Chapter 341: Small Cannon

Xiao Wazi stood on a small dirt slope on the north side. Not far behind him was Tufeng Fort, and around him were dense formations of foot soldiers, all sorts of weapons jumbled together. Squad leaders and Post Commander were everywhere, shouting and cursing, trying to get those foot soldiers into position.

He was not riding today. By order of the Liu Laozhang house, all horse soldiers under his command were to dismount and fight on foot, each supervising foot soldiers in preparation for a bloody battle with the pursuing Anqing Battalion.

Xiao Wazi turned his head and glanced north. The rolling hills gradually rose higher and higher toward the northwest. Behind them loomed the majestic, unbroken shadow of the Dabie Mountains. The spot where he had formed up was originally a vital crossroads with both a river and a post road, but now there were no boats. Government troops had already formed ranks on the post road. Though the bridge was still under their control, there was no way to withdraw without defeating this government force.

Just like at Puzikou, the Garrison Battalion had suddenly appeared from the water route, and this time they had raided over thirty li. Xiao Wazi had originally hoped that Eight Master would go attack Tongcheng to avenge his brother. So outside Erlang Town, when he realized it was the Anqing Garrison Battalion, he had risked staying a little longer, precisely to give Eight Master clear intelligence so they could wipe out this group.

But the Garrison Battalion now seemed even harder to fight than before. When Xiao Wazi fled past Moyanpu, he saw Sweeping King's troops. Sweeping King was a master of considerable fame, and Xiao Wazi thought he could at least hold Moyanpu. But by nightfall, he heard that Sweeping King had also been defeated and retreated to Chema River, and the Garrison Battalion had pursued them there through the night.

About three or four hundred paces away was the post road. A unit of government troops had seized the position — the same group that had pursued them last night and fought Sweeping King for half the night. Later, Chuang Tatian and Cao Cao had both sent reinforcements, and they had finally managed to stop them from capturing Chema River Market Town. Otherwise, they would have been surrounded here today.

Since the loss of Erlang Town, Xiao Wazi felt that everything had fallen into chaos. The Eight Elders' main camp was at City River Stockade, but there were too many men from the other outposts to all fit inside. Nearly half the camps were strung out along the route from Moyanpu. Last night, during the Garrison Battalion's pursuit, after they seized the post road, the men in those camps had all scattered. More outposts were east of Chema River. They had originally come to join the siege of Fengjiadu. Some outposts' foot soldiers had only arrived yesterday afternoon and hadn't even had time to attack before they were immediately ordered back to Chema River.

All through last night, troops were constantly being shifted. In the pitch black, it was even more chaotic. They had hoped to reorganize at dawn, but the Anqing government troops arrived just as the sky brightened. The various Old Camp Chiefs no longer cared about the chaos. They first ordered every outpost to pull their men out, saying they would wait for the government troops to attack. As a result, most people had no time to eat.

The whole Chema River area had been in turmoil all night. Almost no one had been able to sleep. Xiao Wazi had reached City River Stockade before nightfall and hadn't been forced to march all night like those foot soldiers, yet even he felt utterly exhausted now.

Though his energy was somewhat flagging, Xiao Wazi was not worried about losing to the Garrison Battalion. Eight Master's battle line was in the center. All outposts were fighting on foot; only the main camp kept horses ready. And because Liu Wenxiu had lost Erlang Town yesterday, he was punished by being ordered to lead his remnant troops in foot combat, positioned near Cao Cao's forces. Xiao Wazi had followed him here. The spot where he stood was on a small dirt slope. Though only a few paces high, it offered an excellent view. Looking out from Chema River Market Town to here, it was a dense, dark mass of troops from every camp — at least twenty or thirty thousand men. Many of them were fierce veteran squad leaders and Post Commander. Though the foot soldiers were somewhat disordered, they were far grander in scale than the government troops opposite them. The Garrison Battalion's battle line looked to be only two short segments, roughly a thousand men in total.

A large body of government troops had just arrived from the post road. There was a red Regional Commander's recognition banner. He couldn't read anyway, but he knew it meant a general officer of the Anqing Battalion had arrived. In front of the recognition banner were five flags of different colors. Xiao Wazi had been fighting long enough to have heard the camp elders who had once served in the government army talk about this: they were called the Five-Direction Banners, corresponding to the front, rear, left, right, and center armies. It must mean the entire Anqing Battalion was here. Just now, someone from the main camp had come and said the enemy had two or three thousand men. That was only a tenth of their own side. Out of two or three thousand government troops, five or six Company Commander retainers would be a lot. They absolutely could not defeat twenty thousand men.

A booming sound came from the opposite side. Xiao Wazi focused his gaze. On the post road, a large unit of government troops up front turned northward. Banners and flags of all sizes and colors signaled back and forth for a moment, replacing a small squad of armored soldiers that had been on guard. In neat formation, they advanced north. Their numbers were considerable. After marching a stretch, they encountered Fish Pond and a ramp. The large unit split into four small square formations. The frontage was only six men, and the depth was also about five or six men. At the front was a shield-bearer, and behind them were all long spears. They pushed toward the westernmost flank of Cao Cao's battle line.

Just by the rhythm of the banners, Xiao Wazi could tell that the Anqing Battalion was an elite force, and even more refined than when he had seen them last year. In the past, among all the camps, only the one or two thousand foot soldiers under Gao Chuangwang had this many banners and could form up far faster than the foot soldiers of other camps. After Gao Chuangwang died, no camp's foot soldiers could maneuver like this.

"Cannons, they've got cannons!"

Xiao Wazi turned his head. The one speaking beside him was his camp chief, Second Locust. The two had only just reunited before dawn. Yesterday, when Erlang Town collapsed, Second Locust, like him, had chosen to flee east, not stopping until they reached City River Stockade. Because there were too many people, they hadn't run into each other. Later, upon learning that Liu Wenxiu was also here, they gathered the scattered men at City River Stockade and reorganized the remnants.

Second Locust had originally instructed Xiao Wazi to take the servants, rations, and pay and leave. But the collapse outside Erlang Town had been too swift, and Xiao Wazi had failed to complete the assigned task. Second Locust had lost every last one of his servants, rations, and pay. Since their reunion, he hadn't spoken. After all, he was his own camp chief, and Xiao Wazi, having failed to handle the matter, didn't know if Second Locust was angry. He didn't dare initiate conversation, only stealing glances at him repeatedly.

Second Locust's eyes were fixed on the Garrison Battalion opposite. He muttered a couple more words under his breath, then turned his head to Xiao Wazi and said, "You see that? They've got cannons!"

The camp chief had spoken, meaning yesterday's matter was put aside. Xiao Wazi hurriedly looked south and indeed saw cannons, and more than one. Several cannoneers were pushing them, moving along with the infantry. Wherever there was a raised path between fields, a few men would lift them. Behind them, a group of men who looked like civilian laborers were carrying several large chests.

"Second Chief, that's the cannon from Erlang Town yesterday. This cannon... it's small. Just a few men can lift it. We've seen plenty of government cannons before."

"Small or not, it's still a cannon." Second Locust's throat moved. "This is the Anqing Battalion. Their cannons are bound to be different from the others."

Xiao Wazi opened his mouth in surprise, momentarily at a loss as to how to reassure his camp chief. By now, the surrounding roving bandits had all spotted the cannons. Waves of unrest rippled through the ranks. The other squad leaders were all suppressing the commotion. Only Second Locust turned a deaf ear, not even bothering to manage the dozen or so foot soldiers assigned to him.

Second Locust was also fighting on foot today. He turned and looked around, his expression tense, and said to Xiao Wazi, "Remember the horses. My horse is left north of the stockade. Remember where your own horse is, so you can find it when chaos breaks out."

Xiao Wazi asked cautiously, "At the main camp, who's watching your horse for you?"

"Yuan Great Blade's woman. Yuan Great Blade is dead. She wants to follow me of her own accord."

Xiao Wazi gave an "Oh." Yuan Daodao had also been a Post Commander of the main camp. Yesterday, he had followed Liu Wenxiu at Erlang Town. He usually wielded a great blade and fought with extreme valor, quite famous in the main camp. He had twenty or thirty servants and five or six women. Only now did Xiao Wazi learn he was dead. Women in the camps all had to find someone to rely on to survive. Xiao Wazi had seen plenty of this and wasn't the least bit surprised. But Yuan Great Blade had died only yesterday, and Second Locust had fled for his life. That woman had negotiated a new man in a single night — an efficiency rarely seen.

Second Locust's lips trembled slightly. He watched the cannons a while longer, then suddenly asked Xiao Wazi, "Where's your horse?"

"That servant's wife is watching it." Xiao Wazi pointed beside him. His gaze shifted over — it was that Wang Dashan he had just captured at Erlang Town.

Second Locust had no attention to spare for a servant at the moment. He didn't even look, so naturally he didn't recognize him as the one captured by the river.

Second Locust licked his dry lips, turned, and searched among the foot soldiers for a water flask. He grabbed three in a row, all empty. The fourth finally had a little water. He yanked it off, gulped it down noisily, and casually tossed it down the slope.

The government troops continued to advance. The four small square formations at the front were now about two hundred paces from Cao Cao's position. Each small square formation had a banner. After a single gong sounded, the four small square formations paused briefly, then continued pushing forward one after another. They formed up on either side of a paddy field and on either side of a dirt slope, with the banner chief's flag halted behind the paddy field. It was clear that this terrain made forming up difficult for them as well.

A second large unit of government troops on the post road began advancing north. It looked like the government troops intended to commit at least two such large units on the western flank. In the distance on the post road were cavalry, several hundred of them it seemed. But Xiao Wazi knew that in this kind of terrain, cavalry wasn't of much use.

What was more worrying were the cannons. Xiao Wazi had already counted five, all still in the process of being moved. Because of the formations blocking the view, there might be more cannons. Xiao Wazi rubbed his eyes and spotted a sixth. In the past, he had feared cannons on city walls, but he wasn't too afraid of field cannons. The most formidable government troops were all household retainers, all cavalry. General officers like Great and Little Cao and Ai Wannian didn't use cannons. The ones who used cannons were always infantry. When battle was joined, they made a lot of noise, but he never saw them kill many people. Once you closed in, they scattered in a rout. Over time, everyone came to believe that cannons were pretty useless and cumbersome to carry. The various camps had captured many; occasionally they'd use one in a city assault and then immediately discard it, killing the cannoneers along with it.

But this Garrison Battalion was different from other government troops. The cannon ambush at Puzikou had killed Yao Tiandong. Men from most of the roving bandit camps had been present, and the story had spread until everyone knew it. No one had known before that cannons could be used that way. This Anqing Battalion brought cannons with them no matter what, even when forcing a crossing of the Pure Stream River.

"Six... seven cannons now." The Second Chief's voice reached his ears again. Xiao Wazi turned to look. Second Locust's face was pale. "They're going to hit Cao Cao's position, force us toward the riverbank, drive us all into the river to drown."

Xiao Wazi quickly glanced left and right and said in a low voice, "Second Chief, keep your voice down. Don't let Master Liu hear. Besides, we've got tens of thousands of men. There's no reason we can't beat these two thousand government troops."

The Second Chief whipped his head around and glared fiercely at Xiao Wazi. "In battle, who talks about reason? I, your old man, cannot be caught by these government troops — not by any government troops. You figure out a method yourself. If you can't find your horse, then drown in this river."

At that moment, a burst of shouting suddenly erupted on the western flank, then spread toward Tufeng Fort. Everyone turned to look west. Fifty or sixty archers ran out from Cao Cao's battle line, with over a hundred foot soldiers in front raising shields. The government troops also detached several small squads, advancing about thirty paces ahead of the main force. About half of them had bows. The two sides advanced toward each other, entering the battlefield between the two armies. It seemed Cao Cao had also seen the cannons and wanted to use these archers to attack first, preventing the enemy from setting up their cannons in peace.

Xiao Wazi didn't watch those skirmishers. He carefully studied the government troops' battle line. The cannons were all in position now — four behind the paddy field and four more on top of the small slope, eight in total. Beside each cannon were four or five men. The large chests the civilian laborers had carried were also there now. They were bustling about with something. Xiao Wazi couldn't quite make it out for a moment, but he guessed they were loading cannonballs.

The vanguard began to clash in the center. The twanging of bowstrings faintly reached them. The largest battle in the Anqing region was unfolding. At Xiao Wazi's distance, he could only vaguely see arrows streaking past. Both sides had the cover of shield-bearers, and for the moment, no victor could be determined.

Several deep, booming reports sounded. Drums rolled from within Cao Cao's formation. A second wave of about two hundred archers entered the battlefield. Waves of roaring shouts erupted from the western wing's formations. Then the roving bandits in front of Tufeng Fort roared in response, everyone shouting themselves hoarse, weapons brandished wildly and chaotically in the air. Next, the roving bandits on the eastern wing at Chema River Market Town also began beating drums. The roar of over twenty thousand men along the entire battle line shook heaven and earth.

Xiao Wazi shouted along a couple of times, his own ears ringing from the din. That tsunami-like roar was something you could only feel when part of the crowd. After shouting, Xiao Wazi felt his blood boiling. Everyone around him was red-faced and hoarse. The soldiers of the Anqing Battalion no longer seemed so terrifying. He turned to look at that Wang Dashan behind him and saw that his face was also flushed red, his mouth shouting something incomprehensible. Xiao Wazi steadied his breathing. The show of force lasted for a brief moment, then the wave of sound gradually subsided.

The clash in the center continued. On the opposite side, the banners of the government troops' grand formation flew proudly. No one shouted. Even the cannoneers beside the cannons seemed to have stopped their bustling.

A continuous bugle call rang out from the government troops' formation. Xiao Wazi had just focused his gaze on the cannon position by the paddy field when four plumes of white smoke erupted almost simultaneously, instantly swallowing the water's surface ahead. Through the blurred sight, four small black dots flashed out of the white smoke and hurtled toward the dense foot soldier formation two hundred paces away.