Chapter 214: Dewdrops

"Tiger!" The final shout rang through the Ming army ranks, and the great drums of both sides' central forces simultaneously beat out the dense rhythm of close combat.

Only the last dozen or so paces remained. Facing Chen Ying were nothing but hideously snarling Later Jin soldiers. In the front row, several armored soldiers wielding throwing axes and iron maces raised their hands, their deadly weapons poised to fly. Slightly behind them, some Bayara seized the final moment to loose armor-piercing arrows. The heavy stick fighter beside Chen Ying let out a muffled groan and was shot down by an armor-piercing arrow.

Chen Ying shouted, pulling the trigger of the short gun in his hand. Bang, bang — two reports rang out as Chen Ying and the firearms soldier fired their two short guns simultaneously, knocking down the two closest charging armored soldiers. Two saber-and-shield men also hurled two javelins into the dense mass of Later Jin troops. From the opposite side flew a wave of short-handled axes and iron maces. Screams erupted from both formations. The final volley before melee was complete. The dense crowd left no one room to dodge. At this moment, skill and martial prowess counted for little; the only thing a soldier could rely on was luck.

A black shadow flashed before him. Chen Ying instinctively jerked his head aside as an iron mace grazed past his helmet. He tossed aside his firelock, seized his banner lance in both hands, and with a great battle cry on his lips, charged headlong with his comrades toward the Jianzhou bandits.

Two black iron torrents collided head-on. The Later Jin soldiers, carrying the momentum of their downhill charge, came howling in. Sharp blades flashed past bodies, and crimson blossoms surged within the iron torrent. The sounds of snapping weapons and agonized screams rose unceasingly. The brutal cold-steel combat reaped lives at an ever-faster pace.

Many Ming and Later Jin soldiers in the front ranks impaled each other simultaneously. Chen Ying's ears were filled with frenzied shouts and the screams of the wounded. Before his eyes, weapons thrust and stabbed everywhere. An armored soldier wielding a great saber charged straight at him. Chen Ying's eyes widened as he gauged the distance. With a thunderous roar, he thrust his eight-chi banner lance fiercely at the armored soldier. The soldier's mail armor offered no resistance against the razor-sharp spearhead. The gleaming, solid triangular blade pierced into the soldier's body, burst through his back, and skewered him clean through.

The armored soldier's charging momentum was not halted by the spearhead. His face contorted, he swung his great saber, reaching striking distance. Chen Ying could not pull his banner lance free. Forced to abandon it, he drew his dagger. Just as he was about to lunge forward, a tangba lance from the rear rank hissed out beside him. Its sharp central blade drove into the armored soldier's chest, while the row of spikes on its flared crossguard scraped against the soldier's mail armor, producing a tooth-grating screech.

The frenzied armored soldier's momentum was finally stopped. He had nearly charged right into Chen Ying's face along the shaft of the banner lance, the exposed part of the shaft behind him now covered in red stains. Now he faced Chen Ying, vomiting blood, his great saber finally unable to strike. His body lurched sideways and collapsed, pinning Chen Ying's banner lance to the ground. The moment this armored soldier fell, a wolf-tooth club came whistling straight at Chen Ying's face, its head bristling with countless gleaming iron spikes.

Chen Ying had no weapon and nowhere to dodge. He watched helplessly as the club-head descended — but a scream rang out from the opposite side. A long spear from the left thrust in and stabbed the wolf-tooth club-wielding armored soldier in the waist. The soldier lurched sideways, the iron spikes of his wolf-tooth club screeching across Chen Ying's left armguard before the club slammed into the ground with a thud. The squad's saber-and-shield man crouched low and stepped forward, shielding himself with his round buckler, and drove his Qi-family saber into the armored soldier's throat.

Having narrowly escaped death, Chen Xin hastily snatched up the first armored soldier's great saber and parried the attacks that followed. The Wendeng Battalion soldiers on both flanks were highly skilled. The battle line was strewn with dead and wounded from both sides. The Later Jin soldiers' first wave of assault had failed, and their momentum ebbed. Wendeng Battalion began coordinated squad-level attacks, and the power of the Mandarin Duck Formation's mix of long and short weapons was fully displayed. After another group of armored soldiers was killed, the assault squad members advanced in alternating leaps. After the long weapons struck, the short-weapon saber-and-shield men and heavy stick fighters surged forward to continue the attack, then the long weapons immediately took over again, giving the enemy no chance to catch their breath. The relentless onslaught left the opposing armored soldiers able only to parry. Jianzhou bandits kept falling wounded to the ground. Facing these formidable opponents, the Later Jin battle line began to slowly retreat...

Manda'erhan ran swiftly, gasping for breath. The western sun flickered ceaselessly at the brim of his hat, leaving bright streaks across his vision. In his shaking field of view was a mass of armored backs. Through the gaps between men, he could see row upon row of gleaming Ming long-spear heads flashing in the sunlight.

Manda'erhan's position was now near the center, right at the edge of the peasant soldier long-spear formation. The firelocks on both flanks of the long-spear formation kept up a rolling fire. The Later Jin troops directly facing the firelocks suffered grievous losses. As armored soldiers charged close, the firelock men on both flanks turned and fled to the rear. The peasant soldiers on the outermost edges of both flanks swiftly angled their long spears to prevent the Later Jin troops from breaking through this gap.

His niru happened to be in the sector the enemy was focusing their attack on. Only about ten men remained. He himself had left the area where firelock fire was concentrated and taken cover behind the armored soldiers of the central force. The Later Jin central force had suffered the least punishment, and its remaining formation was the thickest. As a veteran, Manda'erhan naturally knew when to position himself in the most suitable spot.

The front ranks of the Later Jin central force were mostly armored soldiers, likewise wielding twelve-chi long spears or two-handed great sabers. Like cornered beasts still fighting, the Later Jin soldiers howled and hurled themselves straight at the hedgehog-like Ming long-spear formation.

"Kill!" The disciplined Ming long-spear square shouted in unison. Fourteen-chi long spears thrust out in a dense thicket. The sickening sound of spearheads piercing flesh was incessant. Men fell on both battle lines, but more were Later Jin soldiers. Their long spears were two chi shorter than the Ming ones. The armored soldier in front of Manda'erhan was also stabbed and fell. Manda'erhan's view suddenly cleared. A bloodstained spearhead was just retracting. He took a step forward, stepping over the corpse on the ground. That spearhead thrust fiercely again. Manda'erhan, well prepared, used his tiger-tooth saber to flick upward, deflecting the spearhead. He was about to advance further when, from the corner of his eye, he suddenly spotted two more spearheads on either side of that Ming soldier, one in front and one behind. The front one on the right was about to thrust. He hurriedly blocked with his left-hand shield. A great force transmitted through it — the sharp long spear had actually pierced the shield, a section of gleaming spear tip protruding. Manda'erhan's forward momentum was checked. The spearhead in the front row flashed again. He hastily parried with his tiger-tooth saber, the spear tip slicing past his side.

Manda'erhan roared repeatedly, but could only parry. The enemy's long spears were two chi longer than theirs, holding every advantage. The first row of armored soldiers was nearly wiped out. The armored soldiers around him grew fewer and fewer. The ground was covered with corpses. A sense of helplessness welled up in his heart.

Just as Manda'erhan was about to retreat, over a dozen heavy throwing axes, javelins, and iron maces came whistling past him. Six or seven Ming soldiers in the front row fell simultaneously. Then several Bayara, just six or seven paces away, began shooting at the Ming long-spear formation with their bows in rapid succession. The Ming soldiers directly facing them were caught off guard. The fallen Ming soldiers in the front row formed obstacles on the ground, and the rear ranks could not advance in time. Another wave of throwing axes smashed in. In a very short time, over a dozen Ming soldiers were either dead or wounded. This section of the front, six or seven men wide, was left with only the last two or three rows of long-spear men, becoming exceptionally thin. Those long-spear men were clearly terrified, standing frozen in place, not knowing what to do. Seizing this opportunity, over thirty Later Jin Bayara and armored soldiers came up from behind. With frenzied howls, they surged forward in a mass and charged into the peasant soldier mass through this gap.

The peasant soldier formations on both sides of the gap fell into chaos. Their long spears were useless in close-quarters combat. The Later Jin troops who had closed in attacked the nearby Ming soldiers with savage fury. Seeing this, Manda'erhan's confidence doubled. If they could pierce the enemy center and force their flanks to come to the rescue or retreat, the entire Ming formation would fall into disarray and might even collapse and scatter.

Beside him was a group of yuding who had followed up, most wearing light armor and carrying smooth-bore sabers or waist sabers. The soldiers of Manda'erhan's own niru were already few in number and had scattered in the fighting. He now led this group of yuding, following behind the Bayara.

On this fiercely contested stretch of the battle line, corpses lay everywhere. The wounded who were not yet dead howled and struggled ceaselessly. Manda'erhan displayed a veteran's experience, stepping directly on the corpses and the gaps between them. Some yuding, not watching their footing, tumbled to the ground, bringing down those behind them and adding to the chaos near the gap...

This peasant soldier company's six-rank gun formation had been pierced through. Some peasant soldiers on either side of the gap frantically tried to turn their long spears, but the chaotic formation could no longer bring the power of the long spears to bear. A portion of the Later Jin Bayara peeled off and closed in on the nearest peasant soldiers, pressing them into a huddled mass before hacking them down mercilessly. The peasant soldier company was on the verge of collapse in the blink of an eye.

Manda'erhan stumbled over the piled-up corpses. He saw the hope of victory. Ahead were some Bayara continuing their forward assault. The Ming central army banner was not far away. Manda'erhan loudly called out to the yuding around him, urging them to keep pace.

Just as hope ignited within him, a sudden volley of firelocks erupted from the opposite side, so close it seemed right before his eyes. The dense gunfire made his ears ring. The Bayara ahead of him toppled in a neat swath. Immediately followed another volley. Manda'erhan's view cleared. The charging Bayara had become sparse and scattered. Ahead was the white gunpowder smoke from the firelock volley.

The battle line around Manda'erhan was broken and incomplete, but the gap behind him was packed with jostling yuding. Those who charged a formation had no path of retreat. His ferocity aroused, he took the lead and charged toward the smoke-shrouded front. At that moment, a kind of bugle call rang out from both flanks. Manda'erhan did not know what signal that was, nor did he have the leisure to observe the situation on the flanks. In truth, the Later Jin flanks had already collapsed by this time, and what was sounding was Wendeng Battalion's charge call.

He knew that firelocks could only fire one shot at a time and then took a long time to reload. This short distance of less than ten paces was clearly not enough for the Ming soldiers opposite to finish reloading, nor even enough for them to withdraw behind their melee troops. He could use the cover of these men to charge the enemy's melee troops. But before he could reach them, a patch of red surged out of the white smoke ahead. A group of Ming soldiers in short red uniforms came charging fiercely, and what they held in their hands were actually firelocks — but with gleaming sharp blades fixed to the front.

Before he could even consider what kind of firelock this was, three hideously snarling Ming soldiers were already upon him. With a great shout, they thrust simultaneously from three directions at his upper, middle, and lower body. The attack came swift and fierce, clearly executed with practiced skill. Manda'erhan instinctively blocked with his shield in front of him. The shield shook violently as two sharp points pierced through it. The two Ming soldiers who had stabbed the shield charged with ferocious momentum, forcing his shield to the left. A chill shot through his right thigh, quickly turning into searing pain.

Manda'erhan stumbled backward and fell. The bayonet withdrew from his leg. He could see the blood spraying high from his own thigh. The pain in his leg was far more intense, far surpassing any stab wound he had suffered before. He could not help but let out a loud howl. The moment the sound left his mouth, a shoe slammed onto his face with a thud. Then a dense mass of legs flickered before his eyes. Countless feet trampled over his body. The frenzied shouts of close combat were deafening. Manda'erhan had been through a hundred battles, yet for the first time he felt death so near.

Blood from his leg flowed ceaselessly across his skin. Howling, Manda'erhan tried to sit up and press the wound on his leg, but the trampling feet made it impossible. The increasingly intense pain in his thigh finally broke him. His weapons long lost, he could only flail his arms desperately.

After only a brief moment, Manda'erhan felt his strength rapidly draining away. His arms could no longer lift. He breathed in rapid gasps, tilting his head back to look at the flickering human silhouettes above and the glimpses of sky beyond. Hideously contorted faces shifted before his eyes. Someone slipped and fell on him, then scrambled up. Someone wrestled and rolled beside him. Then a corpse pressed down onto him. No expression showed on his face. The hoarse shouts seemed as distant as the edge of the sky. Manda'erhan's mind went completely blank. Blood sprayed around him, spattering onto his face like a layer of tiny red dewdrops. Moments later, the sounds of battle gradually faded away. This Later Jin niru ejen, who had killed countless men, lay with eyes wide open and breathed his last.

"Lu Chuanzong, take your personal guards and pursue that gushan ejen. Chase him into the sea if you have to and capture him. Alive is best, but dead will do." Lu Chuanzong loudly acknowledged the order and left.

Chen Xin spoke through gritted teeth, then released his grip on the handle of his hand cannon. His palm was already drenched in sweat. The vicious battle just now had unfolded right before his eyes, forcing him to commit the peasant soldier firearms detachment and the last ju of reserves. After a bloody, desperate fight near the peasant soldier long-spear formation, the Bayara and armored soldiers at the front of the Later Jin center were nearly wiped out. The yuding then swiftly lost the last of their morale, and the Later Jin troops collapsed and fled in full rout.

In his field of view, the slope was covered with Later Jin soldiers fleeing for their lives. Behind them, Wendeng Battalion soldiers pursued fiercely. A ju of skirmishers on the outer left flank had also routed that Jianzhou detachment of over sixty men and now appeared on the slope, cutting off the scattered Later Jin soldiers. Neither side maintained any formation now; they only pressed forward with all their might. The clear, resonant charge calls sounded from time to time.

The area around the battlefield just now was thickly planted with dense clusters of arrows. Less than twenty paces before his eyes, corpses lay piled layer upon layer. Low moans of agony rose unceasingly. Some gravely wounded soldiers squirmed and crawled through the heaps of dead. Ming soldiers extended their hands to let the medical corpsmen spot them. As for the Later Jin wounded, the few combat soldiers left behind by each company were finishing them off.

All the troops had been dispatched. Only some twenty-odd central guard soldiers and drummers remained beside him. Chen Xin's heartbeat finally slowed. The desperate last-ditch assault by the Later Jin central force at the final moment had made him break out in a cold sweat; his hand had even gone to the grip of his hand cannon. He had not expected this battle to be so difficult. The Later Jin soldiers, fighting with their backs to the sea, had displayed the capability of the strongest army in the Far East of this era. They were far more resolute than during the street fighting at Luanzhou. In field battle, they were full of confidence and an unstoppable momentum. These pure-blooded Jianzhou bandits were indeed more formidable than the Mongol left and right wings at Gu'an.

His estimate of the Later Jin soldiers' combat power had still been somewhat off. Placing the peasant soldiers in the very front row had allowed too many Later Jin soldiers onto the island. The enemy's total strength had actually exceeded that of Wendeng Battalion. Had firearms not greatly diminished their combat power, Chen Xin would likely have had to personally join the fight just now.

The combat soldiers on both flanks had again performed superbly — highly skilled and resolute, displaying the caliber of a professional army. The same was true of the four-pounder cannons, the night scouts, and the special service teams. The peasant soldier company in the center, however, fell far short, nowhere near meeting Chen Xin's expectations, especially the long-spear square. They performed well in the very initial phase, but when struck by the Later Jin soldiers' projectile weapons, they became cumbersome and panicked. After being closed in on and attacked by the Bayara, they nearly collapsed. At the final moment, they had been entirely reliant on two assault squads dispatched from the combat troops on each flank to outflank and support them. Therefore, after the battle, review and improvement would still be necessary.

Chen Xin withdrew his gaze and said to Liu Pojun beside him, "Signal the landing boats to come over. Have the sailors on board come ashore in shifts to assist with treating the wounded and clearing the battlefield. Also, stop those combat soldiers who are finishing off the enemy. Require every sailor to take at least one Jianzhou head. The central force's drummers and all staff officers are to be sent to finish off the enemy as well."

Liu Pojun noted it down in his book. He knew Chen Xin wanted those who had never been on a battlefield to experience the atmosphere of war. This was the battlefield experience Chen Xin had always emphasized. Those sailors had hardly fought any battles since their unit was formed and needed this kind of tempering even more.

After noting it down, he said, "My lord, the battle is over. You should rest for a while."

Chen Xin shook his head and let out a long breath. "Have Ba Zi dispatch a small boat for me. I need to go report to Lu Zhi. The army's battle is finished, but I still have many battles to fight. You personally oversee things here and handle the aftermath according to the contingency plan. Remember, I want that gushan ejen."