Chapter 460: Overnight Stay

The M2 Machine Gun's maximum range was 2500 meters, so when that unique "thump-thump-thump" sound echoed through the valley, the Ming Army still hundreds of meters away suffered a devastating blow.

The dense ranks on the mountain path were instantly carved into a bloody alley, men and horses toppling, severed limbs flying chaotically.

Bullets traveling at speeds measured in milliseconds are beyond human reaction. So it was not until several seconds later that the bodies and blood blasted forward finally jolted the rear ranks from their shock.

After a wild scream, the massed cavalry began yanking their horses to turn around, and the mountain path instantly plunged into chaos, causing even more men to be pierced by bullets.

This round of machine gun fire, counting the time spent adjusting aim midway, took only half a minute in total, expending a full 100 rounds of 12.7mm armor-piercing ammunition.

Half a minute later, the valley returned to calm; all Ming soldiers had fled behind the bend a li away. Only on the mountain path where the cavalry had previously halted were left two to three hundred dead and wounded, along with scattered debris and horse corpses everywhere.

His hair disheveled and half his face covered in blood, Zuo Liangyu braced one hand against a cliff rock, poked his head out from behind the bend, and stared in disbelief at the bloody alley ahead, his eyes filled with terror.

During those thirty seconds of horror just now, Zuo Liangyu was lucky enough not to catch a peanut, but his horse's leg was shot and broken, throwing him to the ground where stone shards slashed his face.

After this, supported by his personal guards, he scrambled and stumbled behind the mountain spur, having taken a walk through a storm of bullets and experienced a taste of later-generation soldiers' daily life.

Utterly numb to the blood dripping from his face, Zuo Liangyu, at this moment staring at those Ming Army corpses lying all over the road, as shattered as the Tartars, finally solved one mystery completely: how those Tartars beneath the city wall had died.

"What kind of weapon is this? A Frankish cannon? How can it be so ferocious?"

No one could answer Zuo Liangyu's question. This fantastical weapon, neither quite cannon nor quite gun, swift as lightning, had already completely exceeded the Ming Army's understanding.

Seeing the distant Ming Army vanish in disarray behind the mountain spur, the Transmigrators on the city wall exchanged knowing smiles, left Qian Tieshan to hold the fort, and the rest withdrew.

Then the civilian laborers who had just fled back into the city through Nanmen were released again, to continue their promising career in the meat-processing plant.

This time, the civilian laborers strode out with chests puffed and heads held high. Having seen those bastard Official Army soldiers blasted to pieces moments ago, the laborers knew that the troops on the city wall were willing to back them up, so now these men were no longer afraid.

The situation thus stalemated in a bizarre fashion. The soldiers on the city wall rotated shifts on schedule, ready to fire at any moment; the laborers below the wall chopped heads, filled baskets, and worked with heads down; the Ming Army in the distance hid behind the mountain, not daring to step one pace beyond the boundary.

This state of affairs persisted until the main Ming Army force arrived.

Between four and five in the afternoon, Zuo Liangyu's direct superior Cao Wenzhao, and even Ma Shilong, who led over ten thousand central-army infantry, arrived at the valley entrance one after another.

"Exactly what reason has blocked my grand army on this mountain path? No deceit — from beginning to end, report everything to this official in full detail!"

With a broad, flat face and a full beard, sitting on a large boulder, horsewhip in hand, dressed in a crimson Official Robe with a lion rank badge embroidered on the chest, Ma Shilong was interrogating Zuo Liangyu, who knelt before him, surrounded by a crowd of Regional Commanders and Vice Generals who had come from all directions for the King's Rescue.

"Reporting to the Commissioner, when your humble subordinate led the detachment here, for no apparent reason we encountered cannon fire from the city wall and suffered losses of brothers."

Ma Shilong extended his left arm flat, pointed at the bloody alley not far away, and asked incredulously: "Without cause or reason, and you were even flying your Banner, the city wall just opened fire?"

"Perhaps those Southern Soldiers did not recognize our official troops' Banner."

Ever since passing the military examination in his youth, Ma Shilong had successively held posts such as Xuanfu Mobile Corps Commander, Santun Camp Regional Commander, and Shanhai Pass General; one could say Ma Hui's military career had basically been spent dealing with this quagmire of Liaoxi.

So seeing this bastard hemming and hawing, not daring to answer the question directly, Ma Shilong knew even by thinking with his foot sole that there was something fishy going on.

Thus Old Ma said no more, raised his head, and began admiring the withered trees and desolate ridges.

Before long, Ma Shilong's personal guard captain slipped over and whispered a stream of information into the General-in-Chief's ear.

"Men, seize him and behead him."

After hearing the inside intelligence, Ma Shilong's face showed no ripple of emotion, bearing an expression of "I knew it all along." He waved his hand and ordered men to pin down Zuo Liangyu, preparing to take his head.

The next moment, as if arranged beforehand, a crowd of Guanning Army generals including Cao Wenzhao and Zu Dashou all clasped fists in salute, a chorus of pleading words spilling from their mouths, and forcefully secured Zuo Liangyu's reprieve.

With a cold laugh, Ma Shilong remained utterly impassive, seemingly long weary of this routine: "Fine. I'll spare your dog life for now."

At this, Ma Shilong brought his whip down viciously, leaving a lash mark across the intact half of Zuo Liangyu's face: "Will you now confess truthfully?"

Having received a lash that never happened historically, Zuo Liangyu knew that if he did not speak the truth now, no one would protect him a second time. So crestfallen, he honestly recounted the bloody incident that had just occurred over steamed buns... heads.

Ma Shilong, who already knew the general situation, now began questioning meticulously, clarifying every detail about the firepower, troop strength, and sequence of events on the city wall.

"This is arrogance backed by weapons!"

After finishing his questions, Ma Shilong stood up, clasped his hands behind his back and pondered a moment, then turned his head and said: "Take my Banner and go knock on the pass."

Though Zuo Liangyu's left face was bloody and his right face swollen at this moment, upon hearing Ma Shilong's words, his entire face instantly turned green — just earlier, his own messenger had been beaten to death beneath the city wall.

Yet military orders were hard to defy. Ma Shilong was now the Military Commissioner bearing the imperial sword, having essentially reached the pinnacle of Ming military rank. Today, though Ma Shilong might find it stressful and difficult to behead a Regional Commander on the spot, if Zuo Liangyu, a mere Commander, dared defy orders again, even the gods could not save him!

So Zuo Liangyu had no choice but to hastily wipe his face, ride out alone, holding Ma Shilong's general's Banner high, and under the gaze of tens of thousands of Ming soldiers, slowly advance toward Santunying Fortress.

Along the way, he crossed over his subordinates' corpses, passed by the Tartar head piles, and finally brushed past the messenger's corpse beneath the city wall. Drenched in cold sweat, Zuo Liangyu himself did not know how he had arrived beneath Santunying Fortress.

Standing before the Drawbridge, watching the Knight slowly ride out from the Nanmen gate tunnel, Zuo Liangyu finally let out a long breath: it seemed his own life was spared after all.

The arrivals were three men dressed in earth-brown camouflage clothing.

Although the newcomers wore strange garments and bore no armor, with over a thousand Tartar and several hundred Ming corpses as endorsement, no one now dared to look down on these men who appeared like beggars.

"Your humble general Zuo Liangyu, here on behalf of Commissioner Ma to knock on the pass."

"Oh, so you are Zuo Liangyu!"

Seeing the playful smile spread across the rugged man's face opposite him, as if they were well acquainted, Zuo Liangyu blinked, unable to figure it out.

After this offhand remark, Qian Tieshan stopped joking and turned to serious matters: "I know your purpose here. Go back and tell Ma Jinglüe that our General-in-Chief Cao was wounded in recent battle with the Tartars and is presently not fit to receive guests."

Qian Tieshan showed not a trace of shame as he continued: "It is now late in the day, and the pass defenses are tight — who knows whether more Tartars might come to snatch heads... Perhaps it would be better to wait until tomorrow morning, and then invite Lord Ma to come discuss matters."

"This... this would be rather improper, would it not?"

Zuo Liangyu was already dumbfounded.

He had never imagined beforehand that such outrageous insolence could exist: a Deputy Regional Commander actually daring to demand that the Military Commissioner, who held overall command of all King's Rescue forces from every route, wait outside the city an entire night before being granted an audience?

This was like an army commander barring an inspecting group army commander outside his defense zone — all sense of hierarchy and respect had been utterly discarded, tantamount to rebellion!

Yet Qian Tieshan paid no heed whatsoever to Zuo Liangyu's words, simply continuing on his own: "I warn you, do not stir up any trouble tonight. The road before the city is now permitted for small cavalry detachments only. If there is any further troop movement, bullets have no eyes!"

Having said this, Qian Tieshan yanked the reins, turned around, and left, leaving Zuo Liangyu standing foolishly beneath the city wall, utterly baffled.

The Transmigrators' such arrogance was not because they had grown swollen-headed now that they held Tartar heads in hand, but for another reason rather awkward to disclose — stalling for time.

Of course, such actions would certainly be interpreted as arrogance by Ming state generals, but the Transmigrators simply did not care, or rather, this was exactly what they wanted.

After the helpless Zuo Liangyu returned, he relayed Qian Tieshan's words in full detail to Ma Shilong, then swore oaths and pledged that he had not altered a single word.

At this moment, Ma Shilong still sat upon the large boulder, except now he held in his hand a handful of bullet heads collected from the corpses.

Ignoring Zuo Liangyu, Old Ma selected from his palm a deformed bullet head, and by the fading glow of the setting sun, carefully examined the layer of Copper jacketing around the bullet's exterior, then nodded and said: "A wealthy one."

At this, he rose and addressed those around him: "If they refuse to let us enter the city, they likely have their reasons for refusing. This old frame is still sturdy enough, and I do not fear camping out one night. All of you, go make your own arrangements."

The commanders around him were slightly surprised by Old Ma's soft attitude, but no one jumped out to act tough — everyone now knew that Santun Camp was full of killing gods, so jump out and court death?

As for that arrogant and domineering Cao Zong, with all those Tartar heads, his level was now very high, several stories high. Whatever dirty business existed between him and the big shots would certainly be settled in the imperial court; it had nothing to do with the rest of them anymore.

So with a single order from Old Ma, three thousand cavalry and over ten thousand infantry began setting up the Military Camp right there on the mountain road.

Just then, from the mountain road east of Santun Camp, came the rumbling of horse hooves... Lao Sun had arrived.

Lao Sun, with the great "Sun" Banner held high behind him, brought the old general Zhu Mei and rushed all the way from Yongping, nearly shaking Lao Sun's old bones to pieces.

When he finally reached the front and saw, in the diffuse golden light of the setting sun, the long corpse road and piles of heads before Santunying Fortress, Lao Sun was dumbfounded too.

Fortunately, Old Ma on the opposite side spotted Lao Sun in time, so Old Ma personally rode out, afraid the city wall might misunderstand and give the Old Man another shot, taking only one personal guard as he crossed the Death Road and charged over.

Then Lao Sun met his Intimate Comrade Ma Huihui, and after hearing everything that had happened Under the City, he was shocked on the spot: a Deputy Regional Commander of no real consequence, with a few Tartar Heads in hand, dared to disregard the big shots completely and wouldn't even let them through the gate? Santun Camp isn't your Cao family's property!

However, Lao Sun only raged for two Minutes, and then he deflated. Lao Sun had come from Yongping, so he knew better than Old Ma how many Tartar Heads the Transmigrators had — with that many heads, well, it seemed, Arrogance was just Arrogance, and it looked like the two old men couldn't do anything to that Cao fellow anyway?

That night, to the left and right of Santun Camp, in Tents along the mountain road, the Grand Secretary and the Military Commissioner rested separately. Meanwhile, a certain Deputy Regional Commander of humble official rank, after finishing his barbecue, slept quite soundly on the canopy bed in the Back Residence of the General Headquarters, like a child.