Chapter 1073: Dodo, Dodo, Come Quickly! (Please Subscribe)

The crack of guns and the boom of cannon fell silent once again, and then a roar of shouting rose up like a mountain wind and a sea swell.

Goose-feather snow drifted down once more. In the center of Zhaojiazhuang, amid broken walls and scorched burn marks everywhere, the soldiers of the Young Guard charged forward again against the wind and snow. Their blades flashed with cold light, striking terror into the heart!

Zhang Cheng again charged at the very front. He too carried a bayonet-fixed, bullet-loaded flintlock, but he did not fire; he simply lowered his head and rushed forward.

Because of the rising wind and snow, and the malfunctions caused by earlier wild firing, all the Qing army's matchlocks had now gone silent, and their 3-pounder cannon had been almost entirely lost. So the only thing that could still threaten the charging Ming troops was the bows in the hands of a few old Manchu soldiers. But in this snowy, windy weather, the power of bows was greatly reduced as well, and the Ming young soldiers were all equipped with sturdy breastplates and helmets. Unless fired at close range with a direct aim, arrows could hardly strike the parts of their bodies not firmly protected by armor. As for covering fire with dense volleys of arrows, the Qing troops under Nikan did not have that many archers — the main body of this Qing force was now made up of farmers who tilled the land beyond the pass. Even if they could shoot, they could not shoot accurately, and they could not draw stiff bows.

So Nikan could only pick out some old Manchu soldiers and old traitors with outstanding archery, and have them lie in ambush behind the broken walls, waiting until the Ming troops came close and then suddenly springing out to shoot.

This tactic had wounded and killed quite a few Ming young soldiers when the sky first began to brighten, but the Ming troops quickly came up with a countermeasure. They simply charged forward at full speed with their loaded firearms, and absolutely would not fire until they were within ten paces of the Qing troops or until they saw a Qing archer suddenly pop out to shoot.

An old Manchu warrior in white cotton armor suddenly sprang out from behind a low earthen wall, then swiftly drew an eight-li bow in his hands and aimed at Zhang Cheng, about to loose an arrow. But several crisp gunshots rang out first. Wisps of blue smoke immediately rose from the body of that white-armored Manchu warrior, and his whole body trembled as if struck by lightning, then he pitched forward and fell. Although he managed to force the arrow out before collapsing, it had completely lost its aim and flew off to who knows where.

Zhang Cheng let out a breath of relief, and continued charging forward at the head of his men, howling as he held his flintlock aloft. One or two hundred farmer soldiers, holding wooden shields made from who knew what kind of planks, were forced out from behind the earthen walls or houses where they had been hiding by the old Manchu soldiers and old traitors. Every one of these men wore a weeping face, because the ferocity of their opponents had long since exceeded their imagination! These Ming young soldiers clearly all had quite good marksmanship, yet they perversely liked to load a round into the barrel before charging, then hold it in without firing, charging all the way to within ten paces of the enemy, and then delivering one fatal shot!

At this distance, the lead balls fired from flintlock smoothbore muskets could not only hit their mark every single time, but could not be stopped by any armor or shield. Yet the farmer soldiers forced onto the battlefield still did their best to equip themselves with a makeshift wooden shield, which, even if useless, could at least comfort their fragile hearts.

Bang bang bang bang—

When the distance between the soldiers on both sides shrank to within ten paces, the flintlocks in the hands of the Ming young soldiers opened fire one after another. The young soldiers trained by six years of unbroken "997" drill naturally had no possibility of missing at this distance. The Qing farmer soldiers holding shields immediately collapsed in a swath, and the survivors all broke down mentally, turned, and fled.

But the Manchu soldiers supervising the battle behind them would not allow it. Several dozen men sprang out from behind a low wall, each holding a Guandong long broom, and stood in a line, blocking the farmers' retreat with murderous intent.

But how could a Guandong long broom compare to a flintlock that spat deadly lead balls? The farmer soldiers, driven to desperation, raised their wooden shields and charged forward fiercely, and actually knocked the several dozen Manchu soldiers staggering in all directions at once, then fled through the gap. Just as this scattered group of Manchu soldiers was about to hop and curse, the Ming young soldiers led by Zhang Cheng came howling in for the kill — first a sparse but extremely deadly volley of gunfire, and then a bayonet charge!

Because the earlier cannon fire, the longer-range gunfire, and the close-range gunfire had already shattered this group of Manchu soldiers' morale, when it came to blade-to-blade combat, the Manchu soldiers naturally collapsed at the first touch.

"Useless trash! All useless trash! You've disgraced your ancestors completely!" Nikan, who had climbed onto another rooftop to supervise the battle, saw the Manchu soldiers and farmer soldiers ahead collapse at the first touch again, and was so furious he stamped his feet. Whether he stamped too hard or not, with a crack he kicked a hole through the roof, one foot sank in, and he lost his balance and sat down hard on the rooftop.

The personal guards beside him hurried forward to help Nikan up. Nikan shook his arm free with force, stood up on his own, pulled his foot out, and then limped over to the edge of the eaves and climbed down a ladder to the ground.

Several meiren i janggin and jalan i janggin officers, seeing that he looked ready to eat someone alive, hurried forward to stop him.

"Calm yourself, Your Highness, calm yourself. The men below have already done their best."

"Your Highness, the army's morale is in panic now. It can only be soothed, not driven harder!"

Nikan roared: "Done their best? Bullshit! They ran before even fighting! Even the Ming troops back in the day weren't that cowardly! These turtle-spawned bastards have disgraced their ancestors completely!"

Just then, with a clang, a "black man" whose white clothes and white armor had all been blackened by gunpowder smoke burst through the gate and into the courtyard. Everyone turned to look — it was that jalan i janggin, Deng Ken. It had earlier been his turn to supervise the troops resisting the Ming army, and now it seemed he had suffered a crushing defeat.

The moment Nikan saw the man, his anger flared up from nowhere. He limped over and gave Deng Ken a big slap across the face, and feeling unsatisfied, slapped him again, then cursed: "You useless thing! Does this do right by your ancestors?"

He was so angry he had lost his senses — Deng Ken was not a Manchu; his ancestors were merely farmers from Liaodong.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, stop hitting me." Deng Ken covered his face and said tearfully: "The Ming troops are about to fight their way here. Your Highness must move at once!"

"Move?" Nikan's face immediately turned ashen. "From last night until now I've already moved eight times! If I move again, I'll be out of Zhaojiazhuang!"

"Th-then we still have to move!" Deng Ken said. "If we don't move, Your Highness will meet his end!"

As if to prove his words correct, the battle cries of the Ming young soldiers came rolling in wave after wave!

"Protect the Great Ming, defend our sovereign, kill the eastern barbarians!"

Nikan's face turned white — frightened white!

He froze for a moment, and tears came to his eyes. "I have failed my ancestors! Failed my ancestors!"

"Failed my ancestors" meant it was time to run!

Everyone around Nikan let out a breath — now they could continue shifting the battlefield!

But Nikan's men had nowhere left to shift to. As he had just said, he had already shifted to the northern edge of Zhaojiazhuang, yet he was unwilling to abandon Zhaojiazhuang and flee. Because Dodo's messenger had arrived before dawn, bringing an encouraging piece of good news. Dodo and Yolo had already led a large army rushing over — as long as Nikan held on a little longer, reinforcements would arrive!

So Nikan had no choice but to grit his teeth and lead his subordinates in retreat to a ruined temple on the north side of Zhaojiazhuang. Then he deployed the five or six thousand men still under his control (where the rest had gone, he had no idea either) among the several dozen courtyards in the northern part of Zhaojiazhuang, and behind a section of palisade and trench at the northern edge of Zhaojiazhuang, holding on desperately.

But what happened next once again defied Nikan's expectations. Dodo and Yolo's reinforcements were clearly not far from Zhaojiazhuang, yet no matter how long they waited, they did not come. They waited from early morning until noon, and then from noon until evening, and still did not see Dodo.

The Ming troops attacking Zhaojiazhuang also seemed to be waiting. From that morning onward, they had halted their offensive and begun repairing fortifications and deploying garrison troops inside and outside the greater half of Zhaojiazhuang they had captured.

(End of Chapter)