Chapter 658: Flintlocks in Short Supply
Xu Chenglong and the three water bandits who had yet to be wounded were utterly terrified; they spun around and fled.
Li Daoxuan didn't give chase. He glanced down at the water bandits he'd just felled; those with shattered facial bones were already drawing their last breaths. The others, who had endured his iron fists to their chests and savage kicks to their sides, were also fading fast, their breaths shallow and sporadic.
Surprisingly, the man whose crotch had been brutally assaulted – ah, "man" was no longer fitting; "eunuch" would be more accurate – he was still alive, writhing on the ground, clutching his injured groin.
This incident vividly illustrated that while a blow to the groin was excruciating, it wasn't lethal; a heavy, iron-fisted strike to other vital organs, however, undeniably led to death.
Li Daoxuan seized the man's leg and dragged him, much like one might haul a dirty mop, out of the alley and onto the bustling main street.
The street was teeming with people, and when they witnessed this spectacle, gasps of alarm rippled through the crowd.
But quickly, someone recognized Li Daoxuan as "Benefactor Bai's friend," and the man he was dragging, to anyone's eye, was clearly not of good character.
The common folk immediately calmed down. Some even took it upon themselves to explain on Li Daoxuan's behalf: "This must be a scoundrel, apprehended by Benefactor Bai's friend!"
"Look how dark that man's skin is," someone chimed in, "He's clearly been exposed to the elements. He might even be one of the Xiaolangdi water bandits."
Even more, several people crowded around the alley entrance to peer inside. There, nearly ten figures lay dead or gravely wounded, none of whom appeared to be upstanding citizens.
This simply confirmed their suspicions.
A large crowd of curious onlookers followed Li Daoxuan, watching him drag the man all the way into the county yamen.
Li Daoxuan tossed the man, still clutching his groin, into the main hall of the county yamen.
The Magistrate of Mengjin County and his aide quickly rushed out. Brigadier General Qin Renhong, who was temporarily lodged at the magistrate's residence, also emerged to observe the commotion.
The Magistrate inquired, "Who is this man?"
Li Daoxuan chuckled. "This fellow ambushed me in the alley, but luckily, I proved more than capable and managed to subdue him."
The magistrate's face was etched with worry. "Ah? Young Hero Xiao, are you injured?"
"No, not a scratch," Li Daoxuan replied.
The magistrate whirled around to face the injured man, seething. "How dare you! You dare to attack a distinguished guest of our Mengjin County? Are you unaware he's a friend of Benefactor Bai, revered by countless families? How many of our Mengjin residents has Benefactor Bai saved? How could you possibly dare? I'll have you tossed into the marketplace, and the common folk will tear you limb from limb!"
The injured man's face was bruised purple, and he could only gasp, unable to form words.
Li Daoxuan interjected, "This man is very likely a Xiaolangdi water bandit. They wouldn't have infiltrated Mengjin County merely to kidnap me, I suspect; they probably have some even more nefarious goal."
The moment these words left his mouth, the magistrate's expression darkened, and Brigadier General Qin Renhong, standing nearby, let out a surprised "Hmm."
Neither man was a fool!
Xiaolangdi water bandits appearing in the county town, and at this critical juncture with the Shanxi rebels potentially crossing the river into Henan at any moment—what could they possibly be doing here?
Qin Renhong's expression grew grim. "Interrogate him with force!"
The magistrate nodded. "Interrogate him!"
The injured water bandit shrieked in agony. "Don't use force! You haven't even asked me, I haven't had a chance to confess, and you're already talking about using force? You've got the order all wrong! I'll confess... I'll confess..."
He hastily babbled on, recounting in detail how the Xiaolangdi water bandit Xu Chenglong had defected to the notorious Shanxi bandit Zijing Liang, and then crossed the river to gather intelligence.
Qin Renhong instantly flew into a rage. "Blast it all! You told those Shanxi rebels all about my troop deployments?"
Li Daoxuan added, "Several of the water bandits who tried to kidnap me just now escaped; they should be on the river now, shouldn't they?"
Qin Renhong sprang to his feet. "Damn it! They're certainly beyond pursuit now. I need to go re-adjust our troop deployments!"
He didn't want to stay here for another second, hurrying north, leading a group of personal guards out of Mengjin County and rushing towards the northern bank of the Yellow River.
The magistrate's expression also turned grim. "Grand Hero Xiao, what can be done? Even if General Qin adjusts the troop deployments, no matter how he changes them, the rebels already know his total strength. They know he only has twenty-five hundred men. The rebels will surely force a crossing; no deployment will be effective."
This was the stark truth!
The various bandit factions under Zijing Liang Wang Ziyong together amounted to over two hundred thousand troops. Even if limited by boats, it was impossible for two hundred thousand men to cross simultaneously, but with such a relentless surge of brigands, how could twenty-five hundred government soldiers possibly resist?
In such a scenario, a small county town like Mengjin would be utterly indefensible.
No wonder the magistrate was in a panic.
Li Daoxuan offered comfort. "Don't worry, our Xiaolangdi forces will come to your aid."
The magistrate remained worried. "While Benefactor Bai is very powerful, easily dealing with the Xiaolangdi water bandits, the rebels' strength is not comparable to mere water bandits."
Li Daoxuan knew a few simple words of comfort wouldn't suffice, so he stopped trying to console him, simply stating, "In short, you keep the common people here calm, and leave the fighting on the front lines to us."
Stepping out of the yamen, he swiftly made his way back to his guest room.
Gao Yiye was still fast asleep in bed, her lips slightly upturned, her cheeks faintly flushed, dreaming, he imagined, a pleasant dream. Li Daoxuan returned to the corner of the room, sat down cross-legged, then with a "swoosh," his "co-sensing" shifted to the gold-threaded Heavenly Lord statue on Bai Yuan's chest.
At this moment, Xiaolangdi was already in full combat readiness.
Because this battle was to be fought in front of government troops and imperial officials, Gao Family Village did not intend to deploy its cannon-equipped vessels this time.
They would only use eight armed large cargo ships. Over a thousand militia soldiers from Gao Family Village were forming up, and all these well-trained soldiers were to be stationed on the armed cargo ships.
The newly formed local militia in Xiaolangdi, however, was much larger, numbering over three thousand.
The local militia had only been trained for a few months and had never seen actual combat, so their military quality was not yet high. However, their ideological and political education was, grudgingly, considered satisfactory.
The morale of these new militia forces was exceptionally high.
Because the battle they were about to fight was equivalent to "defending their own homes," this imbued them with a fighting spirit far exceeding that of outside soldiers.
A large group of local militia soldiers were lining up to receive their weapons.
In front of Yellow Turban Fortress, several large baskets were again set out, brimming with a dazzling array of melee weapons.
The commander of the local militia was Jiang Cheng.
He picked up a hand crossbow from a basket and turned to Bai Yuan, saying, "Mister Bai, our local militia soldiers have been training for several months, their ideological awareness has passed muster, and they've mastered the use of muskets through training courses. Now, in real combat, issuing them only melee weapons seems inappropriate, doesn't it? Your subordinate believes they can be issued muskets now."
Bai Yuan looked a little awkward. "Ahem! I know their ideological awareness has passed muster, and they can certainly use muskets now. However, our Gao Family Village muskets are all painstakingly forged by our senior technicians, hammer by hammer. And senior technicians are few and far between. The speed of musket production simply cannot keep pace with the rate of army expansion..."
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