Chapter One: Rising to Devour the Master

After the post-battle cleanup, only three White-Stave soldiers had sustained minor arrow wounds, while not a single soldier among those who scaled the cliff had been harmed. Zhou Yuji marveled at this, thinking back to the elite troops Lu Xiangsheng had once mentioned; were they not right here before him?

Qin Liangyu had already notified the Chishui Guard to send men to take over Baisha Post. By the time the battle ended, the Chishui men had arrived. After handing over the captives, the main army continued its march toward Guiyang.

By the time they reached Huangsha Ferry, Wang Sanshan had already reached Pingyue Guard, over a hundred miles from Guiyang. Five days later, when they arrived at Kaizhou, Wang Sanshan was still at Pingyue Guard, unmoved.

Qin Liangyu went to Pingyue in person to see the Governor. As soon as Wang Sanshan saw her, he began to lament, claiming he had only thirty thousand men against the rebels' hundred thousand, and that he must wait for reinforcements from elsewhere before advancing.

Disdain filled Qin Liangyu’s heart. She informed the Governor that she had brought an army of twenty thousand equipped with the powerful weaponry of the Beijing Garrison, and that the rebel force of one hundred thousand was nothing more than a mob of clay chickens and pottery dogs.

Upon hearing this, Wang Sanshan’s spirits soared. After repeatedly confirming the size of Qin’s force, he decided to advance in three columns: Vice Commissioner He Tianlin and others would advance from the Qingshui River as the right wing; Investigating Censor Yang Shishang and others would advance from Duyun as the left wing; and he himself would lead twenty thousand men—accompanied by Councilor Xiang Risheng, Vice Regional Commander Liu Chao, and Assistant Regional Commanders Yang Mingkai, Liu Zhimin, Sun Yuanmo, and Wang Jianzhong—in the center. Once the timing was agreed upon, Qin Liangyu returned to Kaizhou to prepare.

Wang Sanshan’s central column reached Longtou Camp from Xin’an. The vanguard, led by Liu Chao, encountered enemy troops. When some officers suggested retreating to wait for the main force, Liu Chao executed the two most vocal proponents of retreat and led the infantry into the attack himself. The rebel leader A Cheng was killed, and the enemy was routed. When the main force arrived, they jointly captured Longli City.

Some again suggested waiting there for Qin Liangyu’s offensive before deciding on the next move. However, emboldened by Qin Liangyu’s assurances, Wang Sanshan pushed his troops to attack An Bangyan’s forces directly. Panicked and assuming Wang must have a massive army following behind, An Bangyan decided to retreat.

Wang Sanshan’s forces captured Qilichong and advanced toward Bijiepu. By this time, Qin Liangyu and her forces had already taken Shuidong and Guizhu, arriving at the walls of Guiyang. Qin sent word into the city to the former Guizhou Governor Li Tan and Censor Shi Yong'an, while the White-Stave soldiers and the Imperial Guard advanced directly toward Zhongcao.

An Bangyan’s main force was withdrawing toward Longchang Post, and the two armies collided at Zhongcao. An Bangyan’s charge was fierce, and the Imperial Guard, caught off guard, had not yet formed their lines. Qin Liangyu quickly moved the White-Stave soldiers to block the front, while Lu Qin and Zhou Yuji scrambled to arrange the mixed infantry and artillery formation, signaling Qin once finished.

The White-Stave soldiers were naturally superior against the Shuixi troops, but having witnessed the lethality of the Imperial Guard, Qin Liangyu did not wish to waste her men. She ordered a retreat. The White-Stave soldiers pulled back rapidly, veered to the flanks as they neared the Imperial Guard’s position, and took up defensive stances to watch the "performance."

Believing the White-Stave soldiers were afraid, the Shuixi troops’ morale surged as they charged toward the Imperial Guard. When they were fifty paces away, Lu Qin ordered the drums to beat. The sound of the flintlock muskets was almost a single roar, felling rows of Shuixi soldiers. The troops behind, uncomprehending, continued to charge, only to be met by another volley that leveled another row.

As the gunfire continued and soldiers fell, An Bangyan ordered his elite rattan-armored troops to charge. Protected by their shields and armor, they took less damage from the lead balls at a distance and quickly reached within ten paces of the Imperial Guard. The drum rhythm changed, and the artillery finally fired. Loaded with canister shot, the cannons swept the front line of rattan-armored soldiers clear.

The Shuixi troops were finally gripped by terror. Their hesitation caused the crowds to pack together, making them even easier targets for the muskets. Some clever ones began fleeing toward the flanks, aiming for the White-Stave soldiers’ position. Unaware that the White-Stave troops, eager for battle, had been waiting for exactly this, they were met with a brutal slaughter.

The Shuixi troops collapsed and fled in all directions, drawing the Shuidong troops into the rout as well. Zhou Yuji led the cavalry in pursuit, followed by the White-Stave soldiers under Qin Yiming. The infantry, slowed by the need to maintain formation under Lu Qin’s orders, followed at a steady pace, clearing the battlefield for the supply train.

Zhou Yuji pursued all the way to Shuidong, where the battlefield was littered with rebels kneeling and begging for mercy. The White-Stave soldiers, running nearly as fast as the cavalry, dispensed with any resistance with a single shot, ignoring those who surrendered.

Zhou Yuji regrouped his cavalry, had the captives' hands bound with sturdy grass ropes in long chains, and marched them toward Guiyang.

Lu Qin had already ordered a large area outside the city cleared to house the prisoners. After forcing them to build a crude camp, he began to dispose of them according to the Emperor’s instructions.

Zhou Yuji first interrogated the captives, separating the leaders from the rank-and-file. Through these interrogations, he gained intelligence on enemy deployments, force composition, and terrain. Then, he had all the leaders, large and small, bound and thrown before the common soldiers, tossing several blades at their feet and ordering the rank-and-file to execute their former masters.

The tribal soldiers of the Southwest were essentially serfs, and their leaders were their gods. Fearful of the consequences of killing their masters, no one dared to pick up a blade despite the Imperial Guard’s prodding.

Zhou Yuji stepped forward and said, "Have these men not stolen your grain? Taken your women? Bullied you and your parents? Now, here is a chance. The Imperial Court has decreed that all rebel leaders must die. With the Court as your shield, you have the opportunity to settle your debts and avenge your grievances. If you dare not even do this, are you even men?"

The commoners of the Southwest had long suffered under their leaders—who claimed the right of first night, snatched sisters for their own amusement, and disposed of them once bored. The hatred was deep-seated but suppressed. Now, with a Han general’s permission and the shared status of captives, the idea began to take hold.

A tall, sturdy man stepped forward, picked up a blade, and approached a leader. "Long Pingjia, you snatched my sister. I can finally avenge this." He struck the man’s neck. The blade lodged in the bone, blood spurting onto his face, which only stoked his fury. He stepped on the leader's neck, wrenched the blade free, and swung again, severing the head.