The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 54 White Spear

"Don't charge, stay behind the earth wall and kill the enemy!"

Seeing the white-spear soldiers rushing out of the earth wall and climbing down using the rings on the end of their spears, Liu Zhaosun was furious.

Before the battle, he repeatedly ordered Qin Jianxun to let the white-pole soldiers use the earth wall to kill the enemy and not to rush out of the wall easily. However, when they got to the battlefield, these chieftain soldiers ignored everything.

"The Tusi soldiers in Sichuan, Huguang, and Guizhou are fierce and bloodthirsty, similar to the enemy."

Liu Zhaosun thought of what Qiao Yiqi had said, smiled bitterly and shook his head.

It is certainly unrealistic to expect the white-pole soldiers trained by the chieftains to obey orders as strictly as the Qi family army.

However, as long as the Jiannu could be killed, everything would be fine. Liu Zhaosun could only comfort himself in this way.

He stood on the top of the north gate for a while, watching the white-pole soldiers harvesting heads, and he was eager to try. He wanted to rush to the front of the earth wall several times to fight the enemy side by side with Qin Jianxun.

He remembered that he was already a lieutenant general, commanding an entire city's troops. If he were killed by some blind bondservant, he would die on the battlefield and become a laughing stock in the world of time travel.

Liu Zhaosun shook his head and turned his attention back to the battlefield.

When the White-Pole Soldiers rushed over the earthen wall and appeared on the north bank of the moat, the tragic end of the surviving baoyi soldiers on the shore was already doomed.

In order to save energy, the white-pole soldiers in the front no longer used long spears and chain hooks to kill the enemy. Instead, they raised their short crossbows and shot the unarmored Baoyi soldiers.

The short arrows carried by the White Spear Soldiers were coated with aconitine and snake venom. Poisons were prevalent in the southwest, so it was easy to obtain local materials. Of course, large-scale production of poison arrows was impossible.

When Yunnan chieftain hunters hunted bison, they would shoot the bison with black-headed bamboo arrows from trees and then wait for the bison to die.

The number of poison arrows equipped by the White Spear Soldiers was limited, and they were mainly used to shoot enemy leaders. However, at this time, these chieftain soldiers were already blood-thirsty. Seeing that the Baoyi were being killed, they used short crossbows to shoot the enemies in the distance.

The White Spear Soldiers lacked the close coordination of the Qi Family Army's Mandarin Duck Formation, nor were they equipped with both long and short weapons. They relied more on the swift, unstoppable swing of their spears, slashing and stabbing with unstoppable momentum, a style similar to that of the fiercest Bayala of the Later Jin Army.

Under the charge of this group of heavy infantry, the poorly equipped Baoyi soldiers suffered heavy casualties and retreated to the south at a speed visible to the naked eye.

According to the military laws of the Later Jin Dynasty, the baoyi soldiers followed their masters into battle. Except for weapons such as muskets and bows and arrows, which needed to be obtained from the Ezhen of each Niulu, they had to prepare all other weapons themselves.

The march from Hetuala to Kaiyuan was long and the road was muddy. Many people were unwilling to carry long spears and long shields, and only brought weapons such as heavy swords and clubs.

Before coming to Kaiyuan, the masters comforted everyone by telling them that the Ming army spearmen they encountered in the last Battle of Hunjiang had all been killed by them, so everyone felt relieved. Since they were not fighting against these spearmen, there was no need to use long weapons such as spears and lances.

The master said that this time we are going to Kaiyuan to fight with Liaozhen, so everyone should be prepared to make a fortune.

But what we have to consider now is how to save our lives.

Many of the baoyi soldiers were on the battlefield for the first time and were not prepared for the brutal close combat. They could barely hold on in the long-range shootout with the Ming army behind the earth wall just now; but facing the brutal white-pole soldiers, the baoyi Aha could not stand it.

Most of these baoyi soldiers came from northeastern Liaodong. If it were not for the rise of the Later Jin Dynasty, most of them would never have had any contact with the Sichuan Baigan soldiers in their entire lives.

Unlike the Zhenyi soldiers, the Baoyi Aha had no strict formation, so they could only fight on their own. The heavy swords and clubs in their hands might be able to deal with ordinary Ming soldiers, but when they encountered these long spears that could be chopped and cut, they had no power to fight back.

There were also some brave men among the baoyi who wielded short weapons, dodged the continuous slashing of long spears, and managed to rush close to the Ming army. In the end, they found that their swords could not cut through the double layer of armor, and were eventually hacked to death by the chieftain's soldiers with their waist knives.

"kill!"

The Qin soldier thrust forward fiercely with a white spear in his hand, and the sharp chain hook pierced the target like a dragon. A few steps in front of him, a Baoyi soldier who was fleeing in panic fell to the ground, holding his neck. The spear head pierced his neck from the back and protruded from his throat. Blood gushed out along the carotid artery. The Baoyi soldier's limbs were limp, and a gurgling sound came from his throat.

Qin Bing was born in the mountains of eastern Sichuan. Before becoming a white-pole soldier, he worked as a boatman in the Three Gorges, doing the work of three people alone and showing immense strength.

Although he is not tall, he is very strong.

Every time he killed an enemy, the veins in his arms bulged out, and every chop was so powerful that he could directly knock the swords in the hands of the baoyi soldiers away, like a god.

"Three!"

The Qin soldier took out a dagger and carved a line on the ash wood spear handle. Just as he was about to raise his head to continue chasing the defeated enemy in front, he suddenly heard someone shouting from the side:
"Good marksmanship!"

The Qin soldiers looked in the direction of the sound and saw Qiu Ying holding a goose-feather knife with blood dripping from the blade about ten steps ahead. At his feet lay the bodies of three Baoyi soldiers.

Qin Bing recognized the man in front of him. He was from the same battalion as him. He liked to use a goose-feather knife and said he wanted to avenge his dead brother.

Seeing Qiu Ying greeting him, the honest and simple white-pole soldier smiled at his teammates, revealing two rows of white teeth.

Qiu Ying killed three bannermen in succession. When he was chasing the fourth man, that man was very skilled in martial arts and almost took Qiu Ying's life. If the white-pole soldiers had not caught up with him, he would probably be in great danger today.

"I'm going to chop down a few more Bayalas!"

Qin Bing scanned the scene and locked onto another prey.

The defeated baoyi soldiers fled all the way to the south until they were blocked by the moat.

The battlefield was filled with wounded but not dead Baoyi, rolling on the ground and wailing. The white-pole soldiers ignored these wounded Baoyi and continued to move forward, ready to drive all the enemies into the river.

The fleeing Baoyi rushed to the edge of the moat. Some of them had just been shot by crossbows, and the poison on the arrows began to spread. Some Baoyi screamed and jumped into the moat without hesitation.

They would rather be pierced to death by caltrops and sharp wood, or frozen to death in the river, than turn back to fight the white-pole soldiers.

Some strong Baoyi swam back to the south bank at their risk, climbed to the riverside and gasped for breath, but were immediately shot to death by the Zhenyi soldiers.

More people were struggling in the river, their bodies gradually sinking to the bottom.

Qiu Ying witnessed this scene with an expression of astonishment on his face.

"Is the second Tartar so frightened?"

The blade of the goose-feather knife in his hand was broken, so he decided to get a better one when he got back. While he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard a low horn coming from the river.

The five hundred Blue Banner soldiers who had just arrived at the north bank witnessed the collapse of the Baoyi soldiers in front of them before they could form a battle formation.

These ferocious Jurchens planned for a moment and then immediately launched an attack on the Ming army opposite.

The dead soldiers were well-equipped and their combat effectiveness was no less than that of the real Yi armored soldiers. If they were not born as Jurchens and could not speak the language, many of them could have served as white armored soldiers.

The dead soldiers were wearing heavy armor and holding round shields. Many of them held long swords and axes in their hands, and had arrow spears on their waists. Their equipment was as good as that of the white-spear soldiers.

Of the more than a thousand Baoyi soldiers, fewer than three hundred survived, and this final wave of Baoyi continued to serve as cannon fodder. The Baoyi soldiers, crushed by the dead soldiers' shields, acted like human shields, madly charging at the sharp white spear blades.

Liu Zhaosun stood on the top of the city wall and shouted anxiously to the people below:

"Don't let the dead soldiers form a formation! Charge quickly!"

These raw Jurchens all came from the extremely cold north. Before the Jianzhou Jurchens discovered them, they lived in caves and wore leather clothes, no different from wild beasts.

The Shengnuzhen people made their living by hunting. They were brave and strong, persevering and good at fighting. They could endure hunger, thirst and hardship, and could go without water or food for a long time.

After the rise of the Later Jin Dynasty, it was surrounded by enemies and had insufficient military strength. Nurhaci armed the Jurchens into death soldiers, equipped them with sharp weapons, and wore better armor, making them the vanguard and elite of the Later Jin army. The combat power of the death soldiers was terrifying.

"Ask Fei Yangwu if he has borrowed the Portuguese?! We've lost over 600 baoyi. Hurry and build more pontoon bridges. Send all the dead soldiers across and kill all the southern barbarians!"

Under the blue-bordered banner with a golden dragon, Amin's eyes were bloodshot and he roared. A Goshiha immediately waved the banner, and the blue-bordered banner formation suddenly became busy.

The third wave of baoyi soldiers were pushed to the front of the moat by the Zhenyi and forced to start building a pontoon bridge.

At this moment, the faces of these loyal servants no longer showed the excitement of the first two groups of bannermen. All of them lowered their heads with despair on their faces.

The blood-thirsty White-Pole Soldiers continued to attack the Baoyi Soldiers. The Baoyi Soldiers who were not killed had lost their minds and were screaming and shouting among the dead soldiers and the White-Pole Soldiers. Some of them were already hoarse and squatting on the ground waiting to die. Others were waving their swords and madly killing the people around them. Some lost their sense of direction and ran head-on into the dead Jiannu soldiers behind them. Unsurprisingly, they were all brutally killed by the heavy troops of the Jurchen masters.

Under the joint attack of the Ming and Jin sides, the number of baoyi soldiers in the central position decreased at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The white-pole soldiers were no longer interested in the Baoyi. Some soldiers in the front row raised their short crossbows, took aim slightly, and immediately shot at the Jiannu.

The dead soldiers who were armed with bows also used bows and arrows to shoot at the white-spear soldiers. Their heavy arrows had amazing killing power, but because they were too close to the white-spear soldiers, they had to raise their shields again to deal with the long spears that were coming at them after just shooting an arrow.

After several rounds of fighting, the dead soldiers could not gain any advantage, so they stopped advancing and hit the shields with maces and long swords. Three or five people worked together to smash the shields in front of them, forming dozens of shield formations.

Several poison arrows hit the middle shield, and the rest all hit the double-layer cowhide shield, making a banging sound.

The white-spear soldiers realized that the enemy was also a strong army, so they put away their short crossbows and raised their 17-foot long spears again. The messy soldiers in the front row began to form a formation, preparing to start a formal battle.

The dead soldiers did not give the Ming army much time to react. After the tortoise shell-like shield formation stopped for a moment, it immediately rushed towards the white-pole soldiers.

"kill!"

The white-pole soldiers quickly changed their formation, with ten men in a row, and charged towards the tortoise-shell shield formation like a wall.

As the two sides approached rapidly, the first row of white-pole soldiers raised their spears high and smashed the enemy's shields with the spear heads. The thin chain hooks failed to break through the double-layer cowhide shields, and the shields quickly opened a gap, and a wave of javelins and iron bones flew out.

At this distance, it was impossible to avoid the thrown weapons. Three of the ten white-pole soldiers in the front row were immediately hit in the face and fell to the ground with a groan.

The front row of white-pole soldiers were in chaos and had no time to adjust. Several long swords came out from behind the shields in front. The white-pole soldiers raised their round shields to block and retreated repeatedly.

The front row of white-spear soldiers adjusted their bodies or thrust with their spears. The spear tips rushed out quickly, but when they approached the shield formation, they were blocked by the thick shields.

When the white-spear soldiers retracted their spears and prepared to charge again, the opposing shield formation shot out a wave of heavy arrows, taking the lives of the two people in the front row again.

"Change the ring!"

Qin Jianxun shouted loudly in the back, and several chieftains spread the order further in Sichuan dialect:

"Change the ring!"

Liu Zhaosun stared at the powerful Ming army in front of him and observed it carefully. It was the first time he saw the white-pole spear being used in this way.

Following the captain's order, the white-pole soldiers in the front row immediately retreated, and a row of sword and shield soldiers immediately came up from behind, holding the long shields in the front.

The long board blocked a wave of javelin attacks from the dead soldiers. The dead soldiers took the opportunity to move forward, wanting to get close and hit the long board with maces and clubs.

Seeing this, the swordsman with shield retreated hastily, always keeping a distance where his spear had an attacking advantage.

Under the protection of long shields, the white-pole soldiers at the back switched their spears, holding them near the tips with the large iron rings at the tails pointing diagonally forward. The front and back rows stood in staggered directions, with the front row leaving gaps for the back row to attack.

Liu Zhaosun vaguely heard the sound of metal hitting the trunk of the ash tree around him.

"kill!"

With a shout, the long shield blocking the white-pole soldiers was suddenly removed.

The Jiannu soldiers who were still charging forward thought that they were being chopped by spears again, so they quickly raised their shields to block.

A row of heavy iron rings fell from a height of 17 feet. The iron rings accumulated huge energy in the air, and now all of them hit the shield with great force, and their power was no less than that of maces and clubs.

The dead soldier holding the shield only felt a numbness in his palm, and before he could react, he was hit by another heavy critical hit.

The two rows of iron rings in front and behind the white-pole soldiers fell one after another, like whacking a mole, without any gaps in the attack.

Some fierce men simply spread out their shields and fought back against the Ming army with bows and spears. After the front row of white-pole soldiers were hit, they were immediately replaced by soldiers from behind. As soon as the dead soldiers showed their heads, iron rings from behind whizzed over and smashed their brains. Even the fiercest dead soldiers could not tolerate this way of fighting where their lives were exchanged for theirs.

The remaining dead soldiers huddled in their shields and dared not show their heads. Although they were brave and strong, they were still flesh and blood. Under continuous critical hits, the arms of the dead soldiers holding shields became numb, and the white-spear soldiers behind them seized the opportunity to stab them one by one.

In the blink of an eye, the situation on the battlefield changed dramatically. The Blue Banner soldiers who had lost their advantage were like shells on the shore, and were broken open and killed one by one by the White Spear Soldiers.

The dead soldiers at the back watched their companions die in battle and would no longer sit idly by. They abandoned their shield formations, used the piled-up corpses on the ground as cover, and used heavy arrows to shoot back at the white-pole soldiers.

The short crossbows of the White Spear Soldiers had a very short range, and they did not have an advantage in a shootout. After several of them were shot down by heavy arrows, the remaining White Spear Soldiers simply raised their round shields and pushed forward.

The dead soldiers' heavy arrows could not penetrate their defenses, and the long swords and maces had limited killing power. The dead soldiers, who had lost the defense of the shield formation, were quickly forced to the edge of the moat and faced destruction.

At the Blue Banner Formation on the south bank, Fei Yingwu looked at the killing going on on the other side with red eyes.

These five hundred dead soldiers were the few elite soldiers of the Bordered Blue Banner, and these living Jurchens were becoming increasingly difficult to capture. They had to go further north to find them. Their numbers were limited, and basically one less soldier was one less.

The Shengnuzhen is the trump card against the Ming Dynasty's spearmen. The dead soldiers are not afraid of casualties and continue to launch intensive attacks, which can completely suppress the Mandarin Duck Formation.

Unexpectedly, Liu Zhaosun did not play by the rules this time. He recruited this strange Ming army from somewhere, making it impossible to bring into play the advantage of the dead soldiers!
"Quickly withdraw the dead soldiers! Get the combat troops in formation! Prepare to cross the river!"

Fei Yingwu was annoyed. He should have let the soldiers cross the river directly. The soldiers were well-organized and were the most suitable to deal with this group of white-pole soldiers.

(End of this chapter)