Chapter 367: Toll for the Road

The refugees blanketing the hills and fields fled in utter disarray. Dengzhou infantry pursued relentlessly from behind, while Dengzhou cavalry still charged and slashed through the routed remnants of the refugee army. The bandit horsemen vanished in a puff of dust. The Dengzhou cavalry hacked a bloody path through and chased off in the direction the bandit horsemen had gone.

Over two thousand corpses lay by the riverbank. Barely a thousand had been killed or wounded by firearms; the rest had been trampled to death by their own side. The First Regiment had already broken formation, splitting into dozens of Mandarin Duck squads to hunt down survivors. The Second Regiment likewise dispersed by company, pursuing in every direction. Most agile were still the detached skirmishers — lightly armored and carrying minimal gear, they gave chase the fastest.

Bandit corpses radiated outward from the battlefield, growing sparser toward the periphery. Yet the bodies were densely clustered along the paths where the flanking cavalry had charged. Such pursuit inflicted enormous casualties. Chen Xin roughly estimated the bandits had suffered three thousand dead and wounded, and most of the wounded would die anyway.

The Huan River was the key route from Lin County to Zhangde Prefecture. A main road ran along the riverbank straight to the county seat. Chen Xin and Lu Zhi walked along that road. Lu Zhi had not released his cavalry; they stayed close as escorts the entire time, playing no role whatsoever. Though Chen Xin desperately lacked cavalry, he dared not ask Lu Zhi to hand over his personal guards.

The cavalry had pursued along this very road. Chen Xin observed the bandit corpses fallen along the way. Many were youths and old men; the rest were mostly able-bodied adults. The vast majority were dark-skinned and emaciated. They had originally been nothing but farmers tilling the land, yet now they had been driven to become roving bandits. Chen Xin did not want to kill them, but he had no choice.

Lu Zhi, by contrast, was elated. Several thousand heads taken in a single battle — even if they were only bandits, it was still a great victory.

Following the forward scouts, they overtook the infantry along the way, cutting down scattered fleeing bandits as they went. After covering twenty li, they reached the bandit encampment, which was already at the Lin County seat. The flatlands around the town were covered with crude dugout shelters stretching as far as the eye could see. Among them, over ten thousand family members of the refugees were fleeing in panic — mostly women and children.

Lu Zhi waved his hand. His hundred-odd personal guards spurred their horses into a gallop, chasing down those women and children in a slaughterous rampage. From the walls of Lin County, cheers erupted.

Lu Zhi looked at the dugout shelters and said, somewhat disappointed, "This is their main camp?" Having marched with the Dengzhou army, he had grown accustomed to the layout of Dengzhou military encampments. He demanded the same standard from his own guards and from Geng Zhongming. In his mind, a military camp ought to look like that. Now, seeing the bandit camp, he suddenly felt out of place.

Chen Xin scanned the surroundings and suddenly said with concern, "My lord, something is amiss here. No matter what, there should be a strong force left to guard the camp, to prevent these refugees from seizing the grain. How is it that not a single mounted bandit is in sight? There may well be an ambush hidden among these dugouts. I urge Lord Lu to withdraw to safety first. We can return once my infantry has swept the area clean."

Lu Zhi immediately replied, "Then Lord Chen and I shall both fall back a ways."

Chen Xin agreed at once and withdrew together with Lu Zhi. Lu Zhi's personal guards also pulled back. Once the Dengzhou infantry arrived, Chen Xin called out loudly to Zhu Daichun, "Something is strange here. Check carefully for hidden troops. Search thoroughly."

Zhu Daichun understood and replied, "This subordinate will search with the utmost care and will absolutely not let a single man slip through."...

Over five hundred cavalrymen raced southward from Lin County. Many had two or even three horses. Saddlebags large and small were draped across the horses' backs. Galloping at full speed, every horse was drenched in sweat. Only after crossing a small stream did they halt to let the horses drink.

"Where did that brat Yatouzi run off to?" Zhang Xianzhong gasped for breath the moment he reined in his horse and asked Liu Wenxiu beside him.

Liu Wenxiu had no idea. "Long gone, no sign of him."

"When I catch him, I'll skin him alive." The Eighth Great King was seething. "If he hadn't said Dengzhou troops were no match for me, how would I have delivered myself up to be beaten? That turtle-spawn is even fiercer than Cao Wenzhao."

Liu Wenxiu was still in shock. Those two volleys from the Dengzhou army had shaken heaven and earth. The refugees' morale had collapsed in an instant. Zhang Xianzhong had bolted before the enemy infantry and cavalry even launched their assault, so he had not witnessed the Dengzhou troops' close-combat prowess. But Liu Wenxiu had seen it. The Dengzhou front and rear formations had both dispersed. The front ranks had all turned into skirmishers, the formation splitting into four blocks. The rear formation had broken into dozens of small squads. Those squads were extraordinarily nimble — not only did they pursue at great speed, but their small formations remained perfectly ordered. They even had firearms troops integrated within, who would fire to break up any large cluster of refugees. The enemy cavalry was also superbly trained; that kind of dense shock charge was something he had never seen before.

Liu Wenxiu had three horses with him. He watched for a while before racing after the Eighth Great King. As he left the battlefield, he had spotted Ming cavalry in pursuit. Now, hearing the Eighth Great King speak, he glanced back and tried to reassure him: "Refugees are easy to find. No rain this year — once we enter Henan there should be plenty. Good thing they have few cavalry; they probably won't dare... They're here!!!"

The Eighth Great King spun around. From behind the distant hills, scattered scouts emerged, racing to various hilltops to survey the terrain. Then a cavalry unit appeared — roughly two hundred men. After a slight adjustment of direction, they came charging straight toward them.

"Think I'm easy to bully? Men, form ranks for me! We'll fight them to the death!" The Eighth Great King bellowed. His adopted sons swiftly directed the mounted troops, pulling them back to form ranks several dozen paces from the riverbank, waiting for the Ming troops' formation to fall into disorder as they crossed the stream bed before launching a sudden strike.

That Ming cavalry unit drew closer and closer. Finally, at two hundred paces from the river, a horn sounded. They halted and began dressing their ranks. Their scouts charged to within a hundred paces, shouting curses and taunts at the bandits across the river. The bandits began shouting back. Shaanxi opera-style curses, Shanxi-accented curses, and Dengzhou-accented curses clashed across the river.

But the Ming cavalry formation did not charge. A long while passed and still they did not advance. Zhang Xianzhong dared not charge across either — that small river would likewise disrupt his own formation.

Time ticked by. The bandit horde grew restless. They had just lost all their refugees and baggage. The enemy infantry might also be on its way. They could not afford to wait.

Zhang Kewang said fiercely to Liu Wenxiu, "You said their cavalry wasn't numerous. We've got five hundred here. Let's charge over and fight them before we go."

Liu Wenxiu's face was etched with anxiety. The enemy formation, after slight adjustment, was now arrayed in three ranks, each rank carrying identical weapons — extremely orderly. Though they numbered only a bit over two hundred, their line stretched out very long. He had just seen this cavalry unit charge the refugees; that kind of momentum made his heart quail. He shook his head at once. "Their infantry is so ferocious; their cavalry won't be any worse. Look — their scouts always take the hilltops first. The main body only emerges after every possible ambush point has been checked. And their battle formation is so practiced. They're not easy prey. If we lose our veteran brothers, they won't be easy to replace. Besides, what if we charge and they just run? Do we chase or not? And what if they turn around and dog us again the moment we turn back?"

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Zhang Kewang was left speechless. Zhang Xianzhong also hesitated, his eyes flickering constantly. Staying put was not an option — even a fight would be better than this. But he could not bear to lose his veteran mounted troops here. He slapped his thigh. "Send a few men over to drop some goods!"

Liu Wenxiu had no desire to fight in the first place. He immediately called over several bandits, who took down a dozen or so bags of silver from some riderless horses. They always kept part of their silver on their horses, making it very convenient when fleeing. Though they plundered everywhere, silver was still useful. Besides bribing government troops, when they encountered forts or walled towns they could not take, they sometimes used silver to buy supplies, and occasionally even bought weapons from unscrupulous merchants.

Several bandits ran to the opposite riverbank, lifted the bags, and poured gleaming white silver onto the ground — several thousand taels in total. The Ming troops on the other side showed no reaction. No one came out to speak. A few men who looked like the commanding officers huddled together, muttering about something.

"These turtle-spawn think it's too little? Give them more." Zhang Xianzhong cursed. He did not know that Yatouzi had already tried this. But Yatouzi had not told him about it. Otherwise, he would not only skin Yatouzi alive — he would deep-fry him and eat him.

So several more bandits ran out. The silver on the ground increased, along with a bag of jewelry and ornaments. Piles of valuables lay on the ground, a visually stunning sight.

The Ming troops finally stirred. A few scouts rode closer. One bandit at the front, who seemed to have the most experience dealing with government troops, called out loudly to the scouts, "Honored officers, the silver is negotiable. Name your price, sirs. We brothers will give whatever we have. We only wish to make the officers happy."

The scouts did not reply. They stopped twenty paces away and dismounted together. Zhang Xianzhong and the others stared intently at those men, waiting for them to name a price.

Suddenly, the soldiers pulled foot bows from their saddles. The bandits by the river turned and fled. The soldiers' archery was not bad. Twang, twang — several bandits were shot down, falling face-first into the water and struggling. The scouts showed no mercy, loosing several more arrows into them.

The bandits erupted in turmoil. Zhang Xianzhong was so furious smoke poured from his every orifice. He roared at Liu Wenxiu and the others, "You donkey-balls! Leave fifty men to watch the spare horses. The rest of you, each take a hundred men and swing wide. Hit them from both flanks. I'll strike from the center. Let's see if they've got three heads and six arms. When I catch them, I'll burn every last one of them as sky lanterns!"

Zhang Kewang acknowledged the order loudly. Liu Wenxiu was somewhat reluctant, but seeing Zhang Xianzhong's fury, he dared not disobey. The two each led their men, pulling out to the flanks. The Ming troops also made slight adjustments to their formation.

"Kill the dog-officials with me!" Zhang Xianzhong roared. Over five hundred bandits charged forward from three directions, howling battle cries...

Half a shichen later, the Eighth Great King burst out of the hilly region at a wild gallop. A cloth was wrapped around his head; blood streamed down his face. Around him were panicked, disorganized bandits. Their numbers had dwindled by over a hundred.

By the Huan River, the Eighth Great King had only seen the fearsome power of the Dengzhou infantry. In the engagement just now, he had learned firsthand the might of Dengzhou cavalry. The momentum of that dense shock charge shattered the last shred of his confidence. The bandits lost seventy or eighty men after the enemy's three-rank charge. The rest of their formation was completely broken. Even Zhang Xianzhong himself had his forehead slashed by a tangpa and nearly met his end.

Although the government troops had also lost thirty or forty men, the Eighth Great King did not dare try that again, nor did he dare tie down those Ming troops in a melee. Everyone just bolted.

What began as a withdrawal now became a total rout. Along the way, Ming scouts picked off twenty or thirty stragglers. Then Geng Zhongming's personal battalion retainers appeared. He originally had a hundred retainers. Cleverly, he had left fifty behind and brought the other fifty, each man with two horses, in pursuit. They bit off another twenty-odd of the Eighth Great King's men. Zhang Xianzhong had no choice but to dump a pile of silver. Fortunately, these retainers fell for it, scrambling to snatch the silver. Geng Zhongming, realizing the bandits still outnumbered him, took his gains and did not press the pursuit further.

Zhang Xianzhong's force now numbered just over four hundred. Some of the riderless horses by the riverbank had been scattered by the Ming scouts. Only a bit over two hundred men still had two or three horses.

Zhang Xianzhong cursed as he fled. "This Dengzhou unit has only a few hundred cavalry in total. Why are they all chasing me alone? So many others — Scorpion Block, Sweeping Earth King, Heaven-Soaring Monkey — and that turtle-spawn Yatouzi — why aren't they chasing them? What grudge do I have with these Shandong troops?"

Liu Wenxiu was uninjured. Riding beside Zhang Xianzhong, he deeply regretted not having dissuaded him earlier. These Ming troops were no ordinary tough opponents. No bandit band could withstand their way of fighting. Once these elite mounted troops were lost, it would take a long time to replenish them. They had originally had six or seven hundred mounted men. When fleeing the riverbank, some with weaker horses had fallen behind and were now lost. Coupled with that inexplicable battle just now, their strength had already suffered considerably.

But if the Ming troops kept up the relentless pursuit, many of the single-horse riders would have to be abandoned. Zhang Xianzhong had three horses; by rotating mounts, he could maintain a relatively high speed. Some of those with only one horse were already lagging behind, their mounts clearly exhausted.

Bandits cared little for anything else, but they took good care of their horses, because these were their lifelines. When plundering, they always remembered to loot beans and kept their horses in fine condition. They had recently been operating in southeastern Shanxi without any large-scale flight, so their horses' stamina was still fairly well maintained — better than that of most government horses.

The Dengzhou troops, however, had marched a long distance and only rested a few days in Linzhang. Their horses were in very average condition and were now struggling to keep up. After this desperate, life-or-death flight by Zhang Xianzhong, the Dengzhou cavalry had been shaken off so thoroughly not even a shadow of them remained.

They were now on the plain. Liu Wenxiu glanced back repeatedly but saw no sign of the Dengzhou cavalry. He turned back and breathed a sigh of relief. Ahead lay more hills. But to the left front, a plume of dust rose. A body of troops emerged from the hilly terrain.

Liu Wenxiu's heart leaped into his throat. Judging by the dust, it was definitely a cavalry force, coming from the southeast toward their position. Whether government troops or fellow bandits, he could not tell. They knew Zuo Liangyu was in this area, but before the battle, Sweeping Earth King had pounded his chest and guaranteed he would send a force to keep an eye on Zuo Liangyu and absolutely not let him come out and bite people.

That cavalry unit soon came into view. From a distance, it was impossible to tell what troops they were. As they drew closer, the color of their great banner finally became visible — a red field with a huge character "Zuo" upon it. Roughly three hundred men. They had formed a battle line, blocking the Eighth Great King's path south. Liu Wenxiu nearly covered his face and wept.

"Send someone to ask the price." The Eighth Great King's voice rang out. Liu Wenxiu jolted. He suddenly remembered that Zuo Liangyu could be negotiated with. Zhang Xianzhong at this moment displayed his cool-headedness; the Dengzhou troops had not beaten him senseless.

A mounted bandit spurred his horse toward Zuo Liangyu's position. Several of Zuo Liangyu's retainers rode out to meet him. After a moment in the middle ground, the bandit wheeled his horse and galloped back, shouting to the Eighth Great King, "Zuo Liangyu wants all our silver and jewelry!"

Zhang Kewang nearly leaped out of his saddle. "That donkey-ball! What gives Zuo Liangyu the right to demand all our silver? If we hadn't run into those Dengzhou troops today, would Zuo Liangyu even be worthy..."

"All of you, shut up." Zhang Xianzhong's cold voice cut in. "Once we're past this place, we can reach Weihui Prefecture. We'll just plunder it back. That Zuo Liangyu is just a dog exploiting his master's power. One day I'll make him pay it all back."

Liu Wenxiu said worriedly, "Today is not like other times. What if he takes our goods and still tries to stop us?"

The Eighth Great King spat on the ground. "He's only got three hundred men. I'm not afraid of him. If he tries to stop me, all three hundred of his retainers will have to be sacrificed. What good does it do him to fight me to the death? The court won't replenish his troops. Without the likes of me, where would Zuo Liangyu go to make his fortune and get his silver? That dog-official is nothing but a street thug. He understands this better than any of us. Give him the silver."

The transaction was completed swiftly. The Eighth Great King's men dumped the silver and some clothing on the ground, then circled around the eastern flank of Zuo Liangyu's force. Zuo Liangyu's retainers made no move to intercept. Once the bandits were far away, over a hundred of Zuo's retainers rushed out to collect the silver ingots and bags scattered across the ground.

A moment later, several hundred commoners were dragged out from the hills — all men, many stripped to the waist. They were herded onto open ground, surrounded by Zuo Liangyu's retainers. The commoners looked around in terror.

A horn sounded beneath Zuo Liangyu's banner. The retainers shouted in unison, dismounted, and brandished their weapons, hacking and slashing at the commoners. Screams of agony filled the wilderness.

The slaughter did not last long. The open ground was left covered with corpses. The retainers were severing heads one by one. The towering Zuo Liangyu sat high on his horse. In the distance, the scout riders of Dengzhou Garrison appeared, along with an Assistant Regional Commander's banner bearing the character Geng. Zuo Liangyu said to those beside him, "The Dengzhou troops have arrived. Let our bearing be respectful in every way."

A Company Commander beside him asked, "Should we give them the silver now?"

"No. The silver is for Lord Lü and Lord Chen, not for the common soldiers." Zuo Liangyu shook his head.

"My lord, Zhang Xianzhong has fled. Where do we go now?"

"We head north and go cut off some more bandit heads. Send out more men to scout and find out where Sweeping King, Scorpion Block, and those others have fled. We still need to have words with them."

Zuo Liangyu pulled on the reins and rode out to meet the approaching Dengzhou scout riders. (To be continued...)