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Chapter 723 Commander Shi Arrives

Chen Qiyu, the Governor of Yansui, was resting in an abandoned temple called Gadu Monastery.

A few days earlier, Chen Qiyu had mustered two thousand local garrison troops, supplemented by his own personal guards, and set out to relieve Yanchang County.

They had initially followed the main road, but along the way, they encountered small groups of bandits.

Seeing bandits, naturally, they had to suppress them!

Chen Qiyu waved his army forward in pursuit, and that's when things went awry.

The bandit forces led him on a chase, drawing him deep into the rugged, ravine-filled countryside of Yanchang County. Soon, Chen Qiyu found himself in the same predicament as the Gao Family Village militia.

It was perilous to traverse such a deeply-cut terrain without sending out scouts.

But once scouts were dispatched, there was no guarantee they would return.

Many scouts didn't even have time to issue a warning before they were ambushed by bandits and perished in the mountain ravines.

This was truly a difficult battle!

It wasn't just Chen Qiyu who found it difficult; even the Nationalist Party in later generations, encountering the Communist Party's "Shaanxi-Gansu Guerrillas" here, would have been beaten to tears.

In an era where technology was underdeveloped, how could one easily overcome such a terrain disadvantage?

Chen Qiyu's troops were far from elite; they were merely a group of dispirited garrison soldiers. Faced with such difficulties, the army's morale plummeted dramatically.

A pervasive fear of battle spread throughout the entire force.

Many now simply wished to retreat to Yan'an Prefecture, with no desire to continue on to Yanchang County. They didn't care if Yanchang County lived or died.

"Governor, why don't we simply withdraw to Yan'an Prefecture?" General Luo Xi suggested. "We simply can't save Yanchang County with our current forces."

Chen Qiyu fumed, "Nonsense! We just need to retreat to the main road, then follow it to Yanchang County."

Luo Xi countered, "Even the main road cuts through these same hills and ravines. Even if we reach it, the situation won't change; we'll be ambushed by bandits the entire way. The soldiers have long lost their will to fight. Continuing like this is a death trap."

Chen Qiyu remained silent, his frustration evident.

As they spoke, a desperate cry suddenly echoed from the distant hilltop. A scout positioned there fell, struck by an arrow, and tumbled down the slope.

Another scout had been ambushed.

Just as the two processed this, they realized something was wrong. This wasn't merely an ambush on a scout; shouts of battle suddenly erupted from a northern ravine, and a large horde of bandits surged out.

The scouts who had been stationed in that ravine earlier hadn't sent back any warnings. It seemed the bandits had ambushed the scouts and then crept through the gully.

Chen Qiyu sprang to his feet, crying, "Engage!"

But no sooner had he shouted than he saw his soldiers were not charging toward the enemy but scattering in the opposite direction.

Chen Qiyu's heart sank. *Disaster! Morale is gone.*

General Luo Xi roared, and his personal guards, the Luo family soldiers, rushed to encircle and protect both Luo Xi and Chen Qiyu. Chen Qiyu's own personal guards likewise closed ranks around him.

Both sets of guards shouted, "Master, retreat quickly!"

"The garrison troops have broken. Our two families' guards alone can't hold them off."

Chen Qiyu was furious, but helpless. He could only retreat southward under the protection of his guards.

They hadn't retreated far before another roar of shouts erupted from a southern ravine, and another bandit force burst forth.

The government troops, already scattering southward, heard this and froze in terror, then spun around and fled into a western ravine.

But then the shouts of bandits echoed from the west, followed by the east...

In an instant, battle cries erupted from all directions, north, south, east, and west.

The small, dilapidated Gadu Monastery had never seen so many people since its construction.

The half-smashed Buddha statue inside the temple, with its severed head, seemed to be grinning.

Chen Qiyu demanded, "Is this a joke? So many bandit forces surrounding us, and our scouts had no reaction whatsoever?"

General Luo Xi replied, "Our scouts are useless in this godforsaken place. Governor, stop scolding and run! With the fighting strength of our two families' guards, if we choose a ravine with fewer bandits and fight our way out, we might just make it."

Although the garrison troops had broken, the personal guards of the Luo and Chen families remained unbroken and still fought with fierce courage.

They chose the southeast direction, where the bandit presence seemed thinnest, and charged fiercely.

The guards, fearless of death, hacked wildly and desperately pushed forward.

Yet, even in the ravine with the fewest bandits, their numbers were still vast, piling up in layers and filling the gully.

Though the guards were fierce, fighting their way out would not be easy.

If the bandits ahead weren't cleared, the pursuers from behind would close in, trapping Chen and Luo in a pincer attack — a certain death.

Both men were gripped by intense panic.

Just then...

The sound of muskets suddenly echoed from the ravine ahead.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A volley of shots rang out, and then the bandits ahead fell into disarray.

Luo Xi was ecstatic. "Someone's charging from the front! They've come to help us! Now the bandits ahead are caught between two fires!"

Chen Qiyu's spirits also lifted. "Coming at this moment, it must be Shi Jian, the Commander of Hejin."

Luo Xi, reinvigorated, ordered, "Charge! Push forward quickly and link up with the reinforcements as soon as possible!"

But his guards were sweating profusely. "Master, we cannot charge! The reinforcements are using muskets against the bandits. If we charge into the bandit ranks, we'll be shot by our own men's muskets. We should form a defensive line and hold here for a while."

Luo Xi stammered, "Ah?"

Chen Qiyu realized that this man was less competent in battle than his own personal guards.

The guards stopped scattering. They defended their positions fiercely in the small ravine, blocking both front and rear.

Musket fire erupted from the southeast, a continuous "bang, bang, bang," and the bandit troops in the ravine ahead of Chen and Luo grew increasingly panicked.

The Gao Family Village musket squad was coming from behind them; no one could stand against the musketeers for even a moment. But if they tried to flee towards Chen Qiyu and Luo Xi, they were blocked.

These bandits had seemingly dug a trap for themselves and walked right into it. There was no escape; they were utterly boxed in.

A large group of hardened bandits dropped their weapons, knelt by the walls on either side of the ravine, surrendering, no longer daring to resist.

Those who refused to surrender fell one after another amidst the continuous crack of muskets.

Before long, Chen Qiyu finally caught sight of the reinforcements. Just as he expected, it was the "government troops" led by Shi Jian, the Commander of Hejin.

This contingent of "government troops" was extraordinary; every single soldier carried a musket.

Like an autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves, they cleared the ravines of bandits, leaving behind only trembling, kneeling surrenders by the mountain walls.

Shi Jian rode his horse up to Chen Qiyu, cupped his hands in greeting, and declared, "Governor, your humble subordinate has arrived!"

Chen Qiyu was overjoyed. "Commander Shi, you arrived just in time! And what perfect timing, coming through this very ravine. If you had taken another path, I fear..."