Chapter 172: Leaving the Frontier

Defeated! And defeated cleanly and decisively! He had underestimated the government troops, and even more so, that old devil Hong!

The border wall at Gao Family Fort was already visible in the distance as Li Zicheng led his battered remnants fleeing all the way from the Sheyan River to this place.

At the Battle of the Sheyan River, Li Zicheng had deployed over two thousand cavalry on both flanks, guarding against a surprise attack on his two wings by the government forces.

But in the end, the flanks never had a problem—the center was breached first.

He Shisan led sixteen riders, and while the archers on both sides were exchanging volleys and had no time to pay attention to anything else, they slammed into the bandit archer formation from the flank, scattering the already loosely organized thousand-strong archer line into chaos before bursting through and riding out the other side, circling around and galloping back to their own lines.

He Shisan was covered in arrows, though none had pierced his two layers of iron armor, but one arrow had gone clean through his cheek, and several of his teeth had been knocked loose; of this seventeen-man shock force, only eleven survived, every one of them wounded. The other six were killed, all struck by arrows in the neck or other vital spots.

The government archers seized the chaos to loose three more volleys, killing or wounding most of the still-shaken bandit archers; the survivors among the archers and shield-bearers fled back to their own lines. The government archers pressed forward and loosed several more volleys at the bandit vanguard only a few dozen paces away, and before the bandits could counterattack, He Renlong arrived with his infantry.

Bare-chested, He Renlong hefted his long-handled saber and charged headlong into the bandit formation now stripped of its archer cover, slashing left and right with unstoppable ferocity—truly living up to his nickname of He the Madman.

Seeing their archers routed, the bandits, already low on morale, were thrown into panic by He Renlong's initial charge.

Though Gao Yigong and Yuan Zongdi fought desperately with their personal guards, He Renlong's men, their spirits fired by their commander's bravery, vied with each other to be first into the fray, and with their absolute superiority in weapons and armor, the roving bandits' front line began to fall back—and Gao Yigong himself was cut down by a single blow from He Renlong's saber.

Seeing this, Li Zicheng immediately ordered Li Shuangxi to lead his personal guards forward, and they beheaded several dozen of the fleeing bandits; combined with the hoarse, desperate shouting of Yuan Zongdi and the other chieftains, the bandits in the front line finally realized that retreating any further would send them crashing into their own center.

The bandits, now clear-headed, fell back to both sides, and Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin, and Liu Fangliang led the elite veterans of the Old Camp to meet He Renlong's force—and the two sides locked in fierce combat.

Just then, Zuo Liangyu launched an attack with his own troops against Liu Tichun's force on the left flank, and the left-wing bandits, never strong to begin with, collapsed at the first contact and began scattering in every direction in desperate flight.

Just as Li Zicheng, shocked and furious, was about to detach troops to rescue Liu Tichun on the left, whistling arrows from the cavalry a few li away on the right flank signaled the alarm—a large body of government troops was approaching from the right.

Seeing that the situation was beyond saving, Li Zicheng made a snap decision: he led the Old Camp in a fierce charge that drove back He Renlong's men, then immediately wheeled his force around and, breaking away from the main body, turned north with Liu Zongmin and the others.

The force striking from the bandits' right flank was none other than Zu Dale and Ai Wannian's two units; the two had long since lain in ambush ten li away, and upon seeing the dust rising from this direction, they had immediately led their men in.

Li Zicheng's cavalry was facing off against Hong Chengchou's personal battalion; the two sides were roughly equal in numbers, and with mutual wariness, neither made a head-on charge.

When he saw a great plume of dust suddenly rising a few li off to the right, Dang Shousu, leading the column, sensed trouble and swiftly sent a warning to the center, then ordered the rear units to begin withdrawing first while he led several hundred riders of the vanguard in a feint as if to charge He Renlong's force. Li Shu, Assistant Regional Commander of Hong Chengchou's personal battalion, hastily led his men to close up the middle, but after galloping several hundred paces, Dang Shousu wheeled right and sped north; by the time Li Shu realized what had happened, it was too late to give chase, and he could only watch Dang Shousu ride off in triumph.

After linking up with the thousand-plus cavalry from the left flank, Li Zicheng led the remaining two thousand-plus elite veterans of the Old Camp rapidly northward. Seeing the situation, Yuan Zongdi and Li Guo knew they were doomed, and to buy Li Zicheng more time to escape, they organized the ten thousand-plus men of Li Zicheng's main force into an attack on He Renlong and Zuo Liangyu's units, and the two sides became locked in tangled combat.

Because the soldiers of both sides were so intermingled, the entire battlefield was obscured, leaving the government cavalry unable to maneuver; only when Ai Wannian arrived with his infantry and joined the fray did the roving bandits, after prolonged fighting, finally give way—and by then Li Zicheng was already more than ten li away with his men.

Hong Chengchou ordered all units to pursue for ten li before they could clear the battlefield, and on the pretext of insufficient grain, ordered that not a single prisoner be spared.

The government troops, having fought long and hard, gleefully began hunting down the roving bandits scattering in all directions; anyone they caught—whether kneeling in surrender or fleeing for their lives—was cut down, and then searched.

The so-called "clearing" was nothing more than letting the government troops strip the bodies.

Whatever valuables the bandits carried on them, whoever found them kept them—that was the true source of motivation for the government troops from top to bottom.

Blood-spattered He Renlong rode his warhorse lazily up to Hong Chengchou's side, tossed his long saber to the ground with a clang, dismounted, took the waterskin his personal guard handed him, tilted his head back and gulped down a torrent, then poured the remaining cold water over himself from head to toe; the blood clots and bits of flesh washed off his body formed a red puddle at his feet.

Long accustomed to this oaf's boorish behavior, Hong Chengchou stroked his beard and said with a smile: "I hear the bandits have a saying: 'Better to meet the King of Hell than to run into the Madman.' The famous He the Madman has truly shown his might today. Once this battle's merit roll is reported to the court, I estimate the post of Regional Commander of Shaanxi is as good as yours! Heh heh!"

Overjoyed, He Renlong tossed the waterskin aside and clasped his fists in salute to Hong Chengchou: "Your Excellency the Commander's patronage and favor, this humble officer will never forget! I also wish to ask Your Excellency for a personal favor! I hope Your Excellency will grant it!"

Hong Chengchou swept a glance over him, then put away his smile and said flatly: "What favor? So long as it is not excessive, I will naturally consider it on its merits!"

He Renlong sidled up to Hong Chengchou, ingratiatingly brushing a stray blade of grass from his robe, and said with a face full of smiles: "Reporting to Your Excellency, it was thanks to my dozen-plus riders charging the formation just now that we broke the bandit archer line; otherwise, our infantry would have been pinned down and unable to advance!"

Hong Chengchou nodded.

He Renlong's decisiveness earned Hong Chengchou's genuine admiration.

On a battlefield where everything changes in an instant, a single small action can decide the outcome of the entire engagement—He Renlong's dispatch of a dozen-plus riders to charge was precisely the formation-breaking move of the whole battle.

He Renlong continued: "My old nephew He Shisan has followed me for many years and rendered distinguished service to the court. This time he led the charge himself and was badly wounded by a stray arrow—his face is ruined! I don't want to see an ugly mug bobbing around in front of me every day! Your Excellency, in your mercy, seeing as he rendered the foremost merit, could you promote him to Mobile Corps Commander and send him off to lead troops somewhere out of my sight?"

Hong Chengchou was caught between laughter and tears at this oaf's brazen face as he begged for an official post for his subordinate—but the man had a point; if anyone deserved the foremost merit in this battle, it was He Shisan.

"Though court convention rewards merit with office, He Shisan is not a man of official rank. To suddenly elevate him to a high position would hardly convince the troops! Giving him the post of squadron commander will suffice!" Hong Chengchou took the opportunity to squeeze this oaf a little—if he agreed too easily, the fellow would come to take it for granted.

He Renlong grew anxious: "Your Excellency, you can't say that! My old nephew has rendered no small number of merits! By merit alone he should long since have been a squadron commander or above! Let alone this great achievement! Your Excellency, just do me this one favor, and He Renlong will remember your kindness for the rest of his life!"

Hong Chengchou cursed: "Get out of my sight! I don't want to see your ugly mug bobbing around in front of me either! That He Shisan will be acting Mobile Corps Commander for now; only after further meritorious deeds can he be confirmed in the post!"

Overjoyed, He Renlong dropped to one knee and gave Hong Chengchou a military salute, then ran off gleefully to find He Shisan and share the good news.

This time, he absolutely had to get his old nephew an official rank; otherwise, every time he looked at him, he felt a pang of guilt. This time it had been plainly a suicide mission, and the man had gone without a word of complaint. The man had saved his life several times over, and he had still schemed to send him to his death—his conscience truly could not bear it anymore.

After the army finished clearing the battlefield and rested and ate, Hong Chengchou led his forces at a leisurely pace in the direction the bandits had fled.

He had long since made all his arrangements; he was not worried about how far Li Zicheng could run.

Seeing that the government troops were not pursuing closely, Li Zicheng and the others relaxed their guard as well.

But after they reached the vicinity of their home territory of Mizhi, the situation suddenly changed.

First, over a thousand government cavalry burst out of nowhere, cut through their formation, and rode off; after confirming the government horsemen were far away, the bandits advanced another few dozen li until men and horses were exhausted, and were just about to rest and eat when another thousand-plus government cavalry charged out—the bandits could only endure hunger and fatigue and hastily brace for battle.

Seeing this, Li Zicheng dared not linger and led his men fleeing further north.

When they reached the mountain-forest region near Jiazhou, ambushers rose again—this time it was Zuo Guangxian's force, which had lain in wait for a long time and was fresh and rested.

Hong Chengchou had calculated the bandits' escape route precisely and had long since ordered Wu Sangui and Zuo Guangxian to set ambushes along the way, intending to wipe them out completely.

After being ambushed repeatedly over several days, the roving bandits' morale was utterly shattered; only thanks to the fierce, desperate fighting led by the valiant Liu Zongmin did they manage to fight their way out.

After escaping the government troops' successive ambushes, Li Zicheng and the other bandit chieftains fell into dispute over where exactly to go.

Gao Yigong, Yuan Zongdi, and Li Guo had died in succession or gone missing; of Li Zicheng's great generals, only Liu Zongmin, Liu Fangliang, Dang Shousu, He Jin, and Hao Yaoqi remained. Tian Jianxiu was mainly responsible for managing logistics and baggage and had no particular talent for battle.

Liu Zongmin's opinion was to find a place to settle in the mountains near Jiazhou, wait for the government troops to withdraw, then fight their way back to Mizhi, recruit soldiers and buy horses there on the strength of Li Zicheng's reputation, and then build up their strength and await another opportunity to rise again.

Dang Shousu and He Jin were firmly opposed, arguing that the government troops would certainly continue the pursuit, and besides, Mizhi was too close to the Yansui garrison—even if there were no pursuers behind them, once the Yansui border troops who had fought them for years returned to their garrison and heard word of their recruiting, how could they sit idly by?

After much deliberation, Li Zicheng adopted Liu Fangliang's suggestion: while the Yansui garrison's strength was depleted, they would exit through the border wall at Gao Family Fort north of Jiazhou, pass through the Yulin Guard defense zone, leave the frontier through a breach in the Great Wall, and then decide what to do based on circumstances.

It was because Liu Fangliang had served in the Yulin Guard for many years and knew the terrain of the area well that he had made this proposal.

The only advantage of this course was safety.

Even if there were pursuers behind them, the government troops would not leave the frontier to chase them.

Just as they finished their deliberations, scouts from the rear reported that a large body of government troops was closing in.

This time, even if they didn't want to listen to Liu Fangliang, they had no choice—fleeing further north meant the imposing border wall, and who knew where the gaps were?

If they were trapped against the wall, what awaited them was total annihilation.

So the group mustered their spirits and, stomachs empty, set out for Gao Family Fort.

At the height of his power along the Sheyan River, Li Zicheng had commanded over thirty thousand followers; now barely five or six thousand remained. Of the three thousand elite troops of his old camp, more than half had been lost, and of the two thousand cavalry, only a few hundred riders were left. Li Zicheng, the Dashing General who had once been filled with grand ambitions, could now only lead his shattered remnants fleeing beyond the Great Wall, seeking another chance to rise again.