Chapter 346: Ambush in the Gorge, the Wolf Soldiers of That Land

A day later, Qin Liangyu's main force also arrived in succession, her troops and horses covering the mountains and plains without end—the vanguard arrived at dawn, while the rear guard was still marching well into the night.

That they were stretched into such a single-file snake formation was thanks to Yunnan's fragmented river-valley terrain.

When the Yunnan Governor had levied a great army to besiege Pu Mingsheng, he too had marched in this manner, and only then fell into Pu's ambush, his force cut into several segments front to back, the entire army annihilated. But Qin Liangyu had Ma Xianglin clearing the way ahead, pushing through and crushing everything in his path—the native chieftain soldiers could do nothing against Ma Xianglin, let alone spare any strength to deal with Qin Liangyu. This road was rugged and winding; by the time the great army advanced to Manhao, the rear supply line had already stretched over six hundred li. Even with Lin Qian holding Nanning and Zhu Xieyuan overseeing transport, it was difficult to sustain.

Now with water transport to assist, the supply difficulties that had just begun to show their heads immediately ceased to be a problem. The army was like a man injected with a shot of cardiotonic, quickly regrouping and recovering, continuing its push north toward Mengzi.

Ami Prefecture, the Native Chieftain's Estate.

When the messenger arrived to report that the Great Xia fleet had crossed Annam and sailed all the way to Manhao, everyone was stunned.

For a moment, the great hall of the chieftain's estate fell into a deathly silence.

Bai Cha frowned and said: "How is this possible! How is this possible? The Annam barbarians are vicious by nature—how could they permit Great Xia to transport grain through their territory? That's grain for an army of tens of thousands! Not to mention the soldiers escorting the grain.

How is the King of Annam any different from handing his own life over to that dog Lin? He's mad, truly mad!"

Sha Dingzhou forced himself to ask: "How many ships?"

The scout said: "Coming and going these past few days, no fewer than thirty ships, all large sand junks."

Bai Cha tore at his hair and said: "We should have thought of this! Lin the dog rose from sea bandits—his men have the most ships. We should have thought of this long ago…"

Li Achu said: "Even if we'd thought of it sooner, what could we have done? Manhao is just a small river port, with no defensible terrain. Are we supposed to send our tribesmen to fight cannons on the riverbank? Or should we seal off the Yuan River?"

Bai Cha said in frustration: "At this point, cutting off the Xia army's grain route is already impossible.

North of Manhao is Mengzi, and north of Mengzi is Ami Prefecture. We can't stop the Xia army—our only option is to fall back…"

The moment these words were spoken, the entire hall erupted in an uproar.

Ami Prefecture was where Pu Mingsheng had built his power—his subordinate native headmen and native outpost chiefs all had their tribesmen, wealth, and fields here. If they left Ami Prefecture, they would all become homeless dogs.

Thus a native headman cursed loudly: "Bah! Bai Cha, you cowardly old dog! If you want to run, run yourself—my tribe is staying!"

"That's right! That Qin woman is nothing but a native chieftain herself—what do we lack compared to her? Why should we be chased around like wild boars?" …"If the old chieftain were still here, he would have led us out to fight long ago! We wouldn't be bullied like this! Pu Zuoyong, you are the chieftain's son—tell us, what are we to do?"

The so-called old chieftain was Pu Mingsheng. While he lived, the Pu army won every battle. Just as he was about to be slaughtered like a pig by Qin Liangyu, he suddenly dropped dead, preserving his glorious reputation and becoming, in the eyes of his tribesmen, a god of war.

In contrast, after Wan Cailian and Bai Cha took power and yielded ground to the Xia army at every turn, the tribal officers naturally felt great dissatisfaction.

Pu Zuoyong, seated in the main position, looked toward his mother.

And Wan Cailian looked toward Sha Dingzhou.

Sha Dingzhou pondered for a long while, then said slowly: "The Xia army's cannons are formidable. Ami Prefecture is no strong city—to the south lies open wilderness, well suited for deploying artillery. If we defend to the death, we'll only die…"

At these words, a native headman shouted: "Who do you think you are? You have no right to speak here!"

Another sneered: "Your tribesmen aren't in Ami Prefecture, so of course you can make light of the situation!"

Sha Dingzhou gestured for everyone to quiet down, then pointed at the map and said: "The road from Manhao to Mengzi is called the Manhao Ancient Road. Its terrain is all river valleys and ravines, extremely suited for ambush. We must stake everything on a gamble there!"

Bai Cha stared at the map for a long while before saying: "Then so it must be!"

Li Yaxuan volunteered: "I'll go! A Mo Re! I will personally cut off the heads of Qin and Ma with my own hands!"

Seeing that Bai Cha, Sha Dingzhou, and the others had no further objections, Wan Cailian nodded in agreement.

After the meeting, Wan Cailian returned to her room. Before long, Sha Dingzhou slipped in quietly.

Wan Cailian started and said: "Are you mad? It's still daylight—get out now!"

But Sha Dingzhou clasped his hands in salute and said: "My Lady, I have come to take my leave."

Wan Cailian's heart jumped, and she said with a hint of reproach: "What, are you fleeing for your life?"

Sha Dingzhou laughed and said: "Sha here may not be a good man, but I'm not stupid. Now that the Xia army is pressing on our borders in force, our two tribes can only win if we join our forces. I'm returning to Kunming to muster troops—and before the decisive battle, I'll have Wu Bikui send soldiers as well. To deal with the Han, you have to throw in every ounce of strength!" Wan Cailian said: "A decisive battle? Where will the decisive battle be?"

"Right here in Ami Prefecture!"

Sha Dingzhou had stayed in Ami Prefecture for so long not merely to carry on a clandestine affair with Wan Cailian.

He had already thoroughly studied the Pu army—from the native headmen at the top down to the common soldiers, all their roots lay in Ami Prefecture. If they forcibly retreated north, even if they preserved their population, they would lose all morale.

From a military standpoint, further north the terrain gradually flattened. Cities like Kunming Prefecture and Mile Prefecture were all built in basins, with no defensible terrain around them—they would be no match for the Xia army.

Moreover, the Buzhao Dam salt wells lay just northwest of Ami Prefecture. Once Ami Prefecture fell, the salt wells would be taken by the Xia army, and Kunming would soon run short of salt. Even if Sha Dingzhou played it safe and fell back to defend Kunming, he would merely die a few days later.

Going further, if he could crush the Great Xia army before Ami Prefecture, he would be a hero who defended his tribe and defended Yunnan. Riding the momentum of a great victory, absorbing Pu Mingsheng's followers would be only natural—at that point he would be the strongest native chieftain, controlling Yunnan, and even marching into Sichuan and Guizhou to become the overlord of the southwest was not out of the question.

It could be said that Sha Dingzhou was now backed into a corner—retreat meant slow suicide, advance meant a leap to the heavens.

As for which to choose, he had long since made up his mind.

After hearing this, Wan Cailian said: "Then why did you say we should stake everything at the Manhao Ancient Road?"

Sha Dingzhou gave a cold, sinister smile: "If I hadn't said that, how would that hothead Li Yaxuan be willing to risk his life? I need time to muster troops, and the Manhao Ancient Road's terrain is too fragmented for a large army to deploy in formation. Having Li Yaxuan delay the enemy is just right."

After speaking, Sha Dingzhou also promised Wan Cailian: "Once we defeat the Xia army, I will be the master of Yunnan, and you will be my lady—how about it?" Wan Cailian softly said yes, and Sha Dingzhou laughed heartily as he turned and left.

Li Yaxuan selected three thousand warriors from his own tribe and set up an ambush near Bee Rock.

This place was roughly a hundred li from Manhao and forty li from Mengzi. Only one rugged canyon allowed passage for carts and horses, full of sharp turns and steep slopes, with the narrowest point wide enough for only two horses abreast—extremely perilous terrain, perfectly suited for an ambush.

All around Bee Rock was primeval forest, growing pine, oak, camphor, and other trees. Beneath the canopy were dense thickets of arrow bamboo and vines. The treetops blotted out the sky, and the forest floor never saw sunlight all day. A soldier had only to hide in the underbrush, and even an enemy within five paces couldn't see him.

On the surrounding mountains there were also numerous karst caves, rock crevices, and natural flat areas, their interiors connected in all directions—even the locals didn't know where they led. Li Yaxuan's three thousand soldiers hid themselves within, like fish returning to the sea, vanishing without a trace.

Li Yaxuan also gave strict orders for the three thousand soldiers to lie in ambush far from the river valley, specifically to let the Xia vanguard pass and then strike at the artillery and baggage train behind.

Even though Ma Xianglin and Wei Wenkui combed the surrounding forests like plowing a field, they found not a single trace.

At noon that day, Li Yaxuan was eating his lunch in a karst cave when suddenly a scout rode in to report: "Chief, the Xia army's baggage train has arrived!" "Haha!" Li Yaxuan let out a great laugh. To ambush the Xia army, he hadn't even allowed his men to light fires, surviving for days on cold water and buckwheat cakes—this was the moment he'd been waiting for. Hearing the news, he tossed aside the buckwheat cake in his hand, drew his blade, and said: "Brothers, the time to defend our homeland has come—let's go!" At his command, Luo Luo soldiers poured out of the karst caves all around Bee Rock. Seen from the sky, they were like a swarm of ants emerging from their nest. After emerging, the ants merged into the jungle and quickly disappeared from sight.

After marching for nearly an hour, Li Yaxuan stopped in his tracks and indeed heard the faint sound of carts and horses approaching from ahead.

Li Yaxuan was overjoyed and was about to give the order when suddenly he heard a short blast of a horn from the mountain forest not far away.

That sound was different from both the Xia army's xiaoluo horn and the long pole horn, and also slightly different from the Luo Luo army's ox-horn.

Li Yaxuan's gaze sharpened, and he shouted: "It's the Wolf Soldiers!"

He thought to himself that with Qin Liangyu's cunning, she wouldn't have sent a baggage train through such a dangerous canyon without any precautions. The Han were not skilled at fighting in the forests—having Wolf Soldiers was actually within his expectations.

Soon, horn calls also came from the southwest and northwest. All manner of horn blasts rose and fell within the dim jungle, like strange beasts howling—bleak and eerie, raising goosebumps on one's skin.

Though it was afternoon, sunlight was blocked by the canopy, with only a few thin beams piercing through. With tree trunks and vines further obstructing the view, Li Yaxuan couldn't even see his own troops clearly, nor did he know how many enemies there were—he could only hear the sounds of battle coming from all directions.

Li Yaxuan ordered his subordinates beside him: "Don't worry about anywhere else—attack the baggage train first!"

Around thirty-odd men advanced with him, sprinting hard toward the cliff edge. But after barely a dozen paces, they collided head-on with a small squad of Wolf Soldiers. Both sides froze for a moment, then one of the sword-and-shield men in the Wolf Soldier squad suddenly blew a bamboo whistle. The sound was extremely shrill and carried far through the forest. Before long, several identical whistles answered from the surrounding area.

Seeing the cliff edge within reach, Li Yaxuan ordered: "Kill them all!"

His Luoluo soldiers charged forward together, but two were immediately run through by the Wolf Soldiers' long spears, and another had his thigh slashed by a hooked sickle spear, collapsing to the ground with agonized howls as blood poured from the wound.

The Wolf Soldiers, however, struck and retreated at once, always staying clustered together to face the enemy, avoiding being surrounded by the Luoluo troops.

One native scout recognized the Wolf Soldiers' fighting style and cried out in shock: "They're Nadi Wolf Soldiers! These are Luo Daoqi's men!"

Guangxi Wolf Soldiers were fierce and warlike, famous throughout the Great Ming, and the Nadi Wolf Soldiers were the cream of that already-elite force. Their most renowned feature was this seven-man battle formation: two holding long spears, two holding hooked sickle spears, and one each armed with a crossbow, a hook blade, and a sword-and-shield.

The seven fought in perfect coordination, as if joined at the hip—able to attack or defend, and virtually invincible in small-scale engagements.

Back in the day, when Lady Wa went to Zhejiang to fight the Japanese pirates, it was precisely this seven-man squad tactic that crushed the wokou's fighting spirit.

Later, Qi Jiguang was influenced by it and created the Mandarin Duck Formation.

At the native scout's shout, the Luoluo soldiers also recognized the Nadi Wolf Soldiers' identity. They exchanged uneasy glances, fear creeping into their hearts.

Li Yaxuan roared: "The longer we drag this out, the more of them will come! Charge together!"

He then strode forward, blade in hand. The seven-man formation seemed not to react—but without warning, a crossbow bolt shot toward him.

Li Yaxuan happened to dodge a vine, twisting aside—the bolt thudded into a tree, burying half an inch into the wood with the arrowhead completely hidden. His right arm had been cut open. Only now did Li Yaxuan feel the fear catch up with him. He gradually slowed his pace, letting his men charge ahead.

The Nadi Wolf Soldiers fought while retreating, their hooked sickle spears sweeping in wide, open arcs that kept the Luoluo soldiers from daring to close in, while the long spears stabbed out at every opening—every thrust drawing blood.

As the Wolf Soldiers steadily fell back, more and more Luoluo soldiers dropped. Li Yaxuan was so tense that he failed to notice his wound gradually stop hurting—and even begin to go numb.

By now, the entire jungle was filled with such small-scale duels, horn calls and whistles sounding without end.

Though the baggage train at the valley floor couldn't see the fighting, they could tell from the sounds alone that the battle was exceptionally brutal.

In the main force, Qin Liangyu halted, tilting her head to listen to the commotion in the mountains and forest.

On this campaign, Luo Daoqi had brought only two thousand Wolf Soldiers, scattered across the mountains on both sides of the valley to protect the baggage train. Though they didn't know the enemy's numbers, they assumed the Nadi Wolf Soldiers were certainly outnumbered.

Her subordinate general understood the situation as well, clasping his hands and saying: "General, let me take men to reinforce them—the slope ahead is gentler, we can climb up." Qin Liangyu did not answer. After listening for a long while longer, she said: "Chief Luo isn't losing ground—don't go making trouble! Tell the rear baggage train to move faster!" "Yes!"

Another hour of marching passed. The horn and whistle calls in the forest had thinned somewhat, but they remained piercing—like the wailing of ghosts and howling of wolves. Listening closely, one could tell the horns and whistles each had distinctive rhythms and cadences—not random blowing. Evidently, the Nadi Wolf Soldiers used such sounds to communicate through the dense woods.

It was precisely this ability that let the Wolf Soldiers fight dispersed while still maintaining unified command, preventing the enemy from picking them off one by one.

This skill was honed by the soldiers of Nadi Prefecture from childhood in harsh environments—something the Great Xia army could not learn.

This was exactly why Qin Liangyu insisted on bringing Wolf Soldiers on her campaign into Yunnan.

Another hour passed. The stench of blood grew so thick it could be smelled even at the valley floor. The whistles and horns in the forest had thinned considerably more, and their rhythm had grown somewhat more leisurely—clearly the battle was nearing its end.

By evening, Qin Liangyu ordered the army to make camp. The forest had largely returned to calm, with blood-soaked Nadi Wolf Soldiers descending the slopes from time to time to return to camp and rest.

The slopes in this area weren't as steep as Bee Rock, but they were still nearly sixty-degree inclines. Those Wolf Soldiers, weapons in hand, could still race down the slopes like apes, drawing amazed murmurs from the new army troops accompanying them.

Before long, Luo Daoqi also came down from the slope. Most of his body was stained red with blood, and he carried a dark-red long spear. He hadn't even arrived yet when the stench of blood reached them first.

Luo Daoqi strode quickly to Qin Liangyu, clasped his hands, and said: "General, the enemy has been wiped out! The attackers were a band of Luoluo native headman troops, roughly two to three thousand strong, led by a man named Li Yaxuan—I've brought him for you, General!"

With that, he reached out a hand toward his subordinate.

A subordinate behind him, wielding a chopping blade, untied a human head from his belt and handed it to Luo Daoqi.

Holding up the head, Luo Daoqi said: "This is him! The man known as the foremost warrior under Pu Mingsheng—I had one of my crossbowmen kill him with a poisoned bolt!" Li Yaxuan's severed head wore an expression of utter terror, covered in blood scabs and dust, with tear tracks and mucus—clearly the head had been cut off while he was still alive. Qin Liangyu glanced at the head, then said to her accompanying staff officer: "Record every kill made by each Wolf Soldier squad—nothing may be missed or mistaken. Especially those with official rank like native scouts and native headmen—mark them clearly."

"Yes." The staff officer acknowledged and went off to handle it.

Luo Daoqi beamed with delight upon hearing this—the Wolf Soldiers fought precisely for the bounty on heads.

In many cases, the Wolf Soldiers' plundering of local areas was also because the court failed to deliver on its promised rewards.

Now the Great Xia army treated them as their own people and even proactively tallied their battle merits—what reason could they have not to be utterly devoted?

After resting for a night, the army continued its march, and the baggage train soon left Bee Rock behind.

Meanwhile, Ma Xianglin's vanguard had already reached Mengzi.

From this point on, the army had stepped into the territory of the Mengzi Basin—the flat expanses of basins and river valleys surrounded by mountains. Nearly all of Yunnan's major towns were built in such basins, and this terrain was also the most suited for the new army's style of fighting.

The Mengzi Basin was composed of several smaller basins, with no small number of rolling hills—but compared to the terrain of the Manhao Ancient Road, this ground was flatter than the surface of the sea.

Mengzi County sat at the southern end of the Mengzi Basin, guarding the entrance. The surrounding terrain was flat, and Ma Xianglin set up his cannons—within a single morning of bombardment, Mengzi opened its gates and surrendered.

A day later, Qin Liangyu's main force gradually emerged from the Manhao Ancient Road. A'Mi Prefecture was now within arm's reach.

By this time, the native chieftain's residence at A'Mi Prefecture had descended into utter chaos.

Li Yaxuan's disastrous defeat—with barely half of his three thousand soldiers escaping—had shaken the entire Pu army to its core.

When Pu Mingsheng was alive, Li Yaxuan had been his foremost fierce general—victorious in nearly every battle, unstoppably brave. Yet now, facing the Great Xia army, even in an ambush, he had been killed like a stray dog.

Just how strong was the Great Xia army?

Combined with their ability to poison Pu Mingsheng, their immunity to miasma, and their inexhaustible food supplies, rumors had already spread among the Luoluo soldiers that the Great Xia army was protected by mountain gods and could not be defeated.

The native headmen who had previously berated Bai Cha for cowardice when he proposed retreating north had now done a complete about-face—all of them supported running away.

One headman said: "There are plenty of basins anyway—farming and hunting are the same wherever we go. As long as we still have our tribesmen, we can rise again anytime."

Another said: "A'Mi Prefecture has the Lujiang River and Nandong River as natural barriers, plus stone city walls—it might not be indefensible!"

These words won some agreement among the headmen.

Because Yunnan's remote frontiers had poor transportation that made hauling stone difficult, most city walls were made of rammed earth. Only major cities like Kunming had their rammed-earth walls faced with brick and stone.

In the headmen's eyes, A'Mi Prefecture's brick-and-stone walls weren't much different from Kunming's.

But Bai Cha shook his head: "Never mind A'Mi Prefecture—even Kunming's walls couldn't hold against the Xia army. If we want to win, we must fight a decisive battle outside the city." "A decisive battle? Who leads? Sha Dingzhou has already fled—is it you, old fool, or the mistress?" one headman said contemptuously. Pu Zuoyong ignored his mother's attempts to stop him and rose to his feet: "I will lead the army!"

"Hahaha... You, a mere child, leading troops? Haven't we sent enough heads to the Xia army already?" another headman said without the slightest courtesy.

Wan Cailian said coldly: "Do you dare show disrespect to your chieftain?"

That headman spat and said: "Chieftain? I, Tian Zaiqing, don't recognize some snot-nosed kid as chieftain! My tribe won't go die with a child!" Tian Zaiqing turned and stalked off after speaking.

Outside the main hall of the chieftain's residence, the Juke soldiers drew their blades and surrounded him.

Seeing this, Tian Zaiqing drew his own blade as well, looking at Wan Cailian with a cold smile: "So the mistress intends to force us to our deaths?"

At these words, many of the native chieftains changed expression and looked coldly at Wan Cailian.

With Sha Dingzhou gone, Wan Cailian's powerful support had vanished, and it looked as though she could no longer keep these native outpost chiefs under control.

Bai Cha appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly he was terrified, his sidelong glances continually darting toward Wan Cailian.

Just then, a faint rumbling sound of thunder came from afar, and after a moment, instead of fading, the thunder grew louder and louder.

The tense, swords-drawn atmosphere in the hall gradually dissipated; the native chieftains exchanged bewildered looks, their faces full of confusion.

After another moment, even the ground began to tremble slightly with the sound.

The native chieftain Tian Zaiqing wore an expression as if he had seen a ghost: "It... it's cavalry!"

"The Xia army has come!" someone shouted in terror.

Bai Cha called out: "No!"

He narrowed his eyes and said: "With this kind of commotion, there are at least several thousand cavalry. The Xia army lacks horses, and Wei Wenkui doesn't have this many troops either! Come, let's go outside and see!"

He led the way out the door, with the other native chieftains following behind.

Wan Cailian followed them out the door, and saw that all the native chieftains who had gone out were stunned, as if frozen in place, not moving at all.

Ami Prefecture City was built on a hill, with the terrain higher in the west and lower in the east. The chieftain's residence was already at the highest point in the city, so as long as one stepped out of the residence gate, one could see the situation outside the city. Wan Cailian had the Juke soldiers part the crowd, and she stepped forward to see a column of gray-black dust and smoke rising to the sky by the banks of the Lu River.

That dust and smoke spread for over ten li, vast and boundless, blotting out the sky and covering the sun.

Beneath the dust and smoke, countless cavalry were galloping at full speed, appearing and disappearing among the haze, the column stretching nearly ten-odd li from front to back without end. As the cavalry drew closer, the trembling of the ground became increasingly pronounced—even the water in the ponds rippled in waves, and the birds in the city, startled, flew up into the sky one after another, chirping and chattering without cease.

The sound of horse hooves was deafening, nearly swallowing everything between heaven and earth, making people's hearts beat faster involuntarily.

When the cavalry reached the front of Ami Prefecture, a great banner of a white tiger's head on a black field fluttered in the wind and sand, exceptionally conspicuous.

The native chieftain Li Achu said: "It's Sha Dingzhou, it's the Sha iron cavalry!"

Bai Cha murmured: "We're saved, we're saved!"

Before long, another great banner emerged from the wind and sand, embroidered with a dragon pattern in black thread on a white field.

The native chieftain Tian Zaiqing said: "Wu Bikui has come in person?"

The two columns of cavalry guarding their great banners merged into one and arrived together before the great gate of Ami Prefecture. Wan Cailian gave the order: "Go open the gate quickly." The Juke soldiers ran to relay the order, and before long the great gate of Ami Prefecture swung open. A column of cavalry poured in, the bells before their horses jingling as they went.

Drawing near, beneath the white tiger banner, Sha Dingzhou said in a clear voice from atop his horse: "Everything is ready—now is the time for us to slaughter the Xia dogs to our hearts' content!"

Yahei

Pink Round

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