Chapter 165: Total Annihilation

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

When Yao Wenchang's troops approached within a hundred paces of the Yongwei Camp's baggage train, a series of cannon blasts rang out.

Nearly all of the Yongwei Camp's artillery units had been loaded onto ships and sent south along the Grand Canal, so the baggage train only carried some easily transportable tiger-crouch cannons to guard against roving bandit raids along the way—and now they came in handy.

To teach the Qingzhou soldiers a harsh lesson, Zhou Yuji directly ordered the artillerymen to use grapeshot, and moreover to wait until the enemy was within a hundred paces before opening fire.

Several dozen tiger-crouch cannons fired at once. The instant the thunderclaps sounded, wailing screams like ghosts howling and wolves crying rose from Yao Wenchang's Qingzhou troops. A single volley swept across a swath of them, killing or wounding at least several hundred.

Compared to the Tartars' two or three layers of heavy armor, Liu Zeqing's men were dressed like beggars—they didn't even have a full set of iron armor, and were practically just delivering themselves as a meal.

After the several dozen tiger-crouch cannons finished one volley, the Yongwei Camp soldiers standing behind the grain carts immediately raised their loaded muskets and fired in three ranks of rotating volleys at the Qingzhou troops.

Muzzle flashes crossed, gunsmoke filled the air, and Yao Wenchang's Qingzhou soldiers fell in rows and swaths like harvested crops.

Where had this rabble of Qingzhou soldiers ever seen such a formation? After just one round of strikes, they immediately fell into chaos, and some even began desperately running to the rear.

Zhou Yuji mocked: "The Running-Away General Liu Zeqing truly lives up to his reputation—his subordinates have all deeply inherited his teachings!"

Because of the famine in Shandong, the various localities couldn't supply rations for the Yongwei Camp's twenty-thousand-strong army, so Zhu Cilang arranged that every hundred li, Zhou Yuji's baggage train would store some grain in a nearby city for the main force following behind, with soldiers assigned to guard it.

This way, it wouldn't hinder the main army's march, and the baggage train would grow lighter and lighter. Thus, of Zhou Yuji's original five thousand men, after being dispatched along the way to guard grain at various places, only half remained by this point.

Even with just over two thousand baggage troops, that was more than enough to deal with a mob of rabble under the Running-Away General.

Barely a quarter of an hour into the engagement, the Qingzhou soldiers had already suffered over a thousand casualties. They began to realize the Yongwei Camp was not to be trifled with—how could they dare keep fighting? They all turned and fled.

Yao Wenchang watched dumbfounded, unable to believe what was happening before his eyes was real. He was an old subordinate of Liu Zeqing, having followed him on campaigns east and west—one could say he was battle-hardened (in running).

But in all his previous battles, where had he ever seen such fierce and terrifying opponents? He had no power to fight back at all—he was beaten until he had absolutely no temper left.

Seeing his soldiers streaming back in defeat, Yao Wenchang didn't stubbornly order them to turn around and keep fighting, because he knew another attack would only be throwing lives away for nothing. So he swiftly wheeled his horse around and retreated with the routed troops.

Not daring to fight, yet not daring to retreat either—Yao Wenchang was torn. He feared being punished by Liu Zeqing upon his return, so he ordered his men to halt and rest on the spot, hoping to find an opportunity to stab Zhou Yuji in the back.

Zhou Yuji paid no attention to this trash. After sending men to report to the main force in the rear, he led the baggage train south once more, while Yao Wenchang led his men trailing far behind like a shadow, waiting for another chance to strike.

In the Linqing area, several dozen li from the Eastern Depot Prefecture, amid the stirring rhythm of marching drums, a mighty army in iron armor marched south with high spirits.

Half of the Yongwei Camp's main force was cavalry, half infantry. Every soldier was clad in armor, fully armed, singing military songs as they marched, their morale soaring.

The army had been marching south for ten days now, advancing sixty to seventy li per day. They would soon catch up to the baggage train that had set out five days earlier—and most importantly, no one had fallen behind.

At the center of the army was a luxurious dragon carriage, drawn by six fine horses, its body carved with dragon and phoenix patterns, displaying all the noble grandeur of the imperial house.

Only the Emperor and Empress could ride in the dragon carriage—it was also the supreme symbol of imperial authority. This carriage had been specially bestowed upon Zhu Cilang by the Chongzhen Emperor for his travels.

Inside the dragon carriage, Zhu Cilang, draped in a brocade robe, was leafing through the Yellow Registers of Fengyang Prefecture. The Yellow Registers were the household registries compiled by the Great Ming to verify populations and levy taxes and corvée labor. The Grand Ancestor Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang had left an ancestral rule that they be revised once every ten years. When the registers were first compiled, it was clearly stipulated: anyone concealing information or committing fraud would have the head of the household executed and family members exiled beyond the borders.

The Yellow Registers not only contained an enormous amount of information but were also extremely detailed—they were the most fundamental data of the entire Great Ming Dynasty, the very root and lifeline of the nation. They not only recorded in detail all population information of the Great Ming but were also the sole basis for establishing and implementing the tax and corvée systems that kept the Great Ming running.

If placed in later ages, they would be more precious than gold. Unfortunately, after the Manchus entered the pass, the Great Ming's Yellow Registers were burned and destroyed—in later ages, it would be hard to find even a single copy.

"Where is Sun Yingyuan now?" Zhu Cilang asked toward the outside of the dragon carriage.

Xu Sheng rode his horse close to the carriage and said: "Reporting to Your Highness, General Sun's troops have already disembarked at Xuzhou and are now heading to Suzhou."

Zhu Cilang nodded. Their destination this trip was Fengyang Prefecture. According to plan, Sun Yingyuan would disembark at Xuzhou, then set out together with the follow-up main force from Suzhou.

Before long, a Longxianging Night Scout rode up holding up his waist token and reported in full the situation of Liu Zeqing's troops attacking the baggage train ahead.

Zhu Cilang said coldly: "This Liu Zeqing—doesn't he even piss on his own face to take a look at what kind of thing he is, daring to snatch food from a dragon's mouth! Pass the order! Huang Degong is to lead five thousand cavalry out immediately and wipe out all those blind-eyed bastards!"

Once the order was issued, Huang Degong, who had long been bored out of his mind, let out a cheer and immediately led his massed cavalry straight for the Eastern Depot Prefecture.

Zhu Cilang utterly loathed this man Liu Zeqing. This dog of a man was not only vicious and ruthless, repaying every grudge, but also of extremely poor character—he habitually inflated his achievements to claim rewards, and when the court sent him to suppress bandits, he claimed he'd fallen from his horse and broken a bone to avoid battle.

In history, after Liu Zeqing grew powerful, he not only refused to obey court orders but also let his soldiers loot and plunder Linqing every day. When Li Zicheng attacked Beijing, Liu Zeqing sat in Shandong with a hundred thousand troops yet refused to march north to defend the capital. Later, when he led his troops south, everywhere he passed was burned and looted clean by him. In the end, he betrayed the Ming and surrendered to the Qing—and was then done in by the Manchus anyway.

For a bottom-feeder like Liu Zeqing, Zhu Cilang planned to make an example of him, to intimidate the self-aggrandizing Ming armies of the south such as Liu Liangzuo and Zuo Liangyu.

In less than an hour, guided by the Longxianging Night Scouts, Huang Degong's five thousand iron cavalry had already located Yao Wenchang's troops.

The Yongwei Camp's five thousand cavalry split into two columns, sweeping around from both the left and right flanks, brandishing sabers and continuously charging the Qingzhou soldiers from both sides.

"Damn it! Where did all these cavalry come from!"

Yao Wenchang and his Qingzhou soldiers were scared out of their wits by this sudden development. How could they dare to fight? They all threw down their spears and lances, abandoned their armor and helmets, and scrambled to flee for their lives, terrified of being even one step too slow.

The Yongwei Camp's five thousand cavalry continuously charged back and forth against the routed Qingzhou soldiers, splitting them apart and charging again, until corpses filled the fields and blood stained the earth.