Chapter 253: The Ying

The rider twisted sideways on the horse; the axe swept past his shoulder and vanished with a whoosh.

Tang Ershuan hadn't expected the rider could still dodge at such close range. The rider expertly controlled his mount, the horse turning slightly to charge straight at Tang Ershuan, and the Horse Soldier raised something like a cudgel high in his hand.

The massive horse bore straight down on him. Tang Ershuan had never faced such a scene before and didn't dare confront it at all — he had long forgotten anything about battle. In his panic, he threw himself beneath a nearby carriage.

Crack! A tremendous impact — the carriage shuddered violently, wood splinters flying everywhere. Then hoofbeats thundered past him and leaped straight off the Official Road on the other side.

Tang Ershuan gasped for breath, his nerves still shattered. He looked back outside and saw a cylindrical object rolling on the ground beside him, like three iron rods bound together, its wooden shaft at the tail broken into two pieces. This, he realized, must have been the weapon swung at him just now.

He had never seen such a thing before; he only knew its power was terrifying. If that thing had struck him just now, his life would certainly have been forfeit.

The Horse Soldier's back was already charging past the Official Road. Spurring his horse into a gallop, he drew his Waist Saber, overtook a fleeing Marine Corps soldier on the open ground, and with a single stroke powered by the horse's speed, blood erupted from the Marine Corps soldier's neck as he pitched forward to the ground.

The Horse Soldier did not slow. He caught up to a Groom ahead, and as he leaned down to slash, his mount slammed into the Groom and sent him flying sideways.

A string of hoofbeats passed outside the carriage. Dense horse legs crossed his field of vision — many Horse Soldiers had burst through this gap onto the east side of the Official Road. A leader gave a sharp whistle, and the bandits all charged toward the rear.

Chaos reigned on the Official Road. Clusters of cavalry were hacking down horses and Grooms everywhere. He no longer dared leave the space beneath the carriage, even as the draft horse pulling it whinnied in agony before him and a great stream of horse blood was already about to reach his hand.

Battle cries erupted from behind. Tang Ershuan peered through the gap at the right wheel and saw the infantry of the Personal Guard Unit hurrying up from the rear, their formation somewhat disordered. A group of Horse Soldiers crashed through from the side. A series of muffled thuds — the scattered infantry Array was smashed open in an instant. Seven or eight infantrymen were knocked several paces back and collapsed to the ground. The nearby infantry scattered and fled, instantly trampled and drowned by the Horse Soldiers charging in behind.

A sense of helplessness surged through Tang Ershuan's heart as he lay on the ground. Nothing, it seemed, could stop these cavalry. Horse legs still passed all around; the eerie shrieks of the Roving Bandits were as terrifying as demons.

"What sins are these…" Tang Ershuan's hands trembled. He curled into a ball beneath the cart, watching everything outside in terror.

Suddenly, a fierce horse scream rang out from outside, followed by a human figure slamming down beside the carriage with a thud. Battle cries in Anqing accents rose up. The horse legs at the gap wheeled in circles — for the first time today, he heard panicked shouts from the Roving Bandits.

Two more men fell from their horses, Javelins and Arrows embedded in their bodies. The circling horse legs fled west, out of the Official Road.

Then a group of Garrison Commander infantry howled as they charged toward the rear, clusters of Long Spears glinting coldly.

A Team of cavalry overtook the infantry and charged toward the Horse Soldiers attacking the Personal Guard Unit. Before they could crash into the bandit ranks, the Roving Bandits, already sensing the movement, scattered in all directions with a whistle.

Another blast of a conch horn, and the chaotic mass of Horse Soldiers receded like a tide. Tang Ershuan stared blankly outside. The cavalry that had seemed invincible just moments ago had fled in the blink of an eye.

Just then, a figure on the ground stirred, drawing Tang Ershuan's attention. It was the first Roving Bandit who had fallen from his horse earlier. A Javelin was lodged in his leg, and he was struggling to crawl back toward the west side. Looking up, he also happened to see Tang Ershuan beneath the carriage.

The skin on this Roving Bandit's face was rough; his true age was impossible to tell. He had no strength left to resist now, and his eyes gradually filled with pleading.

The horse blood had already reached Tang Ershuan's hand, still radiating warmth in this cold winter day.

The two stared at each other for a moment. Then Tang Ershuan crawled out from under the carriage and, under the bandit's gaze, slowly picked up the broken iron tube from the ground.

……

The Horse Soldiers who had not crossed the Official Road retreated directly west, while those on the east side withdrew north, where a group of about a hundred Roving Bandits was providing cover.

Pang Yu stopped beside a carriage. Before him, a Marine Corps soldier was bludgeoning a Roving Bandit with something like an iron cudgel gang leader. The bandit's head had already been split open, a red-and-white paste-like substance oozing out.

This was the largest gap from earlier, where the Mounted Bandits had broken through to the east side and attacked the Personal Guard Unit infantry rushing to the rescue, routing an entire Company of the Personal Guard Unit in a very short time.

Fortunately, the carriages on the Official Road had obstructed the Mounted Bandits. Only a portion broke through, and the Official Road turned into a chaotic melee. Without these carriages, the entire Personal Guard Unit would have been overrun by the Horse Soldiers.

The Logistics Team's carriages had dispersed the Mounted Bandits' formation. Although the bandits held a numerical advantage, their loose formation allowed the Third Company, led by Pang Yu to the rescue, to seal the gap. Chen Yuwang's cavalry arrived at the same time. Pang Yu had hoped Chen Yuwang could completely crush the Mounted Bandits on the east side, but the enemy withdrew even faster — truly coming and going like the wind.

The Official Road was a scene of devastation. Wounded horses and mules screamed and whinnied on the ground. Damaged carriages lay overturned by the roadside, the Rice and Beans and equipment they carried scattered everywhere. The ground on the east side was covered with corpses. By Pang Yu's rough estimate, the dead and wounded among the Marine Corps, Personal Guard Unit, and Grooms exceeded a hundred.

A single slight oversight during the march had resulted in the near-total loss of the Logistics Team. Pang Yu had now lost the ability to pursue. Only at this moment did he truly grasp the power of cavalry — and not just on the battlefield.

In the three battles at North Gorge Pass, Shucheng Mountain Pass, and Fierce Tiger Bridge, Pang Yu had won two and lost one. Cavalry had not seemed so formidable then. But during this march, the cavalry had applied constant pressure, wearing down the Garrison Commander's morale until it was utterly exhausted, and then delivered a fatal blow here.

The fight just now could hardly be called a battle. The two sides had not clashed head-on; it was merely a one-sided raid. But just like at Shucheng Mountain Pass, the Roving Bandits had achieved their tactical objective. The Garrison Commander had lost its pursuit capability and could no longer threaten them.

"Sir, we captured two Roving Thief wounded and interrogated them. The force that attacked us is Luo Rucai's Ying, the one with the bandit alias Cao Cao. Most of the men in his Ying have served in the Border Army."

Pang Yu turned his head to look at Guo Fengyou and gave a blank "Mm." The Personal Guard Unit had previously been led by Guo Fengyou, but the man's strengths did not lie in leading troops in combat. During this relief mission to Jiangnan, the Personal Guard Unit's performance had been poor, and Pang Yu was not satisfied.

The Horse Soldiers on the west side had halted a hundred and fifty paces away. A Red Banner appeared from behind a distant hill, paused briefly atop it, and immediately withdrew back behind the hill.

This Headman called Luo Rucai seemed extremely cautious, and he had certainly heard about the cannon attack at Silver Ingot Bridge. From his position, it appeared that the one commanding this raid by the Ying was none other than Luo Rucai himself.

The Third Company's infantry stood guard among the carriages. For the moment, the Roving Bandits' Horse Soldiers had no chance to attack again. But Pang Yu was certain they still had other moves in reserve.

Sure enough, moments later, a Team of Roving Bandit Horse Soldiers broke away from the main force on the west side and galloped toward Wuyi Town. Pang Yu guessed their objective was to burn the wooden bridge they had crossed today.

The Pure Stream River was lined with tributaries along its course. From Wuyi Town to their current position, besides the three bridges at Wuyi Town, there were also three more bridges: Upper Bridge, Lower Bridge, and Ni Family Bridge. Among them, Upper Bridge was a wooden bridge. If the Mounted Bandits burned that wooden bridge, the Garrison Commander would be completely encircled. This was more a form of psychological warfare — knowing they were trapped, the morale of the Garrison Commander's soldiers was already on the verge of collapse.

Raising his Telescope to scan the surroundings, Pang Yu stopped when he faced north.

Roving Bandit infantry appeared in the Telescope. They were advancing from the direction of White Armor Bridge. Their numbers couldn't be counted, but the column was very long.

"Roving Thief infantry."

Pang Yu put away his Telescope and turned back to look at the column — the wrecked carriages lying every which way on the Official Road, and over a hundred dead and wounded. The appearance of infantry now meant the Roving Bandits intended to launch a siege against the Garrison Commander.

They were already in a death trap. This proved once again that on the flat terrain along the Pure Stream River, even well-trained Garrison Commander infantry were still utterly outmatched when facing large numbers of cavalry. The Roving Bandits had developed elusive, unpredictable tactics over years of roaming. They didn't need to charge an infantry Array to push the infantry into a desperate situation.

Panic permeated the column. The Garrison Commander was a force composed mainly of recruits, far from being a battle-hardened elite unit. Under three continuous days of intense pressure, and now surrounded, they were on the brink of collapse. In their current state, Pang Yu's force would be overrun before they could even reach that fishing village.

"Make camp right here. The Second Division will deploy west along the Official Road; leave all carriages on the Official Road and unload the animals and supplies. The First Division will deploy north along this Fish Pond. The Third Division will deploy south from the current head of the column; adjustments will be made once all units are encamped. The Personal Soldiers infantry and Marine Corps will deploy facing east." Pang Yu swept his gaze around. "Issue the shovels. Each Division will rotate by Company to dig Trenches. Prepare for a defensive battle."

……

Night fell. Both armies, three li apart, lit Campfires, but compared to what Pang Yu had seen on the river, these were mere fireflies.

Neither the Garrison Commander nor the Roving Bandits had enough Firewood. The main Roving Bandit force that had passed through earlier had swept the area along the Official Road clean. Now neither side could find Firewood. The Roving Bandits had some brought up from their Camp Ground north of White Armor Bridge, while Pang Yu used the Straw Bundles prepared for the cavalry as fuel, along with those damaged carriages on the Official Road.

By the time the Roving Thief infantry arrived, the Garrison Commander already had a rough defensive line. The numerous Fish Ponds and water ponds along the river all provided advantages for the Garrison Commander's defensive line.

That Roving Bandit Headman called Cao Cao did not launch an attack and also began making camp nearby. Supplies, tents, and equipment were continuously brought up from the north. The two sides made camp three li apart.

The Garrison Commander set up their Camp Ground along the Official Road. The Official Road and the abandoned carriages on it served as the western camp wall, allowing them to put those supplies to use on the spot.

The entire Camp Ground was not large. The screams coming from the southeast corner could be heard by everyone in the night.

Over a hundred had been killed or wounded in that brief raid in the afternoon. Among them, more than twenty were severely wounded. Unable to endure the immense pain, they could do nothing but howl incessantly.

This was another severe blow to the Garrison Commander's morale. In a field camp like this, Pang Yu had no way to isolate the wounded from the rest of the army. Tents could not block out the screams either; having buildings would have been far better.

After inspecting the wounded, Pang Yu walked back to the center of the Camp Ground. The Chief Officials of each unit were all waiting there.

A circle of saddles, all taken from dead horses, had been arranged on the ground. Pang Yu picked one at random, and once he was seated, the others sat down as well.

The atmosphere was somewhat subdued due to the defeat.

Mr. Hou coughed and began, "Reporting for the sir's Knowledge: those hired Grooms have all been placed under Watch and Control. A few who were sowing panic have been tied up."

He paused, then added, "The sir once said that Roving Bandits fight to seek food. Our Garrison Commander is digging in behind trenches and fortifications, and there is no Rations and Pay inside. They will surely not risk their lives to attack."

Everyone around looked at Pang Yu. The army had met with misfortune on its first campaign, and so many had died — no one was in a good mood. As the commander, Pang Yu certainly felt it even more; even Chen Yuwang, who was present at the meeting, did not doubt this.

Pang Yu said nothing, his eyes fixed on the northeast. Just when everyone thought he was distracted, he suddenly spoke. "I interrogated several Roving Thieves. The force that engaged us today was mainly Cao Cao's, with two or three smaller bands alongside. If they truly meant to surround and destroy our Garrison Battalion, why not bring more troops, crush us in one decisive push, and then besiege Chuzhou? The way they dealt with Cao Wenzhao and Ai Wannian."

The men looked at each other. After a moment, Wang Zenglu ventured, "Perhaps they have too many men, and this is all the troops they can deploy here. They only mean to block us from relieving Chuzhou."

Pang Yu frowned. "The Roving Thieves' vanguard should have been assaulting Chuzhou for three days now. By the bandits' usual practice, they ought to have withdrawn. Yet today they are here besieging our camp. There must be a reason. I need to know the situation at Chuzhou before I can analyze what the Roving Thieves are really after."

Chen Yuwang said in a low voice, "Chuzhou lies beyond White Armor Bridge, and there are Roving Thief camps in between. The Night-Not-Returning scouts could never get through."

Chen Rulie chimed in, "The Roving Thief camps have already spread all around us. I just observed the direction of White Armor Bridge — the fires are brightest there. It's very likely that beyond the bridge there are still more Roving Thief camps. There is absolutely no way to reach Chuzhou."

Pang Yu nodded. No one else spoke. Under the present circumstances, reconnaissance was truly impossible; the Garrison Battalion could only huddle in defense.

Suddenly a voice spoke up. "If White Armor Bridge is impassable, then take another road. As long as we cross the Pure Stream River, there are no Roving Thieves guarding the opposite bank — we can scout Chuzhou."