Chapter 138: Death in Battle

Wu Jinzhong fled with the remnants of his force, more than three hundred Green Standard soldiers, to the rear of the Thousand-Hand Hall, but he failed to break out down the mountain in the chaos.

Instead, he was surrounded layer upon layer by the Taiping Army's Zhenlu, Xiongwei, and Xianzhen battalions. At this moment, Wu Jinzhong finally understood completely what it meant for an army to collapse like a landslide, and what it meant for soldiers to have no will to fight.

From the zi hour after midnight when they attacked the mountain until now, a full three double-hours had passed. The Qing troops, high and low, were utterly exhausted, and their spirits had plunged from the clouds to the bottom of a valley.

Facing the Taiping Army's encircling rings, the faces of the three hundred-odd Green Standard soldiers showed not the grim resolve to fight to the death, but fear and despair.

Qian Guoheng was determined to fight to the death. Seeing no way to break out of the bandit encirclement, he hardened his heart and shouted to the assembled soldiers, "Things have come to this. Rather than be killed by the bandits, better to stake everything on one desperate fight!"

Lu Yongxiang, his face equally savage, seconded Qian Guoheng. He yelled, "Stretch out your neck and it's a cut; pull it back and it's a cut.

Today is the day either you die or I live. If you want to live, fight with everything you have — perhaps there is still a turn of fortune.

Otherwise, we will all die without a burial place!"

The two men shouted fiercely, but few of the soldiers answered them. After fighting this long, the soldiers were human too.

They were truly sick of fighting and had been beaten into fear. There were so many bandits surrounding them.

The officers wanted to fight to the death to carve out a way to live, but that did not mean men like them necessarily had to stake their lives for one.

Perhaps we can surrender. Some of the Green Standard soldiers thought this in their hearts.

"Damn it, any man not afraid to die, follow me!"

Qian Guoheng saw that the soldiers had all lost their nerve, and Wu Jinzhong was standing there in a daze. Growing desperate, he stamped his foot hard and charged at the Taiping Army opposite, leading his few personal guards.

"My lord!"

Lu Yongxiang glanced at Wu Jinzhong. The latter drew a deep breath, and the right hand holding his saber suddenly shot upward — clearly he had resolved to die.

In today's situation, there is nothing left but to die to repay the Prince of Pingnan's kindness in recognizing my worth, and to die to repay the Emperor of the Great Qing's profound favor!

"Brothers, all of you charge with me! Any man who returns alive to Xinhui with me will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver!"

If your life is gone, what use is silver!

Wu Jinzhong tried to use heavy reward to rouse the defeated soldiers' fighting spirit, seeking survival within death.

"Brothers, follow the Regional Commander and kill the bandits! A hundred taels of silver per man — when in your lives could you ever earn that! Charge! Get back to Xinhui and take your silver and live it up!"

Lu Yongxiang bared his teeth and bellowed, trying to stir up more soldiers to follow.

The heavy reward of a hundred taels of silver indeed made many soldiers' heads spin and their blood surge. Seeing their commander personally charging at the front, over a hundred soldiers at once shouted and charged forward, brandishing their blades.

At the same time, the Taiping Army's Zhenlu, Xiongwei, and Xianzhen battalions, under the command of their respective officers, launched a general assault on this remnant Qing force trapped in the encirclement. The two sides clashed at close quarters, and the final battle began.

The Qing soldiers charging at the front were all veteran troops of many years. Spurred by the heavy reward and their commander leading by example, every one of them fought desperately.

At first they actually tore a huge gap in the Xiongwei Battalion facing them, and nearly broke through down the mountain. Fortunately, the Xianzhen Battalion hurled thunderclap bombs into the Qing ranks in time.

In the explosions, dozens of ferocious soldiers fell and did not rise, and the Qing troops' bloodlust, raised by the reward, was blasted apart in an instant.

Before the black smoke had cleared, the Qing troops were already falling back again. This time, however, they could no longer organize a counterattack. Instead, they were cut into several groups by the Taiping Army, each fighting on its own.

After using all his remaining strength to swing his great saber one last time and force back several Taiping soldiers who had rushed up to stab him, Qian Guoheng could hold out no longer. His legs went soft and he collapsed to his knees.

Before he could raise his head and call for his personal guards, several long spears thrust at him.

"My lord!..."

At the first quarter of the chen hour, Qian Guoheng, Assistant Regional Commander of the Right Wing under the Prince of Pingnan's command, died in battle.

Wu Jinzhong did not know Qian Guoheng had already been killed. On all sides were crowds of men locked in slaughter, and he could not see his surroundings at all.

He only knew that the bandits kept forcing him backward, that only a few of his personal guards remained, and that in his ears, besides the wailing of soldiers, there came the intermittent crack of firelocks.

When he realized those firelock reports were not Su Xianting, who had fled toward the rear mountain, coming back with troops to rescue him, Wu Jinzhong knew he would not leave this mountain alive.

"Kill! Kill them for me!"

Lu Yongxiang's martial skill was extremely high. Although a night of fighting had left him somewhat drained, he could still barely keep his feet. Relying on his fine skill and the help of his brothers, he had actually cut down three Taiping soldiers in succession.

With his men being killed one after another, the Xianzhen Battalion squad leader leading that unit flew into a rage. He snatched up a firelock, lit the match cord, and fired at Lu Yongxiang.

The Xianzhen Battalion's firelock troops had only just been formed; most of the soldiers had fired only once or twice, and there was no talk of speed or efficiency, let alone aim.

But at such short range, firing at a living man, even a fool could hit him — let alone a squad leader pulling the trigger.

With a thunderous "Bang!", Lu Yongxiang — the greenwood hero who had once been a roving bandit killing Ming troops, then a Ming soldier killing roving bandits, and then a Qing soldier killing Ming troops — was blasted backward by the firelock.

Even as he was dying, Lu Yongxiang did not forget to shout, "Regional Commander, flee quickly!" A pity that by now, even if the Regional Commander wanted to flee, he could not.

After Qian Guoheng and Lu Yongxiang died one after another, Wu Jinzhong, struggling on alone, drew the attention of countless Taiping soldiers.

"That man is Regional Commander Wu Jinzhong!"

The surrendered Qing soldiers pointed out Wu Jinzhong in the crowd. Very quickly, a Xiongwei Battalion platoon commander led his men and surrounded Wu Jinzhong.

By this point in the fighting, Wu Jinzhong's personal guards had all been killed or scattered. He was holding out entirely on his own.

But the Taiping soldiers surrounding him were all deliberately or unconsciously avoiding him, not striking to kill, so although Wu Jinzhong had several wounds, none had taken his life.

"The Battalion Commander wants him alive! Alive!"

Wu Mazi, the acting company officer of the Xiongwei Battalion, shouted loudly, warning the soldiers not to beat Wu Jinzhong to death. This fellow was someone the Battalion Commander had specifically named to be captured alive — he must not be killed.

A Xiongwei Battalion soldier tried to seize Wu Jinzhong from behind, but instead Wu Jinzhong spun around and hacked down with his saber. The soldier immediately spurted blood and collapsed to the ground clutching his neck.

The blow landed, but before Wu Jinzhong could turn back, a long spear thrust into his left leg. Wu Jinzhong's whole body stiffened.

He wanted to turn, but the strength in his body was draining away bit by bit. The spear was pulled out, blood gushed, and Wu Jinzhong crashed to the ground.

His lips were murmuring a few words, but no one could hear them.

Wu Mazi saw Wu Jinzhong's lips moving ceaselessly, though he could not tell what he was saying. But he did not care.

He waved his hand and ordered his men to seize this Qing Regional Commander and take him to the Battalion Commander to claim credit. Unexpectedly, just as several soldiers were about to step forward, Wu Jinzhong burst into wild laughter as if he had gone mad.

Then suddenly he reversed his saber and, with a "squelch," the sharp blade sank into his body. The blood-dripping tip pierced through his chest and emerged from between the ribs on his back.

"Son of a bitch, he killed himself!"

Seeing that Wu Jinzhong had actually killed himself, Wu Mazi cursed in fury, stepped up, and with one slash cut off the man's head. Holding it aloft, he roared to all around, "Wu Jinzhong is dead! Wu Jinzhong is dead! Wu Jinzhong is dead!"

At the first quarter of the chen hour, Wu Jinzhong, Regional Commander of the Right Wing under the Qing Prince of Pingnan's command, trapped in heavy encirclement, unable to hold out alone, wounded in several places, took his own life.

After Wu Jinzhong's death, the surviving Qing soldiers no longer had any heart to resist. One after another, they threw down their weapons, knelt, and surrendered.

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