Chapter 200: Fei Ruhe Rolls on the Ground in a Rout

Chen Tingdui stood on the hill, observing the military situation below through a telescope.

Even now his mind was still foggy — how on earth had landlords and peasants both joined the rebels together?

The court's pay was always short, reward silver was withheld indefinitely, so officers and men plundered to enrich themselves — this was a truth that held everywhere under heaven. He hadn't gone too far with it, had he? Up north, when they were encircling the roving bandits, most of the government troops did the same; otherwise they'd have been unable to fight long ago.

Even Sun Chuanting, who took up the post of Governor of Shaanxi this year, had long since loosened his grip on his subordinate commanders because the court kept failing to deliver full pay.

There was no way around it — without seizing grain, you couldn't maintain an army.

And once discipline was loosened, military order became like a breached dike: try as you might, you could never pull it back. Sun Chuanting's own elite guard troops might have been somewhat better, but only somewhat; from the moment he began leading troops in Shaanxi, he had been repeatedly impeached for the breakdown of military discipline.

When his men burned, killed, and plundered the common people, Sun Chuanting pretended not to see — he neither encouraged it nor punished it.

What could Sun Chuanting do to control them?

He had entered the stage too late; by the time he was transferred to Governor and took command of troops, the court's finances were on the verge of collapse. If he did not tacitly permit his men to loot, those officers and soldiers under him would have been happy to demonstrate what a mutiny over pay looked like!

Among all the Supreme Commanders of the late Ming, only Lu Xiangsheng treated the common people kindly and enforced military discipline with extreme severity. The Tianxiong Army once went three days without rations — they did not collapse, did not raise a clamor, did not plunder, and in the end they won the battle. At the time, Lu Xiangsheng divided up the last of the rations and, as the Regional Commander, starved alongside his men for those three days.

That was why Chen Tingdui found it so hard to understand: everyone across the whole country was doing the same thing, so why was he the only one who had kicked an iron plate?

Because someone was organizing and linking people together!

Propaganda officers from poor scholar backgrounds went and linked up with the landed gentry. Propaganda officers and peasant association cadres from impoverished backgrounds went and linked up with the local freeholding peasants and tenant farmers.

As long as someone organized, linked them up, and took the lead, and with Fei Ruhe's troops backing them, what was there left to fear? In just a few short days, they had pulled together a force made up of landlords and peasants.

"Father-in-law," Huang Hanliang lowered his telescope, "our army holds the high ground. We can send our main force to smash the local militia. Those are nothing but a rabble — they don't even have a formation, just clumps here and scattered patches there. One volley from the firelocks and they're sure to rout. Once those men break, it's very likely to trigger a collapse among the veteran rebels from Luling, and then our army can ride the momentum and pursue."

Chen Tingdui sighed. "That seems to be the only way."

The truth was, this whole chain of battles had been exceedingly strange, completely beyond anything Chen Tingdui understood.

His risky crossing of the river to set an ambush had been a move born of desperation, because the rebels were organizing peasant associations and training peasant soldiers outside the city. The longer things dragged on, the stronger the rebels would become; Chen Tingdui had no choice but to take the risk.

At once, Chen Tingdui used his weaker troops to guard against Fei Ruhe and sent his elite soldiers straight at the landlord-peasant allied force.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

One volley from the government firelock battalion instantly sent over three thousand militiamen fleeing.

Several Fujian officers seized the moment to pursue and slaughter, and nearly ten thousand militia collapsed across the entire line. Most scattered and fled in all directions; a small number charged toward Fei Ruhe's main force.

The moment the sound of firelocks came from the allied force's side, signaling that the government's elite troops were not in front of him, Fei Ruhe immediately ordered a full assault.

This tactic was something Fei Ruhe had learned from Zhao Han.

You fight your fight, I'll fight mine.

Fei Ruhe could not be bothered to go rescue those allied troops; he did not even hold back a reserve force, staking everything on one charge straight toward the government commander's banner.

Over five thousand Great Unity Army soldiers began charging up the hill.

Fei Ruhe, who moments before had been a shrewd commander, now transformed into a fierce warrior, charging at the very front with his personal guard.

Shwip-shwip-shwip!

The government troops still had an archer unit concealed; halfway through the charge, Fei Ruhe had already been struck by six arrows. Some arrows fell to the ground, others still stuck out from his body, but none of it could stop Fei Ruhe's charge. In any case, he was wearing a padded cotton brigandine and a bamboo helmet reinforced with iron plates — as long as he didn't get hit in the face or neck, he was fine.

With the commander charging at the fore, the entire army's morale surged.

The government's elite troops had all been sent to strike the landlord-peasant allied force; those left behind to defend were comparatively weaker, and the timing of Fei Ruhe's attack was just right.

Had he hesitated even a moment, the allied force would have fled entirely, and Fei Ruhe would have been caught in a pincer attack from both sides.

The instant Fei Ruhe led his army up to the hilltop and the two sides clashed, the weaker government troops immediately broke open a gap.

"Follow me and plug it!"

Chen Tingdui, true to his title of Military Zhuangyuan, had no idea what fear was.

Seeing a breach open in his own line, he immediately led his central army forward to fill it.

Commander crashed against commander!

"Ha!"

Chen Tingdui suddenly brought his blade cleaving down, borrowing the momentum of his downhill charge, intent on cutting Fei Ruhe dead on the spot.

Clang!

Fei Ruhe frantically raised his blade to parry; the impact numbed the web of his hand, and even half his arm went numb.

This bastard's strength is monstrous!

Chen Tingdui pressed his advantage without mercy and hacked down again; Fei Ruhe had no chance to change his stance and could only parry in panic once more.

Clang!

The war blade in Fei Ruhe's hand was actually knocked flying by Chen Tingdui's strike. With no regard for face, Fei Ruhe used the force to throw himself to the ground, then rolled down the slope back into his own lines.

He rolled back in the most literal, physical sense — Fei Ruhe had never been in such a wretched state.

"Kill!"

Chen Tingdui wanted to pursue and finish him, but several wolf-brush spears thrust straight at his face. These things were not only vicious but treacherous, capable of obstructing one's vision.

At that very moment, several long-spearmen crossed over the shield wall and stabbed at Chen Tingdui's throat and calves.

Chen Tingdui frantically dodged to protect his vital points, but his calf, poorly protected by his armor, was stabbed. Terrified, Chen Tingdui also hastily retreated into his own lines.

The personal guards of the two commanders thus locked in combat, and for the moment it was hard to tell who would win.

But the units fighting on the flanks very quickly decided the outcome.

Those attacking this time were all elite Great Unity Army soldiers, whereas the troops Chen Tingdui had left to defend were of comparatively weaker fighting strength. To put it plainly, they were all Fujian village braves recruited two years ago; they had defeated peasant armies at the junction of three provinces, but beyond that they only trained once every eight days.

Chen Tingdui's two wings were crumbling bit by bit. Seeing this, he bellowed, "Hold for half an incense stick more! Just half an incense stick more and we win!"

Indeed, hold half an incense stick more and they would win.

Because his son-in-law Huang Hanliang had already routed the landlord-peasant allied force and was now leading the elite troops back up the hill, attempting to catch the rebels in a pincer attack from front and rear.

When that moment came, the rebels would be doomed!

Yet they did not hold for half an incense stick — they didn't even hold for a tenth of one.

"Kill—!"

A Company Commander of the Great Unity Army who had risen from tenant farmer, named Liu Erliang, was the first to rout the enemy before him. He immediately led his men to aid friendly forces, launching a flank attack on a picket of Fujian troops — like an iron hammer smashing tofu, he shattered the enemy formation in an instant.

As if dominoes were toppling, the Fujian troops collapsed one unit after another.

Seeing the tide turn, Chen Tingdui, who moments before had fought with peerless valor and sent Fei Ruhe fleeing for his life, immediately fled with his personal retainers.

"Pickets one through ten, pursue the enemy! Make sure to scatter them until they flee in all directions. The remaining units, re-form and hold against the foe!"

Fei Ruhe finally picked up his steel blade and began issuing orders with composure.

This sword was nearly ruined too — Chen Tingdui had hacked two great notches into it. That Zhuangyuan of the martial exam was truly no ordinary man.

"On my command — string bows!"

A thousand archers bent their bows and nocked arrows, facing the elite government troops attacking up the slope, and from their commanding height loosed a single volley.

"Come back, come back at once!"

Huang Hanliang, with his thousand-man musket battalion, still wanted to press the attack. But all the other government commanders had fled with their troops. Seeing their Regional Commander on the hill already defeated, who among them still had the nerve to fight on?

"Follow me in pursuit!"

"Doo-doo-doo-doo da-da-da doo-da..."

Fei Ruhe once more gave the order to charge. The suona horns sounded the assault, and four thousand Great Unity soldiers surged down the mountain like tigers.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Huang Hanliang had one last chance remaining. He ordered his entire musket battalion to aim at the direction of Fei Ruhe's command banner.

But before the Great Unity soldiers even entered effective range, those Fujian musketeers fired prematurely, then ignored Huang Hanliang's orders, turned, and fled.

Huang Hanliang could only flee with them, but he was too slow to escape and was soon overtaken by the Great Unity troops.

The man still tried to fight desperately, but was stabbed to death by several long spears.

A man who had been a child prodigy, accomplished in both letters and arms, who in history had raised troops to resist the Manchus and died for his country — at this very moment, he died on a nameless hillside outside Ganzhou, never having once fought a proper pitched battle against the rebels.

"The Fujian troops have lost! The Fujian troops have lost!"

The propaganda officers and peasant association cadres mixed among the routed militia, hearing the charge horns sound from the hill, immediately burst into joyful cheers.

Rallying the scattered troops along the way, they turned back to beat the drowning dog.

And those fleeing Fujian elites, without a single wound on their bodies, facing the utterly feeble peasant soldiers, could muster no courage to fight at all.

The battlefield below the hill was utter chaos — peasant soldiers wielding hoes, carrying poles, cleavers, and bamboo spears. They had no formation to speak of, a cluster here, a swarm there, chasing and slaughtering the elite Fujian troops.

Whenever any Fujian elite soldier stumbled and fell, they would immediately rush over and beat him in a mob.

At times, a small knot of Fujian elites would counterattack, sending several times their number of peasant soldiers fleeing in terror.

Across the hills and fields, everywhere were fleeing soldiers, everywhere were pursuers — at times it was impossible to tell who was fleeing and who was chasing.

The Fujian Regional Commander, Chen Tingdui, charged down from the northern ridge and fled all the way into the mountains further north. Once inside the mountains, seeing no more pursuers, he hastily counted his remaining men and was instantly so furious his vision went dark.

He had only forty-odd men left at his side...

The other units, including his personal retainers, had scattered completely in flight. In this strange and distant land, there was no hope of rallying them again.

Chen Tingdui dared not linger. After a brief rest, he continued fleeing through the great mountains. He had to reach the nearest county seat quickly. Once inside the county seat, he would immediately write a letter of accusation and shift all the blame onto Zou Weilian.

He had already composed the argument in his mind: Zou Weilian, Governor of Fujian, whose entire family had been captured by the rebels, had secretly colluded with them and given blind orders. Zou Weilian first held his troops back, passively watching the rebels seize the natural stronghold of Wan'an, then directed the naval forces straight into a rebel trap, causing the main Fujian government forces to be surrounded by the rebels.

It was all the Governor's fault!

Fei Ruhe spent an entire day and night just clearing the battlefield, taking over three thousand government prisoners.

In truth, they could have taken even more prisoners, but the local gentry and peasants vented their fury by beating captives to death in all manner of ways. Many Fujian soldiers preferred to jump into the river and flee rather than be caught by the local villagers.

Of those death-defying boatmen who had lured the enemy, only six had died, while over eighty were missing — no one knew where the currents had carried them ashore, or whether they had drowned and their bodies simply could not be found.

Just as Fei Ruhe was shifting his forces across the river, preparing to lay siege to Ganzhou, an urgent military order suddenly reached Ancient Sword Mountain: the naval forces were to move north and engage immediately!

Zhu Xieyuan, Governor-General of the Five Southern Provinces, could not simply sit by and watch his allied forces at Ganzhou be besieged.

His reasoning was perfectly sound: Zou Weilian only needed to hold Ganzhou until the autumn harvest on his own side was complete. Once they had the autumn grain and sufficient provisions, Zhu Xieyuan would march out and attack Fengcheng County, forcing the main rebel army to lift the siege of Ganzhou.

In this way, the rebels could be made to exhaust themselves in frantic marches, and Ganzhou could also be preserved.

Perhaps Zou Weilian might even be able to sortie from Ganzhou and seize the opportunity to retake Wan'an County!

(End of Chapter)