Chapter 124: Ma Ke

Li Bei's great banner pole was snapped by a cannonball and crashed to the ground.

He watched with his own eyes as his battle line — soldiers throwing themselves forward one after another — had just barely plugged the front army's line, when the left wing was torn open by the cavalry.

Ma Ke wanted to fill the gap in the left wing, but the left wing collapsed too fast; then the right wing erupted in clamor, and both wings were pierced by cavalry at the same time.

Soldiers stripped of formation's protection could not withstand the surging charge of the cavalry.

Seeing the central army under attack, the front-formation soldiers no longer dared keep fighting and, shouting "Protect the general!", formed up and fell back toward the central army.

They truly meant to protect the general.

They never imagined that this retreat would let them see the truth of being surrounded.

Li Bei struggled with all his might to hold the formation, yet could only watch helplessly as the government troops on the right wing, crushed by the cavalry's pressure, routed toward the rear formation, until they utterly collapsed their own rear formation.

They fled the battle formation in a single-file stream.

They ran — but not far before they came running back again.

Just as Li Bei was puzzling over this, he saw cavalry squadrons, guided by the Marshal's banner on all sides, sweep past the perimeter of the battle formation, raising blades and leveling lances to encircle the line and hunt down the routed troops.

Li Bei's heart sank to its darkest depths; still he rallied his soldiers' morale and gathered the scattered troops, yet the government soldiers fled in all directions regardless.

But before Liu Chengzong's eyes, the most absurd thing in the world was unfolding.

They collapsed.

In his field of vision, most battle formations — government troops and bandit troops alike — were collapsing.

The two cavalry units that had stabbed into the enemy lines had their commanders trapped within the formation; the horsemen scattered inside the great hollow square and lost their formation.

And the infantry formations, starting with Li Wanqing, then Liu Chengzu and Luo Rucai, one after another lost all organization, scattering in all directions to hunt down government troops, which further prevented the two cavalry units that had pierced the enemy lines from breaking free of the chaotic melee.

It left Liu Chengzong, who was chasing routed troops, utterly dumbfounded.

Chasing routed troops was not the problem.

But at least have some organization!

We're a bunch of makeshift amateurs — the whole point of using field encirclement to crack the enemy formation was to make the government troops lose their organization, then use our organized force to defeat their disorganized one, wasn't it?

What's the point if we fall apart ourselves?

But the peasant army's various formations had been too suppressed during this battle, so much so that the moment they saw the government troops' formation waver, blood surged to their brains and they went charging and killing in every direction.

Liu Chengzong had never seen these quail-like people display such ferocious killing intent.

Even the commanders couldn't rein them in.

Liu Guoneng's formation, which had been scared off several times by cannon fire, and Liu Chengzu's two units that had been ramming the government troops at the front — both ran especially fast.

These were units formed of blood kin, and having all suffered casualties, they were particularly ferocious in seeking revenge.

But there was just one problem... they couldn't beat the government troops.

Every soldier knows: in small-scale combat, skill matters a great deal — after all, when the scale is small enough, a single man is also discipline, and a perfect fusion of discipline and skill.

Except for the Yan'an Guard Chiliarch, every person in this world can control themselves.

Yang Yanchang can't, so he is an individual without discipline.

But in large-scale warfare, what you're contesting is momentum, and discipline matters more. When two formations clash, whichever side's formation wavers first loses — and if the losing side faces cavalry, it's death.

The government troops had started out fleeing with great decisiveness, but at some point they realized the enemy's formation had also broken. No cavalry was chasing them — both cavalry units had their horses' brains still stuck deep inside their own formation.

And they couldn't see Liu Chengzong's four-shao cavalry behind them either.

All they saw was that the ones chasing them were infantry.

Well now — the routed troops perked right back up. A single shout: "Don't run! Turn around and kill them!"

In small clusters of three or five, the border troops turned, raised their blades, and fought — one against three, three against a whole group.

The few who possessed exceptional martial skill were still dealt with by government troops forming small squads — two against one, three against one — either hacked down or driven off.

Even around Liu Chengzu, only a few dozen men had gathered. Watching the routed soldiers swarming chaotically while border troops advanced in formation, who would dare block them?

Liu Chengzu could only fall back to where Cao Yao was and form up. Now among the six division commanders, the only one who still controlled an organized force was Wang Ziyong, the weakest in combat strength — apart from him, just the hundred-some artillerymen under Cao Yao of the cannon-shao.

Even the artillerymen had drawn their knives and formed ranks.

Liu Chengzu desperately wanted to raise his hand and slap himself. He realized he had overlooked an extremely serious problem: for all their good points, the one thing they had never done was win.

They just wanted to stay alive — training troops emphasized discipline and stamina; they'd taught them to run away, but never practiced pursuit... Did pursuit even need practice?

In the time it took Liu Chengzu to reflect on his mistakes amid the chaos, he turned his head — and the last commander among the six formations who still controlled an organized force was gone too.

Eight border troops wanted to cross the river and fled west. Wang Ziyong's men, seeing only a scattered handful, gave chase.

The eight men ran while loosing arrows; they had only just shot down two when they realized the large mass of peasant soldiers chasing them had been frightened into stopping.

The few fleeing soldiers were scared too. They exchanged glances — they dared not run, and fighting would most likely mean death. What to do?

One bold man gritted his teeth and stamped his foot: "If I die, I die!"

The moment he drew his blade and ran, over a thousand men — those in front running toward the back, those in back running too, not knowing what was happening.

Wang Ziyong, a big strapping fellow, was grabbed around the waist and hoisted up by a fleeing burly man, his arms and legs flailing in all directions amid the human tide.

For everyone else, during the pursuit, soldiers led soldiers away, leaving behind commanders trying to regroup but powerless to do so.

Luo Rucai was different.

Originally, his side had been fighting quite spiritedly, but after a few rounds both sides were a bit tired. Gao Yingxiang charging in was perfect — it relieved his pressure — so he simply held his ground and rested a while.

In the blink of an eye, chaos erupted everywhere. He had no idea what was happening; all he saw was Li Wanqing's troops running backward in the distance, and Liu Chengzu's troops vanishing from his field of view.

And Gao Yingxiang had plunged headfirst into the enemy formation and not come out.

Luo Rucai panicked.

His courage only existed when others were counting on him.

Right now, no one was counting on him, and no one was watching him.

He lifted the red silk brocade, tucked it into the leather belt at his waist, and waved to his followers: "Move, quick — it's all gone wrong, gone wrong!"

In a whoosh, several dozen skilled fighters and scores of famine refugees in the unit turned and ran after him.

He ran a few dozen paces farther, then turned to look back — more than half the unit was still lagging behind. Plenty of the starving refugees simply could not run; they stood rooted where they were, forming ranks and waiting to die.

Not even cannon fire could make them run — what virtue or ability did Luo Rucai possess to do so?

Watching the troops left behind about to be slaughtered by the routed soldiers bursting from the government army's formation, Luo Rucai lowered his head and looked left and right for a solution. "Damn it all, what do we do?"

In the end, he steeled his heart, then jumped and ran, holding his blade high as he sprinted back, waving as he ran: "Follow me, you bastards — we can't run off and leave our brothers to die!"

Blade raised, he turned to counterattack, clashing at close quarters with the government troops.

Luo Rucai's unit was forged into an elite force once more.

Liu Chengzong swept his gaze in all four directions — in an instant, offense and defense had reversed. Fires burned everywhere, and he truly did not know which to put out first.

But he knew where he could not go.

He could not go to the government army's disordered main formation.

The overall trend now was that the scattered government troops were regrouping into formations amid the fighting. Once they drove off the routed bandits from each formation, they would ultimately converge and encircle the main formation again.

If he charged in and could not get out in short order, he would fall into the predicament of being surrounded.

Breaking a formation from the outside still held some possibility, but breaking out from the inside was doubly difficult.

Liu Chengzong was inwardly utterly baffled: How, in a single instant, had Heaven's great mandate fallen upon me?

Several squad leaders had also lost their nerve, one after another spurring their mounts to ride alongside him.

Wang Wenxiu bounced in the saddle; his horsemanship was poor, and he had specially picked a gentle-tempered pony, yet even so, he was still terrified once it broke into a run. "General, how did everyone end up routed?"

You're asking me?

How the hell would I know!

We didn't lose when the formations clashed in pitched battle, and we didn't win when chasing fleeing troops.

Liu Chengzong reckoned he'd be too embarrassed to mention this battle record to anyone for the rest of his life.

"You riding it — you're both suffering. Take the infantry and fall back; go support the two cavalry companies."

"Squad Leader Feng, go help Wang Heshang — is that bunch of his planning to let a few men chase them all the way back home or what? Squad Leader Yang, clear out the routed troops around us. Big Brother Gao, go help my brother."

Liu Chengzong finished speaking, then turned to the Han brothers, Han Shipan and Han Shiyou, and said: "The household troop, follow me. Let's go find General Li."

Li Bei was not easy to find, but Li Bei's armor was very easy to find — it was being worn by Ma Ke.

From the moment the entire army was encircled and the battle lines torn apart, Li Bei's words had carried no weight.

Li Bei was a Mobile Corps Commander; he had no troops of his own. The man with the most soldiers in the formation was Ma Ke.

Ma Ke told Li Bei to break through the encirclement; Li Bei said he would cover his rear.

Then Li Bei was pinned down by Ma Ke, his general's armor stripped off by the soldiers, and Ma Ke's own armor was buckled onto him, topped with a soldier's iron conical helmet.

The young Centurion knelt and kowtowed, then ordered the border troops to his left and right to escort the general and fight their way out.

He said: "The general has treated this humble officer like a father. Today is the day this humble officer repays the general's kindness."

He mounted his warhorse, leveled his lance, and charged toward the left flank, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Li Bei is here!" to draw attention, barreling straight for the unstoppable cavalry captain.

In the first exchange, he swept Zhang Tianlin's blade aside, but the broken blade stabbed into his horse's neck. In the second exchange, Zhang Tianlin ducked behind his stirrup to evade the lance and had his helmet knocked off.

In the third exchange, Ma Ke attempted a parting lance thrust but unfortunately fell from his horse. Zhang Tianlin had lost his weapon, and seeing government troops all around, charging out on horseback would be difficult, so he simply leaped off the horse and fled on foot.

Ma Ke seized a horse, but was not satisfied, and searched for his next target.

At the right-wing battle line, there was a very familiar-looking single-blade bandit draped in red and festooned with colors. Ma Ke had wanted to beat him up since yesterday, and he charged over with a great roar.

A pity this bandit was crafty as a ghost, hiding behind a shield wall without a shred of heroism. Before Ma Ke could even get close, a row of bandits behind the shield wall, dressed like an opera troupe, raised their bows and loosed arrows.

Ma Ke whirled the lance in his hand until not a drop of water could pass through. With three feathered arrows stuck in his body, he wheeled his horse and retreated.

He spotted another target — a tall, brawny man fighting on foot, swinging a guandao in great sweeping arcs, keeping three border troops at bay. Once again, shouting "Li Bei is here!", he charged over.

Gao Yingxiang swept his blade out, forcing back the three border troops beside him, and saw through the ruse at a single glance.

He had never seen Li Bei, but he knew Li Bei was not the youngest Mobile Corps Commander in the Great Ming. This young officer was at most the same age as that Liu the Lion.

If you're Li Bei, then your granddad here is Zhu Youjian.

This was just a scapegoat — why bother with a scapegoat? Gao Yingxiang dragged his blade and left.

But Ma Ke would not let him leave; he surged forward and thrust with his lance.

Seeing he could not get away, Gao Yingxiang showed no fear, swinging his blade up to hack. The weapons collided, but he never expected that the shaft below the blade guard would be seized by this brash kid, who used his horse's momentum to lunge forward.

Whoosh!

The blade shaft was ripped from his hands, leaving Gao Yingxiang staring, dumbstruck.

I only wanted your life — you actually wanted my blade?

Weaponless, Gao Yingxiang turned and fled. Fortunately, several of his subordinates were nearby and rushed forward to block Ma Ke, thus preserving their leader's safety.

Seeing no advantage to be gained, Ma Ke shouldered the guandao, clamped the lance under his right arm, and rode off in search of Li Bei.

This fellow rampaged left and right, charging and thrusting, with scarcely a single opponent able to last a round against him. A moment later, he found Li Bei, where the fighting was fierce.

Cao Yao had no idea that the man he was fighting was Li Bei; he had only come to steal cannons.

With Liu Chengzong's cavalry company holding the line, the situation in the central army was improving, though the government army's forward formation had likewise gathered quite a few soldiers.

Worried that the cannon bombardment of infantry formations might happen again, he decided to bring men over and haul away the cannons and gunpowder the government troops had abandoned on the front line.

That way, even if they lost the advantage of routing the enemy and both sides resumed formation warfare, they would still have the strength to fight.

But he had just begun pushing two cannon carts when his furtive movements were spotted by the government troops. He then led his artillerymen in an assault against Li Bei and the several dozen border troops gathered around him.

The government troops' state at this moment was exceedingly bizarre. One could say they were routed, yet they still held their formations.

Yet one could also say they were not routed, for their will to fight was utterly feeble.

Fighting a winning battle easily stirred their courage, but when they ran into a tough nut, they immediately recovered on the spot the terror of having their battle lines shattered.

Cao Yao's artillerymen were just such a tough nut. The roaring cannon spewed its shot, and the government troops who had just regrouped scattered once more.

The artillerymen arrayed their firearm squads, awaiting only the order.

Cao Yao shouted: "Surrender! We're all border troops — surrendering won't mean death."

Just then, a broken spear came howling through the air with a spinning buzz and slammed straight into the artillery formation. Moments later, several riders charged in, a few of them crashing into the ranks. Then another horseman wielding a guandao galloped up, hauled Li Bei onto the horse's back, and spurred the mount away at full speed.

Liu Chengzong was already closing in on the enemy line. He saw the government army commander being carried off by a border soldier in general's armor.

He instantly guessed who had been thrown across that horse's back and immediately gave the order: "Quick, after them! Do not let them get away!"

On horseback, Li Bei gasped for breath and said to Ma Ke, "You're still young. Don't let this ruin you. Just go back and report the battle truthfully — that will be enough."

Ma Ke answered without a care, "No matter, General. Your subordinate will fight his way out with you."

The words had barely left his mouth when bandit soldiers, already present on both flanks, now came in even greater numbers, hemming them in faintly upon the corpse-strewn battlefield.

Ahead, a desperate flight for survival; behind, a relentless chase to the death.

Li Bei said, "With only one horse, neither of us can escape. Remember this: if the senior officers question you about the battle and anything turns against you, lay it all on me. Take care of yourself."

"I'll go snatch another—"

Before Ma Ke could finish, he felt a fierce shove against his back. His mount's hooves suddenly lightened, and behind him came the sound of a heavy body hitting the ground.

He turned his head. Li Bei had already tumbled off and rolled several times across the earth.

Ma Ke wheeled his horse around, but that spot was already tightly encircled by surging cavalry. Gripping his guandao, he tried again and again to charge in, yet he saw more and more enemies gathering around him.

In the end, only a single cry escaped him.

"General! Take care!"

Amid the crowd, Li Bei stood and offered no resistance as he was taken captive.

Without the burden of a rider, Ma Ke's warhorse ran swift. Before long, it broke through the dangerous stretch of the river valley.

Liu Chengzong was inside the central command tent of the government army camp, studying that map. Li Bei was soon captured by Yang Yao and presented before him.

Liu Chengzong smiled. "General Li, I have long heard your illustrious name!"

Li Bei said nothing.

On the ridge at the far end of the river valley, a wretched figure crouched in a place no one could find, head buried in his hands, weeping bitterly.

Source: The Stubborn Bandits