Chapter Thirty-Four: Pursuit (Seeking Collection and Recommendation Votes)

  "Damn it, how did the reinforcements from Western Sichuan arrive so quickly? Weren't they supposed to arrive tomorrow?" Ma Kei was shocked and pale. Now, his Green Horse Army and bandits were almost wiped out. Moreover, after a long battle, both their physical strength and morale had been severely depleted, making it impossible for them to continue fighting. They had already lost the capital to fight against the Western Sichuan army. To avoid getting himself trapped, Ma Kei ordered a retreat.

  "Retreat, retreat to the north!" Ma Qi loudly commanded. Then he led a dozen guards and retreated first to the north.

  Those green horse troops and Ma's bandits who were defeated in the battle, upon hearing the order to retreat, seeing Ma Ke fleeing northward, and seeing the Sichuan army reinforcements appearing on the horizon, heard the rumbling of horseshoes, and were suddenly frightened out of their wits. One by one, they didn't care about anything else, desperately running north, fearing being caught by the Sichuan army's reinforcements.

  To know, whether it's Ma Fei or Qing Ma Jun, once they fall into the hands of the Chuan Xi Army, they will not have a good ending. Those who are extremely guilty will be shot dead directly. Those whose crimes are lighter will also be sent to dig mines and repair roads as laborers. For these bandits and Qing Ma Jun, it's better to die than that.

  The Qing army and the bandits, who had collapsed under the fierce firepower of the third company in the barracks, instantly collapsed completely. One by one, they desperately fled northward. Some even thought that fleeing together was too conspicuous, so they escaped separately.

  The change of the bandits caught the attention of the soldiers in the third battalion. Wang Yuezhe, who was on the tower, was the first to discover the arrival of the reinforcements. He had also thought that the reinforcements would not arrive until tomorrow and did not expect them to come so quickly.

  "Brothers, reinforcements have arrived! We are victorious!" Wang Zuoze shouted loudly from the top of the tower.

  "Ah! Victory!" The soldiers of the third regiment shouted loudly. They had killed at least a thousand bandits and Green Horse Army members at the cost of less than ten casualties, which was an enormous achievement.

  Wang Yuezhe quickly ran down from the tower, now that Ma's bandits and the Qing cavalry had collapsed. It was the perfect opportunity to coordinate with the reinforcements and beat the fleeing enemy. Especially those Qing cavalry disguised as Ma's bandits, they couldn't be let off either.

  "Leave some men to guard the barracks, and all who can still ride will follow me. We must not let these bastards get away!" Wang Buzhe shouted loudly. For the soldiers of the third company, casualties were not heavy, and physical consumption was not great, enough to continue fighting.

  "Yes, Commander!" The soldiers rushed to the stables, preparing to mount their war horses and pursue the bandits with Wang Zuo.

  "Commander, it's getting dark soon and it's snowing again. It's not safe to pursue like this!" Wang Wei advised. As King Yongze's deputy officer, his top priority was to ensure King Yongze's safety. If anything happened to King Yongze, how could he explain it to the general?

  "It doesn't matter, let the soldiers bring their cotton-padded jackets and liquor. We must be better prepared than those bandits!" Wang Yuezhe said firmly. He really wanted to catch these bandits, especially those who disguised themselves as Qing Ma Jun, which was related to some of his future plans.

  "Alright then!" Wang Wei saw that Wang Yuze was so insistent, he could no longer persuade him. However, he also had to follow along, at least to protect Wang Yuze at critical moments.

  When Wang Yuezhe and his men were ready, the reinforcements had arrived. The leader was none other than Zhang Shusen, the commander of the second battalion. When he received news that the third company's barracks were being besieged by thousands of bandits, Zhang Shusen was shocked and pale. Without hesitation, he immediately assembled the first company and the battalion's direct troops from their garrison posts, and on the way, he also gathered the fourth company, mobilizing a force of 500 men to rush to the rescue of the third company. Knowing Wang Yuezhe's identity, Zhang Shusen did not dare to be even slightly negligent. If anything unexpected happened to Wang Yuezhe, he would be guilty of a crime punishable by death!

  The deputy commander of the second battalion, Gong Zhiqiang, originally suggested that they should rescue them the next day. After all, it was snowing now, and the journey was long, so by the time the reinforcements arrived, it would probably be dark already. But Zhang Shusen couldn't care less about that, insisting on setting out immediately. Gong Zhiqiang could only stop advising him, he also knew from this aspect how important Wang Ruzhe was, although he still didn't know Wang Ruzhe's identity, but he knew that Wang Ruzhe must have a very powerful background. Otherwise, Zhang Shusen wouldn't have reacted so fiercely after learning about the attack on the military station.

  Along the way, Zhang Shusen led a large cavalry team to rush over in a hurry. The original journey of more than three hours was completed in just over two hours. Fortunately, they arrived in time and the horse thieves did not enter the barracks.

  "Good General!" When they saw Zhang Shusen arrive, Wang Yuez and Wang Wei immediately paid their respects.

  "Where's Ma Fei? What are you all doing?" Zhang Shusen felt relieved when he saw that Wang Yuezhe was fine.

  "Report to the battalion commander, the bandits have just retreated. We are preparing to pursue!" Wang Yuzhang replied.

  "Pursue? No need, it's almost dark on Tianma, safety first." Zhang Shusen said.

  "Report to the commander, this time among the horse bandits, it is very likely that there are people from the Green Horse Army mixed in, we must capture some prisoners!" Wang Yuez insisted.

  Zhang Shusen was very unwilling to make things complicated, but after seeing the determination in Wang Yuez's eyes, he nodded. "Alright, we can pursue them. But don't scatter, or you'll give the bandits an opportunity!" Zhang Shusen said.

  "Yes, Battalion Commander!" Wang Yuze exclaimed excitedly.

  Here is the translation:

  In this way, Wang Yuez's third company joined with a hundred men, and the remaining men were temporarily led by San Pai Shideyou to guard the station. The five hundred men brought by Regimental Commander Zhang Shusen also all joined in the pursuit of Ma Fei's bandits. Although they had been rushing along the way and were somewhat fatigued, they could still hold on. The war horses from western Sichuan were not the short and sturdy plateau horses of old, but rather a cross between plateau horses and German-imported Hanoverian horses, so these war horses not only had great endurance but also strong charging power, and were cold-resistant, making them suitable for use as war horses at critical moments. Therefore, the war horses of the Sichuan army were superior to those of other cavalry units in the country in terms of physical strength and endurance.

  Soon, the Sichuan troops set out, following the footprints left by the bandits, and chased them all the way.

  At this moment, Ma Qi and others did not run far, riding on horseback, Ma Qi was like a defeated rooster. The troops that were finally gathered, along with the surviving horse bandits, were less than two hundred people. Moreover, many people had lost their weapons and were still in a state of shock and fear, clearly having been intimidated by the Sichuan Army.

  After retreating for more than two hours, the sky had completely darkened. The northerly wind was blowing on people's faces, cold to the bone. Moreover, most people lost a lot of supplies while escaping, and now they were both tired, cold and hungry.

  "Let's find a place to camp downwind! Otherwise, we'll all freeze to death!" Ma Qi said with a glance at the remaining Green Wolf Troops. Of the 500 elite troops that had followed him here, only about a hundred were left now. The rest had either fallen in battle or scattered and run away.

  "Master, we are still in danger. What if the Western Sichuan Army catches up with us?" a Qing officer said.

  "Hmph! It's already dark now, and it's snowing. Those guys from the Western Sichuan Army won't come after us unless they're idiots. Alright, let's find a place to camp!" Ma Qi ordered impatiently.

  "Yes, young master!" The officer had no choice but to obey and leave.

  They soon found a place to leeward, where they tied up the war horses on the outside and crowded two hundred people in the center to resist the wind and snow. Ma Ke himself lived in the tent. He and his bodyguards did not join the battle, so these instruments were still carried with them.

  The biting wind, combined with the fact that they had been fighting all day, left the surviving Green Army and bandits utterly exhausted. Even those who were supposed to be on sentry duty began to slack off.

  At this time, not long after the Qing army and Ma's bandits had set up camp, the pursuit troops of the Sichuan Western Army had already caught up. After discovering the camping site of the Qing army and Ma's bandits, they immediately dispersed far away and surrounded the place.

  P.S: Collect it!