Chapter 279: Let the Flames of Vengeance Blaze Fiercely

These horses showed no panic on the battlefield—they raised their heads, let out a neigh, and charged forward with a thunderous rumble.

As arrows flew through the air, both sides' forces crashed together at speed.

The battle erupted in that instant.

And from the very moment it erupted, this was an intensely fierce battle.

In truth, in many ancient wars, there was no such thing as outwitting the enemy. Most clever schemes and stratagems existed only in the writings of literati, or in fantasies.

The literati loved that feeling of "while chatting and laughing, enemy warships turn to ash," loved "planning strategies within a tent and winning victories a thousand li away."

In reality, nothing was ever that easy, nor that fantastical.

War between two sides was simply a contest of numbers, a contest of willpower, a contest of troop quality. Beyond that, there was rarely anything else.

As for ambushes and counter-ambushes, infiltration and counter-infiltration—they played nowhere near as large a role in large-scale army operations.

Because in the warfare of this era, there was no way to carry out decapitation strikes either.

This battle was a perfect embodiment of cold-weapon warfare—both sides crashed together in an instant and began hacking at each other with reckless abandon.

Though it could be described as fantastical and written to seem full of stratagems, in reality it was just the vanguards of both sides slashing at each other on the field. As for what came behind, each side simply had its own forces holding the line.

At such a moment, if one side showed signs of faltering, that side would suffer.

If An Bangyan's men showed signs of faltering—whether on the left wing, right wing, or center—the Ming army would send in reinforcements. The same held true for the Ming army.

Whoever had more men, whoever had more reserves, would win.

Seated on his horse, Yuan Keli glanced at Li Biao beside him and asked casually, "Have the scouts we sent out returned?"

"Reporting to Your Excellency, they have returned." Zhang Yanfang nodded and said respectfully, "There are no enemies on either flank. I have also sent out roaming cavalry. Should they spot any trace of the enemy on the left or right flanks, they will report back immediately."

Yuan Keli nodded, now confident in his understanding of the situation.

In truth, before any battle, once fighting began, one would certainly send men to check the flanks—otherwise one risked being ambushed. And trying to ambush the other side was no easy matter either.

Watching only the front and not the rear, watching only the left and not the right—such situations were extremely rare, unless the general was a fool. Clearly, neither side was that foolish, so this battle became a contest of pure strength.

Seeing that the charging cavalry seemed poised to break apart the enemy's formation, Yuan Keli immediately tensed with alertness.

Placing his hopes on these two thousand cavalry completely shattering the enemy's formation was unrealistic.

This cavalry force was far too small, especially since it had been hastily assembled.

Though the enemy was also a ragtag mob, they came from the same southwestern stock and were quite fierce. Relying solely on these two thousand cavalry to win was certainly impossible—Yuan Keli didn't expect them to do it alone. He only needed these two thousand cavalry to tear open a gap in the enemy's battle line.

Clearly, these two thousand cavalry had already accomplished that. Yuan Keli knew the moment was ripe, and he directly gave the order: "Advance!"

The infantry in the rear quickly pressed forward, charging toward the battlefield. Though the formation looked somewhat ragged and straggling, they still carried considerable momentum.

Looking at such troops, Yuan Keli felt somewhat helpless and turned to glance at Li Biao.

Li Biao wore an expression of utter embarrassment.

These were his men, after all. But there was nothing he could do about it—some things he didn't understand, and some things he understood but couldn't accomplish, so this was the best he could manage.

Yuan Keli didn't reproach Li Biao; he could understand to some extent. If all the troops were as elite and fierce as those Qi Yuangong had brought, then matters in the southwest would be easy to handle, and he wouldn't need to expend so much effort—he could simply push straight through.

After the infantry arrived, an even larger-scale battle began between the Ming army and An Bangyan's forces.

Both sides rapidly became locked in a deadly struggle. On the battlefield, the cries of battle shook the heavens, and dust swirled thick in the air.

For a time, the two sides fought to a deadlock. Both carried the same desire to live, the same hope for the future, spilling their hot blood upon this stretch of land.

Atop the city walls of Bijie.

Zhang Cheng and Zhang Zhongmou watched the scene before them. After exchanging a glance, both saw the relief in each other's eyes.

They had been incredibly fortunate—they had nearly been unable to hold on just moments ago!

Neither of them had expected reinforcements to arrive at such a moment, saving them from death.

Turning to look at Zhang Zhongmou beside him, Zhang Cheng said with a smile, "Heaven never seals off all paths! If it had been any later, it might truly have been too late. We really are quite lucky!"

Zhang Zhongmou also smiled and said, "Indeed, lucky enough. Most importantly, I didn't leave last night. If I had listened to you last night and left Bijie, I reckon I'd be getting my head chopped off right about now."

Upon hearing this, a flash of embarrassment crossed Zhang Cheng's face, along with some guilt as he said, "Your Excellency is right. It was I who nearly harmed Your Excellency."

If the reinforcements hadn't arrived and Zhang Zhongmou had fled, it could still be somewhat excused. But if the reinforcements had arrived and he still fled—having held for only a single day before running that very night—such a case would certainly be severely punished, with basically no other outcome.

"Enough. Who could have imagined the reinforcements would arrive this quickly?" Zhang Zhongmou said with a smile. "It seems something we don't know about has happened."

"Why does Your Excellency say that?" Zhang Cheng asked with a smile.

He was truly delighted right now, unable to suppress the smile on his face, so his smile was extremely bright as he spoke—even though the two were discussing a very serious matter.

Zhang Zhongmou then said, "Look over there."

Following the direction Zhang Zhongmou pointed, Zhang Cheng saw a group of people at the rear of the formation. Judging by their position, that should be where the commanders were located.

They were also heading this way—clearly important figures.

"That one is Governor Li, and the one who just led the charge was Regional Commander Zhang Yanfang." Zhang Zhongmou said to Zhang Cheng, "Do you see that man? He's in the middle of the formation, with Governor Li only able to accompany him at the side. This shows that man's official rank is higher than Governor Li's."

"On this ground of our Guizhou, who could hold a higher position than Governor Li?"

"No one at all. So there's only one possibility—that's someone sent by the imperial court, and his rank is certainly not low. If the court sent someone here, then something we don't know about must have happened."

"Then what do we do now?" Zhang Cheng asked hesitantly.

"What else can we do? Open the city gates and go down to receive them." Zhang Zhongmou said, then turned and headed down below himself.

His mood was truly excellent right now, because this time not only had his life been saved, but he had also earned merit.

An Bangyan's rebel army had besieged the city of Bijie, yet he had held his ground without retreating, waiting all the way until reinforcements arrived.

What did this mean?

Willing to live or die together with Bijie, refusing to surrender to the rebels—this was loyalty.

Facing an army of tens of thousands, he had fought with only the meager troops in the city, and he had held the defense—this was strategic skill.

Brave, resourceful, and loyal—he had naturally earned merit, and he would receive a generous reward.

Under such circumstances, how could Zhang Zhongmou not be delighted?

He had spent far too long in this godforsaken place. He had long wanted to be transferred away—even returning to Guiyang would be better than here.

The fighting on the battlefield was fierce, but the situation was already clear. The Ming forces held the overall advantage—though they had no obvious edge in numbers, their equipment and quality were considerably better than An Bangyan's men. The battle had not yet become a complete rout, but victory and defeat would soon be decided.

"The city gates are open," Yuan Keli said.

In truth, Yuan Keli had not given this battle a single thought, nor had he given An Bangyan a single thought.

In Yuan Keli's view, these people were frogs at the bottom of a well who had never seen the world. If he truly had to mobilize a great army to fight them, it would in fact be somewhat wasteful.

Whether it was the troops of Huguang or the troops of Nanjing, mustering and marching them out required a great deal of time and money. He understood how things worked at court—rebellion could not wait, so time was short. As for money, there was no point even thinking about it; the court itself was ringing with poverty right now.

In fact, after His Majesty had assigned Qi Yuangong to him and transferred the capital's Tiger Roar Battalion, Yuan Keli had already understood His Majesty's thinking—better to bring a force from the capital than to mobilize local troops.

If he wanted to pacify the rebellion in the southwest, he could only resolve it from the southwest's very roots.

While still in the capital, Yuan Keli had understood this, and he had raised no objection. The reason was simple: he looked down on these southwestern men, who jumped around day after day yet had never once managed to leap anywhere.

Even if they were reckless, what of it?

Besides, these southwesterners only made small trouble whenever the Great Ming had no time to mind them. And because the Great Ming paid them little heed each time, their courage grew bolder and bolder.

Being ignored again and again, they came to think the Great Ming was nothing much, and dreamed day and night of marching north—of fighting their way to Huguang, to Jiangnan, to Nanjing. But had they ever been to Jiangnan, to Huguang, to Nanjing?

What did they know? They merely sat in a well and looked at the sky!

Yuan Keli simply did not take them seriously.

And so it proved—look at this battlefield: the men of Sichuan had brought only Guizhou's forces, and these rebels were already unable to hold.

And with this, they wanted to rebel?

Li Biao saw that Yuan Keli's mind was not on the battlefield at all, and that he was still concerned about the opening of Bijie's city gates. He felt somewhat helpless inside.

His own Excellency—if you called him arrogant, well, when he arranged operations he was extremely cautious and careful, every step steady and methodical, advancing step by step, never taking risks, never greedily charging ahead.

But if you called him cautious and careful in character, that wasn't right either. When facing An Bangyan, his own Excellency displayed sheer arrogance. Now on the battlefield, while the fighting raged over there, he had already stopped caring about the situation on the field.

"Bijie city has not fallen—that is good," Li Biao said with a smile, echoing him.

Though he had many thoughts in his heart, in the end he did not voice them. Li Biao also knew that speaking them would not be good.

At this moment, people had already begun walking out of Bijie city.

They moved quickly, coming straight to where Yuan Keli and Li Biao stood.

The one leading them was Zhang Zhongmou. Arriving before the two men, he said respectfully, "Deputy Judicial Commissioner of Guizhou Provincial Judicial Commission pays respects to His Excellency the Governor."

Zhang Cheng behind him also hurriedly stepped forward and said respectfully, "Bijie Guard Commander Zhang Cheng pays respects to Your Excellency."

Li Biao looked at the two men, nodded with a smile, and said, "This is the court's newly appointed Governor-General of the Southwest, Yuan Keli, Lord Yuan. This time, Lord Yuan anticipated the enemy's moves and determined that An Bangyan would rebel, so he brought men to suppress the rebellion. You should thank Lord Yuan—if not for him, you likely would not be standing here now."

Hearing this, Zhang Zhongmou and Zhang Cheng exchanged a glance.

The court had indeed sent a high official—Governor-General of the Southwest. That was no low rank!

What mattered was this Governor-General of the Southwest's ability—he had actually been able to guess that An Bangyan would rebel and had directly brought a great army over.

Most crucially, his guess had actually been right!

Zhang Zhongmou and Zhang Cheng both hurriedly stepped forward and said respectfully, "Many thanks to His Excellency for saving our lives!"

Yuan Keli glanced at Li Biao, somewhat helpless. He naturally knew what Li Biao was doing—building a good image for him while also flattering him.

Yuan Keli felt there was no need for such things. He was old now, his heart as still as water, without desires or ambitions; some things no longer weighed so heavily on him.

Looking at the two men, Yuan Keli said to Zhang Cheng, "With so many rebels, holding out as you did was no easy feat. I see you bear wounds on your body—how is it, can you still fight?"

Hearing this, Zhang Cheng was immediately stirred and hastily replied, "Reporting to Your Excellency, I can fight."

"Good. Take the men under your command who can still fight, and I will additionally allocate three thousand troops to you. Do you see that direction? That is where An Bangyan is positioned. Take your men, ignore everything else, and charge straight at that position. Shout at the top of your lungs, 'Capture An Bangyan alive!' Go!"

Yuan Keli waved his hand with a smile, signaling Zhang Cheng to hurry and gather his men for battle.

"Yes, Your Excellency." Zhang Cheng acknowledged respectfully and hurried off to rally his men.

His heart was burning with excitement, as if a flame were blazing within it.

The reason was simple: this was an opportunity—an opportunity given to him by His Excellency. Having been beaten down these past days and having lost many subordinates, Zhang Cheng had felt pent-up frustration.

Now that his life had been saved, what he thought of naturally was revenge. This was His Excellency giving him a chance for revenge, and at the same time a chance to earn merit.

The situation on the battlefield was now clear—victory for the Great Ming was only a matter of time, and from the look of things, An Bangyan seemed unable to hold out much longer. If he led his men charging over, An Bangyan would likely collapse, and then his merit would be secured.

This was His Excellency rewarding him. A fire burned in Zhang Cheng's heart—he would avenge his fallen brothers, and he would prove himself to His Excellency.

The remaining soldiers left in Bijie city numbered only a little over a thousand, and most of them bore wounds.

Yet after Zhang Cheng brought back the news, these men showed no fear. Instead, like Zhang Cheng, flames burned in their eyes as they grabbed their weapons and marched out of the city.

Seeing this, Li Biao said hesitantly, "Your Excellency, these men are all wounded. Is it really appropriate to send them charging into battle again? If they are defeated, it could affect matters."

Yuan Keli glanced at Li Biao and said with a smile, "They will not be defeated. They survived the defense of the city, and there is fire in their hearts. Now, as long as that fire is allowed to burn, this unit will become an elite force in the future. It is alive—it will be the main force with which I pacify Sichuan."