Chapter 134: Defeat the Rebels

At dawn the next day, Zhao Xiaokun and Zhou Shuai assembled their troops and prepared to go into battle. They took out two signal guns and fired simultaneously into the sky, sending two red flares soaring into the sky.

At the same time, Li Sihong also saw the signal flare rising and ordered all troops to move out.

Zou Wanchun and Ma Shiyi were also well prepared. They hadn't slept much that night, splitting their forces into two groups: one to defend Nanjing, the other to guard Li Sihong. Meanwhile, Ruan Dacheng spent the night spreading money and gathering forty centurions. He told them to follow him, ready to break out at any moment.

Seeing the signal go off, Zou Wanchun and Ma Shiyi knew the final moment had arrived. Zou Wanchun drew his sword and said to the soldiers, "Soldiers! The Ming Dynasty is in trouble. We must eliminate the thieves for our country! Follow me and kill them!"

Zou Wanchun's strategy was to first defeat Li Sihong's army in the east, and then turn around to deal with the defenders in Nanjing. So more than half of the army rushed towards Li Sihong.

Li Sihong was a little nervous when he saw tens of thousands of soldiers charging towards his formation. But when he looked back at the soldiers around him, he saw that they were all in high spirits and in good order.

Li Sihong continued to command according to the Infantry Drill Manual Zhao Xiaofei had given her, just in case. Zhao Xiaofei doted on Li Sihong and made sure to keep enough troops around to protect her, no matter the situation. Furthermore, fearing that Li Sihong wouldn't be able to command, he had Wan Shan and Zhou Shuai summarize their experience and compile an Infantry Drill Manual. And now, today, they were using it.

Li Sihong waved his flag, and the small trebuchet behind him rolled forward. The gunners began loading the shells, and the gunner waved the flag to fire. This trebuchet was very small, with four wheels, allowing it to be moved at any time. Its range was less than 200 steps, but it was flexible and lightweight, and its shells were powerful.

Boom, boom, boom! Shells were hurled one after another into the rebel camp, sending the rebels flying, their bodies scattered everywhere. The soldiers in front of the rebels were immediately stunned. This was even more powerful than the red cannons. Because each shell was a shrapnel shell, with a large amount of iron fragments inside, it was specially designed to deal with infantry and cavalry.

The smoke filled the air, and before the soldiers could recover from the shock, another wave of arrows descended. Many soldiers were shot like hedgehogs, and Zou Wanchun and Ma Shiyi were immediately horrified by the scene before them. They had only dealt with bandits before, never seen such a large-scale battle. Although they now had more people to command, they lacked experience, and they began to think about retreating.

When they were eighty steps away from Li Sihong and the others, Ma Shiyi ordered them to prepare to shoot. However, before the order came, Li Sihong had already ordered the musket formation to move forward, and the soldiers began to line up and shoot.

Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang! The muskets began to mow down the charging soldiers, and the firepower kept coming. Minié bullets rained down on the rebels.

"Shoot!" Ma Shiyi shouted.

Unfortunately, the order was given a little too late, so not many arrows were fired. Many archers were riddled with muskets. No one expected the muskets of the militia before them to reach such a long range.

The archers fired no more than two arrows before turning and fleeing. The infantry, also badly damaged, saw the archers retreat and followed suit. The flight was like a flood bursting through a dam, spreading rapidly. The entire rebel army retreated, and the situation devolved into a rout.

Li Sihong's troops didn't kill many, and the rebels, crushed and trampled, killed even more. At that moment, over 30,000 soldiers from Nanjing, led by Zhao Xiaokun and Zhou Shuai, also rushed out. They formed a pincer attack on the rebels. Seeing no way to defeat them, Zou Wanchun, along with his trusted confidants, turned and fled, leaving Ma Shiyi behind to cover their retreat.

Over a hundred thousand rebels collapsed, fleeing westward like a flood. Trampling each other, countless people were killed and wounded, and the pursuit by the two armies resulted in countless casualties, with tens of thousands kneeling in surrender. Ma Shiyi was shot in the thigh by a musket and captured alive, while Zou Wanchun escaped with his confidants. Ruan Dacheng was nowhere to be found!

Zhao Xiaokun and Li Sihong reunited. Instead of pursuing the enemy, the two armies began clearing the battlefield and recruiting the surrendered soldiers. In one morning, over 100,000 rebels were defeated by 60,000 militiamen. Zhang Huangyan, Shi Kefa, and others, watching from the city walls, were stunned. Zhang Huangyan thought, "They're even more formidable than the regular Ming army! It seems the Ming Dynasty has a chance of revival!" Shi Kefa, on the other hand, thought, "We must be wary of the Zhao brothers causing trouble! They're too powerful!" Whether it's the speed of their recruitment or the quality of their training, they pose a significant threat to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhao Xiaokun and Li Sihong joined forces to recruit the surrendered soldiers. They counted over 30,000 soldiers, with over 20,000 rebel corpses, meaning Ruan Dacheng had fled west with nearly 50,000 soldiers.

Zhao Xiaokun said to Li Sihong, "That's right! My sister-in-law seems to be a capable leader. She's as capable as any man, comparable to Hua Mulan!"

"Brother, you are too kind! These are all taught by my husband! Before coming to Nanjing, my husband let me study literature and martial arts in my spare time. It seems that they are finally useful!" said Li Sihong.

Liu Rushi rode up from behind and saw blood on Zhao Xiaokun's body. She anxiously asked, "Wei Ming! Are you hurt?" Wei Ming was Zhao Xiaokun's courtesy name. Zhao Xiaofei thought, what's the point of giving him a courtesy name? When someone calls you, you have to think about who the other person is calling you. So, he still hasn't given him a courtesy name. Liu Rushi is educated, so Zhao Xiaokun naturally needs a courtesy name when he's with her.

"It's okay! They are all enemy soldiers! You can help me clean up when we get back to the mansion!" said Zhao Xiaokun.

"Hello, big brother!" At this time, Kou Baimen finally rode up on horseback and saluted. She couldn't stand the smell of gunpowder on the battlefield and coughed non-stop at the smell.

"Okay! Everyone is tired, let's go into the city!" said Zhao Xiaokun.

Zhang Huangyan, Shi Kefa, and many officials who stayed in Nanjing went out of the city to welcome the army. Zhang Huangyan saw Li Sihong wearing armor and a red cloak, and he felt a strange feeling. Qin Liangyu was a local official and a general of an ethnic minority, so he felt that a female general was acceptable. Because there were many tribes in that area where women were in charge! But he couldn't accept that such a heroine could be among his own Han people! Moreover, Liu Rushi and Kou Baimen were also wearing armor. They simply made these grown men look down on them and made them lose face.

Seeing Zhao Xiaokun approaching, Zhang Huangyan said, "Admiral Zhao is very brave! He has a perfect grasp of the battle situation! It is a great blessing for our dynasty!" He ignored Li Sihong, Kou Baimen and Liu Rushi who were behind him.

Li Sihong didn't know Zhang Huangyan, but she understood his actions. However, Liu Ru was not happy with this. She said to Zhang Huangyan, "Minister Zhang, without the three of us sisters' help, how could my husband have won? Why do you only mention my husband's achievements and remain silent about us?"

Zhang Huangyan smiled and said, "You three are all outstanding women. We admire you! But since you three hold no official positions, I don't know what to do. I will report your contributions to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor."

"An excuse! It's obvious that he looks down on us women!" said Kou Baimen.