Chapter 36: The Rebel Army Takes the Field

The person who rushed in was none other than Li Yan, who had just vanished from the military council.

Upon Li Yan's words, the atmosphere in the council chamber abruptly shifted. The Shun army generals, who had moments before been proclaiming the Mandate of Heaven, now cast strange and dubious glances at Li Yan.

As for Li Zicheng, he looked as though he wanted to swallow Li Yan alive. Yet Li Yan was reporting on military matters, and crucial ones at that. He could not let personal grievances override public duty!

With this thought, Li Zicheng suppressed his towering rage, fixing Li Yan with an exceptionally hostile glare, and demanded, "What is all this panic for? I, Li Zicheng, hold the Mandate of Heaven, commanding over a hundred thousand troops with an allied force numbering a million. Just days ago, we utterly crushed one hundred and eighty thousand imperial soldiers. Are we suddenly supposed to cower before some imperial troops?"

As Li Zicheng finished speaking, the tension in the council chamber thawed slightly.

Liu Zongmin, who had never looked favorably upon Li Yan in the first place, seized the opportunity to sneer in sarcasm, "I suppose the esteemed First Young Master was just beaten to a pulp by the imperial forces himself, which is why he's making such a 'grave' deal out of this?"

"Isn't it just that he's scared of the imperial troops?"

"That battle at Dongming must have broken their spines entirely..."

As the others murmured among themselves, Li Yan's face flushed crimson. He ground his teeth so hard they clicked, yet he dared not vent his anger. At this moment, Li Yan no longer commanded the deep respect of the Shun generals as he once had. Because he had strictly enforced military law during the battle of Dongming, he had drawn the resentment of many subordinates.

Most of these soldiers had been reassigned to Li Yan by Li Zicheng from various other commanders' units.

Had Li Yan emerged victorious against the imperial forces at Dongming, it would have been a different story. But having suffered defeat there, he naturally became the target of public mockery.

At that moment, Tian Jianxiu, who had always been known for his amiable nature, stepped in to smooth things over. "Chuangwang, the imperial forces are attacking, complete with artillery. Our primary concern must be meeting the enemy. After all, Li Yan did this for the sake of Chuangwang."

Just as the rest of the Shun generals were about to utter even harsher remarks, suddenly—

Boom...

Boom...

Boom...

A succession of cannon roars echoed, leaving a brief silence inside the tent.

Shortly after, another man hurried in, panting as he addressed Yuan Shizhong inside the tent, "General, general! My men at Liuyuankou cannot hold out any longer! The imperial troops are pressing the attack fiercely!"

Yuan Shizhong’s expression shifted drastically. He looked toward Li Zicheng and said with a grim face, "Chuangwang..."

With both Tian Jianxiu and Yuan Shizhong having spoken, Li Zicheng finally calmed down.

He swept his gaze across the assembly and immediately saw a crowd of eager, battle-hungry Shun generals.

Liu Zongmin, Li Guo, Dang Shousu, He Jin, Niu Jinxing, Yuan Chengzhi, Yuan Zongdi, Gao Yigong, Hao Yaohqi, and Li Laiheng all wore expressions of eager anticipation for battle.

In their eyes, the imperial forces had long become synonymous with weakness and incompetence.

Inside the city of Kaifeng, they had been forced to brave artillery fire and endure arduous sieges.

Yet once out in the open field, were imperial troops not simply fish waiting on the chopping block?

Just as they had done at Zhuxianzhen.

Even Luo Rucai and Yuan Shizhong had a glint in their eyes, clearly tempted by the prospect. After all, while their ability to snowball in strength and coerce millions of commoners was the primary factor in their growth, the vast majority of these refugees were frail and ultimately unfit for real combat. Aside from the veteran Old Eight Units who had followed them from the beginning, their true fighting strength came from captured enemy soldiers continually absorbed after defeating imperial forces.

Defectors from the imperial army, or government soldiers who voluntarily surrendered to Chuangwang, possessed commendable military skills. Moreover, they were well-fed and given rewards; these former imperial soldiers often performed at full capacity, far surpassing the combat effectiveness of standard imperial troops.

Seeing the eager expressions of his commanders, Li Zicheng pondered for a moment before declaring, "For this battle, let Dang Shousu go!"

Dang Shousu, a former salt smuggler from Shaanxi, had joined the Old Eight Units under Li Zicheng in his early years, making him undoubtedly one of Li Zicheng's core loyalists.

With a ruddy face, a hook nose, a short and stocky build, and limbs bulging with muscle, Dang Shousu was clearly a formidable fighter.

Upon hearing Li Zicheng's command, Dang Shousu beamed with joy. "Understood! This general accepts the order!"

Hearing this, the rest of the generals wore expressions of profound disappointment.

Just as the military council was about to adjourn, suddenly, a figure dressed in red with an enchanting face stepped forward—Hong Niangzi. Her eyes blazed with fury as she spoke, "Chuangwang! My scouts have just confirmed that the incoming force is none other than the imperial army that defeated me at Dongming! I must go into this battle as well! I do not ask for spoils of war; I only ask that if we succeed in surrounding and annihilating the imperial forces, my captured sisters be rescued. Even if we merely rout them, I can use prisoners to ransom back my sisters. If we delay any further, who knows how those imperial troops might humiliate them!"

As Hong Niangzi finished speaking, the eyes of everyone present lit up.

What initially caught their attention was, naturally, Hong Niangzi’s striking beauty and figure. However, the words that followed compelled even these hardened generals to feel a wave of respect.

Even Li Zicheng could not help but praise her: "Hong Niangzi is truly a woman of righteous spirit. In that case, you shall go as well. As for the spoils of war after the battle, our Li Zicheng's forces have always been fair. Once pooled into the public stores, merits will be rewarded and offenses punished with absolute impartiality!"

"This general obeys the order!" Hong Niangzi saluted solemnly.

An hour before the convening of the Chuangwang military council—

A five-and-a-half-jin iron ball soared from an artillery vessel on the Yellow River, plunging heavily onto the ground before bouncing rapidly forward, plowing a bloody trench carved through the dense crowd.

Immediately afterward, another artillery ship on the Yellow River roared, sending four more cannonballs soaring into the air. Following a graceful parabola, two more shells smashed directly into the throng of people.

Following the artillery barrage, nearly three hundred battle-ready small boats began rapidly approaching the shore.

Amidst a flurry of panic, the angry bellows of low-ranking officers—corporals and sergeants—rang out instantly.

The brief moment of chaos quickly subsided, restoring order.

Led by Liu Sheng, the first thousand imperial soldiers successfully made landfall. Following closely, a forest of lances formed up, holding firm against the charging rebel forces under the covering fire of artillery.

Barely a quarter of an hour later, behind the wall of long spears, rows of matchlock musketeers stood ready.

At Liu Sheng’s command, hundreds of flashes of fire erupted in sequence.

Amidst a chorus of shrieks and groans, the imperial army secured a foothold at the ferry crossing. The vanguard of a thousand imperial soldiers stood firmly established, arrayed in stern and disciplined formation.

Following them, three hundred small boats continued ferrying back and forth, landing two thousand more imperial soldiers in succession.

Aboard the largest command vessel, Zhu Cilang lowered his telescope and smiled, "The opening of the battle goes smoothly."

Beside him, Old Seventeen chimed in flatteringly, "It is entirely due to Your Excellency’s brilliant deployment and rigorous training. Otherwise, how could we have produced six thousand well-trained combat troops in just one short month? Against a mob of wandering rebels, an army like this naturally makes light work of them."

Whether by coincidence or fate—

In the original historical timeline, six months later, the Shandong garrison had dispatched six thousand troops under the command of Hou Xun to relieve Kaifeng.

Yet now, within a history shaped by the presence of the reinvented Zhu Cilang, the Shandong garrison had arrived half a year ahead of schedule. While the troop numbers had undergone some changes following the battle of Dongming, upon ultimately reaching the Liuyuankou Yellow River ferry north of Kaifeng, it still amounted precisely to six thousand men.