Chapter 471: I Am Government Troops!

It was completely over. Li Dajin's face twisted in spasms. Gritting his teeth, he wheeled his horse around. Li He was cursing furiously too. Both men whipped their mounts and fled south, with the gaggle behind them scrambling to follow in panic.

Zhao Jin looked back and saw Dong Bingfeng on horseback signaling to him — the gesture meant the scene was fully under control.

"Wave the banner. Give the order!" Zhao Jin said in a muffled voice from his command position on the right flank of the square formation.

That great banner, black background with red characters, jerked violently. The suona horns blared in response. The three-hundred-plus cavalry who had been hanging back without moving now surged into action.

Right now, the Zhao Battalion mounted troop faced no formation worth charging, no enemy worth clashing with head-on. All they had to do was pursue — chase down these routed soldiers fleeing in every direction. It was even simpler than a hunt.

The Zhao Battalion mounted troop and the cavalry who had followed along abandoned all formation and order. They simply spread out and gave chase in all directions.

The refugees and guards who had come out of the stockade did the same — in groups of three or five, they chased the enemy with bamboo spears.

"I'm government troops!"

"I'm Battalion Commander Li, under the Wolf Mountain Vice General!"

In this situation, escape was impossible. Hearing screams ring out everywhere, the quicker-witted ones were already dropping to their knees and begging for mercy, blurting out their own names and ranks.

The pursuing cavalry and refugees, hearing the words "government troops," all froze. Killing officials was still something they dared not do. Only a handful of reckless brutes struck regardless of the consequences.

Seeing that it worked, those government soldiers simply stopped running. They knelt and declared their origins and backgrounds — the more detailed, the better. There were even men of ranks like Squad Leader, Flag Officer, and Banner Chief among them. Those who declared their background could often keep their lives.

When the government troops did this, the Feng family's private soldiers did the same. But when they claimed to be Feng family men, the mounted troop riders and the refugees, now red-eyed with fury, paid no heed — blades and spears came down together. After that, they all learned their lesson and every one of them claimed to be government troops.

Those without horses could not escape. The overwhelming majority knelt, begged for mercy, and surrendered.

"Kill those still holding weapons! Kill those who refuse orders! The rest, make them drop everything and go kneel in the open ground over there!" Zhao Jin bellowed.

The soldiers echoed him with loud shouts. The scene, which had been teetering on the edge of farce and chaos, finally steadied. Call it farcical and chaotic if you will, but the thick stench of blood saturating the battlefield told of the brutality of the slaughter just moments before.

Zhao Jin flipped open his helmet's face guard and, surrounded by his household guards, walked to the open ground in front of the stockade.

Zhang Hubin truly handled matters with far more steadiness than most. He had led the stockade refugees out in a charge, but he did not join the wild hacking and slashing. Instead, he led the mixed militia, the jianghu men, and the backbone of the stockade refugees to stand guard near the stockade, preventing anyone from exploiting the opening.

The moment he saw Zhao Jin walking over, the taut string inside Zhang Hubin instantly loosened. He dropped straight to his knees. Before he could kowtow and speak, Zhao Jin pulled him up with one arm.

"You're a hero. What are you kneeling for!" Zhao Jin scolded him with a grin.

Zhang Hubin, pulled to his feet, was in tears. Several times he opened his mouth but could not get a word out. Zhao Jin clapped him hard on the shoulder, then went one by one to console the surviving squad leaders. Every one of these men was overcome with emotion — having just escaped death by a hair, such feelings were unavoidable.

Seeing these survivors, Zhao Jin's expression grew solemn. He recognized every man the Zhao Battalion had sent here. Compared to when they had set out, five were now missing. The mixed militia had just over sixty men left — the ferocity of the fighting and the heavy casualties were plain to see. The jianghu men, on the other hand, had been kept in hiding the whole time and held in reserve as fresh troops, so they had not suffered many losses.

"You are all heroes of the Zhao Battalion. I will not treat you poorly!" Zhao Jin declared loudly.

At these words, someone below burst into sobs. The mixed militia had dealt with the Zhao Battalion often and knew full well the weight of Zhao Jin's promise. Hearing this, they instantly felt that all their hardship, all the risks of death and injury they had faced — it had all been worth it.

Zhao Jin walked up the corpse-strewn slope and looked inside the stockade, which was a wreck of carnage and casualties. From within, the sound of women wailing in grief already rose. Many of the refugees had paired off temporarily, but no one had been unwilling. They had thought they could live peaceful lives. They never imagined more slaughter like this. Many had been together only a few days, and now life and death had torn them apart.

The stockade wall, like an earthen dike. The trench not yet fully filled in. The earthen platforms inside for footholds. The shacks, the storehouse, the latrine, the livestock pen. Zhao Jin nodded as he looked. Everything had been built according to the rules laid down beforehand. Without these, even if he had rushed over as fast as he could, all he would have seen were ruins.

"It's not time to cry yet. Clear all the corpses out of the stockade. Send men to cut grass. When cutting grass, go in large squads — don't let any bandits hiding in the grass catch you off guard!" Zhao Jin said in a low voice.

Though the weather was still very cold, the thaw had already begun. The moisture in this wild grass flat was heavy. With so many corpses, if they were not dealt with promptly, disease could easily break out. Contaminating the water source would also be a huge problem — they would have to find a new place to build the stockade. And the corpses that needed handling were not just the ones inside the stockade.

Zhang Hubin wiped away tears and acknowledged the order. Over on the other side, Ji Xiang had already led the other two companies into the open ground beside the stockade. Zhao Jin pointed and shouted, "Put your helmet on!"

Ji Xiang gave an awkward laugh and hurriedly put on the helmet in his hand. The archers each took their positions, staying on alert at all times. There were, however, over seventy short, stocky, dark-skinned men in a group of their own, not mixing with the main force, busily making their own preparations.

As Zhao Jin shouted orders, the jianghu men who had been waiting on the sidelines saw the mood lighten a little and hurried forward to speak. Although they had not deserted, neither had they charged to the forefront of the fight. Just moments ago, they had been ready to flee in the chaos. When they saw the Zhao Battalion swiftly crush the Feng family mounted troop and carry out a wholesale slaughter outside, they felt an inexplicable terror grip their hearts.

After all, they bore some responsibility for the stockade falling into such dire straits. If the Zhao Battalion decided to hold them accountable, they truly dared not imagine the consequences.

They had heard of the Zhao Battalion's ferocity before and had even witnessed it with their own eyes. But this time, watching them, they gained a whole new understanding. Before, they had thought the men besieging the stockade were already very strong — their formation movements were quite methodical, they had archers, they had a mounted troop, and when they assaulted the stockade, they advanced layer by layer, making them impossible to defend against.

Yet when the Zhao Battalion arrived, that force, which had seemed so strong and held the advantage in numbers, collapsed so swiftly and utterly. The Zhao Battalion was actually this powerful. Only by comparison could the impression be driven so much deeper.

The more they realized the Zhao Battalion's strength, the more terrified they became. This coming forward to flatter and exchange pleasantries was also a probe. If Zhao Jin did not respond or could not be bothered with them, then they would each have to fend for themselves — or simply find their own way to end it.

"Master Jin, we humble men thank Master Jin for the great mercy of saving our lives. We kowtow to you here!" With the vast gulf in status and position between them, kneeling and kowtowing upon meeting was only proper.

Seeing Zhao Jin smile and move to help them up, every jianghu man watching this side let out a breath of relief. Master Jin's attitude put them all at ease.