The valley was filled with the sound of people crying for their fathers and mothers, voices breaking apart as if even the mountains were getting annoyed and wanted to plug their ears.
The bandit troops under Wang Zuogua had already been blown into a state of extreme panic by the Gao Village militia. On normal terrain, just a few explosions would already scatter them into pieces, but this time they were trapped inside a narrow mountain valley. That made everything worse, much worse.
Because this kind of attack was simply inhuman.
All four sides were steep cliffs. There was no way to climb out, no way to escape upward. Grenades kept falling continuously, exploding inside the crowd like iron flowers blooming in flesh. At this point, honestly, who could still stand?
Only now did Wang Zuogua start regretting choosing this cursed place as a campsite.
The truth was simple. He had never learned how to set up a proper military camp.
And this ignorance had finally come to collect its debt.
Even the lowest-ranking Ming military officers would not make such a mistake, because the Ming imperial military examination system first tested command and encampment strategy. Only after passing those could one even qualify to demonstrate martial skills.
If you only knew how to fight but knew nothing about strategy, you would not even be allowed through the door.
But Wang Zuogua, a man who could not even reach that door, was still able to command tens of thousands of troops. In a way, he had caught the wind of the era, a pig that somehow got lifted into the sky, even if it had no idea where it was flying.
Boom.
Boom.
Explosions kept ringing out, and screams filled every direction.
Miao Mei shouted urgently, "Big brother, what do we do now?"
Wang Zuogua was not good at fighting, but when it came to running away, he was extremely experienced. In an instant, he already formed his decision.
He roared, "All troops charge toward the valley entrance!"
Then he leaned closer to his trusted bandits and said quickly, "We retreat from the back. On the other side of the valley there is a dirt gully. Through a small cave we can escape."
The trusted bandits immediately understood.
Miao Mei also understood.
He turned and shouted, "Third brother, fourth brother, charge! Break through the valley entrance!"
Feishanhu and Dahonglang were already stunned by the explosions. Their brains were still simple enough to process only survival. After a brief thought, they came to the same conclusion.
Yes, the valley entrance was the only way out.
The only way to live.
They immediately roared at their collapsing men, "Stop running randomly! The only way to survive is to break out!"
Then they led the remaining men forward in a desperate charge.
Miao Mei and Wang Zuogua also gathered what was left of their forces. Several thousand men still remained, and they all surged toward the narrow valley entrance like a collapsing wave.
Cheng Xu had been waiting for exactly this moment.
Three hundred musketeers aimed directly at the valley mouth.
Only one command was given.
"Shoot."
Bang bang bang bang bang.
Continuous gunfire erupted without pause. Every bandit who rushed out of the valley entrance was instantly struck multiple times and collapsed on the ground like broken puppets.
There was no way through.
Absolutely no way.
Meanwhile, Wang Zuogua and Miao Mei used the chaos at the front to quietly break away from attention. They led around one hundred elite bandits toward the back of the valley.
There they found a narrow dirt gully, crawled on the ground, and squeezed through a tight cave passage until they finally reached outside the valley.
The explosions and gunfire here were much quieter.
Wang Zuogua looked back.
From ten thousand men, only one hundred remained. His third and fourth brothers were gone. Only Miao Mei was still with him.
A faint bitterness rose in his chest, but survival mattered more than anything else.
As long as he was alive, there would always be another chance.
"When I reach Yichuan, I will rebuild everything. I will come back for revenge. Bai Family Fort, just wait."
The moment he finished speaking, a head suddenly popped out from behind a tree in front of them.
Flat Rabbit appeared.
He held a silver shining sword in his right hand, waving it like he was performing on stage.
He shouted loudly, "Wang Zuogua, where do you think you are going? I, Flat Rabbit, calculated everything long ago. I already knew you would escape from here. Hahaha, you are not getting away."
Wang Zuogua froze.
"!!!"
There was only one person.
But Wang Zuogua did not believe it was only one person.
In his mind, this had to be an ambush. No one would dare block their escape alone unless there were hidden troops nearby.
"Damn it, we walked into a trap!"
He roared, "All of you, charge and kill him!"
The remaining hundred bandits rushed forward.
Flat Rabbit did not move back at all. He raised his sword and shouted loudly, "Heaven Rabbit Ultimate Breaking Sword Technique!"
Everyone flinched.
It sounded like some legendary killing move that could destroy armies.
Then they saw it.
His left hand came out from behind his back.
In it was a grenade.
The fuse was already burning.
He threw it forward casually.
Boom.
The explosion wiped out the front wave instantly. Dozens of men fell at once.
The rest were only a few dozen steps away from reaching him, enough to cut him down completely.
But they did not continue.
Instead, they scattered in panic in all directions and ran away, not even looking back at Wang Zuogua.
Wang Zuogua stood still.
"…"
Flat Rabbit laughed softly, "Now it is a one versus two situation. Wang Zuogua, Miao Mei, you both have no way out. I will deal with you without even sweating."
Then he shouted and charged forward.
His steps were firm, his expression fierce, his sword shining with silver light. He looked like a true master ready to dominate a two versus one fight.
Wang Zuogua and Miao Mei both felt a chill.
This guy looks dangerous.
Maybe we really cannot win.
At the exact moment of life and death decision, Miao Mei suddenly moved.
He jumped behind Wang Zuogua and kicked his butt hard.
Wang Zuogua stumbled forward and fell directly in front of Flat Rabbit.
The sword came down immediately.
Blood splashed high into the air, covering Flat Rabbit's face.
Miao Mei took the chance and ran.
He sprinted far away in an instant.
When he saw Flat Rabbit not catching up immediately, he felt relieved.
Then a figure appeared in front of him.
Zheng Gouzi.
Zheng Gouzi swung his saber.
Miao Mei countered casually and knocked the saber away.
Clang.
Zheng Gouzi rolled on the ground and shouted in panic, "Flat Rabbit! This one is too strong! Come help!"
Flat Rabbit laughed, "You cannot even handle Miao Mei? Useless dog. Watch me."
He rushed forward again.
Miao Mei became serious. This opponent felt like a real expert.
He decided to go all in.
He swung his blade with full force and prepared multiple follow-up changes.
But there were no changes.
Because Flat Rabbit did not actually know sword techniques.
Clang.
The weapons collided.
Flat Rabbit's sword flew out of his hand.
Miao Mei kicked him to the ground.
"What the hell, this weak?" Miao Mei shouted angrily. "If I had known this, I would not have betrayed my big brother. Those hundred men did not even need to run!"
He felt deep regret.
But it was too late.
He raised his blade again.
A sharp sound cut through the air.
Zheng Gouzi fired a crossbow bolt.
Miao Mei dodged quickly.
When he looked again, Flat Rabbit had already jumped far away and pulled Zheng Gouzi with him into a dirt gully.
"Run! This guy is too strong! We cannot win!"
They disappeared instantly.
Miao Mei stood alone, confused.
We actually lost to this kind of people?
He sighed.
Forget it.
Run.
He turned and fled toward Yichuan County.
HISTORY NOTE:
Historically, Wang Zuogua eventually accepted imperial surrender terms. Miao Mei refused and went their separate ways.
Wang Zuogua, after accepting surrender, was stationed in Suide. He later attempted another rebellion but was killed through a scheme arranged by Hong Chengchou.
Miao Mei traveled west and was later killed at a place called Hejia Bay by Li Panlong, a local scholar.
These early peasant uprising leaders typically had little real capability. They relied on chaos, lacked long-term vision, and were driven more by plunder than strategy. Their surrender was never sincere, so their endings were not unexpected.
Moreover, their uprisings never truly won popular support. Li Panlong was merely a scholar without an army, yet he was able to kill Miao Mei because he relied on militia forces, meaning ordinary people.
When Hong Chengchou served as circuit intendant for grain transport, he repeatedly defeated Wang Zuogua and even crushed Wang Jiayin. At that time he had no formal army either, only militias supported by common people.
Across many regions, militias continuously resisted bandit uprisings until even Li Zicheng eventually died at the hands of militia forces at Jiugong Mountain.
Some modern interpretations, driven by political motives, often portray these bandits as righteous heroes, claiming that everywhere they went the people welcomed them. That is simply nonsense.
Only during the early slogan period of "no grain tax under Chuang Wang" did they gain some popular support. Once Li Zicheng established the Shun regime and realized taxation was unavoidable, he began collecting taxes again. After that, the slogan became nothing more than a joke.
Chapter Trivia
Poor encampment kills more armies than poor swordsmanship.
Grenades are weapons of belief-collapse; once morale breaks, bodies follow.
Betrayal is not immoral in chaos—it is simply late survival math.