Chapter 757: Pursuers in the Dust

Zhao Jin stood there holding a long spear; he was the first man on the right end of the first row. The spot where he planted his spear upright was the starting point for the formation. The soldiers ran over with practiced ease. The cavalry of Zhao Character Camp had to undergo the same foot-combat training as the household troops of every regiment, so this was familiar to them. Still, those standing in the frontmost rows were the elite of the personal guard company's various platoons.

Before long, three hundred-man horizontal ranks had formed. Fifty men with decent archery skills spread out around the formation. Zhao Jin held a brass whistle in his mouth and fastened his face guard.

The whistle blew, and the three horizontal ranks began advancing. The armor on each man clanked and clattered as it struck together, the sound from several hundred men merging into a single din. At this moment, the battlefield was utterly silent. The earlier shouting, cursing, and provocations had all vanished. There was only the monotonous whistle, the unified tramp of footsteps, and the clashing of armor. The three orderly horizontal ranks of household troops pressed forward like three giants.

When the two sides had been locked in a standoff earlier, the government cavalry inside that crude encampment had still been able to hold on, even trying to counterattack from time to time. But as these three ranks strode forward in unison, pushing toward them, chaos instantly erupted inside the camp. After a brief silence, some men scrambled out of the camp, heedless of everything, and tried to flee. But roving cavalry had long been waiting outside—how could they possibly escape? Some squad leaders shouted orders, and a dozen or so archers from the camp came to the very front and loosed their bows. Yet the ranks were still out of range; the arrows could only be seen fluttering weakly to the ground, utterly harmless.

Zhao Jin controlled the rhythm of the whistle, raising his long spear from time to time to signal. When they were about sixty paces from the camp, they were just barely within range. The household troops in the front rows simply lowered their heads. Against armor like theirs, bows and arrows had no hope of penetrating. Following the motions of Zhao Jin's long spear, the archers of Zhao Character Camp used the formation as cover, bent forward, and ran up.

The whistle's rhythm slowed, their pace slowed, and the long spears were raised straight up. The entire force stood at attention. Forty paces from the camp now, they could hear the sparse clinking of arrowheads bouncing off armor. The government archers in the crude camp were drawing their bows feebly. Since they weren't doing any damage, they figured they might as well save their strength. Seeing the large formation halt, they couldn't help but be stunned, thinking: there's been no real harm done—could it be they've been stopped just like that? Even as they wondered, they heard someone shout a loud command. The first squad knelt in unison, revealing behind them more than fifty fully drawn longbows.

Everyone turned pale with shock, instinctively wanting to flee and take cover. But at a distance of only a few dozen paces, there was nowhere to run. The arrows shrieked through the air in a dense volley. Over fifty arrows arced down upon them. A chorus of screams rang out, and a swath of men collapsed at once. No one dared show their head again. The dozen or so archers inside the camp were also killed or badly wounded.

Another shout rang out. The kneeling rank stood, and the whistle sounded once more, but this time its rhythm seemed more urgent. The men inside the camp watched as the horizontal ranks began jogging forward, swiftly closing in. Meanwhile, the archers who had just been shooting from behind the formation now spread out to its flanks, stopping from time to time to loose arrows in high arcs into the camp.

Now that it had come to this, the men in the camp were no longer panicked. Better to fight it out with real blades and spears and get it over with than drag this out. Besides, their own numbers were no fewer than those few ranks. The other side just looked a bit more orderly—but could orderliness kill? Could it fill a belly?

"Brothers! Fight them to the death! Kill one, and it's a hundred taels! Kill that leader, and it's a full ten thousand taels! Today's the day we get rich!" As he bellowed, excited howls rose one after another.

The whistle suddenly turned high, sharp, and continuous. They could see the long spears and long blades of the front rank being leveled down, layer upon overlapping layer, as the men charged forward at a run, as if that low wall in front of them didn't even exist.

The government soldiers, ready to fight face-to-face to the death, suddenly realized they couldn't fight one-on-one. What they had to face was a row of dozens of long spears, and a step further forward, the long spears and long blades of the rear ranks. This was clearly a wall bristling with blades, pushing right at them. How could a man fight a wall? There was nothing to do but retreat. Those in front stepped back, then turned to run. Those behind couldn't react in time in the confusion, and within a few steps it became a crush. And then the pursuers were upon them.

Some were impaled by long spears, but the corpses did not slow the spears' momentum. The spears even skewered a second man. That low wall of chests, bundles, and horse tack was utterly flimsy; the household troops simply smashed through it with their bodies and waded over. The first rank didn't even pause, barreling straight through the camp from one end to the other. The two ranks behind did the same, wave after wave charging through and completely scattering any resistance in the camp.

After the three ranks had charged through, the several hundred men inside the camp were thoroughly routed. Staying in the camp meant death, so they might as well run and try their luck—maybe they could escape with their lives. But waiting for them on the perimeter were still several dozen riders. As the cavalry galloped in pursuit, these men finally broke. Some began kneeling on the ground and begging for mercy. The slaughter still did not stop. Only after sweeping back and forth twice did Zhao Character Camp stay their hand.

"Tell the rear unit to bring the horses and come up. We'll rest here briefly, then set out," Zhao Jin gave the order.

The supplies of this government troop were far better than those of the bandit and mounted-raider groups they had encountered earlier. There was some fodder and grain. For Zhao Character Camp, the priority for resupply was the warhorses; the men were not that hungry. In the middle of this small camp, they also found a dozen or so women. A few had already been abused beyond recognition. Zhao Character Camp did things without womanish sentimentality and directly gave these women a quick end. When this was being done, Zhao Jin had been worried that Mu Shulan might not be able to bear it, but to his surprise, she watched it all with complete composure.

"And they still call themselves government troops—the elite under the Yanzhou Mobile Corps Vice General! Plundering the countryside, acting just like the Tartars when they invade!" A quick interrogation of a few captives revealed their origins. Even though Zhao Character Camp had seen plenty of this scum, they couldn't help cursing bitterly.

Ziyang County, the seat of Yanzhou Prefecture, was a key prefectural stronghold. The Prince of Lu's estate was inside this very city, and only a few dozen li away was Qufu, home to the Kong family estate of the Duke for Perpetuating Sageliness, said to have a thousand-year lineage. Such an important place naturally required a large garrison, so a Mobile Corps Vice General was stationed here alone. One would think that, surrounded by such powerful figures and noble relatives, they would act with some restraint. Yet these men were utterly lawless. That Kong Tiger and his gang from Kong Family Village back in the day had come from this very background. One could say this bandit-like behavior was a tradition.

While at their garrison, they would often mask their faces and disguise themselves to rob traveling merchants and plunder commoners dozens or even a hundred li away. Well-informed locals all knew the truth. Otherwise, when the Smelling Incense Sect sent word this time, they wouldn't have delivered the message to this outfit. Once they left their garrison, their conduct became even more lawless. Though they were in a hurry to get here and block the southward path of Zhao Jin's unit, they had traveled so fast that they arrived a night earlier than Zhao Character Camp. Taking advantage of this, they looted three villages in Yutai County, seizing a large haul of valuables and quite a few women. They had figured it out clearly: even if they failed to intercept Zhao Jin, they wouldn't leave empty-handed.

"Keep fifty. Deal with the rest." After hearing all this, Zhao Jin gave a very simple order.

At first, some still shouted, "We are government soldiers! Are you going to kill officials and rebel?" But after heads began rolling and blood covered the ground, only weeping and begging for mercy remained. By the end of the killing, even the women they had abducted were terrified, each huddling into a ball, kowtowing and begging the various kings to spare their lives.

Zhao Character Camp paid no heed to the begging and weeping, but from top to bottom, a look of relief appeared on everyone's faces. Ever since they had turned and rushed south from Yuncheng County, their greatest worry had been pursuers on the road and blocking forces before they entered Xuzhou. They had galloped and fought furiously the whole way, defeating and sweeping aside one enemy after another. From here on, it should be a relaxed journey home. The taut bowstring had loosened; some were even yawning.

But some noticed more than just that. Ji Xiang made a point of going to look at the government troops' mounts. When he came back, he was frowning and shaking his head. "A lot of the horses' hooves are nearly worn through, and their teeth don't match their age. The government troops don't care for their warhorses at all. They have it much easier than we do."

"They're not their own horses, so of course they don't care. Didn't you hear what Bingfeng said? When someone in the camp gets a good horse, they go out and sell it for a price, then buy an old nag cheap. The silver from the difference goes right into their own pocket. I hear they skim off the fodder and grain too," Liu Yong added. Everyone shook their heads, finding it utterly outrageous.

"These four blocking forces were just the ones who arrived early. More will catch up from behind. We're heavily armored and have many horses, so we can run for a long time, but we can't run fast. If the enemy wants to pursue, they can still catch up. Every moment we're tangled up means more trouble. Don't relax. We'll talk after we pass Yutai County. Tell the brothers to hurry up—we move fast!" Zhao Jin judged coolly.

Once his order was given, no one dared slack off. Shouts and urging rose again. Every household trooper of Zhao Character Camp fought down their weariness and exhaustion to organize the horses. After such a frantic dash and successive battles, there were also a dozen or so wounded. Naturally, they all had to be brought along, tied directly onto the packhorses with ropes. The women were handled the same way. Those women abducted by the government troops thought they had only just escaped the wolf's den to fall into the tiger's maw, but they were already numb and resigned to their fate. These Xuzhou men in iron armor were simply too ferocious.

The main force mounted up. Although they aimed to travel light and fast, they still roughly sorted the government troops' horses and tack and brought them along on the journey. It just meant that some men who had been riding one horse while leading two now led three, all linked by ropes. Following along at a run wasn't that much trouble. The only problem was that the column stretched very long on the official road.

After striking four locations in succession, the sun had only just risen. The main force of Zhao Character Camp continued southward like this. After riding for roughly two double-hours, they had already stopped for one rest break. In the direction they had come from behind them, rolling dust clouds began to appear. The pursuers had arrived.

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