weaving

Chapter 1458 Protecting Uncle and Rushing Out

Gao Yigong led his personal guards on horseback eastward along the wall, where they encountered three hundred government troops led by Jia Si Ba Zong Cheng Haishan.

Although he was riding a warhorse, Gao Yigong only had about twenty men with him, which was more than ten times the number of his own. Moreover, they were in such a narrow place at the foot of the wall that the cavalry's mobility advantage was completely lost.

Coupled with the unpreparedness and hasty response, Gao Yigong and his twenty-odd riders were instantly surrounded and almost cut off, making the situation extremely urgent.

Wang Erniu leaned close to one of the bandit riders beside him and said in a low voice, "Chen Cai, I'll lead ten men to charge east and draw the government troops away. You protect your uncle and take the opportunity to fight your way back to the gate tower."

Chen Cai knew that the incident had happened suddenly and was in a critical situation. An army cannot be without a commander. He didn't care about the lives of these people, but he absolutely could not allow his uncle Gao to be lost.

Wang Erniu roared, "Follow me to kill the government soldiers and protect my uncle as we charge out!"

Gao Yigong seemed to want to stop him, but he grabbed nothing. Just as he was about to take a few more glances at Wang Erniu's back, Chen Cai pulled his warhorse and charged back the way they came.

…………

Cheng Haishan knew that he had surrounded a big fish. Even if it wasn't Gao Yigong, the bandit leader of Zhuxian Town, it must be a big bandit leader, otherwise there wouldn't be twenty bandits following him.

However, Cheng Haishan couldn't immediately identify which one was the ringleader!
After all, the rebel army was not like the other bandit armies. Regardless of their size, their leaders were dressed in slightly more luxurious clothes, and the bigger bandit leaders were either dressed in fine clothes or fully armored.

The rebel army was different. Their leaders, big and small, were dressed almost like ordinary bandits. Except for a few who liked to wear armor, the rest of the leaders were dressed in coarse cloth, and even Liu Zongmin was almost the same.

This was certainly thanks to the exemplary role played by the rebel leader!
Therefore, it is perfectly normal that Cheng Haishan could not immediately identify which one was the ringleader based solely on their clothing.

When Wang Erniu shouted those words, Cheng Haishan's first reaction was to mobilize his men to intercept him. He had only one belief in his mind—if he could capture the bandit leader, Zhuxian Town would fall without a fight!
It was this slight desire for credit that led to Cheng Haishan receiving the punishment he deserved after this battle.

Of course, that's a story for later, and there's no need to go into details now.

Blocking cavalry with infantry is inherently difficult, even in a narrow area like the base of a wall.

However, due to their superior numbers, Wang Erniu's right arm was pierced by a musket shot, but he still charged out with courage and galloped eastward, escaping Cheng Haishan's encirclement.

But the other ten bandits were not so lucky; they were all captured by the government troops, and none of them survived to the end.

However, thanks to Wang Erniu's efforts, Gao Yigong, under the protection of Chen Cai and others, actually managed to break through the encirclement and escape back to the North Gate Tower.

…………

Gao Yigong was anxious upon returning to the North Gate Tower. Although he had sent Gou Shiwu with 3,000 infantrymen to reinforce the town, judging from the situation of the attack just now, the east was still in great danger, and it was likely that a large contingent of government troops had entered Zhuxian Town.

But Gao Yigong's current thought was not to break out, but to drive back the invading government troops and firmly defend Zhuxian Town—mainly to protect the remaining military supplies and provisions for the rebel king.

Therefore, Gao Yigong made a decisive move, immediately sending messengers to the other three routes, ordering each to send 1,500 men to reinforce the defense of the North Gate. At the same time, he sent men to organize the more than 20,000 servants and starving people in Zhuxian Town, forcing them all to the east side of the North Gate to serve as human sandbags to delay the government troops, giving the other three routes time to send reinforcements.

Zhuxian Town was originally not very big, but as trade flourished, its scale continued to expand.

First, many warehouses built around the town were gradually incorporated into the town. Then, the increase in shops expanded the scale of Zhuxian Town.

Although Zhuxian Town is now just a commercial port, it is already much larger than a typical small county town. Its only shortcoming is that it has not expanded towards the river and has not incorporated those bustling wharves into the town.

This is, of course, also due to security considerations.

After all, the safety of the many shops, warehouses, and residents in the town is the top priority. If the dock is incorporated into the town, it will be impossible to build a wall for protection, and thieves can break in from the dock.

Even if a sturdy fortified wall were built, what difference would it make if the village remained in its current state?
Wasn't it easy for Ding Qirui and Zuo Liangyu's government troops, as well as Chuang Wang's rebel army, to invade the town?
But there are always exceptions. Just ask yourself, how many prefectures or even provincial capitals could stop the Ming Dynasty's government troops of the size of Ding Qirui and Zuo Liangyu, or the rebel army of Li Zicheng?

Therefore, the walls of Zhuxian Town were not meant to defend against large armies like those of Zuo Liangyu or Chuang Wang, but rather against local strongmen and bandits.

Zhuxian Town is very large, and its defense relies heavily on its abundant troops. After all, defense is not like offense; you can't choose the battlefield yourself. Instead, you have to see where the attacker chooses to launch their main attack.

This is precisely the disadvantage of the defending side. The larger the area that needs to be defended, the more troops are consumed. People must be stationed everywhere, defenses must be set up everywhere, and no negligence is allowed.

Gao Yigong had an army of 40,000, but he also had a large town to defend. Surrounded by enemies on all sides, his forces were quickly dispersed, and by the time he got to each defensive position, there were not many men left.

He originally estimated that the government troops numbered at least 20,000, and at most no more than 30,000. Even if he calculated it to be more, it would still be less than his own troops.

Therefore, he judged that the government troops would not actually attack Zhuxian Town, but at most just put on a show, launch a feint attack, and then look for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

Therefore, when Gao Yigong learned that the government troops were indeed besieging from all sides and that the fighting on each side was extremely fierce, he was genuinely puzzled and dared not immediately deploy troops or adjust the defensive deployment.

At this point, he was absolutely certain that the government troops' main attack was coming from the section of the stockade wall east of the north gate, which he was defending.

But it was too late. By the time Gao Yigong began to redeploy his troops and adjust his defensive deployment, it was already too late. His key position was now completely in Chen Zheng's hands!
…………

Zhou Sanping led three hundred men, almost all of whom were musketeers. They used the mounds of earth and bricks on both sides of the breach as cover and quickly established a defensive position, firmly holding onto this key location for the attack on Zhuxian Town.

The three hundred soldiers of the third echelon, led by He Liqiang, the commander of the second division, rushed up. They did not rush directly into the town, but quickly cleared the potholes on the ground at the gap.

They simply filled in the obvious large pits and ridges roughly; the specific operation was not very complicated. The purpose was to allow the cavalry behind to pass quickly so that they could open the other town gates.

He Liqiang quickly cleared the potholes at the breach and then ordered his soldiers to rush towards the north gate. They had only gone less than twenty steps when they encountered the first wave of five hundred bandits who were coming to reinforce them...

The two sides immediately clashed!
Three hundred against five hundred, yet still holding an absolute advantage...