Chapter 327: Between Life and Death

Guan Dadi felt as if he were in a forest of spears. On either side were the spearheads thrust forward by his comrades in the rear rank; before him were the shafts of his own and the enemy's spears. The spearhead of the armored infantryman directly opposite him wavered slightly up and down, only four chi away.

He had received critiques and suggestions for improvement, but Guan Dadi could no longer recall a single word of what had been said then. Only this sensation of facing a spearhead was not unfamiliar.

But this was no drill after all. The spearhead before him swayed faintly, probably nearing striking range. Guan Dadi dared not press his feet any closer. The three spearheads directly ahead and to the side all posed an immense threat, jangling his nerves. A dense sweat broke out on Guan Dadi's forehead.

The Later Jin soldier opposite was also hesitating. Guan Dadi's spear was likewise before him. The Dengzhou square formation's line was extremely straight and level, and the right hand was hidden behind the body, so he could not judge the enemy's thrusting distance. Perhaps one more step forward would bring an attack from three long spears. Moreover, this Later Jin soldier was gripping his spear with an underhand hold, which was not only taxing but also required leaving a length of the butt behind him, reducing his attack range. As time dragged on and his strength continued to drain, he would have to extend the butt length to keep the spear balanced. So now he was both worried and anxious.

To Guan Dadi's right pressed a short-weapon soldier, whose breathing was clearly audible. Guan Dadi knew he was waiting for a chance to strike when the enemy spearheads were occupied above. As they slowly closed in, all that remained on the battle line were the heavy breathing of both sides and the soft clatter of armor plates. Occasionally an officer shouted, but no one listened.

Amid the silence, the Dengzhou soldiers advanced toward the opposing spearheads, shuffling forward with the smallest possible steps. Guan Dadi's heart felt ready to leap out of his chest; his entire body was in a state of extreme tension. The brief moments of the standoff felt to him as endless as ten thousand years.

Suddenly, the space beside his right leg emptied. A crouching black shadow shot through the short distance at lightning speed, evaded the rear-rank spear beside that Later Jin soldier, and slammed a dagger viciously into the soldier's thigh.

"Ah!" The Later Jin soldier, whose whole body had been taut, let out an earth-shattering scream. That great cry finally snapped the nerves of both sides, wound to the breaking point. Soldiers howled madly, and almost simultaneously a chaotic exchange of thrusts began. Dense thickets of spear shafts from both sides shuttled back and forth across the line. Once the shafts were in motion, the clattering bangs of collision were as dense as raindrops.

Amid the chaos, Guan Dadi seized the moment when the Later Jin soldier was distracted by the stab. As if by conditioned reflex, he stepped forward to occupy the attack position. Just as he had practiced hundreds of times every day: left leg advanced, body leaning slightly forward, right hand and left hand simultaneously thrusting forward, the long spear shot out swift as lightning. When the spearhead was still a chi from the enemy's blade, he felt a sudden dragging resistance in his hands. The spear had accurately pierced the neck of that Later Jin soldier. The entire motion was completed in an instant.

The hateful long spear before him clattered to the ground. Distracted, the Later Jin soldier opposite had made almost no evasive move against his thrust. Clutching his neck, he collapsed to the ground.

Below, the close-combat soldier from the musket squad nimbly rose again. He stabbed at the neck of a nearby Later Jin spearman. That Later Jin spearman, howling and utterly absorbed in thrusting at his opponent, was already nearing a frenzy. He did not even react when his neck was stabbed. Blood from his carotid artery sprayed out like a fountain. Foaming blood at the mouth, he thrust twice more at the opposing side before collapsing with a thud onto the ground.

The Later Jin rear rank was surging forward to fill the gap. The Dengzhou close-combat soldier dared not linger. He crouched and moved nimbly to the side. Two long spears from the rear rank stabbed swiftly at the spot where he had just stood. The close-combat soldier escaped this calamity, but just as he was about to run back, another long spear shot out from behind and stabbed him in the back. He immediately began rolling on the ground in agony.

The other close-combat soldiers from both sides darted back and forth beneath the spears. Above their heads, clusters of sharp spear blades shuttled to and fro. They watched for an opening, then rushed over to deliver a stab, hastily retreating before the rear rank could counterattack. The wounded spearman, often distracted for an instant, would be killed by the spear opposite him.

By now the battle line had become a seething cauldron of slaughter. More and more soldiers collapsed into the middle ground, lying before their respective formations and writhing. The pain inflicted by cold steel was unbearably intense. The hoarse, desperate howls of the wounded resounded across the battle line. The broad and dense contact front rapidly brought massive casualties. Both sides soon lost more than half of their first rank. Spearmen from the rear ranks continuously pushed forward to fill the gaps. The once orderly rear ranks quickly took on a jagged, saw-toothed shape.

The soldiers of Dengzhou Garrison fought almost in a numb state, relying entirely on their bodies' instinctive reactions to thrust again and again.

With the close-combat soldier's assistance, Guan Dadi had now occupied a position one step ahead. His spear controlled the gap left by two of the enemy, preventing the opposing rear rank from filling in. Seizing the moment before the enemy rear rank could advance to contain him, Guan Dadi delivered another thrust to the right, killing a Later Jin spearman on that side. Guan Dadi immediately retreated one step to rejoin the formation.

The Later Jin soldier directly before him charged up with a reckless roar, his spear stabbing furiously at Guan Dadi. A spearhead rapidly expanded before his eyes. Guan Dadi kept his spear level, his hands gripping the shaft so tightly they turned blue. He angled his right hand slightly to aim at the Later Jin soldier's chest. The spearhead was almost at his eyes. Guan Dadi shut his eyes in despair. A force transmitted through his hands, then a cold sensation on his face. When Guan Dadi opened his eyes, he saw the armored soldier opposite had been unable to slow down and had impaled himself on his spearhead. With a push of his hands, the armored soldier toppled backward.

The opposing spear blade had slashed a gash across Guan Dadi's face. Blood streamed down his cheek, yet he felt nothing at all. The sharp surge of adrenaline had greatly increased his strength and endurance. The intense tension left him no time to attend to anything beyond the enemy.

After the first wave of casualties, both sides fought with mounting frenzy. There was no more cautious probing. Clusters of forest-like spears thrust and retracted in swarms, swiftly reaping lives. In the middle, someone fell every second. Often two men stabbed each other at the same time. Corpses nearly carpeted the battle line. Yet neither army retreated, displaying the era's most formidable fighting strength.

The men on either side of Guan Dadi had already been replaced. The one on his right was already the second replacement. His own face was covered in blood. Another spearman opposite lunged at him furiously. Guan Dadi was instinctively about to thrust when a sudden sharp pain shot through his calf. His body lurched sideways, just enough to evade the Later Jin soldier's fierce stab, but then he lost his footing and fell to the ground.

A long spear quickly took over his position, thrusting toward the enemy with a whistling rush of wind. A pair of shoes trampled over Guan Dadi several times. Panicked, Guan Dadi propped himself halfway up. The ground was a mire of blood, heaped with corpses and writhing wounded. A thick, cloying stench of blood filled the air. All around him was a countless, shifting forest of densely packed human legs.

Amid earth-shaking battle cries and hoarse, desperate screams, Guan Dadi gasped for breath several times. At last he saw what had stabbed his calf. It was the very Later Jin soldier he had just cut down. The man lay on his back, not yet dead. A hole pierced by a spear blade gaped in his chest, blood gurgling out. With great effort, he raised his upper body, his hands gripping a long spear that trembled as he tried to stab another Ming soldier.

Guan Dadi yanked the dagger from his waist. Enduring the searing pain from his calf, he lunged forward with all his might, slamming the spear shaft beneath his body with a slap. Mortally wounded, the Later Jin soldier could no longer hold on, and his upper body was pressed back to the ground. The pain in Guan Dadi's calf grew worse. Blood from the wound on his face dripped steadily down his chin. Guan Dadi spat out the blood that had flowed into his mouth.

He immediately crawled along the spear shaft and pressed himself onto the Later Jin soldier. The ground was soaked through with blood. It felt thick and sticky to the touch. He quickly crawled over. The Later Jin soldier, his strength utterly spent, feebly raised a hand to strike at Guan Dadi's head. Without a word, Guan Dadi plunged the dagger violently into his neck, twisting it desperately several times. The wound emitted a squelching, spurting sound. The Later Jin soldier's mouth gaped wide. His head lolled to one side.

Just as Guan Dadi pulled out the dagger, another Later Jin soldier collapsed on top of him with a thud. Blood from the wound sprayed onto Guan Dadi's head. Guan Dadi shoved him away with effort. Seeing it was a Later Jin soldier, he suddenly realized he had crawled beneath the enemy's battle line. Before his eyes swayed countless human legs. Above them still shifted the spear shafts. He had no way out.

He hurriedly gave the Later Jin soldier who had just fallen a finishing stab with his dagger, then grabbed a saber lying nearby — the very one left behind by the close-combat soldier who had been beside him at the very start. Supporting himself with his left hand, he prepared to slash upward from below. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught movement: a shadow was approaching from seven or eight paces to his left.

Guan Dadi turned his head at once. A broad-shouldered Later Jin soldier, a scaling-knife in hand, his face smeared with blood and his eyes gleaming with ferocity, was charging swiftly in a crouch. Spear shafts darted back and forth above his head, yet his expression showed not the slightest fear.

Guan Dadi hurriedly tried to rise and adjust his stance to meet the attack. But before he could ready himself, the man had already pounced violently. The scaling-knife in his hand stabbed fiercely at Guan Dadi's neck. In desperation, Guan Dadi parried with the iron arm-guard on his left hand. The scaling-knife was deflected with a harsh scraping sound. The Later Jin soldier's momentum carried him forward undiminished, and he crashed into Guan Dadi. The two rolled several times on the ground, grappling fiercely. Their violent struggle sent the bloody water on the ground splashing everywhere.

Both men fought desperately to pin the other down. Guan Dadi dropped his saber and clung tightly to the opponent's right hand. The Later Jin soldier also seized Guan Dadi's right hand, the one holding the dagger. His strength was formidable, evenly matched with Guan Dadi's. With his right hand caught, he kicked madly like a wild tiger. Guan Dadi's calf wound was kicked again and again. The pain turned Guan Dadi's face pale. Blood loss from several wounds left him feeling utterly exhausted. The state of tension was draining his strength severely.

The Later Jin soldier finally gained the upper hand. With a violent twist, he threw Guan Dadi off. Just as he pressed down on top, Guan Dadi suddenly jerked his upper body up and slammed his forehead hard into the Later Jin soldier's face. The Later Jin soldier's nasal bone was nearly shattered. The intense pain stung his eyes, blurring his vision, but he still pressed down on Guan Dadi with all his might. His right hand began to struggle free. Guan Dadi's strength was fading fast; he could no longer hold on. After rolling on the ground, the Later Jin soldier, his entire body caked in bloody mud, raised the scaling-knife with a savage expression.

The scaling-knife traced an arc as it descended toward Guan Dadi's neck. His face awash in blood, Guan Dadi had no strength left to move. Looking up at the spear shafts dancing above, he suddenly thought of his younger brother, Guan Erdi. What had he been thinking before he died? And his little sister shouldn't have become a soldier. With little brother away from home, little sister should have stayed home to help mother with the farm work. Mother was old. And himself? His greatest regret was never having married.

The furious roar of muskets on both flanks shook heaven and earth, but it seemed very far away from him. In this middle ground, this flesh-grinding mill, no one could help him. Guan Dadi closed his eyes and waited for death to come.

Suddenly, an "Ah!" — a scream of agony. Guan Dadi did not feel the scaling-knife. Instead, he sensed the person above him topple to one side. He snapped his eyes open. The Later Jin soldier above him was slumping sideways, a tall spray of blood erupting from the back of his neck. A long spear was retracting back toward the Dengzhou Garrison line. Amid the surrounding screams mingled countless panicked shouts. Guan Dadi turned his head excitedly to look. Before his eyes, the Dengzhou Garrison's spear formation was advancing. The Later Jin infantry were fleeing backward. To the west, a unit of Dengzhou cavalry charged in at an angle, beginning to hunt down the fleeing soldiers. Detachments armed with bayoneted flintlocks burst out from the flanks and gaps, sprinting in pursuit. Where they encountered small groups of resisting Jianzhou bandits, they halted and fired volleys, then closed in for bayonet combat, routing one stubborn band after another.

"Square formation, hold the line! Advance at quick march! Drive the Jianzhou bandits south! Don't let a single one escape!" The familiar voice of Old Fourth Zhong rang out from the rear.

Hearing that familiar tone, Guan Dadi opened his mouth and let out two short "ha" sounds, then burst into loud laughter…

Dorgon, his face ashen, watched his infantry collapse. They fled in panic with desperate haste, even scattering the reserve units behind them. They had become utterly routed dogs. Even the bayara supervising the battle could only avoid the brunt of the fleeing soldiers and retreat with them.

Of over thirteen hundred infantry, three hundred had been lost before engaging. The losses after closing in were even greater. In particular, the Ming army's musket soldiers on both flanks were extremely dense. Nearly a hundred musketeers, divided into six ranks, fired continuously. Their firepower far exceeded that of ordinary Ming troops. The Later Jin flanks could not endure the losses from continuing to close in and were forced to engage at long range with bows. This not only prevented the flanks from achieving a breakthrough but also inflicted enormous losses upon them.

The clash of spearmen in the center likewise failed to gain any advantage. Instead, they were swiftly routed by the enemy's formation battle. Just by looking at the formation, he could tell that the elite armored spearmen at the front of the center line had suffered more than half casualties. The ordinary armored infantry and supernumeraries behind them, facing the still-dense Ming army, had lost their will to fight.

Dorgon was dumbstruck. He had never imagined he could be defeated with evenly matched numbers, and defeated so swiftly that even the White Armor Soldiers in the rear could not be committed in time.

The meiren i ejen beside him spoke in a trembling voice, "Master, your slave will protect you as we flee west. Our cavalry is largely intact; we've only lost a hundred or so men."

"Flee?" Dorgon said despairingly. "To the west are all mountains and hills. If this Ming cavalry blocks the exits, and these infantry come swarming over the mountains to hunt us down, how many can escape?"

"Master, flee. We still have banner men in central Liaodong. We…"

Dorgon cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Say no more. Our niru are all men of the Two Yellow Banners left by Father Khan, the most elite armored soldiers of our Great Jin. If they are all lost here, I would have no face left to live."

The meiren i ejen knelt down. "Your slave swears to follow his master to the death."

Dorgon nodded. At that moment, a unit of Later Jin cavalry had intercepted the pursuing Dengzhou cavalry. The two sides were fighting a melee as they moved toward the flank. He said flatly, "The bayara troops on Baksan have not broken. We still have a chance. Gather all the armored soldiers here — all the banner bearers, goshiha, bayara, everyone who can still move. Follow me to assault the Ming infantry formation. If I fall in battle, take the cavalry and break out from the west flank. Get out as many as you can…"

The meiren i ejen was about to agree when a goshiha beside them suddenly pointed north and shouted.

Dorgon hurriedly looked. In the distance to the north, a cloud of dust rose. Ming scout riders were continuously hurrying back. A gong sounded from the Ming army's main formation. The square formation abandoned its pursuit, halted in place to reorder its ranks for a moment, then began moving toward the ferry crossing.

On the official road to the north appeared scout horses bearing plain blue banners on their backs. In the far distance, a black line emerged on the horizon. The meiren i ejen exclaimed in surprise and delight, "The Third Beile has finally come. We are saved. We can first join the Third Beile to destroy this Ming force."

Dorgon closed his eyes and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He only wished to leave this place as quickly as possible. Destroying this Ming force was secondary now. He said to the meiren i ejen, "Go and rally the routed troops. Once the Third Beile arrives, we will look for an opportunity to strike."

The meiren i ejen, his eyes on the south, replied in a low voice, "Master, your slave will go at once. But I fear there may not be time to rally them all."

Dorgon's heart tightened. He turned to look south. On the main road, some bondservants were fleeing for their lives. Behind them, several Dengzhou scout riders were pursuing and cutting them down. Farther away, infantry columns were faintly visible.

"Go rally the armored infantry immediately. Have them all bring their horses. Be quick. Once the Third Beile arrives, we break out." (To be continued.)

PS: Asking for guaranteed monthly tickets.