Chapter 136: Fierce Assault

"The Thousand-Household Lord has brought troops to save us! The Thousand-Household Lord has brought troops to save us!"

The shouts of over a thousand people rang out across Guifeng Mountain in the predawn darkness, each cry carrying clearly to the ears of every person on the mountain. After a brief silence, the old and weak in the rear camp on the mountain erupted in earth-shaking cheers.

In their excitement, they waved their hands ceaselessly in the air; in their excitement, they embraced their kin and wept aloud; in their excitement, they jumped about. Most were so choked with sobs they could not speak, and more still wept from sheer joy.

Heaven had opened its eyes — the rescuers had finally come, finally come!

"Brothers, our reinforcements are here! Everyone who can move, follow me — we must not let the Qing dogs break through!"

Zhao Sihai, who had been preparing to break out, froze for a dozen or so seconds when he heard the sounds from below the mountain, then resolutely shouted to the remnant soldiers who had already lost all hope and every shred of fighting spirit.

Under his command, every man who could still move grabbed whatever weapon he could find and rushed to the defense line.

The reinforcements had already arrived — no matter what, they could not let the Qing dogs break through!

"Zhou Shixiang, you have finally come."

Inside the great hall, Song Xianggong shed tears from sheer emotion. Not far from him, Lin Wan'er's body was trembling faintly as well.

There was one more person whose body was trembling too — the old monk of Qilin Temple, who would turn eighty the next year, stood with his mouth agape, staring uneasily beyond the hall.

The sudden noise from the direction of the main camp at the foot of the mountain shocked the Qing troops on the mountain just as much.

Many Qing soldiers, upon hearing the sound, turned as one to look down the mountain, and one by one their faces showed disbelief: the main camp below had been taken by the bandits?

The officers sent men down the mountain one after another to investigate what had happened. Before they could figure out what was going on below, they had already lost the will to keep attacking the bandits in the temple.

Wu Jinzhong had lost his composure by now as well. He heard the shouting from below clearly, but could hardly believe it.

He had long since sent men to scout, and this bandit force that had broken into Xinhui territory was clearly just a rabble cobbled together from bandits. They had coerced common folk along the way and had no contact whatsoever with any Ming army.

How could reinforcements suddenly appear? If another bandit force truly existed, were those bastards in Zhaoqing Prefecture all dead?

Not a single word of warning had come through — damn it, that bastard Xu Erxian deserved to die!

With a noise that loud, even a fool would know it was no feint by the bandits. No matter what kind of feint it was, a sound that huge could not be produced without at least a thousand men!

The main camp was surely finished. The only question was how many of these bandits could actually fight.

If they were mostly old, weak, women, and children like the bandits on the mountain, there was nothing to worry about — just detach a force to block them. But if those coming were all able-bodied men, the situation would be dire indeed.

Wu Jinzhong's confusion and worry did not last long before they were confirmed by the personal guards he had sent down the mountain to scout.

"My lord, my lord, bad news! The bandit troops have indeed broken through the main camp below and are now charging up the mountain!"

"Where did these bandit troops come from!"

"It's too dark — I couldn't see clearly!"

"How many are there?"

"A black mass of them — this humble one couldn't see clearly either!"

"Damn it, you useless fool!"

Wu Jinzhong was so furious he kicked the reporting guard to the ground, then stood with a grim face staring down at the foot of the mountain. The officers around him were all shocked and uncertain, not knowing what to do now.

After a moment, Wu Jinzhong made his dispositions and ordered: "Zheng Wansan, Lin Youxian, take your men and block the bandit troops below the mountain!"

"Yes, sir!"

Battalion Commanders Zheng Wansan and Lin Youxian hurriedly led their camp soldiers down toward the foot of the mountain upon hearing the order.

Wu Jinzhong swept his gaze over the remaining officers and barked: "The rest of you, give it everything you've got! No matter what, you must take this Yutai Temple before the bandits below fight their way up! Otherwise this place will be our grave!"

"Yes, sir!"

Upon hearing the order, all the officers knew this battle had become a matter of life and death.

If they did not wipe out the remaining bandits at Yutai Temple, they would be caught in a two-front assault from the bandits above and below — and then they would truly be in the desperate straits the Regional Commander had spoken of.

The Qing army once again launched a fierce assault on the rear camp around the Great Hero Hall, yet despite several ferocious attacks, they still could not break through the rear camp's defense line, which looked as though it might collapse at any moment.

The morale of the two sides had completely reversed. The rear camp defenders inside all knew reinforcements had arrived, and every man fought to the death, resolved to hold out — their morale could not be called anything but soaring.

The Qing troops, however, were caught in a dilemma: their main camp had been broken, the bandits on the mountain were incredibly tenacious, their own casualties were heavy, and the bandit troops below were now assaulting up the mountain.

At this moment, officers and soldiers alike were anxious and uneasy, and morale had sunk to rock bottom.

Seeing that dawn was about to break yet he still could not fight his way into the temple, Wu Jinzhong burned with fury. He knew these bandits were now high in morale while his own troops were low.

But since the bandit reinforcements below had come to the rescue, he absolutely could not let them succeed. As long as he broke through the bandits' final defense line on the mountain before they arrived, the morale of the bandit troops below would surely sink.

Then he could turn his troops to fight them, and even if he could not win, he certainly would not lose.

But if his own side could not take the bandit remnants on the mountain, the situation would become dangerous. The units of Zheng Wansan and Lin Youxian dispatched below numbered only three or four hundred men.

After a night of fierce fighting, they were now exhausted, men and horses alike, and would likely not hold the bandits off for long. If the bandits broke through the two officers' line and charged up the mountain, it would be a fatal blow to his own troops' morale.

Wu Jinzhong dared not imagine the disastrous consequences for his own side if the bandits below and the bandits on the mountain joined forces.

He could only grit his teeth and continue ordering fierce assaults — no matter how many died, he had to take Yutai Temple before the bandit troops reached the mountain!

Another reason forcing Wu Jinzhong to attack regardless of casualties was that he wanted to use the old, weak, women, and children in the temple as bargaining chips.

If the bandits below proved too strong and the Qing army could not hold them off, he might be able to trade these old and weak folk to the bandits in exchange for a path down the mountain.

Attack after attack, yet there was still no progress anywhere. Instead, the bandits in the temple killed and wounded another hundred or more soldiers.

A Company Commander whose unit had been fought down to a dozen or so men came to him to complain, and the furious Wu Jinzhong gave him a savage beating.

Damn it all! Were these bandits made of iron? So many dead, and still they would not break!

Zheng Wansan sent a man with an urgent plea: he and Lin Youxian could not hold the bandits off. Those bandits cared less for their lives than his own men did, charging upward regardless of casualties, and had already forced them to retreat again and again.

By now they had withdrawn to the mountainside. If this continued, in less than half an incense stick's time the bandits would fight their way up the mountain!

He begged the Regional Commander to send more men to hold them no matter what — otherwise it would be too late!

Zheng Wansan's plea for help made Wu Jinzhong's face twitch violently. With the battle at this point, where did he still have troops to spare!

The captain of the personal guards, Lu Yongxiang, who had just been pulled back, once again petitioned Wu Jinzhong: "My lord, let this humble officer lead his men in another charge. I refuse to believe these bandits are truly so hard to crack!"

"Right, charge again! Even if I have to spend every last soldier, I will take these bandits — otherwise I'll never get this foul taste out of my mouth!"

Assistant Regional Commander Qian Guoheng under Wu Jinzhong had also thrown caution to the wind. He had personally led two charges just now, and in those two charges lost more than a hundred men, a dozen or more of them his own personal guards.

Just thinking of it made his heart ache. He had to remember that although the soldiers under each Green Standard officer were the Qing dynasty's soldiers, the Emperor's soldiers, those soldiers were also the guarantee of one's own rank.

If too many were lost, whether he could keep his post as Assistant Regional Commander became a real question. More importantly, the dozen or so personal guards he had lost were all veterans who had followed him for years.

Losing even one made him grit his teeth, let alone losing a dozen or more!

Just as he was full of rage and about to lead his men up again, he saw Su Xianting, the company captain of the Han Banners, leading his men down. Instantly he cursed Su Xianting countless times in his heart.

If it had not been for that bastard spending all his time at the rear of the mountain slaughtering the old, weak, women, and children, could the bandits have safely withdrawn to this Great Hero Hall and organized this defense line!

If you had charged straight ahead after coming up the mountain, the bandits would have been finished long ago!

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and he could not help shouting: "Su Xianting, the battle has come to this — we Green Standard brothers have lost more than half our men, while you banner troops have taken hardly any losses. This time, you take the vanguard!"

Hearing this, Su Xianting was furious, but seeing Wu Jinzhong present, he did not trade insults with Qian Guoheng. Instead he said to Wu Jinzhong: "Regional Commander Wu, I can see these bandits are determined to drag this out with us to the death.

There are probably still several hundred bandits in the temple who can fight. If we keep attacking head-on, I fear we will lose many more men.

In my view, we should concentrate our forces and strike down at the bandit troops below. If we can defeat them, all the better; if not, we leave!

We still have over a thousand troops in Xinhui city. We can send men to Guangzhou for reinforcements and issue orders to summon troops from every county.

I refuse to believe these bandits can slip away right under our noses!"

"By the time the troops from the counties arrive, these bandits will have long since fled!" Qian Guoheng shot back at Su Xianting without any courtesy.

Lu Yongxiang did not dare be as rude to a Han Banner company captain as Qian Guoheng was, but he did caution Wu Jinzhong: "My lord, these bandits are extremely fierce. They don't look like ordinary bandits — there seem to be Ming soldiers among them.

There are quite a few Ming remnant troops near Xinhui. If those Ming remnants join forces with the bandits, they would be a great threat to Xinhui city.

We have already lost so many troops on this mountain. If the bandits join forces and then set their sights on Xinhui city, I fear it will be hard to deal with."

"Mm!"

Lu Yongxiang's words gave Wu Jinzhong pause. The bandits on the mountain were now utterly exhausted and burdened with a large number of old, weak, women, and children.

As long as he finished off the able-bodied bandits still holding out in the temple, the rest would have no choice but to await death with their hands bound. Then he could turn around and deal with the bandit army below.

With no worries behind him, he might not necessarily lose. But if he broke out and went down the mountain now, these bandits would surely join up with those Ming remnant troops and turn around to threaten Xinhui city — and then the situation would truly become unpredictable.

Rather than let the bandits join forces and threaten Xinhui city, it was better to suffer heavy casualties and cut off one of the bandits' arms, so that they would not dare covet Xinhui city in the slightest. Otherwise, the trouble would only grow.

With that thought, Wu Jinzhong no longer hesitated and decisively ordered: "This officer intends to fight the bandits to the death. Banner troops or camp troops, in today's situation, there is only advance and no retreat!

Pass on my order: attack the bandits in the temple with full force. Anyone who dares to retreat will be executed without mercy!"

"Yes, sir!"

Qian Guoheng, Lu Yongxiang, and the others hurriedly acknowledged the order. Su Xianting, however unwilling he was to waste his men here for nothing, did not dare disobey, and steeled himself to accept the order and return to prepare to lead the banner troops in another assault.

Yesterday I took my mother to the hospital for a follow-up, so I only posted one chapter. Today I went to pay my respects (my wife's great-uncle), so I could only post one chapter as well.

Tomorrow I have to accompany my mother to the hospital again for a blood draw and tests, and I can't be sure of the timing, so I'll probably only manage one chapter then too. But the day after tomorrow I'll do my best to make up for it — I hope my readers will understand.