Chapter 316: No Need to Fear Them at All
Starting Chapter 312 of "The Great Ming in the Box": The militia replied in unison: âAt your command!âCheng Xu, upon hearing it wasnât a life-or-death... See what happens next!
The militia replied in unison: âAt your command!âCheng Xu, upon hearing it wasnât a life-or-death order, breathed a sigh of relief: Whew! Great! That meant I could retreat if in danger; I didnât have to fight Wang Zuogua to the death, huh? The safety was much improved thenâŚ
Grandmother instantly became ten years younger, turning into a ten-year-old little girl (loli). She wasnât playing with ribbons anymore; instead, she landed on the ground, giggling and running wildly all around, even darting to the field edge to catch loaches.
The young Grandmother looked so adorable!
âAlright, letâs march forth,â Gao Yiye said loudly. âThe Deityâs decree is finished; what I say next is from myself: May you win a swift victory.â
Cheng Xu was rushing with pride: âMove out!â
The thousand militia began to set off. First, they arrived at the railway station and boarded the train to Bai Family Fortress. Then, from Bai Family Fortress, they entered Huanglong Mountain.
Once they entered the mountains, it wasnât a matter of coming back in just a few days.
The mountains were high, the forests dense, and the valleys crisscrossed. It was hard even to find Wang Zuogua there; subduing him was even tougher, and no one knew when they might return.
Xing Honglang stood on a remote hillside, watching the large army enter the mountains. At the head of the Grenade Troops stood that big iron-can man, precisely Gao Chuwu. She silently watched Gao Chuwuâs figure grow farther away.
Suddenly, a strong female voice rang out beside her: âBoss Xing, if youâre so worried, join them too. Mountain forest fights are your specialty, after all.â
Xing Honglang turned and saw Zao Ying. She quickly hid her little-girl expression and snorted: âWhat am I worried about? Nothing to worry about! Iâm not concerned about anyone.â
Zao Ying laughed: âGao Chuwu, that foolish guy, is really dumb. If heâs not looked after, Iâd worry he might run off randomly.â
Xing Honglangâs expression turned briefly flustered, but she forced control again: âHeâs not Ground Rabbit. Although heâs dumb, he obeys orders well; he wonât wander off.â
Zao Ying chuckled loudly: âYouâre anxious, youâre anxious! Just go along with them.â
Xing Honglang shook her head: âI canât go. For bandit suppression, having one more person doesnât help much; losing me doesnât matter much. Iâve more important tasks. Some county-town women produced a batch of embroidery. I need to transport it to Xiâan and sell it to wealthy nobles. The Deity said this was a crucial major event, tied to womenâs production liberation or something⌠I donât quite get itâŚâ
Zao Ying: âNo matter how big a deal it is, it canât be as big as your own man, right?â
Xing Honglang rolled her eyes: âThat fellow isnât my man! Not!â
Zao Ying laughed heartily: âFun! Teasing Boss Xing is such fun.â
Xing Honglang, unable to bear the bullying, quickly shifted topics: âArenât leading the cavalry camp? How do you have time to chat awkwardly with me here? Arenât you joining this battle?â
âOf course not!â Zao Ying chuckled. âIâm cavalry; fighting in mountains isnât my strong suit. Forget thatâletâs talk about Gao Chuwu.â
Xing Honglang was overwhelmed and bolted.
Zao Ying chased after her: âBoss Xing, donât run! Did Gao Chuwu make you any promise before marching out? Like heâd return after battle to marry you?â
Xing Honglang flushed crimson, frantic: âNo, never! How could he ever make such a promise? People die from that! Donât follow meâI refuse to talk to you.â
Zao Ying: âOh, chat with me pleaseâŚâ
Xing Honglang: âNo chatting, no chatting! Iâm a true forest hero; I never chatter about romance.â
Zao Ying: âIâm a forest hero too, specializing in romance chatter.â
The two women looked like she-apes but spoke softly. One fled, one chased, and soon they dashed far off.
Huanglong Mountain, northeastern ridge.
In a hidden valley hid a bandit army totaling 12,000 troops.
Wang Zuogua of Yichuanâs force.
Though the total number was 12,000, over 6,000 were actually elderly, weak, sick, or disabled. Just over 5,000 were real fighters.
Those 6,000-plus elderly and infirm spent their days digging grass roots, stripping tree bark, picking wild fruits, catching rabbits, pangolins, miceâŚ
But the 5,000-plus fighters often went north of Huanglong Mountain to Yichuan County to burn, kill, and loot. Like in Water Margin where Liangshan sometimes hit Zhu Family, sometimes Hu Family, sometimes Li Family, they attacked village after village, seizing grain.
Yichuan County found this excruciating and launched several suppression campaigns. Wang Zuogua fought the officials in battles at Yaozhou City, Yizhou, Sanshui, Hancheng, and elsewhere. Each time, they ran into Hong Chengchou, and each time Hong crushed them brutally. But each time, he escaped just before collapse. He kept losing but never died.
Hong Chengchou also found him a big headache.
At that moment, Wang Zuogua sat in his tent. His left arm hugged a young woman snatched from a country gentlemanâs family, while his right hand gestured grandly. He chatted with Miao Mei, Feishan Hu, Big Honglang, and others about where to raid next.
Suddenly, a bandit troop dashed in: âBoss, Bai Family Fortress in Chengcheng County suddenly sent a thousand-man army into Huanglong Mountain. Looks likely aimed at us.â
Actually, since Wang Zuoguaâs failed assassination attempt on Bai Yuan, heâd watched Bai Family Fortress, seeking another shot at Bai Yuan.
So when the militia entered from Bai Family Fortress, he got word instantly.
Wang Zuogua scoffed coldly: âSeems Bai Family Fortress wants revenge for the fort-master assassination attempt? Ha! They stole our military horses; me sending killers back was fair. Whatâs to complain about?â
The Second Leader Miao Mei beside him sneered coldly: âThat Baiâs too arrogant, right? Huanglong Mountain is our turf; officials hesitate to enter. Some militia dares bother us? Only a thousand menâwe shouldnât fear!â
Feishan Hu frowned slightly with worry: âTheir firearms look powerful. Last fight for the military horses, when those strange bombs blew up, our troops fell in waves.â
Big Honglang said: âPowerful firearms like that use a lot of gunpowder. Even the imperial officials canât mass-equip them. How could one Bai Family Fortress have many? Last time we were just startledâthis time, why fear?â
Wang Zuogua nodded: âRight! Such deadly weapons canât be plentiful. They probably have just a dozen firearms, a few odd bombs. Here on our land, we neednât fear them. Pick a good spot, set up an ambush, wipe out Bai Family Fortressâs forces, then hit back and plunder everything.â
The crowd: âGood!â
Just then, a strangerâs voice sounded nearby: âEveryone⌠I have a word to say.â
They turned to see a newcomer from Mizhi County, nicknamed âChuang Jiang.â