Patron only: A look into an interesting battle account

『順治十五年,有族兄旅寓鎮江，適海寇(明鄭)入犯鎮江，城中官軍悉出城拒賊。族兄與居民並派出登城守埤，因得縱觀戰事云。官軍出城，陣于江口，江中海寇巨艦抵岸，遙聞掌號聲。寇蟻附而上，集於沙洲， 約數千人，通為一圓陣。四面籐牌皆外向，若聚數千牌為一牌，兵隱不見。官軍馳馬往衝，將近百步，鞚馬引弓射之，矢不能入，寇屹然不動。官軍鳴金徐退。復鼓而進。乃前衝射。寇仍不動。如是者三，寇陣寂然。徐聞其陣中擂鼓甚急，約十數聲，寇一齊吶喊，分為五陣。官軍方愕而視之，其中陣復擂鼓，五陣齊吶喊分為二十五陣。其中陣復擂鼓，各陣吶喊， 分為無數陣。睇視之，則皆五人為伍也，散如亂星，飛奔而來。官軍射之不中，遽薄我陣，徑斫馬足，箭無可施；馬驚刀傷，望城回奔，寇隨以入，城遂陷。』

"In the fifteenth year of Shunzi (AD 1659), my clan brother travelled to Zhenjiang, and just happened upon the pirate (i.e. Koxinga) invasion of Zhenjiang, and all government troops in the city moved out to defend against the pirates. My clan brother was assigned to guard duty on top the city wall along with the locals, so he was able to witness the battle. (He saw) the government troops move out of the city and deploy at the river mouth, and from the river the pirate's giant ships reach the shore. (My clan brother) heard the sound of horn from afar, and the pirates swarmed to the shoal. (The pirates) numbered several thousand, and formed into a round formation, rattan shields facing outwards in all directions. Thousands of shields gathered together like one shield, hiding all (pirate) troops behind. Government troops rode out and charged forward. When they approached a hundred paces from the pirates, they pulled the reins and loosed the arrows. Yet the arrows did not penetrate (the shields), and the pirates did not budge in the slightest. Government troops sounded the gong and withdrew, then beat the drum and charged again. The pirates still did not move. The same scenario repeated thrice, and the pirate formation remained silent. (Suddenly) he heard about a dozen of rapid drum beats from the pirate formation, and the pirates let out a great shout and split into five formations, while government troops could only stare in astonishment. The centre formation drummed again, and the five formations shouted together and split into twenty-five formations. Centre formation drummed again, and the formations shouted again, then split into countless formations. (My clan brother) looked closely, and noticed that each formation consists of five troops. (They) scattered like fire sparks and sprinted forward. Government troops could not hit them, (and the pirates) seeped into our formation, dashing and slashing at the horse legs. (Our) arrows were useless, the horses spooked and injured by swords, (so the government troops) rushed back into the city. The pirates followed them in, and the city fell."


The account above was given by Hong Heng Qiu (洪横秋), an early Qing period poet, relaying witness account of his clan brother (a distant cousin) that saw the battle first-hand. A more in-depth analysis of this battle account is exclusive to my Patrons and can be accessed here. If you like my work so far, please support me via Patreon!

As an aside, here is my blog post giving a basic rundown of Chinese rattan shield, as well as weapons it was commonly paired with. I also recommend anyone interested to read Peter Dekker's superb article on Chinese rattan shield, as well these two videos on The Scholar-General's YouTube channel.