“Lads, push harder, just thirty more li to Yangcheng Garrison, I’m old friends with Deputy General Huang there, on my account, once you reach Yangcheng, big fish and meat will be yours aplenty,” the Jiaxing commander rode a tall steed, urging his men on while painting a tempting picture.
“Thanks, General, following you, we’re in for a treat,” the soldiers galloped along, lavishing him with flattery.
“Hahaha, keep up, the sooner we get to Yangcheng, the sooner you feast on big fish and meat,” the Jiaxing commander basked in the praise, laughing heartily, he whipped his horse again, and it surged faster.
“Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!” The soldiers followed, spurring their horses relentlessly.
The troop thundered up the slope, soon reaching the top, ahead lay the flat, open official road.
Thirty li down that road was Yangcheng Garrison.
Their hearts were already there, oblivious to the three black tripwires lying across the road ten meters ahead.
Though the Jiaxing cavalry carried dozens of torches, roughly one for every three men, how bright could they be? In this pitch-black night, within three meters you could barely make out shapes, beyond that it was near-total darkness.
Especially as cavalry, holding torches atop horses, the ground was already hard to see, and they weren’t paying close attention.
The tripwires, painted black to blend with the night and lying flat, were even harder to spot.
“Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!” As the Jiaxing troops galloped toward the tripwires, the wokou on both sides of the road yanked them taut.
The three ropes snapped up in quick succession.
The first three charging horses slammed into the wires, their legs snapping instantly under the high-speed impact.
With a pitiful neigh, the horses, propelled by inertia, flipped nearly 180 degrees, crashing hard to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.
One horse’s neck broke on impact, blood gushing from its mouth, its hind legs kicked futilely a few times before going still.
The other two didn’t break their necks but couldn’t stand, writhing briefly.
Their riders were flung off, soaring through the air before smashing into the ground, dazed and disoriented.
That was the first wave.
The second wave, four riders, couldn’t stop in time, crashing into the second tripwire, tumbling in a heap of men and horses.
The Jiaxing commander was among them, his horse hit the ground, struggled twice, and got up, but he didn’t, his head slammed into the earth, knocking him out cold.
The third wave tried to rein in their horses, but in the chaos, they couldn’t halt the charging beasts, colliding with the third wire, flipping over in a mess.
The riders behind yanked their reins desperately, avoiding the wires but piling into a chaotic clump.
As the tripwires snapped up, the wokou hidden on both sides roared, brandishing their curved blades, charging out.
Like tigers descending a mountain, they plunged into the jumbled Jiaxing cavalry, their blades whirling like a storm.
“Ambush! Ambush…” the tangled Jiaxing soldiers shouted in panic.
But with their commander knocked out by the tripwire, they were leaderless, like sheep scattering in disarray as the wokou closed in.
The wokou were ferocious, especially after repeated setbacks against the Zhejiang troops, their pent-up rage found an outlet here, they yanked Jiaxing soldiers off their mounts, slashing wildly, cutting them down until blood flowed like rivers, cries for parents echoing.
Trapped in place, the Jiaxing cavalry lost their mobility advantage, their horses became burdens, making them sitting targets atop their mounts.
Worse, their commander was out from the start, leaving them unable to mount any real resistance.
Some tried to fight back, but their garrison rarely trained, their occasional drills mere show, facing the wokou, they were outmatched, not lasting two exchanges before being hacked down on the spot.
Even two Jiaxing soldiers ganging up on one wokou couldn’t win, felled in a few swift strokes.
Seeing the wokou slaughter like gods of war, the rest lost all will to resist, some wetting themselves in terror, turning to flee.
But before they could, a wave of war cries erupted behind them, they turned to see another group of wokou charging from the rear.
Caught front and back, nowhere to run.
The Jiaxing troops’ morale plummeted, already unable to resist effectively, they collapsed further.
The wokou, caught up in the thrill, many ripped off their shirts, bare-chested, slashing at the Jiaxing soldiers like butchering pigs and dogs, the soldiers wailed, falling in heaps, blood streaming, their ranks shattered…
This was the Ming army they knew.
This was the thrill of fighting the Ming!
The Zhejiang troops were just a fluke!
The wokou grew bolder and more exhilarated with each kill…
“Damn it! Stop, stop! All of you stop, you’ll kill them all! Ming troops, listen up, drop your weapons, kneel and surrender, we won’t kill you!” Xu Hai saw his men lost in the frenzy, forgetting his orders, and roared curses to halt them, shouting at the Jiaxing soldiers to surrender.
Under Xu Hai’s bellowing, the wokou pulled back, and the surviving Jiaxing soldiers, hearing “kneel and live,” grasped at the lifeline, tossing their weapons one after another, dropping to their knees in a chorus of thuds.
“We surrender, we surrender, wokou grandpas, don’t kill us,” the Jiaxing soldiers, their courage broken, kowtowed and begged, their heads banging like garlic being pounded.
“Count them, how many Ming troops are still alive,” Xu Hai ordered his men to tally.
“One, two, three… twenty-seven, twenty-eight, Chief, only twenty-eight Ming troops left alive,” a subordinate reported after counting.
“Damn it, I told you not to kill them all, leave a few dozen alive, look, only twenty-eight left! You nearly ruined my plans!” Xu Hai cursed again, furious.
“Chief, Chief, this Ming dog leader’s still alive, tried to play dead, but I caught him,” a wokou shouted gleefully.
Xu Hai turned to see the wokou dragging a Ming commander in ornate armor, looking battered, and grinned wide at the sight.
A Ming commander playing dead in battle—definitely a spineless coward.
A coward, just what I like.
