[{"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-457":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},1205746,1561,"Chapter 457: Divine Fire Flying Crows","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-457",457,"\u003Cp>Soon the group entered the encampment area. This had originally been the camp and lodging grounds for a unit of the Capital Training Corps, and now it was entirely vacated for them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The various officials of the Grand Secretariat personally entered the camp to inspect it, pointing out shortcomings, determined to ensure the reinforcing troops ate well, slept well, and rested well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the Emperor's wholehearted concern, for the great battle at Jinzhou, every officer indeed poured enormous effort and care into the task.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Afterwards, the consolation officials departed to report back to the Emperor, while outside the camp barracks, large crowds of capital commoners still gathered and debated, each person as excited as if at a market fair. The spectacle of the army's arrival today was something many would never forget in their lives. The storytellers in the tea houses and wine shops would likely gain much new material.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou and the others settled into the camp. Before they could even catch their breath, a large number of gentry from the capital region arrived to comfort the troops, and a flood of visiting cards was delivered into the camp, all from prominent figures in various circles of the capital, all requesting to pay respects to Wang Dou, Yang Guozhu, and Wang Pu. Most of the name cards sought an audience with the Loyal and Brave Count Wang Dou even more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu refused all these name cards, merely inspecting the camp, resting quietly, and waiting for the upcoming banquet and the grand review before setting out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Pu accepted them all, calling the visiting crowd brothers, bustling about with great delight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou had his accompanying military advisors and intelligence personnel carefully select and pick out some worthwhile figures to receive. Even so, he was run off his feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Near the hour of You, another important figure suddenly came to visit — it was the Count of Xiangcheng, Viceroy of the Capital Training Corps Li Guozhen, accompanied by Fu Yingchong, the Vice Regional Commander of the Front Battalion of the Divine Machine Battalion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the first count of the Great Ming that Wang Dou had contact with after being enfeoffed as count, and a senior count who had been enfeoffed long ago. He hurried out of the camp to welcome Li Guozhen and his companion inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Count of Xiangcheng had a dignified bearing, not yet fifty, also wearing a python robe, with an extraordinary manner. He was especially eloquent, talking on and on. When it came to military strategy, even Wang Dou could not out-talk him. Wang Dou wondered whether Chen Jiugao, the Regional Commander of Liugou, had been influenced by him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Li Guozhen, Viceroy of the Capital Training Corps, sat down and drank a cup of tea. Then, with stern authority, he said to Fu Yingchong, the Vice Regional Commander of the Front Battalion of the Divine Machine Battalion beside him: \"Qinglin, the Loyal and Brave Count is peerless in commanding troops and fighting wars. You have this opportunity to work alongside the Loyal and Brave Count — you must cherish it, ah... Today I brought you here precisely to give you a chance to seek much guidance from the Loyal and Brave Count. Do you understand?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That Fu Yingchong was tall and thin, not yet thirty, his face full of shrewd intelligence. When he spoke, two enormous tiger teeth were revealed. On him, Wang Dou smelled the same scent as Chen Jiugao. They were both sons of the nobility — placed in later generations, they would be high cadres.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Vice Regional Commander of the Front Battalion of the Divine Machine Battalion immediately rose and said: \"This lowly general understands. Please rest assured, my lord Count. For this lowly general to have a superior officer like my lord Count is truly a blessing of three lifetimes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Fu Yingchong respectfully accept the instruction, Li Guozhen nodded with satisfaction and chatted idly with Wang Dou for a while longer, his words full of hints that Wang Dou should, when he had the leisure, give Fu Yingchong some guidance and help him earn some military merit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Afterwards, the Count of Xiangcheng took his leave. Wang Dou saw him out, and Fu Yingchong remained behind, accompanying Wang Dou to see him off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Guozhen laughed heartily: \"No need to see me far. Please keep your honored steps, Loyal and Brave Count.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He glanced at Fu Yingchong again: \"Cherish it, mm.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Surrounded by his retinue, he clasped his hands behind his back and sauntered away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou and Fu Yingchong entered the command tent. Seeing that it was getting late, Wang Dou ordered a banquet prepared to entertain the guest from the Divine Machine Battalion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two chatted idly about everything under the sun. Like Chen Jiugao, Fu Yingchong was also extremely talkative — it seemed everyone who came out of the capital was like this, able to talk about anything for three days and three nights without changing expression. He was also quite formidable at drinking; Fu Yingchong, like Huang Degong, was a wine vat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fu Yingchong, Vice Regional Commander of the Front Battalion of the Divine Machine Battalion, raised his wine bowl and said to Wang Dou: \"Some days ago, Brother Jiugao sent a letter, saying he had received the Loyal and Brave Count's care on the eastern route. Brother Jiugao and I grew up playing together bare-bottomed — this friendship goes without saying. In ordinary times, I also gave him much guidance, and under my instruction, he became a Regional Commander even a step ahead of me... No need for words — Brother Jiugao's friends are my friends, his affairs are my affairs. Loyal and Brave Count, for Brother Jiugao, I, Fu Big-Tooth, toast you.\" ...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou knew that men of the Capital Training Corps were all rather arrogant. Although his own fame filled the world, in truth he had no authority over them — after all, he was not the one issuing their pay and provisions. That this Fu Big-Tooth could set aside his pride for a friend was quite rare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Toward this Vice Regional Commander of the Divine Machine Battalion who possessed a large number of red-barbarian heavy cannons, Wang Dou also had a mind to form a connection, so he smiled and drank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Wang Dou so straightforward, Fu Yingchong was overjoyed and raised his thumb: \"Many thanks to the Loyal and Brave Count for giving me face. You, sir, are a friend I, Fu Big-Tooth, am determined to make.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fu Yingchong began to boast about how extensive his network of connections was in the capital, how people from all sides had to give him some face. Especially the Count of Xiangcheng, Li Guozhen, Viceroy of the Capital Training Corps, who appreciated him — and here he was, personally escorting him to pay respects to Count Wang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou listened with a smile, but in his heart he was pondering: the Capital Training Corps — few could fight now. He wondered how this Fu Yingchong measured up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Speaking of the Three Great Battalions of the capital, they included the Five Armies Battalion, the Three Thousand Battalion, and the Divine Machine Battalion. In the 29th year of the Jiajing reign, the Three Thousand Battalion was renamed the Divine Pivot Battalion, composed of three thousand cavalry, divided into five offices, in charge of the Emperor's banners, carriages and robes, weapons and drums, and imperial treasures — generally they did not go on campaign.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Five Armies Battalion was mostly responsible for drilling. In the early and middle Ming period, it was the overall training base for all the nation's armies — for example, the rotation troops were under the jurisdiction of the Five Armies Battalion. Under its name were also the Straight Saber Hands, the Bodyguard Battalion, the Young Officers' Loyalty Battalion, the Righteous Service Battalion, and so on — all sons of military officers and descendants of the nobility.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The one that could fight was the Divine Machine Battalion, in charge of firearms such as arquebuses and cannons. Whatever new firearms the Great Ming had were first given to this battalion for use, such as Frankish culverins, red-barbarian cannons, and Rumi arquebuses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, after the Tumu Crisis, the main strength of the Three Great Battalions was nearly exhausted. Thereafter they declined year by year. Although the troop quota was set at one hundred thousand, with an additional one hundred sixty thousand officers and soldiers of the spring and autumn rotation, how many actually existed was truly hard to say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, the rotation troops had been reduced to laborers, never getting to drill all year, shouted at and ordered about by the capital's powerful and noble on miscellaneous corvée and hard labor. The battalion soldiers were mostly sons of the nobility, arrogant and lazy by nature. Few showed up at the training grounds to go through the motions of drill, and they dispersed before it was even dark. As for their combat effectiveness...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, setting aside combat effectiveness, in terms of appearance, every man of the Three Great Battalions was tall and mighty — their image went without saying. Every time the Emperor reviewed the troops and saw the forest of banners, the gleaming helmets and bright armor, and the officers and soldiers shouting \"Long live His Majesty,\" he was always greatly pleased in his heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the 17th year of the Chongzhen reign, the Chongzhen Emperor toured the defenses of Beijing and came to the training ground outside Xuanwu Gate to review the troops. Seeing that the Capital Training Corps was merely a fine spectacle, he felt quite reassured. He never imagined that when Li Zicheng reached the city walls and the capital troops went out to fight, they would flee back at the sound of cannon fire. The capital fell soon after.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou estimated that among the Capital Training Corps, only Huang Degong, Zhou Yuji, and Sun Yingyuan could fight. As for this Fu Yingchong...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But putting combat strength aside for now, Fu Yingchong did have ability. Not to mention the current troop strength of the Three Great Battalions, the officers were growing ever more numerous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Counting the generals of the Three Great Battalions, including vice commanders, assistant commanders, mobile corps commanders, adjutants, camp commanders, signal officers, central army officers, and all the company and squad commanders, there were now nearly a thousand men. That Fu Yingchong could represent the Divine Machine Battalion on campaign — whatever else one might say, his ability to worm his way into favor was first-rate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Listening to Fu Yingchong boast, Wang Dou suddenly asked: \"I hear that the Divine Machine Battalion is going on campaign and has brought a large number of sharp firearms?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fu Yingchong immediately perked up and said: \"Yo, speaking of firearms, our Front Battalion has indeed brought quite a lot this time. Let me think — besides thirty Divine Might Grand General cannons, my soldiers are uniformly equipped with self-igniting Rumi arquebuses. Large arquebuses like the Nine-Headed Bird go without saying. There are also several hundred rocket carts, and we've prepared nearly a thousand rounds of large rockets such as Divine Fire Flying Crows and Flying Sky-Shattering Thunder Bombs. When we fire them, we'll certainly give the slave troops at Jinzhou more than they can handle...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to him, because the Divine Might Grand General cannons were so heavy — each cannon requiring nearly ten horses or oxen to pull, making the march slow — they had set out a month early. By his reckoning, they should be nearing Ningyuan by now. As for the rocket carts and other baggage, they were traveling with his Front Battalion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fu Yingchong patted his chest to Wang Dou: \"Brother Jiugao wrote to me, telling me to have my cannon battalion cooperate well with the Loyal and Brave Count. No need for words — I will certainly share the same boat with the Loyal and Brave Count through thick and thin. But when the time comes, as for the military merit, hehehehehe, hehehehehe...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A shrewd and cunning glint flashed in his eyes as he stared fixedly at Wang Dou. ...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou thought to himself that Chen Jiugao was not as full of schemes as this Fu Yingchong. He smiled and said: \"Rest assured, you will not be shortchanged on merit. You also know what kind of man I, Wang Dou, am — when have I ever treated allied troops poorly?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fu Yingchong had naturally investigated Wang Dou's career in detail, and hearing these words, he felt much more at ease. He thought to himself that after returning from Liaodong, he ought to become a Regional Commander too — so as to avoid having to be a full head shorter than Chen Jiugao when they met in the future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou's military factory rarely made rockets, because their manufacture was extremely troublesome. However, he was still very interested in large rockets like the Divine Fire Flying Crow and the Flying Sky-Shattering Thunder Bomb, so he inquired about them in detail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Vice Regional Commander of the Front Battalion of the Divine Machine Battalion also explained carefully. According to him, large rockets like the Divine Fire Flying Crow structurally belonged to the category of multiple-powder-tube linked triple-flying rockets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crow's body was filled with gunpowder inside. Holes were drilled in its back, from which several foot-long fuses were threaded out and connected to the fuses of several launch rockets under the crow's belly. The crow's body was pasted over with cotton paper for reinforcement, then fitted with a crow-shaped head, tail, and two wings, so that it could maintain a flying posture in the air and fly smoothly to the target to strike the enemy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Divine Fire Flying Crow was mainly for incinerating targets, while the Flying Sky-Shattering Thunder Bomb would explode upon reaching the target. Both could also be filled with poisons, lime bombs, and the like, using poisonous smoke, poisonous fire, and lime to attack the enemy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, one had to watch the wind direction, lest they fly back and injure one's own men.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou pondered. If the lime-bottle bombs and poison-smoke bombs in his own army were loaded onto Divine Fire Flying Crows and Flying Sky-Shattering Thunder Bombs, they would likely be like adding wings to a tiger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Vice Regional Commander said proudly: \"With such sharp weapons, when the time comes, large quantities of poison bombs and lime bombs are fired into the enemy camp, they will surely fester for dozens of li, making the slave soldiers suffer bitterly!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou said in surprise: \"Fester for dozens of li? Can the Flying Crows and such really fly that far?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought to himself: had he underestimated the technology of this era? If so, he would have his military factory mass-produce them too — troublesome or not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fu Yingchong was suddenly speechless. After a long moment, he said awkwardly: \"That is the proclaimed figure, meant to startle the enemy and lure them. The actual range...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He extended two fingers: \"If the wind is strong, they can fly over two li. If the wind is weak, less than two li.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou made an \"oh\" sound, thinking that two li was not bad either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fu Yingchong also mentioned that his army had several dozen large-caliber mortars, specifically for firing stone shot and iron shot, as well as some explosive shells.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the explosive shells here were all for firing poison-smoke bombs, lime bombs, and the like — not the imagined fragmentation type that wounded people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mortars were light and flexible, but their power and range were not small. However, they demanded relatively high skill from the gunners, as they involved extremely complex mathematical problems. In terms of practical operation, they were far more difficult than the red-barbarian cannons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fu Yingchong said proudly: \"These Mountain-Piercing Earth-Breaking Fire Thunder Cannons are all cast of bronze, capable of firing cannonballs of ten or fifteen jin, striking bandits from beyond two li. The smoke flies and the fire is fierce, the sound like a mighty thunderclap. When men and horses encounter them, they are struck as if smashed to powder. No foe is not broken, no achievement not accomplished!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou shouted, \"Good!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought to himself that with the help of the Divine Machine Battalion, he would be even more confident in the battle for Jinzhou.\u003C\u002Fp>",2742,"2026-06-03T14:05:53.320Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","e4347441b60b1c45ee27c61bbf73ddad6db10cc5ed036d9d40ff8cb7cfd45f81","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-458","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-456",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]