[{"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-373":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},1205662,1561,"Chapter 373: Kill to Your Heart's Content","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-373",373,"\u003Cp>As if they understood well the power of Shunxiang Army's firearms, those loud-voiced men all kept far beyond the range of the firelocks when they shouted, at least a hundred and fifty paces away from the hillside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While they shouted, dense layers of Chuang Army troops formed ranks outside the hillside, less than three hundred paces away, forming an encirclement around the soldiers of the Ren Division. One could see their encirclement was quite skillful — tight on the east and north, but sparse in troop strength on the west, subtly matching the military principle of \"surround on three sides, leave one open.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leaving a gap in the encirclement makes the surrounded unwilling to fight to the death; moreover, if the Shunxiang Army fled west, the west was precisely where the Chuang Army's main camp at Ruzhou lay — it would be walking right into a trap. And in the northwest direction, several thousand of the Chuang Army's cavalry were also deployed; if they used cavalry to pursue, those fleeing would face more ill than good.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides this, groups of three to five cavalrymen patrolled the open fields in this area. Though most of the Chuang Army commanders had never read military treatises, their battlefield experience came from countless real battles — simple, and effective.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As those loud-voiced men shouted, Liu Fangliang and Li Guo, riding with some personal guards, gazed toward the hillside from about two hundred paces to the northwest. They could see the government troops over there arrayed in strict readiness, holding dark, heavy bird guns, every man standing motionless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Fangliang found their deployment somewhat strange. The government troops had their bird-gun soldiers in front and pikemen behind — that was nothing unusual — but the key point was how thin their formation was. On each side there were only a hundred bird-gun soldiers, divided into four ranks, twenty-five per rank, and behind them a hundred pikemen arranged the same way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two hundred soldiers per side — could they withstand the ceaseless waves of his own great army's assaults? Hmm, in the gaps of a dozen or so paces between each side, some iron caltrops were scattered up ahead, and in front of the caltrops, a few shallow trenches had been roughly dug, the excavated earth piled on the spot into low walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One could see some skirmishers holding bird guns patrolling the ground behind that area. If his great army attacked, they could only charge straight at the enemy's bird-gun positions; otherwise they would be obstructed by the trenches and iron caltrops. They would likewise come under fire from the enemy skirmishers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet in Liu Fangliang's imagination, under the impact of his own human-wave tactics, the enemy's arrangement could only be futile. Of course, he did not dare underestimate them either — the enemy was superbly equipped, their military formation strict and orderly, showing not the slightest panic under his great army's siege. Such strict and disciplined military bearing was an opponent he had rarely seen in his life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He silently watched the flying banner with the character \"Wang\" on the hillside and wondered, \"Where did these government troops come from?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Guo beside him glared fiercely at the iron armor of the Shunxiang Army soldiers on the hillside, his eyes revealing an excited look, and muttered to himself, \"So many horses and suits of armor — if we take them, our righteous army can expand by tens of thousands more.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Fangliang looked at the sky and estimated that in another two hours it would be dark. The shouting soldiers were already hoarse and parched, yet there was not the slightest stir on the hillside. They could not drag this out any longer; delay would bring unforeseen changes. The battle had to be concluded by this evening. The Chuang Army was not skilled at night fighting, and if it went on until tomorrow, the government troops' follow-up main force might catch up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked toward Hao Yaoqi's position to the north. Hao Yaoqi was shouting and rousing the soldiers on that side. Their vanguard had already been selected — on the east and north sides, twenty infantry units would be thrown in at once on each side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each unit was fifty men, so the initial assault would be a thousand men per side, with an unending stream of troops to follow. Liu Fangliang believed that the government soldiers on the hillside were also flesh and blood; they too would bleed, they too would tire. If wave after wave of attacks came without cease, he did not believe they could hold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Attack!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Fangliang passed down the order, and ten thousand Chuang soldiers roared in response. Their rising and falling cries spread far and wide, as if the entire plain was filled with the sound of their shouting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Boom, boom, boom!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thunderous drumbeats rang out — it was Hao Yaoqi personally beating the war drums.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Kill the government troops!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A Picket Officer of the northern side's death squad drew his saber and yelled at the top of his lungs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Huo!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dense rows of long spears were raised; beneath the spears were all heads wrapped in red scarves. These men were mostly soldiers from the outer formations of the Chuang camp, the majority being coerced famine refugees. Some were sallow and emaciated, some in tattered rags, but at this moment, their eyes all flashed with fanatical fervor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In these chaotic times, what was easier than dying? Die, then die. But if they survived this battle, they could become inner-camp troops of the Chuang Army — they could eat their fill, and their families could stay alive. What bargain was more worthwhile than this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They shouted slogans in unison, many pounding their own chests with force, and pressed toward the hillside in a dark, crushing mass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the telescope, he saw the bandits closing in, covering the hills and plains as far as the eye could see — everywhere the glint of cold long spears. Their tidal-wave cheers poured unceasingly into his ears. Gao Shiyin rubbed his face, exhaled deeply, and passed the order: \"Prepare for battle!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Prepare for battle!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Central Army officer received the general's order and bellowed it out. Then from every side of the hillside came the rising and falling responses of the various unit officers: \"Prepare for battle!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Beat the drums!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The heart-trembling drumbeats thundered out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Firelock soldiers, prepare to fire!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Light the matches!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"First rank, ready!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Accompanied by the war drums, the commands of the officers on each side rang out continuously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid a clattering sound, the first-rank firelock soldiers of the Yi and Ding Divisions defending the east and north sides of the hillside all lowered their firelocks and aimed with full concentration at the approaching bandits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And in the defensive gaps of a dozen or so paces between the east and north sides, the Jia Division, serving as a reserve force, had several squads of firelock soldiers who each occupied advantageous terrain on the hillside, holding flintlock Lumi muskets in their hands, to be used for sniping enemy officers and leaders, or intercepting enemy troops who approached the low walls, trenches, and caltrop zones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Kill the government troops!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Kill!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they were about to charge within a hundred paces, those bandits let out a yell, each one shouting at the top of his lungs, and came howling madly with raised long spears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ding Division Squad Commander to the left of the firelock soldiers drew his sword in one motion, pointed it diagonally forward, paused a beat, and then spat out a single vicious word from his mouth: \"Fire!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Immediately his voice was drowned out by the deafening roar of the firelocks. Dozens of firelocks spewed fierce flames, and at once jets of blood mist shot out from the bodies of the bandits packed together up front. Staggering, they tumbled to the ground one after another. The smell of blood and shrill, miserable wailing quickly spread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a swish of metal, after the front-rank firelock soldiers of the Ding Division had fired, they immediately took loaded firelocks from the hands of the rear-rank firelock soldiers with their right hands, while passing the empty guns back with their left hands. The firelocks were passed from rank to rank; when they reached the last rank, those firelock soldiers deftly drew their ramrods and swiftly loaded the pre-made paper cartridge ammunition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was inconvenient to rotate ranks forward and backward on the hillside, so Gao Shiyin's Ren Division firelock troops used the tactic of passing firelocks in relay. In fact, this was also the method of the Great Ming's Divine Machine Battalion, which Wang Dou had adopted and applied flexibly. The Shunxiang Army was battle-hardened and well-trained; whether it was volley fire by ranks or the firelock relay tactic, they performed it with practiced ease. Any tactic could be employed as naturally as reaching for something off the shelf.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over a dozen of the charging bandits on that side fell, and the rest came howling on again, with a reckless disregard for their lives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fire!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only a moment later, the second volley rang out again, then the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, the seventh... The sound seemed to go on without end. Those bandit death squads could not even charge within forty paces of the Ding Division's defense line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Corpses slowly piled up, the wounded lay covering the ground, and spilled blood was everywhere. In front of the Ding Division's formation, white smoke already hung thick. In the cold wind, the choking smell of gunpowder and the stench of blood spread everywhere, nauseating to inhale. Among the wounded and the corpses were ordinary bandit soldiers, wearing headscarves and holding long spears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were also some squad leaders, picket officers, and other minor officers, most holding waist sabers and carrying shields. Heaven is fair — whether minor officer or common bandit, before the firelocks of the Shunxiang Army, all were treated equally, each one shot dead or knocked to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And among these corpses and wounded, the majority lay in the area directly in front of the firelock soldiers, their postures in death and injury varied. With iron caltrops, low walls, and trenches obstructing the two sides of the hillside, those charging bandits involuntarily all rushed toward the firelock soldiers' side, where they bunched together and became the best targets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the death-states of their own brothers, and smelling the thick, heavy scent of blood, those fanatical Chuang Army death squads sobered up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were famine refugees to begin with, untrained. While their surge of fighting spirit lasted, they were wildly fierce. Once that spirit faded, all sorts of cowardice, fear, and negative emotions immediately flooded their hearts. Many turned ashen-faced, already resolved to shrink back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once such thoughts arose, how could they still have their original ferocity? These Chuang Army soldiers were already hesitating, afraid to advance. The casualties were too great, yet they could not even charge within a few dozen paces of the enemy's front line — how could they fight this battle? And why did the government troops' bird guns up ahead keep firing without pause, and why were they so deadly?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ding Division Squad Commander estimated that he had already mauled over a dozen of the enemy's assault units, inflicting two hundred casualties on them. Given the bandits' fighting capability, he reckoned they were already terror-stricken and disheartened. His own firelocks could generally fire five shots before pausing to cool down. A hundred firelock soldiers firing five shots each to cool down meant five hundred rounds of ammunition; against the enemy's dense formation, that could inflict at least fifty percent casualties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could the bandits endure such grievous casualties? Not to mention, he still had his pikemen uncommitted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure enough, after the bandits came to their senses, they were already cowering and milling about beyond a hundred paces, but no one dared step forward. From time to time they would cry out in alarm, because without knowing when, a brother beside them would be struck by a stray bullet from the government troops, screaming miserably as he rolled to the ground. This was especially true for the officers and leaders, which only added to their panic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the defensive gaps between the Ding Division and the east and west sides, the Jia Division firelock soldiers holding flintlock Lumi muskets kept taking potshots at the bandits on each side. They also conducted aimed fire at the bandits who approached the front of the trenches. Their flintlock Lumi muskets could pierce heavy armor at a hundred paces and were still very lethal beyond a hundred and some paces. Even if those bandits retreated beyond a hundred and some paces, how could they escape their fire?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bandits, especially those who looked like leaders, were constantly being shot to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a \"crack,\" a bullet fired from who knows where struck another bandit. He let out a loud cry, clutched his chest, and collapsed. Scalding blood seeped through his fingers, steaming hot in the cold air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching this bandit roll on the ground, wailing and crying, the men beside him all stared at him dumbly. Even the shouts and roars of the picket officers and squad leaders beside them went ignored.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly a squad commander’s head burst open, blood and brain matter splattering everywhere — a musket ball had struck him squarely in the skull.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bandit let out a heart-rending scream, flung away the spear in his hands, and fled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a pot boiling over, the remaining bandits could no longer contain their terror and scattered in flight as well. The bandits fleeing on the north side affected those attacking the eastern slope, and they too collapsed back like a receding tide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Fangliang and Li Guo, watching the battle unfold, wore extremely grim expressions — the government troops were far tougher to crack than they had expected. In this short span, the vanguard attacking both sides of the slope had suffered over twenty percent casualties, while the other side seemed not to have lost a single man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such a stark contrast was truly hard to accept. In Liu Fangliang’s view, for his own brothers to perform like this was already very rare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was just that the government troops were too fierce — in all his years campaigning with the Chuang King, he had truly never encountered the like. Their bird guns in particular were utterly chilling; every time a volley rang out, their own warriors fell row after row beneath those guns. The braver they were, the faster they died.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And he had no idea how their bird guns were fired, to be so durable and long-lasting, with firepower never ceasing — he had never seen government troops with bird guns like these.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Guo, his face dark, said quietly to Liu Fangliang, “Brother Liu, now that we’ve fought to this point, we can’t stop — otherwise those dead will have died for nothing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He said, “The government troops rely on firearms; there will always be a moment when they can’t keep up. If we pile our men on squad by squad, we can eventually break through their formation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Fangliang nodded. The vanguard on both sides just now — most of the dead and wounded were famine victims and refugees from the outer camps. Their core old camp of the Chuang battalion had not been committed at all. Even the horse troops on the periphery still held their positions. What was there to regret over dead famine victims, for Chuang generals like them?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two then summoned Hao Yaoqi, who was still hopping with rage. Hao Yaoqi had earlier boasted extravagantly before Liu and Li, and in the blink of an eye the vanguard he had organized was routed. Now panic was spreading among the foot soldiers; everyone said the government troops were too tough to fight, and they might as well withdraw to avoid wasting more strength. The ambition they had before the assault had already vanished completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Yaoqi, furious at this, had beheaded several foot soldiers who were the loudest in protest, barely steadying morale a little. Now summoned, he roared, “Brother Liu, Brother Li, let me, Old Hao, personally lead a charge — I don’t believe those government troops are so hard to crack.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Fangliang said, “Brother Dayong, we are all capable officers at the Chuang King’s side. Until it’s absolutely necessary, how can we risk ourselves lightly? Organize another twenty squads to charge, and tell those famine victims that whoever breaks the government troops’ position, those horses and armor will all be theirs, and they will be taken into the horse army at once.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Yaoqi shouted, “Wanting to enter our Chuang camp — it’s never that easy. It’s time for them to fight with their lives.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sun slowly slanted westward; the scenery along the Rushui River was bleak and desolate with killing intent. Here on this hillside, however, gunpowder smoke hung thick, and battle cries shook the heavens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Madness and blood were displayed here with piercing clarity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the eastern and northern slope defense lines of Gao Shiyin’s Ren unit, wave after wave of Chuang army foot soldiers surged forward again — a dense black mass of spears and headscarves. Row after row they were shot dead on both defense lines, yet they still came charging with frenzied howls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In order to eat their fill and become part of the Chuang King’s inner camp, these former refugees were staking their lives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Looks like the pikemen are going in. Perfect — time to slaughter to our hearts’ content!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ding Company’s Squad Commander thought to himself. At the front of the formation, every volley of twenty-five muskets had now sounded nearly twenty times, yet those bandit soldiers still scrambled over each other to charge, their eyes bloodshot and crazed. One more volley, and the musketeers’ guns would need to cool down. In that interval, the pikemen would have to step up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, in the bandits’ eyes, all the government troops relied on was firearms. He needed to show them that their Shunxiang Army was not only deadly with firearms — in hand-to-hand combat, they were just as fearsome!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He shouted, “Pikemen, prepare!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Guard!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ding Company pikeman Zhao Rongcheng roared in unison with the rest, stamping his spear shaft hard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A trace of blood-red rose in his eyes — the mad color of a thirst for slaughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another volley of musketry rang out; another dozen or so charging bandits fell, their assault wave checked for a moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the call “Musketeers, fall back” sounded, the several ranks of musketeers in front of the pike formation withdrew in unison, retreating behind the pikemen. The logistics soldiers from the central unit swiftly brought over water buckets and wiped down each man’s fine iron musket barrel with damp cloths to cool them, a sizzling sound rising everywhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Forward!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pike unit officers bellowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ten thousand victories!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The soldiers answered with a mighty, resonant cry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“First rank, thrust!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ten thousand victories!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Rongcheng leveled his pike and charged forward with this rank of pikemen, roaring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Kill!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Borrowing the momentum of charging down the slope, Zhao Rongcheng leaped forward with a sudden burst — the sharp, awl-like tip of his pike plunged straight into a bandit’s throat. The pike pierced through the throat and out the other side; the bandit could make no sound, only his body convulsing violently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thrust!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Kill!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A Squad Commander at the far left of the line bellowed. Zhao Rongcheng’s pike, trailing a mist of blood, stabbed into the chest of the next bandit behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thrust!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Kill!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dozens of blood-dripping pikes shot out again like venomous serpents, and a chorus of heart-rending screams followed. Zhao Rongcheng’s pike stabbed into the eye of yet another bandit behind. The other pikemen likewise almost never missed a thrust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shunxiang Army pikemen trained bitterly in spear techniques every day; in a charge of several dozen paces they could all hit targets in the chest, eyes, throat, and other vital spots. Precise and ruthless, with superior equipment and careful attention to formation footwork in combat — how could those spear-wielding bandits, who had virtually no training, be any match for them?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had thought the government troops relied only on firearms. The facts proved they were wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>",3399,"2026-06-03T14:05:36.780Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","db004146be47bc416b80c1ae9ff09e3f9610335a3501486afb6c7a7e4aefcfad","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-374","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-372",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]