The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 79 Surrender Without Getting Muddy

"Brother! Something terrible has happened! The government troops are attacking the city!"

Inside the mountain stronghold, Zhang Cunmeng was fast asleep, embracing his newlywed wife. He had been furious the night before and had vented his anger on her all night, only stopping when dawn broke.

Suddenly, a scream woke him from his sleep.

Without a second thought, Zhang Cunmeng suddenly opened his eyes, rolled out of bed, threw on a robe, and rushed outside.

The third brother, Li Jinwang, was standing outside the door, his face ashen, covered in cold sweat, and panting heavily.

"What government troops? Where did these government troops come from?"

Prince Li Jin looked anxious:
"Government troops are everywhere! They're flying the banner of the Governor of Yansui!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cunmeng was startled. Hong Chengchou had arrived!
He dared not delay and quickly asked:
"What is the current situation of the battle? How many government troops are there? Who is the commander-in-chief?"

Prince Li Jin's voice trembled with anxiety:
"The government troops have just arrived, and the two stronghold leaders, Double-Winged Tiger and Purple-Gold Dragon, collapsed at the first encounter and are now leading their men to ask for reinforcements!"

"The one leading them looks like Ai Wannian from the Ai family of Mizhi!"

"The total strength is unclear, but the vanguard is probably around 1,500 men!"

Zhang Cunmeng snorted coldly, a disdainful smirk playing on his lips:
"He dares to come and annihilate me with only 1,500 men? Does Hong Chengchou underestimate me?"

"Quickly! Get the troops ready! Brothers, grab your weapons!"

After saying that, he led Li Jinwang straight to the front line, where they ran into Li Zicheng, Tuo Yangkun and others who were retreating in disarray.

Looking around, Zhang Cunmeng saw a dark mass of government troops surging towards the open space in front of the mountain stronghold, like a tidal wave.

In the crowd, Ai Wannian, clad in silver armor, appeared like a god descending to earth. He wielded a long sword with great skill, slashing left and right amidst the chaos of the army, ignoring the arrows that were being shot at him, and led his servants to charge forward.

Following behind him, Du Sima Ke led several hundred cavalrymen, roaming around the battlefield and hunting down deserters.

Ai Wannian fought so fiercely because Li Zicheng had joined Zhang Cunmeng's forces and even become a squad leader.

The scholar Ai who was killed by Li Zicheng during his rebellion was Ai Wannian's cousin.

When the news reached Shenmu, it infuriated Ai Wannian. "You, Li Zicheng, are from the same hometown as me! How could you kill my cousin?!"

Enraged, Ai Wannian vowed to avenge this humiliation!
So he specially asked Hong Chengchou for orders and even signed a military pledge, vowing to flatten the mountain stronghold in one fell swoop and capture Li Zicheng alive!
Zhang Cunmeng was secretly alarmed by Ai Wannian's reckless fighting style.

He dared not delay and immediately gave orders to the captains standing nearby:
"Quickly! Put on your armor! Lead the elite troops of the old camp to intercept Ai Wannian!"

But before he could finish speaking, Zhao Sheng stopped him, his voice urgent:
"Shopkeeper, run!"

"We can't beat the government troops. Even if the old camp sends all three thousand men, it won't be enough!"

"Let's break out of there quickly! If we can escape, we might still survive!"

Li Zicheng also stepped forward to persuade him:

"Yes, General Jiang from Yan'an Prefecture said that it's best to avoid direct confrontation with the government troops and instead adopt mobile warfare!"

These words were like adding fuel to the fire, completely igniting Zhang Cunmeng's rage.

He already harbored resentment towards Jiang Han, and now that he heard his captain using Jiang Han's words to persuade him, he became even more enraged.

Zhang Cunmeng roared angrily:
"What, now even my orders don't work?"

"Are you Jiang Han's people or mine?"

These words were so hurtful that the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness fell silent instantly.

Li Zicheng and Zhao Sheng both shut up and lowered their heads in silence.

Zhang Cunmeng gritted his teeth and glared at them, his anger blazing:

"If you still consider me your elder brother, then put on your armor, go into battle, and lead the brothers of the old camp to drive back the government troops!"

"Otherwise, don't blame me for turning on you and cutting you all down first!"

He pointed at several team leaders and scolded them with exasperation.
"Look at you cowards! Ai Wannian is only a little over a thousand years old, and he's scared you like this?"

"We have over 20,000 men, plus 3,000 elite troops from the old camp. How could we not handle Ai Wannian?"

The crowd looked at each other, none of them daring to speak.

Zhang Cunmeng's face turned ashen with rage, and he roared at his team captains:

"Li Zicheng, Tuo Yangkun, Li Jinwang, Zhao Sheng, you guys take your men and hold the line!"

"I refuse to believe it! How can so many men not be able to repel a thousand government troops?!"

The men who were called out had no choice but to exchange glances and reluctantly accept the order, leading the old camp's brothers out of the village.

But as soon as they rushed out of the mountain stronghold, they were clearly seen by Hong Chengchou, who was holding a telescope not far away.

Hong Chengchou's lips curled slightly, and he immediately gave the order:
"Go! Pass on my order: fire cannons towards the entrance of the stronghold, and prevent the bandits from gathering!"

At Hong Chengchou's command, the cannons roared, shaking the mountains and the earth. Dozens of heavy cannons fired simultaneously, shells streaking through the air and whistling as they crashed into the mountain stronghold.

A dozen solid iron bullets flew by, instantly knocking the enemy soldiers in front away and sending several others crashing into the stockade wall, splattering blood everywhere.

Li Zicheng watched as the fist-sized iron ball flew past him, crashing to the ground and shattering even the rocks into fragments.

His legs went weak with fear. If this had hit someone, wouldn't it have been difficult to even leave them with a whole body?
His guess was correct.

Several more booming sounds were heard in the distance as cannonballs crashed straight into the army formation beside him, instantly smashing the head of one bandit and then, with a slight twist, taking half of another bandit's body with them.

In the blink of an eye, screams rose and fell, and Zhang Cunmeng's troops were routed.

Li Zicheng and several other captains fought with all their might and barely managed to gather a few dozen men, raise the general's flag, and attempt to reorganize the army.

Not far away, the garrison commander He Renlong blew a sharp whistle and led his hundreds of infantrymen at full speed to charge over.

With just one charge, they shattered the army formation that Li Zicheng and his men had just assembled.

Seeing that Ai Wannian was leading his men to charge up again, Li Zicheng and his men dared not linger and turned to run back into the village.

No matter how much Ai Wannian challenged them from outside, they dared not show their faces again.

Seeing this, Ai Wannian had no choice but to send someone back to request the commander to move the artillery forward and prepare to completely destroy the gate in front of him.

Seeing the captains fleeing back in a disheveled state, Zhang Cunmeng finally panicked.

He stood on the stockade wall, watching his soldiers being harvested by the government troops like wheat, his hands and feet turned icy cold, and cold sweat seeped from his forehead.

At this moment, his personal guards also came up and advised him:
"Shopkeeper, let's run!"

But there was no time to escape now. Zhang Cunmeng looked around and saw that the mountains and plains were full of Ming troops, who had completely surrounded the village.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the panic in his heart, and asked his personal guard:

"Are the Twin-Winged Tiger and the Purple-Gold Dragon still in the village?"

The guard nodded, somewhat puzzled:
"They're all here; the two chieftains are resting."

A ruthless glint flashed in Zhang Cunmeng's eyes:
"Go, tie them all up and bring them here!"

The guard was stunned upon hearing this: "What are you doing, managing the plates?"

"Stop talking nonsense and go!"

Zhang Cunmeng's tone was cold and left no room for argument.

Before long, the two-winged tiger and the purple-gold dragon were brought before him, bound hand and foot.

The two-winged tiger, its blood-red eyes glaring, launched into a tirade against Zhang Cunmeng:
"Zhang Cunmeng, you bastard, what are you trying to do?"

Not far away, several captains under Zhang Cunmeng also rushed forward, looking quite puzzled:
"Manager, what's going on? Why have you suddenly tied up the two chieftains?"

"What for? To borrow their heads as a token of my loyalty!"

Zhang Cunmeng sneered, drew his waist knife, and with a swift stroke, severed the head of the two-winged tiger.

Blood spurted out immediately, and the winged tiger's head rolled to the ground, its eyes wide open, dying with its eyes wide open.

Zhang Cunmeng picked up the bloodied head and looked at his captains:

"I have decided to surrender to the Ming army and will make further plans later!"

These words caused an uproar in the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness.

Zhao Sheng quickly stepped forward to persuade him:

"You mustn't take charge of the plates!"

"General Jiang specifically reminded us last time: never surrender to Hong Chengchou!"

Li Zicheng, who was standing to the side, also nodded:

"Yes, boss, Hong Chengchou loves killing prisoners of war. Surrendering means certain death!"

Zhang Cunmeng gave Zhao Sheng a cold glance:
"Since you keep referring to General Jiang, why don't you just go and join him?"

After saying that, he turned to look at Li Zicheng:

"Hey Li, you keep bringing up Jiang Han all the time, could you be a spy he sent?"

After saying this, Zhang Cunmeng, without turning his head, held the head of the winged tiger and ordered his personal guards to take the purple-gold dragon with them as he left the camp.

"I am Zhang Cunmeng, who does not get involved in mud. Where is your Governor Hong?"

"I am willing to surrender!"

(End of this chapter)