Chapter 292: Captured

Around Luoluohong and Luoluohuan, fewer than a hundred Qing soldiers remained. They fought desperately to break out, but the Ming troops intercepting them only grew more numerous. They charged left and struck west, men falling from their horses one by one around them, yet no matter what they could not reach the banks of the Liuli River.

Suddenly they heard loud, jubilant shouts from the Ming army, and Luoluohuan understood all too clearly the Han words that shattered his very soul.

He gazed into the distance. There, Ming soldiers had hoisted a corpse high on long spears; the gilded armor on the body blazed with dazzling brilliance under the sunlight.

Tears streamed down Luoluohuan's face as he wailed, "Ama, Ama…"

Luoluohong saw it too. Roaring, he made to wheel his horse back, but the men beside him held him fast with all their strength.

Their party fled in utter disarray. After a desperate, bloody fight, they finally reached the banks of the Liuli River. By then the pursuing Ming cavalry had already surged after them in dense swarms. The ice was slick, and many fleeing Qing infantry and cavalry had already broken legs or hooves.

There was no time to care about any of that. Luoluohong and Luoluohuan fled across to the eastern bank of the Liuli River. Fortunately, apart from two Qing heavy-armored horses that broke their hooves, the remaining several dozen men crossed unscathed.

Yet once they reached the eastern bank, they found wave after wave of Ming cavalry here as well, hunting down the scattered, fleeing Plain Red Banner Qing soldiers. The crack of hand cannons and whistling arrows never ceased. Those Ming pursuit riders closed in like packs of wolves, cutting off and slaughtering; one by one, the fleeing Qing soldiers on the open plain were overtaken and killed.

This fleeing group of Qing soldiers, with Luoluohong and Luoluohuan among them, drew the attention of several hundred bandit cavalry under Xu Yue'e on the eastern bank. These bandits might not be much in a head-on fight, but when it came to pursuit they were fearsomely skilled, and at seizing easy pickings they were truly outstanding. By the time they reached the eastern bank, they had already reaped a rich harvest.

Judging by the armor and clothing of these Tartars, there had to be important figures among them.

"Fat sheep ahead…"

With a flurry of whistles, they immediately split into two wings and closed in, charging in from time to time to slash with blades and thrust with spears, whittling away chunks of strength from around Luoluohong and Luoluohuan.

The two could only watch helplessly as the men around them dwindled one by one, powerless to do anything. They dared not pause for an instant, nor risk getting entangled in a fight; they only lashed their horses furiously, hoping to run faster.

While they were harried and entangled by the bandits' hit-and-run attacks, Li Guangheng and Wen Daxing's night-scout cavalry had already arrived.

"Slave-soldiers from the Bayara camp. I hear the slave-chief Yoto had two sons who slipped away — could they be among them?"

Li Guangheng and Wen Daxing exchanged a glance, then burst into loud laughter. Spurring their horses, they likewise split into two wings and struck directly from the flanks.

Wen Daxing's night scouts swept past, whooping, a few dozen paces from Luoluohong and Luoluohuan. They drew bows and nocked arrows, loosing shaft after shaft that sent Qing soldiers tumbling from their saddles.

Li Guangheng led his cavalry charging in from the other side. He drew his horn bow and took aim at a Qing officer clad in quicksilver armor. The officer was thick-set, with a full beard of wiry whiskers, and looked to be a high-ranking commander within the Plain Red Banner.

With a sharp hiss, Li Guangheng's powerful arrow struck home. Luoluohong took the arrow in his right arm and instantly crashed from his horse.

Luoluohuan cried out in alarm, "Ago…"

He made to wheel his horse back, but a Qing soldier beside him seized his horse's reins with all his might. "My lord Beizi, go! Quickly!"

Luoluohuan shouted, "Ago, get on the horse, quick…"

Fighting through the searing pain in his body, Luoluohong grabbed the reins and was about to swing himself back into the saddle.

With a whoosh, Wen Daxing flung a lasso. The noose dropped cleanly around Luoluohong's neck and instantly tightened. Luoluohong felt his breath cut off at once; his hands involuntarily released the reins and clawed desperately at the noose around his throat, struggling not to suffocate and die.

His mount beside him gave a shrill neigh and bolted far away.

Luoluohuan looked back, shouting, "Ago, Ago…"

Only a dozen or so Qing soldiers remained around him. They clustered around him, spurred their horses, and vanished into the distance, leaving only Luoluohuan's voice trailing faintly behind.

…

Luoluohong felt the noose around his neck loosen slightly. In a flash he drew his smooth saber, slashed the rope apart, and rolled to spring up. But a heavy kick suddenly slammed into him, striking his right arm squarely. Under the excruciating pain, the smooth saber dropped from Luoluohong's hand to the ground.

Then several burly night scouts pounced on him, punching and kicking, and pinned him fiercely to the ground. Two of the night scouts seized his arms and wrenched them violently, snapping both his arms cleanly.

Luoluohong howled in agony. His hair disheveled, he glared savagely at the Ming soldiers before him. "You lowly Nikan! I will kill you! I will kill you all…"

A Ming soldier strode over and dealt him a heavy slap across the face, making Luoluohong's right cheek swell high and forcing out several bloodied teeth. Luoluohong had never suffered such utter humiliation. He glared at this Ming soldier and kept roaring curses.

Seeing that man-eating glare, the Ming soldier cursed back, "You dead Tartar, you dare glare at your grandpa with those dog eyes of yours?"

He drove another heavy punch into Luoluohong's belly, making his eyes bulge out and a strangled sound escape his throat. A mouthful of fresh blood trickled from the corner of his lips.

Someone said, "Da Niu, careful you don't beat this Tartar to death!"

That night scout, his face all brutal flesh and his voice as grating as fingernails scraping iron, gave a strange laugh. "Relax, I, Da Niu, know my limits."

A laugh that made Luoluohong's hair stand on end rang out. "Looks like a Tartar general. He's got some fight in him."

The night scouts around them said, "Lord Qiang sees through everything. Look at this Tartar's armor — no one below the rank of Niru-i Janggin could possess such gear."

Wen Daxing and Li Guangheng rode over. The two gazed into the distance; Xu Yue'e's bandit cavalry, along with riders from Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei's camps, were still rolling forward in pursuit, hunting down the scattered, fleeing Qing soldiers. Li Guangheng said to Wen Daxing, "Brother Wen, that's about enough. With friendly troops in pursuit, we should return to the General's side."

Wen Daxing nodded and barked at his men, "Tie this Tartar onto a horse. We'll take him back and interrogate him properly."

Several hundred cavalry and night scouts rumbled back. Crossing the frozen Liuli River, they saw that on the eastern side of the camp the cheering still surged unbroken. A tide of Shunxiang Army troops was circling back to the south, and in their midst a dozen or so Shunxiang soldiers had hoisted Yoto's corpse on long spears, holding it high as the crowd thronged around them.

The ground east of the camp was still filled with kneeling, surrendered Qing soldiers. Squads of Shunxiang troops were pulling them to their feet and herding them southward.

Wen Daxing and the others merged into the cheering host. When Luoluohong, bound tightly to his horse, saw Yoto's corpse in the distance, he struggled frantically and wailed, "Ama, Ama…"

"Ama?"

Wen Daxing, beside him, heard it clearly. He started for a moment, then threw back his head and laughed long and loud.

…

"Slain the slave-chief Yoto?"

Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei, and Xu Yue'e had already dispatched the bulk of their cavalry in pursuit and remained themselves on the western bank of the Liuli River. When word of the report reached them, they hurried to Wang Dou's formation. They saw Zhong Xiancai, Li Guangheng, and the others already leading the host rumbling back, with a dozen or so spearmen still bearing Yoto's corpse and flaunting it triumphantly.

After Yoto's body was lowered, Wang Dou, Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei, and the others hastily gathered around to examine it. Looking at the gilded armor on the body, Yang Guozhu mused, "It must be Yoto beyond doubt. Armor like this — among the Eastern Slaves, only one of princely rank could possess it."

Hu Dawei said, "We must guard against the slave-chief using a body double."

But when they subsequently dragged over several captured Plain Red Banner Qing soldiers to identify the body, they knelt wailing and confirmed that the corpse was indeed that of the Qing state's Duoluo Beile, the Plain Red Banner's Gūsa-i Ejen, Yoto himself. Yang Guozhu and Wang Dou exchanged a glance, their eyes brimming with irrepressible ecstasy.

Wen Daxing then brought more glad tidings. "General, my lords Commandants, your subordinate and Company Commander Li have not failed our mission. We have captured Yoto's eldest son, Luoluohong."

Wang Dou, Yang Guozhu, and the others were overjoyed. Trussed up tightly, Luoluohong was hauled before Wang Dou and the others and forced to kneel. Luoluohong struggled wildly, only wailing loudly at Yoto's body on the ground, "Ama, Ama…"

Yang Guozhu let out a long, ringing laugh. "In this battle, our army has slain in formation the Manchu Plain Red Banner slave-chief Yoto, and furthermore captured his eldest son, the Bayara Tui Janggin Luoluohong, alive! A world-shaking deed of merit! A world-shaking deed of merit indeed!"

The old general's joy was written all over his face; all his usual steady composure was gone. Hu Dawei likewise split his mouth in a wide grin. The merit of this battle… was simply too immense.

Only Xu Yue'e cast a deep, lingering look at Wang Dou, her gaze then sweeping over the captured Qing prisoners.

As the news spread, the entire battle formation erupted in a boil of excitement. The civilian laborers in the formation passed word to one another, and before long the common people at many of the southern gathering points all learned of it: General Wang and his men had won a great victory. In just a single morning, they had breached the Tartar camp, cut down the Tartar chief Yoto, and captured his son Luoluohong alive. They told one another, all boiling over with cheers, weeping as they did. The government troops had won. The government troops had won. They were completely saved.

Among the laborers, that man, Company Commander Liu, had been gazing intently toward Wang Dou's position for a long while. Suddenly he said in a low voice to Wu Daben beside him, "Fukui, I have decided that after this battle I will go and offer my service to the Mobile Corps Commander of Bao'an Prefecture, Lord Wang. What do you intend to do?"

Wu Daben was taken aback for a moment, then said in his rough, blunt way, "Wherever my lord goes, this subordinate goes. A true man like General Wang is worth me, Wu Daben, laying down my life for."

In another group, Chen Xu was speaking with a man called Chen Sheng. The man was tall and lean, though somewhat thin and frail, with a sallow, dark complexion and not yet thirty years old. He spoke with a southern accent, and by his own account was from Anqing Prefecture. He had studied for a few years, but had failed the Licentiate examination twice and was now merely a Confucian Pupil.

He had followed his father to Tongzhou for trade, was captured on the road, and his loving father died miserably under the Tartar blade; a few days ago, his young brother, captured together with him, also starved to death. He was filled with bone-deep hatred for the Tartars, and today he signed up for the trench-filling hero squad.

He seemed very quiet, but the scholarly air about him gave Chen Xu a very good impression; the two nodded to each other in mutual recognition, and from nodding they began to talk.

“…My mother died of illness when I was ten. I still have a wife and a concubine in Anqing, who have borne me two sons and one daughter. Fortunately, they did not follow me this time, otherwise they would have shared the fate of my father and young brother…”

At this point Chen Sheng fell silent again, then his expression turned resolute: “I am determined to go and serve under General Wang, vowing to slaughter every slave under heaven and avenge my father and second brother.”

Chen Xu said: “I share this thought. My second and third brothers died under the Tartar blade. I also intend to throw myself fully into the Shunxiang Army, to kill the rebels and take revenge.”

The two reached out their hands and clasped them tightly together, each seeing the steadfast resolve in the other’s eyes.

……

Surrounded by a large retinue of guards, Wang Dou, Yang Guozhu, and the others entered the Plain Red Banner Qing army encampment. By now the remaining enemies within the camp had been mopped up, and all who dared resist had been beheaded. Groups of Ming troops were binding and guarding the captured Qing soldiers.

Wang Dou and his party went straight into Gaocun Fort at the heart of the encampment. Inside Yoto’s field headquarters, the army had also seized Yoto’s gilded-dragon banner of the Gūsa-i Ejen, along with a large number of other banners, account books, and various items. The gold, silver, and valuables inside Gaocun Fort were beyond counting.

Looking at all these spoils, the smiles on the faces of Wang Dou, Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei, and the others never ceased. After the frustration following the Battle of Julu, who could have imagined a day so satisfying as this?