Chapter 149: The Battle of the Four Cities (IX)

"Captain, we should strike west."

Zhong Lao had barely finished when Zhou Shaoer added a line.

"What if the ones from the east charge over?"

"The musket troops fire one volley east to scare them off. Our assault team goes straight west, hits those Jianzhou Bandits from behind, and first brings our people over."

Zhong Lao had no time to think further. The gunfire on West Gate Street was growing denser; the Jianzhou Bandits at the other gates had probably already noticed. They had to reach the north gate as fast as possible. He said at once, "That's what we'll do. Assault team, charge out first and form ranks. Follow me and just keep charging to the right. Let's move."

The men slipped out of the courtyard again, moved a stretch with light steps, and were only ten paces from the alley mouth. Zhong Lao let out a great shout and led the charge out of the side street. A few steps out, he saw a banner bearer standing right before him, and more than twenty paces away, a mounted Boshoku was shouting for several archers to go block the front.

While the banner bearer stood stunned, Zhong Lao drove his spear into the man's chest. The banner bearer, caught off guard, was pinned dead to the ground by Zhong Lao. The eleven assault team soldiers behind him surged out.

The Boshoku reacted very fast. He clamped his legs against the horse's flanks and charged straight over, swinging his cavalry lance. Zhong Lao raised the head of his banner spear high; the horse immediately shied to the side. The Boshoku aimed his lance at Zhong Lao on the right to keep him from charging in. With Ming troops appearing behind him, the Boshoku's heart was already sinking. Only the north gate showed no movement yet. If he could just charge past here, he planned to flee to the north gate first.

He focused on Zhong Lao to his right, while from the corner of his eye he noticed another Ming soldier burst from the alley on his left. That soldier carried a blade-staff and was rushing toward the horse's head, the great staff already raised. The Boshoku's heart seized. He made a snap decision, hurling his lance at Zhong Lao, and with his left hand drew his smooth saber, preparing to throw it at the blade-staff wielder. He had just raised his hand when the blade-staff, over two meters long, came whistling down and slammed into the horse's head from the left front with a bang.

The horse's skull collapsed instantly in one spot, the bone smashed to fragments by the fierce, powerful staff. The horse's head was knocked askew. It snorted out two mouthfuls of bloody froth, all four hooves buckling at once, and its body crashed forward by inertia. By the time it hit the ground, all four legs were already spasming.

The Boshoku was thrown dizzy and dazed, his helmet flying off. He stood up somewhat stupefied. The moment he turned around, the blade-staff swept across at his legs. With a crack, both of the Boshoku's shinbones were broken. The padded leg armor offered no resistance at all to the staff's ferocious power. The Boshoku pitched forward onto the ground, screaming in agony, his hands scrabbling wildly over his body. The blade-staff soldier, a former mountain dweller, did not pause for an instant. Raising the blade-staff high, he brought it down on the Boshoku's skull. Red blood and white brain matter splattered across the bluestone slabs.

Zhong Lao shouted "Good!" By now the rest of the assault team had charged out and formed a horizontal line, followed by the firearms squad. Zhong Lao glanced hastily east. A dozen or so Jianzhou Bandits were shouting in alarm there, startled by this suddenly appearing force.

"Firearms squad, form ranks and open fire! Once you've fired, come catch up with us."

Zhong Lao shouted this, then led the assault team charging west. The several archers ahead had already nocked arrows, but seeing these armored Ming troops charging so fast, they dared not stop to draw their bows. They bolted into an alley to the south. Zhong Lao did not pursue them. After charging a stretch, a volley of gunfire thundered ahead. Zhong Lao jolted, hurriedly pulled out his whistle, and blew it while still charging, signaling to the other side that they were coming over. Getting killed by his own side's muskets would be too bitter a loss.

Bamboo whistles soon answered from the opposite side, followed by the shouts of the assault team. Twenty-some Jianzhou Bandits were still shooting arrows there, completely unaware that a Ming force had come up behind them. Zhong Lao and his men roared as they charged in and struck. Several Jianzhou Bandits at the rear were killed at once. The armored soldiers at the front realized what was happening and threw down their bows, stripped off their thumb rings, and switched to blades and spears to turn and face Zhong Lao's group. The Wendeng Battalion soldiers from the other side also charged over. The Jianzhou Bandits caught in the middle had no way out and fought with desperate ferocity. Both sides took casualties...

The Later Jin soldiers trapped in between were ultimately all killed under the two-pronged assault. Huang Yuan was furious. These forty-some Later Jin soldiers had caused over twenty casualties in his second platoon, split evenly between the assault and firearms squads, and had delayed him for so long.

Just thinking about replacing personnel gave him a headache. After the last battle at Gu'an, he had adjusted some personnel within the company. Although Wendeng Battalion's training was basically standardized, with tactics and individual skills nearly identical, the smoothness of coordination could not be standardized. They had finally, painstakingly gelled, and now so many were dead again.

Huang Yuan grabbed Zhong Lao and practically roared, "Your battle group is the most intact. Get to the front and move fast. Put that usual complaining energy of yours to use. Don't stop until you reach North Gate Street — unless every last one of you is dead!"

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A quarter-hour later, Zhong Lao's battle group appeared at the intersection of the academy's south wall and North Gate Street. A steady stream of Later Jin soldiers was riding past outside. Zhong Lao did not rush recklessly onto the main street. He poked his head out to look. Along the long north-south avenue, figures of men and horses flickered, all surging northward. It seemed the Third Regiment had not yet seized the crossroads. Musket fire also came from the city wall to the north; it looked like the Second Battalion was about to fight its way to the barbican.

The gate under the north gate tower stood wide open. Some Jianzhou Bandits were already fleeing the city. Ma Shilong's Regional Commander's red banner now flew above the west gate tower. Ma Shilong was telling Sun Chengzong in this way that his own troops had been the first to scale the wall.

Large numbers of imperial guard soldiers were now entering through the west gate. With the Wendeng Battalion as the vanguard, these Ming troops, so adept at winning when the wind was at their backs, suddenly had soaring morale.

The commotion on West Gate Street was even greater — gunfire shook the heavens and gunpowder smoke hung thick. Even if the Jianzhou Bandits defending the city were fools, they knew the west gate had been breached. These plunderers had no will to defend this city, nor any experience in defending one. Under the bombardment of the red-barbarian cannons, they had lost even their confidence. Their fighting spirit quickly evaporated, and they all fled toward the unassailed north gate. Several passing Later Jin soldiers suddenly spotted a small Ming detachment forming ranks at the side of the street. Far from attacking, they spurred their horses and fled even faster.

Zhou Shaoer, beside Zhong Lao, said, "Captain, should we go block them? Don't let them all escape."

Zhong Lao bit his lip for a moment, then cursed, "Can we even block them? That thing about, what's it called, 'do not stop a returning army' or whatever."

Zhou Shaoer said worriedly, "The briefing did say the objective is to seal the north gate."

"Sealing the north gate is our battalion's objective, not the objective of our single battle group. Can we even stop this, damn it? Look how many Jianzhou Bandits are fleeing down that street. With just our twenty men, we'd be wiped out in a few exchanges."

"Captain, Huang Yuan just now also told us to get to North Gate Street. How do we explain when we get there?"

"Explain what? I'm at North Gate Street right now. The street corner is also part of North Gate Street." Zhong Lao wore a sly grin and shouted to the others, "To hell with it. Firearms squad, fire at will. Chen Ying, you two who can shoot bows, cover the firearms squad's flanks."

Zhong Lao formed ranks right at the academy intersection. The firearms squad leader also glanced at the street and arranged the musketeers in two rows. In the brief time they were setting up, another ten-plus Later Jin cavalrymen galloped past outside.

The firearms squad soldiers checked their match cords and raised their matchlock arquebuses toward the street. Chen Ying also took a heavy arrow in hand and half-drew his bow.

A Later Jin cavalryman appeared on the street before them. The six firearms squad soldiers in the front row fired simultaneously. Three streams of blood shot from the rider and horse, and they toppled onto the road. After firing, the front row fell back to reload, and the second file of musketeers raised their guns, ready.

Loud shouts in Manchu came from the street. Because Zhong Lao and his men were still inside the side street, only that section of the main street directly facing them could see them. The Later Jin soldiers, intent on fleeing, had no time to look closely and just hunched over their horses' backs, speeding through.

After the second row of the firearms squad fired, two more Later Jin soldiers were hit. Both riders fell from their horses. One riderless horse kept galloping forward for a stretch. At this moment, the first row had not yet finished reloading, and the battle group's firepower was in a lull. Chen Ying half-drew his bow. Hoofbeats sounded at the street corner, and three Jianzhou Bandits with money-rat-tail queues appeared there. Chen Ying knew their kind very well. The one at the front, bleeding from the head, had the best armor — either a Niru Erzhen or a Boshoku. The last one was a bondservant wearing only ordinary clothes. The several human and horse corpses on the ground slowed their horses. The Jianzhou Bandits were decelerating, and when their eyes turned toward this line, a look of terror crossed their faces.

Chen Ying drew his bow full, released his thumb, and with a twang, a heavy arrow struck that Niru Erzhen dead-on, piercing his armor. The Niru Erzhen flipped over and fell from his horse. Another young Jianzhou Bandit, who looked like an archer, sped up and galloped past. The bondservant's horse, however, was circling among the pile of corpses — his riding skills seemed poor.

Chen Ying drew his bow again and aimed at the bondservant. The bondservant tumbled off in one roll and shouted loudly in Chinese, "I'm a Han commoner from Luanzhou! Soldier-grandpa, don't kill me!" Chen Ying hesitated briefly. Two more Jianzhou Bandits on foot charged out from behind. Chen Ying immediately switched his target to them. He and the other archer loosed several arrows in quick succession, shooting those two down. By the time he reached for another arrow, he saw that the bondservant from earlier was helping the Niru Erzhen who had fallen off his horse disappear down the street.

"Dog bastard." Chen Ying was seething. That bondservant had clearly spoken with a Liaodong accent, and he had let himself be fooled for a moment. Zhong Lao saw it too and shouted, "Hold the formation steady. No chasing to kill."

After several rounds of shooting, the ground was littered with the corpses of men and horses. Some of the more cunning Jianzhou Bandits behind them, seeing the situation was bad, detoured through the eastern alleys toward the north gate, but the majority still fled along the main street. Zhong Lao and his men simply used the side street as a shooting gallery. Only a handful of Jianzhou Bandits attempted to return fire; the rest were only concerned with saving their own skins.

Gunfire crackled unceasingly from the north gate barbican and the crossroads at the center. Zhong Lao jumped onto the academy's south wall and looked toward the north gate tower. He was just in time to see a volley of musket fire on the city wall, now only a hundred paces from the barbican. Then a squad of assault troops charged forward and clashed with a group of Jianzhou Bandits. Two Jianzhou archers, fleeing in panic with no regard for their path, jumped off the city wall.

"Fall and die!" Zhong Lao laughed heartily. To the south, the gunpowder smoke on West Gate Street was also closing in on the crossroads. Once that fell under Wendeng Battalion's control, the Jianzhou Bandits' line of communication would be severed. If they retreated via the side roads, their organization would inevitably be thrown into chaos, and they would emerge at the north gate very scattered. That would greatly ease the pressure on the north gate.

"Zhong Lao, I told you to block North Gate Street." Huang Yuan's cursing voice came from behind. Zhong Lao hurried over to meet him and said, "Company Commander, we had too few men, and too many Jianzhou Bandits were fleeing."

Huang Yuan did not stop walking. He reached the firearms squad and looked. The street ahead was strewn with corpses. Several Later Jin archers, not even bothering with their horses, had taken advantage of the firearms squad's reloading to slip past. Seeing this, Huang Yuan shouted, "Our platoon is here precisely to block the road. You go up first and hold them. I'll bring the other groups to form ranks on the street."

Zhong Lao had no choice. He shouted orders to his battle group and advanced toward the main street, while Huang Yuan directed the other battle groups to follow behind. Zhong Lao's group's musketeers blocked the street and scattered the nearby Jianzhou Bandits with a volley. Huang Yuan seized the moment to get the other groups into formation, while he himself quickly surveyed the street.

This was the academy's south wall, still two hundred paces from the city gate. There were many alleys in between, and Jianzhou Bandits were also streaming out of them in a steady flow, fleeing toward the north gate.

Huang Yuan assigned two archers to guard the north, to prevent any Jianzhou Bandits bursting from the alleys from attacking their rear. Everyone else was to form ranks facing forward. He was still the first person to reach the north gate. Swelling with pride, he bellowed, "Third Battle Group, pile up the corpses on the ground, and go tear down some door planks. We'll build a Tatar breastwork. Today we hold right here. Let no one harbor any other thought. Either the Tatars all die, or we all die."

Zhong Lao cursed to Zhou Shaoer beside him, "There he goes again with 'all die.' Only today have I discovered that the most detestable one is this Huang Yuan."