Chapter 94: To Stay or To Go

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

Only when they saw the black-clad men charging toward the town with weapons raised did the Green Standard soldiers standing dumbly at the town entrance snap to their senses.

"Clang, clang, clang!"

The urgent gong sounded over the town.

The townsfolk burying the dead turned pale with fright, shrieking one after another, then scattering in panic.

Li Laoquan was stunned too, but he did not lose his wits. He forced himself to shout at the fleeing villagers: "Don't run wild — all of you, back into town!"

At Li Laoquan's shout, several men immediately came to their senses: their wives and children were still in town! If they ran, what would happen to their wives and children?

The townsfolk who had recovered their wits at once turned and ran back toward town, shouting and yelling. Two of them did not forget to support Li Laoquan as they ran, glancing back in terror at the black-clad soldiers about to charge over.

"Mother!"

Seeing the black-clad soldiers about to catch up with them, the townsfolk wailed in fright, wishing only that their parents had given them two more legs.

Those running at the back were already white-faced with terror; they did not dare look back, but shut their eyes and ran forward like madmen. They feared that one glance back would see them skewered by the black-clad soldiers' long spears.

Yet the black-clad soldiers paid no attention to the townsfolk ahead. Though they had already closed in on them, the black-clad soldiers showed no intention of killing, but kept their orderly pace and swiftly thrust toward the town.

Seeing that the black-clad soldiers would not kill them, the townsfolk's hearts steadied considerably.

They did not care whether these black-clad soldiers were Ming troops or bandits — so long as the other side had not come to kill them, then thanks be to Heaven and Earth, and may the Bodhisattva protect them!

Li Laoquan, however, tensed up at once. Watching the black-clad soldiers rush past his side, then looking at the Green Standard soldiers hastily assembling in front of the town, his eyes were full of worry: could the government troops hold?

If Company Commander Zhao's men could not hold the town, then the town would fall to these black-clad soldiers!

Lord in Heaven, protect us — never let the black-clad soldiers take the town, never!

Li Laoquan's heart pounded hard from running, and at the same time trembled hard from fear. He was afraid, very afraid; he could not bear to imagine the consequences of the black-clad soldiers taking the town.

He was not afraid the black-clad soldiers would sack the town, but afraid that the Qing army that later retook the place would sack it.

"Brothers, charge!"

Platoon Leader Ge Zheng's men charged at the very front. In order to wipe out the Xinxing Green Standard in the shortest possible time, Zhou Shixiang had handed over all of the camp's dozen-odd bows to Ge Zheng.

Now those archers were carrying their bows and arrows close behind Ge Zheng, so that in battle they could use arrows to suppress any Green Standard counterattack.

From the moment the Taiping Army launched its attack to the Green Standard soldiers completing their initial assembly at the town entrance, only a little under half an incense stick's time had passed.

Xinxing had no city wall around it, so in theory the Taiping Army could break in from any point.

But Zhou Shixiang hoped to annihilate the Xinxing Green Standard in one open battle; otherwise, rushing into the town recklessly would make it easy to be counterattacked by Green Standard soldiers who knew the terrain.

Moreover, although the Taiping Camp had fought one battle against the Deqing Green Standard, it still had too few soldiers fit for combat — of the camp's 1,300-odd men, fewer than 400 had combat experience.

Under such circumstances, a small-scale battle was undoubtedly what Zhou Shixiang hoped for, and it suited the Taiping Camp's interests, because only through such low-intensity, small-scale fighting could the soldiers gradually grow and gradually adapt to the cruelty of war.

Otherwise, when facing a Qing force far larger than the Taiping Camp, the Taiping Camp would have no strength to fight at all.

Only through constant fighting and constant victory could a strong army be forged. These 300 Green Standard soldiers in Xinxing were the first whetstone on the Taiping Camp's southward advance!

Ge Zheng had volunteered to spearhead the assault on Xinxing as the camp's vanguard.

This former bandit chief did not take the Green Standard garrison of Xinxing seriously at all; his blind arrogance had reached its peak, as if the mere point of his blade would make the Green Standard soldiers opposite lose heart and flee in panic.

In fact, the Green Standard soldiers in Xinxing had been briefly alarmed, but only briefly. By the time the Taiping Camp reached the town entrance, about 100-odd Green Standard soldiers had already assembled.

"Kill the rebels!"

The man leading these Green Standard soldiers was not Company Commander Zhao Shiyu, but a squad leader named Wang Dade, who had only a few men under him. When the gong sounded, Wang Dade, who had been gambling with others, grabbed an axe and charged out of the tent.

Seeing that the Green Standard soldiers on duty were milling about in confusion and did not know how to meet the enemy, Wang Dade did not bother to ask for orders from the Company Commander.

He led his few men and shouted the Green Standard soldiers into formation, then took the lead in charging at the oncoming black-clad soldiers.

With someone taking the lead, the Green Standard soldiers quickly showed the mettle of an organized army. They came from all directions to join the fray, and by the time the Taiping Camp closed in, the Green Standard soldiers facing them already numbered more than 150.

The other Green Standard soldiers in the town were also hurrying over under their officers' command.

"Right on time!"

"Loose arrows!"

The Green Standard soldiers charging at them did not frighten Ge Zheng; instead they roused his ferocity. A savage killing intent curled at the corner of his mouth, and the long blade in his hand clearly reflected his face.

At the command, the dozen-odd archers close behind Ge Zheng released their bowstrings almost simultaneously.

"Whish, whish, whish!"

Amid the piercing shrieks, the sharp arrows flew from the bowstrings. Disappointingly, the dozen-odd arrows struck only two Green Standard soldiers; the rest all missed.

Even so, the sudden volley startled the Green Standard soldiers charging in front, and they instinctively halted to avoid the arrows. With that halt, the men behind could not stop in time, and the Green Standard formation fell into disorder.

At that very moment, led by several Jiangxi corporals, the Taiping Army thrust savagely into the Green Standard ranks.

"Damn it all!"

Ge Zheng was cursing furiously as well, and the archers' faces were grim. But it was not their fault — they had only practiced archery for half a month, and a qualified archer plainly could not be trained in half a month.

A dozen-odd arrows killing two enemies — that, one might say, was a very good result. Unfortunately, in the eyes of a bandit like Ge Zheng, at such close range a dozen-odd bows killing only two Qing soldiers meant these archers were bloody useless!

Amid Ge Zheng's curses, the archers steeled themselves and strained to draw and loose at the Qing troops. A dozen-odd bows naturally could not form a rain of arrows, and the archers were all still raw, unable to aim at the Qing leaders.

They could only sporadically inflict some psychological shadow on the Qing troops, nothing more.

In a flash, the two forces — the Taiping Camp and the Green Standard — crashed together, and the battle cries shook the sky.

"Die, Qing dog!"

Ge Zheng's right hand, gripping the long blade, swept upward in one motion. A single, utterly wretched scream rang out, and the Qing soldier facing him had his arm lopped off. The severed limb crashed heavily to the ground, and crimson blood instantly stained the grass red.

"Kill!"

Wretched screams rang out one after another as the hundred-odd Green Standard soldiers hacked and slashed with the swarming Taiping Army.

It had to be said that these Green Standard soldiers who dared to come out and fight performed fiercely. But though they were brave, the Taiping Army had come too suddenly and outnumbered them several times over.

After barely holding for a moment, the Green Standard soldiers gradually could no longer withstand the pressure. Especially after Zhou Shixiang personally arrived with Shao Jiugong's and Tie Yi's units, the situation became completely one-sided.

"Brother Wang, there are too many enemies — the brothers can't hold! Retreat!"

In the thick of the fighting, a Qing soldier shouted toward Wang Dade, who was not far away, drenched in blood and locked in combat with the Taiping Army. Wang Dade acted as if he had not heard, only bellowing and hacking with all his might at the Taiping soldiers surrounding him.

"Qing dog, taste my blade!"

Ge Zheng cut down another Qing soldier who was snarling and roaring without cease, then charged straight at Wang Dade with a great roar.

When the gong sounded, Zhao Shiyu, Company Commander of the Xinxing Green Standard garrison, was dining with guests from Zhaoqing. When the urgent gong rang out, the guests at the table all froze, not knowing what had happened.

Zhao Shiyu's face changed too. He slammed the table and shouted outside: "What is going on?

Who is beating the gong?"

The personal guards who rushed in at the sound looked at one another blankly; they too did not know what had happened.

Seeing the guards still standing there dumbly, Zhao Shiyu flew into a rage: "Get outside and see what in blazes is going on!"

"Yes, sir!"

Two guards rushed out. The moment they got outside, they saw the streets full of terrified, fleeing commoners, and from the east end of town came the sound of battle cries. The two guards listened, dumbstruck. They froze for a few seconds, then flew back into the residence.

"The Ming army has come?"

At the guards' report, Zhao Shiyu's face went white. The guests from Zhaoqing were also scared green, looking at one another, each as miserable as if they had lost their parents: how in the world had the Ming army come to Xinxing, of all places?

How had the Ming army come? How had the Ming army come?! Had they flown here?

Zhao Shiyu ground his teeth audibly, his fists clenched tight, his breathing rapid and heavy.

A guard beside him could not help reminding him: "Sir, Xinxing has no wall to protect it. If it really is the Ming army attacking, our three hundred men alone cannot possibly hold.

Sir, you should go to the prefectural seat at once and request reinforcements! If we delay, we won't be able to get out!"

A potbellied guest rose shakily and chimed in: "Yes, yes, Sir Zhao, this place is far too dangerous. We should flee at once... go to the prefectural seat and report the news!"

At these words, the others also hurriedly chimed in, one after another, all hoping that Zhao Shiyu would immediately take men and escort them out of Xinxing.

Hearing their urgings, Zhao Shiyu hesitated inwardly. The battle cries outside were growing nearer and nearer; he was not deaf, and from the sound of them he could tell that the Ming force was probably not small.

The handful of men under him could not possibly hold. But if he truly abandoned Xinxing and fled to the prefectural seat, could he bear the great crime of losing territory and abandoning land?

The court had strict orders: civil or military, anyone guilty of losing territory and abandoning land was certain to die. Even with powerful backing, if he did not die he would still be flayed alive!

To go, or not to go?

Zhao Shiyu could not make up his mind.