Chapter 329: The Curtain Falls

The volley of rifle fire shook the entire ice surface. The front rank of the five hundred “dragoons” seemed to have suddenly collided with an invisible wall, and men and horses fell in a heap.

The fallen horses and riders immediately became obstacles for the following men and horses, and immediately more men and horses fell to the ground.

After being hit by two volleys of rifle fire, Chen Guangfu’s troops had already lost fifty or sixty riders in an instant.

The infantry calmly loaded and fired according to the sergeants’ commands. Although there was only a two-rank line, the density of fire far exceeded that of the “three-deep formation” of matchlock guns of the same era.

“Charge!” Chen Guangfu pressed his body low, almost completely lying on his horse’s back—but except for a few of his personal guards and retainers who could ride, the horsemanship of the others was only so-so. Under the dense rain of bullets, the soldiers neither dared to spur their horses to gallop nor knew how to control their horses to make evasive maneuvers, becoming targets on the bare ice surface.

The sound of gunfire rang out in volleys, and more and more people fell on the ice. In the chaos, some people reined in their horses and tried to flee, while others were carried around on the ice by their frightened horses, not knowing what to do. The scene was extremely chaotic.

Chen Guangfu knew that a flanking attack from the ice was no longer possible—the enemy was well-prepared, and there were obviously a large number of well-trained militia on the island. Even if he charged up with his men, he would not gain any advantage.

With a whistle, the remaining men turned their horses around and fled towards the shore in a panic. Some whose horsemanship was not good and whose horses were frightened and out of control simply abandoned their horses and fled on foot.

“Fire at will!”

The rifles followed the fleeing rebels, and from time to time, someone was hit and fell on the ice.

“Boring—” Zhu Mingxia said, and suddenly he heard the sound of fierce artillery fire again. He looked back and saw that the sandbar was filled with artillery fire and thick smoke, and the large group of rebels gathered on the sandbar was like an avalanche, rushing down from the sandbar regardless of their lives, and running wildly on the ice.

This time, the artillery fire was a rapid fire, lasting less than three minutes. All the cannons fired at their maximum rate of fire at the 4471 area.

This place was instantly engulfed by artillery fire. In the black and red explosions, only fragments of armor, weapons, flags, and vehicles could be seen being thrown up, while the flesh and blood of men and horses could no longer be seen clearly.

The large group of rebels gathered on the sandbar, whether they were combat troops, auxiliary troops, or conscripted refugees, were all plunged into desperate panic at this moment. Seeing the central army’s banner being engulfed by the artillery fire, although not a single arrow or bullet was fired from the frontal willow fence, the entire formation still collapsed.

The crowd on the sandbar was like a pot that had exploded. Because cannonballs were still falling behind them, many people simply slid down from the sandbar and tried to bypass the ice to escape to the land. But the ice in this section was not very solid, and there were also ice crevices. The ice surface had also been hit by many cannonballs during the artillery barrage just now and was already in a state of disintegration. How could it withstand the trampling of thousands of people? With a few cracks, the ice surface suddenly shattered. The people who had gone down to the ice were caught off guard, and many of them immediately slipped into the ice crevices. Before they could struggle and call for help, they were submerged by the floating ice. For a time, screams and cries for help filled the sky. The floating ice and the ice crevices were filled with floating bodies.

Ma Linxi also went down to the ice in the chaos. In the chaos, he was pushed and fell into an ice hole. Fortunately, he was extremely cautious and had grabbed a carrying pole before going down to the ice. Although he fell into the ice hole and his whole body was numb with cold, he still desperately used the carrying pole to hold onto the floating ice and avoided being submerged. He took a deep breath and, with all his might, finally climbed out and lay on the ice, panting heavily.

Although the refugees were weak, at least they were not wearing armor. Those who fell into the ice holes and crevices had a chance to climb out. Most of the rebels were wearing armor, and the combat troops were all wearing iron armor. Once they fell, the iron armor would pull them straight down. A few who were quick-witted quickly abandoned their armor and managed to escape with their lives.

“Cease fire, prepare to attack!” Chen Sigen put down his telescope. The enemy had collapsed, and continuing to fire would only be more killing. Seeing that the broken ice was already full of corpses, continuing to fire would only be a meaningless massacre.

Chen Sigen immediately ordered a battle line infantry company and a militia company to open the gate of the willow fence and begin the pursuit. Zhu Mingxia’s three companies also swept across the ice and launched an attack on the flank of the routed troops—he planned to try to block most of the routed troops on the sandbar and wipe them out in one fell swoop.

The rousing melody of the charge horn sounded. More than a dozen buglers blew their horns at the same time, and the various companies, like tigers descending a mountain, charged towards the routed crowd with bayoneted rifles. The slogan “Those who surrender will not be killed!” resounded through the sky.

The counter-charge accelerated the process of the rebels’ disintegration and rout. Thousands of people threw away their weapons and clubs and, with all their might, screamed and ran desperately, like the desperate howls of animals before they die. From time to time, people would fall in the pushing and shoving of the rout and be trampled to death by the people behind them. Some even used their swords and spears to cut down the people in front of them to open a path.

This desperate struggle for survival left Chen Sigen dumbfounded—he had never seen such a cruel battlefield. Although he had also routed the entire government army at Chengmai, the battlefield was vast, and there were not nearly ten thousand people crowded on this sandbar to escape.

“Everyone, run!” Zhu Mingxia waved his saber and commanded the three companies to run wildly. He was anxious to seal the entrance of the sandbar before the routed troops could escape—although this nearly ten-kilometer-long sandbar could barely be passed on both sides with the ice, as long as the entrance was blocked, he could capture the majority of the rebel army this time.

Killing a certain number of people was not the goal; obtaining the greatest benefit was the main thing. Zhu Mingxia knew very well the character of the Senate. War and killing, in the final analysis, must have a return. It was far from enough to be satisfied with the military merit of “beheading XX.”

Zhu Mingxia led the fastest light infantry company and finally arrived at the junction of the sandbar and the mainland. Because they had run so fast, the “typewriters” that had been attached to the infantry were all left behind.

However, he was still a step too late. Before this, some of the cavalry and the troops at the rear of the column had already escaped and were running wildly towards Huang County.

Zhu Mingxia did not bother to pursue them. He ordered the troops to immediately occupy the camp—Mao Chenglu was not an ordinary person. He knew the importance of this place and had set up a camp here before the entire army launched its offensive, leaving five hundred combat troops, five hundred auxiliary troops, and many firearms to guard it in case the rear was lost.

However, at this moment, with the central army annihilated and the entire army collapsed, the rebel soldiers guarding the camp were already in a state of panic. Some had already jumped off the stockade wall and fled. The major guarding the camp was a close subordinate of Mao Chenglu and knew the importance of this place, so he was still desperately suppressing the troops.

The light infantry company deployed in a skirmish line while advancing, first firing a volley, and then charging towards the camp in one go. A cannon shot suddenly sounded from the stockade wall, and hundreds of various firearms on the stockade wall opened fire at the same time. For a time, smoke filled the air, but it did not kill many Fubo Army soldiers. Zhu Mingxia sneered with contempt. It seemed that this bad habit of firing before the target was in range could not be changed.

Although the rebels on the stockade wall had fired once, seeing this group of people charging up with bayoneted muskets regardless of everything, and with the cries and screams on the sandbar, the already panicked morale could no longer be maintained. The remaining hundreds of people immediately collapsed in chaos.

Zhu Mingxia commanded the entire army to break into the camp, on the one hand to clear out the scattered soldiers, and on the other hand to have someone replace the flag with the star-fist red flag. In an instant, a large group of routed troops had already charged over, and hundreds of the faster ones had already fled past the front of the camp.

“Block the intersection with firepower, bring the megaphone,” Zhu Mingxia excitedly stuck his command saber into the ground and, amidst the sudden burst of rifle fire, picked up the microphone of the electric megaphone and roared, “Those who surrender will be spared!”

The defense of Qimu Island thus came to an end. The work of clearing the battlefield and capturing prisoners continued until night. Except for most of Chen Guangfu’s troops who had escaped, the rest were either dead or had surrendered. Less than two thousand had escaped. The number of rebel prisoners was more than six thousand. Countless baggage and firearms were captured, and the biggest gain was the capture of a large number of horses, donkeys, mules, and cattle.

More than a dozen generals, including Mao Chenglu, were killed—all were company commanders or above. Zhu Mingxia ordered the captured rebels to identify the corpses one by one, and the heads of the identifiable rebel generals were all cut off and preserved with lime. These were prepared as gifts for Sun Yuanhua. Old Sun now badly needed something to show the court.

The rebel prisoners were stripped of their armor and tied together with ropes, and were temporarily held in the open in the camp—there was no housing, and the island could not accommodate so many people.

Regarding the disposal of the rebels, the three of them had different ideas. The conscripted refugees would naturally be transported to Jeju Island, but there was a dispute over how to deal with these battle-hardened old soldiers. The simplest way was to send them to Sanya to do hard labor in the mines, or, a better option, to be incorporated into the road construction team to atone for their crimes, just like the prisoners from He Rubin’s unit.

However, Zhu Mingxia believed that the prisoners could be released to avoid excessively weakening the rebel’s combat effectiveness and to let the turmoil in Dengzhou last longer. By the way, he could also get in touch with Kong Youde and have a non-aggression pact between the two sides—he could even ask the rebels to help recruit refugees, since they were very skilled at it—and he wouldn’t have to get his own hands dirty.

Lu Wenyan expressed his opposition. Conscripting refugees was their basic strategy. Handing the refugees over to Qimu Island was equivalent to giving up a part of their interests, which would inevitably involve the issue of exchanging interests.

“What do you plan to exchange for the refugees?” Lu Wenyan asked. “Why would they hand over the refugees they captured from attacking cities and stockades to us?”

Grain, firearms, and gunpowder were all things the rebels needed, but Lu Wenyan was reluctant to part with them. These things were also in short supply for them.

“Exchange?” Zhu Mingxia sneered. “The exchange is to ensure the safety of the rebel’s communication lines in Huang County!”