Chapter 204: Rout (Bonus chapter for Alliance Leader

Boom-boom-boom-boom!

The moon was dark, the stars thick in the sky, and war drums thundered on every side.

Huang Yao sat beside a campfire, letting a soldier bind his wounds.

Zhao Han held Zhangshu Town firmly; as the southern hub for medicinal herbs, the one thing he had in greatest abundance now was medicine. Moreover, the two drug merchants who had offered up the superior formula for golden wound salve had both gained Zhao Han's recognition and support — one of them being the very man who had lawfully punished Fei Chun's parents.

"The government troops' drums tonight don't sound right — they've beaten five times already and it's only the first watch," Huang Yao said, frowning.

The propaganda officer Tu Mongols said, "Either they're planning a night raid, or they're planning to flee."

Huang Yao broke into a grin. "Hey now, Mr. Tu understands warfare too — he can even see through the government troops' intentions."

The Tu clan was also a major surname in Jiangxi, descended from Tu Qin, who had helped Sima Rui ascend the throne as emperor. Around Nanchang and Fengcheng, the Tus were especially numerous; several sons of great clans had come to join Zhao Han, and quite a few had raised troops to help Zhu Xieyuan fight.

Tu Mongols said, "This afternoon I moved between the various positions, boosting our army's morale while also observing the enemy's movements. After noon, the government troops broke and fled more and more easily, and by dusk, many of them were fleeing back down the mountain before they'd even gotten close to our lines."

"Our lives are cheap — dying doesn't matter, the Town Chief will see to the pensions, and the widows and orphans won't be bullied," Huang Yao said, pointing down the mountain. "Those village braves from respectable families, they don't dare die. Once they're dead, the fields and houses back home might well be seized by their own kinsmen. If you were a respectable-family son, would you be willing to fight to the death?"

"Heh heh, I certainly wouldn't," Tu Mongols said with a laugh.

Once his wounds were bandaged, Huang Yao rose at once. "The government troops are bound to flee tonight — it just depends on whether Old Li and the others dare come and pick up the bargain!"

Li Zheng did not wait; the government troops suddenly launched a night raid.

The thousand-odd surviving rattan-armored troops, along with several thousand government "elites," suddenly mounted a nighttime surprise assault on every position.

At the cost of over forty dead and wounded, the Great Unity Army finally broke the government troops' attack.

Tu Mongols said, puzzled, "Could it be the government troops don't mean to flee, but intend to fight us to the death? If this drags on two more days, our army will run out of water."

Huang Yao shook his head. "The government troops can't keep fighting. That Governor-General Zhu has only a thousand or two of those rattan-armored troops that are any use. But this isn't flat-ground warfare — our army's second line of defense is even steeper; how could the government troops take it so easily? All he can do is drag it out. Our army lost the first line of defense, and with it the water source — he'll drag it out until the day we have no water left to drink. But how much longer can the government troops' morale hold? No matter how fiercely they attack tonight, the government troops are sure to withdraw!"

Carrying his wounds, Huang Yao made a round of every position, had the soldiers prepare to pursue down the mountain, then leaned against a rock and dozed.

With the drums at the foot of the mountain sounding the hour on the dot, he had no fear of oversleeping.

Near the third watch, Huang Yao ordered the entire army to attack. Whether the government troops had withdrawn or not, they would launch a night raid to retake the first line of defense.

"Kill!"

The Great Unity Army surged out from all sides and fought their way to the first line of defense, only to find the positions filled with straw dummies.

Du-du-du-du~~~~

From the direction of the man-made canal came the sound of suona horns, and then one suona passed the signal to the next — all of them scouts Li Zheng and Fei Yinggong had scattered along the route.

The government troops had withdrawn, and the scouts had spotted them.

The suona calls traveled from near to far, tearing through the silence of the night, passing on and on toward the more distant mountain ridges.

There was certainly no time to intercept them at once. Li Zheng, Fei Yinggong, Zhang Tieniu, Liu Zhu, and the others led their troops straight northeast at a forced march, trying to cut off the government troops' retreat route upstream.

They... all came up empty!

Zhu Xieyuan had not followed the river all the way back to Nanchang; instead, he crossed the river one li south of Fengcheng.

That was the narrowest point of the river, the channel only thirty meters wide.

Moreover, Zhu Xieyuan had left a thousand government troops there, who could both keep an eye on the Fengcheng county garrison together with the government naval forces on the Gan River — one to the south, one to the north — and prepare the river crossing in advance.

The naval forces had been harassing Fengcheng County the whole time. Jiang Liang, in charge of defending the city, had not dared make any rash moves these past few days, much less cross the river to attack that thousand government troops.

The position of that thousand government troops was maddening — located at the confluence of two small rivers. Whether Jiang Liang came from Fengcheng County to attack, or Li Zheng and Fei Yinggong came charging out of the mountains, they would have to cross a river first. And the government troops had prepared many small boats; if things looked bad, they could board the boats and slip away.

Zhu Xieyuan had planned his retreat route long before encircling the mountain!

Over twenty thousand government troops followed the river course, reaching the ferry crossing south of Fengcheng at dawn.

Huang Yao, with over three thousand exhausted troops, had pursued all the way from the southwest. They were truly exhausted — many soldiers were falling asleep on their feet as they marched, forcing themselves to stay alert, each man holding onto the belt of the man ahead just to keep moving.

And Li Zheng, Fei Yinggong, and the others had overshot while trying to block the retreat. By the time they realized something was wrong, they hurriedly turned back along the river course.

"The main government force is coming back to attack?"

Fengcheng County Magistrate Liu Shunyi climbed the city gate tower in a fluster.

Jiang Liang pointed south and said, "The government troops are crossing the river. Magistrate Liu, I leave the defense of Fengcheng to you — I'll take troops to strike them mid-crossing!"

Liu Shunyi said in alarm, "You mustn't! Our duty is to hold Fengcheng. To the north are the government naval forces, and they've already built many scaling ladders. If you, General, take troops to the south, and the government naval forces seize the chance to attack the north wall, what then?"

"I'll only take a thousand regular troops out, and leave you a thousand peasant soldiers, plus the several hundred brave men we've temporarily conscripted," Jiang Liang said. "The government naval forces ashore amount to two or three thousand at most — could they really breach the city walls?"

"But..." Liu Shunyi started to speak, then stopped.

Jiang Liang could not be bothered to argue with him. He had the city gates opened directly and led a thousand regular troops out of the city.

"Kill!"

Several hundred government troops had already successfully crossed the river. Jiang Liang suddenly fell upon them, sending these troops scattering in flight.

Zhu Xieyuan, far from being alarmed, was delighted. He said to his subordinate commanders, "The rebels have come out of the city! No need to wait for the boats — strip off your armor and swim across, and take Fengcheng County in the momentum!"

Over twenty thousand men crossing the river — all Jiangxi soldiers who could swim — and the channel only thirty-odd meters wide. How could Jiang Liang's thousand regular troops possibly hold them off?

After scattering over two thousand government troops, several thousand more soon swam across. In the pitch darkness, they instead surrounded Jiang Liang's thousand Fengcheng defenders.

"Form a circle formation!"

Jiang Liang shouted urgently.

Fortunately, in order to swim across, the government troops who had armor had all stripped it off. Facing Jiang Liang's circle formation by the riverbank, they truly found it hard to chew through.

Moreover, fighting in formation on flat ground, the government troops' strange weapons for dealing with wolf-brush spears were not nearly so effective.

Even that thousand-odd rattan-armored troops, who had swum across wearing their rattan armor — rattan armor being waterproof — were utterly helpless against a formation of wolf-brush spears, shields, and long pikes.

"Quick, split off troops to attack the city — the scaling ladders are by the riverbank!"

Zhu Xieyuan was deeply frustrated. The rebels defending the city had dared to come out and stop him from crossing the river. Yet the naval forces under Jiangxi Regional Commander Zhu Guoxun had held back and done nothing all this time — the contrast was infuriating.

Zhu Guoxun had long since heard the shouts of battle. His order was: "The enemy situation is unclear; wait until daylight."

Xiu-xiu-xiu!

Concealed within the circle formation were five hundred archers, who now began lofting volleys at the government troops on the perimeter.

For a moment, screams rose on all sides. Those government troops were all bare-chested, utterly defenseless against arrows.

"Kill!"

Li Zheng, Fei Yinggong, Zhang Tieniu, and Liu Zhu finally rushed back, charging straight at the government troops who had not yet crossed the river.

Zhu Xieyuan was both shocked and furious. The rebel garrison of Fengcheng County had sortied on their own initiative, delaying his river-crossing operation. Now his entire army was split into three parts: most had already crossed, some were in the river, and some were still on the opposite bank.

"Rally the troops, rally the troops!"

Zhu Xieyuan ordered the signal soldiers to sound the bugle-horn.

After the Great Unity Army's reinforcements charged in, the government troops who had not yet crossed the river all jumped in and swam for the opposite bank.

The river channel was thirty meters wide and the current was slow — nothing to Jiangxi soldiers. They could swim across in the blink of an eye.

They could have used twenty thousand men to surround and slaughter Jiang Liang's thousand soldiers. They could have held the small riverbank and struck down Li Zheng, Fei Yinggong, and the others as they tried to cross. They could even have shifted toward the Gan River, using the government naval forces as a rear guard, and returned to Nanchang safe and sound.

But a mob of terrified soldiers, retreating in disarray through the dark of night — how could they still keep their wits?

That they had even managed to withdraw this far was already good enough.

"The rebels are attacking — run for your lives!"

"The rebel soldiers can work black magic!"

"Master, we should flee too. We can't fight any more."

"…"

The government troops who had swum across the river were already in total chaos.

They clearly had superior numbers. They had clearly already crossed the river. They clearly had multiple options and could have put themselves in an invincible position! Yet they still fell into disorder. Squad after squad of village braves, after crossing the river, did not go to muster but instead fled straight along the small river.

The bugle calls with which Zhu Xieyuan was trying to rally his troops seemed to turn into the starting gun for a rout, as countless government soldiers scrambled over one another to flee.

Zhu Xieyuan was utterly dumbfounded. Our entire army has successfully crossed the river, we have the enemy's main force blocked on the opposite bank, and we have the enemy's Fengcheng garrison pinned against the riverbank. Our army holds every advantage right now! If we fight one more hard round, we could even seize the city in the chaos. The enemy is still on the far bank — they are the ones who should be afraid. What do you mean by breaking and running?

In a word, the government troops had been scared out of their wits. An orderly withdrawal turned into a rout.

And a completely senseless rout at that.

Wang Tingshi was mixed in among the routed soldiers. At that moment he very much wanted to turn his coat and rise in revolt. But the fleeing troops gave him no chance. The two thousand village braves he had recruited also fled in a swarming mass, having no idea what the hell they were even running from.

Anyway, if someone else is running, we run too. Run early, run fast, and you're sure to stay alive.

"Supreme Commander, we must go now! Once the rebels cross the river it will be too late!"

Zhu Xieyuan was dragged along by his personal guards. Those Guizhou rattan-armored troops were utterly loyal; even in pitch darkness they could still form ranks and cover their commander's retreat.

"Damn it, I should've known better than to wear armor. Running all this way has worn me to death!"

Zhang Tieniu stripped off his armor and plunged headfirst into the river. His axe was somewhat heavy, and Liu Zhu soon swam ahead of him.

At this moment, Huang Yao also arrived with his troops in pursuit.

But his soldiers were simply too exhausted. Seeing that the government troops had already scattered, they immediately lay down by the riverbank to sleep, leaving the rest for the friendly forces to handle at their leisure.

"Kill!"

Jiang Liang's thousand city-defense soldiers, after being encircled and assaulted for a short while, had just over nine hundred and thirty men still able to fight. They were the first to begin chasing and cutting down the routed troops.

Li Zheng, Fei Yinggong, Zhang Tieniu, Liu Zhu, and the others also led their troops across the river one after another, leaving behind only a hundred or so musketeers and several hundred archers.

Jiangxi has far too many rivers, large and small. After pursuing for several li, another small river lay ahead.

Countless routed soldiers could be seen jumping into the river, swimming to the far bank, and continuing their flight. And the pursuers likewise jumped into the river, climbing out on the other side and continuing the slaughter.

If you gave each of them a bicycle, it would truly have become a triathlon.

Pursuing from dawn into morning, many routed soldiers were so exhausted they were gasping for breath. They could only sit down and rest a while, then scramble to flee for their lives the moment they saw the pursuers coming.

Those with poor stamina simply could not run any further. They lay flat where they were. Whatever will be, will be. Kill them, cut them up — do as you please.

Wang Tingshi's stamina was even weaker. He lay by the riverbank, and when he saw the Great Unity soldiers approaching, he hastily shouted, "I am Commander Zhao's inside man! Do not kill me!"

The government naval forces on the Gan River to the north, though they dared not come ashore to fight, had nonetheless sent scouts over to observe.

Upon learning that Zhu Xieyuan's entire army had fled in rout, Zhu Guoxun immediately ordered a withdrawal. He pulled the naval forces back to outside Nanchang city before stopping.

This Jiangxi Regional Commander was a complete fraud!

Back when he fought in Fujian, he rose from Company Commander to Vice Regional Commander in three years. First, by following Zheng Zhilong and fighting only sure-win battles; second, by throwing silver around to falsely claim other people's military merits.

The sovereign and ministers at court believed Zhu Guoxun excelled at naval warfare, and that he would surely display his divine prowess in suppressing the bandits in Jiangxi.

Yet he dared not fight a single tough battle…

(Thanks to KevinDu12345 for the Alliance Master reward, and thanks to all readers for your rewards and subscriptions. The bonus chapters for the Qie big shot and the White Silver Alliance big shot will be made up after I finish the bonus chapters for the regular Alliance Masters.)

(End of chapter)