Chapter 57: Breaking the Enemy

Lu Xiangsheng sat on his horse observing the roving bandits' formation. The terrain around Sanli Bridge was flat and open, highly suitable for large-scale cavalry charges, but unfortunately Zu Kuan had taken away most of the cavalry, leaving him with only Li Chongjin's fifteen hundred or so horsemen. Lu Xiangtong's two hundred-plus riders, though quite elite, were primarily used for scouting and lacked experience in large-scale cavalry combat.

Cavalry charges demanded much consideration—the distance between each rider, the distribution of weapons between the vanguard and rear ranks, and the instant judgment of the battlefield's strengths and weaknesses after breaking through a formation all directly affected the outcome of the entire battle. No matter how skilled an individual warrior was, charging alone into a crowd meant death; one needed the tacit protection and coordination of comrades. Even those peerless heroes who could slay ten thousand enemies needed someone beside them to block the various blades and weapons coming at them—they only needed to focus fully on the enemy before them. Otherwise, even an invincible man could not withstand weapons attacking him from front, back, left, and right.

The roving bandits opposite were divided into three corps—front, middle, and rear—with roughly five hundred horsemen guarding each flank. The front formation numbered close to ten thousand, mostly able-bodied young men. The foremost rank consisted of about two thousand bandits, each holding a shield in one hand and a blade, spear, axe, or fork in the other. Their shields were of every variety—hide, wooden, and iron shields were all present, and some even used thick cut-down door planks as shields.

Behind them was the largest mass of bandits, holding various weapons, ready to surge forward into melee once the front ranks broke through the government army's formation.

Lu Xiangsheng had led troops against the bandits for many years and was naturally rich in experience. In the beginning, the bandits dared not face the government army in open formation—they would flee at the mere sight of the army's banners from afar, counting themselves lucky to escape with their lives, then regroup on their own after shaking off pursuit. The roving bandits of today were vastly different from before. After years of fighting, the surviving old bandits had grown bold enough to face the government army head-on. They had also learned to feign defeat to lure the enemy—if a small government force carelessly pursued them into an ambush zone, the bandits would surround them from all sides and slaughter them. The bandits' combat ability had greatly improved; their only disadvantage lay in their weapons and armor being inferior to the government troops'.

The Tianxiong Army was established when Lu Xiangsheng served as Prefect of Daming. Though the court had issued weapons and armor from the Bureau of Military Manufacture, most were old, broken, and unusable. Through his immense personal charisma, Lu Xiangsheng raised large sums of silver from local gentry and wealthy households, finally equipping most of his officers and men. After years of campaigning, most weapons and armor had been damaged as well, and could only be repaired by soldiers skilled in blacksmithing when camp was set after battles.

Starting in the second half of the eighth year of Chongzhen, the transmigrated Zhu Zhenqing placed great importance on logistical support for the government army. Bi Maokang and the others in charge of the Bureau of Military Manufacture worked diligently, and with the craftsmen's working enthusiasm erupting after their treatment underwent earth-shaking changes, the quality of the various weapons and armor produced by the Bureau improved enormously. Per Chongzhen's instructions, all military supplies were prioritized for Lu Xiangsheng and Hong Chengchou, as these two were fighting on the front lines against the bandits. Only surplus went to Liaodong and the Xuan–Da line, because following the trajectory of history, Chongzhen knew that for at least the next few years, no large-scale warfare would occur in those two places—good things would be wasted on them, after all. "Use good steel on the blade's edge"—that phrase said it best.

While the Tianxiong Army was being reorganized in Ruzhou, a steady stream of military supplies arrived from the capital: long blades sharp enough to cut metal, spears keen enough to pierce armor, three-edged arrowheads that could break through iron armor at fifty paces, over a hundred new-style firearms with ammunition, and even the now-mature Thunderclap Bombs, weighing about two jin each. Soldiers of great strength, after training, could hurl them over forty paces, with a lethal radius of ten to twenty paces. When Lu Xiangsheng saw the Thunderclap Bombs' power, he was overjoyed, and specially selected a hundred bold, careful, and strong soldiers to serve as grenadiers. Lu Xiangsheng believed that the roving bandits, who had never witnessed Thunderclap Bombs before, would collapse in utter rout before the tremendous explosions and killing power.

The Sichuan troops accompanying this campaign also benefited—not only were they paid six months of back military pay and provisions, but many elite soldiers received sharper weapons and cotton armor with stronger protective qualities. Qin Yiming, Gao Qixun, and the other senior officers were absolutely delighted. All officers above Battalion Commander were equipped with fine mail armor, greatly improving their defense against arrows and blade or spear thrusts. Though its protection against blunt weapons such as wolf-teeth clubs and iron hammers was somewhat lacking, compared to the leather armor of before, it could not have been better.

After observing the bandits' formation, Lu Xiangsheng gave the order in a calm tone: "Advance!"

As Yang Maogong waved his banner, the Tianxiong Army's five thousand-plus men and six thousand Sichuan troops shouted in unison: "Guard!" The government army's great formation began to move slowly forward. At the very front marched two hundred heavy infantry wearing two layers of armor—this was Lu Xiangsheng's carefully crafted formation-breaking weapon. He had selected two hundred men of outstanding physique and immense strength from the Tianxiong Army, equipping them with blunt weapons such as war hammers, wolf-teeth clubs, and flails, wearing over twenty jin of mail armor outside and a layer of cotton armor within, eight-plate iron helmets, and iron-mesh boots. Though they moved somewhat slowly, their protection was unparalleled. This had been created on Chongzhen's suggestion, and the Bureau of Military Manufacture's armor workshops worked day and night, producing only two hundred-odd suits of mail over more than half a year for use.

The roving bandits opposite had also begun advancing toward the government army. Compared to the government troops' orderly ranks, the bandits' formation was as chaotic as ever. Though the front-rank bandits counted as elite, they never drilled in peacetime—their consistent style was to swarm forward all at once. They started out relatively orderly, but after a few dozen paces, the faster-stepping bandits began to break away from the main body, charging to the very front of the formation.

The government army continued marching in neat ranks. Every few dozen paces, the officers leading each unit loudly ordered the ranks re-formed; some soldiers in the rear whose steps had become slightly disordered fell back in step with the commands. These were newly recruited soldiers from the reorganization at Ruzhou. Though they drilled properly in daily training, they had never set foot on a real battlefield. Facing such a grand spectacle for the first time, they could hardly avoid extreme nervousness—many merely followed the formation mechanically, their minds completely blank. These new soldiers had all been placed in the rear to prevent unexpected situations when battle began. Only after seeing blood would these men grow.

When the two sides were about a li apart, the front-rank bandits had already begun shouting and charging. At the sound of a horn, the government army's main force halted. Over a thousand archers stepped out of formation and divided into two ranks, front and back, each drawing three long arrows from their quivers and planting them in the ground before them. One archer drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and shot it at an angle into the sky ahead; the arrow flew over fifty paces before arcing down and planting itself in the earth. This was a ranging arrow—once the bandits reached that zone, they would be within the archers' effective killing range.

The Tianxiong Army's two hundred heavy infantry formed a single line. These were veterans of many years' fighting with rich combat experience. They looked contemptuously at the charging bandits, as if gazing at dead men. Having fought the roving bandits for years, these bandits still had not shed their ingrained bad habits—charging from several hundred paces out, by the time they reached the formation to engage, nearly half their strength was spent, and within less than a quarter-hour of swinging weapons in combat, their stamina would be exhausted. Their frantic shouting as they charged was nothing more than bolstering their own courage out of inner fear.

Within a few dozen breaths, some bandits had already crossed the ranging arrow's position. A slightly longer horn note sounded, and the archers angled their bows toward the sky. The main mass of bandits had already shouted their way into attack range. A short, sharp horn blast rang out, and over a thousand long arrows flew into the sky almost simultaneously, reaching above the bandits in the blink of an eye, then turning downward to stab viciously into the crowd.

"Raise shields! Raise shields!"

The bandit leaders screamed at the top of their lungs, but the arrows had already fallen. Bandits who were a moment late raising their shields were struck one after another—the three-edged long arrows easily pierced through the bandits' leather and cotton armor before burying themselves in flesh. A chorus of miserable screams erupted as several hundred armored bandits lay dead or wounded. The bandits hastily raised their shields for cover. The government archers loosed four volleys in succession before turning and slipping back through gaps in the formation to the rear. With the bandits shielded, the later volleys inflicted far fewer casualties, but still over a hundred bandits lost their combat capability.

Seeing the government archers withdraw, the bandits' flagging morale surged anew, and they charged forward shouting once more. No one paid any attention to the fallen bandits on the ground. The dead were done for; the lightly wounded ran back on their own; the gravely wounded collapsed, their loud screams gradually fading until they bled to death.

At the Company Commander's shouted command, the two hundred heavy-armored infantry stepped forward to meet the bandits mere dozens of paces away. Spearmen and sword-and-shield men followed close behind, guarding the heavy infantry's flanks. In the blink of an eye, the government army and the bandits crashed together with a thunderous impact.

The Company Commander leading this unit of heavy-armored infantry was named Zhou Xiong, over thirty years old. Six years ago he had enlisted in Daming Prefecture to follow Lu Xiangsheng in suppressing the bandits, and had served ever since. A blacksmith by trade, he was tall and powerfully built with immense strength, wielding a long-handled iron hammer—the haft one and a half meters long, the head forged from fine iron and as large as an infant's head, weighing over twenty jin.

He put his waist into the swing, hefting the iron hammer down upon a charging bandit. Seeing the hammer descending, the bandit hastily raised his iron shield one-handed to block. A tremendous "Duang!" rang out as the bandit's iron shield was smashed concave by the immense force; his shield-arm, along with his shoulder and chest, was crushed inward, his internal organs shattered, blood mixed with shredded flesh spraying from his mouth. He died before even letting out a cry.

Zhou Xiong withdrew his iron hammer and swept it horizontally—several bandits' shields, blades, and spears were sent flying. One bandit ducked low and leaped to his side, swinging his blade in a horizontal cut. A grating metallic screech that set one's teeth on edge sounded as the long blade scraped across the mail armor, throwing up a trail of sparks without cutting through the iron at all. Before the bandit could swing again, a flail smashed into his head, and his brains burst forth as he collapsed dead to the ground.