[{"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-503":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},1205792,1561,"Chapter 503: Spoils of Battle","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-503",503,"\u003Cp>\"Excellent!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou paid special attention to the situation on Ajige's side. Through his telescope, he suddenly saw chaos erupt there — countless Qing soldiers shouting, wailing, and weeping. In particular, the gold-woven dragon banner of the Plain White Banner had toppled. He clenched his fist and said with delight, \"Ajige is dead, blasted to death by our division's artillery!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Army Supervisor Zhang Ruoqi was likewise dumbstruck: \"...Ajige is truly dead? We've killed one of their commandery princes? This... bombarding the slave-chief with cannon fire — it rivals the great victory at Ningyuan back then!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fu Yingchong, Vice Regional Commander of the Shenji Battalion's Forward Battalion, also stared wide-eyed. A single cannon shot had killed their Prince of Wuying? This was an immense achievement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the news spread, the Ming army's cheers surged like a tidal wave, roaring shouts everywhere: \"Ajige is dead, Ajige is dead!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hong Chengchou at the central grand formation soon received the news. He could scarcely believe his ears: \"The Loyal and Brave Count and his men used artillery to blast to death the Eastern Slave Prince of Wuying, Ajige?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Army Supervisor Wang Chengen said in a trembling voice, \"Is this true? Is Ajige really dead?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu and the others below Huangtuling received the news and likewise stood stunned for a long while, finding it hard to believe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the cheers, Wang Dou gave the order: \"All cavalry forces, attack with full strength!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the Qing grand formation to the rear, both Jirgalang and Hooge saw that the rear section of Ajige's cavalry had suffered devastating losses under the Jingbian Army's artillery fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What made their eyes nearly split with fury was that the Prince of Wuying's gold-woven dragon banner had fallen, and the bayara guards over there were in complete disarray. It looked as though Ajige, caught under the Ming artillery, was more likely dead than alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon after, shocking news arrived: the Great Qing's Prince of Wuying had been blasted to death on the spot by Ming artillery. The Qing cavalry on the front line wailed in grief, while the Ming troops cheered in triumph. Even more terrifying, the remaining Ming cavalry surged forth in waves — even Wu Sangui's wagon camp had over a thousand cavalry, led by Zu Dale, coming out to pick up easy gains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jirgalang, his former composure entirely gone, roared furiously: \"Sound the gongs to withdraw the troops! Let all the warriors on the front line pull back! The reserve troops of the Bordered Blue Banner and Plain Blue Banner are to provide cover — we absolutely must not let the Ming army charge through!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the chaos ahead, Hooge had lost all his former arrogance. His face pale, he muttered, \"How could this happen?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wailing of the Qing troops and the cheers of the Ming army faintly reached Dorgon, Dodo, Kim Jajeom, Shi Tingzhu, and the others on Huangtuling. They too could not believe it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dodo roared: \"Our brother is dead? This is impossible!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although ordinarily he and Dorgon were not on good terms with Ajige, Ajige was still his own brother after all. Suddenly hearing the news of Ajige's death, Dodo could not help but roar in a loss of composure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shi Tingzhu, Liu Zhiyuan, Zu Zerun, Wu Shoujin, and the other Han-banner gūsa ejens looked at one another in dismay. They could never have imagined that the Prince of Wuying, renowned for his martial valor, who had rampaged across the Great Ming without a single defeat, would suddenly fall in battle before their eyes — and be blasted to death by cannon fire? This... this Ming artillery...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There had also been rumors back then that the Great Qing's founding emperor had likewise been killed by Ming red-barbarian cannons — though the old man's constitution was exceptionally hardy, and he held on for several months before dying, even going to fight the Mongols in the meantime.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a moment, a great fear of Ming artillery, especially the Jingbian Army's artillery, rose in their hearts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kim Jajeom's eyes darted about as he thought to himself, \"I had thought the Hu-Qing cavalry's archery was unmatched under heaven. It seems before the Jingbian Army's muskets and cannons, they still fall short. The battle has only just begun, and already one of our own princes has fallen in battle. The prospects for the Jinzhou campaign are not optimistic.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dorgon's face was ashen. He clenched his fists and said not a word — no one knew what he was thinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At Rushan City, upon learning the news, Huang Taiji's face suddenly went gray. Watching the Qing cavalry retreat like the tide across the plain, all the joy from earlier — routing the Jizhen Army and slaying Bai Guangen in formation — vanished without a trace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Daišan and the others beside him likewise felt their faces twitch, unable to accept the reality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long silence, Huang Taiji said darkly, \"Prince Gongshun and the others — where have their cannons reached?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nu Shan, the gabshikhiyan gala-i amban, replied: \"In reply to His Majesty, Prince Gongshun and the others' musket and cannon troops, before reaching the northern ridge of Huangtuling, were intercepted by Ming Regional Commander Wang Pu. Moreover, with the hilly ridges and difficult roads, they will not reach Prince Zheng and Prince Su until tomorrow at the earliest.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Taiji let out a long sigh. Plans could not keep pace with changes!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the Qing sovereign and ministers' strategy, they had deployed heavy troops at Rushan and other places, waiting for the Ming army advancing toward Jinzhou to walk into the trap. They had not expected the Ming army to bypass Rushan and attack Huangtuling and Songshanling first, throwing Huang Taiji's entire arrangement into disarray.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou's Jingbian Army suddenly making its move had also caught him off guard. But Huang Taiji, seasoned through countless battles, reacted immediately. He at once ordered Kong Youde to head west of Songshanbao, link up with Shang Kexi, Ma Guangyuan, Geng Zhongming, and the others who were attacking Ma Ke's forces there, and lead the Han-banner musket and cannon troops to reinforce Jirgalang and the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The artillery position on Huangtuling was placed under the command of Han-banner Plain White Banner gūsa ejen Shi Tingzhu. But before the cannons were even halfway there, the armored cavalry assaulting the Jingbian Army's formation had already been defeated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, Ajige's death in battle could not be blamed on Jirgalang. Had they not attacked in time and instead sat watching the Ming army dig their trenches and sever the link between Songshanling and Huangtuling, then what meaning would there have been in routing the Jizhen Army and slaying Bai Guangen?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even less could they simply retreat at the sight of the Jingbian Army. If two armies faced off and one fled without fighting, the damage to the entire army's morale would be immense. Were that to happen, from then on, the whole army, high and low, would flee at the mere sight of the Jingbian Army's banners.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only fault was that things could not go as desired. The battlefield situation shifted moment by moment, and Wang Dou would not sit idly waiting for all of Huang Taiji's arrangements to be in place before acting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, through this battle, Huang Taiji gained an even deeper understanding of the Jingbian Army's strength — they were more troublesome than ever before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, after this probing, the other Ming forces, apart from Yang Guozhu's troops, were still easy to deal with. Of course, among those Ming forces, Wang Pu, Wang Tingchen, Cao Bianjiao, and Wu Sangui were men he needed to take seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Zhaoji, Li Fuming, and Zuo Guangxian's forces were slightly harder to handle. As for Ma Ke, Tang Tong, Fu Yingchong, and the like — they were just like Bai Guangen, unable to withstand a single blow. With this in mind, he could defeat them one by one from now on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Taiji thought further: \"Perhaps the strategy of using trenches and stockade walls to wear down the Ming army's strength was mistaken. The Great Qing's armored cavalry still needs to be concentrated for field battles. The Han-banner musket and cannon troops should also be massed together, specifically to deal with Wang Dou's Jingbian Army!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Holding fast to trenches and stockade walls had led to a dispersal of firepower. The Han-banner cannons, positioned on various mountain artillery emplacements, were also difficult to move for field battles and could not play their proper role — a fact that filled Huang Taiji with secret regret.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In particular, Huang Taiji had originally judged that the Ming army's main axis of attack would be at Rushan, and many cannons were still concentrated there. If the Ming army did not attack Rushan, all his painstaking efforts would be washed away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After deep contemplation, Huang Taiji gave the order: the Qing troops on Songshanling were to withdraw completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could see clearly that, for the Ming army, Songshanling was not far from Songshanbao. How could one allow another to sleep soundly beside one's own couch?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They would not tolerate a nail lodged at their flank and would surely storm it. Especially now, with Jirgalang and the others defeated, the link between Songshanling and Huangtuling would soon be severed. Hooge and the others on Songshanling would become an isolated force — a truly dangerous position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Immediately following this order, he issued another decree: \"Let Dorgon and the others on Huangtuling withdraw as well.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without the mutual support of Songshanling, what meaning was there in the deployment on Huangtuling? Better to concentrate forces and fight the Ming army in the field.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A cold light shot from his eyes: \"If our Great Qing armored cavalry can do nothing against the Jingbian Army, can we not deal with the other Ming forces? We will clean them up first.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the Qing army's shrill gongs sounding retreat, whether it was the Qing cavalry assaulting the Jingbian Army's infantry formation, those attacking the Shenji Battalion on the left flank, or those locked in combat with the Jingbian Army and other Ming cavalry — all retreated like the ebbing tide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, for the Qing cavalry entangled in close combat with the Jingbian Army's horsemen, disengaging was not so easy. The Jingbian cavalry, together with Wu Sangui's Ningyuan cavalry — nearly ten thousand men in all — clung tightly to them and would not let go, even pressing hard in pursuit. Only when Jirgalang, Hooge, and the others brought up their reserve troops to provide cover did Wang Dou order his own cavalry to pull back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Qing troops retreated continuously, not stopping until they were a full five or six li from the Jingbian Army's grand formation. Seeing their utterly battered state, the Ming positions — whether the Jingbian Army, the Shenji Battalion, Wu Sangui's troops, or Guo Yingxian and the others — all erupted in cheers and mockery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had won! The Tatars had suffered a crushing defeat, and they had even slain one of their princes. This was an unprecedented great victory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regrettably, although they had killed Ajige, they had not been able to seize his corpse. The Tatar cavalry behind him had fled far too quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, the fact that they had blasted one slave-chief to death was certain, and the spoils of this battle were also exceedingly abundant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the cheers, Wang Dou, Zhang Ruoqi, and the others all laughed heartily. Wang Dou ordered a tally of the battle results, intensified efforts to rescue and treat the wounded, and then led his various commanders on an inspection tour of every part of the military formation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They saw that between the wagon formations, the corpses and wounded of Qing soldiers from various banners lay strewn in heaps. Under the blazing sun, a nauseating stench of blood rushed to meet them, and the groans of the dying and struggling rose without end. The thick smell of gunpowder and sulfur seemed not yet to have dispersed, mingling with the stench of blood — truly enough to make one retch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jingbian Army's bird guns were especially lethal; many of the struck Tatar slaves had their internal organs spilling out. The canister shot from the Frankish cannons, at close range, had struck men and horses and smashed their bodies into pulp. Between the wagon formations lay pools of mangled flesh and limbs, along with large and small intestines everywhere. With streams of blood flowing like small rivers, each step they took was sticky and slippery — utterly revolting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Ruoqi and Fu Yingchong had started out full of keen interest, but gradually their faces turned pale. Everything before their eyes was far too great a shock to them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Ruoqi in particular, who was ordinarily given to lofty discourse and grand pronouncements — how many times had he personally witnessed the cruelty of the battlefield?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Staring at the dense mass of human and horse corpses before him, the scattered wreckage of severed limbs and entrails, the thick pools of blood lapping over his shoe-tips, and the waves of pungent, bizarre stench, he could hold back no longer — his stomach churned violently and he vomited with a loud retch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou’s expression remained as calm as ever. Cleaning the battlefield did not require his own Jingbian Army to lift a finger; the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion and Wu Sangui’s Ningyuan troops took care of it for them. He had already agreed with everyone that no matter how many heads were taken, he would share out a portion to each of them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To the Ming army, the importance of heads went without saying. Even the pampered soldiers of the Shenji Battalion roared with laughter, swinging short axes, gleefully hacking off one Qing soldier’s head after another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wounded Qing soldiers who had not died were beheaded just the same. Scattered Qing weapons and banners were all collected in one place, and the dead and injured Qing horses were hauled off to the side as well — all of it was meat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, horse meat tastes quite good, much like spiced beef, and horse large intestine is even more delicious. There is a saying: “Taste horse intestine, forget your father and mother.” Of course, that is only when it is well cooked and requires a skilled chef; otherwise it is sour and tough, hard to swallow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in this age, as long as it was meat, no one would scorn it. Had they not seen Zuo Liangyu’s army eat even human flesh? Cao Cao’s army had eaten human flesh too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So these dead and injured Tartar horses were carried off by the cleaning soldiers as if they were precious treasures, then gutted and dressed by the mess cooks, ready for the evening meal, to be devoured with relish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Qing soldiers had fled in great haste from this battle, leaving many wounded and dead behind with no time to carry them away, so there were still quite a few heads that needed cutting. After the heads were taken, the armor and clothing on the bodies were also stripped off. The bare, headless corpses were thrown into deep pits dug by the laborers, covered with quicklime, and deeply buried to prevent the spread of plague.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Ruoqi had vomited who knows how many times. Though his face was utterly bloodless, he still managed to persist and remain by Wang Dou’s side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Wu Sangui, Guo Yingxian, Wang Zheng, Li Yunshu, and the others returned from their pursuit, all beaming with joy. Together with Li Guangheng, Han Chao, Zhong Xiancai, and the rest, they gathered around Wang Dou and Zhang Ruoqi. Beside Wu Sangui was also his senior uncle-in-law, Zu Dale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone was extremely impatient, eager to know the final outcome of the battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At last, the battlefield cleanup on all sides was finished. After the Judicial Commissioner Chi Dacheng tallied all the results, he came over to report to Wang Dou and Zhang Ruoqi: “Reporting to the Grand General, reporting to the Army Supervisor: in this battle, our army has taken a total of one thousand two hundred and sixty-three heads, captured three hundred and seventy-eight intact warhorses and one hundred and thirty-one mules and horses, and also seized dark armor…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before he could finish, Fu Yingchong shouted out in delight: “One thousand two hundred and sixty-three heads! Adding the earlier encirclement battle, that means our army has taken a total of one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four heads?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guo Yingxian was also beside himself with joy and roared with laughter: “Some Tartar corpses and wounded were still carried away by them. That means the Tartar casualties are considerable. A fine battle!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Sangui nodded: “The head count alone is one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four. The casualties among the various Tartar banners that assaulted our great formation cannot be fewer than five thousand!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zu Dale was also sucking in cold air. Having spent many years in Liaodong, his experience dealing with the Qing army could be called extremely rich. He understood the ferocity of those Tartars and knew how terribly difficult it was to take their heads. He never imagined that as soon as the Jingbian Army took the field, the entire army’s head count would reach over one thousand eight hundred. What kind of astonishing battle result was this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking this, he could not help but look at Wang Dou with a complicated gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou smiled faintly. Beside him, Han Chao, Zhong Xiancai, Zhong Diaoyang, Zhao Xuan, Li Guangheng, and the others remained unmoved. Such battle results could no longer startle them. It seemed that winning battles and taking many heads had become a matter of course for them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only Army Supervisor Zhang Ruoqi, though overjoyed, was somewhat displeased to see the generals interrupting at random with no regard for the decorum of a subject. He coughed several times, silenced the hubbub, and gestured for Judicial Commissioner Chi Dacheng to continue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chi Dacheng was just about to continue when a rolling cloud of dust rose from the rear. It was the Regional Commander Hong Chengchou and Army Supervisor Wang Chengen. Having heard that the Jingbian Army had won a great victory here and had even slain the Tartar slave Prince of Wuying, Ajige, they could no longer sit still in the central army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They came in haste, leading the Liaodong Provincial Governor Qiu Minyang, Military Defense Circuit Intendants Zhang Dou and Cai Maode, and others, accompanied only by a small number of personal guard soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>",3092,"2026-06-03T14:05:53.320Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","0640b1e98b6124a5b3868ba8018946120c8d7db4552c91c25e830516d7c5996f","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-504","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-502",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]