Chapter 865: What? The Great Qing Is Gone! (Seven)

Bang bang bang bang—

With a burst of shrill whistle blasts, the battlefield suddenly erupted with the deafening roar of a massed volley of musketry!

The thirty-two musket companies belonging to sixteen Ming infantry battalions had all formed up into three-rank lines, with the first two ranks able to fire simultaneously. That meant more than 2,500 Hongxing Year Three matchlocks let loose a single volley — the sheer force of it was tremendous!

According to the recollections of soldiers who fought there, the enormous sound made the very ground tremble and nearly burst men's eardrums, so that after the volley many of them could not hear anything clearly for some time. They could not make out the whistles or the officers' commands, and so had to abandon volley fire and begin firing at will. Volley fire by ranks is fine in theory, and very common in later television shows. But on a seventeenth-century battlefield, actually pulling it off was quite difficult.

Because the muskets of that era had excessive power, made a huge noise when fired, and produced enormous amounts of smoke. After one or two volleys, the matchlock men would lose control because of deafness and smoke interference, and so had to fall back on firing at will. But firing at will was fine too — it could still kill people, and the rate of fire was quite fast.

After that single volley, the battlefield, which had been relatively clear a moment before, was instantly blanketed in choking gunsmoke. The Qing musketeers fifty paces away had no time to react before merciless bullets mowed down quite a few of them. Those hit shuddered and toppled to the ground, and the rest fell into confusion, their once-orderly ranks thrown into chaos in an instant.

But their confusion did not last long, for order was restored under the iron hand of the company commanders and platoon commanders. Because the Ming army had not been so formidable as to let the enemy come within twenty paces before opening fire, but had fired from fifty paces out, the Qing musketeers' casualties were not very heavy.

There was, of course, a reason they fought this way. First, the Ming infantry commanders of this time did not know about "the godlike red-coated soldiers who open fire within twenty or thirty meters." Second, Qing musketeers generally did not run that close to let you shoot them. In this period, the standard tactic for matchlock men was still to fire from a relatively long distance, rather than charge the enemy's position. Charging was usually the job of the pikemen — the musketeers couldn't let the pikemen draw their pay for nothing, could they?

So the Qing musketeers, once they recovered, also halted their advance and began exchanging fire with the Ming musketeers at a distance of about fifty paces — likewise firing at will, for their formation had long since broken and they could not manage volley fire at all.

The two sides' muskets then traded fire back and forth across a few dozen paces. The losses were naturally heavier on the Qing side. Their musketeers were fewer in number — only a little over a thousand — and their marksmanship was poor, the quality of their muskets poor, their powder poor. And they had just taken a volley, which had dropped more than a hundred of them on the spot!

But the Ming musketeers' firepower was not enough to rout them either. After all, the two sides were separated by several dozen paces, and after one volley and a spell of scattered firing, the battlefield was full of smoke, making aiming impossible. So the Ming troops were also firing blindly.

But the exchange of fire between the two sides still did not last long, for the Qing musketeers' barrels became too hot to sustain fire, and the shooting temporarily stopped.

On the Qing side, the musketeers breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew to rest, and in their place came archers with heavy hearts.

On the Ming side, the musket company commanders saw the enemy musketeers fall back and blew their cease-fire whistles with all their might. The Ming gunners' matchlocks also needed time to cool, and the officers wanted to organize one or two more volleys.

The sight of scattered firing from beyond fifty paces was not impressive — it could not compare to the intimidating effect of a volley.

The Qing archers all used Qing bows of five to seven li draw weight. Bows of eight or ten li were not issued to common soldiers who were half farmer, half soldier. Even Dodo's elite guards were only at this level now. In recent years the old Manchu core of the Eight Banners had suffered too many casualties, and "brave warriors" were not so easily replaced!

The Qing archers now coming forward were actually old peasants who had gone out from within the passes, men who had become Tartars under Dodo just for a piece of banner land. They could not compare to the musketeers who had been there before. The musketeers under Dodo were professional soldiers, generally old Manchus or old Han troops, and so had stronger fighting spirit. These archers were different. They had already been shelled while following the musketeers forward, and had seen with their own eyes their own musketeers shot down all over the ground, and had seen many half-dead musketeers carried off covered in blood, letting out ghastly screams.

Seeing this, the Qing archers all somewhat regretted it. Why be so greedy? Being a tenant laborer was hard, but it was safe! Now, for the sake of two or three hundred mu of land, they had come to a battlefield to be shot at with muskets. This deal didn't seem worth it!

But there is no medicine for regret in this world, and the old Manchus supervising the battle would not permit them to regret it!

At this point, they could only grit their teeth and shoot their arrows.

But they could still try to stay as far from the enemy as possible. Farther away meant safer!

So beyond sixty paces, the archers dared not advance any farther — the ground ahead was covered with dead men!

But how could the Manchu officers leading them agree to that? They began cursing and shouting.

"Damn it all, get your asses up there!"

"This damn distance is too far — can you even hit anything?"

"Advance ten paces! Then another ten! Disobey and you'll be executed!"

Ten more paces, that was all. Any farther, and even these "old Manchus" would be afraid!

While they were still shouting, the sound of drums suddenly boomed from behind the Ming battle line, and then the Ming officers and soldiers roared in unison: "The Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, lives again — ever victorious! Forward! Forward! Forward—"

Shouting the cry of "Forward, forward," the Ming musketeers, bayonets fixed on their matchlocks, began advancing in step by half-battalions. On the word "for-" they stepped with the left foot, on "-ward" with the right, so their formation remained perfectly aligned!

Clearly, the Ming army had not wasted the five years of ceasefire — their level of training was far higher than five years before.

Seeing the Ming troops pressing forward, the company and platoon commanders directing the Qing archers stopped forcing their men to advance. Shoot quickly!

"Loose! Loose arrows!"

Twang twang twang twang—

Bowstrings hummed and arrows flew — but eight or nine out of ten missed! Of those that did hit, most struck the Ming musketeers' helmets and breastplates, and very few men were knocked down.

But the Ming musketeers did not advance far. After pushing forward about twenty-three or twenty-four paces, they began firing — first a thunderous volley that swept down more than two hundred Qing archers in one blast, throwing the rest into panic.

But their volley fire lasted only that one round before they again began firing at will, and in no time the battlefield was once more shrouded in smoke.

Thirty paces behind the Qing archers, watching the battle, Yue Le saw this and suddenly shouted with excitement: "Beat the drums! Beat the drums! All troops charge! Take advantage of the smoke before it clears and catch the southern barbarians off guard!"

So he had long been waiting for an opportunity when the Ming formation would loosen!

Although the loosening of the Ming formation now had not been caused by the Qing musketeers and archers, to Yue Le it was still a rare opportunity.

The infantry companies of Dodo's army were mainly composed of pikemen and sword-and-shield men; musketeers and archers together made up only a quarter. The remaining three-quarters — nearly 9,000 sword-and-shield men and pikemen — had long since been moved, under Yue Le's direction, to a position thirty paces behind the Qing archers.

They were just waiting for Yue Le's single command!

They paid no heed to formation or coordination, but simply surged forward in a mass — more than 9,000 men like a tide, charging through the Ming army's scattered fire.

And the Ming musketeers seemed stunned by the Qing army's sudden fierce assault. Forgetting their scattered fire, they turned and fled, and in doing so crashed straight into their own pike formation, throwing it into disorder as well. A great mass of Ming troops went streaming backward in a rush.