Chapter 1067: A Feigned Defeat? Or a Real One? (Monthly Tickets, Monthly Tickets — Go Wild)

"Meiren Janggin," Eshan had already grown tense, "since the enemy has come, shouldn't we withdraw and leave?"

Tu Hai frowned and glanced at this old Manchu who seemed to have been scared out of his wits by the Ming army's elite troops, then shook his head. "Now is not the time. It's the middle of the night, and what sort of soldiers do we have under us? If we run off in the dark, won't we just get chased down and scattered? They wouldn't even need to fight — just by chasing us, they'd chase our troops away until there were none left!"

Eshan had nothing to say, because he knew Tu Hai was right. Their ten-thousand-odd soldiers were easy enough to keep in hand during the day, but at night, in pitch darkness, if they weren't locked up and watched closely in camp, deserters were certain to slip away. And if Ming elite troops gave chase, there'd be no need to fight — after one night of pursuit, more than half the men would be gone.

Tu Hai added, "Our camp was built on a manor and has been reinforced, so it's no worse than an ordinary fortress. They don't have many men, so they can't surround us completely. Even if they besiege us, there's nothing to fear — the Prince's main army is only a little over sixty li away."

"Ah—" Eshan nodded. "The Meiren Janggin has thought it through thoroughly. This subordinate is full of admiration."

Tu Hai smiled. "E Niru, you and your men needn't take part in tonight's defensive dispositions. Rest well. Tomorrow after daybreak, we'll all withdraw north together."

"Good!" Eshan let out a breath. At last his men wouldn't have to go up against those murderously fierce Ming troops again. At that thought, a pang of bitterness rose in his heart. How fast the world had changed! A dozen or so years ago, when he was still a boy, all he heard every day was how useless the Ming army was and how valiant the Eight Banners' heavenly soldiers were — one of them beating ten was a mere drizzle. How had it all turned around now?

Could it be that this third rise of the Great Qing would end in a dead end?

Ancestors! Eshan prayed in his heart: you must protect the Great Qing!

Less than three li south of Kong Family Fort, where the ten-thousand-odd Qing troops under Tu Hai were garrisoned, a column marching in the dark had already halted amid an unbroken chorus of whistles, then completed its deployment across a great stretch of wheat fields that were ripe but left unharvested.

Next, the officers in command began issuing one order after another.

"Lighten packs — drop your backpacks!"

"Check ammunition, check bayonets, check breastplates and helmets. All equipment other than ammunition, bayonets, breastplates, and helmets is to be concentrated with the baggage train!"

"All company commanders step forward and prepare to receive orders!"

Under the dim moonlight, amid one command after another, the soldiers carried out every movement neatly and swiftly, then stood waiting in silence. Throughout, not one unnecessary sound was made, and not a single soldier made a mistake that drew a scolding from his officers.

In truth, this sort of night march, night deployment, and night advance toward a designated objective was something these "boy soldiers" of the Youth Guards Division had done countless times over the past four or five years.

To them, such things were as natural as eating and sleeping — there would be no mistakes.

Just then, in the midst of that silence, the sound of hoofbeats, work chants, and the shouting of someone or other came through all at once.

"Stop, stop, stop — this is the spot!"

"Guard troops, stand watch!"

"All gun crews, deploy into position!"

The man doing the shouting was Sun Shining, artillery staff officer of the Youth Guards Division. As the division's artillery staff officer, he was also chief of staff of the artillery regiment. Tonight, his task was to direct four 12-catty cast-iron short cannons in support of the infantry's attack on the Qing troops holding Kong Family Fort.

According to intelligence in Ming hands, Kong Family Fort, located twelve or thirteen li north of Liangfangkou Pass, had been built on Kong Youde's orders. It had once served as the garrison of Kong Youde's forces and had been extremely strong. Now, though long neglected and in disrepair, it was still not easy to assault.

Fortunately, the Youth Guards Division had landed this time with four 12-catty cast-iron short-barreled cannons and a large supply of explosive shells. So whether Kong Family Fort could be taken tonight all depended on whether these four 12-catty guns could shoot true!

The four gun crews had just finished deploying about two and a half li south of Kong Family Fort when Qin Mingtao came up with several staff officers from division headquarters.

"Division Commander, the four 12-catty guns are all in position. However, the earthen walls of Kong Family Fort are rather low, so they're hard to hit with direct fire. This subordinate recommends using explosive shells to bombard the enemy inside the fort. But it's too dark to make out the position of the earthen walls."

Qin Mingtao nodded and said to a regimental commander beside him, "Send a battalion up. Skirmisher tactics. Draw fire from the enemy on the earthen walls."

Firing in ranks was only ever one of many infantry tactics of the flintlock era — in the flintlock era there also existed skirmishers capable of accurate shooting (light infantry, jaegers), as well as specialist marksmen who picked off enemies. Even ordinary line infantry would build and hold fieldworks for defense.

And the Nine Frontiers boy soldiers were all professional soldiers rigorously trained from childhood, so they could master a variety of tactics, including skirmisher tactics — which were extremely effective against opponents whose soldiers were poorly trained and whose officers were even worse.

The "Manchu heavenly soldiers" of old were now, in Qin Mingtao's eyes, a weak brigade with poor soldiers and even poorer officers!

"Ancestors protect us, ancestors protect us, ancestors protect us..." Tu Hai, muttering under his breath and praying for his ancestors' protection, was of course one of those low-quality officers.

Although historically he had been an elite officer among the Manchu nobility of the third generation, and a meritorious servant of the Kangxi Emperor in suppressing the Three Feudatories, the military knowledge he possessed was completely outdated. He had no idea how to deal with a modern professional army.

Crack-crack-crack...

The sudden burst of dense gunfire cut through Tu Hai's thoughts. He hurried out of his command post — a long-abandoned Confucian temple — and the several officers keeping watch outside the temple immediately crowded around him when they saw him emerge.

"Meiren Janggin, it's the south side of the manor — they're firing on the south side of the manor!"

"The Ming barbarians are attacking!"

"Meiren Janggin, what do we do?"

These officers were all Manchu nobles in their twenties. Historically, they should all have been living as lords in Beijing; now they could barely hold on even as country squires beyond the passes, and every one of them was wound tight with nerves.

Tu Hai, by contrast, appeared calm and composed. "What's there to panic about? Kong Family Fort is strong — there's nothing to fear from them. Come, let's go take a look."

With that, he strode off toward the sound of gunfire. He was only halfway there when the firing ahead grew even denser — but the dense fire was not the especially crisp report of Ming flintlocks; it was the dull thud of their own matchlocks.

This time, it seemed the matchlocks were overpowering the flintlocks!

Tu Hai laughed and said to those around him, "Do you hear that? It's all our matchlocks firing. When we form ranks and fight in open ground, our guns are no good and we always take losses. Now we're fighting from behind walls — the situation is different!"

No sooner had he spoken than a thunderous roar came from up ahead. The heart Tu Hai had just set down was yanked up again. He whipped his head toward the place, a hundred-odd paces ahead, where the explosion had sounded — and what met his eyes was a ball of orange fire!

An explosive shell!

And it had landed inside the manor!

It turned out the exploding shell had not struck the outer wall, but had sailed over the manor's wall and landed inside. First it smashed into the hard ground, then bounced up, flew into a courtyard packed with mules and horses, and finally burst in midair!

There were no real casualties among the men, but the wounded and terrified mules and horses bolted as if their nest had been blown apart. All of them lost control and tore free of their ropes. Some smashed through the courtyard's wooden gate and charged out; several sturdy horses even leaped over the low courtyard wall and burst onto the narrow street outside, galloping furiously down it. Fortunately, an officer beside Tu Hai reacted quickly and yanked him against the wall at the street corner, so he was not bowled over by the panicked animals. But two unlucky men among the officers and personal guards with him were knocked flat by what might have been a mule or a horse, then trampled a few times. One died on the spot; the other was vomiting blood in great mouthfuls and looked about to breathe his last!

Tu Hai sucked in a cold breath. Before he could recover from the shock, several more roars rang out — and this time two fireballs suddenly soared up from inside little Kong Family Fort!

(End of Chapter)