Chapter 195: 193: Yaksha Celestial Soldiers (For Alliance Leader

After taking Yongxin County, Jiang Dashan immediately split his forces to block the mountain passes between Huguang and Jiangxi, and requested the Regional Commander's headquarters to dispatch officials and the propaganda corps.

Another half-month later, a scholar who looked like a beggar fled to the prefectural seat of Ji'an to report: the bandits in Yongning (Jinggangshan) had fled, crossing the mountains into Huguang's Ling County (Yanling County), and he begged Mr. Zhao to send men at once to Yongning County to distribute land.

Distributing land was a pretext; seeking Zhao Han's protection was the truth.

Without comparison there is no injury — the gentry of Luling, Jishui, and other counties felt Zhao Han was like a great demon. But the gentry of Yichun, Yongxin, and other counties had long been hoping Zhao Han would come; at least Zhao Han wanted only their land, not their lives. The other rebels wanted everything!

At this, Zhao Han did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Yongning County was not Sweeping King's territory, and Zhao Han had never planned to take it, because the place was poor and remote — neither Zhao Han nor Sweeping King thought it worth their notice.

Now, Zhao Han had sent troops to attack Yongxin County, and it had actually frightened the rebels in neighboring Yongning County into fleeing...

It was also possible that the Yongning rebels felt the place was too poor, and that being next to Zhao Han was too dangerous, so they simply ran off to plunder richer areas in Huguang.

Since Yongning County had become masterless land and the common people sincerely submitted, Zhao Han could only reluctantly accept it. Truly reluctantly — a place that poor would still require officials and the propaganda corps to govern it, and the tax revenue probably would not even cover the cost of maintaining the local functionaries.

Zhao Han pondered it from every angle, discussed it with Pang Chunlai and Li Banghua, and decided to establish only three towns in Yongning County, and to let the peasants divide up a bit more land — there was far too much barren mountain land there!

For now, the fields and acreage were entirely sufficient. The surrounding counties, ravaged by rebels, had not only seen most of the landlords killed or driven off, but had also suffered a sharp drop in the commoner population. The surplus population from Luling, Jishui, and other counties could be relocated there, instantly giving Zhao Han more than enough land under his control.

It was just that money and grain were stretched thin, since relocating commoners cost a great deal.

The commercial taxes from Linjiang Prefecture, Ji'an Prefecture, and Zhangshu Town, the iron mines, ironworks, and porcelain kilns in Xinyu County and Fenyi County, plus three consecutive years of bumper harvests — all of these kept Zhao Han's financial resources rolling in.

Yet he was perpetually short of money and grain, because he did not exploit the common people, and he had to pay full salaries to both officials and soldiers.

Fei Chun, who managed the money and grain, was already nearly gasping for breath.

Yuanzhou Prefectural Seat.

Li Zheng, like Jiang Dashan, chose not to launch a direct assault.

What was more, he was even more ruthless than Jiang Dashan, leaving only five hundred men to guard the opposite riverbank. Every day he had boats coming and going, and banners planted all over the camp, creating the illusion of constant troop reinforcements.

The remaining troops slipped away quietly at night, heading straight for Pingxiang County further west.

The Great Unity Army's naval forces blocked the river, completely cutting off communications. Sweeping King had no idea what was happening in Pingxiang, and the Pingxiang rebels had no idea what had become of Sweeping King.

Sweeping King sat inside the prefectural seat of Yuanzhou, still with over five thousand men under his command. He had no idea that the enemy outside the city had only five hundred men left; on the contrary, he believed he was surrounded by a great army, and that there must be enemies lying in ambush in the mountains outside the city.

Half a month passed, and rebels kept deserting, all slipping out of the city at night using ropes.

Left with no choice, Sweeping King had to search the entire city and confiscate all ropes — anyone caught hiding rope would be beheaded!

Feeling that dragging on was no solution, Sweeping King selected several hundred brave warriors, and had One Zhang of Ice also select several hundred brave warriors. The two of them dismantled the city's door planks and planned to cross the river at night to raid the camp on the opposite bank — perhaps they could rout the enemy.

That night.

One Zhang of Ice had his soldiers carry extra rations, slipped out quietly from the east gate, and then headed straight for the great mountains to the north.

A subordinate hastily reminded him, "Second Master, Heavenly King Zhao's army camp is to the south."

One Zhang of Ice said irritably, "Heavenly King Zhao has studied magic arts and can summon celestial soldiers and celestial generals. The soldiers under his command are all celestial soldiers and celestial generals — how could we possibly defeat them?"

"Then where are we going?" the subordinate asked.

One Zhang of Ice said, "I've already inquired. There is a small trail through the mountains to the north that leads straight to Wanzai County. We can't beat Heavenly King Zhao's troops, but can't we beat the government troops in Wanzai County? From now on, we'll go enjoy ourselves in Wanzai County!"

The several hundred rebels were all delighted — they would not have to cross the river to their deaths. So they groped their way into the mountains in the dark and headed straight for Wanzai County.

Sweeping King likewise did not cross the river to raid the camp. This scoundrel did not even want his goods and treasure, and led several hundred veteran bandits out through the west gate.

He dared not travel the flat ground along the riverbank, afraid of being discovered by the Great Unity troops. So he followed the valley on the north bank of the Yuan River toward Pingxiang, planning to regroup his forces in Pingxiang County, then strike out for Liuyang County in Huguang to live it up. If the County Magistrate of Liuyang proved hard to deal with, he would just plunder outside the city walls, then shift his operations further north to Pingjiang County.

In any case, he did not want to fight Heavenly King Zhao — Heavenly King Zhao was far harder to deal with than government troops!

The rebels responsible for opening the gates for the two bandit chieftains waited for half the night, but heard no sound of slaughter from the opposite bank. They immediately realized something was wrong, guessed that their leaders must have fled, and so they opened the city gates and began fleeing for their lives too.

The commotion grew louder and louder. Li Zheng immediately led his troops across the river. With only five hundred men, he sent several thousand rebels scattering in rout, and even took over eight hundred prisoners.

The commanding officer Li Zheng had sent to raid Pingxiang was named Wan Sitong, a collateral-line descendant of a great clan who had fallen to become a thug in the hired-fist gangs of Ji'an Prefecture.

When Zhao Han was in a standoff with Xie Xuelong, Wan Sitong had brought over a dozen gang thugs to enlist, calling themselves drifters from Ji'an Prefecture. They were broken up and assigned to various battalions.

This man had been through many major battles, and at last, during the previous troop expansion, had been promoted to Company Commander with command of five hundred men. But now he was leading over two thousand men, with naval forces helping transport supplies the whole way, racing swiftly to outside Pingxiang County seat, spreading word along the route that Sweeping King had already been defeated and destroyed.

Then they discovered that the bandits in Pingxiang County seat had all fled — some had hidden in the Wugong Mountains to become bandits, others had simply crossed the border and fled into Huguang.

Pingxiang County was thus taken, without spending a single soldier.

Leaving five hundred men to hold the city, Wan Sitong took his two thousand soldiers and immediately hurried back toward Yuanzhou, planning to coordinate with Li Zheng and continue besieging Sweeping King.

"Company Commander Wan, a large force of bandits has been spotted in the valley ahead!"

When Wan Sitong marched, he not only sent out scout boats to probe the way, but also dispatched mountain-search squads to avoid being ambushed.

The mountain ridges along the river from Yuanzhou to Pingxiang mostly ran laterally, with multiple parallel valleys passable for travel.

Sweeping King had driven his troops at a frantic pace for most of the night. Once they were safe, they slept from dawn until noon, ate some dry rations, and continued marching — he needed to reach Pingxiang quickly to gather troops and flee.

As it turned out, in the mid-afternoon, they were discovered by the mountain-search squad Wan Sitong had sent out.

"Old Tie, you take the vanguard," Wan Sitong said with a smile.

The black fellow Tie Nu, now renamed Tie Hong, wore a cotton-armor vest produced by the Great Unity Army. He had been broken up and assigned into the army, and because he fought with fierce courage, he now commanded one hundred men.

Wan Sitong did not rush to attack; instead, he personally led troops over a small ridge to circle around and cut off Sweeping King's line of retreat.

Sweeping King looked at the sky and urged, "Move faster, all of you — it'll be dark soon. Once we're out of this valley, I remember there's a small town by the river. We'll grab some food and valuables there tonight."

"Your Majesty, there are men ahead!" a veteran bandit cried out in alarm.

The light was dim; they were too far away to see clearly.

Sweeping King rubbed his eyes and muttered, "Could it be reinforcements sent by Flying Sky?"

This fellow had his communications cut off by the Great Unity Army and still did not know that Flying Sky had been defeated and destroyed in Huguang, with no chance at all of fleeing back to Pingxiang.

"Is that you, Fourth Brother?" Sweeping King shouted at the top of his lungs.

The black fellow, now renamed Tie Hong, answered, "I'm your grandfather!"

Sweeping King froze for a moment, then suddenly shouted in terror, "Run!"

Several hundred veteran bandits turned and fled. The black fellow, gripping his great iron staff, led troops in furious pursuit. His legs were far longer than Huang Yao's — even in padded cotton armor he still ran like the wind, and in the blink of an eye he had pulled more than ten paces ahead of the soldiers.

Wan Sitong led his troops over a small ridge and had already entered the valley.

"Form ranks!"

Sweeper King's retreat was completely cut off. Wan Sitong waited for him in tight formation.

Sweeper King was scared out of his wits. He spun around and charged for the ridge. The northern slope was steep, so they instinctively fled toward the southern ridge by the river — the very place Wan Sitong had just crossed.

"Kill!"

Another thousand soldiers, still up on the heights and not yet descended, ran headlong into Sweeper King.

Blocked by strong foes three times in a row, the several hundred veteran bandits instantly collapsed. They turned and scrambled back down the slope, fleeing toward the steep northern ridge.

The black fellow had already charged in alone — one man, one staff — and plunged into the midst of the several hundred veteran bandits.

These bandits were now half-dead with terror. Never mind holding formation — many had even thrown away their weapons, as if shedding weight would let them flee faster.

That staff — both ends were wrought iron, the middle section made of mulberry wood.

The black fellow swung his staff and swept two veteran bandits to the ground in one blow, then crashed into a third as he drove straight for Sweeper King.

"Ghosts!"

"It's yaksha soldiers summoned by Heavenly King Zhao!"

"..."

The bandits nearest him finally got a clear look at what the black fellow actually looked like, and were instantly terrified out of their skins. Everywhere he passed, they scrambled to get out of his way.

Seeing the black fellow charging straight at him, Sweeper King went limp with terror, convinced that Heavenly King Zhao really could summon celestial soldiers and generals.

Otherwise, why was this man pitch-black all over?

Otherwise, why had he been creeping through the valley only to be suddenly surrounded on three sides?

"Yaksha grandfather, spare me!"

Sweeper King had no courage left to resist. He dropped straight to his knees and kowtowed to the black fellow.

The black fellow had a rather heavy killing instinct. He didn't even know to take prisoners — he just brought the staff straight down.

"Bang!"

An iron staff smashing a skull — imagine a watermelon being pulverized.

At this sight, the nearby rebels all collapsed in terror. One after another, they knelt and begged for mercy.

Too many men to kill them all — the black fellow picked out only those who refused to surrender and hunted them down. One staff, one little friend — he never needed a second move to kill a man. He had no real staff technique to speak of; he simply relied on his great height and strength, and his strikes were terrifyingly fast.

The battle over, Wan Sitong walked over. Looking at Sweeper King with his skull smashed in, he couldn't help grumbling: "Old Tie, next time you crack someone with that staff, could you pick a different spot? I haven't even had dinner yet, damn it."

Tie Hong, who just moments ago had been a peerless god of war, now scratched his head and grinned sheepishly, showing two rows of gleaming white teeth.

He felt his life was very happy now. When he was in his teens, the chieftain had seized him and sold him to those red-haired men. He had boarded a great ship and come to the East.

The ship's hold was terribly cramped. Not only was there little water and food, but the air was so thin it was hard to breathe. More than ten of the black slaves who came with him died of sickness.

Because he was tall and powerfully built, the red-haired men kept him specially and sent him to Guangzhou to be sold — the wealthy merchants of the Great Ming would pay a higher price.

At first he guarded a compound and served as a rich Ming merchant's attendant. Since he couldn't understand the language, the merchant thought him too stupid and punished him constantly with beatings and starvation.

Then one day, Fei Yinggong came, bringing bandits to plunder the merchant's house. He seized the chance to flee with Fei Yinggong.

Life now had become even better. In Tianhe Town he had married a widow. The widow brought a ready-made son, and last year she bore him a son of his own. Both family and career had reached a new peak.

As for matters of Africa, he had largely forgotten them. His name from now on was Tie Hong.

Night fell. The soldiers lit fires to keep warm and eat.

Chewing his dry rations, Tie Hong asked: "I hear the Emperor is the greatest. When will the Regional Commander become Emperor?"

"How should I know?" Wan Sitong had begun to dream too. "Everyone guesses we can take Jiangxi within three years, sweep through Jiangnan within ten, and enter Beijing within fifteen!"

"Beijing I know. Where is Jiangnan?" Tie Hong asked curiously.

Wan Sitong laughed. "The prefectures of Jiangnan — a dazzling world of pleasure. You'll know when you get there."

Tie Hong said: "All I think about is, once the Regional Commander becomes Emperor, he'll build great ships and fight his way back to my homeland. I want to seize the chieftain and ask him why he sold me to the red-haired men!"

(Thanks to Warm Sun 1314 for the White Silver Alliance tip. Old Wang can only manage three updates a day — too slow-handed to do more. The bonus chapters for the White Silver Alliance, for Boss Penguin, and for the two Double Alliance Leaders can only be paid off slowly, day by day.)

(End of chapter)