Chapter 155: The Dashing Army Withdraws (First VIP Chapter—Please Subscribe!!!)

The next morning, the few remaining roosters inside the pass were crowing, and the armored soldiers standing on the city wall rubbed their bleary eyes and yawned widely through their drowsiness.

"Why do you suppose the roving bandits have been quiet for so many days?"

"Right, who can say?" Another soldier, just now climbing onto the wall, picked up his spear and said, "Who knows what villainous scheme this Dashing bandit is hatching—better stay alert! Have you forgotten how the barbican fell last time?"

A third soldier overheard the first two and shuffled over, but his gaze stayed fixed on the roving bandits' camp spread out across the land like a blanket: "Well said. These Dashing bandits will stop at nothing. Didn't General Zhou himself say the same—better to be careful!"

The men were chatting idly when suddenly they heard an uproar behind them and all along the wall. The first soldier pointed at the camp ahead with a dumbfounded look. "Hey, hey, hey—look over there, what's going on?"

"Move aside, let me see." Company Commander Ding hurried over.

Countless officers and soldiers climbed onto the gate tower to look, their chatter a jumble of conflicting opinions, while common folk who had been helping haul supplies, logs, and rolling stones for the defense gathered below, asking what on earth was happening.

Women and children who had been hiding indoors for months first thought the Dashing bandits had breached the city, and cracked open doors and windows to peek at the scene—but when they realized the city had not fallen, they still had no idea what was going on.

Before long, a cheer erupted from the wall, and a signalman came scrambling down on hands and feet: "The Dashing army has withdrawn! The Dashing army has withdrawn!"

"The Dashing army has withdrawn! The Dashing army has withdrawn!!!"

The common folk stared wide-eyed, unable to believe it, but more and more officers and soldiers atop the wall were already embracing and cheering in excitement. Some hurled their swords and spears down below the wall, and the arquebusiers even began firing into the sky in celebration.

"Bang, bang, bang—"

"Is this real—the Dashing army has withdrawn!?" An old man raised a trembling hand and asked.

A sturdy man standing nearby nodded vigorously and said, "Elder, the Dashing bandits have withdrawn, the court has won, we're safe now!"

"Wonderful, truly wonderful!"

Over at the town government office, lanterns and decorations were already being hung, countless soldiers bustling about inside and out. Zhou Yuji, Bai Guangen, and Gao Jie—the Xuanzhen Regional Commander who had come last with reinforcements—all laughed heartily as they led their household retainers up the wall.

During these past months, what with the tension and all manner of factors, the sight of the Dashing army assaulting the city had been spectacular, yet many of them had had no mind to take it in.

Now that the Dashing army had finally withdrawn, everyone's hearts relaxed along with it. Looking at the scene before him, Zhou Yuji's worry that Li Zicheng might pull the same trick again finally settled.

The Dashing army's camp had stretched to the very edge of heaven and earth, and now all of it was moving at once to dismantle the tents. Beneath the billowing dust, the visual impact was utterly staggering.

On the outer perimeter, many horsemen of the Dashing army's veteran camp sat on horseback clutching swords and spears, shouting something, while ragged refugees in tattered clothes mixed with the crack veterans, forming torrent after torrent that churned messily away toward Xi'an.

Many people understood: Li Zicheng had truly given up this time. The Dashing army had really withdrawn—at least they would not return this year. They had won.

"General, shall I take the cavalry out and give them a taste of steel?" Gao Jie laughed heartily, cupping his fists and shouting.

Bai Guangen glanced at Gao Jie upon hearing this, seeming about to speak but stopping himself, and in the end said not a word—though no small number of the other officers did request to go out and fight.

After a moment's thought, Zhou Yuji nodded and said, "You may. But remember, Regional Commander Gao—do not get bogged down in battle. Take what advantage you can and come straight back!"

"Orders received! Lads, follow this commander down the wall!"

Amid the cheers of the common folk, the heavy city gates of Ningwu Pass—closed for half a year—were thrown open, the drawbridge was lowered by soldiers working the winch, and Gao Jie, brandishing his steel saber, led a troop of cavalry thundering out of the city.

The reason Zhou Yuji let Gao Jie go out was that many days of fighting shoulder to shoulder had given him a thorough understanding of the man—he knew that although Gao Jie was somewhat hotheaded, he was no reckless fool.

Once outside the city, Gao Jie's Xuanzhen cavalry avoided the strong and struck the weak. Instead of seeking out the Dashing army's horsemen directly, they made straight for the refugee camp on the northern flank that was in the midst of striking its tents, charging in and throwing everything into chaos.

But soon, Li Guo, the Command General responsible for the rearguard, spotted this cavalry force making trouble at his rear and personally led the Dashing army's horsemen to meet them.

The two cavalry forces crashed into each other with a thunderous impact, and for a time the fighting was fierce and evenly matched. But Gao Jie had, after all, launched a surprise attack with a smaller force, and he also remembered Zhou Yuji's words—quit while ahead, no lingering. After trading a few feints with Li Guo, he wheeled around and galloped off with his cavalry in a puff of dust.

"Command General, shall we pursue?" At a cavalry platoon officer's question, Li Guo spat on the ground, turned, and gave the order: "With that few men, I don't believe he'd dare come again. No pursuit!"

"Command General, the government troops are back—heading straight for Jiang Lifan's refugee camp on the northern flank!"

But no sooner had Li Guo finished speaking than it became clear Gao Jie had not been fleeing at all. After breaking away, he charged back into Jiang Lifan's refugee camp on the northern flank, and Gao Jie himself, moving with lightning speed, cut Jiang Lifan down with a single stroke.

Li Guo, having been played for a fool, was gnashing his teeth in fury and was about to order a pursuit when he saw Gao Jie and his cavalry hoisting the severed head aloft on a spear, laughing as they galloped off in a puff of dust toward Ningwu Pass.

Up on the pass, Zhou Yuji and Bai Guangen had already arrayed their foot archers and arquebusiers in strict formation, ready at a moment's notice to provide support.

Gao Jie returned to the city in triumph with his cavalry, most of them carrying one or two severed heads of the roving bandits dangling from the tips of their sabers and spears. Gao Jie had three heads hanging from his saddle, and in his hand he held up the head of a great general in display.

"This officer has not failed his mission—bearing the head of Jiang Lifan, I offer congratulations to our Great Ming, and congratulations to His Majesty the Emperor!" Gao Jie's face was spattered with blood that had begun to congeal, but he paid it no mind, presenting the head with both hands before the assembled crowd.

"Regional Commander Gao is ferocious indeed!"

Zhou Yuji was somewhat taken aback as well. This Jiang Lifan had been counted among the braver of the roving bandits, having escaped with his life several times during the assaults on the city and killed no small number of government officers and soldiers—yet Gao Jie had cut him down in the span of a few sticks of incense.

Zhou Yuji helped Gao Jie to his feet, then turned and bellowed:

"All units, verify your merits at once, and send this victory by swift horse to the capital!"

The Battle of military pay and provisions, the Battle of Guguan, and the bitter struggle at Ningwu marked the complete failure of Li Zicheng's so-called million-strong army's northern expedition. Especially the annihilation of the southern route army and Liu Fangliang—this dealt a heavy blow to the Dashun regime.

After Li Zicheng withdrew his troops, the Great Ming court could continue to eke out its existence for a while longer—and as for how much longer it could eke out that existence, only heaven knew.

After the Battle of military pay and provisions, the Dashun army withdrew from the capital region, and the court's official forces took the opportunity to recover and consolidate the area around the capital. The Battle of Guguan, commanded by Chen Qiyu, was equally important.

After that battle, the Dashun army lost an important general, and the entire southern route army of the northern expedition was wiped out. In the short term, east of Guguan there was no longer any organized force capable of opposing the court.

Many clear-eyed observers could see that the fall of the Ming dynasty in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen was now impossible—and the slogan of "changing the dynasty" proclaimed at the start of the year had by now vanished without a trace.

This year, the court had won three consecutive major victories against both the Jianzhou barbarians and the roving bandits.

As the Dashun army collapsed in full retreat, it was only natural that the court, riding on the momentum of its great victories, would take the opportunity to recover Zhengding, Baoding, and the Shunde Prefecture area.

That said, although the Dashun army had suffered heavy losses, Li Zicheng's main force and the interior of Shaanxi remained very stable. If the Dashun army held fast at Tongguan, the court would have no way to attack it for the time being.

In the Baoding and Guguan area, even Liu Fangliang—the so-called Command General of Dashun and commander of the southern route army—had been cut down in battle by Dong Qi.

This man had been a great general under Li Zicheng, and his position among the Dashun bandit army was even higher than Abatai's among the Jianzhou barbarians. About half a month after the Battle of Guguan, batches of severed heads of the roving bandits were transported to the capital.

The Chongzhen Emperor was overjoyed. At the court assembly he lavishly praised Chen Qiyu and Dong Qi, and issued an edict ordering Minister of Revenue Ni Yuanlu to take charge of tallying the fallen soldiers and consoling their families.