Chapter 320: The Refugee Crowd

The cavalry corporal slung his short-barreled Minié rifle over his shoulder, handed the reins to one of his soldiers, and stumbled through the snow to a corpse. He turned the body over with the toe of his boot.

The deceased had a dark, rough, weathered face, making it impossible to tell his age. The body was clad in crude iron armor, and a helmet had rolled far away. The corporal carefully examined the dirty, worn-out uniform and equipment on the body, which felt very familiar. Three years ago, the corporal had been a cavalryman in the Guyuan garrison. When the Tartars first entered the pass, he had followed the army to the capital to “defend the king.” He had deserted and become a straggler in the Central Plains due to unpaid wages.

The vicissitudes of life had eventually led him across thousands of li to become a cavalry corporal in the Fubo Army, wearing a cavalry greatcoat. The other party only carried a long saber and no bow and arrows, clearly not prepared for an armed conflict—they were just out to rob.

The corporal glanced around. His soldiers were gathering the horses left behind by the rebels. The commanders valued horses very much, and the merit of bringing back these few horses would be enough.

The corporal took the long saber from the corpse’s side and threw it on the horse. This long saber was still of some value. They were currently short of cavalry weapons. Lingao had not yet manufactured cavalry sabers, so the cavalry was also equipped with standard machetes. Although the quality of the blade was good, it was not very suitable for cavalry combat. Therefore, Zhu Mingxia had ordered them to pay attention to collecting Ming army cavalry long sabers suitable for cavalry use.

After rescuing the first batch of refugees, the cavalry squad continued to search for the large group of refugees mentioned in the intelligence. It was not difficult to find them. In the clear weather, the dust raised by the large group of people moving could be seen from a long distance.

They soon found them, and their position was not much different from the initial reconnaissance. The large, disorderly column moved slowly, covering less than two kilometers per hour.

The reconnaissance cavalry carefully stopped at a distance and observed the refugee column.

The refugee column was large and mixed. Although it looked like a gray, messy crowd, there was actually a certain organization within it. It was generally centered on the village and clan, forming groups within groups. The able-bodied men walked on the outside, with the old, weak, women, and children in the middle, interspersed with wheelbarrows carrying tattered belongings and grain. Sometimes, those who could not walk or were weak could ride on the carts for a while.

There were also some who were marginalized, completely pushed to the periphery of the crowd, receiving no rest or help. Except for the particularly strong, they gradually fell behind and became prisoners of the rebels or corpses on the snow.

The corporal did not rush forward on his horse. A dozen men could not control so many refugees. If they were to scatter the crowd, it would be even more difficult to handle.

However, at this moment, he suddenly noticed the snow smoke raised by horses galloping by the side of the column. He couldn’t help but shout, “There’s a situation! Pay attention!”

All the soldiers straightened up and observed their surroundings. Through the gaps in the crowd, they could vaguely see some cavalrymen quickly passing by the periphery of the crowd. Every time they passed close to the edge of the crowd, a cry of alarm would ring out.

The corporal knew that these refugees had been entangled by the rebel cavalry. The rebels were few in number, and they did not dare to drive away the thousands of people gathered together. They just harassed them from the side, launching occasional raids to disperse the refugees on the edge, slow down their progress, and exhaust their strength. They would wait for other large rebel forces to arrive and then slowly carve up this big fish.

The two sides were thus deadlocked. The refugees knew very well that the longer they delayed, the more rebels there would be, and the harder it would be for them to escape. In the end, they would inevitably be doomed. Some villages had organized militias in the past and, relying on the weapons in their hands, had also organized actions to drive away the rebel cavalry. But this loose attack had little effect other than getting a few people killed by the rebels. It only temporarily drove the rebels away, and soon the rebels would follow again. The column could not move at all. But a small number of people breaking away from the main group and moving quickly could not guarantee their safety—no clan or village group could withstand the assault of fifty or sixty cavalrymen without breaking up, even if they had several hundred people.

In this slow advance with frequent small clashes, many people had already exhausted their strength. Many exhausted people simply sat down on the ground, closed their eyes, and waited for death.

The reconnaissance cavalry immediately turned back to find the main force and report the exact location of the column. Zhu Mingxia immediately ordered the entire army to seize a favorable position and intercept the refugee group head-on.

When the main force arrived, the refugee group had completely stopped moving. About a hundred rebel cavalrymen were circling around the refugees, and from time to time, someone would shoot an arrow into the crowd, like wolves watching a flock of sheep. The situation was very dangerous.

“Huang Xiong! Form up!” Zhu Mingxia shouted.

“Yes, sir!” Huang Xiong immediately ran out. “Two-rank line!”

Following his command, the non-commissioned officers quickly relayed the order. One infantry company deployed in a two-rank battle line 75 meters wide on the slope in front of a small hill. Two “typewriters” were placed on the flanks. Although the 12-pounder mountain howitzer was light, its ammunition was inconvenient to carry by hand, so Zhu Mingxia had not brought it.

The militia company and the supply company were behind the main force, guarding the work team and the refugees collected along the way.

This formation was very novel at the time, especially the strangely thin battle line. At the level of firearms at that time, it was not enough to support such a weak battle line. Just as the rebels, who had gathered to prepare for battle, were wondering what kind of ridiculous formation this was, Zhu Mingxia raised his SKS-D and fired the first shot. One shot hit a rebel, and the 7.26mm M43 bullet passed through his body and hit another rebel. This rifle, after modern modification, was very comfortable to shoot. Some elders who did not understand military affairs had once mistaken it for an AK-47. The semi-automatic firing mode also had fierce enough firepower. In this time and space, automatic fire was more often a waste of ammunition.

After the first shot was fired, Huang Xiong immediately ordered a volley. The battle line fired two consecutive volleys according to the manual. The cavalry, who were gathered together, were immediately thrown into chaos. Although the distance of more than two hundred meters greatly reduced the accuracy of the shooting, the rebels being concentrated together allowed the Minié rifle to exert its advantage in group target firepower.

Two waves of lead bullets swept through the rebel ranks. Cries of pain and the neighing of horses immediately erupted. Those who were hit and fell from their horses were immediately trampled to death by the wounded and frightened horses.

“Fire at will!” With Zhu Mingxia’s command, more than a hundred rifles opened fire one after another. Then the two “typewriters” also spat fire. The rebels were hit and fell from their horses one after another. Some rebels who were not hit saw that the situation was not good and spurred their horses to flee.

Zhu Mingxia fired half a clip and only managed to take down one more person. At a distance of more than two hundred meters, hitting a moving target was very much a matter of luck, so he did not waste any more ammunition.

“Cease fire!” he commanded. “Cavalry, go and collect the horses! Be quick! Work team, militia company, control the refugees!”

He noticed that the refugees had been in a commotion during the battle and seemed to be about to move again. The situation had to be brought under control immediately, otherwise, if the crowd dispersed, the objective could not be achieved.

He had just used a luxurious lineup and a grand display to drive away dozens of rebels. On the one hand, it was to quickly stabilize the situation, and on the other hand, it also had the meaning of killing a chicken to scare the monkeys: to drive away the rebels with thunderous means and scare the refugees silly.

After dispersing the rebels, the reception team took control of the refugees. Zhu Mingxia ordered the soldiers to guard the refugees with their weapons, and the huge “typewriters” were also fiercely aimed at these poor people. He did not think that these thousands of people would obediently follow him. These people had managed to get here, and they were already a large-scale armed group of vagrants. He noticed that many of the able-bodied men had clubs and sharpened wooden spears in their hands, and some also carried farm tools as weapons. There were too many variables on this road, and most importantly, there were still the rebels eyeing them covetously. He had to use some tricks to complete the task.

This place was less than twenty li from Huang County. If the main rebel infantry force set out from Huang County, they could arrive here in two hours without delay. The cavalry would be even faster.

However, according to the scouts’ report, the main rebel force in Huang County was still busy raping, plundering, and enjoying their spoils in the city. The forces outside the city were still mainly small, scattered groups, and a large-scale pursuit would not be formed in a short time.

“Huang Xiong, tell your men to get some ropes and tie up these refugees. You’ll see how I can turn beans into soldiers.”

After the cavalry shot and killed several refugees who tried to escape in the chaos, the entire refugee column came to a halt. The work team and the militia shouted through their megaphones, “Everyone kneel down! Hands on your heads!”

Zhu Mingxia’s plan to turn beans into soldiers was very simple. First, he selected the stronger refugees from the crowd. According to Zhu Mingxia’s request, as long as they were physically strong and in good spirits, they were divided into groups of twenty, with men and women mixed. Their right hands were tied to a rope at intervals of sixty centimeters, so they could only walk in a single file. Then, a militiaman would lead the rope, and the stride and speed would be controlled by the militiaman. These militiamen were all selected, strong, and had good training results. They already had a sense of formation. Letting them lead the refugees really had the effect of a neat column. With order, the column moved faster.

All the belongings on the wheelbarrows, except for grain and cotton clothes, were discarded to let the old, weak, women, and children ride. They were placed in the middle of the column. Because the wheelbarrows were limited, some of the children were carried by some of the stronger men and women.

The work team did not need to persuade or entice them. With soldiers with bayoneted rifles following behind, any refusal or delay was met with a merciless rifle butt and a gleaming bayonet. As a result, the chaotic refugee group was quickly organized.

According to Zhu Mingxia’s estimation, there would be no problem reaching the transit point before dark. At that time, these refugees could be crowded together to rest and keep warm. After dawn, even if a large enemy force pursued them, he could rely on the village to fight a battle and repel the enemy without any difficulty.