Chapter 42: Section Seven

The shouts of battle had already been left far behind by Huang Shi and his party, and some of Huang Shi’s men could no longer keep up. After the raging fury in his chest gradually cooled, Huang Shi realized that even if he caught up with Sun Degong, he and his few men would most likely be throwing their lives away. Zu Dashou had long since turned south and headed straight for Ningyuan. Those bastards of the Liaoxi military clans were first-rate at the art of turning tail — always fleeing the field without a shred of shame, leaving their allies to take the fall. It seemed they could not be counted on.

But Guangning lay to the west, and Huang Shi had to reach Guangning. Otherwise everything would turn to bubbles. He had no choice but to rein in his horse and catch his breath.

“Stop, stop.”

Fei Liguo came shouting after him: “Stop. I need to know what exactly is going on here.”

“You really don’t know what’s going on?” Huang Shi asked back, ice-cold.

Fei Liguo nodded, then shook his head again: “I can’t bring myself to believe it. Lord Sun was going to…”

“He wanted us dead!” Once he had spoken, Huang Shi did not look at Fei Liguo again. He shouted at the terrified soldiers: “Brothers, listen to me.”

Huang Shi yelled with all his might at the soldiers who had kept up: “We have been sold out by Sun Degong — that son of a bitch Sun Degong!”

As he spoke, Huang Shi spat fiercely on the ground: “That whoreson told me and Company Commander Fei to lead the vanguard, but when I looked back, his own banner had run all the way to the rear.”

Huang Shi, his voice charged with emotion, denounced Sun Degong: “He meant to flee from the start, but he was afraid the Provincial Governor would hold him accountable, so he sent me to my death — that way he could claim he fought hard but was outmatched!”

As he spoke, Huang Shi tore the red cloth from his own head, then pointed at the one on Fei Liguo’s head and addressed the soldiers. Lies spilled from his mouth at once: “Company Commander Fei and I truly believed that son of a bitch’s lies, so we made a pact: we would wear the fiery red Great Ming army cloth on our heads to kill the enemy. We would charge at the very front. And then…”

Seeing that Huang Shi seemed too furious to speak, Fei Liguo immediately picked up: “Just before the battle, Company Commander Huang discovered that Sun Degong, who had said he would go to the front line, had actually run to the very rear. By the time Company Commander Huang and I went to request instructions from him, we found he had already fled. And then our army’s left wing collapsed — and he was our left-wing commander.”

Huang Shi waved a hand weakly. “There’s no need to say more now. Retreat is our priority. We’ll talk after we’re out of danger.”

At that moment, Fei Liguo spurred his horse to Huang Shi’s side and whispered: “We must have a proper private talk. We can’t go back to Guangning yet.”

Huang Shi nodded at Fei Liguo, showing he shared the view: “I know that. But we have to escape from here first. Everything else can wait until we’re clear of danger.”

Fei Liguo pointed his horsewhip to the west: “Five li ahead is Shaling. Beyond Shaling is the official road to Guangning. Let’s go to the post station on the official road and find something to eat.”

“Wait — you said ahead is Shaling.” To Huang Shi, that name struck like a thunderclap.

“That’s right. Shaling.”

Huang Shi closed his eyes. The historical record slid through his mind like flowing water. After Xiping, the Later Jin had deliberately only routed the Guangning army, letting them flee toward Shaling. The utterly exhausted Ming troops were blocked at Shaling by Later Jin forces that had long since circled into position. The books said that even forty years later, the white bones there had still not been fully collected. At night the phosphorescent flames blazed bright, and travelers walking the night road did not even need to light torches.

“Brother Huang.” Fei Liguo gave Huang Shi a shove.

“Brother Fei, let’s step aside for a word.” After pulling Fei Liguo to one side, Huang Shi said to him quietly: “We cannot go to Shaling. There will certainly be an ambush there.”

“How do you know?” Fei Liguo’s eyes widened.

Huang Shi was not certain, but the possibility existed. With a mole as big as Sun Degong, the chance that a blocking force had secretly circled around was very high. But before he could answer, the soldiers were already shouting: “My lord, they’re coming, they’re coming!”

To their east, rolling dust clouds had appeared on both the northern and southern flanks.

The routed Ming officers and men were too panicked. They had no time to calm down and analyze why the Later Jin iron cavalry was only slowly trailing them. Huang Shi looked at those two trails of dust and said softly: “They want to drive our troops toward Shaling, waiting for our army to exhaust its strength during the rout.”

Even if there were no ambush troops at Shaling, even if those were the main circling cavalry force, Huang Shi felt that his several hundred cavalry could still charge through easily. After all, their urgent objective was to head for Shaling immediately. Huang Shi did not intend to risk going to Shaling — being ambushed was no joke.

While he and Fei Liguo were talking, scattered Ming cavalry kept fleeing past. Seeing their three hundred horsemen, some still fled toward Shaling without a backward glance, while others hesitated and stopped, letting their foam-flecked horses rest a moment. Gradually more than four hundred cavalry gathered, all of them turning their heads again and again in great unease to watch those two distant earth-dragons drawing steadily closer.

Huang Shi shook his reins, rode his horse before the soldiers, pointed at the two dust trails, and shouted with all his might: “Brothers, these Jianzhou slaves clearly mean to drive us to Shaling, so there must be ambush troops there.”

These words at once stirred waves of murmuring. One unknown Ming soldier even called out loudly: “Who are you?”

“I am Regional Military Commissioner Huang Shi. This is Company Commander Fei Liguo.” Huang Shi now had no interest whatsoever in prefixing Sun Degong’s name, but the soldiers seemed to have no further questions.

“Therefore, I have decided to head that way” — Huang Shi pointed at the dust cloud to the south — “and charge through the Jianzhou slave cavalry.”

To Huang Shi’s disappointment, the soldiers’ faces instantly turned to terror. They shrank back involuntarily, as if Huang Shi himself were a Jianzhou slave.

“This is our only chance. Going to Shaling is seeking our own deaths.” Huang Shi shouted himself hoarse. He hoped to take as many soldiers with him as possible — these were all precious cavalrymen.

But most of the soldiers remained unmoved. Even many of Huang Shi’s own men showed their opposition with silence. Though time was pressing, Huang Shi hesitated, about to try to rally them once more.

“We take only soldiers who still have their weapons.” Fei Liguo, who had been silent, suddenly spurred his horse forward and spoke in a cold voice: “Those without weapons, do not follow. Otherwise, death without mercy.”

With that, Fei Liguo stripped off his cloak and threw it to his banner-bearing personal guard: “Raise this as my army banner for now. Those with weapons, follow me. The rest — go to Shaling and leave your fate to Heaven.”

The banner-bearing personal guard, who had long since thrown away his banner, felt as if granted a great pardon and hurriedly searched everywhere for a wooden pole. One soldier who had clearly already discarded his weapon shouted desperately: “Lord Fei, we are utterly loyal to you. My lord, you cannot abandon me!”

“Who told you to have no weapon? Dead weight.” Fei Liguo tossed out the words coldly and turned his horse south. Huang Shi saw that as Fei Liguo turned, he winked at him again.

“Lord Huang, my riding skill is superb. I won’t be dead weight.” This time it was one of Huang Shi’s own men shouting. That kid had fallen off his horse during the flight just now. By sheer luck he had not broken any limbs, and his horse had fortunately stopped. He had caught up just in time to hear those words. As for his weapon, he naturally had no idea where he had dropped it.

“I will not abandon you. Just stay close to me.” As Huang Shi spoke, he followed Fei Liguo’s example, unfastened his cloak, and threw it to his personal guard. Then he said to the “dead weight” whom Fei Liguo had scolded until his face was ashen: “Follow behind those with weapons. As long as you don’t disrupt our formation, I won’t bother with you.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

Whether they were the two men’s subordinates or not, the soldiers who had weapons proudly pressed close behind the two banner-bearing personal guards — Fei Liguo’s personal guard had found two sticks and given one to Huang Shi’s banner-bearing personal guard. They were now raising the two men’s cloaks. More than half of those trailing behind the formation were soldiers without weapons, each one cowering, not daring to lift their heads or make a sound.

Thinking of Zu Dashou with his banners flying just moments ago, and then looking at this pack of bear-like soldiers under his command, Huang Shi cursed inwardly. Never mind fighting the Later Jin army — they could not even compare to the Guanning Iron Cavalry. It would probably do him good to practice on Sun Degong first. After he caught up with Fei Liguo, who was riding at the very front, he praised him in a low voice: “You really have a way.”

Fei Liguo curled the corner of his mouth: “Do you think our chances are good?”

“Very good. We are few in number, and even less are we the main target. They can’t stop us and won’t pursue. Besides, the Jianzhou slaves’ heavy troops are to the east. North and south are likely just bluffs. We’re all cavalry — it will be easy to charge through.”

“Good.” Fei Liguo nodded and gave a great shout: “Lads, let us charge through!”

The horse formation surged forward, stabbing straight toward the south.