Sweep Yuan

Chapter 43 Catching a Big Fish

When the battle begins, the routed soldiers still have a chance to retreat and take a detour, but those killing gods are already chasing them. Taking a detour may not be enough to shake them off, so it's better to take a gamble.

After all, a group of ambush troops had already rushed out; it's impossible for this entire reed beach to be ambush site!

With this in mind, the remaining defeated soldiers spurred their horses and tried to force their way across the Luzhu Beach to cross the river.

"Fire the signal arrow! Tie the sack!"

The fleeing soldiers rushed into the encirclement, and Zhou Shier decisively signaled that the enemy had fallen into an ambush.

"kill--"

"Drum roll!"

At Shi Shan's command, the drums sounded loudly, and the soldiers all surrounded and charged forward.

Neigh—

The routed soldiers scattered east and west, but their efforts were futile in the face of overwhelming manpower and a barrage of lassos and spears. The battle lasted less than a quarter of an hour before it came to an end.

Because the battle was launched suddenly and lassos were used extensively, the "Red Heart Battalion" suffered only two dead and five wounded, killing nine enemy soldiers, capturing twenty-two, and seizing sixty warhorses (eleven of which were wounded in the battle).

In addition, twenty ox-horn bows, nineteen pieces of leather armor, knives, spears, daggers, and a number of valuables carried by the fleeing soldiers were seized. Sun Xun and others are still taking stock of these items.

Because some soldiers rushed out ahead of time, exposing the ambush position, and some chased after enemy cavalry in a confused manner during the battle, a gap appeared in the encirclement, and five enemies escaped in the chaos.

After the battle ended, Shishan gathered all the prisoners together, glanced at them briefly, and then focused his attention on one of the soldiers.

Although this man was only wearing a gray cotton-padded jacket, his strong waist, deliberately smeared face, and the way the other prisoners looked at him all revealed that this fellow was no small fry.

"Tell me, who are you?"

The prisoner was interrogated personally by the bandit leader. He was visibly flustered, his eyes darting around, and his speech was not very fluent.

“Yes, yes, sir. I am Kun, Kunshan, a herdsman from the household of Lord Liang.”

"Mu Nu?"

Shi Shan stepped forward, grabbed the man's collar, and ripped it open, revealing the white, gleaming fat inside.

"What kind of servant could have such a plump, white body?"

Unlike later generations where nutrition was generally excessive, the common people at this time were mostly thin and sallow due to long hours of labor and constant hunger. Fair skin and a plump body were signs of nobility, and those who were both fair-skinned and plump were usually either rich or noble.

Even if ordinary people who are busy making a living all day long are born strong due to good genes, they are generally as rough and tough as Shi Shan, and it is almost impossible for them to grow fat, let alone the kind of fair and tender fat in front of them.

Having his identity so easily seen through by the bandit leader, this nobleman knew he couldn't deny it any longer, so he straightened his back, raised his neck, and said disdainfully:

"Hahaha, you're in luck! Your master is Liang Zhongyi (a Yuan army commander stationed in Suzhou). I've killed over a thousand bastards these past few days, more than enough. You lowly scum, come on! If your master even flinchs, he's no hero!"

The corrupt official was still so arrogant even after being arrested, which immediately caused an uproar among the "Red Heart Battalion" soldiers around him.

"I'll kill you right now, you corrupt official!"

"Kill him!"

"Kill this son of a bitch!" Just as the crowd was making a ruckus, Zhou Shier, who was on guard outside the perimeter, sent Zhang Dan with a new update.

"Deputy Commander, those ragtag kids are back! They're calling out to us from afar, unwilling to leave."

The "miscellaneous lads" that Zhang Dan mentioned referred to the Xuzhou Red Turban Army, whose soldiers were dressed in a chaotic manner without uniform attire, which was in stark contrast to the "Red Robe Guild" that the other side contemptuously called the soldiers of the "Red Heart Battalion."

These men seemed quite wary of the "Red Heart Battalion." After the battle began, they did not rush into the encirclement to assist their allies in killing the enemy. Instead, they continued to pursue the few Yuan soldiers who had managed to escape outside the encirclement.

This is also a major reason why Shishan did not arrange for his own troops to pursue the escapees—it would be difficult to catch them, and on the other hand, he had already gotten his share of the spoils, so he wanted to leave some for his hard-working allies.

Unexpectedly, these friendly cavalrymen returned and even called out to our side, which is quite interesting.

Shi Shan ignored Zhang Dan's quick wit and, having positioned himself relatively far back during the ambush, roughly understood the crucial role played by the suddenly appearing friendly forces, but some details remained unclear. He asked:
"How many of them are there?"

“Four. They only cut off heads and took no prisoners, but they had eleven horses.”

"Only four?"

The fact that four men dared to chase after an enemy force ten times their size made Shishan even more interested in these four allies.

"What are they going to do?"

"They said that without their relentless pursuit, the Tartars wouldn't have fallen into our encirclement. Therefore, they should get a share of the prisoners and spoils."

"Hahaha!"

None of the Red Turban Army units in Xuzhou had a stable rear, making it impossible to pay their soldiers on time. The same was true for the "Red Heart Battalion." The only effective way for Shishan to motivate his soldiers was to provide them with plenty of food, share of spoils, and rewards for meritorious service.

The four allied soldiers did deserve credit for forcing the fleeing soldiers to flee into the trap. However, these men were not satisfied with just taking the heads. They dared to snatch food from the tiger's mouth without considering the strength of both sides, which amused the soldiers of the "Red Heart Battalion".

The Red Turban Army in Xuzhou has been expanding wildly these days, and the personnel organization of each unit is a mess. This place is a deserted wasteland with no one around, and a battle has just broken out. It doesn't matter if a few more people die on both sides.

Shishan would never be so heartless as to slaughter his own troops for a few horses and some money, but these few guys who were willing to risk their lives for the spoils did indeed pique his curiosity.

“Interesting. Go and call them over.”

After sending Zhang Dan away, Shi Shan interrogated several prisoners separately. He was able to confirm that Liang Zhongyi's identity was genuine. However, the guy was quite stubborn, and it would take some effort to get valuable information out of him.

This matter must be dealt with while the iron is hot; we must get Liang Zhongyi to talk before returning to Suzhou.

Just as Shi Shan was instructing Sun Xun and the others to prepare the tools needed for interrogation, Zhang Dan walked over with a tall soldier wearing a gray cloth short coat and a red turban.

Only one of the four men came; the other three remained on horseback outside Luzhu Beach, looking ready to flee at any moment if things went wrong. It seems these men weren't stupid; they clearly had little faith in the integrity of the "Red Heart Camp."

"I am Fu Youde, a subordinate of Li Xixi, a centurion. I greet Deputy Commander Shi!"

Good guy!
What a lucky day it is today in the secret passage of Shishan? It turns out that the big fish he caught was not Liang Zhongyi, the commander of Suzhou, but Fu Youde, who came to him to ask for the return of the spoils.

Shishan knew little about the history of the late Yuan Dynasty and was unaware of Fu Youde's life and deeds. He only knew that Fu Youde was a very capable fighter and apparently a founding father of the Ming Dynasty.

At this moment, this formidable man was standing right in front of him. He must have just joined the army and hadn't made a name for himself yet, otherwise he wouldn't be without any official position. Shi Shan felt that today was an auspicious day and immediately had many ideas.

(End of this chapter)