Chapter 55: Taixing's Righteous Army

  When Di Lie and A Shi came down from the mountain slope, at the edge of the large pit formed by the explosion center point, they were already surrounded by a group of fugitives who had escaped the disaster. Looking at the scene of blood and flesh flying everywhere, they were shocked and delighted, their tongues tied in amazement.

  Zhang Rong, Jia Hu and Guan Ge, along with Gao Liang, gathered around the wound on the horse's back, repeatedly examining it. The eyes of the four people grew wider and wider, their facial expressions becoming more and more vivid.

  Seeing Di Lie approach, Zhang Rong hastily removed the helmet from the head of the pike and pointed at the two large holes in front and back of the iron helmet, shouting: "How did this happen? Previously, I heard that Yang brothers boasting about it, but I didn't believe it. But now I've seen it with my own eyes... They said you have a divine artifact, killing people from a thousand steps away without being seen; in an army of millions, taking the head of the commander-in-chief is as easy as turning over one's hand. Is that true?"

  Di Lie's smile was not genuine: "Killing without a shape in a thousand steps, I can barely do it, but taking the head of the commander-in-chief from among hundreds of thousands of soldiers - Zhang brothers, do you know how far away the commander-in-chief is if hundreds of thousands of people are lined up in a square formation? It's not even within ten thousand steps! How am I supposed to take his head? Who said something so exaggerated? Yang Feng? Or Yang Chong? Probably that kid Yang Chong."

  "Never mind who said it. Your Highness, with such a powerful artifact, why not take it out and wipe out those Golden Dogs? Why do we have to run so desperately?"

  Di Lie didn't know how to explain it either: "Your stuff isn't as amazing as you think, and there's also the matter of timing and location... never mind, even if I told you, you wouldn't understand."

  Zhang Rong nodded repeatedly: "I understand, how could I not understand? A Taoist magical artifact like this requires incantations and rituals, and also consumes a lot of spiritual energy to be used. It's not something that can be used just by saying so. I was wrong earlier, I should slap myself." As he spoke, he really did slap himself several times, with considerable force, leaving red marks on his thick skin.

  Di Lie smiled bitterly and remained silent. Forget it, let them think what they want. Maybe saying that technology is a miracle would be more in line with the thinking of people in this era, and also easier to understand.

  That Guan Da Ge and Gao Liang, along with their group of people, also heard the conversation between the two men. Their faces involuntarily revealed a look of reverence. Especially when they saw Di Lie's peculiar attire: he wore a strange, round helmet that was neither gold nor wood, made from some unknown material; his body was clad in a yellow and green striped garment resembling a woman's cloak, which was neither silk nor hemp, and its texture could not be discerned; his lower half was dressed in similarly striped horse pants, with a pair of strangely styled leather boots on his feet, and he carried an equally bizarre long box on his back. He looked as strange as one could possibly look.

  This strange attire only made Guan Da Ge and his companions feel odd, but what really shocked them was that Di Lie's clothes were actually sleeveless! In other words, neither the left-sleeved Hu people nor the right-sleeved Song people, then who exactly is he?

  Zhang Rong quickly responded, "This is the son of a Han descendant who drifted overseas to a deserted island and established a country, Lord Di." Zhang Rong, this rough man, was able to say such an elegant introduction, thanks to Hou Fangjing's guidance. Not only him, but also others like the Yang brothers, Jia Hu, and some of the Liangshan brothers, were all subjected to strict training. As for this title that concerned their reputation, Hou Fangjing understood it even better than Di Lie.

  Zhang Rong then stretched out his hand to introduce them to Guan Da Ge and the others: "They are all righteous army of Taihang Mountain Tianping Stockade. This is Second Master Guan Zhongyong, this is cavalry leader Gao Liang brothers, this is..."

  As Zhang Rongyi introduced and explained, Di Lie finally understood the ins and outs of the matter.

  Guan Zhongyong, a native of Yan'an Prefecture on the Yongxingjun Road, joined the army in his youth and became one of the most elite Western Armies of the Song Dynasty, the Qin Feng Army, as a Shi Jiang. Due to his meritorious service in battles against the Western Xia, he was awarded honors and promoted. He was then transferred to serve under General Zhong Min's command at Jieyuan Pass on Mount Taihang as a Zhubi Jiang, officially entering the ranks of officials with a noble title.

  Unexpectedly, the Jin army's eastern route broke through the Song dynasty for the second time in the first year of Jingkang. In September, they defeated Zhong Shi Min at Jingdian. Several thousand defending soldiers either surrendered or were killed. Guan Zhongyong and dozens of fleeing soldiers escaped into the deep mountains of Taihang, where they were taken in by the master of Tianping Stockade and made second-in-command.

  The next April, the news came that the Golden Army's southern invasion army was divided into seven routes to return north. The various strongholds of Taihang Mountain were eager to move. The composition of these Taihang Mountain righteous armies was extremely complex, with long-time bandits who had been entrenched in the mountains for generations, scattered Song soldiers and wandering warriors, ordinary civilians avoiding war, and local tyrants who wanted to take advantage of the chaos to fish in troubled waters.

  The Jin army invaded the south, and the so-called righteous armies scattered like birds and beasts. They took advantage of the dense forests of the Taihang Mountains to avoid their edge. When the Jin army destroyed the prosperous Song Dynasty and carried off the national wealth and resources, dividing them into seven routes to return north, the righteous armies were envious. As the saying goes, "Wealth moves people's hearts," and some people die for wealth. The huge amount of wealth passed under their noses, and even a casual bite would be a mouthful of oil.

  In the eyes of these Taixi righteous army, at this time, the Jin army was exhausted after the hard fight against the Song Dynasty; after winning, they became arrogant and proud; especially since the Jin army had plundered a lot, they had to divide their troops into seven routes, each route's marching line was long and slow; and also divided out a large number of people to guard supplies and captives, the combat strength was greatly reduced - at this time, if not to bite hard, when will it be?

  The most wonderful thing is that as long as it's a campaign against the Jin army, whether it's killing people or looting money, it's highly praised and encouraged from top to bottom. Although the current court has collapsed and the local government is in disarray, killing the Jin dogs is still a righteous cause. As soon as you take action, you'll gain both fame and fortune.

  When the Taixing Yi Jun were shouting with red eyes, the target appeared - in mid-March, General Jin Alang led 3,000 soldiers and horses to escort a large number of looted goods from the imperial palace and a large amount of fine iron and craftsmen who had been captured earlier.

  Because of the rumors that bandits were rampant in the area of Zhending and Zhongshan, Ah Lang felt that his military strength was insufficient and feared defeat, so he decided to station himself in Luan City first and wait for the main road to converge before starting his journey back north.

  Zhuo City is a prefecture under the jurisdiction of Zhending Prefecture, located on the banks of the Ji River, only about 100 miles away from the northern part of Zhending Prefecture. It is an essential passage for the Eastern Route Army of the Jin Dynasty to return north. And in its northwest, more than 200 miles away, there is the majestic Taihang Mountains' Jizhen, which is precisely the most direct exit point for the eastern expedition of the Taihang Righteous Army. How could they not take advantage of such a golden opportunity?

  But on the other hand, although this piece of meat is fat, its shell is thick.

  Luan City was captured twice by the Jin army during their two invasions of Song. At this time, in addition to Ah Lang's 3,000 troops stationed in the city, there were also over a thousand newly surrendered soldiers from the city. Among these 4,000 troops, only 400 were Jurchen, more than 2,000 were tribal auxiliary troops, and over a thousand were original Song army soldiers who had defected to Luan City's garrison. These 4,000 troops defended the high-walled city of Luan, which was not lacking in siege equipment and could not be breached by the Taihang Righteous Army, which had not undergone proper training.

  At this time, the Taixing Yi Army had hundreds of large and small strongholds, with a total of over 1 million people. However, these so-called "over 1 million" included women, children, and the elderly, and excluding them, there were only about 10,000 soldiers who could fight. With more than 10,000 miscellaneous troops attacking the 4,000-strong garrison at Luan City, it was easy to imagine what the outcome would be.

  The leaders of the Taixing Mountain stronghold were not blinded by this great temptation, and they still had a clear understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, no one made an open move, but instead planned to make a covert attack.

  However, Ah Lang was a seasoned general and knew that the bandits in Taihang were watching closely, guarding against all kinds of supplies, so the Taihang Righteous Army had not had the opportunity to make a move.

  Tianping Village was neither large nor small among the Taihang Villages, with only a thousand people and horses. The head of the household, Liu Tiesheng, was also a good fellow, who had served as a guard for a wealthy family in his early years and had learned some martial arts skills. Later, he was framed by his master and imprisoned, then sentenced to exile in Lingnan. He escaped on the way and became a bandit.

  Liu Tiedou and his brothers mixed into the city of Luan, but they couldn't find a good opportunity to make a move. Unintentionally, they heard from a new soldier that the remaining Jurchen armies were crossing the Yellow River with large amounts of wealth. This opened up a new path for the people of Tianping Fort, who had been stuck in a difficult situation. After discussing it together, they decided that since they couldn't attack the turtle hiding in its shell, they would go and eat the snake slithering out of its hole instead.

  Then, led by Guan Zhongyong, the second master of the village, and assisted by Gao Liang, they set out with more than 60 robust men from the village. They headed south to find any Northern Army troops returning home, looking for an opportunity to take a bite. As long as they could get something, no matter how little, it would be enough to save face for Tianping Village.

  Among the more than 60 people, there were only a few old and thin horses, and most of the weapons were simple knives and iron forks. The bows and arrows were all self-made hunting bows, with a range of no more than 20-30 steps, and limited lethality. Fortunately, the brothers were all robust, among whom half were Western army soldiers who had fled with Guan Zhongyong that year, much stronger than the untrained militiamen in the various strongholds of Taihang.

  They marched south, passing through Zhaozhou, Baixiang, Xingzhou, Handan, and Cizhou to Xiangzhou, finally arriving in Tangyin. After more than ten days, they suddenly ran into the Northern Expeditionary Army of General Zhenzhu.

  Guan Zhongyong and his company had arrived at Tangyin before the Jin army set up camp, and they happened to be staying in a small village on the upper reaches of the Tang River. They originally intended to rest for a few days before continuing their journey. Who would have thought that when they came back to their senses, they found that the surrounding area had already been sealed off by the Jin army.

  They were in a dilemma, and they might be discovered by the Jin army scouts roaming around at any time. For sturdy men like them, once seen by the Jin army, they would either be killed or captured as slaves, with no good outcome. The villagers of that small village also feared being implicated and begged for mercy on their knees, asking them to leave quickly.

  Guan Zhongyong and his group all understood that in this situation where enemy cavalry frequently appeared and a large net was spread out on all sides, recklessly showing their heads would lead to what outcome. To say it again, even if they continued to stay there, it would be one day of danger after another. Several times the scouts they sent out had already seen the shadows of the Jin army's cavalry, and if not for a river flowing in front of the village blocking them, the Jin soldiers would have come over to investigate long ago.

  In this desperate situation, Guan Zhongyong gritted his teeth and decided to make a direct attack on the Jin army's main camp, first stirring up trouble in the enemy's heart, causing the Jin army's scouts to withdraw, and then taking advantage of the momentum to break out.

  So last night, Guan Zhongyong and his men, more than sixty people, launched a surprise attack on the Jin army's main camp. Since they were already near the Jin army's barracks, they didn't need to break through layer by layer like Di Lie's small team, and the Jin army's defense was loose inside and tight outside, which allowed Guan Zhongyong and his men to take advantage of a big loophole.

  Guan Zhongyong and more than sixty others, sneaked to the north gate of the Jin army camp, with simple weapons, suddenly rose up and attacked, killing or injuring more than ten guards, and also set a wildfire, taking advantage of the chaos to seize a batch of war horses and escape.

  They should have been fleeing north, but with the darkness and chaos of the night, combined with being scattered by the pursuing Jin soldiers, they could only run wherever they saw a path. As a result, they ended up going in the opposite direction and coincidentally joined forces with Di Lie's group on the same road.

  Luckily they met Di Lie on the way, otherwise with their current state continuing to flee, within three to five miles, the horses would be exhausted and collapse, leaving these dozen or so people, who would ultimately be unable to escape a disastrous fate.

  It seems that there is still a will of heaven, last night Di Lie and his party received the help of Taihang Righteous Army (although it was an accidental help), and they were able to escape safely. Today, when the Taihang Righteous Army was about to be annihilated, they again received Di Lie's assistance. It is indeed a perfect cycle of cause and effect.

  Di Lie's gaze swept over Guan Zhongyong and more than a dozen others, saying: "So what are the plans of you good men at this moment?"

  "Then what can we do? The front road has been cut off by the Golden Dog, and Tianping Village is temporarily inaccessible. We can only find another village to settle in and wait for the Golden Dog to withdraw its siege and return north... Alas! The great master gave me more than 60 strong and vigorous men, but now there are only a few people left. How can I explain this?"

  He looks like a typical Northwestern Han man, dark and thin, with rough features, thick bones, strong and powerful. His face has more wrinkles, his eyebrows are always furrowed, looking very weathered. At this time, the heavy casualties of his brothers under his command made him look even more worried.

  Di Lie hesitated for a moment, then said: "Since that's the case, why don't the two masters come to our hideout to take refuge for a while? I don't dare say anything else, but at least we can provide you with food and drink, and shelter from the wind and rain. When this road is clear, you can decide what to do next."

  "This... you have all saved my life, I don't know how to repay this kindness, how can I still dare disturb..."

  "It's settled then." Zhang Rong burst out laughing, interrupting Guan Zhongyong's words, and said with a smile, "Actually, I'm just like you guys too, also a righteous army of Liangshan Mountain, still mixing with the lord..."

  Di Lie and others, along with Guan Zhongyong's group, cleared the battlefield, rounded up some usable horses, turned south, and headed straight for Mangshan.

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