot dead one by one by the Shunxiang Fort firelock soldiers in front of the earthen wall. Their steaming hot blood flowed out, turning the ground between the several low walls into a field of flesh and blood.