Chapter 557: Little Ma Chao
The common folk of Jiangzhou City all stared wide-eyed, waiting to see the show.
With their limited perspective and experience, they truly couldn't imagine how a deity would help them improve their transportation capabilities.
Then, they saw a giant shovel descend from the clouds.
It dug and dug and dug within the small river channel...
The people of Jiangzhou exclaimed, “Wow!”
“The Fen River... it's wider!”
“The water has deepened too.”
“Heavens! How incredible! What kind of divine power is this?”
“A deity actually used a shovel to dig? Why didn't he just cast a spell and blast it open?”
“This Dao Xuan Tian Zun's divine power is also terrifyingly strong, no weaker than our Ji Wang.”
“After all, he's also a deity,” another added. “Deities are all incredibly powerful.”
Amidst the chatter of the common folk, the Fen River's channel was forcefully widened by a factor of two, transforming it into a medium-sized river forty to fifty meters wide, and the water had deepened considerably.
Of course, the newly excavated channel had murky water and looked quite formidable.
But after settling for a few days, it would regain its usual beautiful color.
With the river channel now complete, the giant shovel and golden colossal hand slowly retracted back into the heavens. The Clay Sculpture Heavenly Lord, who had been standing on the south city wall, then slowly rose into the air, looking down upon the earth, and declared to all the common folk: “Wait a few days, and large ships will arrive from downstream to assist you.”
Having spoken, he swiftly ascended into the sky, vanishing among the clouds.
The common folk looked up at the sky. The low clouds had disappeared, and now a fine drizzle floated in the air. The scene that had just unfolded seemed as if it had never happened, but when everyone looked down, they could see the widened river channel and the battered, unrecognizable Qin Changqing.
What had just happened was no dream!
It was real!
No one knew who was the first to let out a cheer, but then all the common folk in Jiangzhou began to cheer together—
Puxian.
Zijing Liang's main army was camped just outside Puxian City.
He had taken over from Wang Jiayin.
Since Wang Jiayin had been killed by Zhang Liwei in the Battle of Xicheng Mountain, the bulk of Wang Jiayin's forces had all defected to Zijing Liang. Combined with Zijing Liang's own troops, their combined strength was formidable, making them the most powerful faction among the rebel armies at present.
Operating alongside him was Chuǎng Wang (Gao Yingxiang).
Their combined forces neared one hundred thousand.
Yet, these one hundred thousand men had besieged Puxian for several days, and astonishingly, had not taken it!
Puxian was a county town without city walls. As early as the third year of Chongzhen, when the Shaanxi rebels crossed the river into Shanxi, they had already breached Puxian once, tearing down the county town's walls.
Logically, such a city should have been very easy to capture.
However, this time, the one hundred thousand rebel troops had surprisingly encountered a tough nut to crack here.
Zijing Liang gazed at the dilapidated city ahead, his brow furrowed deeply. “Our men retreated again?” he muttered.
“Indeed!” Chuǎng Wang stepped closer, sighing. “We can't breach it. The government soldiers defending inside are fighting too desperately. They're more tenacious than most government troops we've ever faced. They fight fiercely, unafraid of death. When our men clash with these fellows, their morale crumbles instantly.”
Zijing Liang remained silent.
He strained his eyes, peering into Puxian City. He saw, atop the rubble and broken stones of the county town's ruins, a general in silver armor. He couldn't help but curse bitterly: “Little Ma Chao, Ma Xianglin! That damned fellow.”
Meanwhile, the general in silver armor was also frowning, looking toward the rebels' position, his face grim.
He hailed from Sichuan, named Ma Xianglin. He was the son of the renowned late Ming female general, Qin Liangyu.
Because he liked to wear silver armor, ride a white horse, and often charged enemy lines alone, taking the heads of enemy generals, the army called him “Zhao Zilong” or “Little Ma Chao.”
During the Battle of Shanhai Pass in 1621, Little Ma Chao engaged in battle with Manchu forces and was blinded in one eye by a stray arrow. Thus, he earned a new nickname: “One-Eyed Ma.”
In the third year of Chongzhen, One-Eyed Ma was ordered to lead the Sichuan White Pole Soldiers to reinforce Liaodong. He fought several bloody battles against Manchu forces in Liaodong and helped construct Dalinghe City. Only after the city was completed did he lead the Sichuan army back to Sichuan.
However, on his journey back, passing through Shanxi, he happened upon a land overrun by bandits.
He and his wife, Zhang Fengyi, remained in Shanxi, participating in the encirclement and pursuit of Wang Jiayin, and later joining the campaign to suppress Zijing Liang.
Puxian, this city without walls, was able to withstand several days and nights of rebel attacks solely due to the desperate fighting of the Sichuan White Pole Soldiers.
However, after fighting desperately for several days, even the White Pole Soldiers were beginning to feel their strength wane.
Ma Xianglin turned his head and asked, “Is there any news of reinforcements?”
His wife, Zhang Fengyi, also a general, clad in military attire, replied, “No news. Our scouts can't break through. One hundred thousand rebel troops outside have completely surrounded this small county town, preventing any information from entering or leaving.”
Ma Xianglin said, “This is truly dire.”
Defending a small, wall-less city was exceedingly difficult. They could be attacked at any moment, day or night, and the enemy had superior numbers.
The numerically superior side could rest in shifts and attack whenever they pleased.
The outnumbered defenders, however, had to stay vigilant and desperately hold on. Even time for rest became a luxury. Under these circumstances, every day they dragged on made their situation more precarious.
“The imperial reinforcements will arrive soon,” Ma Xianglin said, trying to reassure his wife. “We just need to hold out a little longer.”
Ma Xianglin could only offer this consolation to his wife.
Just then, a sentry perched high up suddenly shouted, “Reinforcements! They've arrived! From the east... a few thousand reinforcements are slowly approaching through the heavy rain! I see tens of thousands of rebel troops breaking off to meet them!”
These words invigorated Ma Xianglin and his wife. They quickly clambered higher as well. Soon, they reached a hastily constructed arrow tower and peered eastward.
The rain was heavy, blurring their vision and preventing them from seeing far. But they could discern the movement of a large mass of troops... Tens of thousands of Zijing Liang's subordinates were moving eastward, and within the thick curtain of rain to the east, only an even fainter shadow of an army could be seen.
Let alone their weapons, even their banners were indistinct.
Ma Xianglin could only vaguely make out that the incoming army numbered only a few thousand.
“Not many reinforcements,” Ma Xianglin's face clouded with worry. “They'll have difficulty saving us. They might even be defeated by the rebels themselves, and we might have to sally out to rescue them.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than a tremendous roar erupted from the east. It was likely Zijing Liang's rebel forces shouting in unison, preparing to charge.
However, their shouts quickly died down.
Because, a louder, more piercing sound of musketry rang out. The musketry was incredibly dense, indicating a massive number of firearms. After a chaotic burst of “bang, bang, bang, bang,” Zijing Liang's troops' battle cries turned into wails of desperation and cries for their parents...
“Chaos!”
Zijing Liang's forces were scattering westward...
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