Chapter 137: Rebellion Must Have Discipline (Part 2)
"That bitch! If we catch her, I will kill her with my own hands!" The Ninghai garrison commander yelled at his subordinates.
Less than one in ten of his subordinates had seen who the "stinky woman" that Ninghai garrison commander was talking about was. More than 40 people in Zibo County knew that the garrison commander and his men were driven to flee in panic by a woman holding a sword, and many of them were even part of the group that fled in panic.
The garrison commander's anger was not fake. He had never been so embarrassed before when facing people of lower status than himself. At this time, in addition to the 50 people sent by the governor, the garrison commander himself brought 300 people, and there were nearly 400 green camp soldiers who could be called from Zibo County and nearby areas.
With nearly 700 men under his command, the garrison commander had no doubts about losing the battle. He shouted to the group, "Huo Chong is a wanted criminal of the imperial court. The emperor has personally ordered his arrest. There will be a big reward for catching him. Huo Chong took a lot of money and women with him when he ran away. After he is caught, we will share it among us!"
Huo Chong has been very famous in Zibo County in recent years. The Green Camp soldiers nearby all know that Huo Chong is rich and powerful . What else can everyone say when Ninghai Garrison said this? Everyone cheered, thinking about how to intercept this fat sheep team and make a fortune.
With hope, the Ninghai garrison gave an order, and the fierce government troops followed the path that Huo Chong took. Zhang Wei didn't really want to follow, but Yongzheng's character would not tolerate laziness. Following the bandit suppression army to chase Huo Chong, but not catching up in the end, this result would not make Yongzheng feel too unacceptable. However, the bandit suppression army went out, and the imperial envoy just sat and waited. Yongzheng had no good impression of this kind of people.
There was no choice but for to march forward with his guards.
The morale was high on the first day, okay on the second day, but a little frustrated on the third day. Especially after chasing for such a long distance, with high mountains and dense forests, and in the middle of winter, it is not surprising to have some doubts about whether they were chasing the wrong way.
On the fourth day, the scouts ahead came to report, "My Lords, we have caught up! Huo Chong's men are ahead."
Ning Hai was fully alert when he heard this and hurried forward. Zhang Wei followed closely. Just on the mountain road opposite the valley, someone was directing a group of people to hurry on. The valley was not wide, and Zhang Wei soon saw the familiar figure among the crowd. The woman who had killed dozens of old men with her own strength and made them flee in panic.
When the fleeing team on the opposite side saw the pursuers, there were a lot of screams from women, cries from children, and screams of "Run quickly" from the team.
Then the woman was heard yelling, "What are you shouting for! Run!" The team started to run away in chaos.
Ning Hai pointed at the woman named Qian Qing and shouted to his men, "Catch that woman alive. If you catch her, you will be rewarded with ten taels of silver."
Ten taels of silver were enough for a family to live comfortably for a year. On the opposite side were a group of old, weak, women and children. The officers and soldiers completely forgot about their fatigue and depression and just shouted and chased after them.
As the two sides got closer and closer, they saw the fleeing people throwing down some bags. The government soldiers rushed to the front and grabbed one each. When they opened the bags, they found that they were all clothes and other things.
When the officers and soldiers behind ran by, they couldn't help but snatch something and put it in their arms. The first one refused to give in and immediately snatched it back. As they were struggling, they heard the soldiers in front who didn't fight but continued to chase cheering. The soldiers behind saw that they were holding something in their hands, which turned out to be some money bags or something.
Without caring about fighting for clothes, the soldiers behind hurried over and saw that the bundles left behind were small. When they snatched them and opened them, they found some fur clothes, small purses and other more valuable things.
There were not many of these things and they were quickly snatched away. Some smart ones shouted and continued to chase forward.
No one was stupid, and the soldiers realized that the people in front of them could not run any longer, so they threw away the heavy things. But the government troops were chasing them, so in order to escape, they threw away the more valuable packages.
In other words, those people have something more valuable.
Even those who wanted to stay and search were chased away by the Ninghai garrison and others, who beat and kicked them. The Ninghai garrison continued to shout: "The valuables are all on those people. Catch them and all the things will be ours!"
In such a desolate mountain, such instigation had a great effect. The soldiers began to chase with all their strength, and they did not relax even when they were exhausted and panting.
Finally, they saw the people in front of them almost tumbling and crawling to escape into a mountain path. As the officers and soldiers chased them, they saw some people suddenly stand up on the hillside, picking up stones and throwing them down.
The officers and soldiers were unable to dodge and were hit by the rocks, screaming and falling directly into the valley.
Only then did the officers and soldiers realize that they were in a desperate situation. Although the mountain path was not narrow, there was a difficult-to-climb hillside on one side and a dangerous valley on the other. The bandits guarded the hillside and kept attacking the officers and soldiers with stones.
Huo Chong was leading more than 30 people from another mountain road to take a shortcut to the rear of the government troops. This was a pocket trap. The government troops had already jumped in. The only thing left was how to deal with them.
Qian Qing, Lei Hu and others followed Huo Chong. Yang Wangfu couldn't help but praise him, "Sir, you are really a genius."
"What a brilliant plan. I want to tell you why we must abide by the rules. If you don't abide by the rules that all captured items must be returned to the public, you will end up like these government troops. When you see the captured items, all you can think about is how to put them into your own pockets. I still say that this is instinct, and there is nothing wrong with having this instinct in your mind. This is correct. However, this is the only way of thinking in your mind to deal with things. If you think you can get rich by catching up with them, you won't think about why they do this. Not to mention, if they chase us more closely, we will probably be exposed."
"Is this Xiliu Camp?" Lei Hu said.
When Huo Chong's subordinates heard what Lei Hu said, they were all confused , as if they had heard an alien language.
Huo Chong looked at these people and couldn't help but sighed: "It is indeed the Xiliu Camp."
"What is that... Willow Camp?" Wan Qian couldn't help but ask.
Lei Hu burst into laughter, which immediately attracted a lot of unhappy looks. Although they didn't know what Lei Hu was talking about, everyone knew that Lei Hu was showing off. This kind of showing off was like throwing a bomb in the toilet, which aroused public indignation.
Huo Chong didn't know whether he should educate Lei Hu first, or explain to his men what the Xiliu Camp was. Seeing Wan Qian's unhappy expression, Huo Chong simply asked Wan Qian, "Director Wan, according to the intelligence, how many Qing troops can theoretically be mobilized in this area?"
"Sir, please call me Lao Liu." Wan Qian was very uncomfortable.
"No. This is a war, and wartime requires wartime rules. Following the rules is to help everyone survive as much as possible. Director Wan, do you remember this?"
"Well...I've remembered it." The little girl Wan Qian muttered to show that she understood.
"Director Wan, report quickly." Huo Chong continued to order.
Wan Qian thought for a while and replied: "Sir, the government troops that can be mobilized here...Qing troops, there are more than 1,400 people."
“How many can arrive within three days?”
"Hmm... uh... ah..." Wan Qian racked her brains and finally gave a number, "More than six hundred."
"Okay. Tell me the direction these six hundred people might come from. I'll have the staff arrange an interception."
"But these people can't fly. How do they know there's a war going on here?"
"As long as it is theoretically possible, we have to be prepared. If a Qing army rushes out, do I have to watch them kill us all?"
The people on Huo Chong's side were discussing, researching, calculating, and making corresponding arrangements related to the war.
The government troops that had fallen into the trap could only face a cruel fate. The Qing army was highly equipped with firearms, and even among this group of temporarily mobilized troops, there were firearms such as muskets and bird rifles, accounting for half of the total number.
The enemy had a comprehensive advantage in the terrain, so the Qing army had no use for bows and arrows, swords and spears. They tried every possible way to use matchlock guns to shoot at the "thieves" on high ground.
At first, the Ninghai garrison tried to comfort Zhang Wei, saying that the thieves were a mob and would be afraid of firearms and would run away when they heard the noise.
Unexpectedly, after several rounds of shooting, the bandits did not flee, but continued to attack the government troops who were not standing close to the mountain wall with stones. It seemed that they had long been accustomed to the roar of the matchlock guns.
Ning Hai saw that each round of shooting was not only useless, but also resulted in at least a dozen casualties. He became anxious, and with the promise of a generous reward, he organized the Qing army to launch a charge towards the mountain pass. Unexpectedly, rocks rained down from above, and the attack was completely defeated after only halfway through.
Dozens of dead and seriously wounded Qing soldiers were lying on the mountain road. Even the few Qing soldiers who had reached the mountain pass were shot to death by the "thieves" who suddenly appeared.
The Ninghai garrison was completely dumbfounded, and Zhang Wei and other guards were terrified. The enemy not only set up an ambush, but also used it very skillfully. They were not just a group of weaklings, but a group of fierce bandits.
Seeing that things were not going well, Zhang Wei shouted to Ning Hai, "Captain Ning, let's charge back. If we can't get out, we will all die here. If we die, the emperor will know that we died for his sake. When that happens, think about what your family will think!"
Since they were all imperial officials, Zhang Wei didn't need to threaten them with words like "killing all nine clans". But Ninghai Garrison already knew what fate he was facing. If he died here with the imperial envoy, the imperial envoy would definitely reward him handsomely and give him a lavish burial. But Ninghai Garrison was the culprit of the defeat. Even if he died, the imperial court would not be able to hold him accountable. Ninghai Garrison's family was still alive, so they would inevitably be implicated.
At this time, the only way was to escort the imperial envoy out. Thinking of this, the Ninghai garrison ordered everyone to rush down the mountain together. Although rushing down would require taking a more dangerous mountain road, only by rushing down would there be a chance.
The soldiers were all shaking as they watched the dead and wounded soldiers on the mountain road. Ning Hai licked his lips hard, which were dry and peeling, "Don't you understand? We stay here for a day, and the bandits don't come to attack us. We are starving and freezing, and we have no water to drink. We just wait for the bandits to come and slowly deal with us!"
