Chapter 74

The military order arrived as well, letting Bai Lang lead the main force in pursuit—Bai Lang had no main-force retainers or anything like that; the cavalry under his command were merely what others had given him. So the number of troops under Bai Lang's command was never fixed, and now those following him out of the camp to pursue had already swollen to over three thousand cavalry and over two thousand infantry. Bai Lang himself didn't even know the exact number, but he just charged out with his men, shouting 'wa ya ya ya!'

Li Zicheng has fled, who still worries that this kind of disorganized pursuit might suffer an ambush...... It originally had that possibility, but since the leader is an unparalleled fierce general, praised by Governor Sun as the courage of a reborn Overlord and a mighty tiger, Bai Lang, Governor Bai, any ambush would probably be useless, they'd be torn apart. So following Governor Bai to go out and behead enemies is truly the safe way to seize merit.

Bai Lang also couldn't be bothered to care how many people followed him; anyway he lacked military formation command ability, speaking of that ability he probably couldn't even play horseback slash-and-kill games. To him it's just himself charging forward to slash, then others follow behind and slash together? "Commanding troops is a professional job; I've never learned it, how could I become a commander at will? Time travel doesn't add leadership and tactics."

In short, he leads the charge, others can just command themselves...... Actually there are officers of all ranks leading them, so it's not completely a rabble. It's just at the level of senior commanders that Bai Lang has abandoned his command responsibility.

At this point the government troops had already surrounded from all directions; chasing and slaughtering the fleeing enemy troops is the easiest thing, yet Li Zicheng's escape is also experienced. "It's just that this time is different from before; previously he was a rebel, now he has established a state, so the consequences of fleeing are completely different." Bai Lang, while on horseback, did have the leisure to think about this—his own tracking ability is average, so he left it to the Night Not Gathering to track the fleeing enemy troops' traces, and he just followed along.

Li Zicheng probably fled after executing military law yesterday afternoon, leaving some diehards and a large number of coerced civilians to guard the main camp, then at night he set a fire to disturb the whole battlefield, covering up his flight. Those who followed Li Zicheng in fleeing must be his close aides and elite subordinates, which can be proved by the fact that he managed to tear through the encirclement at the first moment. "But making a comeback isn't that easy...... After all these ten-odd years, I think he's not young either, wanting to reach that scale again?" Bai Lang thought, "After sacrificing so many subordinates?"

Those rebel leaders who followed the Rebel King, some surrendered to the government troops, some had their heads chopped off by the government troops—almost all were wiped out in one sweep; now those who have escaped are mainly Li Zicheng and his senior generals, as well as some of the stronger rebel leaders. The Night Not Gathering brought Bai Lang to pursue the fleeing peasant army—those who flee always expend more stamina, yet the commanders under Li Zicheng also display considerable combat strength when faced with desperation.

Bai Lang, having mostly cavalry, now had seized the tail of Li Zicheng's flight. "This is Liu Zongmin! The top general under the Rebel bandits!" someone who recognized a general under the Rebel King shouted. Bai Lang was overjoyed, "Business has come!" He spurred his horse and brandished his blade, charging straight at Liu Zongmin and the cavalry he led. Seeing it was Bai Lang, Liu Zongmin's cavalry had already turned and fled; even Liu Zongmin himself couldn't drive them to fight Bai Lang.

Bai Lang, having mostly cavalry, now had seized the tail of Li Zicheng's flight. "This is Liu Zongmin! The top general under the Rebel bandits!" someone who recognized a general under the Rebel King shouted. Bai Lang was overjoyed, "Business has come!" He spurred his horse and brandished his blade, charging straight at Liu Zongmin and the cavalry he led. Seeing it was Bai Lang, Liu Zongmin's cavalry had already turned and fled; even Liu Zongmin himself couldn't drive them to fight Bai Lang.

Bai Lang simply went without armor this time, wanting to reduce the horse's burden as much as possible so the horse could run faster and farther—even if changing horses, the speed and distance of this pursuit are only getting lower and nearer, because the reserve horses running ahead are also running empty. Under Liu Zongmin's leadership, there ultimately were those longtime personal guards who threw themselves at Bai Lang in a death-defying charge—yet not a single one died protecting Bai Lang......

"This is blind trust......" Bai Lang sighed, not considering himself a failure as a person, merely that he himself is too strong. However this doesn't prevent him from charging all the way, incidentally harvesting the lives of those personal guards—after all he still holds an iron spear in his left hand and a long Pu Dao in his right, "Damn, when will I find time to go to Liaodong? My water-ground Purple Gold Halberd is still over there!" Bai Lang's use of weapons on horseback is becoming ever more fluent; it must be said that life-and-death combat on the battlefield has an immediate effect on the familiarity and growth of martial arts.

If previously his use of spear and sword in each hand was still a bit unskilled, after the battle the day before yesterday he had become completely very proficient and smooth. The iron spear merely a shake, it would deflect the opponent's lance, then a spear thrust would pierce this cavalryman's chest, and under Bai Lang's great force it would slice horizontally out of the body, the bright spear tip bringing forth a spray of blood like a waterfall. Meanwhile the other hand's long Pu Dao casually swept, easily chopping off the horse's head, weapon, and human head together......

Now Bai Lang can also be considered to handle weapons with ease; facing this small number of elite troops allows him to calmly control the weapons in his hands, cutting into and piercing those parts lacking or without protection, which compared to wildly slashing and killing in the chaotic army causes far less wear on the weapons. In the next horse-crossing encounter he thrust his iron spear into a man's face, directly lifting his head onto the spear tip—the horse's momentum was too great, directly tearing off this person's neck.

The other hand's long Pu Dao lightly opened another cavalryman's abdomen—only to see the warhorse galloping, this man's entrails trailing messily across the ground. And Bai Lang merely shifted his stance, and those few personal guards' weapons were dodged by him. Bai Lang, extremely arrogant, spread his arms diagonally outward like an eight, his gaze full of contempt, looking at Liu Zongmin as if merely looking at a severed head.

Liu Zongmin originally also charged forward holding a great spear, but upon seeing Bai Lang's gaze he also split his heart to defend against yang, a bucket of snow water poured down, this desperate courage melted away like hot water poured on snow. He lifted the horse's head to flee, yet Bai Lang had already caught up, a spear thrust from behind pierced him, stringing him on the spear, held aloft and thrown out. As he fell, Bai Lang grabbed his skull with a claw, at that moment the horse's hoof happened to step on Liu Zongmin's legs, Bai Lang exerted force to pull out. "Just like Lord Zuo Liangyu, he died suddenly of illness......" Bai Lang laughed, tossing the head backward, and his cavalry hurriedly dismounted to collect the head.

Since Liu Zongmin is here, Li Zicheng probably isn't far either!" Bai Lang continued to urge his horse forward, but until he killed Yuan Zongdi and Huo Yaoqi, after pursuing almost sixty li he still found no trace of Li Zicheng. Along this route Bai Lang accepted surrenders and beheaded Li Zicheng's troops numbering over seven thousand; moreover He Jin and others quickly surrendered to avoid being beheaded by Bai Lang. The pursuit and extermination campaign lasted half a month; the Li Zicheng army that once terrified half of northern China was almost completely annihilated. From Li Zicheng downward, several senior generals and close aides all met unknown fates, while from Liu Zongmin downward they were either killed in action or surrendered......

Bai Lang's reward came swiftly—let alone the promotions of Sun Zongdu and Deng Zongdu, among the generals Bai Lang's merit ranked first; now he could truly call himself Bai the Junior Protector—'Junior Protector of the Crown Prince, Left Grand Commander, General Who Establishes Might...... who knows, he might even be made a marquis!' Bai Lang was pleased with himself—no wonder they say military merit brings swift promotion—but just a few months ago he was still a commoner....