Chapter 315: Preparing to Enter the Mountains
For days, Li Daoxuan had constantly shifted his vantage point, and what he saw of the "returning vagrants" across various regions was profoundly grim.
More than half of these returning vagrants had clearly abandoned any thought of living an honest life.
Along their journey home, they either robbed or murdered indiscriminately. When they encountered the official troops led by Fang Wushang, they would feign obedience, claiming they had accepted pacification and only wished to return home and live honestly. Fang Wushang would then let them pass, but the moment he was out of sight, these groups would immediately resume their pillaging.
If Li Daoxuan hadn't been observing from the heavens, the innocent inhabitants of several villages would have already fallen victim to these ruthless gangs.
Infuriated, he reached out with his Infinite Gauntlet hand and obliterated several groups of these returning vagrants.
Six hundred labor reform prisoners from Guyuan's rebellious army, along with the Gao Family Village Militia, the Gao Family Village Cavalry Battalion, and the larger militia organized by Bai Yuan, were stationed in various villages along the route, fighting daily battles with these returning vagrants. It wasn't until hundreds of heads were displayed in every village along the county border that the subsequent waves of vagrants, seeing such a gruesome display, finally dared not act recklessly. They obediently accepted the food incentive offered by Gao Family Village and decided to return to farming. Yet, Li Daoxuan was wary of easily allowing such individuals into Gao Family Village or any populous county towns, fearing they might cause trouble when his attention was diverted, endangering his own people.
He could only settle them in desolate, uninhabited villages, preventing any contact with law-abiding citizens, thereby ensuring his people's safety from their potential violence.
To pit a thousand men against ten thousand such enemies—even with firearms at their disposal, they dared to claim certain victory. Yet, if the enemy managed to close in, rendering their firearms useless, there was a real possibility of defeat, a risk of at least twenty percent.
But this time, he had to let them take that risk. This particular militia contingent, hardened by their incessant training, simply *had* to be tested. He would have to loosen his grip eventually; better to do so while they were battling Wang Zuogua than when they eventually faced the mighty Qing, wouldn't it?
The blade couldn't be too narrow, nor too thick, and it absolutely couldn't obstruct the firing of the flintlock rifles. Therefore, it had to be fashioned into a long, slender spike, and in this manner, the "bayonet" was born.
With Cheng Xu at the helm, there was little chance of reckless maneuvers; he was renowned for his steady command. Li Daoxuan felt quite at ease regarding him.
The Heavenly Lord Dao Xuan's series of miraculous interventions—conjuring rain from the Dragon King, creating lakes, and forming ponds—had finally helped the people of Chengcheng County overcome the severe drought, breathing vibrant new life into the entire region.
As soon as he appeared, everyone understood that the Heavenly Lord was personally overseeing this matter. Though months had passed since preparations began, Li Daoxuan still harbored the deep-seated vengeance for the seven villagers who had been slain. The epithet "Vengeful Heavenly Lord" was indeed well-earned.
Funnily enough, though Li Daoxuan hadn't provided any specific guidance, the blacksmiths of Gao Family Village had independently developed the bayonet for the flintlock rifles. It seemed human ingenuity was universal; at a certain stage of technological development, similar inspirations naturally arose. Li Daoxuan, observing their determined expressions, couldn't help but shake his head, laden with the weight of the task ahead. The force comprised eight hundred flintlock rifles, one hundred grenadiers, and the remaining eight hundred men still using traditional cold weapons. "I want you to understand one thing," Li Daoxuan told his people in a light, yet firm, tone. "Your lives are the absolute priority. Do not sacrifice yourselves carelessly just to suppress a bandit. Suppressing bandits will happen sooner or later, but once your lives are lost, they are gone forever."
The only option left was relentless suppression. Liang Shixian, for his part, soon received unsettling news: the returning vagrants, operating near Hancheng along the Tongguan Road, were behaving outrageously, causing chaos, and slaughtering numerous innocent civilians. This had made the people of Hancheng bitterly resentful of the "pacification policy."
Unfortunately, unlike Li Daoxuan, the Ming officials did not possess unlimited food supplies. They couldn't pacify the vagrants with food, and even displaying countless severed heads wasn't enough to control the situation long-term. While the returning vagrants were initially intimidated by the gruesome displays and refrained from causing trouble, after a few days of hunger, they invariably resorted to robbing the local populace again. Only by then sending them sufficient provisions, making them feel they no longer needed to steal to survive, could they slowly revert to a normal state of mind.
Meanwhile, Cheng Xu slowly calculated the odds in his mind. With the Heavenly Lord present, victory was, of course, a hundred percent. But what if the Heavenly Lord wasn't there? Wang Zuogua's army numbered at least ten thousand, a force bolstered by a mix of border troops and deserters from imperial garrisons and postal stations. Their combat effectiveness was now considerably higher than before.
A significant improvement, Cheng Xu realized, as the pressure suddenly mounted.
Meanwhile, the Gao Family Village Militia, now expanded to a thousand strong, began their preparations to venture into the mountains and suppress the bandits, seeking vengeance for the seven villagers who had been assassinated. Every village and town had already harvested a large amount of grain. However, hearing the Heavenly Lord’s words about fighting without his direct assistance, the militia felt a touch of apprehension.
Early in the morning, Gao Yiye arrived at the barracks entrance.
Accustomed to having the Heavenly Lord's vigilant gaze upon them from the heavens, they were now told he wouldn't be directly accompanying them this time. Every man felt a subtle tremor of apprehension, a quiet lack of confidence. "Didn't that imply a twenty percent chance of defeat?" they wondered, recalling the Heavenly Lord’s earlier calculation.
Morale, it seemed, had suffered a slight, almost imperceptible tremor. Meanwhile, Hong Chengchou adopted the exact same tactics as He Jiu: any returning vagrants who caused trouble were captured and executed, their heads then prominently displayed at the entrances of every village and town. This grim spectacle was meant to make subsequent waves of vagrants consider the fate of those heads before deciding whether to cause unrest.
Across the countryside, where lines of authority often blurred and supplies were readily plundered by vagrants, Li Daoxuan's gaze swept over the militia. He meticulously checked their equipment using his "Focus" function, feeling quite satisfied. A thousand men in such a force, he mused, as long as they avoided reckless maneuvers, should be more than enough to handle someone like Wang Zuogua.
"I must attend to Gao Family Village," Li Daoxuan explained, his tone grave. "Once you march into the Huanglong Mountains, I will be unable to directly assist you. You must fight this battle without my direct intervention. This is a situation you will inevitably face, sooner or later. I cannot protect you forever; you must ultimately rely on your own strength to fight these arduous battles."
After the riflemen complained once that "the firearms become useless once the enemy gets too close," the blacksmiths began racking their brains. Finally, they figured it out: just attach a blade to the front of the flintlock rifle! Just then, an old woman flew across the sky in the background, her flight ethereal and graceful, trailing dozens of long, colorful ribbons, like the Moon Goddess Chang'e herself... Ah, no, it was his grandmother when she was young, probably around seventy years old.
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