Chapter 146: This Battle Must Be Fought-Iron-Blooded Ming Dynasty(The Lonely Swordsman)

Datong.

Scarrface, Zhao Xin, Tang Sheng, Monk Zhang, and Little Seven had already gathered at Wang Pu's garrison headquarters.

A moment ago, the sentry on the watchtower reported that two thousand cavalrymen from the Later Jin's south and north camps had simultaneously sortied, heading west. Calculating the time, Zhao Liujin's grain convoy should be arriving at Datong around now. The purpose of the Later Jin sortie was thus obvious: to intercept Zhao Liujin's grain transport.

"General, send reinforcements quickly!"

"Yes, General! If we don't send reinforcements now, it will be too late."

"General, although Zhao Liujin has over ten thousand men under his command, they are nothing more than a mob. That same force of over ten thousand was scattered with a single charge by three thousand Mongol cavalry at Yan'e Hai. This time, there are four thousand elite Later Jin bannermen, and they will hold out even less! General, even if this mob isn't worth saving, we cannot let that batch of grain fall into the hands of the Later Jin!"

Scarrface and the others were filled with righteous indignation, eagerly demanding that troops be dispatched to provide backup.

The matter of poisoning the forage to wipe out the Later Jin warhorses was a top-secret plan known to only three people. Aside from Wang Pu and Zhen Youcai, only Wang Hua—who had gone to Datong Left Guard to procure the forage—knew the details. Everyone else, including Scarrface, was completely in the dark, which was why they were so anxious to rescue Zhao Liujin.

Wang Pu said in a booming voice, "Scarrface, hear my command!"

Seeing the burning eagerness for battle in Scarrface and the others, Wang Pu readily agreed. He also intended to use this opportunity to teach these arrogant and fierce generals a bitter lesson, thereby dampening the prevailing sentiment of conceit and underestimation of the enemy within the army. Wang Pu wanted his brothers to know that the Later Jin was not entirely defenseless, and the Firearm Corps' previous victories had actually been won by sheer luck.

Scarrface's eyes flashed with excitement as he stepped forward and answered, "This subordinate is here."

Wang Pu ordered, "Take a thousand-man unit out of the West Gate to reinforce Zhao Liujin."

"Yes!"

Scarrface acknowledged the order with a booming shout and departed excitedly to carry it out.

Once Scarrface had walked away, Wang Pu continued, "Zhao Xin, Tang Sheng."

Zhao Xin and Tang Sheng stepped forward and answered, "This subordinate is here."

Wang Pu commanded, "You two thousand-man units will also assemble immediately and stand by inside the West Gate."

"Yes."

Zhao Xin and Tang Sheng also accepted their orders and left.

Datong West Gate.

The tightly shut city gates slowly swung open. Scarrface led a thousand musketeers in neat marching formation, pouring out of the city like a torrent through the barbican.

Long after Dorgon had led the main Later Jin force away, Wang Pu had ordered the four gates of Datong to be rechiseled open.

Scarrface had not led his thousand musketeers far past the West Gate when the Later Jin camp outside stirred into action. The Later Jin troops stationed in the camp immediately deployed two thousand Tushetu cavalry and five hundred Elite Yellow Banner iron cavalry. Pouring out of the camp gates, the two thousand five hundred horsemen rapidly spread out to the flanks, then swept toward Scarrface's musketeer formation like a surging flood.

On the West Gate arrow tower.

Wang Pu was peering through an arrow slit, observing the movement outside the city.

Upon seeing the two thousand-plus Later Jin cavalry surging forward like a crab opening its claws to pounce on Scarrface's thousand musketeers, Wang Pu's face instantly darkened.

This was not the kind of battle Wang Pu wanted to fight. There were neither fortifications to rely on nor terrain to exploit; the opposing Later Jin possessed an absolute numerical superiority, and they would no longer be careless or underestimate their enemy. Having suffered several consecutive crushing defeats, the Later Jin had psychologically come to regard Wang Pu's Firearm Corps as their most dangerous foe.

This was not the battle Wang Pu wanted to fight, but fight it he must!

Even knowing he would be defeated, he had to fight. Because if he did not fight today and swallow this defeat, he would suffer an even greater defeat another day, potentially staking his entire fortune!

In front of the musketeer formation, Scarrface raised his sabre with a cold and indifferent expression, shouting harshly, "Three-sided firing formation... Form up!"

Ten platoon leaders raised their sabres in unison. The one thousand musketeers were true to their reputation as well-trained veterans, forming a rigorous three-sided firing formation in less than a moment: three hundred in the front, and three hundred on each of the left and right flanks. Each side was arranged in three ranks—front, middle, and rear—with one hundred men per rank, perfectly suited to form a three-stage volley to ensure sustained firepower.

The remaining one-hundred-man unit stayed in the center, ready at any moment to fill the gaps in the three-sided firing lines.

Scarrface truly did not take the two to three thousand opposing Later Jin cavalry seriously.

Back in Liaoning, Wang Pu had used only six hundred musketeers to wipe out two thousand Later Jin cavalry, and they had even used the most primitive matchlock guns, far inferior in power to the flintlocks currently in use. Now, he had a thousand musketeers equipped with the much more powerful flintlocks; there was no reason he could lose to the Later Jin.

"Lads, perk yourselves up and smash these damned Later Jin!"

"Yes!"

The musketeers responded in a thunderous roar.

Scarrface could already envision the tragic scene of the Later Jin cavalry tumbling head over heels; he could even hear the agonizing screams and wails of the enemy horsemen.

In front of the Later Jin cavalry formation, Tantai swept his sabre up toward the sky.

Behind him, the charging five hundred Later Jin iron cavalry and two thousand Tushetu cavalry simultaneously performed a movement of hanging by the side of their mounts. All the Later Jin horsemen dropped their bodies low, clinging tightly to one side of their warhorses. The sight was as if the several thousand cavalrymen had suddenly vanished into thin air.

"Eh?"

In front of the musketeer formation, Scarrface's eyes bulged instantly.

What kind of trickery was this? The damned Later Jin actually pulled off a stunt like this?

With the Later Jin hiding against the bellies of their horses, what used to be a fairly large target was reduced to just a tiny speck. How were the brothers supposed to shoot at that?

On the West Gate arrow tower.

Wang Pu's right hand gripping the arrow slit tightened abruptly. As expected of the Later Jin and Mongols, every single one of them possessed such superb horsemanship! By tucking themselves away so neatly on the backs of their horses, the bodily target exposed to the gun muzzles was drastically reduced, and the accuracy of the muskets would plummet sharply.

When the Ming Firearm Corps engaged Later Jin cavalry, they generally aimed only at the men, rarely targeting the horses.

This was not out of fondness for warhorses, but because a warhorse's tenacity far exceeded that of a human.

If a human was hit in a vital spot by a lead bullet, they would die instantly; even if hit in a non-vital area, it would still incapacitate them. Warhorses were different. Unless a warhorse was struck directly in a vital organ, it would keep running, charging onward until it bled its very last drop of blood!

In other words, hitting the horse was basically useless and could not stop the charge of the Later Jin cavalry.

In that battle in Liaoning, had Ahibu and Tajan ordered the Later Jin to use this tactic from the very beginning, the outcome of the war would have been entirely different. Unfortunately, the Later Jin at that time were too arrogant and conceited; they completely looked down upon the Ming army and disdained using such "despicable" tactics that lacked blood-red valor and courage.

Things were different now. Having tasted the bitter fruit of the Ming army's firearms, the Later Jin were no longer arrogant. For the current Later Jin, defeating the Ming Firearm Corps was the most crucial task of all.

Outside the Datong West Gate.

The rapidly charging Later Jin cavalry finally broke into the effective firing range of the Ming musketeers.

"Fire!"

Scarrface gave the order. The three platoon leaders simultaneously brought down their sabres, and three hundred muskets fired simultaneously toward three different directions. Plumes of black smoke instantly rose in front of the musketeer formation. Amidst the deafening gunfire, scorching lead bullets accompanied by shrill whistles hurtled toward the Later Jin cavalry bearing down from three directions.

The tragic scene of men and horses tumbling over that Scarrface had anticipated did not materialize this time because the Later Jin targets were too small. The musketeers had fired at the mounts of the Later Jin; although over half of the lead bullets hit their targets, fewer than fifty Later Jin cavalrymen fell. The impact of the first volley on the enemy was virtually negligible.

A vein throbbed on Scarrface's forehead. Raising his sabre once more, he shouted, "Fire!"

"Fire!"

Accompanied by billows of black smoke, another deafening volley rang out. This time, because the distance was closer, more Later Jin fell than in the first volley, but still only a little over a hundred riders. To the Later Jin, who possessed over two thousand cavalry, this could hardly be considered a serious blow.

After two successive volleys, the Later Jin were already less than a hundred paces away from the musketeer formation.

A few beads of sweat the size of beans broke out on Scarrface's temples. Based on his experience, they could manage at most three more volleys before the Later Jin closed in. Yet at this killing efficiency, the remaining three volleys would be wholly insufficient to crush the Later Jin assault. It seemed hand-to-hand combat today was unavoidable.

"All troops rally! Pull in toward the center!"

"Form a circular defense array!" "Outer brothers, fix bayonets! Inner brothers, prepare the Dragon King cannons!"

Scarrface made a prompt decision and reacted swiftly.

Since the remaining three volleys wouldn't kill many Later Jin anyway, they might as well use the time to form a circular defense array. The brothers on the outer perimeter would fix bayonets and prepare to fight the Later Jin to the death, while the brothers on the inside switched to using the Dragon King cannons to slaughter the enemy!

The West Gate arrow tower.

Wang Pu turned his head abruptly and shouted, "Lü Liu!"

Lü Liu answered immediately, shouting back sharply, "Present!"

Wang Pu commanded, "Order Zhao Xin and Tang Sheng to immediately sally out of the city and reinforce Scarrface."

"Yes!"

Lü Liu acknowledged the order and left to execute it.

Outside Datong city, the surging Later Jin cavalry were now less than fifty paces away from the musketeers' circular defense array. The Later Jin cavalry, who had initially spread out in a fan shape, continuously contracted toward the center and began to crowd together. Tantai had no choice but to order a deceleration; otherwise, the Later Jin cavalry would fall into complete chaos due to collisions with one another.

Scarrface's spontaneous improvisation ironically and fortuitously saved the fate of this Firearm Corps. The musketeers clustered tightly together, over a thousand men crammed into a narrow circle with a diameter of barely twenty paces, directly nullifying the Later Jin's numerical advantage.

Had the Later Jin cavalry charged forward for close combat, fewer than thirty of them could engage the musketeers directly, while the rest of the horsemen would be left circling uselessly around the edges with wide eyes. Consequently, the Later Jin cavalry would instead find themselves at a numerical disadvantage in the localized battle.

Tantai was a veteran of countless battles and naturally would not commit such a low-level mistake.

Tantai had the Later Jin cavalry circle around the Ming forces at a distance of thirty paces, shooting arrows at the Ming musketeers as they rode. The Ming Dragon King cannons could not reach the Later Jin, and volley firing was impossible because they were crammed together and unable to reload. It seemed they were doomed to be picked off one by one by the Later Jin's archery.

However, this had one prerequisite: there needed to be enough time.

Because the Later Jin were riding in circles around the Ming troops, only the innermost two ranks of Later Jin could shoot at the Ming forces. Given how small the Ming circular formation was, the innermost two ranks of Later Jin cavalry totaled barely over a hundred riders, meaning only a little over a hundred arrows were rained down upon the Ming troops at any one time.

The vast majority of these arrows would be blocked by the bodies of the outermost Ming musketeers. While those outer musketeers were undoubtedly doomed to die, the inner musketeers would not suffer heavy casualties.

Of course, given enough time, Scarrface's musketeer formation could only take a beating without any means of retaliation, eventually resulting in the annihilation of the entire unit.

Yet Wang Pu clearly would not grant the Later Jin enough time. The tightly shut Datong West Gate swung open once more. Tang Sheng and Zhao Xin led more musketeers, marching in neat formation out of the city gates. Leng Sengji hurriedly dispatched a portion of his cavalry in an attempt to block the city gates, but they were shot down by the musketeers already stationed on the city walls, losing over a hundred riders.

Soon, Tang Sheng and Zhao Xin's two thousand musketeers, under the cover of the musketeers on the city walls, deployed their firing formation outside the city. Tantai left five hundred cavalry to besiege Scarrface's musketeers while regrouping the rest of the main cavalry force. He then charged fiercely toward the two thousand-man units led by Tang Sheng and Zhao Xin. Tantai intended to repeat his old trick: forcing the two thousand-man units of Tang Sheng and Zhao Xin into a clustered clump, surrounding them, and devouring them piece by piece.

Yet this time, Tantai miscalculated.