Chapter 41: The Downfall of Bailian

  On the official road from Luzhou Town to Qingzhou Prefecture, two thousand brocade-clad guards were slowly escorting four prisoner carts and over a hundred "silver carts". Chang Yanling looked up at the rising sun in the east and asked Li Zushu beside him: "Do you think the bandits in Jining City will fall for it?"

  "It should be okay." Li Zushu thought for a moment and responded, "Since Big Brother Wang believes in Mr. Zhen so much, it shouldn't be wrong."

  Chang Yanning said: "But I feel like this matter is a bit suspicious?"

  "Just stop worrying," said Li Zushu, "Brother Wang is a formidable person, even Jian Nu, who was invincible, was subdued by him. Can't he handle this group of bandits?"

  Chang Yanling said: "This is indeed the case, it seems I was overthinking."

  "...Report..." General Chang Yanling's voice had just fallen when suddenly a fast horse rushed back, shouting loudly, "Two generals, a large group of bandits was discovered 20 miles north!"

  "How many people?"

  Chang Yanling and Li Zushou were almost simultaneously asked to drink.

  Tan Ma replied: "They are all over the mountains and fields, at least 10,000 people!"

  "Goodness gracious, so many people!" Li Zushu exclaimed, "It seems that the bandits in Jining City have come out in full force."

  "Hurry!" Chang Yanling hastily turned his head and shouted at several brocade-clad hundred households behind him, "Quickly set up the big cannons, form a cart array!"

  Chang Yanling gave the order, and 2,000 Jin Yiwei quickly formed a battle array to prepare for the enemy. Although these 2,000 Jin Yiwei were not elite border troops, they were still government soldiers, whose equipment and training far surpassed those of the White Lotus Sect's mob. Moreover, this time the government army had made preparations in advance, dismantling ten small cannons from warships and mounting them on carts.

  When the Jin Yiwei had almost formed their battle array, a dense mass of enemy soldiers appeared in the distance.

  Chang Yanling and Li Zushu, these two dandies, had never been to the battlefield before. Seeing this scene, they felt a little nervous in their hearts. Fortunately, Wang Pu was well-prepared and sent Diao Rong with 200 elite house slaves to escort them. When the enemy soldiers rushed into the range of the firearms, Diao Rong swung his steel knife forward fiercely and shouted loudly: "Fire!"

  "Rumble, rumble, rumble..."

  Ten small cannons, two hundred household troops in the front row of the chariot array, and more than five hundred brocade-clad firearms hidden behind the chariot array fired simultaneously. A deafening roar shook the battlefield, which was suddenly filled with smoke and flames, and a massive shockwave made the entire ground tremble.

  The White Lotus bandits, who were charging forward with a loud shout, were suddenly blown to pieces, many of them were blown into fragments in an instant, limbs and corpses flying everywhere, more bandits were knocked down by the fire, crying out in agony as they fell into the blood pool. The White Lotus bandits, who had never seen such a tragic scene before, immediately panicked and fled in all directions. Li Qing Shan and Yuan Shi Zhong tried to stop them but it was no use.

  Li Yan and Hong Niangzi led the three thousand bandits to calm down, but the White Lotus rebels who fled in all directions still disrupted the formation of the bandits. When Li Yan and Hong Niangzi finally reorganized their troops and prepared to launch an attack on the government army in front of them, a deafening shout suddenly erupted from behind.

  Hong Niangzi hastily turned her head, only to see a large group of brightly dressed and armored government soldiers charging over from behind. These were the 2,000 government soldiers led by Huang Degong, who had been fighting pirates at sea for years and were truly battle-hardened veterans! The White Lotus bandits, who were fleeing in disarray, collided head-on with Huang Degong's soldiers and were instantly slaughtered, their corpses strewn all over the field.

  Huang Dekong led the government troops in a ruthless charge through the scattered remnants of the White Lotus army.

  Almost at the same time, the two thousand Jinyiwei who were waiting in front also shouted and rushed out of the chariot array, rushing towards Li Yan and Hong Niangzi's three thousand bandits. The rout of the Bailian bandits greatly boosted the prestige of these Jinyiwei masters, and one by one they quickly turned from lambs to fierce wolves, charging forward with a ferocious and sinister air.

  Fighting a tough battle is not their strong suit, but they are experts at kicking a man when he's down.

  "Brother, we've been ambushed!" Hong Niangzi's face turned pale as she exclaimed in a urgent tone, "The White Lotus Sect's mob has completely collapsed! And that old slut, the White Lotus Holy Mother, has also deceived us. The government troops are not just two thousand men, there are at least five thousand men in total, with two waves of troops attacking from both front and back!"

  "Never mind that for now," Li Yan said in a low voice, "we need to think of a way to break out."

  "Both front and back have government troops, the right side is the Grand Canal which can't be crossed, now we can only break through to the left!"

  "No." Li Yan shook his head, "Since the government troops have carefully designed this trap, they will not leave such a large loophole. There must be ambushes on the left side, and if we break through there, we will fall into their plan!"

  "What can be done?"

  Li Yan gritted his teeth and said: "Now that things have come to this, there's no other way out. We can only break through in the direction of the Grand Canal! Fortunately, the canal is not wide, and all of you brothers can swim across."

  Hong Niangzi said without hesitation: "Then break through in the direction of the Grand Canal."

  Li Yan gave the order, and 3,000 bandits turned south and rushed towards the Grand Canal. Huang Degong and Chang Yanling, Li Zushu merged their troops to pursue and kill them. Just as the bandits were about to escape into the water at the edge of the canal, Wang Pu's naval fleet suddenly counter-attacked, blocking the 3,000 bandits.

  Li Yan was a great general under the command of Li Zicheng, the Dashun Emperor. He had always been cautious in his military campaigns and rarely fell into traps. However, this time he was outsmarted by his own cleverness. As a result, three thousand bandits were surrounded by government troops at the canal bank, almost leading to their complete annihilation. In the end, only dozens of personal guards escorted Li Yan and Hong Niangzi's couple as they broke through the encirclement and fled back to Jining in disarray.

  Wang Pu made a decisive decision and personally led the army along both banks of the Grand Canal to attack Jining.

  To seize the enormous wealth in Wang Pu's hands, the White Lotus bandits had already launched a full-scale attack. At this time, only the old, weak, women and children were left inside Jinan City, making it almost an empty city. The government army took Jinan City without any effort. Standing at the gate of Jinan City, Judge Huang Xiyong was so excited that his eyes were filled with tears. Jinan had been recovered, and his own head was also saved.

  "General!" Huang Xiyong turned over and knelt down at Wang Pu's feet, wailing loudly, "This subordinate thanks you for your rebirth kindness!"

  "General Huang, please get up quickly." Wang Pu was really not used to others kneeling to him and hurriedly stepped forward to help Huang Xiyong up, advising, "Your Excellency doesn't have to do this, recovering lost territory for the imperial court is our duty as military officers."

  Huang Xiyong said: "Anyway, no matter what, this life of mine was saved by the general. From today on, General, you are my reborn parents."

  "My words were too severe, General Huang. My words were too severe." Wang Pu smiled slightly and suddenly turned his head to shout, "Someone come quickly and send a report to the capital, saying that this general has already recovered Jining and heavily defeated the White Lotus bandits!"

  ■■■

  Forbidden City, Palace of Heavenly Purity.

  The Chongzhen Emperor was reviewing the memorials when Chen Xinyi, the Minister of War, suddenly entered the grand hall with a flustered expression and knelt down to report: "Your Majesty, news has arrived from... Shandong."

  "Shandong?" Emperor Chongzhen frowned and said, "Present it!"

  Chen Xingjia took a few steps forward on his knees, and the eunuch Wang Cheng'en took the memorial from his hand and presented it to Emperor Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen unfolded the memorial and hastily read two lines before his face changed greatly: "Jining has fallen? This is unbearable! After Jining falls, the grain transportation route from the south to the north will be cut off, and the people of the capital and the soldiers on the nine borders will have to worry about running out of food!"

  "Ten thousand, ten thousand years." Chen Xinjia trembled and said, "I have already drawn troops from the nine border towns to prepare for the suppression of the rebellion in Shandong within three months and reopen the canal road."

  "What about Liu Zeqing?" Emperor Chongzhen burst into a rage, "How did he become the governor of Shandong? He actually allowed a mob to occupy Jining! If the grain from the south cannot be transported on time and there is a famine in the capital, or even if the soldiers at the nine borders rise up in revolt, I will hold him responsible!"

  Chen Xingjia hastily said: "Your Majesty, the White Lotus Sect's forces are strong. General Liu suffered a defeat in his first battle. He is now gathering government troops from Qingzhou, Dengzhou and Laizhou to prepare for the recovery of Jining."

  Chongzhen Emperor suddenly thought of something and asked Chen Xinyi: "Minister Chen, isn't General Wang about to arrive in Jining?"

  "Ah!?" Chen Xinjia's face suddenly turned pale and he trembled, saying, "From the itinerary, it's...it's almost time."

  Chongzhen Emperor suddenly shouted: "Wang Chengen!"

  Wang Chengen hastily stepped forward and respectfully replied: "Your servant is here."

  "Immediately draft an edict, ordering the Shandong General Liu Zeqing to dispatch troops to support General Wang. If General Wang commits any mistake in Shandong, I... will exterminate his nine clans!"

  "Yes, Your Majesty." Wang Cheng'en replied respectfully, "I will draft the edict immediately."

  Chongzhen Emperor thought for a moment and still felt uneasy, so he turned around and said to Chen Xinjia: "Chen Ai Qie, you immediately dispatch the Beijing camp to Shandong to meet them."

  "I obey your order."

  Chen Xinjia wiped away the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and left after receiving the order.

  ;