Chapter 2190 - Ambush

When deciding to camp that night, he found Li-Miao Company Commander Zhen Huan and asked him to take the Li-Miao Company and set off first.

"Guides have been found for you. There are several Yao stockades in the Yonghua Township area. You guys rest a bit, then set off overnight—" He looked at his watch. "Set off at 9 PM. Arrive before dawn the day after tomorrow. Then split up to harass these stockades and create a tension atmosphere."

Zhen Huan nodded. "Yes."

"Only harass, no need to attack. There shouldn't be many able-bodied men in these stockades; taking them would be effortless for you. But you just need to scare them."

"I understand."

"We are here to suppress the riot, focusing on recruitment and pacification. Pay attention not to inflict too heavy casualties when you act."

After receiving the order, Zhen Huan immediately took his company with guides and set off.

Mountain roads were difficult to travel. The troops quickly fell asleep after eating dinner upon camping. Huang Chao, on the contrary, couldn't sleep at all. He had a Dian horse for transport, and carriers handled his luggage; he could be said to be the most relaxed person in the team. But riding a horse all day wasn't pleasant either. Coming down from the horseback, his whole body ached.

The most fatal thing was that this was his first time taking charge alone. Though there were regular army officers under him so he didn't need to manage and command troops himself, he had to decide the general direction, which made him feel quite pressured.

Moreover, there were operations after arriving in the Sanlian area. The scale of "Pacifying the Li" in Ding'an could not be mentioned in the same breath as "Suppressing the Yao" in Guangdong at all. The Li in Ding'an were not only much fewer in population than the Yao in Guangdong, but the terrain was also far less complex than here...

He flipped through his notebook, which contained his plan for launching activities in the Sanlian area and recorded relevant situations. He'd thought of many methods and read a lot of materials, but he had no confidence about whether they'd be effective. He'd worked at the grassroots level for a few years and knew deeply that no matter how good the plan, the effect was completely uncontrollable.

Now the Senate and the Senators of the Guangdong Region were all staring at him. Huang Chao thought to himself, If I can't suppress the Yao chaos in the Sanlian area quickly and cleanly, I'd better go back to raising chickens. He looked up at the dazzling night sky without light pollution in the 17th century, suddenly feeling that he missed his wife and son staying in Lingao very much.

At noon on the third day, Huang Chao led the team to arrive at Yonghua Township and met with the Li-Miao Company which had set off early to conduct harassment.

Zhen Huan reported that he'd already harassed various Yao stockades in Yonghua Township. Similar to Huang Chao's estimation, not a single Yao stockade came out to fight; all closed their stockade gates tightly. Moreover, according to their observation, there were indeed very few men in the villages, mostly teenagers and old men.

"This is good." Huang Chao's heart settled halfway.

At this time, the able-bodied men of various Yao stockades in Yonghua Township were all out, leaving places empty. Huang Chao immediately sent messengers to announce everywhere: "Those who submit to Great Song will not be blamed for the past; those who refuse to welcome the Senate will not be left with a single piece of grass." He also required each village stockade to immediately offer grain, grass, chickens, and wine as "comfort," and simultaneously, each stockade must hand over hostages.

The messengers' arrival immediately threw the village stockades into disarray. The male adults in each stockade were almost empty—after besieging Yangshan County seat, the able-bodied men and even some strong women in the stockades went to carry "war trophies" near the county seat. The stockades were full of half-grown kids not yet fully fledged and old men "holding spears to guard the stockade." If these "Great Song Official Troops" really attacked, they were powerless to resist. So they sent people with "gifts" to express "surrender" on one hand, and sent messengers to Yangshan County to report the emergency on the other.

Huang Chao instructed the troops: Don't intercept; let them go call for reinforcements.

Within a few days, the sent scouts reported: The Yao occupying Yangshan County knew their backyard was on fire and could no longer keep their cool. They began to withdraw from Yangshan, and a large group of men and horses was marching towards Yonghua Township.

There were two roads from Yangshan County seat to Yonghua Township: one went through Dalang Market, taking the mountain road; the other went along the Lian River to Libu Market, going south along the Zhaigang River. The mountain road was shorter. Though the riverside road was relatively flat, the distance was farther. The returning Yao would probably take the mountain road to return to their own villages at the fastest speed.

"Whole army set up an ambush at the mouth of Chengjia River," he issued the order. "The Mountain Company is responsible for luring the enemy!"

Zhen Huan led the troops to spread out in the forests on both sides of the road. Seeing the Yao returning with torches, he ordered the whole company to "fire at will."

According to Huang Chao's order, soldiers fired more sniping shots and killed fewer people, harassing them with sparrow warfare tactics. Though the Yao were fighting on their own doorstep and were very familiar with the terrain, it was difficult to contact each other at night, and the large group dared not spread out to chase. They could only fire back blindly. Helpless against the Li-Miao Company's good physical strength, high training level, and tacit cooperation, after taking sniping shots for a while, when they rushed forward, the Li-Miao Company had long fled without trace. Then as soon as they stopped, there was another round of sniping shots.

In this way, though the Yao didn't lose many lives, they were already burning with anger. Tianchang Gong (Stockade Leader) Pan Tianshun of Sankeng Stockade was relatively calm. Thinking it over, he realized the other side was dealing with them using the method they usually used against government troops. They weren't facing the Great Ming government. So there must be people lying in ambush ahead, waiting for them to fall into the trap.

Pan Tianshun shouted loudly: "Don't chase! There's an ambush!" While telling people around him to find Tianchang Gong of various stockades in the team, asking them to stop pursuing immediately.

However, at this time, several tongues of fire flashed by the forest edge again. With the gunshots, an able-bodied man fell listlessly. The team that had been shouted to a stop by him became restless again. Dozens of young men swarmed towards the place where the firelight lit up to kill.

Pan Tianshun stamped his feet in anxiety. He wanted everyone to stop, but in this situation, even people from Sankeng Stockade might not listen to him completely, let alone other stockades. Baimang Stockade was even more so. Though Baimang Stockade was registered together with other stockades in the Wanli era, it wasn't "submissive" and went out to loot from time to time.

Pan Tianshun felt he was powerless. He only prayed that the opponent didn't have many people. Their four stockades totaled over four hundred. If the opponent had few people, they could still fight—at worst, the fish dies and the net breaks.

The angry Yao took the bait quickly. Under the fight-and-retreat tactic of the Li-Miao Company, they were lured into the encirclement. As a signal rocket flew into the sky, the Li-Miao Company turned around and formed a line. The first volley knocked down over ten people rushing at the very front, instantly suppressing the pursuit team.

Immediately after, rapid bugle sounds and shouting of killing rang out from the ridges and woods on both sides. Shadows of people were everywhere.

Everyone was startled: "We've been tricked!"

Pan Tianshun shouted loudly: "Quick, rush out!"

Before his voice died away, crackling gunshots rang out from the ridges on both sides, like a golden snake dancing along the ridge. Dense bullets poured into the team. In a moment, wailing and screaming filled the team. Dead and wounded, a large patch fell instantly. The remaining crowd exploded instantly, turning into a mess.

Pan Tianshun complained secretly. While gathering the able-bodied men around him, he shouted for everyone to calm down. Fortunately, after firing this volley, the enemy didn't shoot again and became completely quiet.

Since they fell into a trap, they must escape as soon as possible. Actually, the troop strength of both sides was almost the same, and the terrain here was complex. Huang Chao's team couldn't completely surround the Yao armed forces—not to mention the Yao were more familiar with the local terrain.

However, this Yao armed force came from multiple stockades in Yonghua Township. Though nominally commanded by a leader, in reality, each village stockade acted on its own. They couldn't unify command to concentrate forces to break through one point. People from every village stockade spontaneously formed groups to charge towards locations they deemed "possible to escape," and each time they were routed by the National Army. They fell into chaos instantly.

"Tell all units, as long as the enemy doesn't intend to break out, don't open fire." Huang Chao issued orders. "But keep an eye on them; don't let them run!"

This puzzled the troops very much: Just shoot all these barbarians—government troops suppressing Yao had done this since ancient times. Let alone the other side were "rebel bandits" holding swords and spears, even women and children in the stockade would be killed completely without asking whether they were principals or accessories after breaking the stockade.

"Slaughter alone can't solve the problem. We want thirty percent military, seventy percent political. Don't use shooting and killing to solve all problems. It's easy to make people die, but impossible to make them come alive again." Huang Chao said. "Everyone work harder; we'll end the battle after dawn."

The trapped Yao charged blindly for a while, suffering quite a few casualties. But they found that as long as they didn't attempt to break out, the other side wouldn't fire a single shot.

Pan Tianshun understood that the opposite side wanted them to surrender, to capture them all alive.

The opposite side wasn't Great Ming government troops. Though Pan Tianshun and others in the team were somewhat confused about this suddenly appearing "Great Song," the opposite side had more people than them, and the bird guns in their hands were formidable, with short swords attached to the muzzle. It was definitely not a team to be trifled with.

"Everyone don't move blindly!"

Tianchang Gong of each stockade were maintaining their own stockade men, but Baimang Stockade people didn't care about this. Their Tianchang Gong was an old man of nearly seventy, completely unable to control the young adults under him.

"Bird guns fire one round, can't fire the next round immediately. One charge can scatter them. Those who want to live follow me!" A youth from Baimang roared. Half of the Baimang Stockade young adults rushed out following him.

Huang Chao picked up the SKS rifle he'd asked North American friends to buy before passing through time, killed the one leading the charge with one shot, and then roared: "Li-Miao Company, finish off those sticking their heads out!"

Crackling sounds rang out; over thirty corpses were left on the ground. The Yao dared not move blindly anymore. Tianchang Gong of various stockades chattered and held a small meeting. Just now only a hundred guns fired. If six hundred guns fired together, nine out of ten of them would manage to die. As long as the green hills remain, there's no fear of running out of firewood. The remaining three hundred-plus Yao laid down their weapons and chose to surrender.

Huang Chao dared not slack off. Leaving a National Army squadron to guard the captives, he led the remaining troops to march to Yangshan County seat overnight. Not long after dawn, Yangshan, which had become an empty city, returned to the hands of the Senate.