[{"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-569":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},1205858,1561,"Chapter 569: Encirclement","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-569",569,"\u003Cp>\"Ten thousand victories!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The signature battle cry of the Pacification Army rang out. Before the great army even drew near, its momentum already swept over them, pressing down so heavily they could scarcely breathe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the cheers and jubilation of the Ming troops, countless soldiers of the Two Blue Banners stirred in panic and cried out in alarm: \"It's the Pacification Army! Wang Dou's reinforcements have arrived! The Pacification Army reinforcements are here...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having failed to take the rear formation after repeated assaults, they were long since utterly exhausted. Now that Ming reinforcements had arrived — and the very Wang Dou and Pacification Army they deeply feared — every man was terrified and at a loss, not knowing whether to press forward and attack or to retreat at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching wave after wave of turmoil sweep through the great army, Hooge ground his teeth. Jirgalang said anxiously, \"Prince Su, Hong Chengchou's central army is hard to break. Now that Wang Dou's reinforcements have come, the Han Eight Banners on the right wing must have been defeated. We must prevent them from cutting off our army's waist, and even more must we guard against Yang Guozhu and the other Ming troops on the left wing. This cannot be done — withdraw at once!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Lai, the Gushan Ejen of the Mongol Plain Blue Banner, and Hushibu, the Gushan Ejen of the Bordered Blue Banner, also urged him anxiously. Hooge's eyes grew redder. He wrenched his gaze back from the right wing and looked again at the Ming army formation ahead. After receiving word of the reinforcements, their morale had suddenly surged, and their scattered battle lines had drawn together considerably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He let out a low roar: \"No, we still have time! Wang Dou's great army is still far off. We need only crush the Hong Chengchou central army before us, and victory will still be ours — still belong to my Great Qing!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He bellowed furiously: \"For Ama, for our Great Qing, we cannot retreat! Pass the word — the army will continue fighting, continue the attack!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once more he raised the dragon banner of the Plain Blue Banner in his hand and roared in fury: \"For the Great Qing — kill!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heartened by Hooge, the terrified Qing troops summoned their courage once more. Their roar shook heaven and earth: \"Slaughter all the Nikans!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Kill!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Lai and Hushibu had no choice but to raise their weapons again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the Gushan Ejen of the Eight Banner Mongols, only Adai, Enggetu, Buyandai, and ** were Mongols. Though Wu Lai and Hushibu held the post of Gushan Ejen of Mongol banners, they were genuine Manchus, and in their hearts they leaned more toward Hooge's side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, Prince Su was right: the Two Blue Banners still had a chance at victory. If they retreated now, all their earlier casualties would have been in vain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing that Hooge's eyes had gone red, Jirgalang sighed and passed the order for the Bordered Blue Banner to continue the assault. At the same time, he issued another command: \"The entire army is to guard both flanks!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Open fire!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Xuan roared. The hundred and several dozen cannons in his camp bellowed without cease, hurling a rain of shot so dense it was like falling drops toward the front.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gunners in the camp loaded ammunition with desperate speed, then fired again in fury.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the great battle with the Han Eight Banners, Zhao Xuan's gun crews had suffered no small number of casualties, but they were quickly replenished from the artillery camp's apprentices, keeping every cannon's crew at full strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The convenience of the silk powder bags allowed their cannons to fire at extreme speed. The thunderous reports of the cannons rang out unceasingly. Amid the great billows of gun smoke spewing from each muzzle, howling iron shot spun out of the barrels from time to time and smashed into the Two Blue Banner formations over a li ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Solid iron balls, like hailstones, howled and swept across the Qing army's positions. Amid the mist of blood and the sound of shattering bone, the shrieks of men, the screams of horses, and the spray of severed limbs and flesh, the Two Blue Banner positions over there were thrown into utter chaos by Zhao Xuan's cannonade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Advance!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou withdrew his gaze from Zhao Xuan's position and continued issuing orders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The surging Sun-Moon-Waves banners, the resonant and stirring march music — the Pacification Army and the rest advanced in high spirits. They moved by regiment; countless small square formations combined into one great square formation. The Xuanzhen New Army was on both wings, and the Pacification Army was in the center.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Xuan's artillery camp was positioned between the left-wing Pacification Army and the Left Camp of the Xuanzhen New Army. They advanced at times and halted at others, concentrating their bombardment on the waist of the Two Blue Banners. Numerous night scouts from the vanguard scout camp, along with skirmisher sharpshooters from every Pacification Army camp, protected them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because they were on open flatland, Wang Dou had the Pacification Army's musketeers and pikemen drawn up in multiple ranks. Medium and small falconets from the artillery camp were also interspersed within the ranks, ready to fire grapeshot specifically if enemy cavalry closed in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two Xuanzhen New Army camps taking part in the battle deployed in even smaller, denser formations. Their main task was to protect the Pacification Army's flanks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many of the Two Blue Banners' elite troops were massed at the front. With the Pacification Army's entry into the battle, under Jirgalang's orders, more and more elite cavalry were hurriedly shifted to the flanks. Wang Dou's army formation advanced at times and halted at others, continuously firing grapeshot and volleys of musketry, knocking over the Two Blue Banner cavalry who tried to charge the formation right in front of their lines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they dismounted to fight on foot, they became even bigger targets for the Pacification Army's grapeshot and musket balls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By now the Two Blue Banners were top-heavy. The closer the Pacification Army pressed against their flank — especially with their waist being heavily pounded by their cannons — the more chaos spread among them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some Mongols of the Two Blue Banners even began to flee. They had no intention of dying for these accursed Manchus. The orders of those two Gushan Ejen meant nothing, and besides, they were Manchus — not of one heart with their own Mongol people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Kill the slaves!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the frenzied assault of Hooge and the others, Hong Chengchou and his men also fought with desperate encouragement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the Qing offensive grew fiercer and the casualties within the formation mounted, everyone from the commanding general down to the lowliest soldier knew that the Tatars were already in their final frenzy. As long as they held on for this moment — as long as the Pacification Army broke through their head and severed their waist — victory would still belong to them, and every man would survive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Dorgon's way of fighting this battle is a bit strange.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the Ming army's right wing, Yang Guozhu withdrew his gaze from the center. Opposite them, Dorgon and the others had formed a tight, disciplined foot battle array with strong bows and spear formations. Their own side had charged repeatedly and fallen back with heavy losses. Even so, Yang Guozhu still felt it was odd. Given the fighting power of these Tatars, they should have no need to dismount, fight on foot, and form defensive lines to protect themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like Li Guangheng, Yang Guozhu was a pure soldier. He could not understand such convoluted scheming and intrigue, but he could keenly seize a battlefield opportunity. Everyone could see the situation in the center. Li Guangheng laughed heartily: \"It must be that the Grand General has routed the two Tatar banners and is sweeping around from the left wing. Loyal and Chaste Count, this opportunity must not be missed!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Pu's heart also burned with eagerness. He shouted, \"Without a doubt! Loyal and Chaste Count, the chance is rare. We should seize this moment to strike across, join with the Loyal and Brave Count, and attack from both flanks to crush the Tatar Two Blue Banners and achieve a merit unmatched in our time!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu made his decision swiftly: \"Good. General Li, you remain here to guard. Regional Commander Wang, follow me — we shall sweep around from the flank!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Guangheng clasped his fist solemnly: \"Rest assured, Loyal and Chaste Count. With your subordinate here, the army's right wing will certainly remain safe and sound!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although quite a few of the Two White Banner Tatars opposite them had been drawn away, and the Ming right wing also had several hundred rocket carts from the Firearms Division, several dozen Shenwei Grand General cannons, several dozen large-caliber mortars, nearly a hundred small-caliber mortars, and a great quantity of Divine Fire Flying Crow heavy rockets, without a strong pillar of morale, the right wing might find it hard to withstand the Qing cavalry and could even collapse and fail. Having Li Guangheng's Pacification Army stationed here was the best possible arrangement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Guozhu said with gravity, \"I am obliged to you, General Li!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He swept aside his great cloak, brandished his horse lance, and roared: \"All officers and men — follow me and kill the slaves!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His central army personal general, Guo Yingxian, waved his trident and roared in unison: \"Kill the slaves!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Pu's face was full of heroic fervor. He gathered up his reins, and as his mount's forehooves rose into the air, he raised his horse lance high and bellowed wildly: \"Sons of Datong — follow me and kill the slaves!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Kill the slaves!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Datong cavalry, their morale roused by Wang Pu, also roared in waves, brandishing their weapons. Yang Guozhu's main-battalion cavalry and Wang Pu's main-battalion cavalry, together nearly ten thousand elite horsemen, shouted their battle cries and surged forward in rolling waves toward the Two Blue Banner Qing troops in the center.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What is Dorgon doing?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the rear mountain ridge, Huang Taiji's face was ashen. He had already seen that the Two Blue Banner cavalry in the center, already in disarray, had become even more chaotic after the Ming left-wing troops joined the envelopment. Not only the Mongol soldiers, but even more and more Manchu soldiers were howling and fleeing in rout.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this continued, the center was very likely to suffer a great defeat. His own son Hooge might even be cut off and surrounded by the Ming army. This was something Huang Taiji could not endure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the Pacification Army first arrived, because Hooge had already charged forward and could not be pulled back in a short time, Huang Taiji was in a dilemma. Moreover, he had not been without the same thought as his son: to take advantage of the moment the enemy reinforcements had just arrived, summon their remaining courage, and break through Hong Chengchou's great central army formation. Victory would still belong to the Great Qing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And when Wang Dou arrived, Huang Taiji had immediately ordered the brothers Dorgon and Dodo to provide support, which could increase the chances of victory in the center. But the two of them had used various excuses to delay and not go — that the Ming offensive was pressing hard, that their own forces were stretched thin, and so on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Taiji even saw Dorgon and the others drawn up in defensive formations. This made Huang Taiji furious beyond measure. Since the rise of the Great Qing, their iron cavalry had swept all before them; they had only ever attacked others. When had they ever needed to form defensive lines?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their intentions were sinister, their deeds punishable. In his rage and agitation, Huang Taiji felt a sweetness in his throat and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the startled cries of the many ministers beside him, Huang Taiji barely steadied himself in the saddle. The look in his eyes was utterly frigid. He said sternly to Wu Bai, the Gabshiyan Gala Amban, \"Continue to pass the order to Prince Rui and Prince Yu: they are to render aid at once. If they dare delay and waver again, they shall be dealt with for defying orders and disobeying imperial decrees!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Bai frantically sent men to deliver the order. Huang Taiji gazed at the battlefield in that direction, and a sudden, profound unease welled up in his heart: \"Could it be that my Great Qing is truly going to be defeated?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"About time!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the messenger arrived once more, bearing an edict from Huang Taiji that was both stern and exceedingly urgent, Dorgon withdrew his gaze from the utterly chaotic Two Blue Banner side. He flicked his horsewhip lightly: \"Hooge almost certainly won't escape. We can make our move now. Not only will we turn the tide, but the Emperor won't be able to get a hold on us, and we won't worsen the overall situation either!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dodo was filled with boundless admiration for his second brother's methods — killing without using a blade. Once Hooge was dead, the one sitting on that throne would likely die soon too. After that, the Great Qing would be the world of the two brothers. He gave a sly chuckle: \"This is what they call a spring dream leaving no trace.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Kill the slaves!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Han Kaihui and Squad Leader Mou Dachang roared from left and right. Spurred by the dense war drums, they, together with the brothers in their squad, thrust their long spears and attacked forward with mad fury.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One after another, Tartars of the Plain Blue Banner were stabbed to death by them. Flesh, blood, and shrieks gave off the battlefield's indescribable stench of blood. Beside and behind Han Kaihui and the others, dense forests of spears thrust out, flashing blinding cold light amid the gunpowder smoke and sunlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The brothers were all howling to kill the slaves. Han Kaihui even saw Deng Yibiao, the squad leader of the Fourth Squad, not only spear a burly Tartar to death, but also fly up with a kick, heavily striking the belly of a Bordered Blue Banner armored soldier. The man was sent tumbling away, blood spraying wildly from his mouth — clearly Deng Yibiao's kick had shattered the Tartar's internal organs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also swept out with one kick, a mist of blood erupting, and a Tartar's head was swept clean off by him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Worthy of the name Deng One-Kick — his leg skills are truly formidable!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thought flashed through Han Kaihui's mind, and then he threw himself back into the intense killing of the enemy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And at this moment, because Yang Guozhu and the other cavalry had joined in, together with the Jingbian Army they swiftly cut off the waist of the Plain Blue Banner. The Plain Blue Banner infantry and cavalry in the center had already completely collapsed into chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Lai and Hu Shibu could no longer care that they were Manchus, and led the remnant troops of their banner in flight. They were also the Gushan Ejen of the Mongol banners; to hold steady in this position, they could not ignore the sentiments of the various Mongols in their banner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jirgalang could not hold back the already-mad Hooge. Before the Ming army completed their encirclement, he led some troops of the Bordered Blue Banner and fled, and under the cover of the Two White Banners, fought desperately to escape toward the main army's direction. Only Hooge and a portion of the Plain Blue Banner infantry and cavalry, after they came back to their senses, realized with alarm that they had already fallen into the Ming army's heavy encirclement...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the north bank of the Daughter River, the killing cries shook the heavens. The various sounds of the battlefield seemed as if the sky were collapsing and the earth splitting apart. These sounds traveled far, over the high sky, over the great earth, and finally reached the air above Yizhou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time rapidly retreated, as if countless images flickered, finally freezing at the hour of dawn, the mao hour.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Early in the morning, the Qing troops at Yizhoucheng again began their sentry watch. Suddenly, they let out panicked shrieks: \"The Jingbian Army! It's the Jingbian Army...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the thin dawn light, they could already see: on the hilly slope not far west of the city, a Jingbian Army scout rider first appeared. He sat on his horse, quietly surveying the city of Yizhou before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In just a moment, beside him on the slope, more and more cavalry figures appeared. Finally, they covered the hills and plains everywhere. Countless banners of the sun-and-moon-and-waves seemed to spread from the west of the city all the way to the banks of the Dalinghe to the north.\u003C\u002Fp>",2815,"2026-06-03T14:05:53.320Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","c027f19f45228d8a4e3dc247788d932e03f70dde90bcf3d95e7fd400aec7768e","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-570","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-568",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]