Chapter Eighty-Seven: Facing the Enemy

“Garrison Commander, the bandits have set up their camp with their backs to the sea. They are already in a desperate situation!” Chang Qingyun said. “The reason they dare to do so is nothing more than relying on the cover of their navy. Tonight, under the cover of darkness, our army will send the water mine battalion’s trained braves to set out from Xiaoyingchang and release the ‘river-mixing dragons’ to destroy their warships…”

He Rubin had indeed recruited and organized a three-hundred-man water mine battalion before the war, and had also manufactured five hundred ‘river-mixing dragons’. Because they were prepared to be used when besieging Bopu, most of the water mines and the sampans prepared for deploying them were not brought from the Baisha naval base, and only a hundred were brought with the army.

“Without sampans, how can they be deployed?” a staff member raised a question.

Chang Qingyun said with confidence: “It doesn’t matter. Just have someone drop the water mines at Xiaoyingchang and release them with the current—I have seen that Xiaoyingchang juts out into the sea, so there will be no problem deploying the water mines…”

Tang Yunwen finally couldn’t help but say: “Mr. Chang! The current in the Qiongzhou Strait flows from west to east these few months.”

Every summer, the Qiongzhou Strait blows a southwest monsoon, and the sea current also follows the wind direction. The water mines deployed at Xiaoyingchang, east of the bandits’ main camp, would not be able to drift there. On the contrary, it was possible that they would be drifted to Qiongshan County.

“Oh,” Chang Qingyun was slightly embarrassed, but immediately said, “It doesn’t matter if the current direction is not right. The battalion braves are mostly Dan people, and they are proficient in swimming. They can go into the water at night and push the water mines to the side of the bandits’ warships.”

He Rubin, however, was not interested in this suggestion. The enemy’s gunboats were nothing more than to cover the flank and rear of the bandits’ main camp. As long as they could break the enemy’s camp tomorrow, those gunboats floating on the sea would be useless. Back then, the Dutch’s large galleons with so many cannons could only watch helplessly as the Ming army surrounded their fortress on Penghu Island, and could not do anything. As long as his own men were not so foolish as to run to the seaside, it would be fine.

He instructed his subordinate generals to let the soldiers rest well today and prepare for battle tomorrow. He also ordered each battalion to pay attention to sentry duty and guard against enemy sneak attacks on the camp. When he was about to leave the city tower, he saw that the enemy camp was already brightly lit, and the sound of military drums and horns echoed each other. It could be seen that the defense was very tight, and the discipline in the camp was also very good. He couldn’t help but have great doubts about whether the enemy was a group of “rabble.”

The next day, just as the sky was getting bright, the reveille in the Fubo Army’s main camp sounded loudly. He Ming had gotten up very early to prepare for battle. After breakfast, the last reinforcement from Lingao arrived: the “sniper team” composed of Elders. It gathered all the Elders who were good at shooting, including gun enthusiasts from the North American branch, and former shooting athletes who had been in the shooting training team. Although they could not directly go into battle and charge, they had an unparalleled skill in precision shooting in this time and space.

The weapons used by these dozen or so people were varied, but almost all of them were bolt-action rifles brought by the North American branch. The Mosin-Nagant, which was cheap and plentiful in North America, occupied half of the country, while Qian Shuiting, being different, carried a Swiss-made K31 straight-pull rifle, which was a very accurate bolt-action rifle. Zhou Weisen brought a Remington 700 rifle. All the sniper rifles were equipped with 6x scopes. Along with the sniper team came the photographers from the propaganda department, preparing to produce a documentary to publicize the glorious military achievements of the Fubo Army.

The captains of the special reconnaissance team all had digital DVs, but they were all home-grade machines. This time, Dingding and others brought semi-professional digital cameras with professional-grade telephoto lenses.

He Ming instructed the sniper team to be dispersed to the various towers, and some were placed in the artillery emplacements on the earthen embankment—the power of a sniper was no less than that of a cannon. In addition, each Elder was assigned three trainees as observers and guards. Unless there was an order, they could freely choose their targets—generals and officers were the primary targets.

Although Dingding repeatedly requested to go to the front line to shoot, He Ming still did not send him to the earthen embankment, but arranged for him to set up a shooting track on the command platform where he was.

“I’m not afraid of danger. To shoot this kind of documentary, you have to be on the front line.”

“You’ll be in the way in the front,” He Ming said unceremoniously. “And, you just shoot later, don’t talk.”

“I want to go to the front line when cleaning up the battlefield…”

“You will be arranged to go then.”

After the snipers and photographers were assigned, He Ming summoned all the battalion-level commanders for a pre-war meeting. At the meeting, he reported the movement of the Ming army, which had occupied Xiaoyingchang last night. Of course, this had no impact on the upcoming battle.

As the meeting was about to end, he looked at the Elder officers who had gathered in the headquarters: many of them had dark circles around their eyes, and it was clear that they had not slept well. This was a very natural thing for people who were going to the battlefield for the first time.

“Comrades, the battle is about to begin,” he said briefly to everyone. “For this day, everyone has been training hard with the new recruits on the drill ground for two years. Now is the time to show the results of your training.” He glanced at everyone. “Execute according to the predetermined plan! Dismissed!”

All the officers saluted together.

He Ming stood at attention and returned the salute. Finally, he said: “Go and fight, comrades!”

On the rampart, two infantry battalions had already been brought behind the breastwork, and each company had been assigned a combat position. The order to the company commanders was very simple:

“Fight to the end here!”

Everyone received 200 rounds of ammunition. The rear had sent another five hundred reserve Minie rifles a few days ago, in case the battle was too fierce and too many guns were damaged, leaving them without guns to use. The soldiers were all taking advantage of the last bit of time to wipe their guns and check their ammunition. The officers were walking back and forth, checking the fortifications and the soldiers’ equipment.

Wei Aiwen, with his guards, was patrolling the embankment, talking to the soldiers from time to time, using a calm and composed attitude to soothe the soldiers’ emotions. In fact, he himself was also very nervous, but he tried his best to appear calm and composed.

The two battalion flags were planted on two salient bastions, respectively, for the 3rd Infantry Battalion commander You Laohu and the 5th Infantry Battalion commander Fu Sansi. They were directly commanding the troops on the two key salient bastions. Both of them were wearing brand new uniforms, with all the honors they had ever received. You Laohu sat on a chair, his hands resting on Wen Zong’s long border army sword. Fu Sansi, on the other hand, was smoking thoughtfully, with a bayoneted SKS by his side.

All the cannons, whether they were from the artillery company or the reserve cannons, had been pulled up to the earthen embankment yesterday without exception and placed in the gun emplacements. Ten “typewriters” sponsored by the navy were also placed in some key positions. A few of them were mounted on handcarts for mobile defense. The sailors in blue uniforms stood at their positions, and a navy flag of blue and white was fluttering.

The field army’s flag was flying in the center of the camp. He Ming, with his staff, had already ascended the high platform in the center of the camp. Wired telephones, walkie-talkies, and telegraphs connected him to all the troops.

The 6th Infantry Battalion, as the general reserve of the entire army, was formed up in a square formation below the high platform.

“All sit down!” Zhu Quanxing ordered loudly, and then he himself sat on the ground, waiting for the order to go into battle.

Company after company, flag after flag, 1,800 infantrymen, dressed in gray uniforms, holding their bayoneted rifles tightly in their hands. Behind them were 2,000 militiamen, all armed with long spears, ready to join the final battle at any time.

It was quiet all around. The entire camp of the field army was now completely silent. There were no drums or horns, no human voices. Apart from the occasional hurried footsteps of the orderlies and the sound of commands, only the rustling of the military flags could be heard.

Yang Zeng stood on the earthen embankment, holding his command sword in his hand. Although the weather was not good, he could still clearly see the government soldiers who were constantly pouring out of the various camps in the distance and forming up. After the troops had assembled, with a signal from a cannon, the entire army began to advance towards the sea. From the perspective of both the Elders and the native officers, the Ming army’s formation could hardly be said to be neat, but its momentum was astonishing. They pressed forward like a black cloud.

The Ming army advanced for several li. With a long blast of a horn, the marching troops stopped three li away from the main camp. The archers and musketeers moved to the front row, one row kneeling, one row standing, ready to fire arrows and muskets at any time. Behind them were rows of spearmen, and the swordsmen were on the flanks, ready to fight at any time.

They were as numerous as a black cloud! Thinking of this, Yang Zeng couldn’t help but grip his command sword tightly. There would be a fierce battle today!

The civil and military officials under He Rubin, who were standing on the city wall of Chengmai County town, also had such a premonition. The bandits’ main camp was already filled with soldiers on the earthen embankment, but not a single sound of clamor could be heard. The other side was extremely quiet, as if they were already ready to meet the attacking government army head-on. This feeling made many people unhappy.

Qian Taichong squeezed into the crowd of staff, craning his neck to look at the bandit camp in the distance. He was surprised that a group of pirates on the sea could build such a large-scale and neat military camp. He had never seen such a way of building a camp—piling up an earth embankment that was only as high as a person, with many large sharp corners protruding around it. How could such a camp be defended? They were indeed overseas barbarians! He thought so, but in his heart, he was considering the “Six Chapters on Post-War Affairs” that he was preparing to present to Master Zhao after the war. He had written this article in his spare time every night for the past few days. He had sorted out the various methods of pacifying the people and handling post-war affairs that he had read in books and heard from others, and then selected and organized them according to the information he had heard from Gou Chengxuan about Lingao. Finally, he had compiled this long treatise, which was divided into six chapters: “Pacifying the People,” “Relief,” “Reclaiming Wasteland,” “Recruiting Merchants,” “Apprehending Criminals,” and “Comforting the Loyal.” Qian Taichong had read his article over and over again, and from time to time, he would admire the exquisite sentences he had written.

In the camp at the south gate, Thousand-Household Commander Song Ming was already prepared to attack. Tong Yizhen had given him a hundred cavalry. He knew that his cavalry would be the first to charge and test the enemy’s camp. This was an extremely dangerous task, because he had heard that the enemy’s firearms were very powerful—the tragic defeat of Thousand-Household Commander He yesterday had proved that the rumors were not false. This test might very well be a one-way trip.

These one hundred cavalry were already in formation outside the moat. Each cavalryman had a bow and arrow, ready to harass the enemy by shooting arrows after approaching the camp wall, to test the strength of the enemy’s defense and find the weak points of the camp. If the enemy’s cavalry responded to the battle, they would immediately retreat.

After three signal cannon shots, he saw that a red flag had already been hung on the city wall. He immediately raised his long spear and shouted, “Charge!” He was the first to spur his horse and charge out. Behind him were a hundred cavalry. The flag bearer and a dozen or so personal guards followed him closely.

In an instant, the sound of horse hooves shook the ground, and the shouts of killing shook the sky. In the camps of the various battalions, shouts and drums were raised to cheer them on. The momentum was astonishing. A slight commotion arose on the earthen embankment.

“Hold steady! Hold steady!” the officers on the earthen embankment roared, drawing their command swords. He Ming ordered: “The artillery should not fire. Let them get closer and use the rifles to shoot!”

Song Ming’s cavalry had already charged to the front of the earthen embankment in an instant. The enemy did not send out cavalry or infantry to meet the battle, and not even firearms were fired—if it were the Ming army, the enemy would have been firing firearms randomly when they were a hundred zhang away from the fortress wall. He was secretly surprised. Because he had heard from Thousand-Household Commander He yesterday that the enemy’s firearms had a long range, he did not dare to charge too close. He was prepared to get a little closer to the earthen embankment, fire a quick round of arrows, and then retreat.

Just as he spurred his horse past two salient angles and turned to draw his bow, he heard a gunshot in his ear.

The bullets fired from both sides of the two salient angles swept across the entire cavalry squadron at the same time. The galloping cavalry instantly fell down by more than twenty men. Seven or eight of Song Ming’s personal guards fell from their horses, and the large flag was also pierced with countless holes. He did not dare to hesitate and immediately charged out with a whip to his horse’s rump.

He Rubin saw it clearly. The defense of the enemy’s main camp was very tight. If the troops wanted to attack, they had to break through between the two salient angles. No matter which side of the salient angle they attacked, they would be attacked from the side and rear by the firepower on the adjacent salient angle. If they attacked the front of the salient angle alone, the front was too narrow to deploy troops at all.

So that’s what the bastion was for! He Rubin knew that the Dutch built their fortresses in this way, and he had also heard about the advantages of this kind of fortress. But he always had some doubts in his heart. Now he had seen it with his own eyes. When facing an army equipped with superior firearms, the advantage of this kind of fortress was really too obvious!

Now the bandits’ cannons had not yet fired, but just a single volley of muskets had shown such power. He Rubin was secretly worried. But he did not show any worried expression, and still maintained the appearance of a cold and serious general who was not afraid in the face of danger. He called Tong Yizhen over:

“General Tong, the time has come for you to serve the court. You lead the entire army to attack the south gate of the bandits!”

Tong Yizhen received the order and came down from the city tower to his own camp. Song Ming’s troops had just returned, having lost almost thirty cavalrymen, and many of the remaining men were also wounded.

Seeing him coming, Song Ming quickly came over and cupped his hands in salute.

“No need for formalities. You take your brothers to rest for a while. You will have to serve the court again in a moment!”

Tong Yizhen knew that Song Ming was a brave general who was not afraid of death. He was always the first to charge, often acting recklessly regardless of the danger, and was known as the “life-risking general.” Seeing that he could escape with his life after such a dangerous pincer attack from both front and rear, he couldn’t help but wonder how this person could be so lucky.

“Yes! My lord!” Song Ming said, “The bandits’ firearms are extremely fierce…”

“I know!” Tong Yizhen did not say much. He was wearing iron armor and an iron helmet. He immediately mounted his horse and shouted, “Bring my spear!”

A personal guard immediately handed him a long spear. He looked at the camp in the distance, raised his long spear, and shouted. He spurred his horse and charged out, heading straight for the south gate of the main camp. The Chaozhou soldiers under his command surged forward, while the Leilian Commandant Zhao Qiansi, with two thousand men, also charged out from the east of the county town. The two forces attacked the bandits’ main camp together.

For a time, the sound of drums shook the earth, and the shouts of killing filled the sky. Large and small flags covered the mountains and fields, fluttering in the dark clouds. In a flash, they had already charged for a distance of several hundred meters.

He Ming picked up the phone: “Artillery, fire!”

Zhang Bolin had been waiting for this order for a long time. As soon as he heard this order, he immediately ordered: “Fire!”

All the cannons had already been calibrated for the firing distance and loaded with ammunition. With a single order, the gun captains stood up at the same time, tightly gripped the lanyards, and pulled them back sharply.

More than a dozen cannons facing the direction of the enemy’s charge spewed long white smoke. Red cannonballs whistled towards the dense crowd. The 12-pounder solid shot flew towards the enemy 1000 meters away at an initial velocity of 457 meters per second. A group of black shadows, with a whistling sound, smashed into the crowd. In an instant, flesh and blood flew everywhere. The cannonballs that landed on the ground were bounced up by the earth and rolled backwards, plowing bloody ditches in the formation.

The Ming army was not stopped by the artillery fire. The soldiers surged forward like a tide. The generals spurred their horses and shouted, galloping back and forth in the ranks, urging the soldiers to attack fiercely. The second round of cannonballs flew over again, and rows upon rows of soldiers were hit by the bouncing cannonballs, their heads blown off, their bodies torn apart, and their arms and legs torn off. Blood flew everywhere, and there were shattered corpses and screaming wounded everywhere. Sometimes the cannonballs seemed to be moving so slowly that you could stop them with one foot, but they still mercilessly tore off the calves from people’s bodies.

The recoil of the 12-pounder cannon after firing was astonishing. A single cannon retreated a full six or seven meters. In order to save the artillerymen’s strength and prevent them from being exhausted later and unable to maintain the rate of fire, each cannon was prepared with three gun-pushing groups composed of animal-substitute soldiers to help push the cannon back into position in turns. As soon as the cannon stopped, these people immediately rushed up and pushed and pulled with their shoulders and arms to return the cannon to its position.

The gunner with the sponge immediately inserted the end of the sponge with a spiral metal rod for cleaning the bore into the cannon bore and stirred it a few times, hooking out a few pieces of charred and broken cotton cloth. The cotton cloth used to package the propellant was soaked in fuming nitric acid in advance. In theory, it should have been burned along with the propellant when fired, but there was always some residue after each firing. After cleaning the bore, the gunner turned the sponge over, dipped it in a bucket of water, and inserted it into the cannon barrel to repeatedly clean the bore.

“Bore cleaning complete!”

“Load one round of solid shot, target distance 940 meters!”