Chapter 34: The Might of the First Battle

Wang Dou said to Zhang Gui, "Congratulations, my lord, on your first victory and a triumphant start."

Zhang Gui burst into hearty laughter, utterly delighted, and said, "A few petty bandits dared to come out and fight me?"

Soon, Zhang Tanggong and the others returned. They had killed over a dozen bandits and captured an assortment of swords, spears, and other weapons. After those bandits fled desperately back to the stockade entrance, some who could not escape in time knelt and begged for mercy, but Zhang Tanggong and his men killed them too, taking their heads back as military merit. As for the severely wounded bandits before the battle lines, their heads were likewise chopped off.

After this blow, the bandits were utterly terrified, every one of them hiding back inside the stockade, not daring to move.

Zhang Gui once again ordered camp to be pitched and gave each soldier two sheng of rice and flour. Before the battle lines, there was widespread rejoicing.

In the afternoon, Zhang Gui, brimming with confidence, again ordered an assault on the mountain. In front of the stockade, the bandits had set up a checkpoint. This checkpoint wall was low and crude, guarded by only twenty-some bandits. The bandits knew that if the government troops broke through the mountain stronghold, none of them would survive, so they all fought with desperate strength, constantly hurling down rolling stones and logs. Bandits from inside the stockade also came to reinforce them from time to time.

Leading the attack on the checkpoint was Picket Officer Xiao Daxin. He led his subordinates in a charge for a while, but after several casualties, they retreated. He himself had been struck in the waist by a rolling stone. He reported that the bandits were fierce and the checkpoint wall was hard to breach.

Zhang Gui hesitated, wondering whether to commit his own retainers. At that moment, Wang Dou said, "Company Commander, let your humble subordinate go into battle. I will certainly break through the checkpoint wall and destroy these bandits for you, my lord!"

Zhang Gui had great faith in the martial prowess of Wang Dou and his men, and seeing that those two squads of sturdy youths also looked quite promising, he decided to let them try.

He immediately said, "Good, I'll rely on you, Brother Wang!"

Wang Dou assembled his two squads of fighting men. He drew his heavy sword with one swift motion and said sternly, "In this battle, advance without retreat! We must break into the checkpoint wall and slaughter the bandits!"

The two squads of Jingbian Fort fighting men, weapons in hand, roared: "Slaughter the bandits! Slaughter the bandits!"

Each man's fighting spirit soared. They had trained bitterly for over a month, waiting precisely for this day.

Wang Dou, clad in iron armor, personally brandished his sword and charged at the front. Han Chao, Han Zhong, and Gao Shiyin, also in helmets and armor, followed closely behind. Next came four sword-and-shield men in iron armor carrying shields, then four arquebusiers, and the remaining spearmen followed closely, charging from the rear.

A volley of rolling stones and logs was hurled down from the checkpoint wall. One sword-and-shield man and several spearmen were struck down and wounded.

Wang Dou swept his long sword, and the three sword-and-shield men raised their shields overhead to protect themselves. The four arquebusiers behind them darted out. With several cracking reports, a shriek rang out from the checkpoint wall. The bandits had not expected the Ming army's firearms to shoot so far, and each one ducked back in fright.

Seizing this opportunity, Wang Dou led his troops several dozen paces closer.

Curses rang out from above, followed by several long arrows shot their way. Wang Dou and the others reached out and deflected them. One arrow lodged obliquely in the armor leaf on Wang Dou's shoulder, but he paid it no mind. The iron armor Wang Dou wore was of excellent quality, thick and solid; the arrows shot at him posed no threat whatsoever.

When Ming army deserters had gone to join the bandits, they had brought their own weapons and equipment with them. However, it was clear that their bows were poorly maintained and their archery was nothing special. The few bows they had could not halt the advance of Wang Dou and his men at all.

The terrified, panicked eyes of the bandits on the checkpoint wall were now clearly visible. Wang Dou drew his bow. With a sharp twang, a heavy arrow shot powerfully into a bandit's eye socket, hurling him backward. He flew out with a scream, landing who knows where.

Wang Dou shot several more heavy arrows, each one accompanied by a piercing shriek of agony. Han Chao, Han Zhong, and Gao Shiyin also shot arrows. Their archery was cunning and precise, aimed specifically at faces and eyes, pinning down the bandits on the checkpoint wall so they could barely breathe.

Seizing this chance, the sword-and-shield men and spearmen of Jingbian Fort scrambled over that low stockade wall one after another, leaping down onto the flat ground behind it and engaging the bandits in close combat.

The three sword-and-shield men entered first. They formed a line, each man holding a shield in one hand and a sword in the other, simply chopping straight up and down, hacking with their blades.

Their daily training consisted of only one move, which each man had practiced countless times. The brutal training made them act on instinct. No matter how the bandits attacked, they simply chopped down with one stroke. Even if some bandits' weapons struck their bodies, the thick iron armor they wore effectively protected them.

In single combat, none of them was a match for these bandits. But advancing in a line, ignoring the bandits' feints and tricks, paying no heed to whether blades or spears struck their bodies, they simply raised their swords and chopped — with rigid, mechanical precision. Raise and chop! Raise and chop!

After several such exchanges, the bandits standing before them were all chilled to the bone, every one of them fleeing in utter disarray.

Once the sword-and-shield men had opened a breach, the spearmen surged in. After crossing the stockade wall, they naturally clustered in small groups of three to five, forming one spear formation after another.

Wang Dou also charged in at the same time, directing their assault, while Han Chao and the other two protected the flanks.

Just as in their daily training, Wang Dou bellowed: "Raise spears!"

"Kill."

"Raise spears!"

"Kill!"

Hearing Wang Dou's commands, the spearmen, eyes reddening, thrust their spears in unison at his order — regardless of whether the bandits charged in a mob or alone, regardless of how dazzling their blade work or how agile their spear techniques.

Screams rang out continuously. The sound of spears piercing flesh — "Thwick, thwick!" — was chilling. These bandits, who normally killed without blinking, faced these spearmen who had trained for only a bit over a month. The sole result was that their bodies were run through one after another, and they fell to the ground, howling in heart-rending agony.

Seeing human lives so easily snuffed out by their own hands, these Jingbian Fort military households — most of them killing for the first time — all turned pale. Many could not suppress the urge to vomit.

But their usual training took hold. Though their faces were ashen, they still mechanically thrust their spears at Wang Dou's command.

Meanwhile, the Jingbian Fort arquebusiers were nervously reloading behind them, occasionally picking off charging bandits from a distance. In the blink of an eye, more than half the bandits at the checkpoint stockade had been killed.

The leader defending the stockade was the same fierce bandit who had earlier charged the formation. Refusing to believe it, he came roaring and brandishing his blade — the sole result was several more bloody holes appearing in his body, and he fell to the ground, dying with his eyes wide open in disbelief.

In the end, only three or four bandits fled back to the main stockade. The twenty-some bandits on the checkpoint wall were all killed, cleanly and completely.

After the battle ended, the Jingbian Fort military households collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. Many still had blank minds. Looking at the battlefield littered with corpses, many could not believe that these fierce, valiant bandits had been killed by their own hands.

Just over a month ago, they had been nothing more than ordinary, honest refugee military households. Since when had they possessed such formidable strength?

The Han Chao brothers also looked at the battlefield before them with deep emotion. Not long ago, they had harbored some doubts about Wang Dou's training methods, thinking that having each man practice only one killing technique might not cope with the complexities of the battlefield, and that focusing solely on offense without defense would make heavy casualties unavoidable. But the facts proved them wrong.

Gao Shiyin also stared blankly at the battlefield, the coarse flesh on his face twitching ceaselessly. No one knew what he was thinking inside.

Finally, Wang Dou and the others tallied the battlefield. Including those shot by Wang Dou and his men, a total of twenty-two bandits had been killed. Some bandits who had not yet died were finished off with a spear thrust. They captured over twenty swords, spears, bows, and arrows, and also found several dozen taels of silver on the bandits' bodies. On their own side, one was killed in action, one severely wounded, and five lightly wounded. The killed and severely wounded military households had all been struck down by rolling stones and logs during the earlier charge on the stockade. Among the lightly wounded, three had been injured in the just-concluded melee.

After Wang Dou captured the checkpoint and secured victory, Zhang Gui and the others inspected the battlefield and marveled incessantly. Zhang Gui looked carefully at Wang Dou's military households and sighed, "Brother, I truly am in awe of you. I recall you only recruited these military households not long ago?"

Wang Dou clasped his fists and said, "In reply to the Company Commander, your humble subordinate recruited them as military households in the ninth month. After establishing the fort, I drilled them for just over a month!"

Everyone collectively drew a sharp breath. So formidable after only a bit over a month of drilling — what would they become after another year or half-year of training?

Xiao Daxin, the Picket Officer from Dongjiazhuang, was also watching Wang Dou from the side, his eyes flickering with shock and uncertainty.

Although the bandits still had one main stockade, seeing that the day was growing late, Zhang Gui naturally could not order the troops to attack again. The day's operations could be considered smooth, and Zhang Gui was in good spirits. He even ordered a sheep slaughtered to reward the troops. The Jingbian Fort military households on Wang Dou's side also received some meat.

Everyone gathered around tents and campfires, celebrating the victory. Wang Dou took Han Chao and the others to visit the wounded from Jingbian Fort. The body of the Jingbian Fort military household who had died in battle had already been prepared for burial; he would be transported back to Jingbian Fort for interment. The lightly wounded were also not seriously hurt; after bandaging, they could still continue to fight.

Only the severely wounded man could not go on.

Seeing Wang Dou approach, tears streamed down his face. He simply said in a low voice, "I have no regrets following you, my lord. Only, I have an elderly mother, a wife, and little ones at home. I beg you, my lord, to look after them well."

A pang of sorrow struck Wang Dou's heart. He said in a deep voice, "Rest assured. As long as I, Wang Dou, am here, I will never let them suffer cold, hunger, or hardship."

The severely wounded man whispered, "Th... thank you, my lord..."

His voice grew fainter and fainter, until his breath slowly ceased. Even in death, his eyes still held a longing for life.

The military households around them began to weep softly. Wang Dou sat in silence. Han Chao and the others stayed by his side, sitting for a long, long time.

The next day, Zhang Gui directed the troops in an assault on the main stockade of Siqingliang. By now, only thirty-some bandits remained at Siqingliang — all hardcore, long-time bandits at the very core of the bandit chief Qiu Zimao's circle. They knew that once the stockade was breached, none of them would survive, so every man fought with mad desperation, raining down rolling stones and logs like a downpour.

The mountain slope in front of this main stockade was steep and difficult to climb, posing great difficulty for the attacking side. Zhang Gui directed several assaults, even committing his own retainers and using the remaining flying spears and fire arrows, but to no avail.

Wang Dou also attacked once as ordered. In this bandit-suppression campaign, he had already lost two men, and he knew the mountain terrain was difficult to assault. If he pressed a forceful attack, his own casualties would be heavy — the gains would not outweigh the losses. Therefore, he led his troops in a token assault: after a volley of rolling stones was hurled down from the stockade and two of his own military households were wounded, he took the opportunity to withdraw his forces.

By this time, he was already thinking of that inside agent.