Chapter 289: The Decisive Battle

"Legitimate claim to the name?"

Li Zicheng glanced at Tian Jianxiu, and seeing that Tian Jianxiu lacked the courage to meet his gaze out of fear, he let out a cold chuckle, naturally understanding that this fellow was afraid of Liu Zongmin's retaliation and dared not speak further.

In truth, in Li Zicheng's heart, the distant and intangible capital was far less appealing than his hometown of Shaanxi.

The Li Zicheng of now had long lost the grand ambition he'd had when he declared himself emperor in Xi'an. Having played the local emperor in Xi'an for over a year, for him, this life was actually already enough.

Originally, he had only rebelled because he couldn't repay his debts and couldn't survive any longer. In other words, if Chongzhen hadn't abolished the postal relay stations, Li Zicheng might have spent his entire life as a diligent courier.

The historical Li Zicheng was exactly like this — even when he fought all the way to the foot of the capital, he had no real ambition to be emperor. He still wanted the historical Chongzhen Emperor to enfeoff him as the King of the Northwest, and that was all.

In truth, to put it plainly, the situation now was that Li Zicheng was being pushed forward by his own generals and soldiers.

Although Li Zicheng himself no longer wished to march out of the passes to attack the capital, everyone in the Dashun regime wanted to claim the merit of founding a new dynasty. If you didn't fight, first, the roving bandits would lose their source of income and the men below would cause trouble; second, some people's vanity would go unsatisfied.

Especially after Li Yan was captured by Bai Guangen, the chief military strategists became Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance. The two of them were originally of the same school, and in recent days they had been urging Li Zicheng to march east every single day.

One offered schemes, the other performed divination, and between the two of them, Li Zicheng was thoroughly annoyed.

At first, Liu Zongmin had also been happy to enjoy that pastoral life in Xi'an, coming and going from the Marquis's mansion every day. Everyone who saw him respectfully addressed him as Marquis Ru, and that was already enough to satisfy him.

Liu Zongmin was a man who was extremely protective of his own people. Not long ago, the central army general Dang Shousu had gone to him to complain, saying that because they hadn't gone on campaign for so long, the soldiers under his command had no source of pay and were all grumbling with discontent.

As soon as he heard that his soldiers were living poorly, Liu Zongmin didn't even bother to ask whether the news was accurate. He directly changed his stance and immediately went to find Li Zicheng in person to say he supported the eastern expedition — and he said it as if he personally longed for the eastern expedition.

Liu Zongmin's allegiance carried enormous weight within the Dashun regime. Originally, Li Zicheng had been ignoring Niu Jinxing precisely because Liu Zongmin hadn't said a word about the eastern expedition. But now that he supported it, Li Zicheng found himself in a difficult position.

Just as he was worrying over this, a large number of generals, having heard that Liu Zongmin supported the eastern expedition, jumped out one after another to voice their support. Added to those who had secretly wanted to stir up trouble all along, Li Zicheng was forced to steel himself and begin the second eastern expedition ahead of schedule.

This eastern expedition sounded grand and mighty, but only Li Zicheng himself knew the true situation within. Whether it was the speed of concentrating troops, or the orderliness of the march and the changing of armor along the way, none of it could compare with the last time.

Liu Zongmin's thinking was very simple. Although he preferred staying in Xi'an to farm, in truth he was still somewhat drawn to the capital. He couldn't be called eager about the eastern expedition, but neither was he particularly opposed to it.

At the time he had simply been idle with nothing to do. After Dang Shousu brought it up, he became interested and immediately wanted to march east.

On second thought, Li Zicheng put on a show of magnanimity, laughed loudly twice, and said:

"These are all the strategist's plans — to wear out the government troops. Now I see they're about as exhausted as dogs. It's time to take Gugu Pass and enter the city to rest." As he spoke, Li Zicheng rose and waved his hand grandly, shouting:

"Pass the order to the three armies: Marquis Ru will personally lead the troops, and I will oversee the battle from the rear. Within one day, we will take Gugu Pass!"

Li Zicheng had finally given the order, and all the generals immediately beamed with joy. Niu Jinxing also felt that Chen Qiyu's current strength absolutely could not hold them back, and believed that breaking into the capital and changing the dynasty was now right before their eyes — he was grinning so wide he couldn't close his mouth.

"Dashun must prevail! Dashun must prevail!"

On the battlefield outside Gugu Pass, the previous wave of refugee attacks had just ended not long ago. By all rights, the next wave of attacks should still be a while off, and the government troops were seizing the time to rest. But at that moment, suddenly from behind came an ear-splitting roar of battle cries.

Hu Maozhen, the Assistant Regional Commander of Xuan-Da in charge of guarding the eastern wing of the barbican, touched his helmet and opened his sleep-heavy eyes. The scene before him made his eyes widen to the size of copper bells in an instant.

"The roving bandits are coming! The roving bandits are coming!"

Voices rose one after another along the walls of Gugu Pass. Unlike the many times before, there was an unmistakable terror in the government troops' cries. Beneath their feet, hundreds of thousands of Dashun soldiers were charging forward in orderly steps.

"Thump thump thump"

On a distant hillside, twenty enormous war drums had been set up, and the drumbeats began to sound in rhythm.

The Dashun infantry advanced in time with the drumbeats. The front several rows were all shield-and-sword men holding shields in their left hands and blades in their right, and behind them followed countless spear and saber soldiers.

"Rumble..."

Because of their sheer numbers, the Dashun infantry stirred up gray-yellow dust just by walking on the ground. The very earth beneath their feet seemed to tremble. The soldiers' heads bobbed and crowded tightly against one another.

Seen from afar, the Dashun formations were ragged and uneven. Though their intimidating presence fell far short of neat, orderly ranks, their absolute numerical advantage made up for everything.

The Dashun forces now charging toward Gugu Pass outnumbered all the previous attacks combined. The government troops defending the city looked at the roving bandits in white armor covering the mountains and plains, and even the hands gripping their sabers and spears were trembling.

"This... how are we supposed to fight this?"

"Exactly! If each of them spat once, we'd be drowned!"

"Run! While the bandits haven't entered the pass yet, let's run!"

"Run? Where would you run to? The bandits' cavalry will catch you no matter what!"

The government troops began discussing noisily among themselves. Most of them spoke in a tone different from usual, their words laced with deep terror. Even if each man could fight ten, they could never hold back this endless sea of bandits.

Clearly, this time the Dashun army meant business, planning to force a decisive battle today. Many of the generals on the city walls had seen large-scale battles before, and no matter what the soldiers thought, at this critical moment they certainly couldn't lose face.

Governor-General Chen Qiyu issued his orders the fastest. Almost the moment the main body of bandits appeared in view, his military commands had already reached the lowest barbican, which settled the soldiers down somewhat.

The meaning of the Governor-General's order was very simple: he told the soldiers to look behind them.

The soldiers turned their heads and saw Chen Qiyu standing behind them with a stern expression, along with an entire row of Regional Commanders and generals — not one of them fleeing. When they turned back around, the bandits didn't seem quite so terrifying anymore.

"The government troops' firearms are just for show! Keep advancing! Whoever takes the city gate gets first merit from the Dashing King!" At the very front of the formation, a minor leader wearing a great cloak shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Dashun must prevail! Dashun must prevail!"

When they had advanced to about eight hundred paces from the barbican, the leading Dashun vanguard began to quicken their pace into a charge. Because there were so many men, many spear and saber soldiers bumped into their comrades as they ran, but this didn't stop them from continuing to shout excitedly.

The central main force, which was adjusting its pace at the rear, was personally led by Liu Zongmin. He was already firmly convinced that although the Ming government troops' firearms and cannons were arrayed on the city walls, they would certainly be of little use, and these government troops who had fled back from Taiyuan would have no fighting ability whatsoever.

After all, the Dashun army at this moment was no longer the eastern expedition force that had attacked Gugu Pass last year with nothing prepared. This time on campaign, the Dashun army had gathered from within Shaanxi many bronze and iron cannons that had originally been placed on the city walls by government troops.

Beyond that, for the first time they had recruited former government arquebusiers into their ranks, strengthening their ranged forces. The test firings had shown impressive power, so Liu Zongmin's thinking was that the moment the main force reached the city walls, Gugu Pass would fall.