Chapter 811: Crossing the Ditch

(Note: Chapter 741 has been revised into the second Chapter 740. Yesterday, for some reason, accessing the column kept asking for a verification code, which wasted over half an hour. When I published, one click didn't work, I clicked again, it succeeded, but afterwards I found it had become two chapters, so that chapter was revised into Chapter 741, with an extra five hundred words added as an apology.)

Below, the shouts of killing shook the heavens. Li Zhengjing stealthily poked his head out. His vantage point here had a wide view, and he could clearly see the roving bandits already preparing to scale the walls for close combat. Behind their archers were layer upon layer of sword-and-shield men, densely packed, each gripping a waist saber and shield.

Not far behind them, there were again stacks upon stacks of old-camp bandit soldiers wielding great blades and heavy axes. He could not help but mutter, "It's about to begin."

He glanced again at the low-wall defense line below and could not help shaking his head. "Brutal."

This roving bandit offensive was no trivial matter. Earlier, a barrage of their cannon fire had caused considerable casualties among the New Army camp soldiers below. After all, even with the protection of the earthen walls and the many mud bags and earth baskets placed behind them, cannonballs could still ricochet and bounce. To be rolled over or grazed by one meant a horrifically gruesome fate.

The New Army men were still holding up, but the camp soldiers, after being pummeled by that cannon barrage, were nearly on the verge of collapse, held together entirely by the suppression of their officers. In fact, regarding the personnel arrangements for this defense line, the New Army officers had no objections. Those camp soldiers, however, were all cowering in fear. Every man assigned there had a face ashen gray, as if being driven to the execution ground.

Li Zhengjing nodded secretly. Through this bloody battle, the New Army could be considered forged. However, their current situation was dire, and they would soon be unable to hold on.

Especially facing those roving bandit musketeers... Both sides were firing at each other from behind earthen carts and low walls, and the Shaanxi New Army was clearly losing the fight.

Li Zhengjing's mood was somewhat complicated. He knew that many of the roving bandit musketeers below were formerly the New Army of Cao and Wang. They had painstakingly trained fine soldiers, only for them to end up being used by the bandits.

At this moment, Li Zhengjing was positioned behind the second low wall of No. 15-A. Behind him were the staff advisors of his unit, the provosts, and squad commanders like Chen Sheng and Han Kaihui, along with four rows of musketeers crouching behind the low wall. They crouched quietly, a dark mass spreading along the wall's edge.

The Jingbian Army had already judged that the roving bandits' old camp would break through from these two defense lines, so they lay in ambush behind the second low walls of No. 15 and No. 16, ready to deliver a thunderous strike to the roving bandits at the critical moment. Of course, the No. 16 defense line was the responsibility of another Second-Class Army company commander, Zhao Rongcheng.

Besides the twelve hundred musketeers, four hundred spearmen were also assembled at various intersections, ready for hand-to-hand combat at the crucial moment.

"About time."

Li Zhengjing waved his hand. Immediately, the first row of Jingbian Army musketeers crouching behind the low wall rose, resting their dark, heavy firelocks on the low wall and aiming their black muzzles downward. They uniformly used flintlock rifles, with bayonets fixed on the muzzles, gleaming faintly with a chilling, ghastly light.

They were all highly trained; a single gesture was enough to convey their officer's intent, with no need for superfluous spoken words. After resting their firelocks on the wall, they remained silent. In the sunlight, only the red tassels fluttering atop their eight-panel iron-tipped helmets blazed with fiery brilliance.

At the same time, Li Zhengjing pulled out a pack of cigarettes, actually the fine "Mighty General" brand, and said, "A smoke before battle, better than a living immortal."

Li Zhengjing passed the cigarettes around. When he offered one to Han Kaihui, although Han Kaihui did not smoke, he accepted it out of politeness.

Moreover, Han Kaihui had discovered that going into battle brought immense pressure. Originally he never touched cigarettes, but now he occasionally smoked a few.

However, when he offered one to Chen Sheng, Chen Sheng just silently shook his head. Li Zhengjing cursed him, "You kid are always so rigid. Look at young Han, much more flexible. No wonder he could marry the niece of Lord Fu from the Capital Garrison."

Smoke billowed, and flames flickered intermittently within the haze. On the low wall, men kept being struck by bullets and falling; their firepower was completely suppressed by the musketeers behind the earthen carts. Amidst the battle cries, countless famine victims, carrying short ladders and wooden planks, charged madly toward the low wall.

"Forward!"

Old Hu waved his hand. His sword-and-shield men and cold-weapon soldiers shielded themselves with their shields and advanced at a jog behind those famine victims.

The firelocks behind the earthen carts crackled like frying beans, covering the charge of those famine victim soldiers. Although they were no longer firing volleys, they still kept the defenders on the low wall from being able to lift their heads.

White smoke hung thick in the air. Below, a tide of men surged toward the low walls of several defense lines, their shouts of killing shaking the heavens.

However, the Mountain Patrol Camp soldiers, having clashed with the defenders at No. 5-A multiple times, knew they would not submit so easily. So they deliberately slowed their steps somewhat, though they shouted louder than anyone else.

Sure enough, as soon as many famine victim soldiers neared the low wall, a continuous burst of firearm explosions erupted, along with a rain of "Myriad-Man Destroyers" hurled out. The booming blasts of three-eyed guns and the explosions of the Myriad-Man Destroyers merged into one din. The area before the low walls of several defense lines was completely shrouded in thick smoke, punctuated by the hoarse, desperate howls of those famine victim soldiers.

Explosions came one after another. The dark mass of Myriad-Man Destroyers was simply hurled out from behind the low wall, wave after wave, coming like rain, blasting the charging soldiers and famine victims into wailing like ghosts and howling like wolves. Many were blown into a bloody mess, rolling on the ground and screaming shrilly.

But then the musketeers behind the earthen carts fired fiercely again, gradually suppressing the defenders behind the low wall. Slowly, some short ladders were set up, and some sword-and-shield men from the Chuang camp climbed up. More and more short ladders were raised before the low wall, and more and more Chuang camp soldiers climbed in.

However, the defenders behind the low wall were still resisting stubbornly. It was only with the commitment of three thousand old-camp soldiers that they finally collapsed.

Old Hu's expression was complicated. "They've fought their way up?"

Kong San stared intently over there, and slowly a cold sneer appeared on his face.

"They've broken through!"

Before the low wall, cheers erupted. The Chuang soldiers in the ditch watched as the defenders of No. 15-A and No. 16 fled madly from the first low wall, scrambling up the slope before the terraced cliff and desperately escaping into the second low wall. And those unstoppably brave old-camp soldiers, chasing the shadows of those routed troops, were about to charge into the second low wall right after them.

Then, the sound of a neat volley of musketry brought their cheers to an abrupt halt.

"Fire!"

Dense rows of bayonets gleamed with cold light. They pressed close together and pulled their triggers at the old-camp roving bandits charging wildly toward them.

The deafening sound of the firelock volley erupted. Fierce flames and thick white smoke burst forth. Countless arrows of blood sprayed out. Shields were shattered one after another. The old-camp soldiers, caught completely off guard, fell in neat rows, their screams merging into one.

"Fire!"

Another burst of flame erupted beneath the bayonets. Rolling smoke billowed up, and wails filled the air. Another large swath of the old-camp soldiers following behind tumbled down. Given the Jingbian Army's marksmanship and such close range, and since they had not anticipated the Jingbian Army lying in ambush here, each volley achieved at least a ninety percent hit rate.

Three hundred men fired in each row at both defense lines. After their two volleys, at least four to five hundred of the charging old-camp soldiers had fallen. Corpses and wounded already covered the slope before the terraced cliff, and fresh blood flowed everywhere in these areas.

"Fire!"

Fierce flames burst forth again beneath the bayonets. Many old-camp soldiers' minds had gone completely blank. They stood there dazed. Before them, within the thick, drifting smoke, firelight flashed again, and then the men beside them screamed and fell one by one.

"Fire!"

A thunderous roar. Cries of anguish shook heaven and earth. The slope before the terraced cliff was piled high with corpses. The acrid smoke, mixed with the stench of blood, created an indescribably strange odor in the sunlight.

"Charge!"

The forest of icy bayonets rose at a slant. After firing their muskets, the twelve hundred Jingbian Army warriors immediately and decisively launched a charge. They leaped over the low wall and charged straight down the slope before the terraced cliff. Their bayonets glittered with dazzling brilliance in the sunlight.

"Kill the bandits!"

Dense, layered rows of armor-piercing long cone-spears were raised. Four hundred spearmen also charged out from the various openings of the two defense lines. Their long spears gleamed snow-bright, advancing row upon row with a chilling aura. Their spears were raised in a solid mass, awe-inspiring and blinding to the eye.

"It is time."

On the plateau top, Wu Zhengchun withdrew his telescope. He drew a deep breath and said, "Open fire!"

The artillery officer beside him responded, "Yes, sir!"

He shouted, "Poison shells, ash shells. Fire!"

One by one, the gunners lit the fuses on the mortars, and immediately sparks began to burn with a "hiss."

"What is this?"

The situation had reversed abruptly. Watching the old-camp warriors, who moments ago had seemed unstoppable, now fleeing back down wailing, the Chuang army soldiers in the ditch were all dumbstruck. What had happened? How had the old camp suddenly been defeated?

Old Hu was also sucking in cold air, muttering, "The Jingbian Army is truly formidable."

He said in a low voice, "Should we leave?"

Kong San glanced around. “Wait a little longer.”

Just then, the booming of cannons suddenly erupted from the plateau top, followed by shrill, wailing whistles, and then shells began to fall one after another. As they exploded, strange smoke instantly spread everywhere, and billows of white mist drifted about. The already restless Chuang army wagon formation fell into even greater chaos.

Some battalions, heedless that the rear had not yet sounded the gongs to withdraw, abandoned their earth wagons and fled. Their flight triggered a chain reaction, and more and more army formations collapsed.

Kong San said, “We can go now.”

Old Hu had been waiting for those words. Hearing them, he immediately shouted, “Go, go, go.”

……

Watching the bandit rabble recede like the tide, Sun Chuanting, who had been observing the battle from the plateau top, let out a breath of relief. Victory!

Yet a trace of regret lingered in his heart. Though the bandits were defeated, they were not routed. The bandits before the low wall were busy fleeing, but the main force in the rear had massed over by the artillery platform, with layer upon layer of archers and firearms troops, so his own forces could not charge and smash them in one blow. Still, after dealing the bandits a thunderous strike and demonstrating his strength, he could now make a dignified withdrawal.

After many days of bitter fighting, the garrison troops were already on the verge of collapse and could be used no longer. Relying on the New Army alone, he could not hold the Yuanwang Ditch — after all, he could not commit all his New Army forces to this sector.

……

The battle on the twelfth day of the fifth month stirred enormous controversy within the Chuang camp. The facts clearly proved that the earth wagon tactic was indeed effective, and the possibility of breaking through from the southern end of the Yuanwang Ditch was very high. But because the veteran camp that carried out this raid had suffered grievous casualties, Li Zicheng and the others were deeply pained.

Of the three thousand veteran camp troops who launched the raid, casualties ultimately exceeded two thousand — losses of unprecedented severity. Whether to continue the assault became a matter of endless debate among the men of the Chuang camp.

Li Zicheng himself was caught in a dilemma. The facts had proven that Gu Junen’s strategy of raiding Shaanxi was mistaken. Yet after so many days of fighting at Tongguan and such heavy losses, to simply retreat now — not only Li Zicheng, but every man in the Chuang camp would find it hard to swallow.

Only…

Amid the debate, Li Zicheng hesitated, unable to decide. Just as he was fretting, early on the morning of the thirteenth, a scout suddenly galloped in, bursting with excitement, to report that the Ming army had withdrawn.

Sure enough, when Li Zicheng went to look, he found that the defenders along the entire Yuanwang Ditch line had pulled out completely. It seemed they had retreated overnight.

A cheer swept through the Chuang camp. All of Li Zicheng’s dejection was swept away, replaced by a surging excitement and confidence. It seemed the Ming army’s casualties were even heavier; as long as he persevered, the final victory would still be his.

After loudly proclaiming this victory, on the afternoon of the thirteenth, Li Zicheng crossed the Yuanwang Ditch amid the cheers of his troops and entered the Southern Plain.