Chapter 393: Ants

The bondservants, dense as ants, pushed the shield carts forward. Behind them, more bondservants filled in the small pits. They had already leveled the pits for several dozen paces ahead, but the signal to withdraw still had not sounded.

Field cannons on both sides bombarded each other. Black iron balls screamed through the air, smashing shield carts to splinters one after another. Countless bondservants were torn apart, flesh and blood flying, yet still they could not stop the bondservants from closing in step by step. The Later Jin troops supervising the battle forced them forward, mercilessly shooting down any bondservant who tried to retreat.

The Third Battalion artillery unit Chen Xin had brought was reinforced to this section. The gunners hauled their cannons up onto the parapet and quickly made ready at the pre-prepared firing positions. Four eight-pounder cannons began to roar one after another. Artillery reinforcements from other defense lines also rushed over through the broad passageways at the rear. The density of artillery here had doubled. Smoothbore cannons had decent accuracy at a range of one hundred and fifty meters. Sturdy locust wood was like paper paste before cannons at a hundred paces. The gun captains maintained a rate of roughly two rounds per minute, continuously inflicting casualties on the Later Jin troops.

The Third Battalion artillery concentrated on dealing with the Later Jin field cannons. After several successive volleys, the shield carts on either side of the Later Jin bronze cannons were blasted into disintegrated chunks of wood. The gun crews, battered by those flying chunks, were nearly all killed or wounded. Both Jianzhou Bandit field cannons fell silent. One of them had even been grazed by a four-pounder round, its barrel and wheels sent flying high into the air. The other was left isolated, cut off from the battle line.

Chen Xin looked carefully. It somewhat resembled Dengzhou's four-pounder cannons, but the barrel walls seemed much thicker, while the entire gun carriage was very low and squat. Calling it a field cannon didn't seem quite right.

The Later Jin shield-cart formation was shattered. Behind those tilted and wrecked shield carts were countless bondservants still frantically at work. The previously silent folangji cannons began to chatter with glee. Their ultra-high rate of fire, five or six rounds per minute, swept across the bondservants who had no cover. Cannonballs weighing from a few taels to one jin tore human bodies apart, turning them into a flurry of severed limbs. They made the Later Jin's pit-filling an extremely costly endeavor.

Liu Po gave orders from atop the earthen wall, telling the artillery to increase their rate of fire and strike the archers and bondservants at the rear. The cannons roared without pause. Red light flashed continuously along the parapet in front of the earthen wall. The defending Lüshun garrison troops fired off their rockets in volleys. These Company Commander Qiben and Yiwoceng rockets had all been sent from Dengzhou. They were also one of the few weapons Dengzhou Garrison ever requested from the imperial court.

Streak after streak of rockets arced into the distance. Amid the thick smoke, it was impossible to see clearly how many actually hit. These rockets had not been sorted this time; they had been shipped still in their containers. Many were shoddily made. Some dropped to the ground after flying just twenty-some paces. Others veered wildly in flight. One even turned completely around and shot back, whooshing past right over Chen Xin's head and vanishing without a trace.

Chen Xin shook his head to himself. The quality of Ming army weapon manufacturing was truly worrying. In the past, selecting rockets from the Dengzhou Garrison armory had also been extremely troublesome. They had to check the weight, the craftsmanship, and the production batch. If a batch was generally good, they would select more. Checking the weight was to see whether corners had been cut. This time, Wang Ting was frantic with urgency and shipped anything he thought usable to Lüshun. Once these things arrived, Liu Po had handed them all over to the garrison troops and told them to fire everything off.

Chen Xin could understand Wang Ting's state of mind. Back then, it was Chen Xin who had prodded Wang Ting to propose the new Three-Pronged Strategy. Dengzhou's importance had grown day by day. This year's military budget had reached one million six hundred thousand taels, a slight increase from last year. Wang Ting's annual kickbacks and smuggling dividends made his hands go soft from counting. He also had military merits to claim and no fear of the Jianzhou Bandits besieging his city. Now, the post of Deng-Lai Provincial Governor was a lucrative appointment, and many in the court had their eyes on it. If, under these circumstances, he still lost Lüshun, the censors' spittle alone would drown him.

Worried that those wildly flying rockets might ignite the gunners' powder, he glanced back uneasily. Right beside him was a fixed gun position. That position had a gap cut into the earthen wall. In front, bamboo baskets taller than a man were filled with earth, and below, earthbags half a man's height were stacked. Behind the gun position was a semicircular open space, then a zigzag trench. Ten paces behind the position was a small, plank-reinforced powder magazine. All the powder for this position was stored there. There was no problem with its protection.

At that moment, Liu Po's signal flags moved. On the left flank, Dai Zhenggang returned a flag signal. On the right flank, Zheng Sanhu also returned a signal. After a roll of drums, several detachments simultaneously charged out from various passageways. They ran through the passageways to the outermost horse-stopping ditch, then jumped into the waist-high, winding ditch. Using their bayonet flintlocks, they fired at the Later Jin soldiers who had lost their cover.

The dense volleys of musketry left those Later Jin soldiers no time to fill pits. They scrambled to hide behind the remaining shield carts. Archers darted between the shield carts, exchanging fire with the Dengzhou soldiers who showed only their heads.

A group of bondservants, driven by several bayara guards, charged toward that lone field cannon. They drew the Dengzhou soldiers' attention. The opposing detachment soldiers fired a volley. Piteous howls rose from the dense crowd of bondservants. Two field cannons also fired at that spot. Six-jin cannonballs punched straight through the crowd. Along the bloody passage they carved, not a single bondservant's body remained intact. That field cannon was nearly buried under the falling body parts.

The remaining bondservants scattered and fled, only to be shot down one by one by Later Jin arrows. Then another wave of bondservants was sent to that cannon, attempting to haul it away. The corpses and wooden debris piled around it had already reached past the wheel hubs. Moving the cannon, let alone walking, was nearly impossible for them. This wave of bondservants was once again annihilated by the combined fire of both sides.

The lives of the bondservants seemed so cheap amid the flying firepower of the two opposing armies, so lowly that they were worth no more than a single splinter of wood sent flying by a blast.

The Dengzhou gunners on the earthen wall increased their rate of fire. The fragments from the shattered shield carts were like canister shot, even more lethal than solid round shot. The Later Jin commanders could finally endure the casualties no longer. Two gongs sounded from the rear formation. The great banner of the Plain Red Banner's Gushan Ejen, which had been holding the line, pulled back. The Later Jin troops at the front receded like the tide.

A bugle call sounded from the Dengzhou Garrison's earthen wall. Several officers shouted commands. The detachments, following their non-commissioned officers at the front, leaped out of the horse-stopping ditch. They advanced in formation through the remaining pitted terrain, shouting battle cries as they charged to the line of shield carts. They fired a volley from their muskets at the retreating Jianzhou Bandits, then used their daggers to finish off the wounded soldiers on the ground.

Liu Po's signal flags moved again. From the passageways, several hundred auxiliary soldiers then surged out. They carried shovels and hoes on their backs and held waist sabers in their hands. They advanced directly through the passageways to the shield-cart line and frantically began harvesting heads with their waist sabers. Whether alive or dead, all were beheaded with a single slash. Some scout riders galloped out from the passageways on the two wings, roaming the battlefield in between, casually inspecting the scattered heads as they passed.

"Firepower is king. The Jianzhou Bandits cannot outmatch us in front of this position," Chen Xin said with a faint smile.

Liu Po let out a long breath. This was the first time he had commanded such a large-scale battle, and the pressure in his heart was immense. His mind had been stretched taut. The moment Chen Xin arrived, it was as if Liu Po had found his backbone, and that tense feeling had eased considerably.

"My lord, we've killed nearly a thousand. This is the first time we've gone out to take heads. Those killed in the past few days were all carried away and burned by the Tatars themselves. These last few days have all been artillery duels. Our casualties have been very light. It's just today that the Later Jin's small cannons hit several spots on the parapet. The dead and wounded are considered high for us."

"No need to fret over heads. We've taken more than enough Tatar heads already." Chen Xin pointed toward the detachments up front. "When they advanced through the pitted area, they moved in formation. Are there still landmines buried around those pits?"

"My lord sees clearly. This was not in the original contingency plan. Later, during exercises, your subordinate discovered that more traps could be set. The landmine cannons are buried within forty paces of the horse-stopping ditch. The Jianzhou Bandits have never entered along this line, so it was added to the contingency plan. Not just the pit area—there are also quite a few landmines inside the horse-stopping ditch. I wonder if my lord has seen the latest defense plan."

Chen Xin had reviewed the defense plan once before. At that time, he had been very meticulous, going over it line by line with officers from each unit. Later, he had no time to examine it carefully, so naturally he could not have discovered such details.

He did not answer Liu Po. Watching the auxiliary soldiers chopping off heads, he smiled and said, "These auxiliaries are all former Dongjiang Garrison men. After this battle, they can become a combat-effective force as well. It's just a pity we don't have enough silver yet to support more troops. For now, they still have to farm."

Liu Po cupped his hands. "In your subordinate's opinion, they are no worse than ordinary battalion soldiers. At the very least, their discipline is superior. Having been able to eat their fill here in Lüshun for over a year, their physical strength surpasses most battalion soldiers."

Chen Xin smiled and returned to the main topic. "For this defensive operation, you will still be in direct command."

Liu Po was stunned for a moment. He had assumed Chen Xin would take personal command upon arriving. Chen Xin caught his expression, nodded at him approvingly, and said, "Every detail of Lüshun's defensive operations was formulated by you. It is best that you command in person. You've fought very well so far. Is there anything else you need my help with?"

"Your subordinate feels that the Jianzhou Bandits have yet to commit their full strength. These several attacks so far have all been probes, or attempts to fill in the pits. Your subordinate judges that they will launch a night raid. After that, there will be one major assault. Huang Taiji cannot justify coming all this way without fighting seriously. That man has some genuine skill and has rarely been defeated in battle. This is the first time we face him directly. In your subordinate's heart, there is always a lingering worry."

Chen Xin searched everywhere through his telescope but did not see Huang Taiji's great banner. The auxiliary soldiers up front had finished beheading the corpses. They took out their shovels and hoes and began digging out those pits again. Some even carted the earth away to prevent the Jianzhou Bandits from using it again. This was the advantage of controlling the battlefield. This section remained entirely under Dengzhou's fire control. As long as the Jianzhou Bandits failed to take it in one assault, the auxiliaries would come out and dig the pits open again. In this way, the Jianzhou Bandits had lost several hundred men for nothing, and everything returned to its original state.

Chen Xin said coolly, "Do not imagine Huang Taiji to be so formidable. His battle record all comes from facing other border garrisons. Before our Dengzhou Garrison, he has not a single victory. The Later Jin's Eight Banners each have their own interests, and there are countless entanglements and conflicts among them. They are far from being of one heart and mind like our Dengzhou Garrison. He is, after all, just one man. We have abundant resources. Our contingency plans come from the suggestions of numerous staff officers and military officers. We have basically thought of everything that can be thought of. Is Huang Taiji some immortal? No matter how brilliant one man's mind is, can it surpass the minds of our many officers and staff officers? Moreover, in the matter of warfare, Huang Taiji has more experience than us, but as for innate talent, he may not necessarily surpass you, Liu Po. Cast aside the worry in your heart over his reputation. Just like when we were under the walls of Guanxian, when no one dared to stand against the Jianzhou Bandits' vanguard, we boldly routed them. Looking back now, it was nothing special."

Liu Po felt a weight lift from his heart. At the start, he had indeed felt a kind of fear toward the Later Jin grand army, especially with Huang Taiji leading the troops. That was the Jianzhou Chieftain. In the past, the name Nurhaci had existed in Liu Po's heart like a demon, constantly affecting him. That was why, after confirming the Later Jin grand army had reached Jinzhou, he had repeatedly demanded that Zhu Guobin abandon Muchangyi as quickly as possible, shortening the timeline in the original contingency plan.

Now, hearing Chen Xin's words, the knot in his heart seemed to loosen. One after another, Later Jin commanders who had been hyped up as invincible foes had been killed or captured alive. There had even been a Niru Ejen who wanted to surrender. On the real battlefield, what use was that bit of reputation Huang Taiji had? Dengzhou Garrison was like the rising morning sun, dispersing the dark clouds over Liaodong.

Chen Xin observed through his telescope. The Later Jin artillery on the opposite side was all withdrawing. Without being emplaced, they could not fire. He turned to the newly promoted aide-de-camp beside him and said, "Raise my recognition flag."

The Regional Commander's banner rose. The sixteen-chi red flag fluttered and snapped in the sea breeze. The soldiers in Lüshun's southern fort were the first to spot Chen Xin's great banner. They burst into loud cheers. This was the center section of the battle line, visible to all the soldiers. A thunderous roar of acclamation swept through the entire Dengzhou defense line. Their morale soared to the heavens.

Beneath the great banner, Chen Xin basked in the tidal wave of cheers, but his eyes remained fixed on the distant Later Jin army formation. He narrowed his eyes and said with a low laugh, "Huang Taiji, I'm letting you know I am here. Now you should be ready to fight to the death."