Chapter 1164: Pursuit to the Border Marker
Whether White Pole, Yellow Pole, or Black Pole Soldiers, this Sichuan terrain was their home ground. They had lived their entire lives in the mountains and forests, each one a born master of mountain warfare.
The scattered rebel remnants, encountering these colorful Pole Soldiers in the dense woods, found themselves utterly outmatched and toyed with.
As King Dashing hid in a cave behind Jiange Pass, reports from outside trickled in: "Reporting, King Dashing, Er Zhi Hu was routed by the Enshi Pacification Commissioner and is now fleeing in disarray."
"Reporting, Guo Tianxing was ambushed in a mountain gully by the White Pole Soldiers and suffered heavy losses."
"Reporting, Man Tianxing was ambushed by the Kaixian Yellow Pole Soldiers and utterly defeated."
...
King Dashing: "!!!"
Not a single piece of good news. His subordinates were taking a beating, one-sidedly, and it was simply unbearable.
He couldn't help but wonder to himself: "Could my strategy be flawed? Should we not have dispersed into small groups, but instead gathered into a large army? But then, wouldn't a massed army be exactly what the firearms units wanted?"
A premonition of disaster struck King Dashing: "Dammit, quickly tell them not to hold the hilltop, retreat... don't be in such an obvious position..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the distant roar of cannons erupted—*boom, boom, boom*—a continuous barrage.
King Dashing was startled. He dashed out of the cave, scrambled to the top of a tree, and gazed towards the source of the cannon fire.
In the distance, a massive plume of smoke billowed from a hilltop.
White smoke, black smoke, and a yellow dust storm formed by churning mud and sand, interspersed with bursts of brilliant flame... the entire mountaintop was engulfed.
Though too far to hear any human cries, King Dashing could easily imagine the countless people screaming in terror and agony within that cloud of smoke.
It was terrifying!
When Er Zhi Hu reported that Tieshan Ping had been shelled, King Dashing had only heard about it; he hadn't witnessed it firsthand, so the impact hadn't been as visceral.
Now, watching an entire hilltop being blasted into such devastation before his very eyes...
King Dashing felt goosebumps prickle his skin. He didn't want to imagine what his own state of mind would be if he were caught in that swirling smoke.
"If we gather into a large army, we get shelled like this. If we scatter into small groups, we get ambushed by the White Pole Soldiers who excel at mountain warfare. What are we to do?"
King Dashing suddenly realized he was completely out of his depth.
He couldn't find a single viable strategy.
Gritting his teeth, King Dashing declared, "We'll retreat north... cross the Sichuan mountains and return to Shaanxi. We'll leverage our agility and speed to shake off this terrifying firearms unit. A force this powerful, with so many weapons, must be incredibly expensive. The imperial court can't possibly have many such armies; there can only be one small one like this. It can't possibly chase us across the entire land. As long as we evade it, there's nothing to fear."—
"The Dashing Army is retreating north," a White Pole Soldier scout reported back to Cheng Xu and Qin Liangyu. "Their route suggests they intend to pass through Guangyuan, return to Shaanxi, with Hanzhong Prefecture likely their first stop."
Upon hearing this news, Qin Liangyu and the other chieftains present showed expressions of discomfort.
The chieftains, much like the Ming army, could not arbitrarily cross provincial borders to pursue rebel forces.
Moreover, aside from those like Qin Liangyu, who were devoted to the country, other chieftains would not be willing to pursue bandits all the way into Shaanxi. Their willingness to dispatch troops to Chengdu was already a significant step; asking them to cross provincial lines to engage the enemy now was simply impossible.
Sure enough, as soon as Ran Ke, the Enshi Pacification Commissioner, the Youyang Pacification Commissioner, and the Zhongxian Pacification Commissioner heard that the rebel forces were heading towards Shaanxi, their faces immediately betrayed expressions of, "Ah! We've won, there's no need to fight anymore!"
Zhu Yujian, who had been traveling with Cheng Xu, saw this scene and couldn't help but grow anxious. He sprang forward from the side: "Excuse me, esteemed generals, the rebels haven't been eliminated! Simply driving them out of Sichuan isn't enough. Continuing the pursuit and completely eradicating them is the best course of action."
Ran Ke replied, "But the furthest we can pursue them is near Guangyuan. If we cross Guangyuan and enter Shaanxi territory without orders, we'd be illegally abandoning Sichuan. That's a crime of rebellion, punishable by death!"
Zhu Yujian froze...
Right, he had been demoted to commoner status precisely for such a crime. How awkward.
He couldn't help but turn to look at Zhu Cunji.
He saw Zhu Cunji, wearing a tattered straw hat and a scholar-warrior's green robe, standing on a high cliff nearby, swaggering with a self-important air as he quoted, "The Sichuan Road is hard, harder than climbing to the blue sky... Hahaha... When Li Bai wrote that poem, he must have been describing this stretch of the Sichuan Road from Guangyuan to Hanzhong, right? Let's go, let's see just how difficult the Sichuan Road truly is! Can this great hero of mine even make it across?"
Zhu Yujian: "..."
Cheng Xu stepped forward and bowed respectfully. "Generals, I understand you cannot leave Sichuan, and I do not ask you to pursue them into Shaanxi. However, I request that you press the rebels closely all the way to the border marker. That should be no problem, correct? Furthermore, to prevent the rebels from re-entering Sichuan, we'll need to encamp near the border marker for a period."
"Encamping at the border marker is no problem, as long as we don't cross it," Ran Ke said with a smile. "I certainly owe Padi Tu this much respect."
The Zhongxian Pacification Commissioner also stepped forward: "Gao Chuwu has greatly assisted Zhongxian County. Out of respect for Instructor Gao Chuwu, we are willing to pursue them to the border marker."
"We can too."
The other major chieftains all nodded, expressing their willingness to go.
Cheng Xu chuckled slyly. "Good. Reaching the border marker will be enough."—
Between Hanzhong and Guangyuan lay a towering mountain, treacherous in the extreme.
It was within these very mountains that Li Bai had once written, "The Sichuan Road is hard, harder than climbing to the blue sky."
This mountain was exceedingly perilous, its paths incredibly difficult to traverse. Towering, jagged peaks and treacherous rock formations rose everywhere.
Every climb and descent felt like an ascent to heaven.
Even though the Dashing Army moved with extreme caution, dozens of men still slipped off cliffs and perished.
"This accursed place!"
King Dashing couldn't help but curse.
Just then, a scout from the vanguard returned with a report: "Brother, we've found signs left by Mi Chuang Jiang. He once encamped in a cave up ahead."
King Dashing rejoiced. "Mi Chuang Jiang was here? Excellent! It seems Mi Chuang Jiang once passed through here on his way to Hanzhong. Then we only need to follow the marks he left."
Truth be told, he even missed Mi Chuang Jiang a little.
This capable subordinate, who had inherited the title of Dashing General from him, had gotten separated months ago. He wondered how Mi Chuang Jiang was faring now. If he had already reached Hanzhong Prefecture, he might have even captured it. Then, after crossing this mountain, King Dashing could reunite with Mi Chuang Jiang, settle into Hanzhong, and finally get some much-needed rest.
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