Chapter 250: Return Our Hard-earned Military Pay!
Explore the latest events in "The Great Ming in the Box" Chapter 246: Li Ying jumped in fright, kicking a fallen chicken leg into the air. âWhy? How...
Li Ying jumped in fright, kicking a fallen chicken leg into the air. âWhy? How could the rebel band in Guyuan appear directly in Chengcheng County? Damn it! By any reckoning, they shouldnât have come straight hereâthey should have gone to Jingyang or Fuping first!âThe scout whispered, âIt seems they emerged from Huanglong Mountain.â
Li Yingâs face darkened. âHuanglong Mountain? That blasted hellhole.â
Huanglong Mountain sat where three counties converged. With its steep peaks and dense forests, it had long been a den for rogues and rebels. If the Guyuan rebels entered from Yanâan Prefecture and surfaced near Fengyuan Town in Chengcheng Countyâyes, that was possible.
âAre you certain theyâre the real Guyuan rebels? Could they just be bandits disguised as rebels, putting on a show?â
The scout murmured, âI saw clearly. About five hundred rebels, all armored like us. Their leader wears Mountain-patterned Armor⌠All carry crossbows, waist knives, and spears. Top-notch equipment.â
Li Ying spat, âStone and mudâfive hundred border army soldiers?â
He turned and saw fear etched on the faces of his deputy and captains behind him.
A nearby local gentryâwhoâd provided lavish hospitalityâspoke up: âFengyuan Town has walls for defense! We can alert the County Lord and Patrol Officer Fang for reinforcements.â
Li Ying snorted silently. Fengyuanâs puny town walls? Useless! The border army wouldnât even need siege weaponsâwith a single human ladder, theyâd scale it instantly.
This is the border army weâre talking about!
Even two hundred could rout our thousand garrison troops. And what good are those two mad dogs from Donglin? The Donglin Party canât fight worth a damn.
Shoving the gentry hard enough to make him stumble, Li Ying barked for all to hear: âWe march out! Meet the Guyuan rebels head-on!â
But once beyond the townâs sight, he whispered to his deputy: âThe moment Fengyuan vanishes behind usârun.â
Cheng Xu advanced his troops toward Fengyuan Town.
Mid-march, a scout from the Sharp Knife Troop reported, âInstrucââ
âDonât you dare!â Cheng Xu cut in sharply. âCall me Captain Ghost or Old Ghost from Guyuan.â
Flustered, the scout stammered, âC-Captain Ghost⌠Guerrilla General Li Ying has left Fengyuan Town⌠Heâs marching toward us.â
âOh?â A flicker of panic stirred in Cheng Xuâs chest.
The Sharp Knife Troop drilled relentlesslyâwell-fed, well-armed, bursting with vigor. But they remained militia, untested against true warriors.
Bandits? No problem. But five hundred against Li Yingâs thousand officials? Cheng Xu tallied the odds: Less than 30% chance of victory. 70% chance Iâll meet my grandmother today.
He needed a morale boostâfast.
Glancing skyward, he spotted it: a low cloud hanging two hundred meters up. Perfect. The Deity watches. His confidence surged instantly. Victory? Guaranteed.
âFear nothing!â Cheng Xu laughed loudly. âLi Yingâs nothing! We crush him!â
They marched onward until Li Yingâs force appeared in the distance. Still over 500 meters apart, neither side could engage yet.
Cheng Xu opened his mouth to rally his menâthen froze.
Ahead, Li Yingâs troops suddenly milled about. Finding their eastward path blocked by a valley, they pivoted sharplyâand sprinted west.
Cheng Xu: â???â
The Sharp Knife Troop behind him: â???â
Gao Chuwu: âWow, they havenât even started fighting. How did they escape?â
Ground Rabbit: âHaha, they were scared off by my imposing presence.â
Cheng Xu froze for a brief moment, then suddenly realized: âDamn it, I was still afraid of them, yet theyâre afraid of us too. Weâre now the border army. Hahaha, chase, chase, chase! Chase them and fight.â
The militia yelled and charged after Li Yingâs troops.
Li Ying was cursing furiously at that moment. After leaving Fengyuan Town, he had planned to flee instantly once out of sight, since he couldnât run away openly before the whole town. If the gentry reported him to the magistrate, and the magistrate impeached him, that would be unbearable. So, fleeing had to happen in a deserted spot.
Unexpectedly, the militia instructor of Fengyuan Town didnât get the hint and insisted on bringing the militia to âlend support,â trailing him like a shadow.
This made him uneasy!
Wanting to flee but unable to do so easily, he forged ahead north for a stretch and then clashed directly with the border army in Guyuan.
Li Ying just glanced and confirmed ahead was proper Ming army. Their orderly gear proved they werenât bandits, and they raised two banners: one had the character âGhost,â a nickname used to spare relatives blame. The other read âReturn our Hard-earned Military Pay.â Wasnât this exactly a rebel force demanding pay?
Couldnât win!
Garrison troops absolutely couldnât defeat border soldiers!
Li Ying decided instantly: âRun!â
He wasnât concerned at that moment about whether the militia followed behind. If seen escaping, so be it; if impeached by officials, so be it. Escape first now, at least to live longer.
Looking east, a valley blocked flight, so he ran west.
The Ming army of a thousand men sprinted off.
This running left the militia behind bewildered: âThey had a thousand against five hundred of us, with our militia backing them up; why did the officials run?â
The militia instructor gasped and retreated urgently backward.
Then, they saw the rebel band in Guyuan chasing fiercely. The leading general, clad in Mountain-patterned Armor, shouted at the commander ahead: âGuerilla Li Ying, where are you fleeing? Pay back the military wages you owe us.â
Li Ying, scared senseless, fled while yelling: âIf you want pay, go to Xiâan. Why pursue me?â
Cheng Xu hollered: âIâll demand it from whoever I encounter.â
Li Ying: âDonât come any closer.â
Cheng Xu: âLeave everything valuable you have behind.â
Li Ying actually complied, tossing his heavy helmet to the ground and ditching the silver he had coerced from the gentry in Fengyuan Town, fleeing wildly.
Cheng Xu chased earnestly anyway, since the Deity was still overhead. Cheng Xu fought bravely as a tiger in victorious battles, disregarding dangers like chasing a fleeing foe. Could the Deity above cause him to be ambushed? Chase on!
As they pursued, he found Li Yingâs helmet on the ground. It seemed fine, so he picked it up, hung it at his waist, and continued chasing.
The officials fled ahead, with the rebel band in Guyuan behind. In an instant, everyone raced westward.
Only the militia instructor of Fengyuan Town remained, stiffly standing with several hundred militiamen: âWhat were we even here for?â