Chapter 409: King of Hell Gao Shows His Might

The exchange of firearms fire, which basically had no killing power, ended in less than a quarter hour. Because neither side could keep shooting — the Qing army's matchlocks were somewhat better, but they still could not fire continuously; on average, after about five shots they had to be set aside to cool down completely before continuing.

The Shandong militia were in a much worse state — some of their three-eyed guns had already burst. The siege cannons, because their barrel walls were thicker, had not burst yet, but after firing several rounds they too needed to cool down and were temporarily unusable.

And once the firearms were suspended, it was the archers' turn to take the field!

Looking down from high ground, one could see more than three hundred shield carts arranged in a long arc, slowly pressing forward, already within fifty paces of the crescent-moon formation formed by the Shandong militia's shield carts and siege cannons.

At a series of commands, all three hundred-odd shield carts slowly halted and advanced no further. The men pushing the carts were all booi bondservants of the Eight Banners soldiers — and not the new bondservants forced into service after they entered the pass, but old bondservants who had been slaves before the pass. They were first-class slaves among slaves!

Do not look down on them for being bondservants — their standing in the Great Qing was far higher than that of the Green Standard troops! Even the Green Standard's Company Commanders and Battalion Commanders dared not provoke these booi bondservants! Otherwise, if their masters stepped forward, there would be no end of trouble.

Moreover, the Great Qing had a particularly deadly "Fugitive Slave Law" that could cost people their lives — under this law, anyone who harbored a fugitive slave was executed, and his wife, children, and property were confiscated and given to the slave's master. Yet the fugitive himself only had his face tattooed!

In other words, if some old bondservant was willing to have his face tattooed and then slipped into the household of a Han official or a Han bannerman official of the Great Qing, it would be a catastrophe of family ruin and death for that official.

Historically, even a prince-level Han traitor like Geng Zhongming was done in by this "Fugitive Slave Law."

So nowadays the Eight Banners' booi "old bondservants" were practically plague gods — even first-rank officials (Han officials) feared them.

To be a slave to this degree was truly holding one's head high!

And Dodo had personally told them that as long as they took Shandong, they could all be raised into the banners, and then they would be lords of the Han Eight Banners.

Because of the benefits of becoming lords, these booi were all very eager, and did not need the Eight Banners soldiers to force them to push the carts. Now that they had finished pushing, they did not go off to rest either, but took out their shields to cover their heads and faces, and waited for the order from above to charge.

If they could cut down a few nikan, they could be raised into the banners ahead of schedule and become glorious Han Eight Banners bondservants!

While the old booi bondservants held their shields and prepared to charge, their Eight Banners masters had already taken up eight-li bows and begun lobbing arrows.

Because they were shooting from behind the shield carts, they could not aim, and could only shoot roughly. Eight Banners officers were in front calibrating for them, ensuring that most of the arrows fell inside the Ming army's crescent-moon cart formation.

But on the Ming army's side, there was not a sound!

This time there was no wild shooting. The defensive line of shield carts, cannon carts, and earth mounds was utterly silent, and not a single person showed so much as a head or face.

Dodo, supervising the battle from the rear, frowned at the sight and said to Holhoi beside him: "Why is there not a sound? Surely they haven't slipped away?"

"They can't slip away," Holhoi said with a smile. "Rest assured, my Prince — Gang'atai has already taken 5,000 men across the river to lie in ambush. If they try to ford the Tu River and flee, they are dead for certain."

Dodo nodded. "Since these nikan can hold out without wild shooting, then have the shield carts advance another twenty paces. This Prince wants to see just how much these nikan can endure!"

"Also, tell Xu Dingguo's Green Standard troops to get ready! Today's opening assault will depend on old Xu. If he takes it, then once Jinan is broken, let his men enter the city and enjoy themselves. If he fails — hmph, our Great Qing does not feed the useless!"

"Ja!"

There was a reason the Shandong militia's archers could hold out without wild shooting: because Gao Hongtu, the Ming Imperial Commissioner and Governor of Shandong, Regional Commander of Jinan Prefecture, Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, and venerable elder statesman, had now come to the front line and was supervising the battle right behind the archers drawn up in formation.

Behind Gao Hongtu, the Three Armies Command Banner and the great commander's standard still fluttered. Most of his personal guards and household retainers had been sent out, forming a human line in front of where he sat, every man with his great blade drawn, glaring at the militia troops deployed in banner units before them.

In front of them was planted a row of long spears, and on the tip of each spear hung a bloody severed head!

All were unlucky wretches who had fled without orders and run straight into Gao Hongtu's blade — unlucky not only for themselves, but for their families as well: rent and interest reductions instantly became rent and interest increases.

There were also more than sixty men stripped of their armor, bare-chested, holding rattan shields and javelins, drawn up in a small square formation in front of Gao Hongtu, every face ashen, some still trembling. These fellows were all the banner commanders from the various firearms battalions! They had been seized by Gao Hongtu's personal guards because their units had fired wildly.

Gao Hongtu did not execute them — they had merely failed to control their subordinates, not fled in the face of battle. But neither did Gao Hongtu let them off. He had his guards strip off their armor and issued each man one rattan shield, two javelins, and a steel saber, making them a suicide squad — if they survived, their offenses were pardoned and they could return to commanding the firearms troops. If they did not survive, it served them right; who told them not to know how to lead soldiers?

Seeing that the firearms troops' banner commanders had been treated like this, could the banner commanders in charge of archers not fight desperately? Every one of them had drawn his blade — whoever dared loose an arrow without orders would be chopped down on the spot.

So the archers of the several dozen banner companies that Gao Hongtu had placed on the front line now all held rattan shields over their heads and gritted their teeth, enduring as the Qing arrows rained down, none daring to shoot back recklessly, and none daring to retreat to avoid the arrows.

That Gao Hongtu, a mere old scholar, could lead troops to this degree — not even Dodo and Holhoi across the way had expected it, let alone Governor Gao's own superior, Zhu Cilang.

And the two military commanders who had followed Gao Hongtu, Li Chengdong and Ma Degong, were at this moment both detained at Governor Gao's side, their faces so dark they seemed about to drip water. Because seeing this scene, the two of them already knew that the old man Gao's control over the Shandong militia had reached the point of commanding it as easily as moving his own arm!

These two military commanders, who had led troops for years, could not match Gao Hongtu, an old scholar, in controlling an army!

Although Gao Hongtu's troops were not especially well equipped and their training was so-so, they made up for it in numbers! Forty or fifty thousand men — several times more than Li Chengdong's and Ma Degong's troops combined — and on the Tu River front alone there were 22,000 of them, all so obedient to command!

This was a true warlord of real strength!

So the old man was a powerful warlord after all. If the old man ever wanted to swallow up the two of them, would it not be a matter of a single word?

Thinking of it, their lot was truly bitter. They had thought that after breaking away from Gao Jie and Huang Degong they could enjoy a few years of swaggering ease, but instead they had run into Gao Hongtu, this living King of Hell. When the chance came, they had better slip away quickly — anywhere was better than following King of Hell Gao!

Just as the two military commanders were making their private calculations, the booming of war drums and the shouts of battle cries rang out.

Zhang Mingzhen, who had been crouching behind a shield cart peering forward through a gap, hurried over to Gao Hongtu, saluted, and said: "My Lord Governor, the Tartar infantry is advancing — Green Standard troops (with some booi mixed in, but Zhang Mingzhen could not tell them apart), three or four thousand men."

"Understood!" Gao Hongtu gently stroked his beard. "Transmit this governor's order: fight hard and kill the enemy, and there will be rich rewards! Flee in the face of battle, and you will be executed without mercy!"

"Yes!"

Gao Hongtu's personal guards all answered loudly, then dispersed and ran toward the various forward positions to relay Governor Gao's orders.

Gao Hongtu turned his head and looked at Li Chengdong and Ma Degong with a smile, a look that made both men's hair stand on end.

"You two are veteran generals of the army, and today is a time when the state needs soldiers." Gao Hongtu said. "Which of you is willing to go into battle?"

"This subordinate is willing!"

"This subordinate is also willing to fight!"

The two military commanders knew they could not avoid it, so they had no choice but to steel themselves and volunteer.

Gao Hongtu chuckled. "Very well... each of you pick 500 armored men and await this old man's orders!"

(End of Chapter)