[{"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-505":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},1205794,1561,"Chapter 505: Assessing Merit, Assessing Blame","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-505",505,"\u003Cp>Wang Dou watched in silence, sighing inwardly — brave warriors had died in battle, how grieved their families would be?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this was only the beginning; after the great battle ended, who knew how many more loyal and valiant officers and men would fall in battle upon this land.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Toward the casualties among the troops, Hong Chengchou and the others were long accustomed; many also felt Wang Dou treated the soldiers under his command too generously. Though an army raised this way dared to fight and could fight, few in the Great Ming could afford to maintain one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Ruoqi praised it even more highly: a single Hu soldier is worth five Han soldiers, but now one man of the Jingbian Army is worth ten slave soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the Qing troops were defeated and fell back in this battle, they made no further attacks. Hong Chengchou seized the moment to order Army Provisioner Cai Maode to lead a large number of civilian laborers to dig trenches between Huangtuling and Songshanling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the hour of Shen, Wang Dou and the others received word from their mounted scouts that the Qing cavalry on Songshanling were withdrawing in a steady stream; they had already abandoned the strong walls and stout stockades on the ridge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was truly an unexpected delight — the trenches between the two ridges had not even been fully dug, and the Qing army had withdrawn on its own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the Qing cavalry on Songshanling no longer able to coordinate, the Ming army could advance from the west side and south side of Huangtuling, and even circle around to its east side, attacking the ridge from three directions. No matter how solidly the Qing troops had built their stockade walls on Huangtuling, that ridge could be taken very quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet at the beginning of the hour of You, Wang Dou, Hong Chengchou, and the others again received word from their mounted scouts that the Qing army on Huangtuling had also begun to withdraw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They took all their artillery with them. The direction of their withdrawal and encampment was the flatland and hilly ground stretching from Mount Shimen to Xiao Linghe. A portion of their troops also crossed Xiao Linghe and encamped on the open flatlands southeast of Xiao Linghe Fort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the Qing cavalry withdrew, many officers were stirred and wished to pursue, but Wang Dou and Hong Chengchou resolutely forbade it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ming army had already achieved its intended objective; it was best to leave well enough alone and not be greedy for further merit. Moreover, the Qing army withdrew without disorder — there was no opening to exploit. Do not press a desperate foe, lest it breed unforeseen disaster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the event, the night scouts of the Jingbian Army discovered that over ten thousand Qing cavalry had lain in ambush on the eastern ridge of Rufeng Mountain — news that drenched many officers who had urged pursuit in a cold sweat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the Qing cavalry withdrew, Yang Guozhu's division and Li Fuming's division followed close behind and occupied Huangtuling, setting up camp both on and below the ridge. The troops of Wang Dou, Wang Pu, and Fu Yingchong also shifted their camps forward, stationing themselves in the hilly ground south of Huangtuling. A short distance east of the main camp lay Xiao Linghe, making it convenient to draw water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The troops of Auxiliary-Pacification Regional Commander Zuo Guangxian and Ningyuan Regional Commander Wu Sangui occupied Songshanling and set up camp on the ridge. The forces of Ma Ke and Tang Tong remained unchanged, still encamped west of Songshan Fort. As for some local Liaodong officers, they remained encamped beside Songshan Fort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, the great battle on the third day of the eighth month of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen drew to a close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the whole, this battle had both victories and defeats. When tallying the Ming army's casualties, Hong Chengchou, Wang Chengen, and the others were startled — in just a single day of fighting, the Ming army's losses were far from light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the various participating forces, although the Jingbian Army had gone through fierce combat and suffered over six hundred casualties, the number of those killed in action was at most a little over two hundred — still acceptable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The heaviest losses were in the Jizhen troops. Though the time they spent in rout was short, their casualties and missing numbered over five thousand, reaching more than fifty-six hundred, and the dead exceeded three thousand. Among them, many officers of Squad Commander rank and above were killed in action or captured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jizhen army was finished. When Regional Commander Bai Guangen led his troops out to the Liaodong campaign, he claimed twenty thousand men, but the actual number was sixteen or seventeen thousand. In this battle, he left three thousand men to guard the camp and brought out over fourteen thousand. In a single engagement, he lost thirty percent of his forces — the army was already ruined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their rout also caused many civilian laborers to be killed or wounded. Bai Guangen himself died on the spot in battle, and even his body was seized by the Qing troops.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although a portion of their men were killed by the Jingbian Army during the rout, those deaths and injuries naturally had to be counted against the Qing troops.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jingbian Army's suppression of the routing soldiers to stop them from crashing into the main formation was standard practice at the time; no one could find fault or level any accusation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon learning the casualty figures for the Jizhen troops, Hong Chengchou and the others turned ashen-faced. Had the Jingbian Army not taken the field, claimed so many heads, and moreover slain the slave prince Ajige in formation, His Majesty would surely have issued a stern edict of rebuke, and it was quite possible that Hong Chengchou's post as Viceroy of Ji-Liao would not have been secure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Ke's Shanhai troops also suffered considerable losses. Hit by Qing artillery fire and rashly attempting to seize the cannons, the men under Ma Ke sustained over seventeen hundred casualties, with more than eight hundred and twenty killed on the spot. The remaining wounded had been struck by Qing cannon or arquebus fire, and it was feared that many of them would not survive in the days to come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Tong's division also had over two hundred casualties, and the final death toll was estimated to exceed one hundred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their losses were so heavy — many of them elite retainer cavalry from Ma Ke's main battalion — yet they did not harm a single man or horse of the Eight Banners Han troops, nor did they take a single head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Ke was likewise finished. The vitality of his main battalion was grievously wounded, and in the future he would likely be unable to control the troops at Shanhai Pass. His days as Regional Commander were probably numbered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the various forces, Wang Pu's division had fought with considerable vigor. Although his troops suffered over five hundred casualties, with more than a hundred killed in action, they likewise took over eighty heads. By that reckoning, the Qing cavalry's losses against him were equal to his own, and perhaps even greater.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shanxi Regional Commander Li Fuming's division suffered over four hundred casualties, with more than two hundred dead, most killed or wounded by Qing artillery while crossing the flatland between the ridges, or injured by fragments from war wagons. He had been unable to assault the ridge for a long time; it was only when the Qing troops withdrew that Li Fuming seized the chance to lead his retainers in a fierce uphill attack, taking over twenty heads — a performance that could be called passable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu's division suffered over six hundred casualties, with more than three hundred killed in action. Like Li Fuming, many were caused by Qing cannon and arquebus fire. However, he took over four hundred heads. Counting some of the enemy wounded whose bodies were carried away by the Qing troops, in this battle his division inflicted over a thousand casualties on the Qing soldiers — truly a display of outstanding fighting strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the Shenji Battalion, apart from its artillery units, over two thousand men were deployed on the left flank of the Jingbian Army. Under the rain of arrows from the Qing mounted archers, in a very short time they suffered over five hundred casualties. However, because rescue was timely, the number of those killed in action did not exceed one hundred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, up to this point in the campaign, their artillery units had performed outstandingly, inflicting considerable damage on the Qing cavalry. Their weakness was that they dared not fight at close quarters; firing from a distance posed no problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Similarly, Wu Sangui's Ningyuan army suffered over a thousand casualties but also killed and wounded many Qing cavalry. At the start, however, because they held tightly to their wagon camp, they took few heads. Only later, when they followed behind the Jingbian Army's cavalry to pick up easy gains, did they make a fair number of captures. Presumably after the battle, Wang Dou would allot them at least several hundred heads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adding up the figures, in this day's battle — not counting civilian laborers — the casualties among the various armies alone numbered close to ten thousand. Over four thousand were killed in action, nearly five thousand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this was just the beginning of the fighting, yet already over four thousand had been killed in action, including one Regional Commander and many other officers. Everyone present wore a grave expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, the Qing cavalry's losses were likewise not small. By the estimates of Hong Chengchou and the others, their total casualties could not have been fewer than seven thousand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In particular, the bulk of their casualties had been inflicted in the fighting with the Jingbian Army — either struck by cannon or hit by arquebus rounds. Even if those wounded were retrieved, could their backward medical methods save them? The final death toll should be around five or six thousand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The imperial army had also slain one of their Prince of Wuying Commandery. The final outcome of this battle could be counted as a great victory for the Ming army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the superiority of cannon and arquebus. Struck by an arrow, nine chances of death to three of life; struck by an arquebus or cannon, nine chances of death to one of life, or ten chances of death and none of life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, in this battle the Qing army's cannon and arquebus had shown their first sharp edge — something that must be guarded against.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the spacious main hall of the Viceroy's provisional headquarters at Songshan Fort, Hong Chengchou's refined voice, tinged with a Min accent, resonated: \"...In this battle, the Loyal and Brave Count shall be accounted first in merit. Yang's troops fought fiercely, slaying a great many barbarian soldiers, and also seized Huangtuling — they shall be accounted second in merit. Wu's troops, amidst ten thousand barbarians, preserved their infantry camp intact and fought sharply in the southern blocking action — they too shall be accounted second in merit. Ma's troops failed to anticipate and guard against the western breakthrough, losing a great many infantry and cavalry — this was due to inadequate and careless command...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, the Viceroy's provisional headquarters hall was filled with civil officials and military officers gathered together. Not only were Regional Commanders Yang Guozhu, Wang Dou, Fu Yingchong, Li Fuming, Wang Pu, Zuo Guangxian, Ma Ke, Tang Tong, and Wu Sangui, who were stationed around Songshan Fort, seated there, but even Liu Zhaoji, Cao Bianjiao, and Wang Tingchen, who were far off at Xingshan Fort, had been urgently summoned by Hong Chengchou's dispatch to attend this merit-review assembly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xingshan was not far from Songshan — only a little over ten li. Cao Bianjiao and the others rode at full speed and arrived very quickly. Among the various Regional Commanders at this time, only the former Jizhen Regional Commander Bai Guangen was absent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this battle, it was abundantly clear that Wang Dou's Jingbian Army should be ranked first in merit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The facts were so, and after so many years, everyone more or less understood Wang Dou's style — it had a distinct flavor of \"those who submit to me prosper, those who oppose me perish.\" He would turn hostile at the drop of a hat and kill without hesitation. No one dared to steal his credit; even Hong Chengchou adopted a cautious attitude when dealing with Wang Dou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, Wang Dou was a generous man — allied troops who fought alongside him could all receive a share of military merit and heads. No one had any need to snatch credit. So when the Loyal and Brave Count was ranked first in merit by Hong Chengchou, it was within everyone's expectations. Not only Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, Fu Yingchong, and the others, but even Wu Sangui spoke up in support.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Next, Yang Guozhu, Fu Yingchong, and Wu Sangui were ranked second in merit, which drew considerable dissent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu's troops were strong and numerous, his merit was solidly earned, and he was General Who Guards the North — no one dared speak against him. Fu Yingchong's Shenji Battalion artillery was much coveted; everyone would have to rely on it heavily in the future, and given the battalion's status, people had to show him some face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The main issue was Wu Sangui, who seemed to have given no aid when the Jizhen army was routed — there was suspicion that he had watched them die without lifting a hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Sangui, however, had his own reasoning: Bai Guangen had collapsed far too quickly, catching him off guard and leaving him no time to rescue them at all. Moreover, at that moment the Qing troops were attacking fiercely and the situation was critical; he could not spare any troops to go to their aid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zu Dale and other major local Liaodong generals strongly supported Wu Sangui's account.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hong Chengchou and Liaodong Provincial Governor Qiu Minyang also felt that, given the circumstances at the time, it would be too harsh to lay blame on Wu Sangui.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that critical moment, Wu Sangui's Ningyuan army had been able to hold its position and await the arrival of the Jingbian Army — this was quite commendable. Furthermore, Wu Sangui had subsequently led his troops in courageous combat against the enemy and taken many heads. Ranking him second in merit alongside Yang Guozhu was entirely justified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Army Supervisor Wang Chengen also seemed swayed by Hong Chengchou's words and supported his view, whereupon the Liaodong civil officials chimed in with a chorus of agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou watched coldly from the sidelines. How could he not see that Hong Chengchou was drawing the local Liaodong officers and officials to his side to oppose him?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Army Supervisor Wang Chengen, his stance was likely born of a desire for balance. Among the officers and officials present, he inclined toward no one, for he was loyal only to the Emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps he had perceived that among those assembled, the forces of Wang Dou and the Xuan-Da bloc were too overwhelmingly powerful and needed to be checked — hence his support for Hong Chengchou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only Zhang Ruoqi and Wang Pu were dissatisfied. Yet on this point, Zhang Ruoqi was also helpless — he could join Hong Chengchou in drafting strategy and urging an advance, but the power to assess merit and bestow rewards rested with Hong Chengchou and Army Supervisor Wang Chengen; he could not interfere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Pu, for his part, felt that Hong Chengchou favored some over others. Although his own tally of severed heads was modest, the Datong army had held the northwest flank, blocking the Tartar troops from attacking Huangtuling from the side, and afterward had intercepted the cannon being transported by the Han Banner. His merit, he thought, was no less than Wu Sangui's, yet Wu had been allowed to climb above him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Discontent aside, he had taken considerable heads in this battle, his assessed merit was substantial, and he was still pleased. Moreover, Wang Dou had shared some severed heads with him, and he was now whispering with Fu Yingchong, beaming with delight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among those present, only Ma Ke hung his head in dejection — he had gained no merit and had lost both troops and officers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hong Chengchou further judged him guilty of greed for merit and careless command. He proposed demoting him three grades, allowing him to atone for his crimes while still serving, and retaining him as Regional Commander of Shanhai Pass. This would be memorialized together with the victory report for His Majesty's approval.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, Tang Tong, Regional Commander of Miyun, was likewise demoted one grade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet both men could detect, beneath Hong Chengchou's words, an intent to shield them. Though they were punished, their substantive posts remained. In this era of the Great Ming, substantive posts and troops were what mattered most; the rest — empty titles like Assistant Commissioner-in-Chief or Vice Commissioner-in-Chief — no one much cared about anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, both had heard word that Viceroy Hong planned to transfer a portion of the main-battalion troops from the Ji Garrison to their camps, to make up for their lost soldiers and horses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the Jingbian Army rounded up the routed troops of the Ji Garrison, they were promptly handed over to Hong Chengchou's central grand formation, along with their weapons and horses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou had no interest in absorbing these unruly, mutinous soldiers. Their weapons were wretched, their horses emaciated and feeble. As Qi Jiguang had said: \"Sent out lean and starved, they cannot even carry armor and the soldiers themselves in a pinch. If you pit them against enemy cavalry in a charge, there is absolutely no reason to expect success.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jingbian Army's weapons were of fine quality, their horses well-fed and stout. Wang Dou naturally looked down on the mules, horses, and weapons of those troops and magnanimously returned them all, earning a reputation for being ungrasping and treating friendly forces well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But just because Wang Dou looked down on them did not mean others did. Many pairs of eyes gleamed covetously, fixed on the remaining troops and horses of the Ji Garrison — even Yang Guozhu was rather tempted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this battle, the Ji Garrison army had suffered a crushing defeat. Regional Commander Bai Guangen had died in combat — that was one thing, and the court would certainly confer posthumous honors. But the defeat had originated with the premature collapse of the various wagon battalions, which ultimately dragged down Bai Guangen's main battalion. The relevant officers of the Ji Garrison would naturally be punished one by one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And with Wang Dou present — a man who detested disorderly troops above all — if the remnants of the Ji Garrison dared cause any disturbance, the result would be thunderous suppression. Moreover, because the incompetence of the officers within that command had led to the Regional Commander's death, the various Regional Commanders now gathered in Liaodong all felt the sorrow of the fox when the hare dies, and all advocated severe punishment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus Hong Chengchou and Wang Chengen showed no leniency, convicting each Ji Garrison Commander in turn. Once reported to the court, the result for each of them would soon be arrest by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and transport to the capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the Great Ming had a peculiarity: when dealing with officers who had committed offenses, civil officials were punished first, then military officers; low-ranking officers and common soldiers were generally not dealt with.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These remaining troops of the Ji Garrison numbered over ten thousand, temporarily placed under the custodial command of the Viceroy of Ji-Liao, Hong Chengchou. Under the covetous gaze of all sides, it was quite possible that before the new Ji Garrison Regional Commander even took office, a bite here and a bite there would leave very few men in the end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Ke and Tang Tong were naturally among those drooling over these Ji Garrison troops. With no substantive punishment and the prospect of replenished troops, when Hong Chengchou sternly rebuked them, both men wore respectful expressions — Tang Tong even assumed an utterly submissive and obedient demeanor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Ke was secretly relieved. Those second-rate Tartars of the Han Banner had quickly struck camp and withdrawn after the cannons were seized; otherwise, under their bombardment, who knew how many more troops he would have lost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had already made up his mind never again to face the muskets and cannon of those Han Banner Tartars in battle. But the true Tartars were fierce with bow and horse — would fighting them be any easier?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Ke felt lost at heart, sensing the prospects ahead were bleak.\u003C\u002Fp>",3486,"2026-06-03T14:05:53.320Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","ebdef627bb8f885d2b6ef93d6d948b52c4b87551857d783b1dd88502ad8dd7bc","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-506","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-504",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]