Chapter 46: Section Eleven

The scout reported to Huang Shi and Fei Liguo that he had seen the north gate being opened, and several dozen soldiers and officers, along with four or five mules and horses, had rushed out of the city. They seemed to be escorting an official. Those men were fleeing east along the city wall, likely intending to bypass Guangning and head south.

Outside each city gate, a dozen or so soldiers lay in ambush — all of them Huang Shi’s old subordinates, relatively more reliable. This scout’s comrades had already gone to seize the barbican of the north gate.

Before the scout had even finished, Huang Shi, Fei Liguo, and their group leaped onto their horses. From the woods where they had been hiding to the north gate was only about ten li, a distance a galloping horse could cover in the blink of an eye. In the distance, less than three li away, they could already see the party of several dozen men the scout had described, fleeing.

The north gate had not been closed. At the outer gate of the barbican, a man was still leaping about, frantically waving a red flag at them.

In excellent spirits, Huang Shi shouted, “That must be Lord Wang, without a doubt! Brother Fei, I leave the north gate to you. I will go intercept Lord Wang.”

Seeing that Huang Shi was about to lead his squad away, Fei Liguo hurriedly shouted, “If it turns out not to be him, enter the city at once.”

Leading his own hundred-plus cavalry, Huang Shi galloped off without looking back, shouting his reply: “At a time like this, who else could still have several dozen subordinates but Lord Wang?”

From behind him, Fei Liguo’s shout drifted over from a distance: “That’s not necessarily so!”

Huang Shi glanced back. Fei Liguo had already led the remaining men in a charge toward the north gate. Huang Shi felt deeply pleased with himself: “In just two short days, I’ve probably already established an image among these several hundred soldiers of someone whose every plan is flawless.”

By the time Huang Shi charged to within a few hundred meters of that group, the other side knew there was no way they could outrun him, so they simply stopped and prepared for battle. Several dozen men surrounded an old man in their center.

Among this group were about thirty Guangning soldiers, along with a roughly equal number of servants and retainers, a few donkeys, and two camels. Everyone was disheveled. The Guangning officer at the front was drenched in blood, and the old man in the middle had the vague build of Wang Huazhen.

According to the histories, Wang Huazhen had abandoned Guangning with just a few dozen men, deserting the army that was still resisting the rebels. Seeing this scene, Huang Shi hesitated no longer. He pulled on the reins, brought his horse to a halt, and dismounted in one motion: “Lord Wang, you have been alarmed. This humble officer has come to protect you, my lord.”

The cavalry behind him all halted several dozen meters to his rear. The men facing him each gripped their weapons, tense and on guard, and not one of them spoke a word. Huang Shi unbuckled his saber and hurled it, along with his helmet, forcefully to the ground. He strode forward with great, swift steps. The men opposite seemed to breathe a little easier and parted to open a path, allowing Huang Shi to walk directly before Wang Huazhen.

Huang Shi cupped his hands and bowed deeply: “Lord Wang.”

“Raise your head.”

The Wang Huazhen before him had several dark bruises on his face. His official robes had been torn in multiple places, part of his beard seemed to have been ripped away, and his hair was a wild, disheveled mess. The only thing unchanged was that pair of melancholy eyes.

Wang Huazhen spoke slowly: “Huang Shi, you have received the state’s favor, yet instead of thinking how to repay it, you have secretly colluded with the Jian slaves. Do you not fear bringing shame upon your ancestors?”

These words stunned Huang Shi for a moment, but then he immediately understood that Wang Huazhen had misunderstood the meaning of the word “protect” he had used.

At this moment, Wang Huazhen seemed to have resigned himself to his fate. In a calm tone, he continued: “This provincial governor is a minister of the imperial court. Righteousness forbids me to suffer humiliation. I shall end my own life here before you. This old man’s head should be enough to secure your father-in-law’s glory and wealth.”

Hearing this, the soldiers around Wang Huazhen all began to clamor, and the looks they directed at Huang Shi turned fierce.

Wang Huazhen waved his hand to quiet them, then spoke to Huang Shi again: “If you still have even a shred of conscience, let my subordinates go.”

With that, Wang Huazhen waited for Huang Shi’s answer. Huang Shi bowed once more: “My lord, the traitor Sun’s crimes are monstrous, abhorred by both gods and men. This humble officer has severed all ties of gratitude and duty with him; there is no longer the slightest relation between us. This humble officer fought through a bloody encirclement at Xiping and has just returned to Guangning. Since my lord does not believe me, this humble officer shall now fight his way into Guangning City and take the traitor Sun’s head.”

As Huang Shi spoke these words, Wang Huazhen’s expression shifted repeatedly. But seeing that Huang Shi remained standing in place after he finished, a cloud of doubt once again spread across Wang Huazhen’s face: “Then why don’t you go at once?”

“My lord, killing the traitor Sun is easy, but holding Guangning is difficult. If my lord departs now, with the few troops this humble officer has, it will be utterly impossible no matter what.”

Huang Shi knew that if Wang Huazhen took this chance to flee, and Xiong Tingbi did not come, he would have absolutely no chance of controlling the ten thousand soldiers in Guangning. He resolved to play his trump card.

Right there before Wang Huazhen, Huang Shi dropped to his knees with a thud: “Azure Heaven above, thick earth below — I, Huang Shi, am utterly loyal to the Great Ming, with absolutely no disloyal heart. If these words are false, may I die by a thousand cuts, fall into the eighteenth level of hell and never be reincarnated, and may my ancestors’ tombs never know peace!”

In this era, nothing was more effective than swearing a venomous oath. Huang Shi immediately saw the expressions of Wang Huazhen and the people around him relax.

Seeing that the other party now believed him to some degree, Huang Shi spoke with earnest sincerity: “My lord, this humble officer boldly implores my lord to remain here for the time being. This humble officer shall now enter the city to kill the traitors. If this humble officer is unfortunately slain by the traitors, it will not be too late for my lord to leave then.”

Seeing that Wang Huazhen seemed somewhat moved, yet merely stirred without offering any guarantee, Huang Shi loudly demanded: “If my lord cannot hold Guangning, how will you explain yourself to the imperial court? Today the Jian slaves run rampant. If my lord simply flees, these three thousand li of Liaodong’s rivers and mountains and its million souls will surely be beyond saving. Could the court possibly spare my lord then?”

“Insolence!” A man dressed as a servant beside Wang Huazhen immediately bellowed: “Who are you, to dare…”

“Shut your mouth!” Wang Huazhen barked sharply, then gave Huang Shi a deep look: “Continue.”

“My lord, you see clearly. Our army was defeated at Xiping Fort, but that has nothing to do with my lord. Guangning is indeed perilously close to collapse now. This humble officer boldly implores my lord to do all that is humanly possible and leave the rest to Heaven’s will. If some mishap truly occurs, the court and the history books will remember my lord’s loyalty and courage. But if my lord abandons Guangning, even if my lord evades the court’s punishment, can my lord evade the condemnation of all under Heaven?”

Wang Huazhen suddenly burst into wild laughter: “I never imagined that after decades of reading the sages’ books, this old man’s insight would fall short of a mere soldier’s.”

He then instructed the servant from before: “Open the chest. I wish to change into my official robes.”

“You have spoken well. This provincial governor shall return to Guangning at once.” Wang Huazhen looked at Huang Shi with profound meaning and gave a soft command: “Regional Military Commissioner Huang Shi.”

“This humble officer is here.”

“Go swiftly to capture the rebel Sun Degong and sweep away the traitorous faction.”

“This humble officer obeys the order.”

“Good!” Wang Huazhen’s voice turned deep and forceful: “Then let this provincial governor witness your heroic bearing as you slay traitors and serve the state.”

“Yes, as ordered, my lord. This humble officer shall go kill the traitors now. This humble officer wishes to request a reward in advance on behalf of my brothers: for killing the traitor Sun, a reward of one thousand taels of silver and a hereditary Company Commander title.”

“Granted. This provincial governor agrees.”

“Thank you, my lord.” Huang Shi said no more. He rose and departed, picking up his saber and helmet along the way, and led his one hundred and forty subordinates back. Although bringing so many soldiers would weaken the striking power, Huang Shi had to bring sufficient force; otherwise, that pig-headed Wang Huazhen might think this was a ruse to trick him into returning. It would be too unjust to be killed for no clear reason.

Huang Shi believed that only after demonstrating overwhelming strength would Wang Huazhen be willing to listen seriously to his words, and only then would his sincerity be believed. Once mounted on his warhorse, Huang Shi immediately shouted: “Brothers! By order of the Provincial Governor, slay Sun Degong! A reward of one thousand taels of silver and a hereditary Company Commander title!”

Although Huang Shi had secured this reward offer, in his and Fei Liguo’s original plan, no one was supposed to actually take Sun Degong’s head. While the two of them very much wanted to kill Sun Degong to silence him, when they worked out the specific plan the day before, they realized that if they wanted to prevent Sun Degong from escaping, they would have to disperse their forces to seize all four city gates.

Their forces were already fewer than Sun Degong’s, and potentially less reliable, so dispersing their troops seemed like a bad idea no matter how they looked at it. If they stationed soldiers at all four gates, the forces in their hands would become too thin. If the battle for the city failed, that would be a case of trying to draw a tiger and ending up with a dog. Moreover, Guangning was a large city, and all four gates had barbicans. Although the rebels did not have many troops either, there was always the chance of an accident.

Huang Shi and Fei Liguo’s troops could fight when the momentum was in their favor, but if they attacked a strongpoint and failed to take it, they seriously doubted whether the soldiers could maintain morale. Furthermore, if Sun Degong was determined to break out, he could concentrate several hundred men. Even if Huang Shi and the others threw a few dozen or a hundred soldiers at each gate, they might not be able to stop him. If they truly forced Sun Degong into a desperate corner, that might not be a good thing either.

So Huang Shi proposed a strategy of bluff and bluster: concentrate the troops into a single fist, sweep away small bands of enemy soldiers, first link up with the various government offices and friendly forces everywhere, continuously grow their own strength, and simply scare Sun Degong into fleeing. Huang Shi felt that as long as Sun Degong fled, the recapture of Guangning would be a success. Therefore, his mood was very relaxed as he entered the barbican of the north gate.

But he was immediately given a great shock. The sounds of slaughter drifted from within the city. From the barbican, he could already see thick smoke and flames, and even the muffled boom of cannon fire. Most of the soldiers left to guard the barbican were standing on the inner wall, peering into the city. Judging by their behavior, the situation did not seem optimistic.

“My lord!” Yang Luhuo on the wall recognized him. The several dozen soldiers on the wall all saluted him one after another. After the battlefield cleanup that morning, Huang Shi’s subordinates were each excellently equipped. Most of the soldiers wore red-tasseled iron helmets on their heads rather than bamboo hats, and many were clad in scale armor, or at the very least had a heart-protecting mirror.

“Dispense with the formalities.” Huang Shi anxiously looked up and asked Yang Luhuo on the gate tower: “How goes the battle?”

Yang Luhuo, at the highest point of the gate tower, loudly reported: “Lord Fei is leading the main force near the armory. The attack seems to have been checked. I can’t see the specifics clearly. There is fighting everywhere inside the city — utter chaos.”

“Guard the city gate carefully. Do not leave your post. Also, immediately raise the Provincial Governor’s great banner on the gate tower.” Yang Luhuo was leading sixty men to defend their line of retreat; the other half of his squad had followed Fei Liguo into the city to fight.

With the Provincial Governor’s banner, they could attract scattered soldiers, but it might also draw the attention of the rebels. Huang Shi ordered another forty of his old troops to stay behind and join Yang Luhuo in protecting the Provincial Governor’s banner. Huang Shi instructed Yang Luhuo that for every ten scattered soldiers he reorganized, he was to appoint one of Huang Shi’s old troops as a squad leader and send them into the city as reinforcements. Since it had already developed into a chaotic melee, they would just compete in numbers — quality and discipline no longer mattered.

With his arrangements set, Huang Shi pointed his horsewhip toward the city:

“Lads, enter the city.”