[{"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-392":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},1205681,1561,"Chapter 392: A Tough Nut to Crack, Not to Be Provoked (Part Two)","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-392",392,"\u003Cp>\"Fire!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another volley of arquebus fire rang out, and a great cloud of white smoke billowed up before the sheep-horse wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those Chuang army hunger soldiers screamed as they fell one by one, rolling on the ground and wailing in unbearable agony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The arquebus is not like the bow and arrow. If an arrow does not strike a vital point, there is still a chance of survival. But if the body is hit by a ball,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>there is absolutely no chance of living. Especially with the powerful firearms of the Shunxiang Army, and in this bitter cold of the twelfth lunar month.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Very quickly, the arquebusiers had fired one volley in rotation. Chen Sheng had already finished loading his fixed paper cartridge\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>and powder, and stepped forward again. Beside them, the soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion all watched their arquebuses\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>with envy. These arquebuses used by the Shunxiang Army were truly excellent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their own army also had arquebuses, but they fell far short of the Shunxiang Army's. Not to mention the quality\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>issue, but in the fierce northern winter winds, the arquebuses their army used lacked the Shunxiang Army's\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>automatic pan cover device. The priming powder on the pan was often blown away by the cold wind, causing misfires.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, even when the Vanguard Battalion soldiers used firearms, they generally used three-barreled guns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By now, the ground was already covered with the corpses and wounded of the Chuang army soldiers. Their flowing blood steamed\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>with rising heat in the cold wind, and waves of bloody stench drifted over on the breeze. Many who were shot but not yet dead\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>rolled on the ground, weeping and screaming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But too many hunger soldiers were charging forward howling; they could not be killed fast enough. Even the fierce fire of the arquebuses was of no\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>use. Many hunger soldiers had already successfully thrown the earth sacks from their shoulders into the moat and turned to flee,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>only for several more waves of hunger soldiers to come charging forward with wild roars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A great rumble of thunder stirred, and the Vanguard Battalion soldiers on the front sheep-horse wall fired another hundred rocket tubes in unison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A large swath of Chuang army soldiers were blasted flying away, emptying the human tide before them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet behind them, a dense mass of heads surged forward again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Human wave tactics...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the terrified gazes of the hunger soldiers opposite them, Chen Sheng and the others set up their arquebuses on the crenellations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to the rockets, these government soldiers' arquebuses frightened the hunger soldiers even more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pop pop pop pop. A burst of reports and flashing firelight, and dozens of Chuang soldiers screamed as they were flung sideways,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>every single one of them showing streaks of blood arrows bursting from their bodies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Startling thunder rolled across the sky, and from the north bank of the Jinshui River, vast clouds of smoke rose again, blotting out the sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A rain of rocket arrows once more shot over from that side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Take cover from arrows!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some Shunxiang Army officers with experience from the Battle of Julu and other places shouted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the rockets came too fast. They came howling in, and many soldiers were still struck by arrows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ju Yiwu, who had just finished firing and was about to withdraw, was struck by a rocket that stabbed in through a crenel, sending him tumbling\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>backward. Like Ju Yiwu, over a dozen Shunxiang Army soldiers and Vanguard Battalion soldiers were shot and sent staggering\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>backward, falling down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mind your cover.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The officers barked orders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Sheng stooped low and came to Ju Yiwu's side, calling out, \"Brother Ju, are you alright?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ju Yiwu replied, \"I'm fine.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wore an iron mask, and the voice that came from behind it was somewhat muffled and unclear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Sheng looked him over carefully and breathed a sigh of relief. Although Ju Yiwu had been hit in the chest by an arrow,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>he was wearing an iron-studded cotton armor, and this rocket arrow could not penetrate it. Only because the arrow had struck him head-on\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>with considerable force, it had knocked the wind out of him, leaving his chest aching dully and his breathing and speech somewhat hurried.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this volley of rocket fire, over a hundred Shunxiang Army and Vanguard Battalion soldiers on the three sides of the sheep-horse wall had been struck\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>by arrows. The Shunxiang Army fared better; every man wore excellent armor. The iron armor and iron-studded cotton armor they wore could not be pierced\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>by ordinary arrows. Even if hit by dozens of arrows, they could still leap about lively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Vanguard Battalion soldiers fighting alongside them were crudely equipped. Many of their officers and captains wore only\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>leather armor or brigandine. Ordinary soldiers wore blue cloth battle skirts, or mandarin duck battle jackets, with a protective vest\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>draped over the outside. That was merely a cotton cloth vest, not even counting as cotton armor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If struck by arrows falling from the sky, it was acceptable, counted as a light wound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if hit head-on by a rocket, the injury was considerable. The brigandine and protective vest simply could not block it;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>even leather armor was at risk. Although the rockets came from the north bank of the Jinshui River, over a hundred paces away, because they were\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>propelled by gunpowder, their force was still extremely strong. Many men were sent staggering and falling\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The propelling force of the gunpowder was still extremely powerful, and many were shot stumbling and falling out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This sudden volley of rocket arrows from the Chuang army caused several dozen injuries among the Vanguard Battalion soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Shunxiang Army, for the time being, had no casualties, all thanks to the fine armor on their bodies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this era of alternating cold and hot weapons, armor and protective gear remained important. This was unlike when both sides used hot weapons,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>at which time armor might become useless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the north pass, some local militia were employed by Wang Dou as auxiliary troops and laborers for the army. Seeing that men on the sheep-horse wall defense line\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>were injured, they hurriedly came out holding shields and helped the wounded Vanguard Battalion soldiers into the pass fortress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some were wounded, so they hurriedly raised their shields and came out, helping those injured vanguard battalion soldiers into the pass city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside. There, the Shunxiang Army medical soldiers would immediately treat them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Watch for arrows. Fire at will.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Xun gave the order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing that after their own rockets were fired, the firepower on the government troops' side noticeably weakened. From within the Chuang army formation, rockets continued to sound\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>incessantly. Wave after wave of howling arrow rain came over, beating down so that the government troops behind the rampart wall could not even lift their heads. They could only\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>huddle tightly behind the crenellations. This firepower was simply too fierce.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the space between the rampart wall and the pass wall, many mat-sheds had been erected, serving as the rampart wall garrison's\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>rest areas. The fronts and tops of these mat-sheds were covered with old cotton quilts, kept constantly soaked with water,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>which could effectively defend against incoming arrows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, inside these mat-sheds, the armored long-spear soldiers of Gao Xun's unit waited quietly for orders. It was still too early for close combat, and for the time being\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>it was not their turn to take the field. They sat inside the mat-sheds, listening to the constant thudding sounds overhead. After a brief\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>silence, a squad officer came out to look and saw that the mat-shed he was in had already become a hedgehog's nest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Loose arrows!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Yongfu, seeing that many soldiers behind the rampart wall were wounded, was extremely furious. He ordered the vanguard battalion\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>soldiers on the wall to fire rockets at the Chuang army over there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the effect was obvious,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the Chuang army foot soldiers, under the protection of layers of shields, crossed the Jinshui River on the ice. Using\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the cover of the river surface and the southern bank's slope, holding rocket tubes in hand, they continuously fired rockets at the government troops on the rampart wall,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>covering those famine soldiers filling the moat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ignite rockets.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The vanguard battalion officers roared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the wall, several hundred vanguard battalion soldiers held various rockets such as \"Wasp Nest\" and \"Fire Dragon Arrow,\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>striving to aim at the Chuang army soldiers across the river.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several hundred more soldiers stood behind them, blowing their fire sticks alight. At the officers'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>command, they lit the fuse cords behind each rocket tube.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a series of reports, great billows of thick smoke rose from the northern pass wall, like the rocket\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>artillery of later ages. Sharp arrows howled into the air, trailing distinct smoke and fire tracks. Finally, they formed in the sky\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>what seemed a sky-covering arrow rain, sweeping like a violent storm toward the river surface.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou watched with his eyes greatly opened. Although he had fought against Qing rocket troops at the Battle of Julu, this kind of\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>large-scale rocket exchange was something he was encountering for the first time. Compared to the firepower of rockets, the firepower of the arquebusiers under his\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>command seemed rather weak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But with this method of fighting, whether his own side or the Chuang army's side, it was feared that within a few days, they\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>would exhaust all the rocket stockpiles in Henan Prefecture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Panic was clearly visible across the river. In the river and on both banks, all kinds of Chuang army soldiers\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>were packed together. Many of them had no shields. When the dense arrow rain came, like wind blowing through a wheat field, although many\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>turned tail and ran, under the blanket of arrow rain, in the chaos, swaths of men still fell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the advantage of defending versus attacking a city. The defending side had all kinds of ideal places to\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>take cover, while the attacking side had none.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the thunderous roar of cannons, the fifteen falconets on the northern wall of the northern pass fired in succession. The Jinshui River was two\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>hundred paces from the pass wall, exactly within the effective range of the various falconets on the wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A dozen or more cannonballs, weighing from one to three jin, howled toward the river surface. Amidst the booming thunder, iron\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>balls smashed into the river one after another, striking the Chuang army on the ice or the riverbank, sending flesh and blood flying, severing limbs and shattering bodies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hard ice surface caused those iron balls, upon impact, to bounce and tumble with even greater force, multiplying\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>their lethality several times over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Good!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Yinggui shouted loudly. The cannon he was responsible for had its shot slam into the river surface, instantly carving\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>a bloody alley of flesh. The lethality was remarkable. As the aimer for that falconet, Huang Yinggui\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>felt his face was full of glory and could not help glancing at the Shunxiang Army artillerymen beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The squad leader of the Shunxiang Army's red-barbarian six-pounder cannon smiled and nodded at Huang Yinggui. He had taken note of that shot just now;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Yinggui's skill had earned his respect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The falconet had a great advantage in firing speed. Although the training of these local northern pass artillerymen was far\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>inferior to that of the Shunxiang Army artillerymen, in a short time, they still managed to fire quite a few rounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iron balls howled over one after another, continuously slamming into the river surface and the riverbank. Wherever they passed, with cracking\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>sounds, limbs flew, flesh and blood and severed limbs scattered. Countless Chuang army soldiers had their hands and feet broken. Everywhere\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>was a scene of devastation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those Chuang army soldiers, like ants on a hot pan, crowded together everywhere. There was no longer any talk of\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>filling the moat or firing arrows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Boom!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A deafening cannon roar. On the wall, a red-barbarian six-pounder cannon spewed a great cloud of dense smoke. A\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>solid iron ball weighing over five jin roared away. Its target, however, was the Chuang army's famine soldiers and foot soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Infantry, the elite cavalry behind the horse troops, and the Old Camp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou knew that the core of the Chuang army was the Old Camp and the horse troops. Those starving soldiers, no matter how many were killed,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>it was useless. As long as the backbone remained intact, people like Li Zicheng could easily gather a massive army. According to his own intelligence\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>and understanding, although Li Zicheng now claimed to have a force of over a hundred thousand or even two hundred thousand, in reality, even counting the horse troops,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>his core strength was no more than ten thousand or so men.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among these ten thousand-plus men, the Old Camp numbered about two to three thousand, all men who had followed Li Zicheng for many years\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>and could be considered skilled in archery and horsemanship. Many possessed the martial prowess of Qing infantry in armor, cavalry in armor, or even the Bayara soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During several encirclement campaigns, they had been scattered by government troops, but now they were slowly regrouping, and many had returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These men were the absolute core of Li Zicheng's camp. The remainder counted as elite cavalry, likely numbering three to\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>four thousand, with combat strength comparable to the retainers in the Ming army. Finally, there were the horse troops, many of whom were horse bandits, armed escorts,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>or former cavalrymen from the government troops. If they performed well, they would be absorbed into the elite cavalry; if they performed well again,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>they would be absorbed into the Old Camp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, there were the infantry and the starving soldiers. The infantry were mostly surrendered Ming troops or refugees who had stayed in the Chuang camp for a long\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>time. The remaining starving soldiers were pure cannon fodder, meant solely to be expended. This group was the largest,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>probably numbering over a hundred thousand, including the old, the weak, the sick, the disabled, women, and children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this probing attack by the Chuang army, according to Wang Dou's observation, the Old Camp they deployed likely numbered a few\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>hundred men, the elite cavalry and horse troops perhaps one to two thousand, and the remainder were infantry and starving soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In wave after wave of assault, the figures of those cavalrymen were not seen; they were only spotted\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>at the rear, supervising and urging the advance, sometimes even cutting down starving soldiers who retreated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed they were also aware of the power of the Shunxiang army's cannons on the city wall. Although those starving soldiers who had yet to attack\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>were arrayed in formation after formation at the rear, awaiting their turn to assault, the formations of these men's horse troops\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>were extremely sparse, and many of the mounted men were even galloping about in small groups of three to five.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sparse was fine; it did not matter. Killing one of them was better than killing a hundred starving soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was far more worthwhile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the telescope, Wang Dou estimated that those Chuang army cavalrymen were less than one li from the city. Of course, they could not\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>possibly withdraw any further; any further and they would retreat right back into Li Zicheng's main formation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This distance was precisely the range at which the Shunxiang army's cannons could fully display their prowess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amidst a howling sound, that solid iron ball weighing over five jin had already smashed down upon the heads of those Chuang army cavalrymen.\u003C\u002Fp>",2598,"2026-06-03T14:05:36.780Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","b5ef7a8698b11ef385700660945a544c734b6daa2c36a6fedc253a227f2e1031","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-393","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-391",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]