Chapter 320: Mutual Pincer Attack

The sun passed its zenith, yet no figures appeared on the opposite hillside. Xing Na still looked composed, but the other Later Jin soldiers had gradually begun to lose focus, some even exchanging low murmurs.

The White Armor Soldier beside him started to speak several times but held back. Summer days teemed with mosquitoes and insects; though these men had all trained in mountain forests, after long service on the plains, some grumbling was inevitable.

He glanced at the others' state and finally could not hold back any longer, but just then he saw Xing Na gently raise a hand. "They're out."

The White Armor Soldier promptly shut his mouth and turned to look at the slope a li away. Three figures covered entirely in wild grass had just stood up and were slowly moving toward the summit. No Later Jin scout riders ever dressed like that — it had to be that Ming army unit. Their camouflage was excellent; even now, if Xing Na had not pointed out the direction, their movements would not have been easy to spot.

Xing Na inwardly admired them as well. This was the first time he had seen the camouflage appearance of Deng-Lai scout troops. In the third year of Tiancong, he too had followed the army through the passes, and after the battle at Gu'an he began paying close attention to this unique Ming force. Later, at Jinzhou, he had also seen the ironclad retainers of Zu Dashou fight — all extremely fierce. It seemed the southern barbarians had brave warriors too.

The White Armor Soldier was thankful he had not argued with Xing Na earlier. He hurriedly alerted the other armored soldiers, telling them to watch the hillside together. The moment the other Later Jin soldiers saw the enemy appear, they focused intently on observing the surroundings while awaiting Xing Na's orders.

The White Armor Soldier asked Xing Na with admiration, "Xing Na, shall we follow them?"

Xing Na looked up at the sky, then said coldly, "These few men, like the ones we sent out, are all bait."

The White Armor Soldier was stunned. "Then do we follow or not? These Ming troops are quite cunning. Dongping Mountain is too long from north to south. If we pursue from the foot, they can easily spot us from the summit. If we go straight up, the slopes near the top are all steep — horses can't climb them."

Xing Na nodded. "Exactly. Have Daha take men to pursue. These Ming soldiers are crossing the mountain, so their horses must be on the eastern slope. There should be men there to receive them. Tell Daha to beware of ambushes and not to enter the woods."

The White Armor Soldier said in a low voice, "What if they lose them?"

Xing Na said coldly, "You and I will stay here. When the remaining Ming soldiers show themselves, we'll track them from the north. These Ming troops are not easy to deal with. We must have Daha draw their attention from the south so we can operate from the north."

"Should we keep two more men?"

"No need. We're going to track them — too many would be inconvenient. Just you and me."

The White Armor Soldier said worriedly, "These Ming soldiers are so cunning. If there are men to receive them along the way, Daha and the others could be in danger. Daha is the Fourteenth Beile's trusted man..."

Xing Na lowered his head and thought for a moment, expressionless. By his own thinking, he would not care about some losses; he only wanted to find where the Ming troops were hiding, and then the main army could wipe them out in one stroke — that was the most cost-effective. But the Plain White Banner was somewhat special among the Eight Banners. Ajige and Dorgon, the two brothers, each commanded roughly over ten niru. The original banner lord was Ajige; Dorgon only became banner lord in the first year of Chongzhen. As the elder brother, Ajige was placed beneath his younger brother, which burdened his mind and made his attitude unsteady. He did not fully cooperate in banner affairs, and the two essentially managed things separately.

Xing Na himself belonged to a niru under Ajige, while Daha belonged to Dorgon. No matter how brave and martial Xing Na was, he dared not slight a banner lord. He could only shake his head and say, "If we encounter danger, we'll stop tracking and first take down those Ming soldiers."

The White Armor Soldier acknowledged and quickly went to inform Daha. Once those Ming soldiers disappeared over the summit, Daha led the other dozen or so armored soldiers out of the woods and circled south around Dongping Mountain.

Just as Xing Na had expected, three men still lay prone in the grass on the mountain. Li Tao's group of seven included, besides the three who had just moved, one horse-holder on the eastern slope.

Bucktooth watched the dozen-plus Jianzhou bandit riders dash out of the woods and gave a sly grin. "Sure enough, there are still Tatars. All wearing chainmail, but I reckon there are at least two or three White Armor Soldiers among them."

Li Tao let out a long breath. "Over a dozen men. But now that we know about them, they've got nothing to play with."

Bucktooth grinned broadly. "Shall we take a few heads?"

"Of course. Otherwise I'd have pulled back tonight — why take the risk in broad daylight? Let's go."...

Li Tao and his two companions rode through the hills. The two kept a vigilant watch on their surroundings. They had come to this area many times and were thoroughly familiar with it — the woods that could provide cover, the points where rivers could be forded, all were crystal clear to them.

They avoided walking along ridgelines as much as possible so as not to reveal distinct silhouettes, because not far ahead of them was that squad of Later Jin soldiers. That squad was quietly tailing the four special-operations team members, just as adeptly using hills and woods to conceal themselves.

After the three led their horses across another river, Li Tao spotted a small broken tree. This tree was mixed among dense shrubs; unless one looked deliberately, it was impossible to tell it had been snapped. This was a secret mark left by the team members ahead. This spot was originally their rendezvous point. If the team members ahead left first and snapped the branch, it meant they had discovered enemy trackers. Li Tao would then need to go to the next rendezvous point to assist or attack.

Seeing the small tree, Li Tao felt relieved. It meant the team members ahead had already spotted the trackers and also knew their numbers were not small — otherwise they would have set an ambush here. Since they knew the enemy was sizable, they would not be easily caught by those Later Jin soldiers. Li Tao's pincer-attack plan might succeed. These Jianzhou men who could serve as scout riders were all veterans of at least five years, the true backbone of the Later Jin. Killing one would not be easy to replace.

Li Tao suppressed his rising excitement, mounted his horse, and took a detour toward the rendezvous point. It was not far from the hidden camp, and a special-operations squad would be there to receive them. Once they had gone a little farther, both men spurred their horses to speed up. They were in a hurry and did not notice that two hundred paces behind them, two men were also following.

This place was already thirty li from Fuzhou. Since the Han civilians had been slaughtered to the last, the fertile fields had grown thick with wild grass. As the two walked through it, the desolate wilderness around them was utterly quiet, with only some bird calls and insect chirps. The sound of hooves treading on wild grass became muffled, but this suited Li Tao's current wish — it kept the hoofbeats from carrying far.

They soon reached the vicinity of the rendezvous point. This was the outlet of a stretch of hills; further ahead was Jianzi Mountain, where their camp was hidden. The place where Li Tao and Bucktooth hid was a grove of trees south of the ambush site, with a forest path passable through it. When they set up this rendezvous point, they had prepared contingency plans — this small path was the direction the Jianzhou bandits would most likely choose in their panic.

The three skillfully took down the carrying packs from their horses. Inside, in separate compartments, were tripping ropes and caltrops. Bucktooth also had a ground crossbow. At the bend, they strung two tripping ropes in succession, then set a final one a little further apart to deal with riders who could jump the first two. Finally, they laid six rope-linked caltrop lines at the front and rear, and scattered some individual poison-treated ghost-arrow caltrops at both ends.

They were all thoroughly practiced at such tasks. The three worked without any conversation and soon finished in silence. Once everything was arranged, Li Tao and his men concealed themselves in the woods. He took one new team member to one side, while Bucktooth led the three horses alone to the other side, tethering them deep in the woods. Each of the three checked their short guns once and also took out their bows and arrows.

After they set the ambush, the woods fell silent again. Li Tao quietly waited for the ambush on the other side. A bird call sounded in the distance, imitated to perfection. Li Tao signaled to Bucktooth across the way, and the men simultaneously took out heavy arrows and nocked them on their bowstrings.

After a moment of silence, a violent explosion suddenly erupted from the north. A thick plume of white smoke shot up there, carrying countless shattered branches and leaves into the sky. Birds in the woods flew up in alarm; all sorts of small creatures on the forest path bolted in panic. Though two hundred paces away, Li Tao still felt the ground tremble slightly.

Two small stones pattered down onto the path. Li Tao craned his neck for a look and knew it was the landmine set over there — one of the special-operations team's strange weapons.

Primitive landmines had been used as early as the Song dynasty. By the early Ming, the Huolong Jing recorded specialized chain mines. After over two hundred years of slow development, like other firearms, many types had emerged by the late Ming — more than ten varieties, including self-triggering cannons, ground-bursting skyward mines, and ten-thousand-projectile landmine cannons. The most advanced already used trigger mechanisms, employing steel-wheel ignition. Qi Jiguang had used steel-wheel triggered mines for city defense at Jizhen. Among them, the most powerful was the ten-thousand-projectile landmine cannon, the special-operations team's favorite.

After the Wendeng flintlock was applied on a large scale, the workshops also began trial-producing landmines using flintlock mechanisms, raising the ignition rate far above that of steel-wheel mines. The ten-thousand-projectile landmine cannon used tripwire activation, with a ceramic container for the charge below and a layer of gravel on top — an early form of directional mine. This type of mine was easy to lay; one could even do without a casing. You simply carried a packet of gunpowder to the site, found a suitable spot, dug a hole into a wall-like surface beside the road with the opening flaring diagonally forward, smashed a pile of small stones on top, and finally attached the flintlock mechanism. It could be tripwire-activated or manually pulled.

Li Tao did not need to think to know those Jianzhou bandits must have suffered heavy losses. Faint cries of agony and the twang of bowstrings came from that direction. The shouts of battle gradually drew nearer from the south. Li Tao hid behind a tree, waiting quietly. The best moment would be when the Jianzhou soldiers were thrown into a tangle by the tripping ropes — the riders behind would also halt, and at that moment all targets would be stationary. They could then use their more accurate heavy arrows to wound or kill several first, then close in and attack with short guns. This would effectively inflict casualties, cause maximum chaos among the enemy, and reduce the difficulty of the final melee.

The sound of hooves drew closer; panicked shouts in Manchu could already be heard. Just as Li Tao was about to start drawing his bow, a faint sound suddenly reached his ears. Though extremely slight, it gave him a familiar yet dangerous feeling.

"Get down!" Li Tao ducked his head sharply. Almost simultaneously, two twanging reports rang out. A heavy arrow grazed his topknot and struck the tree before him with a dull thud, its shaft vibrating violently. The new team member did not have time to dodge; an armor-piercing cone tip tore through his chainmail and struck his back. The team member's whole body convulsed, and he collapsed limply to the ground.

The rustle of brushing through branches and leaves came from behind — someone was approaching fast. Li Tao did not know the enemy's numbers. He rolled to hide on the other side of the tree and shouted, "Bucktooth, Tatars behind us!"

For Li Tao and his men, the situation changed drastically in an instant. They had wanted to pincer the enemy, but now they were being pincered themselves. In truth, if Xing Na had not wanted to track them, he could have ambushed them long ago. But now Daha and his men had clearly run into an ambush, and Xing Na had discovered that Li Tao's group was laying vicious traps. If he did not act, Daha and his men might be wiped out — so he moved against Li Tao's group to cover Daha's retreat.

Bucktooth was on the other side of the path. A veteran of a hundred battles, he had already noticed the situation. He peered out and saw figures rapidly approaching on that side. He loosed a heavy arrow; the target dodged nimbly, and the arrow struck a tree trunk.

The first arrow missed, and in the blink of an eye the two enemies were already within ten paces. Li Tao had just poked his head out from the left side of the tree when he saw the Tatar on the left swing his arm violently — a throwing axe came hurtling through the air straight at his face. Li Tao swiftly pulled his head back and turned, firing his right-hand short gun in the remembered direction. But the Jianzhou soldier reacted with lightning speed, dodging to the right just before the shot. The short gun roared and missed. Li Tao did not care whether he had hit; he quickly dropped the short gun, drew a throwing axe, and hurled it at the other Jianzhou White Armor Soldier.

The Jianzhou White Armor Soldier on the other side had dodged Bucktooth's heavy arrow and was charging over at speed. He had already spotted Li Tao's figure. Both men threw at the same time; the two throwing axes crossed in midair. Two dull thuds — with both men dodging frantically, neither landed solidly. Li Tao's right arm was grazed by the iron head of the throwing axe, and his arm went numb.

Fortunately, Bucktooth rushed out and engaged that White Armor Soldier in combat, relieving Li Tao of the pressure of fighting on two fronts.

Xing Na had already rounded the left side of the large tree, his smooth saber chopping straight down with terrifying speed. Li Tao had no time to catch his breath before raising his blade to parry. A clang rang out, sparks flew from the blade, and a notch was gouged out. A fierce, rigid force struck; Li Tao's Qi-family saber was pressed back against his own chest. Li Tao was sent staggering backward several steps, then fell flat on his back.

Xing Na's second blade followed instantly, this time aimed at Li Tao's leg. As long as he deprived his opponent of mobility, the man would be at his mercy to slaughter. Li Tao had never encountered such a ferocious opponent. His right arm was now completely unable to lift. At the critical moment, he mustered all his strength and rolled to the side. Xing Na moved swiftly, giving Li Tao no chance to rise, and immediately slashed again at Li Tao's leg. Li Tao's body was blocked by a small tree beside him; in desperation he curled both legs up. The blade swept past, carrying droplets of blood. Xing Na had not expected him to dodge even this; his stroke had been too forceful and bit into the dirt, giving Li Tao a brief moment to catch his breath.

Li Tao had no time to check his wound. He grabbed the trunk of the small tree with his left hand and flipped himself upright. At that moment, Xing Na slashed horizontally again. Li Tao dodged to the side; the smooth saber cut through the small tree trunk with a crack. The upper half of the tree came crashing down, falling right toward Xing Na. Xing Na swung his left arm and batted the trunk flying aside. When he looked for Li Tao again, all he saw was a back fleeing into the woods, shouting as he ran, "Bucktooth, run! Stop fighting!"

Xing Na's face was full of unwillingness. He had not expected this Ming soldier to be so tenacious. Nearly every one of his several strokes should have been lethal, yet in the end he had only wounded him. Xing Na had no time to pursue; he turned and rushed toward the other White Armor Soldier. That soldier had just been wounded by Li Tao and was at a disadvantage. Hearing the shout, Bucktooth dared not fight two at once. Seizing the upper hand, he smoothly disengaged and vanished into the thickets on the other side.

The men had brushed death several times, yet in reality only a brief moment had passed. The fleeing Jianzhou soldiers had still not arrived. Xing Na picked up the footbow Li Tao had dropped on the ground and kept guard in Bucktooth's direction. The other White Armor Soldier, ignoring his wound, swung his smooth saber and cut through the tripping ropes one by one, then swept all the caltrops off the path.

When the sound of hooves neared the bend, the White Armor Soldier shouted a warning in Manchu. Daha's reply came from the path. They soon appeared at the bend. Of the twelve pursuers, only seven remained, two of them wounded. Their faces were full of panic.

"You go first. I'll bring up the rear." Xing Na's calm tone steadied the fleeing Later Jin soldiers' nerves.

After they passed, the hoofbeats of the Ming pursuers drew near. Xing Na threw the caltrops back onto the path. He heard someone in the woods shout, "Those behind, slow down at the bend! Two Jianzhou men are covering them — they have a footbow!"

Xing Na recognized the voice of the wounded Ming scout from earlier. The knife scar at the corner of his mouth pulled, forming an expression that barely passed for a smile. He turned to leave, took two steps, then stopped. He turned back, picked up the short gun Li Tao had left on the ground, and shouted into the woods in Chinese, "That Nikan just now — I'm taking your fire gun. My name is Xing Na. Remember it. Next time, I will take your head."

With that, Xing Na ran back the way he had come and soon disappeared into the dense-leaved woods...