Chapter 711: They

Truth be told, compared to other regions already overrun with bandits, Xuzhou was still relatively peaceful — no one had heard of any major outlaw gangs or mounted brigand chiefs. There had been the odd petty thief who thought the authorities were too busy to bother with him and tried to pick a travelling merchant's bundle on the road, only to be caught that very night, his hands and feet broken, and then dumped by the official highway as a warning. There was also a band of robbers who had been blocking roads and raiding travellers along the Henan – Northern Zhili border; they drifted over here, figuring that as outsiders they could strike fast and then flee before their crime was discovered. They never imagined that less than three double-hours after committing their crime, a cavalry troop would catch up and slaughter them to the last man.

Precisely because of this, under the intimidating might of the Zhao Battalion, the unrest that had been stirring a while ago had once again quieted down. But now you could hardly see anyone on the roads. Who didn't know that Xuzhou was about to erupt in a major fight, a place about to suffer the calamity of war? Who would be so blind as to come here and throw their life away? Compared to normal times, the roads were already much quieter.

Perhaps because the summer heat was unbearable, a man fanned himself vigorously a few times with his straw hat, then impatiently tossed it aside and grumbled curses: "This damned weather, it's really going to roast a man alive! The more you fan, the hotter it gets! When is the Old Man in Heaven going to send us some rain!"

"Who can say what the Old Man in Heaven will do? These past years it's as if he's deliberately gone against everyone — when have we ever had a year of good weather and good harvests?" A man squatting nearby said, "We're lucky that Master Jin has led people these past few years digging ditches and channels, diverting water to irrigate the fields, otherwise the crops would all have withered in the drought."

"Hey, does Master Jin's business even need you to say it? It's just that we still don't know if… Ai! This world…" The man who had thrown his straw hat started to say something, but stopped halfway through, wiped his sweat with extreme irritation, then flung his hand down hard. "This thieving heaven! It's really hot!"

After this outburst, the man stood up from the rock and continued cursing: "That damned Ma whatever — what's he playing at? If he's coming, then come and get it over with! Making us wait here for no reason for nearly half a month without even seeing a shadow of a man — is he just toying with us?!"

"Didn't they say before that they'd already reached Pizhou? That's less than a day's journey from here!" Another person beside him also complained, "How has it dragged on so long without them arriving?"

"Last time they said they'd reached Qingjiangpu, but how many days did they waste there?" The man who had started it all was utterly exasperated. After saying this, he bent down to reach for his gourd, which was leaning against the side of the rock.

He bent over and lowered his head, only to see that the gourd had already tipped over onto the ground. He had forgotten to put the stopper in earlier, and the water had all drained out. When a man is irritable, everything he sees annoys him, and he immediately roared: "Which blind bastard kicked this over? Looking for a beating?!"

As he bellowed and started to straighten up, he suddenly saw the gourd on the ground jump.

Could his eyes be playing tricks on him? The man rubbed his eyes, only to find that the gourd on the ground was still trembling violently, at times even bouncing slightly off the ground. The strap on the gourd kept swaying and slapping against it, producing a muffled thud-thud-thud.

Was he seeing ghosts?

The next moment, the man realised — no, the ground was shaking!

"What's going on…" The man stood up and looked up to ask, but his companions did not answer. They were only staring blankly towards the east. He hurriedly followed their gaze and looked over as well, and then he too could not help but stand there frozen.

At some point, on the eastern horizon, a cloud of dust had already risen, and it was growing larger and larger, rolling this way. The trembling of the ground grew more and more violent; not only was the gourd shaking uncontrollably, but these men's hearts were also pounding hard. They felt as if they could hardly stand steady, and the few people who had been on the road also fled in panic.

Although the dust covered everything, they could now see clearly: it was a large contingent of cavalry charging straight towards them. Right before their eyes, hoofbeats were like thunder, the dust like a cloud. And these cavalrymen were extremely disciplined even on the march — five riders ran at the head, with the main body following behind.

The hundred or so riders at the front were all dressed in red flying-fish uniforms, draped in scarlet capes, carrying bows on their backs and sabres at their waists. To guard against the dust, their mouths and noses were bound with red scarves. The horses beneath them were also robust and powerful, and the iron fittings and bronze ornaments on the horse tack had all been polished to a shine. This contingent of cavalry swept past like a red flame burning across the wilderness — awe-inspiring and majestic, too dazzling to look at directly.

Not only were the cavalrymen in the front ranks majestic and imposing, but the men following behind were also like dragons among men and horses, exceptionally elite. Clad in armour and bearing sharp weapons, gleaming iron could be seen on both men and horses. Every rider displayed a face brimming with vigour, every piece of their equipment was polished to a brilliant sheen, reflecting a dazzling light. Every warhorse had been meticulously cared for, its coat gleaming with the lustre of silk, its glossy mane combed perfectly into place.

To these few onlookers, the soldiers mounted on horseback all seemed to look exactly alike; even the way they reined in their horses as they galloped was nearly identical. They looked like a vast, uniformly murderous host, bearing down on them with the force of toppling mountains and overturning seas.

With continuous shouts and cries, over a thousand elite armoured cavalrymen swaggered straight into Xuzhou just like that. As they passed, the lead rider merely cast a cold glance at the roadside. Just that one glance was enough to make two of the men standing dumbstruck by the road collapse to the ground, yet no one laughed at them.

In this scene before them, their ears were filled entirely with the thunderous roar of hoofbeats, and before their eyes was a blinding, sky-filling cloud of dust. They could not hear, could not see clearly; all they saw were mighty cavalrymen passing by one after another in a blur, as if endless. First their bodies trembled, then their hearts quailed — how could they pay attention to anything else?

These few men had all seen something of the world, but in all their years of travelling far and wide, when had they ever witnessed such a formation? How many of the government troops nowadays even had armour? Yet how many here did!

No one knew how long it had been before this seemingly endless column of cavalry finally finished passing by them. Yet the dust they had kicked up had not settled. The people by the roadside, whether standing or sitting, all wore expressions of utter stupefaction.

"Wearing so much — aren't they hot?" Someone murmured a remark, which then immediately turned into a heart-rending yell: "Quickly, report to Master Jin! Report at once! The foreign riders have come! The foreign riders have come!"

"…Ma Chonghao has led his forces out of Pizhou, carrying two days' dry rations, and has entered Xuzhou…"

On the twentieth day of the seventh month, a fast horse delivered the latest urgent report into Zhao Jin's hands. As expected, Heaven does not grant men's wishes — it seemed Xu Zhenzhen and the children would not need to leave after all.

Although many people had previously declared their loyalty and resolve, after Ma Chonghao's nearly two thousand elite cavalry appeared, before the terrifying, oppressive might of this force, no one dared to make any reckless moves any longer. Against cavalry like this, a small band of men was utterly insignificant; the family assets that the local strongmen and gang leaders had accumulated over time truly counted for nothing.

"The water bowl on the table was shaken right off — we thought it was an earthquake…"

"Just watching from afar made my whole body tremble. The dust flew up, boundless and endless — no idea how many men passed. The dogs in our village started barking like mad, and later they didn't dare make a sound."

"Mother! As I watched, my whole body went cold. I wondered how I could feel cold in such stifling weather — only afterwards did I realise I was drenched in cold sweat!"

"I've seen those hundred-thousand-strong roving bandits from the city wall — they can't compare to this government cavalry troop. It was truly like heaven falling and earth splitting."

At the tea stalls along the road, people everywhere were talking about this cavalry unit, which seemed like soldiers of heaven. Everyone who had seen the cavalry troop led by Ma Chonghao felt utterly shaken. Those living in Xuzhou had not never seen elite government troops before, but no one had ever seen so many at once.

Even those who had confidence in the Zhao Battalion now began to waver. According to the pledges of loyalty made beforehand, once this group of government men arrived in Xuzhou, all the various parties who had said they would hold their ground were supposed to send word over. But after Ma Chonghao truly entered Xuzhou, only the Cheng and Jiang families sent people to do as promised — they even each dispatched over twenty of their younger members, saying that if Master Jin really intended to fight, their entire families would come to aid him. The other families, however, fell silent.

Indeed, among the local strongmen of Xuzhou and its surrounding areas, only these two families came. All the others kept their silence, clearly wanting to observe who would win and who would lose before placing their bets. However, after the Zhao Battalion's repeated purges, there were not many powerful and influential clans left in Xuzhou that could offer help and support. As for the wealthy households in the Xuzhou Guard territory, they made no move whatsoever. They accepted without exception anyone who fled to them seeking temporary refuge, and treated them with great courtesy; yet they also sent no one to Zhao Jin's side to declare their stance — it was as if nothing had happened at all.

Sun Jia, the major shareholder of the Sun Family Trading Company, had brought his wife and children and moved his entire family to He Family Village at the beginning of the seventh month. They had also brought with them all the gold and silver they could mobilise — a colossal sum. Had the Zhao Battalion not already dispatched men to escort them along the way, carrying such wealth on the road would truly have been risky.

"Living here puts my mind at ease. We have to be together no matter what — a few days sooner or later makes no difference," Sun Jia said. When he put it that way, there was nothing left to persuade him against.

Just as Ma Chonghao had previously judged, the territory of Xuzhou was enemy country — Zhao Jin's eyes and ears were everywhere. Their large force had barely advanced ten li into Xuzhou when scattered riders appeared in the distance all around them, shadowing them. They never drew close, simply following behind the cavalry column at an unhurried pace, observing these troops.

"This is damn well like going out beyond the border wall — is this still the realm of the Great Ming?!" Someone could not help but curse.

"That bastard Zhao Jin has clearly long since run this place like an iron barrel — everyone from top to bottom is already his man. If the court doesn't wipe out this scoundrel while there's still time, what will happen if he's allowed to grow into his full power?" Another man nearby loudly echoed, "We, your lords, must take down the Zhao family this time — I want to see just how much wealth and goods this bastard has hoarded at home!"

"That's right — we must trample the Zhao family flat and eliminate a grave threat to the court! Achieve great merit! Strike it rich!" Hearing his subordinates' words, Ma Chonghao nodded to himself, deeply sensing that their morale was ready to be harnessed, and shouted out loudly.

Thank you, everyone.