[{"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-680":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},1205969,1561,"Chapter 680: Bayonets, Thrust!","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-680",680,"\u003Cp>The military bugler was still there; he immediately sounded the horn, and following the rhythmic commands, the feathered cavalry swiftly formed their formation, relying on the hill to establish a tight circular array.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The feathered cavalry were first-class soldiers, in fact most skilled in foot combat, especially in defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having seized the Tartars' rear baggage horses this time, the rations, tents, some weapons and other items they carried were all placed on these horses and mules; without their carried rations, let's see how these several thousand Tartar soldiers can harass us further?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, the Mongols of the newly attached camp, under the leadership of Ceng Youxian, also successively rushed into the hill area; on some of their men's horses were also carried some dismounted feathered cavalry warriors, corpses, or wounded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The feathered cavalry had charged the wall and broken the formation, suffering losses along the way, about nearly a hundred men missing, a large portion being the warriors of the first three ranks, and also the warriors on the two wings; some of them died on the spot, or suffered varying degrees of light or heavy wounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A portion of them were rescued by the newly attached camp; some dismounted warriors fell into encirclement by large groups of enemy cavalry and fought to the death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The feathered cavalry broke the formation and reached their destination with their main force intact; after the order to form up was given, immediately the musket soldiers were in front, the spearmen behind, forming a battle line on the grassland; their formation was four ranks of musket soldiers and four ranks of spearmen; the bayonets on the muskets were sharp and icy cold, a sight that made one's heart tremble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As first-class troops with outstanding training, they would use a two-rank-by-two-rank volley tactic; every two ranks, staggered front and back, firing volleys together, would surely deliver the strongest firepower strike to the Tartar slaves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The warriors held their beloved bird muskets, tightly pressed together; this was the advantage of the flintlock musket, without that cumbersome match cord, the warriors' formation could be even tighter, further enhancing the ferocity of the firepower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many warriors felt regret; if only they had used self-igniting muskets earlier, but the technology was not mature at the time, nor was it possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the Mongols of the newly attached camp, their strong archers were also selected and placed behind the spearmen to enhance firepower; the rest conserved their energy and rested their horses' strength, awaiting the order to attack. Ceng Youxian's general warriors served as a mobile support unit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their main force was also intact; the whole camp had suffered over a hundred casualties; the earlier fighting seemed intense, but in reality, in this kind of cavalry battle, when both sides clashed, losses would not be great; the greatest casualties occurred during a rout and pursuit, if the horses' strength was insufficient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Han Chao stood atop the hill, behind him a grove of maple trees; many leaves had already turned red, some even as brilliantly delicate as fierce flames, as if soaked in fresh blood; he raised his telescope and looked toward the position; a large group of Mongol cavalry was already surging over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed that with their baggage horses seized and their rear taken, the Tartars had gone mad, vowing to reclaim their possessions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, their numbers were somewhat fewer than at the start; along the way, the feathered cavalry had knocked over several hundred of their men and horses, and combined with the pistol fire from the two wings and the fighting with the Mongols of the newly attached camp and other losses, the Mongol cavalry's strength was already far less than at the beginning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But because they had merged with the various Tartars, large and small, who had previously fled onto the hill, their momentum was still vast; dense masses of cavalry surged like a flood bursting a dike, finally completely encircling the entire hill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They could not even wait; after only a brief rest to recover their horses' strength, they employed the cavalry encirclement assault tactic, team by team, forming a fish-scale formation; finally, with a desolate horn blast, the rolling cavalry charged fiercely toward a single point of the Jingbian Army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hoofbeats were intense; dense clumps of grass were constantly thrown into the air; the grassland surface ahead seemed to tremble under the pounding of the iron hooves; seeing this might, the Mongols behind the spearmen all changed color; it seemed these barbarians, if willing to spend their capital on a charge, still possessed great might.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But looking at the Jingbian Army ahead, their musketeers were still arrayed in strict formation; they had already pulled down their masks, so their expressions could not be seen, but each man's hands gripping the bird muskets remained absolutely motionless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their first two ranks of musketeers quietly crouched on the ground; the rear two ranks of musketeers raised their muskets and aimed at the surging Mongol cavalry; aiming with bayoneted muskets was slightly more inconvenient than before, but it was no major hindrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides the musketeers directly facing the enemy cavalry, there were also musketeers on the two wings of this side of the circular formation, obliquely raising their bayoneted muskets to aim, intending to fire from the flanks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several hundred Mongol cavalry in the vanguard charged straight over, mostly armored soldiers of these Mongols, brandishing lances, heavy axes, and other weapons; behind them were wave after wave of Mongol cavalry, and some scattered cavalry protected the two wings to guard against possible flank attacks by Ming cavalry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These vanguard troops knew the Jingbian Army's will to fight was resolute, so they no longer used any horse-archery luring tactics, relying purely on cavalry assault; in their view, the Ming army before them had no chevaux-de-frise, no war wagons, only a few thin layers of troops; if they concentrated their forces and charged one point wave after wave, there was still a great chance to break through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hoofbeats grew increasingly intense; the sound of pounding on the ground seemed to make one's heart beat violently; Tabunang's face was already flushed red; standing within the archer formation, he almost wanted to shout out; only when facing a cavalry charge at close range could one feel that pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at the barbarians spurring their horses over; many had ferocious expressions; they brandished their weapons, opened their mouths wide, revealing yellow teeth; those with slightly unsteady will, facing this kind of cavalry charge, would likely have already collapsed; even he himself could not help but want to release his arrow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the barbarian elite cavalry had already charged within a hundred paces, the musketeers ahead still did not move a muscle, and the officers had not issued any commands; his emotions were complex, unable to tell if it was admiration or something else.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An officer had already issued the command; Tabunang could not afford to think further, and together with Galdan, who appeared calm beside him but was actually tense inside, drew his bow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fifty paces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tabunang seemed to hear a Jingbian Army officer command something, and then came the deafening sound of volley fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tabunang swore by the name of Buddha or the Eternal Heaven that he had never experienced such loud, such dense gunfire at close range; crackling like exploding beans, the muzzle flames ahead seemed to merge into a single sheet of fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the corner of his eye, he saw what seemed like a burst of fiery red to the left and right as well, and then thick white smoke billowed up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A chorus of inhuman screams, and many horses' shrill neighs; one by one, Mongol riders screamed as they fell from their horses, and hit horses galloped and bucked wildly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Including those on this side and the two wings that could fire, this wave of musket volley totaled over three hundred guns; at fifty paces' distance, plus many shots from the flanks, this wave of Mongol cavalry suffered an extremely fierce blow, with at least nearly a hundred men and horses hit. And their wave of cavalry was only three to four hundred riders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if these men wore armor, how could they withstand the Jingbian Army's firearms? Those hit by lead had streams of blood spurting from their bodies and horses, each one howling in utter misery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing their cries, even with Tabunang's fierce courage, he felt his heart tremble with fear; fortunately, he belonged to the Jingbian Army's side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, he could not afford to think further, because the officers had already passed down the order. With a whoosh, he released his arrow; simultaneously, the sound of bowstrings twanging beside him was continuous; arrows flew forward like a swarm of locusts; these Mongol archers enhancing firepower all used volley tactics, wave after wave, simply shooting forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ahead, the Mongol cavalry again suffered men and horses tumbling; ordinary foot archers had an extremely fast rate of fire for the first three or four arrows, and with great power; there were several hundred archers on this side, the arrows dense; even though those Mongol riders each had arm shields, they could not block them all in time, and many were still hit by arrows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those arrows were heavy and powerful; some men were thus shot off their horses; the hit horses, though they would not fall immediately, were in pain and fury, likewise throwing some riders from their backs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The front was already quite chaotic, but borrowing the horses' momentum, the remaining Mongol riders still charged madly over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first and second ranks of musketeers had already stood up; they were staggered front and back, the two ranks of bayoneted muskets densely thrust out, aimed at the increasingly close Mongol cavalry; the third and fourth ranks of musketeer warriors behind rapidly loaded their fixed paper cartridges, the sound of swabbing barrels and ramrods a continuous rustle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The warhorses' speed was extremely fast; soon, they would charge to the front of the Jingbian Army's musket formation; some Mongol riders ahead were already shouting and leveling their lances, preparing for the final charge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These cavalrymen also saw that the Jingbian Army musketeers ahead seemed to all have bayonets fixed on their musket barrels, making their long muskets resemble two rows of long spears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some Mongol soldiers had memories; in some border garrisons of the Ming army, there was a thing called a four-tube musket with a bayonet, which could turn a musket into a long spear, but their kind of bayonet was just plugged into the barrel; how could it be like this, able to fire while fixed?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it did not matter; even if their muskets could serve as long spears, they still had to crash through, break their military formation; even though the horses beneath their crotches also flashed terror and hesitation in their eyes, they still had to crash through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The remaining Mongol cavalry surged over; their ferocious, bloodthirsty expressions could be seen even more clearly; fifty paces, forty paces, thirty paces, twenty paces; Tabunang had already forgotten to shoot, thinking blankly, why had those Jingbian troops still not fired, were they truly not afraid of death?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ten paces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Again came the deafening roar of musket fire; ahead, a sheet of flame erupted, rolling smoke billowed into the air, and two more sheets of flame also erupted from the circular formation on the two wings; the choking smoke and the smell of gunpowder once again assailed the nostrils.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The musketeer warriors of the first and second ranks of the musket formation fired almost at the Mongol cavalry right under their noses; their two ranks fired a volley together, dense flames spewing from beneath the bayonets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With such large targets and at such close range, the two ranks of musketeers firing together, these Mongol cavalry suffered heavy casualties; almost more than half fell from their horses, or their horses were hit; especially the first few rows of men and horses were swept clean.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the distance was too close, some horses even stumbled and fell after being hit, rolling and crashing over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The musketeer warriors facing them shouted in unison and thrust out together; the sound of the fierce four-edged bayonets stabbing into flesh was continuous; these warhorses were stabbed until blood sprayed wildly, but because the force was too strong, one musketeer even had his bayonet break, and he himself was knocked back coughing blood from the impact.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under such ferocious firepower, the Mongol cavalrymen who survived by sheer luck were all left blank-minded, utterly stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, ahead was still raised a forest of icy bayonets; their horses, even if they charged further on momentum, were still so frightened that they halted their steps, one after another neighing with front hooves rearing into the air; some stunned riders were thrown from their horses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Bayonets, thrust!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing some Tartars scrambling up in a daze, wanting to draw their blades to fight, and the rear two ranks of musketeers not yet finished, a powerful voice decisively shouted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Kill!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The strict, dense forest of bayonets thrust at the unsteady Tartars before them; at those still on horseback, they thrust down at the horses and up at the men; the sound of miserable howls and the horrifying sound of iron stabbing into flesh rang out continuously; streams of blood mist sprayed out, covering many musketeer warriors all over their bodies and faces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blood sprayed wildly, mixing with the gunpowder smoke, forming an indescribable smell; the bayonet soldiers' thrusting techniques were similar to those of long spearmen, with slight differences of course, but the tactics of flanking from left and right and rear-rank coordination were the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A stout Tartar soldier fell at the feet of several musketeers; he struggled to rise, brandishing his broadsword, but could not fend off the three bayonets from left, right, and behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He parried a few times, then suddenly fell flat on his face; just as he tried to rise, he was simultaneously stabbed by three bayonets; he howled in unbearable agony, desperately clutching the several bayonet shafts thrust into his body; the sensation of being stabbed by a four-edged bayonet was certainly no more pleasant than that of an armor-piercing long awl spear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Desolate howls rose one after another as the Tatars before them were stabbed to death one by one. By then, the musketeers of the third and second platoons had already swiftly reloaded their powder, aimed at the remaining Tatars who were milling about in circles, having lost their horses' momentum and fallen into utter panic, and pulled their triggers…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In front of this side's musket formation, the bodies of Mongol cavalrymen and their horses lay strewn in heaps. The death-cries of the wounded before they breathed their last shook the heavens and earth. Fresh blood nourished the grassland soil — one could imagine that next year, the wildflowers and wild grasses here would grow even more lush. (To be continued…)\u003C\u002Fp>",2496,"2026-06-03T14:06:10.567Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","8c1900cb88dc54811998cdd351f79441ae7889d0b7ac0e4ba7e851767debe9fc","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-681","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-679",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]