Chapter 857

But he headed west — he'd have to circle around to get back. If he ran into the mounted household troops returning, he'd still end up dead.

Once Qiao Shan had left, the decimation execution also came to an end. The men of the Second Regiment began signaling to the captives that they could leave. The captives, utterly terrified and dazed, all looked like they couldn't believe it, afraid this was just some new killing trick.

"In an hour and a half, we'll send cavalry to pursue and sweep the area. Anyone who hasn't run far enough by then will just have bad luck. If you don't leave now, you'll be in for it soon."

"Go back and tell your superiors — leave the corpses where they are. If you want to come back and collect them, come here."

With the household troops spelling it out this plainly, the captives had no choice but to believe it. Wailing and howling like ghosts, they fled madly in all directions, every man cursing his parents for not giving him two more legs, terrified he wasn't running fast enough.

Watching this chaotic, uproarious dispersal, the men of Zhao's Camp found it nothing but amusing, and quite a few laughed out loud.

"Big Brother, are we really sending the horse teams out to sweep later?" Shi Manqiang asked, puzzled. From what he remembered, his big brother didn't usually go in for so many flourishes.

Zhao Jin shook his head and said with a smile, "Sweep what? It's just to make this bunch run far away and save us the trouble!"

Shi Manqiang paused, scratched his head, and grinned. Zhao Jin clapped him on the shoulder and spoke again: "Rest a while, then go support the horse teams and escort the official army's supplies and the civilian laborers back!"

A resounding acknowledgment answered him, and they went off to prepare and get busy. The civilian laborers and conscripts, their faces pale, began cleaning up the beheading site — the bloodstains had to be covered with dirt, and the severed heads were sprinkled with quicklime and placed with the bodies. Zhao's Camp had no habit of parading heads around.

Although Zhao Jin hadn't fought in the melee himself, fatigue washed over him now. He casually found a spot to sit down, but his personal guards dared not rest and kept watch all around.

Chen Sheng led the First Regiment in guarding the perimeter, while Ji Xiang sidled over and asked with a grin, "Big Brother, do you think there'll be more fighting after this?"

Zhao Jin shook his head and said, looking ahead, "If there were more fighting to come, it wouldn't have been just the Baoding Regional Commander leading six thousand troops this time. And the Southern Metropolitan Region wouldn't have taken a beating before Baoding even arrived. The border armies from Shaanxi and Shanxi would have been mobilized, and Shandong and the Southern Metropolitan Region would have set a date to strike us together, a pincer from all sides. None of that happened, so there probably won't be more fighting."

Hearing that Zhao Jin didn't sound entirely certain, Ji Xiang boldly asked, "What if, after taking this loss, they realize we're a real problem and decide to go all out?"

Zhao Jin looked at Ji Xiang, shook his head with a smile, then pushed himself up from the ground. He pointed at the resting household troops and said, brimming with confidence, "Even if they go all out, we're not afraid."

For some reason, after this brief exchange, Ji Xiang grew cheerful. He nodded emphatically and said, "Big Brother, you rest first. I'll go meet up with Stone and the others."

Anyone could see Ji Xiang was in high spirits. He called over some men from the personal guard unit and went off eagerly. Zhao Jin paid him no mind and simply walked over to where Chen Sheng was. Chen Sheng sat on a large cart. Some of his First Regiment were resting, while others remained on alert — orderly and disciplined.

When it came to leading and drilling troops, Chen Sheng did it best. It wasn't that he had any novel ideas or special talent, but rather that if he thought a rule Zhao Jin laid down was wrong, he would argue and discuss it face-to-face. Once it was decided, however, Chen Sheng would carry it out meticulously, never cutting corners. In this, Shi Manqiang, Dong Bingfeng, and even Ji Xiang all fell short — they were either too rigid, slightly negligent, or even careless.

A long spear lay beside Chen Sheng, and judging by the bloodstains on the rag, he had just finished wiping it down. But at this moment, what Chen Sheng held in his hands was his long saber, drawn halfway out as he turned it over, examining it.

When Zhao Jin walked over, Chen Sheng raised the blade in greeting and said with a smile, "My grandfather once told me that sabers are useless on the battlefield. They're only good for jianghu feuds or catching thieves and bandits. I still remember a saying clearly — those skilled with the single saber all claim it can defeat the long spear, but when it comes to life-or-death combat, everyone takes a long spear into battle. No one brings a saber. Today's great battle made it perfectly clear: when you're packed face-to-face clashing with the enemy, how can you possibly use any saber techniques?"

Hearing this, Zhao Jin laughed along. But then Chen Sheng asked the same question as Ji Xiang: "Will there be more fighting after this?"

"By my estimate, there shouldn't be. It depends on whether they release Uncle Wang. If they do, we might have a few years of peace. If they don't, then we'll have to fight in earnest." Zhao Jin explained in detail.

Chen Sheng nodded, slid the saber back into its scabbard, and then asked, "Do you want to fight, or not?"

"I don't. The time isn't right yet for an all-out fight. It's not suitable. We need to wait a bit longer." Zhao Jin answered in a low voice.

Chen Sheng smiled and gestured toward the household troops nearby. Keeping his voice down, he said, "You may not want to fight, but they want it badly. Before, they were held back and didn't know their own strength. Now that they've seen blood, there's no keeping them caged."

Zhao Jin swept his gaze over them as well. On the surface, they looked no different from before the battle — perhaps even a bit more composed. Yet in a daze, Zhao Jin felt that in every household trooper's eyes, there were flames burning.

"Who says they can't be kept caged? There's too much for them to do. Once they reap the benefits and get worked half to death, they won't have so much restless energy." Zhao Jin said with a laugh.

Just then, a burst of cheers rose from the perimeter. Zhao Jin jumped onto the cart and looked into the distance from the higher vantage point. He saw the team escorting the captured official army supplies returning.

"Come on, let's go take a look together." Zhao Jin called out to Chen Sheng.

By the time they got there, Ji Xiang and Shi Manqiang also hurried over. Shi Manqiang was fine, but Ji Xiang wore a face full of disappointment. Seeing Zhao Jin, he said glumly, "This official army is just too poor. I thought there'd be something good in their camp, but there's hardly anything. Only about three to five days' worth of grain, some oxen and horses, some carts, and then the civilian laborers and gentry from Shandong who came to help the army. Big Brother, they say the imperial court is so rich — how come the official army has nothing at all?"

Zhao Jin replied with a smile, "Who told you the imperial court is rich?"

Ji Xiang was stunned by this counter-question, left with nothing to say. Thinking it over carefully, all he'd ever heard were rumors and gut feelings — things like the Son of Heaven possessing all within the four seas, or carrying water with golden shoulder poles.

"Skimmed at every level — it's impressive they could scrape together this much for him." Zhao Jin said with a laugh, walking toward the captured official army supplies. Behind him, he heard Ji Xiang mutter, "It's nothing compared to our Xuzhou."

The supplies in the official army camp were indeed extremely limited. There was only about three thousand taels in gold, silver, and copper coins. Judging by the quality, it was probably meant as a reward to be distributed after a great victory, or perhaps it was military pay. Skimming was one thing in peacetime, but on a campaign for a major battle, they couldn't afford to be sloppy about this.

The grain was all old stock. Though not spoiled, it would certainly taste terrible. Liu Yong opened a grain sack, looked inside, and explained with a laugh, "According to intelligence reports from Jining Prefecture, the local authorities didn't want to provide grain at first. It was only cobbled together by several grain merchants from the Prince of Lu's household. Seems even ill-gotten gains are hard to part with!"

The carts hauling the supplies were none too new. Asking around about the slightly better ones revealed they all belonged to local "gentry and commoners." The same went for the oxen and horses — many were old or sick, and the slightly better ones were also civilian property.

What puzzled the men of Zhao's Camp even more was how little weaponry was stockpiled. There were only about three thousand arrows and just a few dozen spare bows.

"Did the official army think we weren't worth a real fight? Or are they so poor they can't field much? Or is this just the standard for armies on the march everywhere? Or did we bring too much?" Even someone as taciturn as Chen Sheng fired off several questions in a row.

The weapons Zhao's Camp had brought along could re-equip nearly a third of their household troops, and back at their main camp, there were vast reserves — not to mention the Xu family was still ramping up production. The disparity in quantities was so enormous that Chen Sheng wondered if Zhao's Camp was an anomaly.

"It's probably that we brought too much." Zhao Jin replied, though his tone lacked full conviction. Zhao Jin had been constantly exchanging information with people from all walks of life, and had talked even more with officers and veterans who had served and led troops in the official army. He'd thought the official army was already in bad shape, but he'd never imagined it was this bad.

After saying this, Zhao Jin paused to think, then felt he shouldn't let his comrades grow too complacent. He added, "Baoding isn't a border army, after all. Supplies may never have been a priority for them."

Everyone nodded casually. The words didn't really convince anyone. They had expected substantial spoils, but the supplies in the official army camp were hardly worth a second glance. More than one person had this thought: this time, we lost out.

Their initial excitement turned to listlessness. After looking things over, Zhao Jin swept his gaze around and spotted the team of civilian laborers not far away.

Whether official troops or "gentry and civilian conscripts," no one had imagined the official army could lose, much less lose so quickly. They'd collapsed before they could even prepare. Baoding Regional Commander Lu Qin at least knew his priorities — his life mattered, wealth was secondary — and he'd paid no attention at all to what was in the camp.

As a result, by the time the people in the camp saw the routed soldiers, the horse teams of Zhao's Camp had already arrived. They could only obediently surrender. At first, the horse teams couldn't quite manage everything, but just as the soldiers, laborers, and local gentry and commoners in the camp recovered from their shock and started thinking about fleeing, the men of the Second Regiment arrived. After that, no one dared entertain any other ideas.

In truth, the camp was simply too close to the battlefield, and the official army had been routed too quickly and too thoroughly. There had been no time at all to make a timely judgment or response.

Zhao Jin swept his gaze over them a few times, then couldn't help but laugh. As he laughed, he said, "Did you notice? Just now, the official army captives were all trembling in front of us, not daring to lift their heads. But these Shandong commoners over here keep glancing at us, even sizing us up for a good look. Are there really commoners this bold under heaven?"

Everyone paused, then their expressions turned serious. Zhao Jin and Liu Yong exchanged a look. Seeing Zhao Jin nod, Liu Yong immediately turned his head and called out.

Before long, the man who, like the Prince of Lu's household centenarian Qiao Shan, had a black hood covering his head, was brought forward by several men from the Internal Guard unit.

Thank you to Qidian book friend "Wind's Dragon King" for the tip. Brothers from Chuangshi and Qidian, can you cast your February monthly tickets for Old Bai, for Great Ming Wufu?