Chapter 465: The Humble General Wang Xiaohua
Chapter 460 of "The Great Ming in the Box" opens with suspenseful action: The battle of Hequ County had begun.As the cannons roared, the cost of war became... Keep going!
The battle of Hequ County had begun.As the cannons roared, the cost of war became immense.
The officials had mobilized multiple cannons from throughout Shanxi and began bombarding Hequ County indiscriminately.
Inside Hequ County, Wang Jiayinâs forces possessed only two Western cannons, with cannonballs and gunpowder plundered from General Wang Guoliang of Shanxi, and the quantities were not plentiful.
The outcome of the cannon exchange was self-evident!
Wang Jiayin was nearly incapacitated.
The bandit armyâs morale was severely shaken.
The entire Hequ County was steeped in an atmosphere of âOh, weâre doomed.â
With this atmosphere in place, the officials found it easy to divide the bandit chiefs.
That very night, the officials dispatched agents to sneak into the city and contact the bandit chiefs. Before long, they connected with Wang Guozhong, a relative of Wang Jiayin, and promised him high positions and rich rewards.
As anticipated, Wang Guozhong lived up to the officialsâ expectations. During the battle the next day, he secretly opened the east gateâŚ
The courtâs fierce general Cao Wenzhao immediately marshaled his troops for a fierce assault, charging into the city through the east gate.
Complete chaos ensued among the bandits in the city!
Zijin Liang (Wang Ziyong), Bai Yuzhu, Chuang Jiang (Gao Yingxiang), Xi Ying Eighth Great King (Zhang Xianzhong), Bu Zhan Ni, and others each led their own forces to break out in all directions.
With this breakout, the officials also became disorganized.
After all, with twenty thousand surrounding one hundred thousand, how could they possibly prevent the breakout?
The weak encirclement was riddled with gaps.
As the fierce bandits charged in, the officials descended into complete chaos.
Seizing the disorder, Wang Jiayin broke through to the south under the protection of his trusted subordinate Black Shashen, escaping the encirclementâŚ
White Cat had waited quietly in the forest for an entire day, nibbling dry rations when hungry, and he kept waiting. From the north came the thunder of cannons and the clamor of countless soldiers. He deeply wanted to witness the spectacle, but recalling that this mission was âinspiredâ by the Deity, he dared not budge and persisted in holding his position.
He did not know how long he had waited.
Suddenly, a defeated army appeared in the valley.
Without even flags, they passed chaotically through the valley.
White Cat had arrived early and hidden well. The army was in such disarray that no one noticed a man lurking in the rock pile beside the valley.
He thought happily: The chance had arrived! The Deity spoke of south, and indeed the defeated army was heading south.
Quietly, he loaded his rifled firearm with ammunition, then gently extended the muzzle from the rock pile and aimed at the valley bottomâŚ
The defeated army streamed through the valley bottom continuously, and White Cat could even name many of them.
Finally, a familiar face came into his view.
Wang Jiayin was here!
White Cat aimed his firearm at his head.
He silently recited: Heaven protect me! Earth protect me! Deity bless me!
With a press of his finger, he pulled the trigger.
At the moment the trigger was pulled, the trusted subordinate beside Wang Jiayin, Black Shashen, suddenly hurriedly took a step, coincidentally blocking right in front of Wang Jiayin.
âBang!â
A large bloody hole appeared on Black Shashenâs head, and he fell down.
Wang Jiayin, already terrified like a startled bird, shouted loudly, âThere are officialsâ ambush soldiers here, escape quickly!â
His left and right subordinates rushed over together, surrounding him in the center, and the defeated army desperately charged southward, rushed out of the valley, and disappeared into the distance.
White Cat said, âFuck!â
He watched as the defeated army fled far away, then slowly crawled out of his hiding spot, descended to the bottom of the valley, hoisted Black Shashenâs corpse onto his back, and headed toward Wang Chengenâs camp.
Great General Du Wenhuan was sitting upright in the Hequ County government office.
This small, dilapidated county office had been transformed by Wang Jiayin into a âpalace.â
The shabby chair the Hequ County magistrate normally sat on had now been replaced with a large tiger-skin chair; the plaque that once hung overhead reading âBright Mirror Hangs Highâ had been changed to one inscribed âHengtian Yizi Wang,â and many stolen silks and satins were draped all over the room, everywhere reeking of uncouth vulgarity.
Seeing this mess, Du Wenhuan got angry and said, âA mere bandit chief calling himself a king? Look at this so-called palace, itâs no different from an upstartâs home. Attendants, has Wang Jiayin been caught yet?â
Cao Wenzhao clasped his fists and said, âWang Jiayin escaped, we didnât manage to stop him.â
Du Wenhuan said angrily, âAnd Zijin Liang?â
âHe escaped!â
Du Wenhuan said very angrily, âAnd Bai Yuzhu?â
âHe escaped!â
Du Wenhuan said with extreme anger, âAnd the King of Disruption?â
âStill escaped!â
âWow yaya!â Du Wenhuan grabbed the cup from the table and hurled it out forcefully, âWhy did they all escape? Not even one important person was captured? How can I explain this to my superiors?â
Cao Wenzhao could only spread his hands and said, âOur army totals just over twenty thousand men, while the bandit army numbers over a hundred thousand. The encirclement was barely sufficient; the enemy broke out, we couldnât block them.â
Du Wenhuan said, âIt makes me furious, furiousâŚâ
âReport!â
A soldier clasped his fists and said, âGeneral Wang Chengen of Shaanxi has arrived, with joyful news.â
Du Wenhuan said angrily, âWhat joyful news could there be? All I hear around here is bad news.â
The soldier said, âWang Chengen eliminated a top general of the bandit insurgents.â
As soon as these words were spoken, Du Wenhuanâs mood instantly improved a lot; from extremely angry, he became slightly annoyed and said, âLet him in.â
Soon, Wang Chengen strode in briskly, followed by White Cat, who was carrying a corpse on his shoulder.
The people present didnât even need a report; they recognized the corpse at once and said, âHuh? Itâs Black Shashen! The trusted fierce bandit under Wang Jiayinâs command.â
Du Wenhuanâs anger subsided noticeably as he said, âCapturing Black Shashen at least gives me something to tell my superiors. Excellent, excellent, Wang Chengen, youâve rendered great merit this time.â
Wang Chengen clasped his fists and said, âBlack Shashen was captured by this young general under my command.â
After that, the attention of the whole group shifted to White Cat.
He was a sturdy, capable man, wearing a proper suit of armor, with a rag doll perched on his shoulder. The dollâs face was embroidered reasonably well, but its body was made very sloppily, its hands being mere cloth balls⌠coughâŚ
Du Wenhuan said, âWho are you? Report your name.â
White Cat hated reporting his name the most, but he had to this time, and absolutely could not give his bandit name, so he said pitifully, âI am Wang Xiaohua, from Chengcheng, Shaanxi, serving as a Captain under General Wangâs command.â
âWang Xiaohua?â
The name made everyone pause, thinking: How could your parents name you that? No wonder you play with rag dolls. Sigh, the person matches the name, the person matches the name.
Although he was someone people really wanted to mock, he had after all rendered great merit, so rewarding him was unavoidable.
Du Wenhuan said, âWang Xiaohua, youâve captured an important bandit chief and rendered great merit. I, the general, will report to the court, promoting you to battalion commander. You must strive harder in the future and serve the court faithfully, understood?â
White Cat thought to himself: Battalion commander, that means I can command four hundred and forty troops. Hahaha, I can pull four hundred and forty men from the Gaojia Village Militia.
White Cat quickly said, âI, under the general, obey!â