Chapter 414: Not Afraid of Cold Water: Gao Hongtu, Part One

In the faintly discernible light of early dawn, clusters of infantry suddenly appeared at the far edge of the vision of those Green Standard soldiers who had not gone night-blind. These Ming troops breaking out were clearly no elite force, for their formations were rather disordered, and they were shouting in a confused uproar as they advanced — when they first began shouting it had been fairly orderly, but now it grew more and more chaotic, until it sounded like a single din of raucous, bizarre yelling.

It was plainly a surprise attack launched before dawn, yet they raised such a disorderly clamor — these Ming troops were either a rabble, or they had gone mad.

Every one of the Green Standard soldiers crouching in the trenches thought the same, and Wu Weihua, the Qing Dynasty's Respectful and Compliant Marquis and Regional Commander, was no exception. He let out a heavy breath, and in the dim light his expression had already recovered its calm composure.

And the personal guards clustered around him were now just as assured as the great Regional Commander Wu himself. They had all fought at Qufu, and three days earlier they had also fought against the Ming army's wagon-fort and earthen rampart. Their losses, however, had not been great — because at Qufu it was the Liu family army that bore the brunt, and when they attacked the wagon-fort earthen rampart, it was Xu Dingguo's men who had charged at the very front. Wu Weihua's Green Standard troops had merely followed along waving banners and shouting to lend support, and had not suffered many casualties. Still, they had witnessed a Ming army utterly unlike any they had known before!

Brave and fierce in battle, fearless of death!

Though not the equal of the Eight Banners' heavenly soldiers, they were still not something that these Green Standard troops — who ranked even lower than booi bondservants — could handle. So when Dodo had dispatched them to lie in ambush east of the Ming army's earthen rampart, every man among them had felt that disaster was upon them.

Had it not been for the Han troops of the Bordered White Banner and the booi bondservants pressing them from behind, these creatures lower than slaves would most likely have slipped away under cover of darkness.

Even if they did not slip away, when those utterly ferocious Ming troops came charging out, they would have let them through. A man's father and mother only give him one life — if he throws it away, there is nowhere to get another!

But the Han troops and booi bondservants were crouching in the darkness right behind them — how could they be allowed not to fight for their lives?

Just when everyone thought the odds were grim, what came at them was a mob of disorderly enemies.

Because the sky was still dark, no one could see clearly just how many Ming troops there were. All they could make out were hazy clusters of Ming soldiers surging toward them with a rumbling roar!

After another while, the shouting gradually faded from the battlefield, and the rumbling, thunder-like sound of dense footsteps, hoofbeats, and perhaps also the sound of carts pressing over the ground, merged into one continuous roar that blanketed the entire battlefield!

So those Ming troops who had raised the chaotic shouting were merely the vanguard leading the way — behind them there was still an endless stream of the main force. Wu Weihua and his Green Standard soldiers, who just moments ago had been quite confident, now all turned deathly pale.

At that very moment, the first Ming shock trooper had already leaped over the trench and scrambled over the low parapet, his movements quite nimble. The man was clad in cloth-faced iron armor, an iron helmet on his head, and he held a shield before his body, exposing only half his head. A pair of sharp eyes swept the surroundings, and finding nothing, he let out a great roar: "The Tartars have fled!"

The moment the shout fell, more Ming shock troopers scrambled over the earthen wall, all fully armored, bearing shields and spears, and all of them quite large in stature — Gao Hongtu's militia were all big men of Shandong! Those who could be chosen as shock troopers — could their stature be small?

Behind the big shield-bearers came big spearmen as well, every man armored, and the long spears in their hands were all a full zhang in length — that is, over three meters — all of them fine weapons for stabbing cavalry!

Wu Weihua had night eyes; even in the still hazy light, he could clearly make out the Ming shock troopers pouring over the earthen wall like a tide.

Every man armored, the sword-and-shield men all carrying javelins, the spearmen's spears all full length — whose household retainers are these!

And so many of them!

Cold sweat was already covering Wu Weihua's forehead!

At that moment, the urgent signal cannon boomed out.

That was Dodo, supervising the battle from the rear, urging them on!

Wu Weihua immediately opened his throat and bellowed: "My lads, the time to win glory and build a career has come! Get your damn asses up there for me! Kill Gao Hongtu, and I'll take you all to Jinan to loot and pillage — three days without sheathing our blades!"

Loot Jinan — that could hardly inspire anyone! For who did not know that Jinan had long since been massacred by the Qing troops again and again — what the hell was left there to loot?

If there was anything left, it would most likely be a second Qufu.

Though they did not believe it, the personal guards behind Wu Weihua still shouted their assent loudly, then ran along the trench relaying orders, while driving the ambushers in the ditch to climb out and fight. Wu Weihua turned around, and surrounded by his remaining two hundred-odd personal guards, also climbed out of the trench. But he did not climb toward the Tu River — he climbed backward.

That is to say, Wu Weihua and his own soldiers were now separated by a ditch. And this ditch was his "supervision line"; his personal guards formed a long row, every man with a steel blade in hand. Whoever dared retreat across the trench — heh, they'd be killed and not even buried!

By this time the Ming shock troopers had also realized they had "fallen into an ambush," but they were not afraid, because they all knew that what they had run into was surely Green Standard cannon fodder — one look at their equipment, their uniforms, and their disorderly appearance told them that.

Liu Biao, a big man of Shandong, came from a military household of Pingshan Guard; his ancestors had once held the rank of Centurion, but by the time it passed down to him there were only a dozen-odd mu of poor land left, and even that had gone barren from war and drought. Fortunately he had some martial skills passed down from his ancestors, so he had joined the army to earn a meager wage. He had followed several commanders, but no one had appreciated him. Later, when his original unit disbanded, he had joined the Shandong militia army, drifting along neither dead nor alive, until yesterday the opportunity finally came — if chosen as a shock trooper, he would be promoted one rank and granted a hundred mu of land. If he could cut off a Tartar's head, the reward would be reckoned separately on top of that.

Not much, but at last there was some savor to it.

Now Liu Biao, leading several equally skilled men serving as sword-and-shield soldiers, was charging at the very front, and was among the first to clash with the queue-wearing soldiers climbing out of the trench on the right.

"Tartars!" Liu Biao opened his throat and roared — he knew those were surely Green Standard troops, but when it came to cutting off heads, they would still be counted as real Tartars at fifty taels a head, and he would make the great Crown Prince Zhu pay out the silver!

"Throw javelins!" Liu Biao roared again, and the javelin in his hand shot out violently. The dark javelin, carrying a fierce gust of wind, flew toward a Green Standard squad leader a dozen-odd paces away, and struck him unerringly just below the right collarbone, piercing straight through. The man did not die cleanly, however; he collapsed to the ground and began shrieking in agony.

And that single shriek opened the prelude to the bloody battle of the Tu River!

Though the Ming shock troopers assaulting tonight could not form a proper battle array (they had been drawn together on short notice), they still had method. Sword-and-shield men in front, spearmen behind. Each sword-and-shield man carried two javelins; upon sighting the enemy they first hurled their javelins, then drew their blades for close combat.

Those sword-and-shield men who could become shock troopers could naturally all throw javelins. So Wu Weihua's Green Standard troops had barely climbed out of the ditch before they were met with wave after wave of javelin rain!

In fact, Wu's Green Standard troops also carried javelins, but they had hardly practiced with them, so they could not throw well — even if they threw, it was wasted effort.

So before the two sides' blades even met, the great Regional Commander Wu's Green Standard troops had already been skewered flat in swathes. The lucky ones went straight to hell; the unlucky ones lay there wailing and shrieking. But they would not be crying for long, because the Ming shock troopers needed to cut off heads to report merit and claim rewards.

And after the javelin rain passed, it was close combat between the sword-and-shield men of both sides.

Several li away from the battlefield where the two sides were colliding and killing, Dodo and He Luohui were coldly watching the hazy battlefield under the night sky.

He Luohui said in a low voice: "Wu Weihua is indeed a good-for-nothing. His three thousand Green Standard troops are nothing but a dish on the table! My Prince, three thousand men — do you not feel the slightest pang?"

"They won't all die!" Dodo shook his head. "These Green Standard troops are clever! They will soon run east along the Tu River. Those Ming shock troopers will most likely be drawn after them, and the main force behind will also let down their guard.

If we do not sacrifice a few Green Standard troops, this battle will not be easy. An army of nearly thirty thousand, advancing along the river — if they form a strict battle array and march like a forest, what can we do? And they do not need to go far — only twenty li.

So we must let them think they have succeeded, think the road ahead is clear, think there are heads ahead to be cut!"

"The Prince is brilliant!"

(End of Chapter)