Chapter 268: Comfortable Now?

Very quickly, the Qing troops at the front charged to within one and a half li. To their surprise, the Ming army's usual fierce cannon fire and rockets were not launched; they charged another two hundred paces, and it was still the same.

In the great Qing formation two li away stood a high platform, where were planted the huge woven-gold dragon banners of the Eight Banners Manchu Plain White Banner, Bordered White Banner, Eight Banners Mongol Plain White Banner, Bordered White Banner, and the Outer Domain Mongol Kharchin tribe.

Behind and to the sides of the high platform stretched a vast expanse of Qing troops and horses, among which the banners and armor of the Eight Banners Manchu Plain White Banner were the most numerous.

Originally, among the total three hundred and ten niru of the Eight Banners Manchu, the Plain White Banner had forty-eight niru and the Bordered White Banner had fifty niru — the two banners with the largest numbers; even the two Yellow Banners led by Huang Taiji did not have as many men as the Dorgon brothers.

On this incursion, the troops from the Dorgon brothers' banners were the most numerous; although many banner men remained to guard the Qing state, the two banners together still fielded fifteen thousand men, including five thousand armored banner men, and each of the two banners also had several hundred bayara soldiers.

After engaging the Xuan-Da Army, Duoduo of the two brothers had suffered heavier losses, but in Dorgon's banner the armored and unarmored banner men together had lost only a few hundred men. The backbone remained. After the council of war the previous night, Dorgon knew he could no longer drive the Eight Banners Mongols and Outer Domain Mongols to attack; they themselves needed to lead the charge.

Therefore, several jalan janggin of the two White Banners each led a portion of the troops, Manchu soldiers in front, Mongol soldiers behind, attacking the Shunxiang Army's front camp in multiple waves. In addition, the bayara soldiers of the two White Banners slowly followed behind, ready to judge the battle situation and launch the decisive assault.

In the past, before they had even charged within one li, the Ming army's cannons and rockets were already firing fiercely; now, with not a sound, it made Dorgon and the others somewhat unaccustomed.

Duoduo was somewhat puzzled: "Could it be that the Ming troops of Wang Dou's division have already scattered under the bombardment of our cannon fire?"

Dorgon and Abatai beside him were both pondering. Several banner lords of the Eight Banners Mongols laughed and said: "Prince Yu's words are most reasonable. It has always been their cannons bombarding us; now we bombard them. Caught off guard, the Wang Dou army has suffered heavy casualties, and it is possible they have scattered."

Duoduo speculated further: "Perhaps Wang Dou's cannons have all been blown apart by our great cannon."

Abatai shook his head: "Wang Dou is full of tricks; we must not underestimate the enemy."

The group fell silent, only concentrating on gazing at the situation ahead. Before long, the first wave of Qing soldiers, under the cover of layers of shield carts, had already charged to the low wall and trench of the Shunxiang Army. Fierce shouting and the sound of firelocks began to rise from the front.

Scouts came rolling back to report: "...On each of the Ming army's passageways, their cannons are nowhere to be seen. The firelocks they are firing are already much weaker than yesterday..."

"The Ming army seems powerless to resist. Our Great Qing soldiers can storm into the trench wall in one charge."

Immediately, Duoduo and the others began to discuss. Duoduo said: "I told you, Wang Dou's cannons have already been completely blown apart. Our various banner warriors have shield carts for cover, so their firelocks are naturally useless. It seems they have been scared out of their wits by the bombardment and are about to collapse."

Several banner lords of the Eight Banners Mongols agreed with Duoduo's opinion. Abatai shook his head repeatedly: "If they collapsed that easily, they wouldn't be Wang Dou."

He said: "By my guess, Wang Dou's troops suffered heavy losses under the bombardment of our Grand General cannon and are unable to defend the first trench wall, so they have withdrawn into the second trench wall. Yesterday, when the Plain White Banner warriors stormed into the trench wall, they saw that the Ming army had another trench wall defense line behind."

Dorgon made up his mind and said: "Wang Dou should not yet be at the point of collapse, but after several earlier rounds of cannon bombardment, I expect his army has suffered heavy casualties and is already powerless to defend. His sharp edge is lost. Our Great Qing soldiers can take his first trench wall, and can likewise break through his second trench wall. Under our cannon fire, where can he retreat to? No matter how many trench walls they set up, they will all be broken through one by one by our great army!"

He issued a string of attack orders. The stirring war drums sounded again, and as if at the same instant, earth-shaking shouts rose from the front. Like a tide, Qing soldiers surged fiercely toward the passageways of the Shunxiang Army's first earthen wall.

These past few days, the Shunxiang Army's trench wall that the Qing army attacked was four hundred paces long — a defense line six hundred meters long in later measurements — with five passageways, each spaced eighty paces apart.

Today, attacking the Xuan-Da camp, Dorgon's Plain White Banner, leading the Outer Domain Mongol Kharchin tribe, would assault three passageways and the related low walls and trenches. Duoduo's Bordered White Banner, leading the Eight Banners Mongol Plain White Banner and Bordered White Banner, would assault two passageways and the related low walls and trenches.

The two White Banners each dispatched two jalan of troops, each jalan formation spaced over a hundred paces apart front to back. Together with the related Mongol troops numbering nearly ten thousand, plus over four thousand laborers, the total force was over ten thousand. One could see Dorgon's determination to seize Wang Dou's position in wave after unending wave.

When the Qing soldiers had earlier charged to the Shunxiang Army's front, the dense layers of shield carts still avoided the gaps at each passageway, just as they had yesterday.

Only their laborers, driven by the threats of the Qing soldiers behind them, fearfully carried heavy wooden shields bound with thick logs, one after another, crossing the low walls and placing these wooden shields in front of each low wall and trench that had not yet been filled.

In this process, quite a few were shot dead or wounded by the Shunxiang Army's firelock soldiers. If those laborers panicked and retreated, sharp arrows would immediately shoot from behind, felling them one by one.

By the old rule, after the wooden shields were set, heavy-armored troops of the two White Banners and several Eight Banners Mongol units protected the flanks, while the remaining archers covered the laborers filling the trenches. However, seeing that the cannons that had been at each passageway in the past were no longer there, they could not help but be puzzled, peering about cautiously.

After receiving orders from their superior officers within the banners, the Qing soldiers between the low walls and trenches withdrew, assembling behind their respective jalan's shield carts and briefly reorganizing their formations.

The stirring sound of war drums rose from the great formation at the rear. They suddenly raised their banners high and, under the cover of the shield carts, one unit after another charged toward each passageway with loud shouts.

"These fresh goods..."

The Qing soldiers surged forward like a tide; everywhere were dense masses of banners and armor, and the rumbling of war carts.

Seeing the might of their charge, Han Zhong could not help but curse loudly, but his voice was quickly drowned out by the heaven-shaking shouts of the alien race.

Very quickly, the Qing soldiers poured into each passageway. Ahead of them were at least three well-made shield carts; on the two front passageways, there were even five shield carts advancing side by side. Behind each shield cart were soldiers of the Plain White Banner and Bordered White Banner, holding shields high, gripping swords and axes, and clad in heavy armor.

Behind and to the sides of these heavy-armored soldiers, numerous lightly armored archers shot arrows at the Shunxiang Army on the earthen wall, covering the shield carts' advance. The first wave that charged into the passageways was at least one niru, several hundred men. Following closely behind them, dense formations of two White Banner warriors, one niru after another, pressed forward.

"Withdraw!"

Han Zhong shouted. The goal of luring the Tartar soldiers in had been achieved. There was no need to stay here any longer.

At his command, the several hundred firelock soldiers under him immediately ran quickly back into the second earthen wall. As they ran back, the ground was full of mud bags and earth baskets, as well as congealed, slippery blood. In their haste, many inevitably tripped and slipped; the firelock soldiers beside them hurriedly helped them up.

In the blink of an eye, they disappeared behind the second earthen wall.

Very quickly, those Qing soldiers followed and charged in, and then they ran into trouble.

The shield carts pushed by those laborers, after being pushed a few steps inside the earthen wall, could no longer be moved. The ground was everywhere covered with mud bags and earth baskets.

On that front passageway, several dozen men dressed as Plain White Banner soldiers emerged from behind several shield carts. One of them was extremely short and stocky, with a full beard of curly whiskers and a face covered with scars. His body was extremely bulging; he wore a chest-protecting mirror, a black-tasseled helmet, and a tall banner on his back. He was a Plain White Banner funde bošokū clad in three layers of heavy armor.

He carried a heavy shield, and in his right hand held a huge half-moon short-handled axe. He looked around. The space between the earthen walls before him was completely empty; only a hundred or so paces ahead was another earthen wall, behind which there was no sign of any human figures or movement. Between these earthen walls, the ground was covered everywhere with mud bags and earth baskets, making it extremely difficult to walk. What trick were those Ming people playing?

He had no time to think further. The warriors behind him were already pouring in continuously. Some wore double layers of heavy armor and held long spears and great halberds, greatswords and giant axes. Others wore iron-studded cotton armor and carried bows and arrows. All were heavy-armored and light-armored soldiers of the two White Banners.

Following behind them were also some unarmored banner men.

They had encountered no resistance along the way; it was so smooth it was unbelievable. But once they had broken in, there was nothing to fear. Whatever lay behind the second earthen wall, it seemed the Ming army had already collapsed. Perhaps once they entered the second earthen wall, they would see the figures of the enemy fleeing in panic.

In just a moment, the space inside the earthen wall was already filled with two White Banner Qing soldiers and Mongol soldiers pouring in from each passageway. Some of them were already rushing toward the second earthen wall.

The funde bošokū let out a howl and swung the half-moon short-handled axe in his hand. Immediately, his unit of Qing soldiers followed behind him, advancing step by step toward that earthen wall. They were indeed not to be underestimated. There seemed to be no danger ahead, but still their heavy-armored shield soldiers covered the front, while light-armored archers flanked the sides, bows drawn and arrows nocked, maintaining vigilance at all times.

However, with mud bags and earth baskets everywhere, some Qing soldiers trying to maintain their battle formation while vigilantly scanning all around inevitably tripped, falling flat on their faces like dogs eating dung, greatly damaging the image of their Great Qing warriors.

The Qing soldiers who poured continuously into the earthen wall stumbled and bumped along, surging in a dark mass toward the second earthen wall within this space six hundred meters across and nearly two hundred meters deep.

"The Qing soldiers who have entered the wall must number several thousand?"

On the Shunxiang Army's side, all was silent save for the howling of the cold wind. Wang Dou peered out beyond the earthen wall. Outside, it was a dark mass of two White Banner armor and banners. Watching them approach, some slower, some faster, each was only fifty or sixty paces from the earthen wall.

"The time has come!"

Wang Dou looked at the Shunxiang Army soldiers around him. Behind the earthen wall, four rows of firelock soldiers were quietly crouching. Since the army currently had over sixteen hundred firelock soldiers, and this second earthen wall was only a little over three hundred paces wide — less than five hundred meters — and still had to accommodate four passageways and numerous gaps, the space was limited, so Wang Dou had divided the firelock soldiers into four rows for firing.

At this moment, they were quietly hiding behind the earthen wall. The firelock soldiers under Han Zhong who had newly entered the wall were the same; they quietly crouched in the fourth row.

In addition, the cannons behind the four passageways and numerous gaps had also all been moved inside the earthen wall. The entire army had silenced its drums and lowered its banners, all to wait for the Qing army to enter the trap. Now, they had finally come.

Wang Dou looked at the long-spear soldiers and sword-and-shield soldiers behind the firelock troops. At this moment, they too were in neat formation, arrayed in strict readiness.

The cannon ammunition was loaded, each man's firelock powder and shot had long been loaded, and the match cords were already lit. Everything was ready!

Wang Dou abruptly looked at Xie Yike and nodded heavily. Xie Yike was also extremely agitated. He let out an earth-shattering shout: "Beat the drums!"

The stirring war drums of the Shunxiang Army sounded, and immediately the entire army roared — all the arquebusiers rose to their feet. The front rank of arquebusiers, a dense black mass, rested their arquebuses on the earthen wall, and all the cannons were pushed out from behind the wall as well.

Just as those Qing soldiers collectively froze in shock, Zhao Xuan shouted at the top of his lungs: "Fire!"

The earth shook violently as a heaven-shaking cannon salvo erupted — the Viceroy's Personal Battalion's four red-barbarian 6-pounder cannons, the Shunxiang Army's fifteen medium falconet cannons, twenty-five small falconet bronze cannons, and thirty crouching-tiger cannons all fired at once.

Great billowing clouds of dense gunpowder smoke rose, and the entire area around the earthen wall seemed shrouded in fog. Countless lead pellets howled toward the Qing soldiers in front of the wall — whatever armor they wore, whatever shields they held, none of it had the slightest effect.

Before the earthen wall, stretching hundreds of meters, those Qing troops collapsed in great swaths like wheat stalks felled by the wind. Every one of them was a mess of torn flesh and blood, riddled with dense, bloody holes.

Several dozen more were blasted clean off their feet and sent flying.

The Viceroy's Personal Battalion's four red-barbarian 6-pounder cannons had a grapeshot range of over two hundred paces; even the Shunxiang Army's fifteen falconet cannons had a grapeshot range of over one hundred paces. The twenty-five small falconet bronze cannons also had a grapeshot range of nearly one hundred paces.

The distance between the two earthen walls was only a bit over one hundred paces. Most of the cannons firing straight ahead could sweep the entire space through. Those Qing soldiers, densely surging forward from one end to the other, had nowhere to hide — they were punched through from head to tail, opening up corridor after corridor of blood and flesh!

The cannon fire had barely ceased when the dense, crackling rattle of arquebus fire erupted like beans popping in a pan.

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