lcionline Chapter 609 The Showdown in Front of the Granary
Chapter 609 The Showdown in Front of the Granary
Led by over a thousand armored soldiers, more than two thousand lightly armored soldiers and Han troops roared and turned to charge at the pursuers. They feared only Qionghai Town; the rest of the Ming army was nothing more than clay chickens and earthen dogs in their eyes.
The high-speed cavalry collided with a thunderous crash, and a fierce battle began. Although Liu Guozhu was nearly fifty, his courage was no less than that of a young man. Wielding a large sword, he darted up and down, fighting desperately with his opponents. Under his leadership, five thousand cavalrymen fought a closely matched battle, locked in a fierce and evenly contested contest.
Liu Ye, observing the battle ahead through binoculars, nodded involuntarily: "Although Liu Guozhu's men are nearly twice as many, and the Tartars haven't deployed many armored soldiers, it's still quite impressive that they can hold their own against them."
Considering that Liu Guozhu's troops arrived at the battlefield after a forced march, and that both the soldiers and horses were considerably exhausted, it was already remarkable that they could hold their own against more than two thousand non-main force Later Jin troops. Any other Ming army would likely have collapsed at the first encounter.
Liu Ye ordered: "Speed up and don't conserve your energy. The Tartars have no will to fight and won't turn back to fight to the death. If we catch up, we'll have a chance."
At the same time, Qin Tian arrived at the gate of Tianjin City. The city gate was already closed, and the city walls were densely packed with guards, as if facing a formidable enemy, seemingly to guard against the Tartars.
Qin Tian stepped forward and knocked on the door: "We are from Qionghai Town. Open the door and let us in. The Tartars have gone to Jinghai and won't come to Tianjin."
A head popped out from the city wall; it was Xu Zhong, the commander of Tianjin Wei. He was overjoyed: "Really? The Tartars won't come to Tianjin Wei?"
Qin Tian nodded: "We just came down from the battlefield. Now our general has led the main force and the troops of the Baoding garrison to chase after the Tartars."
Xu Zhong patted his chest lightly, relieved that he wouldn't run into the Tartars, and then ordered his men: "Open the city gates and let the troops from Qionghai Town in."
The city gate creaked open slowly, and Qin Tian led his men straight through the gate opening, heading towards the military affairs office.
At the entrance of the military affairs office.
"Sorry, our master is not here. Please come another day."
The guards adopted a hostile stance, refusing Qin Tian's request to see Panda.
Qin Tian's face darkened as he drew his command sword: "You came looking for me a couple of days ago, saying you were inspecting the troops. Where have you gone today? Don't blame me for being impolite if you don't give me a definite answer."
The soldier looked at the large group of menacing-looking soldiers, shrank back, and said in a weaker voice, "We really didn't know, our lord has been missing for days."
Qin Tian stared at the two soldiers for a moment, realizing they didn't seem to be lying. It seemed Panda had deliberately avoided Qionghai Town and hadn't told his men where he was going. He thought for a moment and asked, "Where's the granary? Take us there. Anyone who dares to refuse will be taken to the dock and thrown into the sea to feed the fish!" Liu Ye had given him a death order: whether by demanding or by force, he had to get the grain.
The two soldiers looked at each other, then glanced at the fierce guards and special forces soldiers behind Qin Tian. They swallowed hard, deciding that it wasn't worth it for the two of them to take the blame, lest they suffer a loss.
"My lord, please don't be angry, we'll take you there..."
The granary was located not far from the canal wharf in the west of the city. The reason for choosing this location as the granary was naturally for the convenience of canal transport.
Qin Tian looked at the rows of granaries, waved his hand, and ordered, "Break open the granaries and move the grain!"
The clerk in charge of the granary came forward and asked, "This is a serious place for granaries. Who is making a fuss here?"
Qin Tian was too lazy to waste words with him, so he casually pushed him aside and coldly said to the people around him, "Those who know what's good for them should get out of the way, lest we have to resort to violence!"
The minor official was shoved and stumbled a few steps before falling to the ground. Seeing this, the other soldiers guarding the granary dared not utter a sound, silently sheathing their weapons to avoid provoking the soldiers. The merchants and laborers coming and going at the docks stared in disbelief at this scene—they had never seen anyone dare to cause trouble in a granary storing military provisions. An ordinary person would have been killed long ago, without even needing to report it to the authorities.
Armed guards and special forces soldiers swarmed forward, ready to seize grain from the granary; it seemed no one could stop them.
At this moment, Panda, who had been missing for several days, suddenly appeared out of nowhere and shouted: "This is a vital granary of the imperial court, storing military rations for the three guards of Tianjin and transporting them to Jizhou and Liaodong. Who gave you the audacity to open the granary and take grain without authorization?"
Qin Tian had been following Liu Ye for years, and he had done so many lawless things that he couldn't even remember them all. Why would he care about smashing up a military granary? He sneered, "You surnamed Pan, you've been hiding for days. You've finally shown up today. If we hadn't been away from the granary, you probably wouldn't have shown up at all."
Panda did not answer the question, but instead said to the soldiers guarding the granary: "We raise soldiers for a thousand days to use them for one. The court pays you with your salaries to prevent villains from causing trouble and looting the grain here. Now is the time for you to show your loyalty. Guard the gate and do not allow anyone to enter or leave!"
The soldiers cursed inwardly upon hearing this. "Damn it," they thought, "my meager paychecks are barely enough to cover even one night's drinks for you, the Military Commissioner. Why would I risk a direct confrontation with these ravenous Guangdong soldiers for such a paltry sum? We're not stupid; only a fool would listen to you!"
Qin Tian scoffed. Did a few useless soldiers think they could stop the elite of the Imperial Guard? He led the way inside, and the soldiers behind him followed, completely ignoring the trembling soldiers at the entrance.
Panda sidestepped to avoid being bumped into by the guards and special forces soldiers, seemingly content with just uttering a few harsh words, with no intention of risking his life to stop them.
Just as Qin Tian reached the doorway, two more Imperial Guards, dressed in flying fish robes and carrying embroidered spring knives at their waists, emerged from inside. The leader arrogantly said, "Didn't you hear what Lord Pan said? Step back now, and we can pretend nothing happened. But if you dare to take another step, we won't be so polite."
Qin Tian snorted disdainfully. Is that all Panda has to offer? Does he think he can save the day by bringing in two Imperial Guards from some corner? Perhaps others are afraid of the Imperial Guards, but the Qionghai Army has never had such a concept. Qin Tian himself has personally killed several Imperial Guard centurions. How could he possibly care about two Imperial Guard clerks?
He ordered, "All of you, charge! Whoever dares to block our advance, knock them down!"
The soldiers responded with a roar and charged forward menacingly. The two Imperial Guards' expressions changed; after a moment's hesitation, they stepped aside to make way.