“Has the Fengqiao camp been breached by the Japanese pirates? Is Lord Zhu leading troops here to seek reinforcements?”,
Prefect Shang gazed at the dramatic changes in the direction of the Fengqiao camp, his mouth agape in shock, unable to calm down for a long while. He watched as the Zhejiang troops galloped straight towards Suzhou City, and in bewilderment, he asked those around him,
An officer who had been closely observing the direction of the Zhejiang camp shook his head slightly and explained to Prefect Shang, “Sir, it doesn’t seem like the Fengqiao camp was overrun by the Japanese pirates. It’s more like the Zhejiang troops actively broke out and abandoned the camp. Today’s upheaval was initiated by the Zhejiang troops. Their cavalry, which had been roaming outside, suddenly appeared and harassed the Japanese pirates from the south. Then the Zhejiang troops inside the camp also attacked the Japanese pirates to the south. The pirates thought the Zhejiang camp was trying to link up with their forces outside and fought fiercely to block them. At first, I too thought the Zhejiang troops were coordinating an inside-outside pincer to bring their external forces back into the camp. But then, just as the pirates were surrounding and intercepting them, a shock occurred: more Zhejiang troops suddenly emerged from the north of the camp. Using a barrage of muskets and cannons, they broke through the Japanese pirates’ encirclement in one fell swoop. After breaking out to the north, they abandoned the camp and fled. The pirates rushed into the camp that Lord Zhu and his men had forsaken, and then an explosion went off, devastating the pirates.”,
Prefect Shang frowned slightly upon hearing this. He paced back and forth on the city wall twice before asking again, “Why were the Zhejiang troops so eager to break out? Their camp should have had plenty of provisions, weapons, and supplies—enough to hold out for one or two months without issue. Why, then, did they choose this moment to break out and abandon the camp?”,
No one around could answer Prefect Shang’s question; they too were puzzled as to why the Zhejiang troops had chosen this moment to break out,
“What do you think prompted the Zhejiang troops to break out so urgently?” Prefect Shang turned to ask the deputy general beside him,
The deputy general shook his head. He genuinely had no idea why the Zhejiang troops had decided to break out now, abandoning the camp they had painstakingly built to the Japanese pirates. In his view, there was absolutely no need for the Zhejiang troops to break out at this time,
Just a few days ago, the Japanese pirates had launched a full-scale assault on the Zhejiang troops’ Fengqiao camp but failed to breach their positions. Instead, they suffered heavy losses, especially from that earth-shattering explosion at the front, which left the pirates with devastating casualties,
In recent days, the pirates had clearly been wary and intimidated by the Zhejiang troops’ formidable firearms. They only dared to encircle the camp heavily, not venturing to attack it directly,
Since the pirates didn’t dare assault the Zhejiang camp, the troops inside were perfectly safe. They only needed to hold the camp steadfastly, forming a strategic pincer with Suzhou City to pin down the pirates. Once the pirates retreated, the Zhejiang troops would have earned a great merit without any need to break out,
Moreover, the Zhejiang troops relied heavily on firearms, which were slow to reload and vulnerable to enemies closing in. The camp allowed them to resupply, reload, and leverage the advantage of their firearms while protecting their soldiers. Abandoning the camp for open-field combat was like handicapping themselves by at least 40%,
It made no sense at all,
“Perhaps Lord Wu has other considerations,” the deputy general replied, unable to come up with a better explanation,
Just as the deputy general spoke, the situation on the southern battlefield shifted again,
The explosion at the Fengqiao camp had caused heavy casualties among the Japanese pirates and enraged them. The main victims of this blast were the pirates in the southern encirclement. After the Zhejiang troops abandoned the camp and headed north, the pirates from the southern encirclement naturally pursued them into the camp—both to seize it and to chase the Zhejiang troops northward through it,
As a result, they had barely entered the camp when the explosion occurred, inflicting massive losses,
By contrast, the pirates in the northern encirclement fared much better. They pursued the Zhejiang troops northward, sending only a small detachment south to occupy the Fengqiao camp. This explosion caused them limited damage,
Falling into the same trap twice infuriated the pirates,
Seeing the Zhejiang troops abandon their camp, effectively crippling themselves, and flee into the open, the battle-hardened pirates quickly realised this was a prime opportunity to crush them,
Thus, led primarily by the northern encirclement, the pirates—after a brief moment of chaos from the explosion—began a frenzied pursuit of the Zhejiang troops,
Normally, men on two legs can’t catch horses on four, but the Zhejiang troops were riding not only fine steeds but also slower nags, donkeys, and mules, so their speed wasn’t particularly fast,
Additionally, having just broken through the pirates’ encirclement, their horses hadn’t yet picked up speed,
The pirates, seasoned from years of raids across regions, were remarkably fleet-footed and managed to close in on the slower Zhejiang troops at the rear,
As the situation grew dire, at a critical moment, more than a hundred Zhejiang troops at the back, under the command of a sentry leader, turned their horses around and charged at the pursuing pirates. They voluntarily formed a rearguard to block the pirates, buying time and space for the troops ahead,
The hundred-plus Zhejiang troops galloped against the tide towards the pirates. First, they fired their muskets—though accuracy from horseback was far worse than on solid ground, it still inflicted considerable damage on the pirates. After discharging their muskets, they drew their sabres and hacked at the pirates from horseback,
Cavalry naturally dominate infantry, able to strike and retreat at will. Though the Zhejiang troops hadn’t trained long on horseback, they still held an inherent advantage,
The hundred-plus riders plunged into the pursuing pirate horde like tigers descending a mountain. After cutting through them, they turned their horses under the sentry leader’s command, pulled back to a distance, reloaded their firearms, and charged again,
But on the second charge, the rearguard Zhejiang troops began to suffer casualties,
As they charged the pirates once more, the pursuing pirate numbers had swelled. The vast swarm of pirates quickly surrounded the Zhejiang troops who had plunged into their ranks, negating the cavalry’s advantage. From time to time, a Zhejiang soldier was dragged off his horse by the ferocious pirates,
Once pulled down, seven or eight pirate blades would descend in an instant, and with no time to resist, they died heroically,
Of the hundred-plus rearguard cavalry, only seventy-odd riders managed to break out of the pirate ranks. More than thirty remained behind forever,
Of course, their sacrifice bought the Zhejiang troops time and space,
The main Zhejiang force had now put over two li (about a kilometre) between themselves and the pirates. Their horses had picked up speed, and the gap widened further,
From atop Suzhou City’s walls, Prefect Shang and the assembled officers watched the general scene unfold from afar. They saw the Zhejiang rearguard cavalry charge the pirates twice, losing dozens of riders in the process,
Witnessing this, Prefect Shang couldn’t help but shake his head repeatedly. With a long sigh, he said, “Alas, why did Zihou (Lord Zhu) insist on leading the Zhejiang troops to break out at this moment? So many soldiers’ lives lost in vain—it could have been bloodless. Why bother? If they had held the Fengqiao camp as they did a few days ago, with low walls as a barrier and their firearms’ advantage, the pirates couldn’t have done anything to them. Why let so many soldiers perish? Though I’m not particularly skilled in military matters, even I know the Zhejiang troops rely on firearms, which aren’t suited to open-field combat. By breaking out, aren’t they discarding their strengths and playing to the enemy’s?”,
Hearing this, the deputy general nodded in agreement. He too felt the Zhejiang troops had no need to break out at this time.
