Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 527 The Terrifying Dawn Before Dark

After breakfast, Captain Tang brought his fifty-man team to the designated location in the city wall as planned and stood there, quietly waiting for Xu Chengming's dispatch.

Given their current position, the worst-case scenario was for them to rush out of the city with the cavalry battalion in front of them, acting as a fresh force to seize the outer positions. The best-case scenario was to follow the original plan and exchange defense with their crippled comrades as the enemy retreated.

The warm sun rose into the sky, and the morning light gradually brightened. A tall and strong figure wearing a full set of armor and a special hat, surrounded by several personal guards, walked along the city wall to the barbican and entered the sight of everyone.

All the veterans who had participated in the battle knew who this man was. Only some new recruits who were sent to the front line for the first time were still looking up and asking, "Who is this general? Why is he dressed more respectably than Xu Dusi?"

"That's not the general, that's Inspector Sun. He lives in the city gate tower." The "veteran" next to the new recruits didn't hold back their voices. "I heard he comes to the city walls every day and fights with us until the enemy retreats."

This so-called veteran was only one day older than the new recruit being questioned. Bloody battles make people grow, and death transforms them. After just one day of fighting outside the city, the veteran went from a drill soldier who still trembled with fear and lost sleep to a combat soldier who, while still afraid of death, didn't show it and didn't lose sleep.

"Is that Inspector Sun?" The new recruit had heard stories about Inspector Sun, who had taken up residence on the city walls after failing to maintain his position. "He's a literary genius, yet he looks even taller and stronger than Commander Xu." Xu Chengming was a typical northern burly man, but compared to the eight-foot-tall Sun Chuanting, he still looked a bit "petite."

"Who knows," the old soldier shrugged, "You should have seen him when he was old. He often came during training."

"I've seen it from afar, but never thought it was this majestic." The new recruit's gaze followed Sun Chuanting all the way to the city gate. He stared intently for a long time, but it didn't seem right.

"Compared to armor, civil servants' clothes are always a little less imposing," said the veteran.

"Hmm," the recruit said, looking at it for a moment longer, and then realizing it looked a bit like it. "That's probably the logic."

"I heard Inspector Sun is quite formidable. Not only can he shoot with both hands and hit the target from a hundred paces away, but he can also fight He Zhenshuai back and forth." The old soldier secretly glanced at his own captain. Seeing that the captain didn't seem to hear their conversation, he continued to talk. "What kind of man is He Zhenshuai? A first-class figure who rolled out of the pile of dead bodies. With him keeping watch, this slave thief will definitely not be able to break in."

"I heard he saved many lives," another younger veteran couldn't help but interrupt. "Have you heard of him?"

"Help? He's still going out of the city to fight?" The new recruit turned to look at the source of the voice. His movements were a bit too dramatic, attracting the attention of the sergeant. But the sergeant only glanced forward at the team leader and ultimately did not stop him.

"Not really, but did you see the longbow held by the guard next to him?" The old soldier interrupted, nodding his head towards the guard next to Sun Chuanting. "I've heard from several people that just when they were about to be attacked and killed by the bandits, Sun Chuanting's arrows flew over and pinned the bandits to the ground. It's said that he could shoot through an entire quiver in a single day. Just imagine, how many arrows could a quiver hold? How many enemies could he kill in a single day?"

"Is it really that powerful?" the recruit exclaimed in amazement.

"That's what everyone says."

In reality, these legends are somewhat misleading. Sun Chuanting was indeed brave and a skilled archer. But he wasn't some flying god, unable to run around saving lives and killing enemies.

It was only because he, a civil official, was fearless in battle and dressed conspicuously that he was singled out for credit. Often, the archers who killed the enemy were other soldiers on the walls, or even comrades in the rear. But when everyone looked back, they vaguely saw Sun Chuanting perched on the wall, wielding a powerful bow. Seeing it so often, hearing it so widely, their memories became distorted. It was as if the bow he wielded was more powerful than those multi-thousand-pound cannons.

The facts they saw shaped their distorted memories, which then became new "facts" that were implanted in people's minds and ultimately transformed into morale. Many soldiers believed, or rather wanted to believe, that as long as that eight-foot-tall figure stood behind them, they would not die.

Looking at Sun Chuanting's solid and powerful figure, the recruits' hearts, which were beating wildly due to nervousness, seemed to slow down a little.

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"Your humble servant greets Inspector Sun." Before Sun Chuanting even reached his side, Xu Chengming stepped forward and saluted. In reality, if we were to judge by rank alone, Xu Chengming was even more senior than Sun Chuanting. But aside from the commander-in-chief, He Shixian, and his deputy, You Shigong, no general in Shenyang dared to treat Sun Chuanting as anything less than his superior. The power to confer merit and impeachment alone would have most generals kowtow to Sun Chuanting respectfully.

"Ah," Sun Chuanting, who always kept his composure, returned the favor as usual. Without waiting for Xu Chengdan to kneel, Sun Chuanting hugged his shoulders. "I told you beforehand that formalities are unnecessary in battle. Commander Xu, please rise quickly."

"Haha," Xu Chengming stood up and bowed to Sun Chuanting again. "No matter how much Inspector Sun honors me, I can't break the rules."

Sun Chuanting shook his head and chuckled, then turned around and looked at the black cloud that was about to press down on the city.

Xu Chengming also immediately entered a battle-ready state. He pointed in the direction the enemy was coming from and said, "Today, the enemy is still advancing with three battalions of infantry and cavalry in a coordinated manner. However, judging by their formation, they must have learned their lesson from the past few days and are no longer attacking in a cluster, but are now dispersing."

"Yeah." Sun Chuanting looked in the direction he was pointing, and at first glance he saw the standard three formations of left cavalry, middle infantry, and right cavalry.

Among these three formations, the infantry formation was the main force for attacking the city, while the cavalry formations on the left and right wings provided support to the infantry formation to prevent the Ming cavalry from raiding and breaking through the protective wings of the formation.

In order to defend against the Ming army's firearms, the Jin army built many large shield carts with thick wood bases and covered with iron sheets and cowhide. These shield carts were made thick and heavy, and even with many strong laborers pushing them hard, the entire infantry formation still moved very slowly.

The infantry formation advanced slowly, and the cavalry providing flank protection also could not move any faster. Almost all the horses were in a "held-down" idle state. Only a small number of cavalrymen acting as scouts on the outermost perimeter were maneuvering rapidly.

The field of vision when maneuvering on flat ground is completely different from that when looking from a high place. Sun Chuanting and Xu Chengming standing on the city wall can barely see most of the battlefield, while the commander of the Jin army on the front line can only rely on the cavalry scouts running back and forth to understand the ever-changing battlefield situation in a timely manner.

"Commander Xu," after concentrating on observing for a while, Sun Chuanting suddenly said, "Don't you feel that not only has the enemy's formation become loose, but even the number of these large chariots is much less than yesterday?" At present, the Ming army has no unified name for the Jin army's shield chariots. Some call them shield chariots, some call them chariots, and some call them chariot shields.

"You've noticed," Xu Chengming nodded. "I remember yesterday, there were three formations, six rows and ten columns. Today, there are three formations as well, but each formation only has five rows and six columns. That's almost half the number." Shenyang's eastern defenses were less than three miles wide at their widest point. The Ming army couldn't deploy a large force, and neither could the Jin army. To maximize the number of troops deployed in a short period of time, the Jin army divided their siege infantry into three formations. If one formation retreated due to resistance, the next would immediately fill in.

"But," Sun Chuanting recalled the enemy's formation yesterday. "The cavalry supporting the left and right sides have not decreased."

"Maybe the bicycles are lined up more densely, hoping to make us let our guard down and catch the front line off guard." Xu Chengming guessed.

"Possibly," Sun Chuanting nodded in agreement. Even before the Battle of Shenyang began, Sun Chuanting had received a brief analysis of the shield carts seized from Fengji Fort from Liaoyang. The report stated, "The slaves used shield carts to push and block the enemy, and one cart could shelter over twenty men." After the Battle of Shenyang began, the Shenyang side also captured some shield carts that the Jin army had been unable to recover in time. Upon closer inspection, Sun Chuanting found that these things were, as the Liaoyang report had stated, truly massive, easily capable of "sheltering over twenty men." If they were squeezed tight enough, they could easily shelter thirty or forty men.

However, Sun Chuanting still found it somewhat strange, as the Jin army's advance didn't seem to increase at all despite the "single-cart reinforcement." More crucially, behind the shield-cart formations that led the way were no ladders, the kind needed to scale the city walls. How could they possibly attack a city without ladders?
"Could it be that he is trying to steal my girlfriend?" Sun Chuanting thought.

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The morning sun of late spring has brought some of the heat of the midsummer sun, but it still cannot warm the hearts of people in the city and in the countryside.

A gentle breeze blew, bringing with it a slightly pungent, earthy smell. It was the smell of blood soaking into the earth, the smell of a corpse half decayed.

Feet scraped against the ground, horses clattered, and the enemy drew closer. The battlefield, still unhanded, was noisy, but the people on the front lines seemed locked in a deathly silence.

Heartbeats raced, blood surged, and anger built. Everyone, regardless of wealth or status, waited for the moment to end their enemy's life, or be ended by their enemy.

"Release!" What broke the "silence" was Xu Chengming's roar from the city wall.

The moment after the roar, the flag officers distributed on the city wall waved the flags in their hands one after another.

Listen closely, watch far away. After the order was passed on, twelve artillerymen on the east wall, who had been ready for a long time, pulled out red-hot iron rods from the braziers beside them and plunged them deeply into the vents of the heavy artillery in front of them.

hiss--

The gunpowder burned at a high speed, releasing a large amount of gas instantly, which pushed the solid iron ball in the barrel out of the barrel heavily.

——Boom! ——Boom!

Almost in an instant, twelve copper and iron muzzle-loading heavy cannons weighing at least two thousand pounds pushed out spherical cannonballs weighing more than one hundred pounds in total.

The lead bullet drew a violent parabola in the air, crossed the entire Ming army position, and slammed into the Jin army infantry formation on the front line.

Of the twelve shells, ten missed and two hit the target.

The average shell weighed over eight pounds, no shield cart could stop it. Of the two shells that struck the enemy, one struck the center of the shield cart, breaking through the triple defenses of leather, iron, and wood, and knocking the two armored soldiers pushing the cart to the ground. The other shell grazed the edge of the shield cart, carving a long, bloody trail through the crowd.

"Forward! Keep moving forward! Don't stop!" Behind the shield cart that was hit head-on, an elite Bayala in full armor, after a brief moment of daze, waved the hammer in his hand, driving Yu Ding, who was in cotton armor and was stunned by the horrific scene, to continue moving forward.

Some people fell to their knees because their legs went weak.

Bayala, who was supervising the battle, didn't even shout to drive the man away, but just hit him to death with a hammer.

Under this relentless expulsion, the two shield carts that had been hit by artillery fire but had not lost their ability to move started moving again. They followed the other shield carts in the same row and continued to advance towards the Ming army's position.

"Clean the barrel, adjust the elevation, and reload!" On the walls of Shenyang, the heavy artillery positions began to bustle with activity. Unlike the Portuguese, these muzzle-loading heavy artillery had no sub-cannons, and after firing a single round, it took a long time to reload.

However, the artillerymen are very skilled. According to the enemy's current marching speed, the heavy artillery positions on the city wall should be able to fire a second shell before the friendly forces on the front line engage the enemy!

While the heavy artillery was loading, the Jin army's shield carts also advanced into the range of medium and light muzzle-loading guns and large Portuguese cannons.

"Release!" Xu Chengming waved his hand and shouted, and the flag soldiers raised the command flag.

——Boom! ——Boom!

Between the heavy artillery positions, dozens of barrels spewed lead bullets and stone balls from the Ming army's field positions, smashing into bloody pits one after another in the advancing Jin army's formations. Before the two armies officially engaged, the Jin army had already suffered dozens of casualties.

The muzzle-loading guns reloaded their guns, while the large Portuguese guns replaced their sub-cannons and continued firing. For a moment, a deadly rain of iron seemed to fall in the corner in front of the Ming army's position.

——Boom! ——Boom!

The iron rain did not stop, and the artillery positions under the city of Shenyang also opened fire in succession after the enemy troops entered the range.

Before the Jin army's massive westward invasion, the Ming army dug twelve layers of deep trenches with sharpened wood at the bottom outside Shenyang's moat. Trenches were dug between the trenches, and the inside of the trenches was fenced with wooden palisades that required more than ten men to lift.

Inside the stockade, two trenches, five zhang wide and two zhang deep, were dug, with sharpened timbers planted at the bottom. This was the final frontier defense before the Ming army's position. Beyond this, the Ming army's position was lined with hundreds of shield-carrying artillery carts.

These shield-carrying guns were mostly small, rapid-fire cannons designed for field combat. These cannons were often loaded with scattershot to counter charging cavalry. Before Nurhaci's rise to power, their enemies were usually the Tatars who roamed the borders.

The rapid-fire cannons proved effective against cavalry, but they were incapable of penetrating the Jin army's shield carts, which were designed to counter Ming tactics. Only large-caliber slugs could manage to penetrate the shield carts if they got close.

Therefore, under the guidance of the Liaoyang forces, the Ming army in Liaodong also appropriately changed its tactics. Instead of blindly manufacturing and deploying shotguns, they deployed both slug cannons and shotguns. Before the enemy charged, they fired slugs at shield carts that came within range. Once the enemy left their shield carts and charged towards their positions, they switched to using shotguns and other firearms to injure them.

(End of this chapter)