Chapter 460: Hunting Soldiers

Ten-plus li north of Dong'e County, at the south entrance of Nanjingpu, Yang Guangdi, Manda'er, and Qin Jiuze hid behind a rammed-earth wall, a pile of wheat straw leaning against the wall above their heads.

The Scout Cavalry had set out from Tongcheng Post before dawn, led by two riders who had scouted Dong'e the previous day, and reached Nanjingpu before daybreak. They encountered no Qing Ambush Army troops along the way, smoothly completed their ambush preparations, and dispatched several scouts in Constable Uniforms toward Dong'e. Those scouts soon returned, reporting they had spotted a small Qing squad heading north.

Yang Guangdi and Qin Jiuze had been responsible for the outer perimeter during the Wei County ambush. This time, the Banner Commander again assigned them outside the town, at a position opposite the post road, along with two ambush positions from the same Squad.

Because of heavy prior losses, their Squad had been cobbled together. The former Squad leader had died in battle and the Corporal was wounded. The Banner Commander had wanted Qin Jiuze to be Squad leader, but Qin Jiuze refused. In the end, another Anqing soldier was assigned, piecing together this nine-man Squad.

Of the nine-man Squad, five belonged to the original Squad, but Qin Jiuze and Manda'er had only arrived a few days ago. Two men came from the Directly Subordinate Company's Second Banner Team, one from the Directly Subordinate Third Banner Team, and one from the First Division. They were unfamiliar with each other, so when dividing into groups, Yang Guangdi volunteered to pair with those two.

This was Yang Guangdi's third ambush. The Qing force was small, and his group was again responsible for the outer perimeter, so he felt almost no nervousness. The three of them even chatted idly from time to time.

"Yang Shisan's shoulder is clearly a flesh wound, the bone isn't hurt at all. He's faking it!" Manda'er said indignantly.

Yang Guangdi turned his head. "Brother Man, how do you know he's faking?"

"When Clerk Officer Zhang went to see him, Yang Shisan put on a real act — couldn't even lift his arm. When I left, I showed him some silver, and his hand shot right up." Manda'er's face was full of anger. "I told him plain as day, the Scout Cavalry are short on men, and he still faked it."

Qin Jiuze said impassively, "Cover your mouth when you talk. If breath-fog sprays out, the Tartars will see it."

Manda'er sullenly touched the ground. "The Tartars are almost here."

Qin Jiuze turned his head back. "You are a Tartar."

Yang Guangdi raised his head and glanced north. On the roof of a tile-roofed house inside the settlement to the north, the Banner Commander, holding a telescope, was signaling that the Qing force was small and still one li away. After Yang Guangdi returned the signal, the Banner Commander climbed down from the roof.

The faint sound of hoofbeats came from the south. All three shrank back behind the wall, waiting as the hoofbeats gradually approached. Yang Guangdi covered his mouth and crouched low. Peering out from beneath the wheat-straw pile, he saw a Qing squad appear on the post road. They numbered only a bit over ten men. Behind their column followed more than twenty commoners on foot. These Qing troops had come to Nanjingpu so early likely also to seize people who had stayed overnight here.

This Qing squad astonishingly had not a single White Armor Soldier. Only one man wore Chain Mail, along with five or six suits of Cotton Armor; the rest were in bulky padded jackets. Yet they still strutted and swaggered, much like the group encountered at Wei County. This Qing force was also extremely negligent. They threw themselves into the settlement without any reconnaissance, and left no one outside to provide support. Clearly, they knew nothing of yesterday's battle at Thirty-Li Post, and had no idea that an enemy force was at Tongcheng Post, forty li away.

A moment later, battle cries erupted from within Nanjingpu. The three immediately emerged from behind the earthen wall. Manda'er and Qin Jiuze naturally spread apart, each carrying a Step Bow as they strode swiftly forward. On the opposite side of the post road, the figures of the other two groups also appeared.

Chaos filled the town. Two arrows shot from a rooftop, arcing diagonally over the three men's heads and landing on the roof of a thatched hut outside town. Yang Guangdi ignored them, rapidly closing on the post road, his eyes fixed on the intersection, occasionally glancing down at the Fire Rope of his Lumi Gun.

Before they reached the post road, several commoners appeared at the street corner, screaming as they fled out of town. Two Qing Mounted Armor soldiers appeared right behind them. According to the original plan, they were supposed to wait until the Qing troops reached the middle of the market town before springing the ambush. None of the three had expected the Qing troops to flee so quickly. The outer-perimeter groups had not yet cut off the post road.

Qin Jiuze and Manda'er could only quicken their pace. The two Qing soldiers were still in a panic, lashing their horses furiously. The lead mount knocked over a commoner and came galloping down the post road.

The ambushing Scout Cavalry loosed their bows one after another. Bowstrings thrummed along the post road. Yang Guangdi did not stop, continuing to close in on the post road.

Manda'er and Qin Jiuze fired two arrows each in quick succession. The lead Qing soldier's mount had five or six arrows embedded in it and let out a long, drawn-out neigh, yet still struggled onward.

The Mounted Armor soldier passed right in front of Yang Guangdi. Yang Guangdi immediately raised his firearm. Suddenly, a whoosh sounded — a dark blur flashed past the side of his face. Yang Guangdi ducked instinctively. By the time he realized it was an arrow, the Mounted Armor soldier had already galloped past his field of fire.

He had no idea who on the opposite side had shot it. Yang Guangdi had no time to curse. He hurriedly raised his gun to aim again, but saw one Scout Cavalry soldier run up onto the road, stand dead center on the post road, hurl a Javelin fiercely at the oncoming Mounted Armor soldier, then roll with the momentum and drop back off the road.

The Javelin struck the neck dead-on. The horse's legs buckled and it tumbled off the post road, kicking up a spray of white snow. The rider crashed to the ground, knocked unconscious.

Yang Guangdi turned his head back. The second Qing soldier had already galloped past the stretch of post road in front of him. Because the first Mounted Armor soldier had drawn most of the attacks, the second Qing soldier's mount had been hit by only one arrow. Under its rider's frantic lashing, it swiftly passed through the ambush zone.

The Scout Cavalry soldier who had thrown the Javelin was now out of javelins and had no time to get back onto the road. In haste, he drew his Waist Saber from his side and flung it — with no accuracy whatsoever, missing even the horse.

Arrows fired from behind struck the horse's rump, but could not inflict major injury. The Mounted Armor soldier lashed madly and vanished into the distance down the post road, leaving only dust.

Qin Jiuze and Manda'er stopped shooting. With the horse at a full gallop, arrows fired from behind carried little force and could almost certainly not stop that Mounted Armor soldier from escaping.

None of these Scout Cavalry were true cavalry at the moment. To prevent horses from neighing and giving away their position, all mounts were kept far away during ambush battles. The Centurion had separately assigned a dedicated Pursuit Squad, but they were some distance away and had not yet reached the south entrance.

The Scout Cavalry on both sides of the post road watched the Mounted Armor soldier in despair. If even one man escaped, the Qing troops in Dong'e would soon be on alert. The hope of breaking through this Qing Camp Ground today had been slim to begin with; now it had vanished entirely. Once Chen Rulie learned of this, he might directly cancel the offensive operation against Dong'e.

Boom — a thunderous report. Everyone, sunk in despair, flinched in unison as a cloud of white smoke burst forth in the middle of the post road.

Yang Guangdi lowered the Lumi Gun in his hands, took two steps sideways, his eyes locked dead ahead on the Mounted Armor soldier.

No one knew if the shot had hit. Firearms were never known for accuracy, and this time the distance was so great. But at this moment, it was their only hope. Qin Jiuze took two steps forward, watching the Mounted Armor soldier's condition with rapt attention, even forgetting to remove the arrow from his bowstring.

The horse's rump swayed. The Mounted Armor soldier's figure rose and fell with his mount. His speed seemed completely unaffected. His silhouette grew smaller and smaller on the post road.

Manda'er shook his head. Just as he was about to turn around, the Mounted Armor soldier's body suddenly lurched sideways, sliding toward the left side of his mount. Two Scout Cavalry soldiers cheered. Everyone focused intently again, but the Mounted Armor soldier twisted back upright.

The cheers died abruptly. Qin Jiuze still stared at the distant Mounted Armor soldier. Suddenly, the man's figure lurched to the right again.

The Mounted Armor soldier tried twice to right himself and failed both times. On the jolting horseback, it became harder and harder to stay on. He listed more and more severely, until he was practically hanging off the side of the horse.

Now everyone knew: that Tartar was wounded. The only question was whether he could hold on and escape. Mouths hung wide open, fixed on the Mounted Armor soldier's tilting form.

Under the crowd's expectant gaze, the Mounted Armor soldier finally pitched headfirst off the road, raising a small puff of snow-mist. Qin Jiuze let out an "Ah!" and practically jumped into the air. The Scout Cavalry on both sides of the post road cheered in unison, even more jubilant than they had been yesterday after killing a field of Tartars.

The Scout Cavalry soldier who had thrown the Javelin earlier retrieved his Waist Saber and jogged off toward the unhorsed Mounted Armor soldier.

Manda'er's face was flushed red. He went over and clapped Yang Guangdi on the shoulder several times, yet could not utter a single word. Qin Jiuze spun in a circle on the spot, then came to Yang Guangdi's side. A smile appeared on his face for the first time, deepening the scar on his cheek and the creases around it.

Yang Guangdi laughed blankly, not knowing what to say either.

At that moment, the Squad leader ran over, patted Yang Guangdi in encouragement, then ordered everyone to stand guard at their respective posts.

By now, the battle cries within Nanjingpu had ceased. Some commoners were running wildly at the intersection — mainly people the Qing troops had captured and brought along. A few still had their hands bound. The Scout Cavalry paid them no mind.

That surge of excitement had not yet faded. As everyone prepared their bows and arrows, they continued discussing the event, all of them repeatedly sizing up Yang Guangdi. The atmosphere within this hastily assembled Squad was no longer as distant as it had been at the start.

The most excited was Manda'er. He helped Yang Guangdi relight his Fire Rope, then went over and grabbed the Tartar who had been knocked unconscious by the fall. He yanked off the helmet, revealing the Mounted Armor soldier's head — not the money-pigtail queue, but a head full of small braids.

To familiarize the troops with the enemy, everyone in the Anqing Battalion had been shown captives the day before. This type of hair indicated an Outer Vassal Mongol. Still, some Scout Cavalry found it a curiosity and stood by the roadside watching Manda'er interrogate him.

After splashing him awake with water from a Coconut Ladle, Manda'er began questioning him in rapid chatter, from time to time pulling out a small knife and cutting at the Mounted Armor soldier's legs and feet. The Mounted Armor soldier howled and talked without pause.

After questioning him for a while, Manda'er suddenly pinned the Mounted Armor soldier to the ground and used the knife to cut off the man's ear. The other Scout Cavalry nearby whooped and clamored, but no one stopped him. Qin Jiuze, meanwhile, had long since walked off to the side and was crouched on the ground resting.

Manda'er put away the ear, then stood in the middle of the road, staring blankly at the commoners fleeing from the intersection, lost in thought.

A moment later, the squad responsible for pursuit finally appeared, and then the Banner Commander also came running from the intersection.

"Did any Tartars get away?"

The Squad leader went up to him and said, "We killed them all. Killed one Tartar Mounted Armor soldier, captured one alive. None got away."

The Banner Commander patted his shoulder encouragingly. "Two here, fourteen Tartars in total. The Centurion's order was not to let a single one slip. I'll go back and report the count. There's also one alive in town. Qin Jiuze, you two come and interrogate him. Once Commander Chen Mace arrives, we'll move on Dong'e."

"Banner Commander Chen!"

The Banner Commander turned back. Seeing it was Manda'er who had spoken, he stopped and said, "What is it, Manda'er?"

"How does Commander Chen Mace plan to hit the Dong'e Tartars?"

"Attack their Camp Ground. Commander Chen has brought cannons. When attacking a camp, priority goes to the camp gate... Manda'er, if you have an idea, speak up."

Manda'er's face was flushed. He bit his lip and said, "I interrogated that Tartar. Dong'e has over three hundred seventy Tartars. They're camped at the Parade Ground outside the north gate. There's a ditch and a wall around it, with gates north and south. Two li and five li from the camp, the Tartars have two Ambush Army positions. The Tartar camp has a ditch and a wall — cannons can't breach it. With two or three hundred Tartars inside, you can't break in without Iron Armor Soldiers."

Banner Commander Chen turned around and looked seriously at Manda'er. Because he was a Mongol, this man was often gawked at in the army. He fought with a kind of brute ferocity, but was not as outstanding as Qin Jiuze.

"Mandahai, how do you think we should fight?"

Mandahai pointed at a few commoners still fleeing into the distance. "Lord Chen wants to seize the camp gate, right? We disguise ourselves as that Tartar squad that just passed by — twenty on horseback, and we can have a few dozen more pretend to be captives. Take the main road straight there and seize their camp gate!"

Banner Commander Chen still hadn't quite caught up. He hesitated and said, "There will certainly be sentries in front of the camp gate. They'll recognize us once we're close, and they'll challenge us…"

Mandahai took off his helmet, revealing a head full of small braids. "Qin Jiuze and I speak Mongol. We'll go at the very front."

Qin Jiuze behind him was drinking water. When he heard this, he immediately started coughing repeatedly.

The Banner Commander frowned and watched Mandahai for a moment, then waved a hand and said, "Come with me to see the Chiliarch."