Chapter 9: Kill the Slaves!

Right then, the group returned inside Jingbian Dun to discuss matters. At this time, Tan Jinrong, the night scout from Julu Dun, was also willing to stake his life with the group and join the raid on the Later Jin soldiers in exchange for military merit reward silver. With him, the number willing to go out reached seven.

At Han Zhong's loud suggestion, everyone publicly recommended Wang Dou as their leader, and Gao Shiyin tacitly accepted it as well.

After these events, Wang Dou's combat skills had earned everyone's admiration, even Han Chao's. Han Chao considered his own skills on par with Gao Shiyin's, and now that even Gao Shiyin was no match for Wang Dou, he figured the same must be true for himself.

In particular, the calm and cunning Wang Dou had displayed these past few days gave everyone tremendous confidence, as if following him guaranteed success.

Since everyone was all in, the matter was settled. Before a great battle to kill the enemy, they naturally had to eat well. Zhong Dayong and Wang Youjin were very enthusiastic about this, and the two also invested heavily, specially procuring some meat from Dongjiazhuang and Xinzhuang so the heroes could eat and drink their fill.

That evening, Han Chao, Han Zhong, Gao Shiyin, and Tan Jinrong went out first to scout, in order to ascertain this Later Jin force's encampment. They were night scouts, the Great Ming's professional reconnaissance soldiers, whose work had always been deep infiltration of enemy territory to observe enemy movements; scouting was second nature to them.

In the Great Ming, night scouts had always been the elite of every battalion and fort. Due to the danger, those selected as night scouts were all exceptionally outstanding figures in the Ming army, and the Great Ming treated them very generously. Even if they died or were wounded, their descendants received generous rewards, and every year's end, the Regional Military Commissioner would set up an altar in the garrison city to offer them sacrifices.

However, by the Chongzhen Emperor's present reign, such generous treatment had already become a thing of the past. Like ordinary frontier soldiers, the night scouts of every battalion and fort all suffered the same hunger and cold. This was also why men like Han Chao and Han Zhong were willing to stake their lives — better to die in battle than starve to death.

Early the next morning, Han Chao and the others returned. They had already determined this Later Jin force's encampment: it was beside a grove near Zhangzhuang Village, not far from here. This Later Jin force was also far too arrogant, making no effort to conceal their tracks, which allowed Han Chao and the others to easily pinpoint their camp.

When Han Chao and the others returned, they had actually brought back two more night scouts — Zhang Ruchun and Qi Bing from Dakang Dun. The two were close with Han Chao and had been poor for a long time. Under Han Chao's persuasion, the two readily agreed to join the group and go out together to fight for military merit in exchange for reward silver.

Seeing more people join, everyone's morale soared. The number going out to fight had now reached nine, among them six night scouts, so their odds of victory were already extremely high. However, when Zhang Ruchun and Qi Bing saw that the leader was actually Wang Dou, they could not help but feel deep dissatisfaction. Wang Dou's former reputation for foolishness, timidity, and weakness was notoriously widespread around Dongjiazhuang, and Zhang Ruchun and Qi Bing naturally knew of it.

Seeing the two were not convinced, Wang Dou stepped forward on his own to accept their challenge. From fists and feet to blades and spears to bows and arrows, in the end, even the two of them attacking together were no match for Wang Dou. This astonished them — when had this Big Fool Wang, this Big Coward Wang, become so formidable? Astonished as they were, in the army, strength commanded respect. Faced with the facts, the two tacitly accepted Wang Dou's leadership, though the shock and doubt in their hearts could not be dispelled.

During the day, everyone rested again, eating and drinking well to conserve energy and build strength. Wang Dou also took time to visit Xinzhuang. Only when he saw that his mother and Xie Xiuniang were both safe did he set his mind at ease.

When night fell, the nine men, fully armed, bade farewell to the worried people inside Jingbian Dun and quietly vanished into the night sky.

Night raid — this was Wang Dou's proposal. Indeed, if they fought in the open field by day, these nine men would be no match for this Later Jin force; the only choice was night combat. In ancient times, night battles were rare. Aside from many soldiers suffering from malnutrition and night blindness, the most important reason was the extreme difficulty of organizing night combat. Ancient communication methods were primitive, and there were no complete maps for reference; even controlling a unit's marching direction at night was very hard, let alone conducting a battle.

However, what Wang Dou faced was only a small elite unit, and most of his men were night scouts accustomed to operating at night, so night combat naturally posed no problem.

Wang Dou and Han Chao walked at the very front, heading straight for the objective. Wang Dou carried a bow and arrows on his back, a waist saber at his hip, and gripped his long spear tightly in his hand. Though a great battle was about to come, his heart was strangely calm. Perhaps he truly was suited to living in chaotic times; this life of licking blood from the blade did not frighten him, but instead thrilled him beyond measure.

The nights under the Great Ming's eighth agricultural month were already quite chilly, but everyone's hearts were boiling with hot blood, and not a single person felt cold.

The party crept all the way to the grove beside Zhangzhuang. Faintly, the loud shouts and raucous laughter of several Later Jin soldiers could already be heard, mixed with the weeping and pleading of some women. Everyone knew the Later Jin soldiers were right before them, and no one dared be careless. Lightly and quietly, they slipped through from this side of the grove. At this moment, the advantages of Han Chao and the others as Great Ming reconnaissance soldiers became apparent — in their movements, they made not the slightest sound, something even Wang Dou could not manage.

Everyone cautiously reached the edge of the grove and looked out. There, on the open ground by the creek, several campfires blazed. Beside the campfires stood tents, and some Later Jin soldiers were sitting around the fires, talking and laughing loudly.

Perhaps because they were resting for the night, none of these Later Jin soldiers wore armor, revealing their shaved-bluish scalps and the small, thin queues of the money-rat-tail style at the back of their heads. Their weapons were also placed loosely and carelessly to one side. Each of them was embracing a disheveled Great Ming woman, talking and laughing while performing all sorts of unspeakable acts. The women dared not resist, only weeping softly, their expressions full of misery and desolation.

Beside one campfire lay the corpses of several Great Ming women, all completely naked, their bodies twisted, clearly having suffered greatly before death. Beside one tent huddled a group of women in tattered clothes, each shrinking into a ball, their expressions filled with extreme terror, with the sound of low sobbing coming from them from time to time.

Seeing the scene before them, Wang Dou and the others were all furiously enraged. These heaven-cursed Tatars, doing such inhuman things.

Behind Wang Dou, Ma Ming was trembling all over, clearly struggling to control himself. Wang Dou turned his head to glance at him, signaling him to calm down, but Ma Ming's eyes were still bloodshot, the scene before him evidently reminding him of his own wife who had died tragically.

Wang Dou said in a low voice, "The time is not yet right. We will strike after the Tatars have gone to rest."

He carefully counted the number of Later Jin soldiers and discovered there were actually ten in total. He could not help but be greatly alarmed — he had not expected the number of Tatar soldiers to be half again as many, contradicting their earlier estimate. Han Chao and the others also noticed this and were equally shocked, but now they were riding a tiger and could not dismount; even if blades and flames lay ahead, they had to go through with it.

Just then, a woman's miserable scream suddenly rang out. Everyone looked over and saw that a woman, unwilling to be violated by the Tatar holding her, had made a resisting motion. That Later Jin soldier flew into a rage, stood up, and began fiercely beating her head and face with the handle of his blade, cursing her in his barbarian tongue. The woman's head and face were covered in blood; she struggled with all her might, just weeping bitterly. Several nearby Later Jin soldiers watched and laughed uproariously, pointing and making sport of it.

A surge of blood rushed up within Wang Dou, but he forcibly suppressed it. He desperately told himself, "Calm down, calm down, the time is not yet right!"

Suddenly, Ma Ming behind him sprang up and shouted, "Heaven-cursed Tatars!"

As if a hornet's nest had been burst open, the Later Jin soldiers beside the campfire leaped to their feet one after another. They shoved away the women in their arms and barked harsh questions in their barbarian tongue. The Later Jin soldier who had been beating the woman also froze and looked in this direction.

"Thwip!" The sound of a bowstring snapping tight rang out. A heavy arrow tore through the darkness and shot powerfully into that Later Jin soldier's throat, sending him flying backward and pinning him dead to the ground.

"Kill!"

The stealth attack had failed; only open battle remained. Wang Dou roared hoarsely, leveled his long spear, and charged out at the very front.

"Kill..."

Han Chao and Han Zhong, their faces flushed red, also bellowed at the top of their lungs, brandishing their weapons as they charged out close behind Wang Dou.

The remaining men all surged out, and in an instant, they collided with those Later Jin soldiers.

The first to meet Wang Dou was a Later Jin armored soldier wielding a long-handled crescent axe. Caught off guard by the sudden attack, that armored soldier had not yet had time to swing his long-handled axe into motion.

Wang Dou roared, "Kill!"

The long spear in his hand thrust straight into the man's heart. That Later Jin armored soldier let out an earth-shaking howl and strained to bring his axe chopping down, but Wang Dou stabbed fiercely again, lifted him, and hurled him away. The man crashed heavily into a nearby campfire, his whole body catching fire, and his screams rang out even more horrifically.

Another Later Jin foot soldier, brandishing a tiger-tooth saber, slashed toward Wang Dou's back.

Wang Dou bellowed explosively, "Kill!"

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, he spun on his heel, and his spear, like a swimming dragon, instantly stabbed into that Later Jin foot soldier's throat.

Wang Dou withdrew his spear, and blood spurted out. Even in death, that Later Jin foot soldier's eyes remained wide open, as if unable to believe what he was seeing.

Wang Dou's spear technique came from his ancestral tradition, and his ancestors' spear technique had been passed down from within the Qi Family Army. In the Qi Family Army's spear training, one had to instantly strike the opponent's eye, throat, heart, waist, and foot — five targets — from twenty paces away while drums pounded, just to be considered qualified. How could it be anything trivial? This Later Jin foot soldier did not die unjustly!

By now, both sides were locked in a chaotic melee. The clash of weapons and screams rang out constantly; the battle was bloody and brutal.

The women who had been taken captive all huddled to the side, trembling with fear, none daring to make a sound. But seeing the Ming soldiers before them suddenly launch an attack, hope kindled in many of their eyes; they could only pray that these brave Ming soldiers would slaughter all the Tatars before them and rescue them from their misery.

Wang Dou surveyed the battle. Including the one shot dead, three Later Jin soldiers had now been killed by him. Seven remained, locked in tangled combat with Han Chao and the others. Han Chao wielded a hooked-sickle spear, Han Zhong a large club, and Gao Shiyin a trident-like fork; all three were fighting a single Later Jin soldier before them.

Yet in just this short time, all three had already been wounded. Han Chao had been slashed across the shoulder and back by an axe, Han Zhong had been stabbed in the thigh by a spear, and Gao Shiyin had also been slashed several times. But their eyes were red, and they just gritted their teeth and fought on. The opponent before them was in even worse shape. With military merit almost within reach, all three seemed to possess boundless strength, just shouting and roaring.

The most eye-catching figure on the field was a big man brandishing a long-handled iron slicing blade. He was ferociously fierce, swinging the heavy slicing blade in his hands with a whistling wind. Tan Jinrong and Zhang Ruchun had already been cut down by him in succession, yet he still bellowed and fought on fervently.

Wang Dou saw that this man was the Later Jin Heavy Armor Soldier he had wounded with an arrow beneath Jingbian Dun that day. Even with wounds to his shoulder and chest, he was still so fierce and brave. After killing Tan Jinrong and Zhang Ruchun in succession, he cleaved Ma Ming's left arm off with one stroke, then without the slightest pause, swung his blade straight down at Qi Tianliang. Qi Tianliang screamed. Wang Dou's long spear lashed out violently.

That Later Jin Heavy Armor Soldier let out an earth-shaking howl. Wang Dou's long spear burst through his back and out his chest. The Later Jin Heavy Armor Soldier stared dumbly at his own chest, the fine-iron slicing blade in his hand still about to chop down onto Qi Tianliang. Wang Dou no longer had time to pull out his weapon; he leaped up and drove a knee heavily into the man's head. The Later Jin Heavy Armor Soldier's skull cracked, and he staggered backward. Wang Dou landed several heavy punches, and the sound of his sternum shattering could be clearly heard.

Suddenly, Ma Ming lunged over and tackled the Later Jin Heavy Armor Soldier to the ground. Blood streamed continuously from the stump of his left arm, yet he still desperately entangled his body with the Heavy Armor Soldier. The Later Jin Heavy Armor Soldier was still not dead and struggled frantically. A head-taking knife appeared in Ma Ming's right hand, and he plunged it into the Later Jin Heavy Armor Soldier's heart — one stab after another, until the man lay motionless.

Ma Ming laughed aloud: "Haha, I killed him, haha, Erya, Erya, did you see? Your man has avenged you, avenged you..."

Gradually, Ma Ming's voice faded. Finally, he collapsed onto the Later Jin Heavy Armor Soldier's body, motionless. He had breathed his last, but in death, his face still bore a joyful smile.

In the blink of an eye, the Later Jin force had suffered more than half casualties. In particular, the death of that strongest, fiercest, and bravest Heavy Armor Soldier dealt a tremendous blow to these Later Jin soldiers. Moreover, Wang Dou was so ferocious, killing several men single-handedly, which sent chills surging through the hearts of the remaining Later Jin soldiers. One Later Jin soldier tangled in combat with Han Chao was momentarily stunned, and Han Chao seized the opening to stab him in the chest with his spear. The hooked-sickle spear sank deep into his body, and this Later Jin soldier screamed loudly.

The screams of this Later Jin soldier had an enormous impact. In quick succession, the Later Jin soldiers fighting Han Zhong and Gao Shiyin were also killed one after another. In the end, only the Later Jin squad leader wielding a tiger spear and two foot soldiers remained.

The one locked in combat with one of the foot soldiers was Qi Bing, the night scout from Julu Dun. He had just painstakingly fought and killed his opponent and had no time to cheer before that squad leader stabbed him through the back with his spear, lifting and hurling him to the ground, where he breathed his last.

Abruptly, that squad leader saw Wang Dou turning his head to look at him, his gaze utterly frenzied.

The squad leader shouted and leveled his spear, charging at Wang Dou. Wang Dou suddenly drew his waist saber and rushed forward. Like a thunderclap, he roared: "Kill the slaves!"

He brought the saber down on the squad leader's head. The squad leader instinctively raised his spear to block, but Wang Dou's single stroke cleaved straight through the spear shaft. The saber's momentum did not diminish; it followed down from his head all the way, finally splitting this squad leader from head to foot into two halves. A thick, heavy stench of blood spread outward.

In the end, only one Later Jin foot soldier remained; of the ten men, he alone was left. Seeing Wang Dou’s overwhelming might, he seemed frozen with terror.

Wang Dou pulled his long spear from the corpse of the Later Jin Heavy Armor Soldier and strode toward that foot soldier.

Seeing Wang Dou approach like a fiend, his long spear still dripping blood, and several Ming troops closing in around him with murderous intent, terror showed in the Later Jin foot soldier’s eyes. He suddenly dropped to his knees, shouting loudly, seemingly begging for mercy in the Tatar tongue.

Wang Dou walked up to him, and the Later Jin foot soldier shouted even more frantically. He stared at Wang Dou, his eyes filled with terror and pleading.

Wang Dou aimed his long spear at the man’s chest and thrust down fiercely. The Later Jin foot soldier let out a heaven-shaking scream, both hands desperately clutching the spear shaft driven deep into his body. Wang Dou shoved again with force, and the Later Jin foot soldier twisted in agony. Finally, all his strength drained away, his hands went limp and fell aside, though his body still twitched from time to time.

The bloody battle was finally over. Wang Dou suddenly felt as if all the strength had left his body, and he collapsed to the ground in a sitting position…