Chapter 375: Capturing Xu Hongru Alive

For scouting terrain and finding a place for a decisive battle, the new army had trained countless times.

Qi Jin himself was also a very experienced general, so naturally there was no major problem; he quickly found a suitable spot.

This place was called Jialong Gully, consisting of two mountains with a gully between them.

Of course, the mountains on either side were not any kind of perilous peaks, and this valley was not any kind of long, narrow gorge either — the middle of the valley was quite spacious, making it impossible to set an ambush.

Qi Jin did not choose a place suited for ambush, nor did he want to use his own men to spring one.

The enemy had many men; if he were to set an ambush, it would be all too easy to guard the front but neglect the rear. Besides, there was no suitable terrain for Qi Jin to arrange a battle formation anyway.

But if he occupied this valley, then for the rebels to pass through it, they would have to defeat Qi Jin's army. That way, they would have a reason to come and fight Qi Jin.

As for whether the rebels could defeat Qi Jin — the answer was obvious. There was simply no such possibility.

As long as Qi Jin could rout the rebels, then seize the moment to press the attack, these men would be lambs awaiting the slaughter. When that time came, amid the chaos of the routed army, Qi Jin could capture whoever he wanted.

Qi Jin glanced at Qi Yuangong beside him and said: "I'm giving you a five-hundred-man elite force. You don't need to do anything else. Once battle begins, you keep your eyes fixed on Xu Hongru and cut straight toward him."

"Remember — he must be taken alive."

Qi Jin was paving the way for his son. After all, at his age, having reached this point in official rank, there was no possibility of climbing higher. In a few years, if he no longer led troops and stepped down from his general's post, he would likely take a turn through the Staff Office.

By that time, the Qi family would need someone to carry the load. Although his sons were not especially outstanding, they were adequate. Once he was promoted up, even if these sons could not take his position, they could still become generals with real power.

After all, Qi Jin was getting old, and no one could say how many more years he had to live.

This was what it meant to prepare for a rainy day.

Such a fine opportunity naturally had to be reserved for his own son.

After hearing Qi Jin's words, Qi Yuangong hastily bowed and said: "Father, rest assured — your son will not let you down."

Qi Yuangong had confidence in his heart.

Facing these rabble, five hundred elites of his own were more than enough. When the time came to capture Xu Hongru alive, this merit would naturally be his — no one else could possibly take it away.

Qi Jin nodded and said: "Still, you must stay steady and composed, understand?"

"Yes, Father." Qi Yuangong nodded hurriedly.

The army quickly moved into Jialong Gully. Qi Jin sent out scouts and began aggressively hunting down the scouts the rebels had dispatched, all to keep them from probing his true strength.

As for the news of his own arrival — there was no way to conceal that.

Because Qi Jin knew very well in his heart that when the enemy's scouts failed to return for a long time, the enemy would naturally know their scouts had been killed, and would naturally know someone was blocking the way ahead.

The reason Qi Jin could be so certain Xu Hongru would come charging over was also simple: Xu Hongru had no retreat left. Even if he changed course now, Qi Jin could still latch onto him and harass him; once the armies from all directions closed in to encircle him, Xu Hongru would be even more dead certain.

So aside from fighting his way out, Xu Hongru had no other option at all.

Only by killing his way out through Jialong Gully could Xu Hongru be said to have a path to survival.

The news quickly reached Xu Hongru's side.

Xu Hongru immediately summoned Wang Haoxian, and the two prepared to discuss their next course of action.

After hearing Xu Hongru relate what had happened, Wang Haoxian's expression turned very ugly.

He looked at Xu Hongru and said: "What do we do now?"

"There's no other way — we can only fight our way through!" Xu Hongru said with a grim face: "There are pursuers at our backs now; turning back is impossible. And if we take a detour, it would waste far too much time."

"Even if we could get around, under the encirclement and pursuit of the government forces, we'd have no chance of victory anyway. The only way we can survive now is to fight our way to the walls of Jining, breach the city, and capture the Emperor."

"Most importantly, I'd bet there aren't many troops in front of us. The Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, led his forces to Xiakou, so Jining doesn't have many men. Their aggressive hunting of our scouts now is nothing more than an attempt to keep us from probing their true strength."

"If they had enough men, they would have charged straight at us already. The fact that they're acting like this is just them putting on a show of mystery, trying to scare us off. They've miscalculated!"

After hearing this, Wang Haoxian also felt it made sense, though he still lacked some confidence in his heart.

But Wang Haoxian also understood that at this point, there was no other way out.

So he nodded and said: "Then let's do as you say."

Xu Hongru rose to his feet and announced in a loud voice: "Ready the troops for battle!"

The army began to march, heading toward Jialong Gully.

As the army pressed steadily forward, the enemy's scouts were steadily pushed back, and the information Xu Hongru received grew more and more.

In the end, he managed to probe out Qi Jin's true strength and learned that Qi Jin had only five thousand men.

Upon receiving this news, a smile appeared on Xu Hongru's face.

Looking at Wang Haoxian beside him, Xu Hongru laughed loudly and said: "See? Was I wrong? They really don't have that many men! Everything they've done is nothing but a bluff, trying to stop us from reaching Jining."

"That dog Emperor really is a coward — he doesn't even dare hold fast inside the city, and at a time like this he actually sends troops out here. It's simply seeking death!"

"Once we've annihilated these five thousand men, we'll immediately rush to Jining. I'm sure Jining is already extremely depleted; taking it will be a very easy matter. As long as we capture that dog Emperor, we can accomplish our great enterprise."

Wang Haoxian also nodded, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.

But Wang Haoxian knew in his heart that Xu Hongru was merely feeding himself a soothing pill.

At this point, things could no longer be salvaged. How could taking Jining possibly be so easy?

But at a time like this, one couldn't simply admit defeat, could one?

Others might surrender and still have a path to survival, but if the two of them surrendered, they would die for certain.

At a moment like this, when one was fighting for his life, he could only pump himself up. No matter what the true situation was on the other side, in his own heart he could only think this way.

So Wang Haoxian laughed loudly and said: "Heaven truly is helping us!"

The two of them were so relaxed that although the men under them still felt some trepidation, they also relaxed considerably.

The army quickly arrived at Jialong Gully and spread out into battle formation.

Looking at the enemy forces across the way, Qi Jin said directly: "Judging by their appearance, their formation is set and they're about to press forward. All troops, prepare!"

On the new army's side, they were bursting with excitement.

Leaving the capital on this trip, the journey had been arduous and exhausting. Finally, they had a chance to earn great merit — naturally, they would not let it slip by.

Forty taels of silver per head — that was all money.

Even if these men were rebels and their heads weren't worth that much, ten taels of silver was always worth it. This way, this was a fine opportunity for promotion and wealth!

Opportunities like this were hard to come by, and even if you happened upon one, it might not fall to your lot.

Xu Hongru looked at the Ming army before him and said directly: "Charge up and capture the dog Emperor alive! Charge!"

Following Xu Hongru's shouts, the people around him cried out and charged forward with swords and sabers raised, while the archers also prepared to loose their arrows. Both sides immediately launched into a head-on clash.

As for the Ming army, their phalanxes were orderly and neat, equipped with fine flintlock muskets. Though there were only two thousand of them, that was already more than enough.

They advanced forward in unison, producing a clanking, clanking sound. The fire-lance muskets fired without cease, and the bang-bang-bang of gunfire echoed continuously through the valley.

In an instant, gunsmoke shrouded the battlefield as bullets flew densely toward the enemy ahead.

The rebels charging at the front fell like wheat before the scythe, and in a single moment their offensive was checked.

The cannons that had long since been set up on the hillsides also opened fire at this time, blasting straight into the rebel camp.

The entire new army camp of five thousand men was equipped with one hundred and twenty cannons, all of them Napoleon guns. Light artillery like the Tiger-Zun cannon was not even counted among them.

Within the new army, every Squad Leader—that is, a squad of ten men—was issued one Tiger-Zun cannon. It could be said to be standard equipment by now.

A Centurion had ten Tiger-Zun cannons, enough to fight a small-scale engagement.

Amid the thunder of the cannons, the Ming army swept forward in a killing charge. The rebels collapsed at the first touch, without even a chance to resist.

When the corpses began to pile up, the rebels in the rear turned and fled.

Seeing this scene, Xu Hongru's head felt as big as a bushel basket.

What is going on here?

What in the world is going on here?

How could it be like this?

This was not what he had imagined. He had fought against the Ming army before, and though they had been strong back then too, he had still been able to win at times.

But this battle before his eyes showed absolutely no hope at all.

Qi Jin paid none of this any mind, and directly ordered the men behind to spread out and press forward.

Qi Yuangong had already led five hundred men straight toward Xu Hongru in a killing charge.

The cavalry were extremely fast. They had short muskets tucked at their waists, while in their hands they carried the finest cavalry muskets.

You see, back when the Qi Family Army fought in the north, Qi Jiguang had trained musket cavalry—that is, mounted gunmen.

These men rode their horses in continuous circles, firing their muskets without stop. Each man was even equipped with two firearms. As long as the cavalry swept through with a round of mounted shooting, the enemy would be thrown into chaos, men and horses tumbling alike.

This branch of the military had not been deployed in large numbers back then, because the cost of production was simply too high. However, within the new army, the Emperor placed extremely, extremely high importance on this branch.

Even Qi Jin had some hesitation on this point. He felt that His Majesty seemed a bit too fixated on it. Although he had asked His Majesty why, His Majesty had not said.

But as for how to use this branch of troops, Qi Jin knew it like the back of his hand. Back in the days following Qi Jiguang, Qi Jin had seen more than enough of how his uncle employed this style of warfare. It was a tactic his uncle had used against Mongol cavalry, and the results had been excellent.

The tactic was usually to launch a counter-charge after friendly forces had blocked the Mongol cavalry, first inflicting heavy casualties with firearms, then closing in for melee combat.

With this branch of troops, Qi Jiguang had swept across the Mongol tribes, victorious in a hundred battles.

Using such tactics against the rebels before him, Qi Jin felt it was somewhat overkill. But the results were very good indeed.

Once the mounted musketeers charged in, the rebels basically had no way to stop them.

The muskets rang out bang-bang-bang without cease.

Those blocking the way were scattered in an instant, and the cavalry's horse speed was not even affected.

Because there was no need to nock an arrow and take aim like with a bow, the rate of fire of the cavalry muskets was extremely fast.

Xu Hongru naturally also saw his formation thrown into great disorder. He was already being swept along by the routed troops, fleeing far into the distance.

At the same time, Xu Hongru understood in his heart that this time he was thoroughly finished. The firepower of this army before him was simply too formidable. His great host had collapsed the moment they made contact, and wanting to defeat them was nothing but wishful thinking—utterly impossible.

Moreover, his own men were not a disciplined army to begin with. Now that they had been scared out of their wits, they only cared about saving their own skins and could never turn back to fight.

Under such circumstances, there was nothing else to do but flee.

Qi Yuangong, however, paid no heed to any of this and chased straight after Xu Hongru.

Although Xu Hongru was also on horseback, how could his horse compare to Qi Yuangong's?

Never mind Qi Yuangong's horse—all the horses of the entire new army were the finest available, the best of the best, one could say.

And as for Qi Yuangong himself, his mount might not be a thousand-li steed, but it was still the finest warhorse in the entire army. Whether for short-distance raids or long marches, it was a first-rate performer all around.

So Xu Hongru had not fled far at all before Qi Yuangong caught up with him.

Qi Yuangong had already put away his musket. With a horse-slaying saber in hand, he charged at Xu Hongru.

Of course, he could not actually cut Xu Hongru down with a single stroke. Instead, he cut down the men around him.

As for the other cavalrymen, they quickly surrounded Xu Hongru. For them, riding their horses into a circle around someone was hardly a difficult matter.

Xu Hongru's warhorse also came to a stop, standing in place and stamping its hooves restlessly, snorting out heavy breaths through its nose.

Xu Hongru knew that he could not fight his way out.

Sitting on his horse and looking at Qi Yuangong, Xu Hongru asked with a grim face: "Who are you people?"

"You don't need to ask about that." Qi Yuangong said with a cold laugh: "Dismount and surrender at once, and I may spare your life."

Upon hearing these words, Xu Hongru glanced at the saber in his hand and said with a cold laugh: "If I'm taken back, I'll only be tortured to death by you lot. I might as well give myself a quick end."

Having said this, Xu Hongru raised his saber and slashed it toward his own neck.

"Whoosh!"

A bowstring twanged, and an arrow pierced through the air, striking Xu Hongru directly in the arm.

The saber in Xu Hongru's hand flew out, and he tumbled from his horse.

"How could we let you die so easily?" Qi Yuangong said with a cold laugh: "Take him alive—whatever you do, don't kill him."

"Hurry and find a Bureau Director to tend to him. This is our merit—if he dies, it'll all be wasted."