Chapter 44

These people ultimately could not stop Bai Lang, and still let him take ten or so people riding horses out. This time Bai Lang wore double armor, inner mail shirt, outer mountain-pattern armor, and also had pack horses carrying spare cotton armor and mail armor, under the leadership of the original household servants who never rest at night, they followed the traces of the Qing troops. "You also don't need to charge, just follow behind me and cut off heads." Bai Lang's arrogant and overbearing words, on the contrary, stirred up these people's fervent morale.

Anyone would want to follow behind an unparalleled brave general and charge, and moreover this unparalleled brave general hardly needs anyone else to protect his front and rear. Such a person is probably only found in storybooks like the Hegemon-King Xiang Yu—Xiang Yu could also, with twenty-eight cavalry, rout the Han army without suffering any loss himself. Bai Lang rode on his horse, deliberately selecting a big horse to bear this guy, while the double iron halberds were placed on another horse—otherwise the horse couldn't bear it, and the longer the distance the more it couldn't bear. A weight of over a hundred catties is roughly equivalent to an ordinary soldier without armor.

The current Ming Dynasty doesn't have Europe's cold-blooded heavy horses; carrying two people would definitely not endure long journeys. Bai Lang is tall and big on horseback; just his own weight plus the armor he wears probably amounts to two hundred forty or fifty catties, and the war horse under him being able to carry him is already impressive—this is also a fine horse, according to the commander-in-chief it's a northwestern breed, taller by a head than the common Mongolian horses in the army. However, for Bai Lang, he has seen those European heavy horses before, and this horse now is just like that.

The fewer the people, the faster the marching speed; even though Bai Lang set out two days later than the Qing troops, he still caught up with them within a day. However, what he encountered were the Qing troops' scouts, who were sent out far ahead to shield the Qing rear; to Bai Lang they appeared as just three riders. When they saw Bai Lang and his party far off, they turned their horses and left, showing no trace of the past behavior where Ming army scouts would charge forward to fight.

"Do they recognize me?" Bai Lang also hehe laughed; such a big fellow, the opposite side certainly can see him, regardless of whether it's Bai Lang or not, the first thing is to go back and report—if it's not Bai Lang, then it simply means they didn't kill the Ming army scouts; if it is Bai Lang and they didn't go back to report, even if they return alive they would be beheaded under military law. The Qing troops also simply don't want to be raided by Bai Lang; if this guy charges in, they generally really can't stop him.

As expected, when Bai Lang led his men and saw the Qing main camp, the enemy had already formed up in strict readiness: "Wow, grappling hooks and fishing nets... plus long bows and heavy arrows, they're really well prepared. But how are you supposed to loot like this? I'll just wear you out!" Bai Lang urged his horse to sway back and forth a hundred zhang away, for a moment giving up the idea of storming the camp. Doing this, the Qing troops also found it troublesome—let alone packing up, marching, and fighting, even just gathering firewood, drinking water, and eating meals in the camp became a hassle.

Sending out a detachment of troops, against this Bai Lang they could be killed in the time it takes to sip a cup of tea; even deploying a thousand men to surround and kill him—mobilizing masses might not retain this person, and if he fled he'd be hard to chase. This is the use of an unparalleled brave general: guarding outside the enemy camp is like an iron chain across a river, leaving the enemy unable to advance or retreat, like a bone stuck in the throat. The operation of sweeping Shandong to plunder slaves can't be carried out; without saying more, at the start of besieging a city Bai Lang would already charge the formation, making it impossible to bring away any slaves.

Actually, taking advantage of the current morale organization still being present, later retreating and withdrawing from Shandong is the real plan, and after bringing along the unparalleled brave general we'll come back to reclaim this situation...... However, wielding double iron halberds weighing several dozen catties with ease, such a brave general is indeed rare; thinking left and right, one might truly not find such a warrior among the Eight Banners. Even the foremost warrior of the Eight Banners, who bears the title of Hero, Oboi, probably isn't that formidable...... This guy merely uses a heavy iron sword weighing over twenty catties, wearing three layers of armor and charging into battle.

However, it's not entirely so either; Abatai also saw the personal guards beside Huang Tai Ji, among whom there was a martial arts master wielding an eighty-one-catty single-legged bronze figure. But this martial arts master excels at fighting yet is not skilled in military affairs, and besides being Han, so he wouldn't become an Eight Banners hero. However, it seems that a few company commanders and those allocated to the Boshuhu, leading the white-armored soldiers and Gebuxian Chao Ha, will go to try to see if they can capture or drive away this Han brave general.

Now it appears this Han brave general earned promotion by beheading the Zhushen people; at least the mountain-pattern armor on his officer's uniform gleams brightly, definitely a fine thing. Now this Han brave general has empty hands, while the double iron halberds are on another horse—those of his Ming army cavalry who followed him clearly showed timidity upon seeing the Qing camp, at least letting this brave general stand out alone at the forefront.

Bai Lang surveyed the camp ahead, "Hmm? Are they coming out to fight me?" Riding on his horse, Bai Lang slightly bowed his body looking forward, "Bring my halberd." He said. A bugle call sounded, the Qing camp gate swung open, and a detachment of soldiers poured out. "Wow, these must be elite white-armored troops." Bai Lang saw infantry wearing three layers of armor, holding large shields and heavy arrows, and heavily armored cavalry with both men and horses armored, these people also had grappling hooks and lassos in their hands.

In that case, these people might really be able to block his attack? However, if he takes the initiative to charge, Bai Lang also needs to see; right now the enemy is fully prepared, perhaps charging forward would really only allow him to kill a few before getting trapped—regarding whether he could escape once trapped, Bai Lang truly lacks much confidence; frankly speaking, he truly has no experience being trapped in a heavy military encirclement, but his Lightness Skill should allow him to run out.

For now, it's best to keep distance; if we can't hone our martial arts through slaughter, we might as well do something for our country and nation—although Bai Lang considers himself a citizen of the republic, the Ming Dynasty is still more pleasing to the eye than the Tartars and is orthodox. He opened the distance, and the other side also wanted to try an assault: "You few go first; later I might not be able to look after you." Bai Lang's Internal Force circulated, and due to the agitation of Internal Force on the Purple Gold Halberd, it emitted a low humming sound.

The Golden Bell Cover was slowly forming, but for now it's still invisible to the naked eye, and his power hasn't reached that level; Bai Lang also couldn't protect the war horse beneath him, so he slowly urged the horse forward, preparing to meet the battle. First facing Bai Lang was not cavalry, but infantry clad in heavy armor; they drew their bows and nocked arrows, aiming at Bai Lang's war horse to shoot. Bai Lang dismounted, using the Purple Gold Halberd to block those arrows, "Take my horse away first, I'm fine—I have a way. You go ahead."

Bai Lang looked at the formation before him and also showed a hint of a smile: "Looking ahead, dark and deep, that must be the bandits' lair; when I catch up to it, I'll kill them cleanly." Hehehehehe. Bai Lang's double halberds struck alternately, producing a sound, and then he strode forward toward the enemy army.