Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 297 Battle of Yangzhou! (Part )
The blade of the knife made a sharp sound as it fell on the people on the ground!
Although it is the back of a knife, it is a weapon made of fine iron after all.

Every strike of the sword is quite lethal.

Soon, many people in Yangzhou were beaten to a pulp with their skin torn and blood flowing.

If it were the people of Xuzhou, they would have been defeated and scattered by now.

But today, some of the people in Yangzhou fled in panic after seeing this horrifying scene.

But more people came forward one after another to block the advance of the trap camp.

What’s even more terrible is that the number of people in Yangzhou today is two or three times the number of people in Xuzhou that day.

However, the number of the trap camp this time was only one third of the original.

Coupled with Gao Shun's order that he could only hit people with the back of a knife, the Xianzhen Camp seemed very passive.

"General Gao Shun! There are too many people. We can't get in!"

"General Gao Shun, the brothers in the front row can't hold on any longer. Some of them are already injured!"

"Brother Gao Shun, these rioters are too bold. We can't defeat them. Let us kill them!"

"..."

After the fight lasted for a while, some of the mob were beaten back and some were killed, but more mobs continued to pour towards them.

The Yangzhou mobs, which formed a large number of people, seemed particularly brave at this moment. Even though the people around them were constantly wailing and bleeding, they still maintained their formation and did not collapse.

Under the constraints of the rules, the soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp were restricted and inevitably suffered heavy losses.

Officers from the Xianzhen Camp kept reporting the situation to Gao Shun and asking him to let them let go and fight to their heart's content.

Gao Shun had always been keeping an eye on the situation in the Xianzhen Camp, and he also knew that the situation in the Xianzhen Camp was not optimistic at the moment.

Gao Shun hesitated for a moment, but his heart still leaned towards his soldiers: "Then kill them!"

"Trap camp, listen up, change your blades, and fight your way out!"

When Gao Shun gave the order, all the soldiers in the Xianzhen Camp were shocked.

They immediately turned the blades in their hands, revealing their sharp white blades.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The shouts of the soldiers in the Xianzhen Camp shook the earth!

The blade in his hand slashed down, splashing blood.

This time, when Xianzhen Camp slashed down with its sword, what was heard was not heart-wrenching wails, but screams of terror.

Because the person who was stabbed had his head and body separated and could no longer speak.

"Ahhhhh!!!!"

"Murder! The soldiers have started killing people! Blood, so much blood!"

"Help! Help! Let me out! Let me out!"

"Hold on! Hold on! No one is allowed to retreat! Whoever retreats will die!"

"..."

Gao Shun's order had an immediate effect.

When the officers and soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp replaced the backs of their swords with blades, the pressure around them was suddenly relieved a lot.

The mobs standing in front of the Xianzhen Camp kept falling down, and their blood dyed the land outside the Yangzhou City red.

The cries of crying for parents resounded throughout the sky above Yangzhou City.

Even the gentry and wealthy businessmen hiding in the city of Yangzhou, after hearing such horrifying screams, trembled and hid in their homes, not daring to show up.

They prayed madly in their hearts, hoping that the peasant army they had recruited could stop the ferocious trap camp outside the city.

Soon, the area around the trap camp was cleared, and the rioters huddled in the distance, not daring to move forward, but they did not flee in all directions either.

Instead, he held weapons such as hoes and sickles and watched the soldiers in the Xianzhen Camp cautiously from a distance of several feet.

The soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp got a chance to catch their breath, but they did not rush forward, but rested for a while on the spot.

In just that short period of time, the soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp had killed thousands of rioters.

Although there are a lot of people, they are insignificant compared to the total number of mobs exceeding 100,000.

"General Gao Shun, look ahead, another large group of rioters is coming!"

At this moment, an officer from the Xianzhen Camp hurried to Gao Shun, pointed at the black spot in the distance ahead, and said to Gao Shun.

Gao Shun followed the officer's gaze and saw a large number of mobs running towards them in an endless stream.

Now, the number of mobs outside Yangzhou city is increasing instead of decreasing.

"General Gao Shun, we have killed thousands of rioters, but they have not yet collapsed."

"What should we do next? Should we continue killing?!"

The officer of the Xianzhen Camp asked Gao Shun anxiously.

Gao Shun frowned, looked at the surging mob in front of him, and said in a deep voice: "Keep killing! Kill them until they flee!"

"Yes, General Gao Shun!"

Just as the officers of the Xianzhen Camp were preparing to lead the Xianzhen Camp's army again to attack the mob's defense line.

Suddenly, a soldier from the Western Factory came galloping from a distance.

"Report! General Gao Shun!"

The Western Factory guard came to Gao Shun and did not even have time to dismount to salute. He immediately said in a hurry: "General Gao Shun, there is a letter from the factory supervisor!"

"Please ask General Gao Shun to lead his troops to retreat to Xuzhou temporarily and make plans after a long-term discussion!"

After hearing this, Gao Shun was slightly surprised.

It turned out that it was Wang Zhi who sent the letter, asking them to retreat back to Xuzhou.

It seems that Wang Zhi's offensive in Fengyang Prefecture is not going well.

Gao Shun thought for a moment and asked, "What about Xu Chang? Will Governor Wang also ask him to retreat back to Xuzhou Prefecture?"

The Western Factory guard nodded and said, "Yes, Governor Wang has sent others to inform General Xu Chang."

After hearing the news, Gao Shun looked back at the mob troops who were still maintaining their formation.

If they were determined to fight, Gao Shun was 100% sure that he could disperse the mob and successfully capture the Yangzhou city.

But the price to pay may not be small.

And the most important point is that these mobs are still the people of the Ming Dynasty.

In order to perform official duties, some people can be sacrificed appropriately.

But if the people were massacred openly with real weapons, it would inevitably shake the foundation of Zhu Youtang's rule.

A forceful attack requires too many considerations and is not a good strategy.

Perhaps it would be wise to go back and discuss countermeasures with Wang Zhi.

Thinking of this, Gao Shun finally agreed to Wang Zhi's request to temporarily withdraw troops from Xuzhou.

"In that case... Xianzhenzhen listen to orders and retreat to Xuzhou!"

Gao Shun felt really frustrated in this battle. After giving the order, he immediately turned his horse around and retreated.

The soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp also began to implement Gao Shun's order to retreat, turning their horses around and withdrawing.

The Xianzhen Camp retreated in an orderly manner at the same speed as when they came, without looking back.

The more than 100,000 peasant soldiers and garrison soldiers outside Yangzhou City suddenly retreated in an orderly manner without a sound when they saw the evil-looking Xianzhen Camp.

They were stunned for a moment, then they breathed a sigh of relief, feeling extremely fortunate from the inside out.

Fortunately, they held on to the end and saved their lives. "Retreat! The officers and soldiers from the court have finally retreated!"

"Great! We won! We won!"

"We survived! We all survived!"

"..."

The people, who had just experienced a life-and-death battle, cried with joy and shed tears of survival.

Many people even collapsed to the ground, breathing in the hard-earned air in big gulps.

Yangzhou commander Gui Hui's tense face also showed a happy smile.

Just now, he thought they would not be able to withstand the pressure and the fierce offensive of the Xianzhen Camp.

When the Xianzhen Camp switched to blade attacks, their amazing fighting power frightened Guihui so much that he was ready to die in the battle.

But unexpectedly, the Xianzhen Camp would suddenly retreat without any warning.

All this is simply a miracle.

Gui Hui raised his arms and shouted: "We won! We won! We drove away the imperial officers and soldiers!"

"Open the city gates, release food, and reward the troops!"

Gui Hui's words were immediately echoed by the vast majority of the peasant army: "Release the grain! Release the grain! Release the grain!"

Amidst the deafening cheers, the landlords, gentry, officials and wealthy businessmen in Yangzhou city also heard the news of victory.

When they came out of the room trembling with fear, climbed to the top of the city wall, and saw the departing trap camp.

The heart that was originally stuck in my throat finally settled down, and I felt particularly relaxed.

As if he was reborn, he breathed in big gulps of air greedily.

"Well done! You guys did a great job!"

"Put out the food! Put out the wine! Take out all the meat. We must make sure these warriors have enough to eat and drink today!"

"That's right, today's battle was so exciting and beautiful! There will be plenty of wine and meat tonight, drink as much as you want!"

"..."

The landlords, gentry, officials and wealthy businessmen were extremely happy and generous at having their lives saved.

Soon, the gate of Yangzhou City was opened, and a large number of servants carried food, wine and meat out of the city.

Let the peasant army, who had just experienced a life-and-death battle, feast on the food.

At the same time, another rider rushed out quickly and headed towards Nanjing City.

They wanted to bring this exciting news to Zhang Peng, the Minister of War in Nanjing, as soon as possible.

……

Xuzhou Prefecture.

Inside the government office.

Wang Zhi, Gao Shun and Xu Chang returned to Xuzhou city one after another with their soldiers.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the government office seemed a little depressing.

Wang Zhi, Gao Shun and Xu Chang sat together with serious expressions.

Gao Shun first asked, "Lord Wang, why do you suddenly ask us to withdraw our troops to Xuzhou?"

Wang Zhi did not ask this question directly, but instead asked: "General Gao Shun, is your attack on Yangzhou going smoothly today?"

Gao Shun remained silent, while Wang Zhi continued, "I guess it wasn't going very smoothly, was it?"

"If everything goes well, General Gao Shun shouldn't be here right now."

Gao Shun still didn't say anything, which was considered as his consent.

Wang Zhi did not continue the topic, but instead said: "Today when I was leading my troops to attack Fengyang Prefecture, I discovered a problem."

"The peasant army in Fengyang Prefecture is unusually large, and they are much more difficult to deal with than the peasant army in Xuzhou."

"Even though I gave the order to kill a group of peasant soldiers, they still did not disband."

"And during the battle, there was a steady stream of peasant troops joining in."

"Have you also encountered the same situation?"

Xu Chang and Wang Zhi looked at each other and said in a muffled voice, "So what?"

"Even so, our Xianzhen Camp can still continue fighting until we break into the city!"

Wang Zhi nodded: "Of course I know that Xianzhen Camp has this strength, but you have never thought that although these peasant soldiers are mobs, they are also the people of the Ming Dynasty."

"Do you want to kill hundreds of thousands of Jiangnan people?"

Wang Zhi's words were also something Gao Shun had been concerned about before, so he spoke immediately.

"So, Lord Wang, do you have any good ideas to circumvent these peasant armies?"

Wang Zhi shook his head very decisively: "No."

"Today, so many peasant armies have appeared in the three prefectures of Yangzhou, Fengyang, and Huai'an."

"And even after being attacked by the Xianzhen Camp, they managed not to flee despite the death of so many people."

"This shows that there is someone behind these peasant armies directing them."

"And they're becoming more and more established, and the situation is getting really tricky."

After hearing this, Xu Chang was very upset: "So what should we do now?"

"Those peasant soldiers are guarding the city. If we want to attack the city, we must kill them first."

"Now they say we can't kill the peasant army. Are we not going to continue attacking the city?"

Wang Zhi looked at Xu Chang calmly, which startled Xu Chang and made his scalp tingle slightly.

Afterwards, Wang Zhi said calmly: "Of course we must continue to attack the city. If the peasant army still blocks the city, we must continue to kill them."

"However, they are all His Majesty's subjects. Only His Majesty is qualified to control their life and death."

"We are not qualified."

Wang Zhi's words were like a bolt from the blue, clearing up the fog for Gao Shun and Xu Chang.

Gao Shun and Xu Chang immediately understood that in order to complete the task assigned by Zhu Youtang, Wang Zhi was willing to kill tens of millions of people in Jiangnan...

But this matter was of great importance, and Wang Zhi himself did not have the power to make such a decision.

Therefore, before we start a massacre in Jiangnan, we must first consult His Majesty and let His Majesty make the decision personally!

"So, we are now reporting this to His Majesty, and His Majesty will decide whether to start a massacre in Jiangnan?"

Gao Shun looked straight at Wang Zhi and asked in a low voice.

Wang Zhi nodded gently: "I have sent the battle report to the capital. Now all we have to do is wait for His Majesty's decree."

After hearing Wang Zhi's words, Gao Shun and Xu Chang both felt a little impressed with Wang Zhi.

Regardless of whether it was before outside the city of Xuzhou, he resolutely ordered an attack to disperse the peasant army.

This time, he decisively ordered the troops to retreat before the battle.

Wang Zhi can always find the key to the problem directly and come up with the corresponding solution immediately.

Your Majesty is fortunate to have such a trusted advisor!

Just as Wang Zhi and others were having a secret conversation, a cavalry team had already left Xuzhou Prefecture and headed straight for the capital along the post road at an accelerated speed of 800 miles.

The lives of millions of people in the three areas of Jiangnan now depend on the letter in the hands of this cavalryman.

(End of this chapter)