Chapter 455: Fleeing in Chaos

Several vanguard soldiers broke away from the White Armor formation, galloping at full speed toward Matou Pass and the southern mountain pass respectively, their horsemanship appearing extremely skilled. Huang Taiji had reformed the military system, setting roughly fifteen to seventeen White Armor Soldiers per niru, and within the White Armor further separating out the vanguard soldiers — what would later become the Manchu Qing vanguard battalion — two men per niru, serving as scout cavalry in the Later Jin army, the elite of the elite among the entire force.

In actual history, Huang Taiji's military system reform was already nearing completion by the eighth year of the Tiancong reign; the niru of each banner were gradually becoming population units, and niru ejen now needed to hold a separate military post to command troops. But now, because his prestige had declined, each banner's progress varied. The two Yellow Banners, the Bordered Red Banner, and the Bordered Blue Banner had essentially completed the change; the other banners were merely going through the motions.

The wooden bridge over the Tang River was nearly two li from Matou Pass. The river channel was relatively broad, and the banks were also fairly gentle — a rare stretch of open terrain along the Lingqiu Road.

During the time the scout horses were galloping, Abatai's niru gradually came to a halt. Abatai looked back; the long column of commoners behind him had packed the narrow mountain road completely full. He felt satisfied in his heart. Besides those here, he had also seized over a thousand able-bodied young men at the Yingzhou camp. This year he could properly replenish his bondservants, though replenishing armored soldiers would still take at least a few years, slowly drawn from these bondservants and the wild Jurchens.

But Darha's three niru were still continuing forward and had already crossed the wooden bridge over the Tang River. Abatai paid it no mind; after all, no definite threat existed, and Darha deciding his own movements was not something he could control.

The several scout riders became tiny dots, and still there was nothing unusual. Abatai also felt he might have been a bit too cautious. Since entering the pass, the various units of the Xuan–Da Army had defended their cities quite resolutely, and the Later Jin soldiers had found few opportunities to assault fortifications. But as for field battles, it was not even a matter of fleeing at the mere rumor of their approach — they simply had never appeared at all.

He was just about to order a continued advance when suddenly a few faint gunshots came drifting on the wind. Abatai's pupils instantly contracted. He strained his eyes toward Matou Pass. The distance was somewhat far, and he could not see clearly; he could only make out what seemed to be a few tiny dots appearing, as if they had encountered Ming scout cavalry. Abatai immediately shifted his gaze southward. At the southern mountain pass, there was also unusual movement. After a burst of volley fire, two scout riders were shot down at a bend.

"All armored soldiers and yuding, dismount and form ranks! Bayara, take the hilltops!" Abatai quickly made his decision and calmly issued orders to the rear. On a mountain road like this, turning around on the spot would be a disaster, let alone with the large number of refugees and carts still on the road behind.

Darha was also rallying his armored soldiers on the opposite bank of the Tang River. His three niru numbered roughly three hundred men. Because the Plain Blue Banner had just passed through, they still believed the Ming troops appearing here could only be the household retainers and scout cavalry of some officers, not a large force. He was also confident he could crush any Ming officer's retainers in this terrain — or ten times that number of ordinary Ming soldiers.

Conch horns sounded. The armored soldiers from the rear rushed over one after another, hastily forming up under the leadership of the bosoku and niru ejen. The bayara climbed a few small slopes to the east, seizing the commanding heights to cover the armored soldiers hurrying from the long column. The nearby bondservants also came running with their knives; once the armored soldiers routed the Ming troops, they could join the pursuit as well.

Red figures appeared in the distance. Abatai's eyes darted back and forth between the two directions, gauging their numbers. Ming border army troops mostly wore red battle jackets, so Abatai had not detected anything amiss from afar. The red to the north quickly coalesced into a line and began advancing southward; the few remaining scout riders were fleeing for their lives.

"Not a small number," Abatai thought to himself. He saw that Darha had already assembled over a hundred men, plus more than a hundred bondservants, and the armored soldiers behind were also rushing over. Abatai decided to deal with the Ming force approaching from the south.

Darha, not waiting to gather all his men, led the nearly two hundred armored soldiers who had crossed the river forward to meet the enemy, with over a hundred bondservants behind them.

Abatai also urged his men southward. He had fewer than two hundred men, probably only around a hundred and fifty; the rest were mostly in the rear guarding the commoners and could not be gathered in time.

The Ming troops to the south were fewer than those to the north. As they advanced, they widened their battle line, which by now had extended into the dry riverbed.

Abatai's brow furrowed. As the distance closed, the Ming troops' movements looked increasingly familiar. Abatai's eyes widened more and more. The distance narrowed to three hundred paces. The short jackets on the opposing side were exactly the same as the Dengzhou Garrison at Lüshun. Rows of gleaming sharp blades flickered atop their heads, and soon a peculiar bugle call rang out.

The Later Jin soldiers in the front ranks also noticed something was wrong. They had all participated in the Battle of Lüshun. The bugle call among the Ming troops opposite belonged to Dengzhou alone. Their total number was only two or three hundred, but their advance was extremely resolute. Though their formation was slightly chaotic, there was no hesitation whatsoever — they came on with the momentum of ramming straight into them, completely unlike the timidity of ordinary Ming troops. The advance of the Later Jin soldiers in front visibly slowed. Several niru ejen and bosoku were turning their heads to look in Abatai's direction.

A seven-chi red banner rose on the opposite side. Abatai was stunned to see a flying tiger upon it. He gulped audibly and hurriedly turned his head to glance north. Darha was still some distance from the Ming troops and was continuing his advance.

Abatai quickly judged from the opposing numbers that his own small force was no match. He gritted his teeth and bellowed at the goshiha beside him, "Sound the retreat! Everyone flee toward Guangchang! You men clear the path ahead — cut down anyone in the way!"

The goshiha had just left when the gong sounded. The Bordered Yellow Banner's battle line collapsed in an instant. The armored soldiers and White Armor Soldiers turned and charged violently, cutting down all the bondservants behind who had not yet reacted. Smashing their way through, they fled madly back the way they had come, swinging their shundao at the Ming commoners standing dazed on the road.

When the distant sound of the retreat gong reached them, Guan Dadi was only about three hundred paces from the Later Jin soldiers who had crossed the bridge. First Company deployed along the west bank of the Tang River, with the detached troops spread out ahead in three small squads. First Company had only just been converted from a mixed pike and musket unit into a pure firearms unit; even the company organization still followed the old system. The training requirements the Ordnance Department gave Zhong Lao Si also included exploring the most suitable organization, but changing the organization meant large-scale adjustments to junior officers and soldiers. To achieve combat effectiveness as soon as possible, Zhong Lao Si had not yet begun to implement it.

At present, the Long Qibing's infantry combat formation used the three-rank line as its primary formation — the same formation the detached troops had previously employed.

Once deployed, First Company was seventy paces wide, essentially filling the open ground on both sides of the road along the west bank, with its left flank on the dry bed of the Tang River. Second Company deployed in the same manner, following twenty paces behind First Company.

Ahead, Zhou Shaoer held his saber high, ten paces in front of the formation. The standard-bearer carrying First Company's red flag walked right beside him; Guan Dadi only needed to tilt his head to see them. The platoon leaders and squad leaders were five paces ahead of the formation, controlling the pace at which the troops followed the company flag.

Guan Dadi carried his flintlock on his shoulder, maintaining a jog alongside his comrades. The drummer was not beating time. The winding, twisting road and the rugged riverbank made their formation appear chaotic, not as straight and level as during training, but everyone could still keep the formation dense.

The Later Jin army formation ahead was only two hundred paces away. If the cannons were present, they could have begun bombardment, but Guan Dadi did not see any cannons advancing with them. The enemy had suddenly sent out scout riders, and Zhong Lao Si had no choice but to order an early attack — advance rapidly, pin down the Later Jin soldiers' front, and prevent them from retreating. The cannons had not been prepared and were left behind.

Based on Guan Dadi's experience, the Later Jin soldiers' first charge was usually quite ferocious, and now without the pikes they were accustomed to, Guan Dadi still felt a bit uneasy in his heart.

Shortly after the gong sounded, a sudden clamor of shouting men and neighing horses erupted ahead. Before Guan Dadi's dumbfounded eyes, the originally orderly formation of the Bordered Yellow Banner's armored soldiers fell into utter chaos. Hundreds of Later Jin soldiers screamed loudly, scrambling and fighting to flee onto the narrow wooden bridge. One after another, men were shoved off the bridge and plunged into the icy water flowing beneath. Guan Dadi stared open-mouthed at those Later Jin soldiers; even the Later Jin soldiers he had encountered at Fuzhou had never looked like this.

A bugle call sounded, and the company flag tilted forward at a steeper angle.

The squad leader bellowed, "Advance at the run!"

Guan Dadi quickened his pace, constantly using his peripheral vision to check Zhou Shaoer's position. Lately, it was all thanks to Zhou Shaoer's help in training him; through countless extra drills, Guan Dadi had finally met the standard and had already surpassed most of the Long Qibing soldiers. Every time he saw Zhou Shaoer's back, he felt a sense of reassurance.

The bridgehead was packed with Later Jin soldiers. They had originally dismounted to fight on foot, and their horses had been ridden across the river. Now the horses were running wild everywhere in the chaos, worsening the Later Jin soldiers' disorder. A large gūsa ejen banner flickered a few times at the bridgehead, then vanished from sight.

Advancing rapidly, the Dengzhou Garrison soon reached fifty paces from the bridgehead. The detached troops ahead moved aside to the two flanks, using squad volleys to suppress the handful of enemy archers. A halt bugle sounded, and all the Long Qibing stopped in unison. Guan Dadi, panting, stood his flintlock upright at his side.

"First rank, kneel!" Zhou Shaoer's hoarse, strained voice rang out.

Guan Dadi, in the first rank, immediately knelt. The Later Jin soldiers ahead grew increasingly panicked. Fewer than ten armored soldiers were shooting with bows, their arrows coming in scattered and sporadic. There were a few low, muffled grunts in the formation; those arrows, at fifty paces, still lacked the power to pierce mail armor.

"Make ready!"

Guan Dadi raised his gun at the command, his right thumb pulling the cock to the firing position. The formation was filled with the sound of clicking.

"Take aim!" Zhou Shaoer shouted even faster than during training.

Over two hundred flintlocks leveled as one. One was also poised above Guan Dadi's head. The third rank thrust their guns through the gaps in the second rank. The detached troops ahead had all thrown themselves flat on the ground. The Later Jin soldiers at the bridgehead screamed hysterically. These Tatar soldiers, who had just moments ago been swaggering with such invincible arrogance before the commoners, now bore no semblance of a strong army whatsoever.

"Fire!"

Over two hundred flintlocks erupted in thick smoke. The thunderous crash of the volley echoed through the mountain valley. The Later Jin soldiers at the bridgehead toppled in swathes, their agonized screams shaking the heavens. Over a dozen of the horses running wild around them also fell in that volley, kicking their legs and struggling on the ground.

From the rear, the charge call controlled by Zhong Lao Si sounded.

"Charge!" Zhou Shaoer roared and was the first to rush out. The squad leaders of each unit shouted in unison, and over two hundred line infantry followed behind them, charging furiously toward the bridgehead. (To be continued...)

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