Chapter 171: Section 28: The Artillery

The two six-pounder cannons fired one after another. The heavy solid shot traced an arc over three hundred meters long through the air and slammed hard into the thick earth. The earth took the heavy blow and bounced the iron-lead ball back into the air. The second arc ended less than twenty meters in front of the Later Jin army’s battle line. The solid ball, leaping up from the ground a third time, spun violently in the air and plunged headlong into the crowd.

The soldier clearing slag had just pulled out the large swab when the two soldiers waiting at the muzzle poured the gunpowder in. Once it was rammed tight, the carrier hugging the cannonball deftly pushed the shot in, then turned and ran back toward the ammunition cart. At that moment, the soldier carrying the gunpowder was already running back toward them.

“Three hundred fifty meters.” The ranging officer’s voice as he called the number was still calm, without the slightest ripple.

“Depress the muzzle — two degrees.” The gun crew officer gave the order without turning his head. This figure also included the lead he judged reasonable.

“Hey~ thirty turns.” The gun captain dragged out his words as he directed the gunners at their work, occasionally hurling furious roars at his men, because no matter how desperately they cranked the handle, they were always judged too sluggish.

“Three hundred twenty meters.”

“Fire.”

“Fire.”

Two urgent shouts rang out almost simultaneously, and the two six-pounders fired one after the other. The gun on the left did fairly well; both shots basically controlled their point of impact, plunging into the enemy formation at roughly the height of a man. The second shot was even a little better. The gun crew officer seemed to see the head of the foremost enemy soldier fly off in an instant, and the man behind that headless soldier also collapsed. This indicated a decent plunging arc trajectory. The officer on the left gave a vicious grin — he hoped the Jianzhou slave whose leg had been smashed behind them would not die right away, but suffer a while longer to slake his hatred.

The Later Jin army’s battle line was not very deep but still had several ranks. To avoid firearm casualties, the spacing between men was also relatively large. The six-pounder cannonball smashed through the armor of the first two men, then broke another man’s leg before hitting the ground. Unfortunately, it bounced up again, more than a man’s height. The next plunging trajectory landed at the rear of the formation. The iron-lead ball smashed an Later Jin soldier’s arm and shield together into fragments, and it burst out from the rear of the formation carrying flesh, blood, and the wreckage of shield and armor. After crashing through several men’s bodies, the cannonball’s momentum greatly diminished. It bounced twice more on the ground, rolled some distance, and then came to a stop, its momentum completely spent.

Only then did the Later Jin soldier who had lost his leg begin to wail in agony. The other soldier, whose arm had been blown off, was already lying on the ground unconscious. When he heard the sound of shattering bone, he had not yet had time to feel pain. A large piece of the shield, torn to shreds, had followed through and broken his armor, plunging directly under his ribs. His vision went black and he lost all awareness.

The auxiliaries following behind the battle soldiers looked at the black ball in the distance with lingering fear. Some of them went over to help the two wounded men up, wrapped them in woolen blankets, and prepared to carry them away. In truth, the two men killed instantly were the fortunate ones; they died without feeling much pain. These two wounded men would suffer far more miserably. In this era, cannonballs carried gunpowder residue, rust, mud, and all manner of lethal debris. Unless a limb was amputated, a man struck by a cannonball would die a wretched death within days. This single light shot from the six-pounder had caused two dead and two wounded — in reality, it had already taken four lives.

Compared to the left gun of the two, the six-pounder on the right was far from ideal. The first shot’s point of impact was too close; it seemed to fly over the enemy ranks. And after the second shot ignited, the officer once again stared dumbfounded as the cannonball merely kicked up a cloud of dust in front of the enemy troops — still no one seemed to fall. The officer swiftly raised his right arm, closed his right eye as he flicked up his thumb, then immediately switched, closing his left eye and opening his right.

“Three hundred meters.”

The number called by this gun crew’s observer basically matched the officer’s own estimate. Furious beyond control, the officer spun around and delivered a massive slap, sending the gun captain tumbling head over heels: “Depress the muzzle, depress the muzzle! Are you deaf? Depress it two degrees, now!”

After cursing, the officer hurriedly turned back to continue observing the enemy’s speed and formation. The gun captain scrambled up from the ground, ran over clutching his face, shoved the gunner aside, and personally and valiantly began cranking the handle. The pushed-aside gunner stood there at a loss. As the gun captain cranked desperately, he poured a torrent of foul abuse onto that unlucky gunner.

After the observers all called out the distance of three hundred meters, Deng Ken shouted: “Three-pounders — ricochet fire.”

The four three-pounder cannons that had been waiting for a long time fired in succession. A new round of frantic swabbing, loading powder, and ramming shot immediately commenced…

Huang Shi quietly watched round after round of fire. The effect was truly… truly terrible. Although the artillery recruits, in their first battle, were diligently carrying out their fire missions and each drill regulation was being executed methodically, he did not know which of the three steps — observation, pre-aiming, or adjustment — was at fault. Round after round of long-range fire either went wide or flew off target… Perhaps all three steps had some problems.

“I haven’t even asked them to fire at maximum range yet. I originally thought it would be a bit more accurate.” Huang Shi knew perfectly well that his artillerymen’s proficiency still had considerable problems, and he also understood that this matter could not be rushed. Still, the scene before him left him somewhat disappointed. Although gunpowder was not very expensive and iron balls were even cheaper and could be retrieved, the silver taels the Changsheng Island artillery had spent recently were still an ocean deep. After the same few months of training, the melee pikemen and arquebusiers were already very useful. Huang Shi could not help but heave a deep sigh: “Artillery truly lives up to its name as a technical branch.”

According to Huang Shi’s original plan, the Firefighting Battalion’s cannons should have been able to shatter the enemy’s central battle line. The next step would be to commit the arquebuses for close-range fire, and once the Later Jin army was thoroughly thrown into chaos, to use the pikemen for the final cold-steel charge. As long as the opponent was a scattered rabble, they would absolutely be unable to withstand the Great Ming army’s formidable formation.

By this time, the Later Jin army had also entered the range of the Lushun army’s large firearms. According to Huang Shi’s arrangement, the Ming army concentrated all its firepower on the center of the Later Jin army’s position. Weapons like Nest of Bees and Fire Poison Dragons were fired off by the Ming army in one frantic burst at maximum speed.

Huang Shi did not know whether to cry or laugh. Because these weapons were expensive to manufacture, soldiers were even less likely to be given daily practice with them. These large firearms were even rarer in Dongjiang Town, so they were the treasured darling heirlooms of the various unit officers, ordinarily never willingly brought out. Only now, at this critical juncture of life and death, had the Vanguard Battalion brought out these treasures kept at the bottom of the chest. Their firing skill was even worse than Huang Shi’s artillerymen’s… But Huang Shi did not feel the slightest bit comforted by this.

A Fire Poison Dragon traced a great circle above the Ming army’s heads and then, right before Huang Shi’s eyes, curved back in midair. Although he knew the slave carpenters of the Ministry of Works had little enthusiasm for their work, for a rocket to turn a full one hundred eighty degrees after taking to the sky was too outrageous. This Fire Poison Dragon, whose tail fin had been manufactured with extreme irresponsibility, finally shot into the auxiliaries massed behind the formation, causing a wave of commotion and chaos. Fortunately… well, fortunately this time it also did not explode.

The Later Jin front line halted its advance at one hundred fifty meters from the Ming army, maintaining pressure on the Ming front while also supporting the offensives on both wings. Their formation stood immovable amidst the intense fire. In reality, the Ming army’s chaotic shooting had caused hardly any casualties.

Seeing the Later Jin wings rapidly charging toward his own wings, Huang Shi knew he could no longer count on the cannons. He pointed his riding crop straight ahead: “Center army, advance.”

The waist drums first sounded three short beats. The Firefighting Battalion, in unison, lowered the visors on their helmets. The heavy infantrymen immediately had only their eyes exposed through that slit of steel.

The waist drums continued to beat, and the Firefighting Battalion’s battle line advanced forward in good order. At the junction, the Vanguard Battalion also slowly followed up under the command of their unit officers, maintaining the integrity of the entire battle line.

“The general’s banner, advance.” As Huang Shi spoke, he pressed his horse’s belly and raised his head to move forward. The standard-bearer behind him hurriedly pulled the great banner from the earth and held it high as he followed. The pure pike infantry unit and the cavalry unit serving as reserves also closely followed suit.

The Ming army’s center had long since entered the range of the Later Jin army’s bows. Seven or eight soldiers fell under the volley fire, but the sound of the Ming army’s waist drums still showed no sign of pausing.

Eighty meters, seventy meters, sixty meters, fifty meters. The waist drums finally ceased, and the whistle sounded in their wake.

The Ming arquebusiers began setting up their arquebuses one after another. Four hundred men fired a fierce volley. Huang Shi narrowed his eyes and saw several dozen men fall on the opposite side.

From the opposite side, three more waves of arrows came pouring in one breath. Over a thousand arrows blanketed the ground at the Firefighting Battalion’s feet. Some of the soldiers in the foremost rank already had three or four arrows sticking from them, but only about thirty fell because of arrows to the thigh. The iron armor they wore had been tested to have a protective distance of about thirty meters against arrows.

Another volley. This time, probably another several dozen men fell and did not rise.

The arrows returned from the opposite side reduced the arquebusiers maintaining the fight to just over three hundred fifty. Several dozen screening pikemen also withdrew.

Huang Shi had been quietly counting: “Seven arrows, eight arrows, nine arrows… already nine arrows. Six of them were rapid shots. One more arquebus volley, two at most, and the enemy archers will have no strength left.”

“My lord, our left wing is beginning to fall back.” Hong Antong’s soft reminder drew Huang Shi’s gaze in that direction, but he still did not halt his mount.

The Later Jin iron cavalry had long since outflanked the Ming left wing and launched their assault. The Later Jin left-wing commander Hong Taiji repeated his old trick, first sending over a hundred Heavy Armor Soldiers to dismount and shoot on foot. The Vanguard Battalion soldiers raised their shields one after another to resist. Although the Ming army’s dense shield formation greatly diminished the power of the arrows, after several volleys the Ming army was suppressed and could not lift their heads. The Ming archers tried their utmost to shoot back and steady the line, but under the opponent’s ferocious firepower, they suffered heavy casualties.

By the time Huang Shi’s general’s banner was once again thrust deep into the ground, the Ming army, under the suppression of the Heavy Armor Soldiers, had completely lost the ability to counterattack. The soldiers merely strained to hold up their shields, bitterly enduring the opponent’s storm-like assault. The Heavy Armor Soldiers, clad in double-layer armor, were leading the charge, beating the Ming army back step by step. The Later Jin cavalry also began to charge in waves. The Vanguard Battalion was trading lives to buy time for the Firefighting Battalion.

To command from close quarters, the general’s banner was less than twenty meters from his own battle line. Actions needed to be even faster now. Huang Shi understood that time would not wait for him: “Center army, continue advancing.” Even though the power of the arquebus was far greater than that of the bow, relying on it to thoroughly shatter the enemy army would still take too long. In the final analysis, cold-steel combat was the mode of warfare with the greatest driving force, and only cold-steel combat could swiftly decide victory or defeat.

“At your command, my lord.”

The general’s banner tilted gently forward, and the banners of the Firefighting Battalion’s unit officers also tilted forward in turn.

Many of the Later Jin soldiers opposite the center also held long spears, and some even had twelve-foot pikes. These were cheval-de-frise spears captured from the Ming army. A Company Commander of the Firefighting Battalion glanced contemptuously at those spears; such spears were very difficult to use for precise thrusting actions. He glanced even more contemptuously at the Later Jin soldiers holding them. Those men’s faces were now clearly visible: “Beat the drums. Advance. Let the Jianzhou slaves see who the real pikemen are.”

The waist drums sounded, and the Firefighting Battalion soldiers, without the slightest hesitation, once again stepped forward to the drumbeat. The pikemen and arquebusiers continued to advance under the hail of arrows. The Later Jin archers seized the chance to crowd into the front ranks, aiming and shooting at the Ming army’s lower bodies. One after another, Firefighting Battalion soldiers fell, and the soldiers in the rear ranks mechanically filled the gaps.

To conserve strength for the charge, the Firefighting Battalion’s pace was not fast. Huang Shi estimated the distance between the two sides — about forty meters. More and more Later Jin melee soldiers began appearing on the front line. Behind them was the central command banner of the entire Later Jin army — the great Plain Blue Banner: “Arquebusiers, one final volley at thirty meters, then switch to daggers and prepare to charge with cold steel alongside the pikemen.”

As he spoke, Huang Shi suddenly saw Deng Ken leading the gun crews running past him. Deng Ken was bent at the waist, pushing the first cannon forward with all his might together with its gun crew. Then another four-pounder was pushed past Huang Shi’s side. As Deng Ken strained to push the gun, he shouted hoarsely toward Huang Shi: “We of the grand artillery can shoot from afar like the longbow, and stab up close like the dagger.”

The six-pounders had already been abandoned by Deng Ken on the position. He had pulled every soldier from the entire gun crew to push those four three-pounders. Each gun, with the combined effort of several dozen soldiers, was being pushed along at flying speed. As Deng Ken shouted, he added the following line in his heart: “Since we cannot shoot from afar like the longbow, then we can only stab up close like the dagger.”

The first three-pounder, under the frenzied pushing of several dozen men, caught up with the foremost infantry unit. Deng Ken shouted: “Make way, make way,” and together with the first gun crew, pushed the three-pounder through a gap in the ranks. Several gun crew soldiers holding large shields covered them with one hand while pulling the ropes on the gun carriage with the other.

The Later Jin army’s arrows immediately greeted these madmen charging to the very front. The shield-bearers inevitably exposed openings as they moved. The first man had just fallen when the gun carriage’s wheel mercilessly rolled over his arm. The soldiers behind, ignoring their comrade struggling in agony on the ground, simply picked up the shield and held it in front.

Deng Ken pushed the first three-pounder to less than thirty meters from the Later Jin battle line. Without pausing to wipe the sweat covering his head, he crouched down and cranked the handle: “Elevate the muzzle —”

“Everyone clear out.” With Deng Ken’s howl, the gun crew soldiers in front opened a gap.

“Fire!”

This time, a wooden plate had been loaded over the gunpowder in the barrel, followed by a large bag of arquebusiers’ lead bullets wrapped in a battle robe. With a thunderous boom, nearly twenty Later Jin soldiers on the front line lay down.

“Quick, swab the bore, load the shot.”

Although Deng Ken was already shouting himself hoarse, he also knew that this time the bore would not be cleaned out anytime soon. Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed the second gun also stopping and about to fire, and he bellowed: “Hold!”

Deng Ken threw himself forward, crouched behind the shield, and began pushing the gun again: “Push it forward, push…”

“My lord, thirty meters.” Seeing Huang Shi watching, transfixed, Hong Antong spoke up from the side to remind him that the arquebusiers had already reached the predetermined position.

Huang Shi watched Deng Ken ahead still struggling to push the cannon further forward. Without turning his head, he replied: “I know. Keep moving.” The general’s banner behind him thus continued to maintain its forward tilt, and the drums of each unit officer continued to rumble on.

After swiftly sweeping a glance at the rear of the left wing, Huang Shi added an order: “Wu Company, advance. Join the central battle line — dead center.” Wu Company was the four hundred pikemen in Huang Shi’s hand. They immediately marched past Huang Shi with a rumble, advancing grandly straight ahead.

Deng Ken pushed the second gun to twenty meters and fired, then flew toward the third gun that was catching up: “Push, push it forward. Push it right up to the Jianzhou slaves’ chests before firing.”

As the Ming army pressed into the thirty-meter charge distance, most of the front-line Later Jin troops were melee soldiers, but arrows still flew toward the cannons from time to time, and the flanking arrows grew more and more numerous. A powerfully shot arrow pierced Deng Ken's sleeveless iron armor. The arrowhead sank into his lower abdomen. As if unaware, Deng Ken continued pushing the cannon forward. Behind him the waist-drum beats grew more and more urgent, and the infantry also quickened their pace, following closely at his heels.

This time the cannon was pushed all the way to ten meters from the battle line: "Elevate the muzzle to maximum — ah."

Another arrow came flying from the flank. The six large shield-bearers of the cannon team had all charged up, but this arrow happened to slip through a gap in the shields and pierced Deng Ken's armor again. The recoil force sent him sitting hard onto the ground: "Clear away — fire."

The large packet of shot wrapped in a battle robe inside the barrel was instantly blasted out. The naked eye seemed able to see the curtain of bullets formed by those thousands upon thousands of projectiles. The shot hurtled into the Later Jin battle line with lightning speed. Some of the front-rank soldiers had their helmets and faces pounded into pulp together. Of the ten or so men hit, half collapsed to the ground without making a sound, while the rest each had several, a dozen, or even dozens of bullets driven into them. The agonized howls of many men rose all at once.

The fourth cannon was also pushed forward, and the first cannon in the distance looked to have finished reloading as well. The gun crew was already chanting their work chant as they began pushing it.

Deng Ken, sitting on the ground, was still shouting: "Push, push it to the front and fire. Hold against these sons of bitches. Aim right at their faces."

Huang Shi's command banner had been raised straight upright. The infantry halted at a distance of just over ten meters. The arquebusiers, as calmly as in training, set their support sticks in place, mounted their arquebuses, and delivered one final volley, concentrating their firepower near the spot the cannons had bombarded. Then they paid no more attention to their arquebuses, letting them fall heavily to the ground. The arquebusiers drew their daggers one after another, gripping a long dagger in one hand and the harpoon-headed support stick in the other. The distance between the two sides was now less than ten meters. The Firefighting Battalion had already leveled all their long spears. The arquebusiers withdrew into the gaps between the small spear-soldier formations, preparing to provide close-quarters cover for the spearmen. The soldiers all awaited the final order for the cold-steel charge.

But at that moment the Later Jin soldiers' gazes were all drawn to the fourth cannon. It had just come to a stop, and after a few oscillations it pointed steadily at the enemy ahead.

The Later Jin soldiers directly facing it were all deathly pale. Every one of them stared rigidly at the dark muzzle aimed straight at their faces. Their Adam's apples bobbed violently up and down. Involuntarily they all edged backward, beginning to try to hide behind their comrades' bodies.

Deng Ken struggled to climb to his feet. Leaning against the right side of the cannon, his arm stretched straight out to the left, his eyes bulging, he said viciously: "Blast him." Although the Later Jin soldier he was pointing at could not understand what this man was saying, that fierce, glaring stare also made one feel wave after wave of terror. Even more terrifying was that the cannon beneath that man was slowly turning around, its black muzzle utterly lifeless. This Later Jin soldier watched as the Ming soldier's torch reached right before his eyes toward the touchhole. His face taut, he shoved backward with all his might. All around him, every man's face was taut as they began to retreat.

Deng Ken's cannon still did not fire. With a violent motion he flipped around and turned his head, leaning back against the gun carriage and barely managing to stay upright. The arm pointing to the right side of the cannon was trembling badly now: "Wrong, blast him. Turn it around, quick." The muzzle of the three-pounder swiveled right again, tracing a great circle as if in a show of force. The Later Jin soldiers whom the muzzle pointed at involuntarily pressed and leaned backward. The entire battle line caved into a semicircular arc, and on this arc the Later Jin soldiers' weapons all pointed at this cannon as if pointing at a monster. The Ming troops seized the chance to press forward step by step. At that moment, another three-pounder was also being pushed to the very front line...

Huang Shi glanced at the left wing — it had fallen back again. The Ming left-wing battle line had already bent severely backward. The fighting had already unfolded deep behind Huang Shi's flank.

He withdrew his gaze and looked to the front: "Firefighting Battalion — cold-steel charge."

The command banner pitched violently forward, three times in succession.

At the very moment the drumbeats, dense as raindrops, and the battle cries rose together, Deng Ken let out a great shout: "Fire."

The two three-pounders fired almost simultaneously. Countless men in the Later Jin ranks screamed and fell at the same time. The Ming heavy infantry, in tight formation, surged past Deng Ken with a single roar. He could hold on no longer. His legs gave way and he slid down along the gun carriage to the ground, watching rank after rank of iron-clad infantry charge fiercely past.

After the combat troops had passed, Deng Ken laboriously raised his head and searched for any sign of the support troops. He clutched his two wounds. The pain made him shout: "I'm wounded, badly wounded. Someone come quickly and carry me to the rear."

Several gun-crew members tried to help Deng Ken up, but he pushed them away roughly: "Get back to your posts. We artillerymen are combat troops!"