Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 307 Repel
Zhu Wanliang's right arm was numb from the residual force of the chain hammer, temporarily struggling to exert force. He instinctively used his shield to strike back at the approaching foe. However, the shield was more defensive than offensive. Even when Zhu Wanliang leaned forward to strike, Bayala easily dodged it. With one sweep and one dodge, Zhu Wanliang and Bayala simultaneously created a defensive vacuum. However, in this small, localized battlefield, Zhu Wanliang had his personal guards by his side, while Bayala was alone.

The henchman who was protecting Zhu Wanliang turned around and tried to grab the chain hammer. He shouted as he tried to grab it: "There is an enemy! Draw your bow! Protect the lord!"

Upon hearing this, another henchman decisively turned back, risking an attack from a nearby enemy. However, he realized he couldn't reach the Bayala approaching Zhu Wanliang. The henchman quickly thought: if he couldn't hit the person, then he'd hit the horse! While raising his shield to protect his head from the incoming attack, he leaned forward and struck the horse's head, freeing Zhu Wanliang.

The blow was so fierce and powerful that it smashed the horse's facial bones into pieces. The horse was so painful that it struggled madly, and soon both the horse and the person fell down.

Degelei saw that General Ming not only easily blocked his proud arrow, but was also able to counterattack the threat in front of him in time. He was full of admiration and immediately wanted to chase him with another arrow.

But this time, Zhu Wanliang was invincible and focused all his energy on Degelei. Zhu Wanliang stared at Degelei's young face from a distance, only to see him chuckle softly and shoot again.

Block! The arrow pierced through the iron-clad wooden shield and headed straight for Zhu Wanliang's throat, but in the end, it only left a shallow scratch on the wrought iron throat guard.

Degelei couldn't fire a third arrow. To cover the two arrows, a dozen of the most elite fully armored Bayala had to withdraw from the close combat and gather together for protection. This left a small gap between Degelei and Zhu Wanliang. In a close combat battlefield, such a gap would not be allowed to exist for long.

"Kill!" If Degelei could spot Zhu Wanliang amidst the chaos, then the elite servants around him would also notice this unique, high-value target. The Ming army roared and rushed forward, quickly filling the empty space.

The battle thus returned to the most brutal and bloody hand-to-hand combat.

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boom!
The two armies were fighting fiercely when suddenly, the sound of cannon fire was heard from the rear of the battlefield.

The cannon fire signaled the infantry's formation was complete and also served as an order to withdraw. Zhu Wanliang had previously instructed that upon the cannon fire, the Ming cavalry would immediately follow the basic deployment of the front troops covering the rear and the rear troops withdrawing, attempting an orderly retreat.

Seeing the Ming army retreat, the Jin army immediately believed that the Ming army had lost their fighting spirit after being killed by them, and immediately stepped up their offensive, spontaneously launching a charge in small groups against the Ming army's rearguard. In a blink of an eye, this line was riddled with holes by the Jin army.

However, just like Zhu Wanliang's iron-wrapped shield, the Ming army's line was penetrated but not collapsed. The Jin army was still unable to pursue the Ming army on a large scale, let alone form a siege and annihilate the Ming army.

After a while, the rear army had completely escaped, and the front army began to withdraw. The Jin army decisively pursued and killed them. In a short time, many people fell off their horses.

The Ming army's infantry consisted mostly of newly recruited soldiers from the Northern Zhili and Liangshan regions, most of whom had never experienced a serious bloody battle. Therefore, even though they had been well prepared, the cavalry's retreat still caused considerable panic among the infantry.

Hearing the heavy rumble of horse hooves, like mountains, rushing toward them from afar and then passing by their ears, most of the new recruits were already trembling. Fear gradually grew and spread. When the Jin army approached and continuously killed friendly cavalry before their eyes, some began to fear and wanted to retreat.

"Ah!" Suddenly, a young recruit who had completely lost his will to fight screamed wildly. He ignored the dissuasion of his comrades around him, threw down the musket in his hand and ran away.

But he had just run a few steps and before he could cause greater panic, the old soldier from Zhu Wanliang's former unit who was supervising the battle behind the soldiers rushed towards him.

The old soldier said nothing. He silently drew his sword and swung it at the deserter's neck with precision and ferocity. In the blink of an eye, the deserter's head was chopped off, bones and tendons intact. Then, in the drenching rain of blood, the old soldier, with his free left hand, grabbed the deserter's hair, picked up the still-opened head, and raised it high above his head. He glared at the people around him and roared, "Deserter, kill!"

He was covered in blood, like a demon descended to the earth.

"Hold steady! Face the enemy! Stand by!" As veteran soldiers from various units mercilessly chopped off the heads of deserters one after another, officers at all levels also began to suppress their subordinates according to Zhu Wanliang's pre-ordered orders. "No one is allowed to turn back! Anyone who turns back will be beheaded!"

When the Jin cavalry chased the Ming cavalry to the front of the infantry formation, the chaotic situation had been stabilized by this flurry of iron and blood.

"Fire!" With the order from the captain of the artillery department, one hundred vehicle-mounted French machine guns placed in the center of the army were ignited at the same time.

The mounted French cannon opened fire at the highest elevation, and the three-barreled cannon fired rapidly. In just half a minute, a barrage of 300 fist-sized iron balls passed through the entire front of the central army and pierced the Jin army's formation.

"Stop!" The artillery fire woke Degelei up. He pulled the reins of his horse and stopped charging. The Zhenghuangqi cavalry he led also stopped soon.

However, the two Red Banner cavalry formations, commanded by Shuotuo and Yuetuo respectively, continued to charge forward blindly because they had no plan beforehand and no orders during the process.

"Fire!" When the Jin army rushed to a position more than fifty steps in front of the simple obstacle, the musketeers deployed at the head of the vanguard of the central army also lit the fuse of the musket under the command of the officer.

The musketeers in this row all wielded what were known as three-barreled muskets. These had a short range and were practically inaccurate. At even a slight distance, the bullets would wander wildly, making it difficult to inflict damage, let alone armor penetration. Compared to the bird musket, which had a maximum range of 300 steps and an effective range of 100 steps, and featured a crosshair and rear sight, allowing it to be fired with both hands horizontally, effectively hitting anything within 50 steps, these were simply clumsy muskets. However, these muskets had the advantage of being simple to manufacture: three tubes were cast, fused together, and a hole drilled in each tube for firing.

The bird gun was labor-intensive and time-consuming to produce, often costing three to four times as much as the three-barreled gun. During the Wanli period, the average cost of producing a bird gun in Zhejiang was between one liang and one liang of silver, while the three-barreled gun cost less than three qian. Therefore, the Ming army often used the inexpensive three-barreled gun to quickly arm frontline infantrymen who would engage the enemy head-on.

The fuse burned out, the gunpowder ignited, and the blasts rang out in a flurry of musketry, resembling the crackling of frying beans. A barrage of bullets erupted, but due to the distance, they failed to inflict significant damage on the enemy's vanguard cavalry, only sending faint flashes of fire on the scales of their armor. The Red Banner cavalry continued to advance, while the Ming infantry quickly lit a second fuse and continued firing.

This time, the dense barrage of bullets finally injured some people, but it was still not fatal.

"Fire!" The musketeer, slightly to the rear, had already lit the matchlock and held his musket for a moment. At the officer's command, he immediately pulled the lever, allowing the matchlock to contact the gunpowder in the breech block. This round of fire was powerful. The single shot from the musket and the third round of shot from the three-barreled gun collided with the enemy almost simultaneously, instantly killing and wounding dozens of the charging cavalry.

After firing a round, the three-barreled musketeers in the front row didn't reload. Instead, they immediately abandoned their three-barreled muskets, which had degenerated into short, blunt weapons, and directly picked up their long spears, which were half-leaning on the improvised obstacle, and took a stance to prepare for the attack. The bird-gunners in the back row retreated to the back row, making room for the gunners who had not opened fire. They then removed the small wooden cans containing the ration of gunpowder from the cloth pouches on their waists and began to reload.

After being hit by the Ming army's intensive frontal fire, Yuetuo was the first to react. However, at this time, he did not think of retreating, but of rushing to the flank and attacking the Ming army from the side.

The Dege people panicked.

That's not how war is fought! Whether it was Nurhaci's early years unifying the Jurchens or the subsequent campaign against the Ming, the Jin army's tactics had always been to gain a decisive numerical advantage on a local battlefield before launching a general offensive. They had never directly attacked the Ming army's complete formation while being at an absolute numerical disadvantage! If these two brothers, in their impulsiveness, died in the Ming army's ranks because of their reckless charge, they would be finished!

Degelei realized his mistake and quickly fired several flares, ordering Shuotuo and Yuetuo to retreat from a distance.

"Quick! Go and bring them back!" To prevent Shuotuo and Yuetuo from being too eager to fight and not hearing the orders, or simply ignoring them, Degelei arranged for several of his personal followers to go and stop them head-on.

Degelei was obviously overthinking it. Although the two brothers were young and full of vigor, and Nurhaci's promise had excited their blood, they still did not forget the most basic rules of the Jin army and obeyed orders.

The two brothers reined in their horses, and the following troops quickly halted their horses and began to retreat. The brothers were inexperienced, and their retreat formation was even worse than Jibu Keda's—it was scattered and disorganized. But Zhu Wanliang allowed them to escape freely, rather than risk turning back like Li Bingcheng and launching a surprise attack on the Jin army.

Seeing this, Degelei breathed a sigh of relief.

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Both sides left, and soon after, Zhu Wanliang led the regrouped cavalry back to the infantry formation. Several lieutenant generals in charge of the various battalions immediately came forward to greet them. "Greetings, Lieutenant General."

Zhu Wanliang's right hand was still numb, but he refused the cavalry guerrilla's help, stepped on the stirrup and dismounted, returning the greeting with a bow.

"The slave soldiers have retreated. Do we need to break camp and continue advancing?" asked the leading lieutenant general of the central army.

"No, we won't go in." Zhu Wanliang glanced at the sky where only a ray of afterglow remained, then turned to look at the cavalry guerrillas who came back with him: "Send, you lead a cavalry to conduct reconnaissance nearby, and choose a good place within a mile for our army to set up camp." The place where they formed a battle formation was a depression, which was not suitable for camping at all, so they had to find another place.

Zhu Wanliang calculated that he was at least halfway there and would reach Fengji City in a few hours at most. It was impossible for Li Bingcheng to hold on for a whole day. The enemy was in the dark and we were in the light, so there was no need for him to risk a night march. He could just set up camp on the spot and organize outer defenses.

"Yes." The cavalry guerrilla received the order and rode away. If Zhu Wanliang did not lead the troops himself, he would command the cavalry battalion at Hupi Station.

"Are there any deserters?" Zhu Wanliang asked the captain Nei Ding beside him while walking around the formation and inspecting the military situation.

The ratio of new recruits to Hupi Station was even higher than that of Fengji. During the initial period after he took over Hupi Station from He Shixian, there were even cases of new recruits absconding after receiving their pay. Zhu Wanliang was not afraid of dying in battle, but he was afraid that these cowards would collapse at the first sign of defeat and eventually kill him.

"Yes, I beheaded five of them. The moment they turned to flee." Zhu Wanzhong, Zhu Wanliang's half-brother, was the commander of the inner guards, who also served as the supervisor of the battle. Because his eldest brother, Zhu Wanliang, had taken the inherited position, Zhu Wanzhong had never held a respectable official title. When Zhu Wanliang was transferred to Liao, he followed him, becoming the so-called commander of the inner guards, managing the three hundred or so servants selected by Zhu Wanliang. He hoped to earn some tangible merit, perhaps even earn a hereditary position for the Zhu family. However, since arriving, Zhu Wanzhong has spent most of his time beheading his own men, not the enemies.

There is no way. Brothers are like brothers in fighting a tiger. If Zhu Wanliang doesn't use him to lead the team, who else can he use?

"Impale all five of them with spears. After we set up camp, hang them in the center of the main camp for public display." Zhu Wanliang felt a bruise on his shoulder, which was unpleasant, but his face remained stern and resolute. "If these deserters have family members in the camp, arrest them as well. Go now."

"Killed him too?" Zhu Wanzhong asked.

"That's not necessary. Just confiscate their weapons and arrest them. After we return to the city, we will pay them silver and dismiss them according to the rules. These people are uncertain factors and cannot be used anymore." Zhu Wanliang was still kind.

Within this army, Zhu Wanliang held absolute power over the lower ranks of the army. He executed them without trial, and unless a few high-ranking civilian officials happened to be present, no one could stop him. Of course, if an officer broke the law, the same procedures still had to be followed. The execution of an official was the exclusive right of the emperor, and unless specifically authorized in advance, it was considered an act of usurpation.

"Yes." Zhu Wanzhong took the order and left.

"He killed people, you guys appease them." As soon as Zhu Wanzhong left, Zhu Wanliang said to the lieutenant generals of each camp: "Each camp, count the casualties and consumption as soon as possible, and appease the morale of the troops. The injured should be bandaged and treated as soon as possible. Those who died in battle should receive pensions now." When Zhu Wanliang came out, he brought a box of silver, just to do this.

Actually, this box of silver belonged to Zhu Wanzhong personally, with part of it recently awarded to him by the emperor. By doing this, he could be considered to be paying the imperial court's compensation before the official compensation book was completed. Everyone knew that the imperial court's procedures were tedious and lengthy, and in many cases, the war ended before the compensation was distributed.

Generally speaking, this is fine. At least until now, the court has always delivered what it promised. Otherwise, if someone with ulterior motives incites a mutiny, we'll have to spend money to suppress it, which is not worth the effort. But now is the time to stabilize the military's morale. By the time those noisy civil servants finish that ridiculous process, Liaodong might be lost.

　Before the Chongzhen Emperor, the imperial court did not owe much money to recruit soldiers. It was not until the Tianqi Emperor had spent all the Wanli Emperor's treasury that the Ming army began to suffer from large-scale shortfalls in pay.

　　Corruption is a matter of using one ounce and getting two ounces. It's not about not having even one ounce.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)