Ming Dynasty: Summoning game players at the beginning

Chapter 361 The dim streetlights couldn't illuminate the whole street

At this critical juncture where the fate of the entire army hinges on this battle, Yang Wenyue, unusually, indulged himself.

He ordered the cooks to prepare plenty of meat buns for the three thousand warriors to have a hearty meal, and added three taels of silver as a reward.

As the warriors feasted, they lamented how they rarely had a hot meal, and how they had to risk their lives for enough meat buns. They then shouted, "A head lost leaves a scar the size of a bowl," and "Eighteen years from now, I'll be a hero again..."

"Drive away evil and bring good fortune, make the warrior impervious to swords and spears..." The monks and Taoists chanted incoherently, striking wooden fish and reciting scriptures while burning talismans that surrounded the warrior.

With rewards of money and provisions, plus a "blessing from a sorcerer," the three thousand warriors seemed to be possessed by war gods, or as if their forms had been concealed by magic, making them invisible to the bandits.

Because of a brief downpour during the day, the ground was covered with mud that was both dry and runny.

To avoid getting stuck in the mud and affecting the night raid, all three thousand men removed their armor and put on leather shoes, carrying only waist knives and rattan shields, with a white cloth tied around their necks for identification.

In addition, prepare many sturdy wooden planks, and wrap all the soldiers' cloth shoes and boots with hemp rope several times to prevent them from slipping on the muddy ground.

Once the warriors had assembled, they immediately split into two groups and, guided by the campfires in the bandit camp, stealthily made their way forward in the dark.

Yang Wenyue also gathered soldiers in the camp to await orders. Once the attack succeeded, he would immediately order the main force to launch a surprise attack and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.

As the deputy commander of Xuzhou, Lao Wang led his men quietly across several miles of muddy ground, with only the splashing sound of mud flying in their ears.

When they were about a hundred paces away from the trench, Old Wang suddenly raised his hand to signal. The blade, reflecting the moonlight, was like a bright lamp. The troops who followed him stopped one after another, and the sound of splashing and throwing mud could be heard.

Although the bandit camp in front of them was lit by campfires, it was pitch black outside the camp, and the night patrol soldiers could not be seen at all.

Seeing this, Old Wang couldn't help but laugh inwardly. He laughed at the bandits for being arrogant and conceited after their great victory in the daytime. They didn't take the government troops seriously and didn't even arrange for many sentries to patrol the camp at night.

These peasant rebels don't understand the principle that "pride comes before a fall." They have sharp weapons and enlightened masters, but they will be defeated tonight!
Old Wang observed carefully for a while longer, but seeing no sign of any ambush, he concluded that the bandits were completely unprepared. He then quietly ordered his men, "Lay planks across the ditch!"

At a command, dozens of planks were slowly delivered to the front, and laid across the trench as if on flat ground.

Two thousand soldiers slowly stepped over the wooden planks, and in no time they had covered most of them.

Fifty paces! Just fifty paces more and we'll reach the bandit camp!
Old Wang followed the foot soldiers forward, his thoughts of defeating the bandits sprouting up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. He seemed to be able to kill the bandits' commander-in-chief at any moment and become the "savior" of the entire army!
"Kill the thief!"

Old Wang swallowed his shout and plunged into the tent, wildly slashing with his sword. But after several strikes, he found that the blade returned a dull, stiff feeling, as if he had struck a solid tree trunk.

He looked down and realized that the tent he had entered was completely empty.
The bandits escaped?

Before he could check the other tents, a bright white beam of light suddenly shone in front of him, making him dizzy and disoriented.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself and his men enveloped by several beams of light, which turned out to be more than a dozen single eyes emitting blue light!
In an instant, the officers and soldiers thought that a highly accomplished master had unleashed "divine light." Just as they were filled with astonishment and fear, an excited military order rang in their ears—

"Archers, fire!"

The bullets pierced through the empty camp in an instant, tearing through the light curtain. Before the officers and soldiers could react, they fell backward as if struck by a heavy hammer, and the splattered blood looked like raindrops under the light.

In the dim light, they were blinded by beams of light and attacked by a sudden volley of muskets. The stunned soldiers could not even recognize the direction to escape and were killed by the volley of gunfire. Some even ran into the enemy camp and were surrounded and beaten to death by ten men.

Old Wang was still in shock, but he knew that General Du had guessed the bandits correctly—the bandits were not only skilled in magic, but could also identify people in the night, and had long been prepared to defend against night attacks. Moreover, the bandits' gunpowder had not been soaked in the rain!
In this way, the two thousand raiding warriors became heroes who sacrificed their lives for military merit.

"withdraw!"

Old Wang shouted, and the soldiers scattered and fled. One unlucky fellow, in his panic, accidentally fell into a trench. As soon as he got up, he was swept by a volley of gunfire.

The bandits' light-illuminating magic was amazing, but it could only illuminate an area of ​​about ten steps, and it was not enough to pinpoint the route of the fleeing government troops in the vast darkness.

Thinking of this, Old Wang's fear subsided slightly, and he hurriedly crossed the "wooden bridge" and sped across the ditch. The short, sharp whistles of bullets flew past his ears, and behind him and to his left and right, he heard the muffled groans and screams of soldiers being hit.

However, the bandits' magic was even more astonishing than Old Wang had imagined. Several "balls of light" rose rapidly into the air, trailing flames, instantly illuminating the area within a radius of several hundred paces as if it were daytime.

Looking at the incandescent light in the sky, which resembled a divine object, Old Wang's eyes widened in horror. The "Celestial Master's" magical power had not yet been exhausted.

The Celestial Master allowed them to launch a night raid so that they could be brought into the camp and wiped out in one fell swoop!
In the chaos, Old Wang was protected by his servants and escaped. At that moment, another volley of gunfire swept in, and two or three hundred soldiers were instantly shot and fell to the ground.

Ignoring the gunshots, Old Wang continued running forward, but after running for several dozen steps, he felt his limbs gradually become weak. Looking down, he discovered that a bullet had pierced his side, and a large amount of blood was gushing out.

He involuntarily fell to the ground, his incredulous eyes still reflecting the light of the "spiritual light" high in the sky, his heart filled with only regret and resentment.

The chaotic soldiers, like panicked rabbits, saw the bandits with torches flying across the trench and heard shouts of "Surrender and you'll be spared!" and "Lie down on the ground!" sweeping across the area. They hurriedly threw away their swords and shields and obediently lay down on the ground to soak in the mud.

The rebels' muskets blared under the light screen, and waves of screams and pleas for mercy echoed through the air. The "Spiritual Light and Immortal Technique" hung high in the sky like a jade plate.

Yang Wenyue and others witnessed the collapse of the two armies. The soldiers climbing the mountain suffered even worse losses—it seemed that the enemy soldiers were deliberately playing tricks on them. They only released the spiritual light to illuminate the mountain when the soldiers had climbed halfway up the mountain, and a round of crossbow fire killed and wounded countless people.

The fact that the rebels' gunpowder hadn't been soaked by the heavy rain was no longer a concern; the sudden appearance of "bullets" and "pillars" of light confirmed what Lieutenant General Du had said about the "rebels' secret method."
The Celestial Master not only possesses the power to summon wind and rain, but also to reverse day and night, and his magical powers are not yet exhausted. How can this battle be fought?

With sweat beading on his forehead, Yang Wenyue slapped his thigh, thinking to himself that all the strategies Du had offered in the past few days had been correct.

If I had listened to good advice and prepared accordingly, how could I have suffered so many setbacks!

Right now, let alone turning the tide in one battle, even holding the position is impossible.

More spiritual light shot into the sky, and one "spiritual lamp" after another rushed towards the government troops, as if giants with fire under their feet were gradually approaching.

The rebel soldiers were about to launch a surprise attack while the government troops were in disarray!

Looking around, the camp surrounded by side wagons was already in a state of turmoil. Anyone who had encountered the "Celestial Master's Secret Technique" twice would have been terrified and lost their composure.

During the day they could hold on with their bravery, but when they suffered another crushing defeat at night, they could no longer suppress the overwhelming fear.

The noise in the camp grew louder and louder, and even the soldiers of the governor's standard battalion began to waver.

"The Celestial Master's spiritual light has arrived!"

"Run! If you don't run now, you're going to die!"

"Go to the riverbank, there are rafts to cross the river!"

"Heavenly Master, spare me... Heavenly Master, spare me..." The cowardly defeated soldier knelt by the campfire, kowtowing and chanting like a madman.

The overturned brazier ignited the tents, and thick smoke engulfed the wooden crates and beds, throwing the camp into chaos.

The bugle calls to assemble the troops sounded one after another, but very few officers and soldiers responded. The messengers who crossed the camp never returned, and the sounds of gunfire and fighting filled the air.

By the light of the campfire, a soldier spotted Yang Wenyue's profile. "Governor Yang, my lord has ordered me to come and greet you! Quickly, come with me to cross the river!"

“General Du…” Yang Wenyue looked dejected, seemingly ashamed to face General Du, but then he suddenly remembered something, “Where would we find boats to cross the river in such a hurry?” “My lord had foreseen that the night attack would fail, so he ordered his men to build wooden rafts and simple boats to form a pontoon bridge for the army to cross the river!”

"Good!" Yang Wenyue blurted out, then suppressed his joy and looked at the soldier with a hint of guilt, "General Du's beating injury..."

"It's alright. My master has been toughened up since childhood; ten blows won't hurt his skin."

"Alas, it is all my fault for being so foolish that I have suffered this defeat!"

"Hurry, hurry! Bandits in the mountains, bandits on cavalry from the rear are coming!" At this moment, another defeated soldier shouted as he ran.

"Go!" shouted the battalion commander beside him, and thousands of soldiers immediately surrounded Yang Wenyue and a group of civil officials in the center and rushed towards the river.

The entire route was filled with routs of undisciplined soldiers, their shouts of fighting and killing deafening. Some even turned on each other, fighting over horses and pay.

Some of the fleeing soldiers tried to take advantage of Yang Wenyue, but they were dispersed by a charge from the standard battalion soldiers.

Before long, Yang Wenyue indeed saw two rows of torches planted on the bank, and the gap in the middle was a wooden raft used to cross the river. General Du's soldiers were driving the rafts to build a pontoon bridge in the river.

"General Du is very resourceful!"

However, the number of rafts was limited, and it would take time to build the pontoon bridge, while the number of soldiers who wanted to escape was several times greater.

Desperate to survive, the defeated soldiers couldn't wait for the pontoon bridge to be built. They grabbed the wooden rafts with their weapons. Crimson blood stained the riverbank, and some even fought amongst themselves, bobbing up and down in the river.

"What are you waiting for? Go and lend a hand to Lieutenant General Du!"

At Yang Wenyue's command, thousands of soldiers joined the battle and quickly defeated the fleeing troops.

Seeing that they could not cross the river, and with ghostly "lights" and "beams" approaching step by step, and the roar of cannons almost within reach, they could neither advance nor retreat. They had no choice but to retreat a hundred paces away and wait anxiously on the bank, hoping that they could cross the pontoon bridge before the enemy soldiers arrived.

More and more officers and soldiers crowded the shore, but the soldiers of the standard battalion were in good order and no one dared to rush ahead.

Since crossing the river was temporarily impossible, some people began to discard their helmets and armor, and loosen their clothes, hoping to attach their armor and clothing to their heads and swim across the river.

Before long, the rebel soldiers had defeated the guards of the chariot formation, broken through the side chariots and stormed into the army camp. Just then, the pontoon bridge was basically completed.

As the governor-general of several provinces appointed by imperial decree, Yang Wenyue naturally had priority in crossing the river.

But when he walked more than ten steps and looked back, he saw that the strategist Du, who had been planning everything, was still standing on the shore with his knife, seemingly ready to stay behind to cover the enemy's retreat.

How can this be possible?
Without General Du's resourcefulness and adaptability, the army would have had no chance of crossing the river. How could General Du not have crossed?!
Spurred forward by the standard-bearers, Yang Wenyue still had his mind turned back and shouted, "General Du is well-versed in the enemy's tactics! Quickly follow me across the river to make a living! Our Great Ming cannot afford to lose any more loyal ministers and generals!"

The thief's secret magical light had already reached those around them, and the soil beneath their feet became clearly visible. Their suddenly shortened shadows stretched backward as the light descended.

A Ming army battle flag was embedded several inches into the ground beside him. Du Cang didn't turn around, but instead raised his waist knife high above his head and roared loudly—

"Governor Yang has been fighting the bandits for many days and understands them better than I do... The country is in dire straits, and someone has to step forward to fight. Everyone is only concerned with their own interests and self-preservation, causing obstacles between superiors and subordinates, and hatred between civil and military officials. This is why the affairs of the country have deteriorated to this point! I am not talented enough to know how to save the country, but I am willing to be a loyal minister to protect the country and defend the pontoon bridge for the army!"

"General Du!" Yang Wenyue walked several dozen steps away, his voice trembling with sobs.

"If Governor Yang could go to the capital to meet 'Lord Lu' and tell him that the lowly centurion he promoted back in Yunyang did not embarrass him!"

After speaking, Du Cang said nothing more, but gripped his waist knife tightly, raised his rattan shield, and faced the bandits who were constantly surging in from afar.

"Brother, I'm here to help you!"

"General, it's no fun to be powerful all by yourself."

"You're not the only one with guts, General."

As they spoke, hundreds of soldiers surged in from all directions, while some of the soldiers who had stepped onto the pontoon bridge went against the tide and returned to the shore.

Du Cang looked back and saw that they were all his personal guards who had followed him in his campaigns, and even some auxiliary soldiers had voluntarily stayed behind with their swords, totaling more than a thousand people.

It was fortunate that 30% of his 3,000 followers stayed to die with him.

"Hahaha!" Du Cang's eyes turned red. "Good! Good! Good! It's just a pity there's no fine wine around, otherwise I would definitely drink heartily with my brothers and kill the traitors to my heart's content! You're not allowed to steal my credit later, just watch how I kill the traitors to serve my country!"

"Kill the thief!"

As the outlines of the approaching bandits became clearer, Du Cang's worries and anxieties vanished in an instant, as if he no longer needed to worry about victory or defeat, life or death, and was completely at peace.

To die a glorious death in battle, with such a group of good brothers by my side, Du Cang thought to himself that he had no regrets in dying this life.

He knew that if he escaped by crossing the bridge, he and his brothers could survive, and they could also help the court train more fierce soldiers and kill more bandits.

However, it is clear to everyone that after today's defeat, the imperial court has no more resources to suppress the rebels. Even the Black Flag Battalion is struggling to recover the lost territory in Henan and has no strength to go north to defend the emperor in the short term.

The Ming Dynasty is doomed.

It's time for them to die.

Du Cang cursed the current emperor in his heart for being so incompetent, having such a good minister as Lu Xiang-sheng but not using him, and instead throwing him into prison.

It is fitting that the Ming Dynasty was destroyed and its throne was seized by rebels.

Serves you right! Serves you right! Serves you right!

The people of the north will suffer the most. With many bandit groups rising up, a protracted and chaotic war is inevitable. If the north is embroiled in war for ten years, it will be the common people who suffer the most.

Du Cang suddenly felt exhausted, a kind of frustration that nothing could make him happy, just like what the officers of the Beiwei Army once said, "Destroy it, hurry up, I'm tired."

Perhaps dying here to cover the rear would be a way to escape the terrible atmosphere of "obstruction from above and below, hostility between civil and military officials, rampant corruption, and a tyrannical ruler..."

It's just a pity for his brothers who followed him; he longed to die, but he couldn't actually ask them to go to the underworld with him.

Looking at the military flags fluttering in the evening breeze under the lamplight, Du Cang suddenly recalled the activities that had "erupted" among the officers of the Beiwei Army—

He sheathed his sword, gripped the battle flag tightly, waved it, and shouted at the approaching bandits, "General Du Cang of Yongping here challenges the Red Turban Army officers to a life-or-death duel!"

"Makgora! Makgora! Makgora!"

He pronounced each word heavily, especially the last four words, which he shouted clearly and loudly.

Upon hearing this, a considerable number of the approaching bandits looked astonished, as if they had been under a spell.

That shocked yet delighted look seemed to say, "How do you know about this?"
(End of this chapter)