Chapter 484: Assault

The central army drums sounded, and Yang Guozhu's forward camp, along with the two infantry camps behind, launched a full-scale assault!

The earth carts were heavy, so under the cover of war carts, they mostly charged toward the Qing army's stockade wall with roaring battle cries.

On the Qing army's defense line, the stockade wall had collapsed in many places, some stockade gates stood wide open, and the drawbridge mechanisms at each gate were severely damaged.

However, the three trench lines before the main wall remained intact, so the soldiers advancing with the assault also brought a large quantity of mountain-attack equipment.

Some hundred-barrel carts from allied cart camps also joined the mountain assault; among the remaining cart camps, some of the lighter Folangji cannons and such were loaded with grapeshot and moved forward with them. The rest stayed at the mountain base, ready to provide support depending on how the battle developed.

Large numbers of civilian laborers chanted work calls as they pushed trench carts, assault carts, and pointed-tip donkeys up the slope, flanked on both sides by Yang Guozhu's matchlock sharpshooters providing cover.

Ahead of these matchlock sharpshooters, civilian laborers likewise pushed war carts forward.

These war carts were the light carts from Yang Guozhu's camp. Of single-wheel design, they were relatively light and portable, fitted with leaning shields and covered with leather, bedding, and such, offering decent protection against arrows and matchlock fire. Behind the matchlock sharpshooters came rank after rank of long-spearmen, ready to take over from their comrades and engage in close combat at any moment.

Among the close-combat fighters were some cavalrymen from the main-force camp; they were fierce in melee and adept at this kind of chaotic fighting. So a portion of them also joined the battle, wielding saber and shield as elite vanguard assault fighters.

Still others pushed war carts loaded full with Ten-Thousand-Man Foes.

For this mountain assault, Wang Dou had supplied Yang Guozhu with a good number of Ten-Thousand-Man Foes, as well as trench-fighting tools like poison-smoke bombs and ash bombs.

However, considering that in close trench combat poison bombs and ash bombs would harm both enemy and friend, Yang Guozhu primarily used Ten-Thousand-Man Foes for the mountain assault.

The Ten-Thousand-Man Foes in the Jingbian Army, thanks to improved formulas, were made smaller. But their power was great. And they could be thrown far.

In ordinary Ming armies, such powerful weapons as Ten-Thousand-Man Foes and Heaven-Shaking Thunder were the size of a man's head. Even a stout, powerful soldier could throw them only a dozen or so paces. With the Jingbian Army's Ten-Thousand-Man Foes, a soldier of strong body and great strength could throw them twenty or even thirty paces — truly convenient and immensely powerful.

Watching the Ming army charge forward with their shouts, dense masses of war carts and mountain-assault equipment surging up, the Qing soldiers behind the stockade wall roared furiously, shouting orders to meet the attack, while large numbers of reinforcements streamed over from defense lines across the central ridge.

At the Niangniang Temple terrace sector, because the wind on the ridge was strong, the poison smoke and ash smoke from the poison bombs and ash bombs fired earlier by the Divine Machine Battalion's mortars had already gradually dispersed.

The cloth strips that the defending Qing soldiers had tied over their heads and faces were mostly removed. Yet before and behind the stockade wall, that strange odor still lingered, making anyone who smelled it unable to resist coughing a few times.

Among the Qing soldiers defending this sector, aside from the severely affected, most had also inhaled some of the smoke. Though nothing showed for the moment, what illnesses their bodies might suffer in the days to come — that no one could know.

Here, Jalanggin Janggin Yanzha roared orders for the Han troops and Korean matchlock men to meet the attack; on the few stone-throwers and such that had not been destroyed, they loaded rolling stones and fire pots, preparing to launch. He also shouted orders for the Bordered White Banner Manchu troops within his jalanggin to likewise prepare their bows for battle.

But because the various equipment had been severely damaged under Ming artillery fire, the wall-defense devices still capable of meeting the enemy were already less than fifty percent of the original.

In particular, the stockade wall had collapsed everywhere; whether they could hold it, Yanzha and the others truly had no confidence in their hearts, and the Ming army was already charging up — there was no time left for repairs now.

Watching the dense tide of Ming troops surging forward, Yanzha dashed to a cauldron of oil behind the stockade wall; what boiled and blazed here was all searing-hot fire oil. Originally there had been several such oil cauldrons in this sector, but after the Ming artillery bombardment, only two remained at the Niangniang Temple terrace sector.

Near the oil cauldron, five stone-throwers were also set up — the small type, with a range of a few dozen paces. But when rolling stones tumbled down the slope and fire oil was poured on top, their power was considerable. Under the Ming artillery fire, however, three of them had also been destroyed.

"Shoot! Shoot for this jalanggin!"

Yanzha bellowed at the panicked Korean soldiers beside the stone-throwers; those Korean soldiers stared at him in terror. Yanzha spoke in Manchu — how could these Korean soldiers understand a word?

It was only through Yanzha's continuous shouting and roaring, along with leather-whip lashing, that they understood what he meant.

One Korean soldier said that the Ming troops had not yet entered range, that the stone-throwers could not throw far and had no accuracy to speak of, and that it would be better to wait until the Ming troops drew near before launching.

The Korean chamwi officer at that sector, seeing the murderous glint in Yanzha's eyes, felt some fear in his heart and said in Korean: "If Lord Yanzha says shoot, then you shoot!"

The Korean soldiers had no choice but to crank up the windlasses of the two stone-throwers and place a rolling stone on each iron sling — both carved perfectly round. Then each man ladled a scoop of fire oil and poured it over the rolling stones. With a roar, the rolling stones became blazing fireballs, flames shooting up high.

"Shoot!"

The chamwi officer bellowed, and several Korean soldiers yanked the release cords. Instantly the heavy fireballs shot out in parabolic arcs, flying beyond the stockade wall.

Liu Yongzhong led his matchlock squad, sheltering tightly behind a single-wheel war cart; several other war carts were nearby, and behind the carts crowded the matchlock soldiers of the company.

Each war cart was pushed forward with effort by two civilian laborers, while the army matchlock soldiers behind them stooped low and followed closely.

Behind these war carts were several hundred-barrel carts and Folangji carts, all loaded with grapeshot, ready to provide fire support at any moment.

For the time being, the coordination between these allied-camp cart units and Yang Guozhu's army was close — though, of course, the lure of splitting military merits and severed heads fifty-fifty if they took the ridge played a part.

To the left of Liu Yongzhong's war cart were several trench carts arrayed side by side, their forward trench-boards raised high. Once these trench carts reached the trenches, they would lower the boards, and the ditches could be crossed as easily as level ground. Moreover, these trench boards were each broad, thick, and sturdy, capable of stopping bullets and providing cover for the men behind the carts.

Behind each trench cart was a dense mass of civilian laborers pushing. Although the ridge here was gentle and getting the assault equipment uphill was not terribly difficult, these were after all heavy trench carts, and going uphill — without a dozen or more men pushing each cart, forward movement was impossible.

To the left of those trench carts were still more covering war carts and matchlock men.

And where the Tatar stockade wall ahead had no breaches, or where low walls behind the trenches posed obstacles, the Ming army used assault carts and pointed-tip donkeys. Looking out, in every direction across this section of the ridge, there were only the winding lines of war carts, trench carts, and such equipment.

As they advanced, Liu Yongzhong could clearly see that the stockade wall ahead had already collapsed, leaving breaches wide enough for several men to enter. Before the stockade wall were three trench lines, and in front of the trenches, chevaux-de-frise and wooden stakes were densely arrayed. But once the trench boards were laid down, clearing away the chevaux-de-frise and other obstacles would be a trivial matter.

From a distance, he could see that on the remnants of the stockade wall flanking the breaches, Tatar matchlock men and archers were already massed, their expressions taut with tension, simply aiming their firearms and bows at their own men.

Suddenly the men beside him cried out in alarm: "Watch out!"

Liu Yongzhong hurriedly looked over and saw two fireballs hurled from behind the Tatar stockade wall.

With two thunderous booms, the fireballs shot onto the slope, igniting some remaining patches of shallow grass on the ground, then came tumbling and bouncing down the slope like masses of flame, leaving sparks and trails of fire in their wake.

One fireball rolled wide; the other came hurtling straight toward a war cart not far from Liu Yongzhong.

At that war cart, the two civilian laborers pushing it panicked, abandoned the cart at once, and turned to flee backward — but they were blocked by the matchlock soldiers behind them.

With a crash, the fireball slammed into the war cart, knocking it askew. The rolling stone then lay still, but the fire oil on it splashed onto the cart, setting the war cart ablaze in a roaring fire.

In particular, some of the fire oil splashed onto one of the civilian laborers. The oil was extremely viscous; the moment it touched his body, the man immediately caught fire.

He screamed in agony. The other civilian laborer, in a fluster, rushed over and tried to beat the flames out, but it was useless. Soon the laborer was covered in fire, rolling back and forth on the ground, and very quickly he lay motionless.

Liu Yongzhong caught the smell of searing human flesh and felt a wave of nausea; at the same time he secretly felt relieved that the fireball had not come crashing toward his own war cart.

The Qing troops behind the stockade wall kept hurling fireballs out from time to time — sometimes striking war carts, sometimes striking trench carts or assault carts.

They set some of the mountain-assault equipment ablaze and also caused some civilian laborers and soldiers to burst into flames, screaming as they rolled wildly across the ground or ran about howling, triggering waves of panic.

Fortunately, these fireballs had little accuracy and were thrown in small numbers; compared to the vast scale of the Ming mountain assault, the damage caused by these defensive devices was a mere drop in the ocean.

Amid the pounding of war drums, Yang Guozhu's troops quickened their pace and soon closed to within sixty or seventy paces of the stockade wall.

Here, the various war carts halted, preparing to provide covering fire and then advance slowly.

The eastern-route matchlocks, though capable of piercing heavy armor at a hundred paces, still depended on the elite quality of each unit — at this distance, whether they could hit the target was another matter.

It could be said that even when shot reached long range, even if accuracy was lacking, their killing power was still not to be underestimated; a stray hit could still inflict severe wounds on the enemy. This was unlike arrows, which at long range lacked momentum — hence the saying: "At the end of a strong crossbow's flight, its force cannot pierce even thin Lu silk."

But at such a long distance, no matter how powerful the matchlock, if it could not hit, it was all in vain.

Even though matchlocks had greater accuracy than bows, shooting at a hundred paces was still a difficult task for Yang Guozhu's matchlock men. Even if they sometimes scored a hit, it was a blind cat bumping into a dead rat — one could not wage war relying solely on such low-probability events.

Therefore, firing within seventy paces was a principle Yang Guozhu had set before reinforcing Liaodong.

Seeing the Ming army preparing to open fire, the Qing soldiers behind the stockade wall panicked, and amid the officers' roars, they struck first.

A crackling burst of arquebus fire erupted; the Han army arquebusiers behind the stockade wall, along with the Korean arquebusiers in bright red short cotton armor and helmets with three-pronged rods, opened fire on the Ming army.

Crack, crack, crack — dense white smoke burst continuously from every part of the stockade wall ahead, and the muzzle flashes of arquebus fire flickered from time to time.

Amid the gunfire, Liu Yongzhong felt the war cart before him rattle and clatter; some bullets struck the cotton quilts on the shield boards in front of the cart, and shredded cotton wadding immediately flew up.

Fortunately, the Tartar soldiers' arquebuses had little power; at such a distance, they could rarely penetrate the shield boards on the war carts, not to mention that the fronts of these carts were also covered with thick cotton quilts and bedding. As for the arquebuses used by the Korean troops, their range and power were even worse than those of the Eight Banners' Han army.

However, perhaps some Tartar craftsmen possessed superb skill, and certain arquebuses they made had decent power; one bullet nearly pierced through the cotton quilt and shield board on Liu Yongzhong's war cart.

At the same time, an arquebusier beside Liu Yongzhong, perhaps too slow to dodge, was hit and tumbled backward; a spurt of blood shot from the right side of his chest.

Another arquebusier on a nearby war cart was also hit; although the bullet did not fully break through his cotton armor, at this distance the projectile struck his body like a heavy iron hammer slamming into him, making the arquebusier groan incessantly.

He clutched the wound and moaned; the damage inside his body had likely already become an internal injury.

It seemed that although the power of the Tartars' arquebuses varied, within seventy paces they could not be underestimated.

Crack, crack, crack — gunpowder smoke billowed before the stockade wall, and the Tartars' arquebuses fired without pause. With each volley, white dragons seemed to leap from the wall.

Then came the thunderous sound of rocket launches; countless rockets screamed and flew wildly — it was the Tartar soldiers behind the stockade wall, firing large tube rockets of unknown origin toward the Ming army in front of the stockade.

"Return fire!"

"Return fire..."

Amid the gunfire and rain of arrows, roars rose one after another within the Ming army.

Large numbers of army arquebusiers stepped forward, pushed aside the civilian laborers pushing the carts, and rested their arquebuses on the war carts.

Explosive reports more violent than the Qing army's arquebuses rang out, and dense white smoke burst forth in waves before each Ming war cart.

Screams came from behind the stockade wall; some Qing soldiers were hit. The Eastern Route's fine arquebuses, combined with powerful gunpowder, made the bullets fired by Yang Guozhu's arquebusiers utterly terrifying — whoever was struck either died on the spot or was gravely wounded.

Some Qing soldiers who were hit had the speeding lead bullets tear through their cotton armor in an instant. Whether or not the armor was studded with metal plates, it was of no use.

The lead bullets deformed inside their bodies, rampaging and churning everything within into pulp; as blood spurted, those Qing soldiers collapsed to the ground, howling inhumanly.

Liu Yongzhong also fired a shot and seemed to strike a Korean soldier's helmet, but at such a distance, he could not see very clearly.

Moreover, in this kind of mountain assault, the terrain made it inconvenient to use arquebus relay tactics where those in front finished firing and those behind took over. After firing his shot, Liu Yongzhong immediately withdrew, yielding his position to a brother from the friendly armor unit, leaving only his doubts in his heart.

The two sides traded blows back and forth, firing at each other across the stockade wall and the war carts.

The gunfire was unceasing; gunpowder smoke billowed before each side's positions, and cotton wadding, dirt, and stone chips sent flying by the bullets swirled and scattered.

Rockets also continued to fly toward the Ming army.

The power of rockets could not be underestimated, but rockets lacked accuracy; unless they struck directly, the soldiers wore armor, and even if hit by an arrow, the wounds were not severe.

At the same time, some regular Manchu soldiers behind the stockade wall also shot sharp arrows, but at this distance, the bows had little power. The typical Qing army combat style was to shoot arrows after the enemy entered within fifty paces; if they fired upward, the effect was similar to that of rockets.

The two sides exchanged fire for quite some time, and soldiers on both sides fell from time to time.

The smell of gunpowder smoke mixed with the stench of blood entered the nostrils of the warriors on both sides.

War drums beat; under the blazing sun, both sides fought desperately, locked in slaughter.

The Qing army relied on the advantage of terrain, while the Ming army relied on the power of their firearms; overall, the Ming army assaulting the mountain held the upper hand.

Under their cover, between the war carts, numerous trench carts, armored assault carts, and pointed-tip donkeys, pushed by a dense mass of civilian laborers, slowly advanced toward the hillside.

Amid the roars of the army camp's soldiers, some hundred-shot guns and Frankish breech-loaders from the friendly garrison's cart camp, which had been hiding far behind, moved forward.

These cannons were all loaded with grapeshot.

Those cowards — they had agreed to the plan, but the moment they saw the Tartar soldiers firing guns and shooting arrows, they dawdled and hid behind, unwilling to come forward, afraid that a single careless moment would see them struck by a bullet or an arrow.

Liu Yongzhong felt some contempt for them. In truth, these artillerymen were not in much danger, because those cannons all had protective shields — they were just hollow in the middle. They were like the Maxim machine guns of later ages: two wheels, with shields on both sides.

He thought to himself that in future battles, the officers and soldiers would still have to rely on these army warriors.

Beside Liu Yongzhong, two hundred-shot guns were also pushed forward.

These two hundred-shot guns were somewhat smaller, mounted on light war carts. The barrels were several chi long, with a stock beneath that could swivel up, down, left, and right. They were muzzle-loaded, filled with several dozen projectiles — one large ball weighing several taels, and scores of small lead pellets, each weighing several qian, with a range of about a hundred paces.

Both hundred-shot guns had front sights and rear sights on their barrels for aiming, and were fired like matchlock guns.

Under the cover of the war carts, they pushed them forward and aimed at the stockade wall.

At this moment, gunpowder smoke billowed over the Ming army's position, and from time to time, smoke drifted toward the stockade wall; the Qing army could not clearly see the Ming army's movements and continued firing guns and shooting arrows without pause. The Ming army, however, had a somewhat clearer view of the Qing army's movements, because the wind was relatively strong on the ridge and easily blew the gunpowder smoke away.

Suddenly, cannons roared; the Ming army's hundred-shot guns and Frankish breech-loaders opened fire in succession. Brilliant flames and dense white smoke leaped up, and countless projectiles formed a curtain of shot, vying to streak toward the Qing army's stockade wall.

Those stockade walls all had crenellations, and many Qing soldiers sheltered beside the crenellations of the remaining wall; when they fired their guns, their upper bodies would flash out and become exposed. Suddenly struck by the Ming army's grapeshot bombardment, numerous screams rose simultaneously from behind the stockade wall.

Liu Yongzhong saw clearly: several Qing soldiers on the stockade wall to the front right had countless streams of blood shoot from their upper bodies, and then many of their bodies burst open. In particular, several of their heads instantly became smashed watermelons.

Seizing this excellent opportunity, the Ming army behind the war carts erupted with even fiercer muzzle flashes; the grapeshot attack, combined with the arquebus fire, threw the Qing army behind the stockade wall into chaos.

Amid battle cries, the war cart before Liu Yongzhong began to push forward again — sixty paces, fifty paces, forty paces, thirty paces; ahead lay the trench before the stockade wall.

At this moment, the fighting grew even more intense.

Under the cover of the arquebuses on the war carts on both sides, large numbers of civilian laborers emerged from behind the various mountain-assault devices and desperately cleared away the chevaux-de-frise in front of the stockade wall trench, tore out the wooden stakes, and then lowered the trench boards from the front of the trench carts, laying them across the deep trench.

Some trench carts even directly pushed aside the chevaux-de-frise in front of the trench.

Where there were low walls before and behind the trench, large numbers of civilian laborers dug at them; many others, concealed inside the armored assault carts, frantically hurled sandbags and earthbags from within into the trench.

From inside the stockade wall, Qing soldiers desperately threw rolling stones and fire pots, and also hurled rolling stones smeared with fire oil, while firing guns and shooting arrows at the civilian laborers and Ming soldiers.

The Ming army behind the war carts fought desperately to provide cover.

At this distance, whether arquebuses, bows, or rockets, all reached their maximum lethality, and men on both sides kept falling.

Some civilian laborers or army soldiers struck by the enemy's rolling stones suffered torn flesh and gaping wounds, or even severe injury and death; those hit by fire pots ran and screamed, their bodies ablaze.

Some mountain-assault devices were also struck by fire pots and burst into raging flames; the men inside fled in panic.

This short stretch of a few dozen paces was the ground contested by the blood of both sides.

Most of the Ming army's casualties were those civilian laborers; for the reward of ten taels of silver or a few dan of rice, many paid with their lives.

Within the Ming army, war carts carrying Ten-Thousand-Man Bombs were also hauled up. The Border Pacification Army's Ten-Thousand-Man Bombs were relatively small, and at this distance, some men of great strength could hurl them over.

Behind the war wagons, some strongmen picked up the Myriad-Man Bombs, gripping the handle end while someone else lit the long fuse at the other end.

Then, in frantic haste, they hurled them toward the stockade wall.

Boom! Boom!

One thunderous blast after another — these Myriad-Man Bombs, the Great Ming’s version of grenades, were packed with caltrops, crushed stone, scrap iron, and the like. If they landed in front of the stockade wall, it was tolerable, but if they landed on or behind it, they instantly blasted those Qing soldiers into flying chunks of flesh, leaving them rolling on the ground and shrieking in agony.

The contents of these Myriad-Man Bombs had all been soaked in horse dung, so they were thoroughly saturated with toxins. In this weather, even if a man wasn’t killed on the spot, if the blast tore open a wound, nine times out of ten he would die of infection — and suffer horribly before he did.

As trench boards were laid across one trench after another and one ditch after another was filled, the Ming army’s war wagons pressed closer and closer to the stockade wall, and the Myriad-Man Bombs came raining down ever more thickly.

One after another, round, black Myriad-Man Bombs kept dropping inside the stockade wall. The soldiers of that time had neither the instinct nor the courage to snatch them up like lightning and hurl them back.

Unless a man dodged and fled at once, the moment a Myriad-Man Bomb exploded, it was nothing but ghostly wails and wolfish howls.

Watching the Tartars at the stockade wall flee in panic and confusion, Liu Yongzhong marveled: the firearms produced by the Jingbian Army were truly lethal — their bird guns were so, and their Myriad-Man Bombs were no different.

At last, on Liu Yongzhong’s side, trench boards had been laid across all three forward trenches.

And the stockade wall had long since collapsed; the breach was wide enough for several men to enter at once, and only half a man’s height above the trench boards.

Amidst the battle cries, swarms of saber-and-shield men surged out from behind the war wagons, clambered up through the breach, and stormed inside the stockade wall.

If you find this satisfactory, please bookmark this site so you can conveniently read next time. If there are any chapter errors, please contact the administrator. This month we recommend Tang Jia San Shao’s latest masterpiece, The Peerless Tang Sect.

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