Huangming

Chapter 329 A Utter Rout, the Dust Settles (Bonus Chapter for 600 Monthly Tickets!)
The next day.

As dawn broke and the eastern horizon began to lighten, the city of Qufu was already in an uproar, like an anthill that had been disturbed.

The city gates opened wide, and countless soldiers wrapped in red scarves surged out like a tide, the dark mass of people stretching as far as the eye could see.

Most of them were barefoot, their trousers were covered in mud, and the "weapons" they held in their hands were a variety of things.

Rusty kitchen knives, chipped hoes, and even sharpened wooden sticks.

On each face, it was impossible to tell whether it was the excitement of an impending battle or the fear of the unknown; they were simply swept along by the constant urging from behind, moving towards the Ming army camp outside the city.

In the middle of the procession, Xu Hongru's entourage arrived late.

He specially changed into a bright yellow suit of armor, the plates still bearing fingerprints that hadn't been wiped off, clearly items that had been temporarily seized from the Duke of Yansheng's mansion.

The outfit, worn on his bulky body, gave him a somewhat comical air of authority, but his eyes, constantly glancing around, betrayed his inner unease.

But when he looked up and saw the massive army stretching from the city walls to the open fields miles away, the overwhelming momentum made it hard to breathe, and the fear in his heart strangely dissipated.

With so many people, they could probably flatten the Ming army's camp if they were just piled up.

He subconsciously puffed out his belly, trying to adopt a composed demeanor as if he were "leading an expedition in person."

Li Hongji led five hundred personal guards, forming an iron wall to protect Xu Hongru.

At that moment, the rising sun was leaping over the horizon, its golden-red rays splashing across his face and making his eyes shine with a piercing light, as if he had already seen through the course of the battle.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The war drums suddenly roared, deep and urgent.

Li Hongji suddenly drew his long sword from his waist, its cold light flashing in the morning light.

He turned his horse around and roared fiercely toward the Ming army camp ahead: "Brothers, charge!"

The shout was like a fuse that lit the fuse, and the previously sluggish flow of people instantly exploded.

Two hundred thousand rebel troops, like a flood bursting its banks, roared and charged toward the orderly Ming army camp ten miles away.

They had no formation, no strategy, and surged forward with brute force. The densely packed heads on the open field created an atmosphere reminiscent of a landslide.

The sounds of shouts, footsteps, and clashing weapons blended together, causing the ground beneath their feet to tremble slightly.

Li Hongji gazed at the crowd, which was shrouded in dust and hostility, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his lips.

The show has begun.

On the walls of the Ming army camp, Yuan Keli stood with his hands behind his back, his robes fluttering in the morning breeze, but his face showed no sign of panic.

Although the vast, dark mass of refugees surged towards him like a tidal wave, their shouts of battle shaking the very air, in his eyes they were nothing more than a mob swept along by the tide.

No matter how many people there are, it's all for naught.

Moreover, the informant inside the city had already reported the entire movement and troop deployment of the rebel army today. He had been camping outside the city for the past three days, seemingly holding back his troops, but in reality, he had already laid a trap.

"Pass the order."

Yuan Keli turned to his personal guards and gave them instructions, his voice as calm as if he were talking about something ordinary.

"Let the rebel troops attack the camp first. Cannons, catapults, oil, muskets, arrows... get all the equipment ready, and stop their momentum!"

During the three days that the Ming army had been stationed outside the city, they had not been idle.

The stockade walls were raised and reinforced, the moats were widened and deepened, and twenty cannons from the Shenji Battalion were already mounted on the walls, their dark muzzles pointing straight at the open field ahead.

The catapults were surrounded by piles of stones coated with oil, and the archers' arrows were already nocked, waiting for the order to fire.

At this moment, facing the rising sun, the rebel army, carrying makeshift ladders, rushed to within a hundred feet of the stockade.

"Charge! Capture the Ming army camp, and the reward is one hundred taels of gold!"

"Whoever reaches the summit first will be granted a noble title! Women and land are theirs to choose from!"

The frenzied shouts rose and fell, mixed with the chaotic footsteps, which sounded rather imposing.

But just when they were less than fifty paces from the stockade wall.

"boom!!"

A deafening roar suddenly erupted!

The twenty cannons on the stockade wall roared in unison, flames shooting from their muzzles as scorching shells, accompanied by sharp whistles, crashed straight into the chaotic army like the scythe of death.

"boom!"

A shell exploded in the crowd, and shrapnel and debris instantly tore apart the surrounding bodies. Hundreds of soldiers were thrown into the air before they could even scream, their blood and flesh mixed with the dirt, splattering a shocking red stain on the ground.

Then came the second shot, the third shot...

The continuous shelling was like thunder rolling across the wilderness, each boom accompanied by screams and falling figures.

The momentum of the chaotic army's charge halted instantly. Those in the front ranks were so frightened that they retreated repeatedly, only to be pushed forward by the surging crowd behind them, causing chaos in their formation.

Before they could even catch their breath, the muskets on the stockade wall began spitting fire again, and the muffled thuds of lead bullets piercing flesh were deafening.

The catapult was then started, and the stones coated with kerosene drew arcs in the air, bursting into flames where they hit the ground, with screams echoing shrilly in the sea of ​​fire.

The archers unleashed a volley of arrows at the chaos, and another wave of soldiers fell.

In the short time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the chaotic army hadn't even reached the edge of the stockade wall before the battlefield was littered with corpses and suffered heavy losses.

The crowds on the open field gradually thinned out, and the initial fervor was replaced by the fear of death. Many people threw down their weapons and turned to flee.

The defeat on the battlefield often begins with a moment of collapse.

The chaotic troops behind were still being swept forward, but those in the front ranks had already been terrified by the artillery fire and lead bullets, and turned to flee.

The ringleaders brandished their knives and guns, roaring and cursing, and even cut down several deserters, but all their threats were in vain in the face of the instinct for survival.

The dense crowd was like a beehive that had been overturned, jostling and pushing, with cries and curses mixed together, turning the already loose formation into a complete mess in an instant.

Yuan Keli, perched atop the stockade wall, took in everything, a sharp smile curving his lips.

The time has come to send troops!
"General Yang."

Yuan Keli turned to look at Yang Zhaoji, the Shandong General, beside him.

"Follow me and charge forward!"

A glint of excitement flashed in Yang Zhaoji's eyes as he clasped his hands in a fist and replied, "This subordinate obeys!"

At this moment, rushing out of the village gate, how could they be killing people?
They're clearly going there to reap military merits!

Those scattered and disorderly troops were no different from lambs to the slaughter in the eyes of the Ming army.

"Squeak~"

The heavy gate of the stockade was slowly pulled open, revealing the Ming army waiting in full battle array behind it. Three thousand elite troops from the Shandong Governor's Battalion and five thousand soldiers from the Shandong General's troops charged out of the stockade like two sharp blades drawn from their sheaths.

Yang Zhaoji took the lead, leading the right-wing troops like a whirlwind into the enemy's flank.

He wielded his spear with the grace of a dragon, and wherever the spear tip passed, red scarves fluttered and soldiers fell screaming as he tore a gap in the chaotic crowd.

Yuan Keli personally led the central force to charge straight into the enemy lines.

Despite being over sixty years old, he showed no signs of fatigue. His long sword slashed and parried with swift and decisive movements, and his personal guards followed closely behind, forming an iron torrent. Wherever they passed, the chaotic army scattered in disarray.

The rioting troops were already terrified by the cannons, and when they saw the Ming army charging out of the city, they were even more scared and had no intention of resisting.

They were all focused on turning around and running away, wishing their parents had two more legs.

But they didn't expect that their escape route had already been cut off.

Yuan Keli's pre-arranged Beijing garrison infantry were now advancing along the high ground on both sides of the open field, blocking the retreat of the chaotic army like two iron walls.

With pursuers ahead and ambushes behind, the chaotic army was completely trapped in a desperate situation.

The Ming army's charge resembled a one-sided massacre.

A flash of light, and a head fell to the ground.

Where horses' hooves trampled, desolation and lamentation filled the land.

Panic spread like wildfire among the disorganized troops. What began as a rout turned into utter collapse. People pushed and trampled each other, and more died at the feet of their own men than at the hands of the Ming soldiers.

On the wilderness, red scarves and blood mingled, and cries and screams echoed.

The once mighty army of 200,000 has now become fish on the chopping block.

Yuan Keli reined in his horse and stood in the middle of the formation, looking at the tragic scene before him without the slightest pity in his eyes.

The rebel army has been disturbing the people for a long time and deserves to die. Today's outcome is simply a consequence of their own actions.

Just as the chaotic army was caught in a pincer attack and was in dire straits, a deafening sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from the left flank.

Deng Shaoyu's cavalry surged out from behind the high ground like a black torrent.

The knights were clad in heavy armor, their horses' hooves thundering on the ground, their lances pointing diagonally forward, their sharp edges gleaming menacingly in the sunlight.

This unit was originally an elite force of the Beijing Garrison, and now, taking advantage of the terrain, they charged down, making their impact even more unstoppable.

Wherever the horses' hooves passed, the chaotic troops fell in droves like harvested wheat, some were thrown several meters away, the crisp sound of bones breaking mixed with screams, making people's scalps tingle.

In less than half an incense stick's time, the cavalry, like a sharp wedge, divided the already chaotic rebel army into several pieces.

Confined to their respective areas, the disorganized troops lost their ability to coordinate and could only fight independently. Casualties rose like a tidal wave, and corpses piled up in layers across the wilderness.

On the edge of the battlefield, Xu Hongru's entourage was already in complete disarray.

His hands, gripping the reins tightly, were sweating profusely, and his bright yellow armor stood out starkly against the backdrop of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Watching his 200,000-strong army being utterly defeated by 20,000 Ming soldiers, he trembled with fear, his crotch already warm.

The confidence they had just displayed, relying on their numbers, had now completely turned into the stench of urine.

"Huang Hu!"

Xu Hongru suddenly turned to look at Li Hongji beside him, his voice trembling with fear.

"I have already personally led the expedition! What happened to your claim of a 90% chance of success? You dare to lie to me?!"

Li Hongji remained unusually calm, even wiping the bloodstains splattered on his face with a faint smile: "Your Majesty, this humble general has never lied. I am ninety percent certain that things have not changed."

"Where is it? Where exactly is your 90% certainty based?"

Xu Hongru almost roared as he pressed for answers, his eyes filled with despair.

Li Hongji slowly turned his head, his gaze falling on the man's pale face, and chuckled softly, "Here with Your Majesty."

"With me?"

Xu Hongru was stunned.
"Huang Hu, what...what do you mean by that?"

At this moment, Li Hongji finally dropped all pretense, revealing only a chilling killing intent in his eyes.

He reined in his horse and stood side by side with Xu Hongru's mount, his voice low but clear: "This humble general wishes to borrow something from Your Majesty."

A sense of foreboding suddenly rose in Xu Hongru's heart, his throat tightened, and he could barely speak: "Wh...what is that?"

"His Majesty's head."

Before he finished speaking, Li Hongji spurred his horse forward, his long sword drawing a dazzling arc in the morning sun, slashing straight at Xu Hongru's neck with a sharp whistling sound!
"ah!!"

Xu Hongru let out a shrill scream, his body instinctively leaning back, but he couldn't escape the thunderous blow.

"Huang Hu! How dare you commit regicide?!"

"Protect Your Majesty!"

His close associates were shocked and furious, and drew their knives to stop him, but Li Hongji was right next to Xu Hongru, and the knife was as fast as lightning, so they had no way to defend themselves.

With a "whoosh," the blade cleanly sliced ​​through the flesh and bone.

Xu Hongru's head traced an arc in the air, his face filled with astonishment and fear, before landing on the ground with a thud. It rolled several times before coming to a stop, his eyes still wide open, staring at the chaotic battlefield.

His body swayed, and he fell off the horse. Blood spurted from his neck, staining the ground beneath him and wetting his bright yellow armor.

The guards around him froze on the spot, staring at the head rolling on the ground and then at Li Hongji, who stood there with his sword sheathed. For a moment, they forgot to react.

Li Hongji wiped the blood off his knife with the sole of his boot, looked up at the rout of the chaotic army, and his voice suddenly rose, carrying a power that pierced the battlefield: "Xu Hongru is dead! Those who surrender will be spared!"

The shout was like a thunderclap, exploding across the chaotic battlefield.

Upon hearing this, the rebel troops who were still putting up a stubborn resistance suddenly stopped moving.

They turned to look in the direction of Xu Hongru's entourage, only to see that the yellow parasol symbolizing the "emperor" had fallen down, replaced by a human head held high in Li Hongji's hand.

It was the "Restoration Emperor Fulie" whom they revered as a god.

Despair instantly extinguished the last vestige of resistance.

It's unclear who threw down their weapon first, but soon more and more of the rebel soldiers dropped their swords and spears, slumped to the ground, and surrendered.

Upon seeing this, Deng Shaoyu and Yang Zhaoji both reined in their horses and cast inquiring glances in Li Hongji's direction.

Yuan Keli stood atop the high slope, taking in this breathtaking scene.

He looked at the figure holding a severed head, standing tall amidst the chaos of battle, and slowly nodded.

The final step of closing the net has been completed.

(End of this chapter)