Chapter 74: Routed Army

Watching Li Bei's army march taught the squad leaders a lesson.

Of course, the sight of a silent army advancing into the morning sun could also awaken fear in certain people.

For instance, Song Shouzhen, who came from the famine refugee army.

That very night, he urged Liu Chengzong: "Don't stay in Yan'an Prefecture any longer. Head west."

Song Shouzhen's idea was to go west, to Qingyang Prefecture.

Then south, into Hanzhong ringed by mountains, and make that their base.

There are princedoms there, fertile fields, a large population, and heavy tax burdens.

Advancing, you can take Guanzhong and enter Sichuan; retreating, you can withdraw into the great Qinling Mountains.

Liu Chengzong also thought Hanzhong was good.

It was just that no matter how good Hanzhong was, it was meaningless.

Hanzhong had originally had a rebel army too. Last year in the tenth month, Wang Daliang rose up around Hanzhong Prefecture and Xing'an Subprefecture, raising over three thousand men to attack Hanzhong.

Early this year, the veteran general Wu Guofu, who had fought Yang Yinglong in Sichuan, led his troops north, and Liu Yingyu of the Shangluo Circuit also led Mao troops into Hanzhong.

It was a dead end — the government troops racked up a record of ten victories in ten battles against them.

It was true that since ancient times, many heroes and bold spirits had used central Sichuan as a foundation to accomplish great enterprises.

But of those heroes and bold spirits who entered Sichuan, few ever managed to come back out.

It could serve as a great rear area, but the front lines had to be Guanzhong and Huguang.

Song Shouzhen's fear was not without cause.

After Li Bei set out on campaign, starting from the ninth day of the sixth month,

over the course of a few days, the strength at Tiger's Waist swelled rapidly at a rate of nearly a hundred men per day.

So much so that just as they entered mid-sixth-month, Tiger's Waist had reorganized an entire outpost.

And it was a fully staffed outpost, including the baggage train unit.

The composition of his subordinates was very strange.

Old mountain bandits who had been outlaws for years, famine refugees and displaced people in rags, and even expeditionary banner troops from Yan'an Guard.

All of this was because of Li Bei.

Li Bei's marching speed was as if he were on drugs; Battalion Commander Wu, commanding the eight hundred banner troops of Yan'an Guard, simply could not keep up.

On the second day after deploying, Li Bei routed elements of the rebel army under Hun Tianwang at Yanchuan County, one hundred twenty li away, and sent back eighty-six heads.

On the third day, he galloped another eighty li and routed Da Honglang, a subordinate commander under Wang Zuogua, sending back one hundred twenty heads.

On the fifth day, he struck into Yellow Dragon Mountain, killing thirteen leaders, both great and small.

Yellow Dragon Mountain was the main stronghold of northern Shaanxi peasants resisting taxes; as early as the Wanli reign, common folk had been taking their families and fleeing into the mountains.

Last year, Lao Huihui, a soldier from Yansui Garrison, turned outlaw and set up camp on Yellow Dragon Mountain. Later, Wang Er, Wang Jiayin, and Wang Zuogua all successively led men to station there.

Li Bei's two hundred cavalry rampaged through like someone poking a hornet's nest. Lao Huihui fled with his troops, and all those refugees, famine victims, old bandits, and mountain outlaws followed, fleeing outward.

Tens of thousands of peasant soldiers scattered and disintegrated as they ran.

This rebel force fled in panic, cutting straight across Yan'an Prefecture and fleeing north, where they ran right into Battalion Commander Wu's Yan'an Guard troops bringing up the rear.

By all accounts, this should have been Battalion Commander Wu's lucky break — disorganized bandit soldiers delivered right to his doorstep.

Who would have guessed that when these two forces collided, the bandit soldiers were scared out of their wits, and the banner troops were also frightened out of their souls.

They never even engaged in battle before each scattered on their own.

The most absurd part was that the scattered banner troops dared not and did not wish to return to their units, so they simply merged with the bandit soldiers, roaming this parched land in small groups of three to five.

Li Wanqing could go out for one sweep and bring back five or six groups of men.

"Yesterday, the latest field report: General Li pursued them for four hundred li over two days and nights, caught up with Lao Huihui at Bao'an, and chased them all the way to Ningsai Fort in one go."

Yang Yanchang was beaming with excitement; mentioning Li Bei's battle record brought a look of yearning to his face. He flung out his arm: "He drove them straight beyond the border wall!"

When Liu Chengzong heard this, he thought, well now, they've left the country.

Suppressing bandits to the point of driving the rebel army from Yellow Dragon Mountain into the Maowusu Desert — that was truly extreme.

This battle lasted less than ten days, yet it turned Yan'an Prefecture upside down inside and out.

The capability the Ming army displayed in this battle made Liu Chengzong involuntarily think of that inaccurate three-eyed blunderbuss from Nanjia Mountain.

The muzzle points at you, but you don't know whether this blunderbuss can actually hit you or not.

The Ming army comes to exterminate you, but you also don't know whether the Ming army on campaign is Li Bei or Battalion Commander Wu.

The upper limit was so high it was like a god descending to the mortal world; the lower limit was so low that when the enemy scattered, they scattered right along with them.

Liu Chengzong understood now why Li Bei did not wait for the infantry to move together.

If he had coordinated with the infantry, this battle would likely have been unwinnable, and worse, the routing infantry might have crashed into his own formation.

"Two days, four hundred li. I saw his troops marching — they didn't have many horses. How could they move so fast?"

"You saw it?"

Yang Yanchang had no idea how Liu Chengzong had seen it, and only said: "How else could they move? They seized more and more horses along the way. But I heard that by the time they reached Bao'an County, all the horses under him were dead, and they chased them to Ningsai on foot.

I think, compared to General Li, how Lao Huihui managed to run four hundred li in two days is the stranger thing. And even so, he still didn't die — he escaped beyond the border wall."

Yang Yanchang had spotted a blind spot.

In truth, once a battle reached this stage, there was no longer any need to use weapons.

As long as the pursuers were still chasing, the ones in front had already suffered a psychological collapse. If they were truly caught, they would just stretch out their necks and take the blade.

"Now that you put it that way, yes! Li Bei's two hundred cavalry did indeed look like elite troops. Gritting their teeth and disregarding the consequences, covering two hundred li in a day wasn't impossible. But what was the deal with Lao Huihui's men?"

Liu Chengzong firmly committed this name to memory. He raised his thumb, pointing behind him, and said: "I've gathered quite a few routed soldiers from both sides here.

I heard Lao Huihui originally wanted to go to Fugu to link up with Wang Jiayin. I don't know how he ended up crossing Yan'an Prefecture and running all the way beyond the border wall.

Right, in the field reports, did you see anything about Guo Tianxing?"

Liu Chengzong didn't pay much mind to other people's affairs.

At most, he figured that those who could still stay by Old Huihui's side after this rout must be the finest of men — in stamina, in will, in loyalty.

But Zhang Tianlin was someone he knew, after all. If he died in this battle, it would sadden him.

"Guo Tianxing?"

Yang Yanchang frowned in thought, then shook his head. "I've seen the names of all the chieftains, great and small, who were killed. He shouldn't be among them."

Hearing this news put Liu Chengzong very much at ease.

After a brief silence, Yang Yanchang suddenly slapped his own head. "Ah, I got so caught up telling you about General Li that I forgot what I came here for.

Tiger General, you've seen how chaotic it is out there lately. This stronghold of yours isn't worth holding on to. I got my hands on a Liu Laoye Divine Arm Crossbow from the prefectural city — do you want it?"

The man's expression shifted far too quickly.

It made Liu Chengzong wonder whether the arms dealer before him and the Ming probationary centurion who, moments ago, had gazed with longing at the tale of Li Bei chasing rebel soldiers were even the same person.

"What is this Liu Laoye Divine Arm Crossbow?"

"Liu Laoye — Liu Tianhe, the Supreme Commander of Shaanxi in the Jiajing era. He found a Divine Arm Crossbow from an earlier dynasty in Xi'an Prefecture and modified it. The bow has a draw weight of one hundred fifty jin, fires a three-chi-five-cun four-edged great bolt, and can shoot three hundred paces."

Yang Yanchang finished, then leaned forward and raised two fingers. "It only costs two in grain..."

Before the words were fully out, several men outside pushed open the courtyard gate and strode in with long steps.

Liu Chengzong looked up. Leading them was Liu Chengzu, flanked by Cao Yao, Yang Dingrui, and others — every face stern and grave.

He had just stood up when Liu Chengzu stepped forward and said, "Lion, there's trouble. Our Da has been seized and taken to the county yamen."

"He selected two hundred elite cavalry, pursued them for two days and nights, covered four hundred li to reach Bao'an and Ningsai, and broke them in succession, taking over a thousand heads in total." — History of Ming, Biography 157