MLMD – Chapter 29 The Desperate City of Yingzhou

“Young master, think twice!”

As soon as Yue Yang spoke, Yue Laifu panicked. To him, the loss or gain of Yingzhou Prefecture was not as important as the safety of their own base. He had supported Yue Yang’s plan to recruit a militia—after all, having a force directly under the Yue family was a good thing—but now Yue Yang intended to send this newly formed, heavily invested force to reinforce Yingzhou City. That was something he simply could not understand.

“Young master, you can’t do something foolish! Our Yue family estate only has a little over a hundred household retainers, plus the five hundred or so militiamen you recently recruited (another hundred joined in the past two months). I’ve heard that the bandits number over ten thousand! Going there would be like striking an egg with a rock!” Yue Laifu knelt before Yue Yang, nearly in tears. As a steward who had served the Yue family loyally for decades, he could not bear to see the family’s only precious armed force thrown away at the gates of Yingzhou City.

Looking at the old servant, whose temples were already graying, Yue Yang felt a pang of emotion. Although Yue Laifu did not understand the military matters, his intentions were good—he was only thinking of the Yue family estate.

Bending down, Yue Yang lifted Yue Laifu and said, touched: “Uncle Laifu, get up. I understand your concern, but listen to me. Do you know why Yingzhou City is swarming with bandits, yet our Wulizhai, only a few dozen miles away, remains untouched?”

“This…” Yue Laifu hesitated.

Before anyone could answer, Yue Yang continued: “That’s because the bandits are busy attacking Yingzhou City—they haven’t had the energy to come after us. But think: once they take Yingzhou City, would those starving, desperate people spare our village, unfortified and lightly defended? Haven’t you heard, ‘When the nest is overturned, can any eggs remain intact?’ If Yingzhou City falls, how could Wulizhai survive? That is why I have decided to send reinforcements. Do you understand?”

Yue Yang’s explanation was clear, and Yue Laifu and the others understood. But understanding didn’t erase the uneasy knot in their hearts. Just days ago, they still remembered how Zheng Fakui had forced the Wang, Li, and Lin families to have the Yue family dig channels and divert water from the Sanggan River. Now Yue Yang was sending troops to reinforce them. No matter how they thought about it, it felt frustrating.

Seeing Yue Laifu speechless but still a little upset, Yue Yang smiled and reassured him: “Uncle Laifu, I know you’re still angry about the Sanggan River. Don’t worry. As long as Yingzhou City survives this disaster, I will make sure the Wang and Li families pay double for everything they’ve taken from us. Rest assured!”

Yue Laifu, a little ashamed, said: “Sigh… this old servant was foolish. Young master is a man of great vision; your insight naturally surpasses mine. Just go and do what you must. I won’t say another word.”

“Good, I’m glad you think that way.” Seeing the Yue family’s steward agree, Yue Yang nodded with satisfaction and then turned to Hu Laosan: “How’s the training going with the soldiers?”

Hu Laosan grinned widely: “Young master, don’t worry. The soldiers are doing well; formations and drills are fine. The only thing missing is… they haven’t seen blood yet.”

Yue Yang nodded: “Don’t worry about that. This time, I’ll be taking them to see blood!” At those last words, his voice carried a sharp chill. Wulizhai was his foundation and lifeblood in this world, and he would never allow anyone to destroy it.

Although Yue Yang had never been a soldier, he knew the urgency of sending reinforcements. He quickly reported the situation of Yingzhou City to the matriarch and reassured her. He then urgently gave Yue Laifu some instructions before ordering Hu Laosan to assemble all five hundred militiamen. With the tearful gazes of the Linglong sisters watching, they set off south toward Yingzhou City…

Meanwhile, on the walls of Yingzhou City, Zhang Xianzhong was commanding countless ragged, starving people in relentless assaults. Since the failed surprise attack in the morning, Zhang had gone all out, driving the starving crowd to attack all day, leaving the city’s defenders gasping for breath.

Wearing a felt hat, a pale green robe, and black cloth boots, Zhang Xianzhong shouted at a pale-faced man in front of him: “Sun Lao’er, damn you! It’s been nearly half an hour. Why are your men still wandering below the south wall? I’m telling you, if they aren’t on the wall in another half hour, you’ll pay for it!”

The man being scolded was Sun Kewang, one of Zhang Xianzhong’s capable lieutenants, known for his ferocity. Today, he led over two thousand men in a fierce assault on the south wall, only to be repelled by the defenders—enraging Zhang.

Sun Kewang lowered his head in silence, but then another officer, Li Dingguo, spoke: “Your Majesty, the Ming dogs on the walls are not to be underestimated. They know if we enter the city, our army will be annihilated. We have no choice but to fight desperately. Also, you know what weapons we have. To be honest, it’s extremely difficult to take a prepared city wall in a single assault.”

Hearing Li Dingguo, Zhang’s fury subsided. Li was right—although they had taken several cities in Shanxi recently, most victories relied on surprise attacks or inside help, not brute force. Even after capturing some weapons and armor, their gear was still crude. Most of the refugees didn’t even have proper armor, let alone swords. Taking Yingzhou City with ladders and villagers armed with sticks and hoes alone was unrealistic.

After a moment of silence, Zhang snarled: “Fine. Forget what happened earlier. I’ll give you another thousand men. Keep attacking the south wall relentlessly. We’ll see whether the Ming dogs on the wall outnumber my rebels or not!”

It seemed Zhang planned to use over ten thousand starving people as cannon fodder to exhaust Yingzhou’s defenders. To a normal commander, this would be insane—but to those around him, it was perfectly normal. These refugees were expendable; if they died, more could always be raised by capturing another city.

Following Zhang’s orders, Sun Kewang raised his ghost-headed blade and drove the villagers against the wall. They swarmed around ten ladders, climbing one by one, only to be struck down by spears or stones from the defenders.

By nightfall, exhausted bandits finally retreated. The city’s defenders finally had a moment to breathe, lying sprawled on the walls, grateful to have survived the day’s fierce battles.

Even the prefect of Yingzhou, Zheng Fakui, sat on the gate tower, leaning on a sword of uncertain origin. Around him stood Wang Shoucheng, Li Yuan, and Lin Yuanteng. After a full day of fighting, even the fierce Lin Yuanteng’s eyes showed fear.

After a while, torches were lit along the walls to guard against nighttime raids.

Gasping for breath, Zheng Fakui asked: “Brother Wang, how many men do we still have?”

Wang Shoucheng weakly replied: “I just counted. We have fewer than a thousand left, and many are wounded.”

Hearing this, Li Yuan despaired: “So we won’t even last through tomorrow?”

Wang Shoucheng remained silent for a moment, then muttered: “If my estimate is correct, that’s right.”

A heavy gloom settled over the walls. Then Lin Yuanteng suddenly shouted: “What about the Yue family estate? That kid Yue Yang has been recruiting a militia, hasn’t he? Didn’t the prefect send for him? Why hasn’t he returned? Is he planning to flee?”

The others shot him disdainful looks. He was clearly panicked, saying such foolish things. Yue Yang had only finished organizing the militia two months ago; the force was barely complete. Even if he managed a few hundred men, expecting him to arrive now would be sending them to die.

Zheng Fakui shook his head helplessly. He had sent Luban ahead to Wulizhai for reinforcements, but he had not expected much from Yue Yang.

A sense of despair hung over the city walls…