Chapter 489

Wang Dou was overjoyed. In truth, he found it hard to judge — he did not know whether, because of his own participation in the battle, the Qing cavalry might draw reinforcements from elsewhere, perhaps even bring up artillery.

For instance, if the Han army musket and cannon units attacking Ma Ke and Tang Tong’s forces west of Songshan Fort were redeployed — even if they moved slowly, they would eventually reach the battlefield.

With the Divine Machine Battalion accompanying him, he would be far more confident. Their army currently possessed twenty-five Shenwei Grand General cannons, fifty large-caliber mortars, and nearly a hundred small-caliber mortars. They also had three hundred rocket carts, two hundred Frankish light carts, and close to a thousand large rockets such as the Divine-Fire Flying Crows.

Their soldiers, moreover, were uniformly equipped with flintlock Lumi muskets — their gear was exceedingly splendid.

Added to his own artillery battalion’s seventy Hongyi great cannons, thirty-five Grand General Frankish cannons, and fifty-five medium and small Frankish cannons — if these artillery pieces were used properly, it would be impossible not to deal the Qing army a heavy blow.

Wang Dou readily agreed to Fu Yingchong’s request.

Fu Yingchong was overjoyed and raised a thumb toward Wang Dou: “The Loyal and Brave Count is a true friend — I, Fu Daya, will remember this!”

He hurriedly took his personal guards and rushed back to the artillery position not far away to assemble his officers and men.

Hong Chengchou seemed about to speak but stopped himself, and in the end said nothing.

Just then, dust and smoke rolled up as a unit of cavalry, braving the Qing artillery fire from the main ridge, came thundering along the foot of Huangtu Ridge — at their head was Yang Guozhu’s central-army personal general, Guo Yingxian.

The moment he saw Wang Dou, he bellowed, “Brother Wang, Marshal Yang heard you were setting out to strike the Tartars and ordered me to bring a thousand elite cavalry to assist you — has your elder brother come too late?”

Wang Dou felt warmth in his heart. He knew Yang Guozhu’s intentions were purely kind, without the slightest self-interest — he simply feared Wang Dou lacked cavalry, and so sent his personal general to help.

He said, “You’ve brought a thousand elite cavalry out — will Marshal Yang be short of troops for his assault on Huangtu Ridge?”

Guo Yingxian shouted, “Rest easy! At present, only our Xuanfu Army’s new-army forward battalion is engaged. We still have two infantry battalions in reserve, plus two allied wagon battalions and several thousand cavalry standing by — taking a little dirt ridge, we have troops enough!”

Only then did Wang Dou set his mind at ease. At that moment, he saw dust and smoke rising from the northwest of the central-army grand formation.

It turned out that Wang Pu and Li Fuming, hearing that Wang Dou was setting out to help, had each dispatched five hundred elite cavalry under trusted senior generals to come to his aid.

Whatever their true thoughts, Wang Dou thanked them for their goodwill and had their troops assemble beside his own army formation.

Zhang Ruoqi spurred his horse to Wang Dou’s side, equally delighted. He said with emotion, “With officers and men so diligent and devoted to the nation, why worry that the slave-bandits will not be destroyed?”

The battle ahead was urgent, and Wang Dou had no time for further words. He gave Hong Chengchou a brief clasped-fist salute, spurred his horse, and galloped back to his own army formation; Zhang Ruoqi and the others hurriedly followed.

At this moment, over ten thousand Jingbian Army soldiers stood in strict formation — cavalry, infantry, artillery, central command, war wagons — arrayed in one orderly square after another. Even under the fierce sun and sweltering heat, not a single man stirred; the bearing of an elite force was fully evident.

A light breeze stirred, and the wave-and-sun-moon banners between each squad commander’s unit rippled and billowed without cease; especially the blood-red great banner at the central command position, which surged and churned like flame, full of passion.

Wang Dou fixed his gaze on his army formation. From the senior generals down to the common soldiers, every man in the formation was also watching him, their eyes filled with reverence and trust.

With a ringing clang like a dragon’s cry, Wang Dou drew his sharp sword in one motion and roared, “Our Jingbian Army — !”

A thunderous shout, like crashing waves, swept through the front, rear, left, and right of the great formation: “Mighty and powerful!”

“Our Jingbian Army — !”

An even louder shout erupted: “Mighty and powerful!”

“Mighty and powerful!”

Within the army formation, whether senior generals like Zhong Xiancai and Han Chao, officers like Yin Yijin and Tian Qiming, or common soldiers like Chen Sheng and Zhao Rongcheng — all shouted with every ounce of strength in their bodies.

Hearing that heroic, rousing cry, everyone’s blood boiled. Even the soldiers of the second-class units no longer felt dread or fear; they burned with eagerness to kill the bandits at once.

Guo Yingxian and a few others grinned widely and said, “Going into battle alongside the Jingbian Army — it just stirs the spirit!”

Wang Dou returned to the Jingbian Army’s central command main body, reined his horse before his great banner, and issued the order: “Move out to reinforce the southeast — the entire army, make ready!”

“Entire army, make ready!”

From every battalion, every division, every company, officers in eight-petaled iron-tipped helmets, short-body armored jackets, and thigh-guards, mounted on sturdy horses, their exposed armor leaves all uniformly gleaming, relayed the central command’s order in waves.

The Jingbian Army was positioned on the right flank of Hong Chengchou’s central-army grand formation. Upon hearing the command, the entire formation wheeled right at once. Every soldier in the ranks gave his weapons and equipment a final check — armor, long spears, the match-cords and powder for their bird muskets.

The artillerymen of the artillery battalion at the central command position urgently harnessed mules and horses to their cannons and ammunition carts. Within each battalion and division’s encampment, drivers and mess soldiers just as swiftly fitted harnesses to their supply wagons and field-kitchen carts.

The medical officers of each division and company also began inspecting the stretchers and medical carts of the medics under their command.

The provost officers of each division and company led their provost soldiers and began to move out.

The chief provost officer, Chi Dacheng, even led the provost soldiers of the marshal’s battalion to patrol throughout the entire army.

Wang Dou had lent the command carriage to Yang Guozhu, so the central command’s observation-pole cart was frantically hoisted and erected.

A fully armed signal-flag bearer leaped into the crow’s nest atop the twenty-meter pole, raised a telescope, and began scanning the surroundings.

As for the Jingbian Army’s war wagons at the central command position, the transport soldiers responsible for pushing them urgently inserted movable lion-and-tiger-pattern shield boards into the slots on the front crossbars. In the five slots at the front of each wagon, they also inserted long spears reaching a full zhang in length.

Instantly, a dense thicket of long spears bristled before each war wagon, making them look like hedgehog carts.

Wang Dou raised his telescope and observed the routed troops to the southeast. They were now just over one li from the central-army grand formation; the cavalry among the routed troops, in particular, were less than one li from the army formation.

Wang Dou issued the order: “War wagons, advance and shield the infantry. Routed troops must not charge the war wagons — any who disobey will be killed without mercy!”

“Cavalry, take position on both wings. Li Guangheng on the left, Guo Yingxian and the others on the right — together, drive off the mass of routed troops. Routed troops must be disarmed and their horses seized before they may be gathered into the formation. Those who dare disobey orders are to be struck down on the spot!”

Observing the flag signals transmitted by the observation-pole cart’s signal-flag bearer, Wang Dou’s mind stirred, and he passed down the order: “Multiple bands of slave-bandits are pressing close behind the routed troops. Cavalry on both wings, await the chance to outflank, cut them off, and destroy them!”

Under Wang Dou’s series of commands, a rumbling noise arose and dust and smoke billowed as two hundred Jingbian Army war wagons, each pushed by two transport soldiers, urgently moved to the front of the infantry battle formation.

Behind the war wagons, the long spears and firelocks of the Jingbian Army’s two mounted-infantry battalions stood erect like a forest.

Wang Dou lowered his telescope and gazed into the distance, his eyes narrowing out of habit — a quirk left over from his nearsightedness in his previous life.

Even though his vision in this era exceeded 20/15, he still could not shake the habit.

He cracked his horsewhip in the air with a sharp snap, pointed it forward, and commanded: “The entire army, forward — advance!”

Drums and music from the central command sounded in unison. Keeping time with the marching drumbeat, the ten-thousand-strong Jingbian Army, infantry and cavalry alike, stepped in unison and advanced in formation.

The central command’s great drum cart pounded with heaven-shaking sound. As the army formation advanced, the hunting banners and pennants fluttered like blood!

Wang Dou’s central-command great banner, in particular, could be seen from many li away.

And following behind the central command position was a multitude of civilian laborers with earth carts, trailing closely in a dense mass.

Fu Yingchong’s Divine Machine Battalion also urgently struck camp and followed along.

Watching Wang Dou’s army formation move out, Hong Chengchou let out a breath and prayed in his heart: “May the Loyal and Brave Count turn the tide smoothly and restore the situation!”

Looking out across the land, on one side was a strict, advancing army formation; on the other, Ming troops fleeing in utter rout, covering the hills and plains. Mingled among them were throngs of civilian laborers shrieking without cease.

This was what was meant by “a defeated army collapsing like a landslide.”

Because the Qing cavalry had deliberately intercepted and hemmed them in from all sides, creating the illusion that enemies were everywhere, it seemed that only a few escape routes remained open.

Those routed soldiers — cavalry, infantry, and civilian laborers all jumbled together — greatly slowed everyone’s running speed. The huge crowd, chaotically packed into a single mass, meant that the moment anyone fell, countless large feet immediately trampled over them, and amid howls of agony, they were trampled alive into bloody pulp.

No one had the attention to spare for them; every man cared only for his own escape, especially with the Qing troops constantly slaughtering and outflanking them.

Behind them, Qing riders harried them from time to time. The moment they fled a little too slowly, wave after wave of Qing cavalry spurred their horses forward, trampling them to death on the ground, stabbing them to death on the ground.

Any officer who tried to restore command structure became a priority target for the Qing cavalry sweeping in to outflank them.

And amid the blanket of wailing and shouting, every sound they made was utterly futile.

In their terror, countless men knew only to run for their lives. After fleeing for several li, many simply ran themselves to death. Even some of the routed soldiers’ horses were foaming at the mouth, clearly on the verge of collapse.

Suddenly catching sight of a military formation ahead, and seeing from the banners that it was a Great Ming force, they howled with wild joy and rushed toward the formation.

But they forgot that routed soldiers charging head-on into a military formation is a grave taboo.

The accepted practice was that they should have bypassed the formation by veering toward the flanks.

What greeted them was the merciless crack of volley fire.

Behind the war wagons of the Jingbian Army, muzzle flashes merged into a single sheet of flame. Amid the booming reports, dense white smoke billowed up, and one routed soldier after another was struck by the hurtling lead bullets. Blood sprayed from their bodies as they screamed and collapsed to the ground.

After several successive volleys, those routed soldiers finally came to their senses. Some howled and fled toward either side; others collapsed to the ground and lay motionless, exposing the Qing cavalry who had been pursuing them from behind…

The orderly thunder of hooves striking the earth rose as Li Guangheng led his cavalry battalion out of formation, intent on scattering the routed soldiers who were rushing toward them.

His cavalry, all first-rate troops, wore uniform bright-red, square-collared, long-body surcoats, edged with deep crimson velvet trim. Red velvet balls bobbed at both shoulders, and even the horses’ manes were dyed blood-red. On every left arm was a red round shield; each man wore an eight-petaled iron-tipped helmet, and the armor plates were densely studded with brass nails.

The horses they rode also wore protective gear at vital points. Besides the sabers hanging from their belts, each man’s saddle held a cavalry lance and multiple hand cannons. The entire force radiated a fierce and formidable brilliance.

Sabers were markedly effective only against targets wearing leather armor or no armor at all; against opponents clad in heavy armor, their effect was negligible. To kill the enemy, firearms and long spears were still required.

The hand cannons of the Jingbian Army possessed immense power. Within twenty to thirty paces, they could pierce multiple layers of heavy armor.

The mounted bows of the eastern slaves, within their effective range, could hardly threaten the cavalry of the Jingbian Army. In particular, the new-style coats and armor, around the chest and abdomen, offered protection no less than the iron armor of the former pikemen.

The armory was still researching straight swords and heavy blades, so that the Jingbian Army cavalry could slash and thrust at their opponents—

Watching them advance, their front, rear, left, and right almost forming a single straight line, Zhang Ruoqi could not help but sigh with emotion. The Jingbian Army’s firearms and cannons were already extraordinarily formidable, and even their cavalry was this sharp. He had no idea how Wang Dou had trained them.

With a sound like muffled thunder, Li Guangheng’s cavalry began their charge in tight formation, riding straight toward the routed soldiers.

Each of their combat divisions had eight hundred riders, divided into four ranks. Each rank had two hundred riders, each horse separated by a little over a pace (nearly two meters), with fifteen paces between each rank. And between each division, there was a gap of thirty paces. The entire cavalry battalion was divided into a forward division, a middle division, and a rear division, with the rear division possessing the strength of two Company Commanders.

Not far away, the routed cavalry had already come rushing toward them. Seeing their helter-skelter, frantic flight, a cold gleam flashed in the eyes of every Jingbian Army rider.

Hmph, these worthless wretches — incapable of accomplishing anything, only ruining things. In the face of the slave brigands, they cling to life and fear death. Seeing our cavalry formation approaching, they do not even know to scatter aside. Truly, they deserve to die!

At that moment, on the left flank of the cavalry ranks, standard-bearers held the Squad Commander’s banner, with the Squad Commander himself positioned beside it, along with several guards. The remaining officers within each unit were gathered in the central command and had not yet deployed.

Seeing the situation ahead, the cavalry Squad Commander in the foremost rank bellowed, “Hand cannons, ready!”

Immediately, a clatter of movement sounded as every Jingbian Army cavalryman in the foremost rank drew a flintlock hand cannon from his saddle.

Reacting in identical fashion, the riders in the ranks behind them all drew their hand cannons as well. Their charging speed unchanged, they rolled thunderously toward the routed soldiers!

Ma Fuming was the Assistant Regional Commander of the forward chariot battalion of Ji Garrison. Among the various commanders of Ji Garrison, he was notorious for embezzling rations and bleeding his soldiers dry, and was commonly known by the nickname “Ma the Skinner.” The troops he led were equally notorious for their lack of discipline; murdering civilians to claim merit and looting homes were routine for them.

Because he relied on his retainers to preserve his life, he indulged and coddled his personal guard retainers without restraint, and no matter what trouble they caused, he could cover it up. In this great battle against the Qing cavalry, his chariot battalion had been the very first wave to collapse and flee.

Seeing the situation turn dire, Ma Fuming led his three hundred-odd retainers, wheeled their horses around, and fled, without even a thought of rallying the routed troops. After leading his retainers a certain distance away, he even halted his horse to observe the battle, wanting to see how things developed. But the speed with which the entire Ji Garrison army collapsed across the line exceeded his expectations.

Seeing several dozen Qing cavalrymen bypass the routed soldiers and come directly to outflank and pursue him, how could Ma Fuming dare to linger? He led his retainers in a desperate flight, intent only on escaping to the main army formation where Hong Chengchou was stationed.

He never expected to flee to the wrong place — heading instead toward Wu Sangui’s formation.

The Qing cavalry besieging Wu Sangui there immediately detached several squads to pursue. Only by fighting through with desperate, life-or-death charges, and at the cost of over a hundred retainers, did Ma Fuming barely manage to escape with his life.

But his subordinate troops and horses were covered in wounds, and Ma Fuming himself had even lost his helmet. His topknot had come loose, his hair disheveled, his face smeared with blood and filth — he was wretched beyond description.

Yet Ma Fuming’s speed in flight was astonishingly swift. After correcting his direction, he raced ahead of the countless routed soldiers and civilian laborers.

Seeing the main army formation just ahead, and even more gratifying, what appeared to be a reinforcing force approaching from the front, he realized that as long as he could flee into the reinforcement formation, his own life would be preserved.

Judging by the banners, it was a relief force from the Jingbian Army. Ma Fuming exhaled deeply, his spirits greatly lifted.

Just at that moment, a personal guard suddenly cried out in terror, “General, the Tartars are pursuing from behind!”

Ma Fuming turned his head to look. It was several dozen Tartar Bayara soldiers. Judging by their armor, they were troops of the Tartars’ Plain White Banner. Ma Fuming’s soul nearly flew out of his body in terror. A single Tartar Heavy Armor Soldier could nearly match ten of his retainers. Against several dozen Bayara soldiers, how could he possibly be their match?