Sweep Yuan

Chapter 77 Three Arrows Strike Qingyang

Qingyang Station is red.

The northwest wind, carrying the bitter, fishy smell of the saline-alkali land, swept over us. A hundred or so guards on the wall, wrapped tightly in coarse hemp clothing, nervously watched the Red Turban Army gathering outside the North Gate.

During the military council that day, Fu Youde, with his accurate grasp of Shishan's intentions, secured the opportunity to lead the army alone to attack Qingyang Station.

However, the Eighth Battalion had not yet been formed. In order to send troops out as soon as possible, Fu Youde requested a provisional battalion (less than 180 people remained after deducting casualties and some key personnel taken away by Shao Rong). With the addition of his own 63 people (overstaffed), the force was still too small.

Shi Shan became cautious and provided Fu Youde's troops with three sets of iron armor and thirty sets of leather armor. He also arranged for three ironsmiths and three carpenters from the supply battalion to accompany the army for support, and allowed Fu Youde to recruit soldiers on his own along the way.

The archers from Lingbi performed poorly in the Battle of Hongxian and were almost scattered and reorganized. However, they were able to learn from their mistakes and live up to the trust of Fu Youde, a fellow townsman from Suzhou. At least their formation was still quite respectable.

Including the new recruits en route, Fu Youde's force numbered about four hundred men, arranged in a "品" (pin) formation.

The small salient of thirty men were all clad in leather armor and wielded large shields and long swords, clearly indicating that they were "elite".

The two large formations behind them consisted of more than three hundred men whose robes were of mixed colors, but were generally uniform in style. After forming the formation, they remained silent and held their long spears up in a solemn and imposing manner.

There were also more than a hundred able-bodied men in the formation carrying ladders, battering rams, and other siege equipment, clearly indicating that they were well-prepared and ready to attack the city at any time.

Fu Youde stood at the front of the battle, his iron helmet reflecting the pale winter light, his giant bow raised, the tip pointing backward.

Eight shirtless men sprang out from behind him and slammed bamboo poles into the yellow earth—the heads of scouts strung on the poles were still dripping blood, and the screams and gasps of the guards on the wall mingled together.

Some sharp-eyed individuals recognized that these heads belonged to scouts sent by Sizhou. Originally there were twenty of them, they entered the station yesterday to report that Sizhou was about to send troops and to order them to hold the station firmly. After replenishing their supplies, they left the station and headed west to investigate the enemy's situation.

Half an hour ago, the scouts returned one after another, some of them still injured. Soon after, three of them changed horses and left the East Station, galloping south towards Sizhou City.

At that time, some astute station guards guessed that these scouts had probably encountered the Red Turban rebels, but they did not expect the rebel army to advance on the front of the station so quickly.

A stout courier in blue robes stepped forward, his shouts and curses mingling with the crack of a whip. Several guards cried out in pain, and the commotion gradually subsided, but it also revealed that the courier's men and women were already suspicious out of fear.

Seeing that his strategy of intimidating the enemy had worked, Fu Youde, in a booming voice, shouted to the guards standing on the wall:

"Listen up, all of you! A mere few dozen scouts are attempting to delay the righteous army's march—"

Whoosh!
Just as he was shouting, a cold arrow suddenly shot out from the top of the wall, heading straight for Fu Youde's face.

"Humph!"

Fu Youde snorted coldly, raised his hand to grab the arrow whose force had weakened, and then nocked it on the bowstring. He drew the bow like a full moon, and with a "thud," the arrow flew like a meteor, striking the helmet plume of the attacker standing on the wall. The man was so frightened that he fell to the ground.

"My arrows can knock off helmet plumes and pierce throat bones. If you dare to shoot another arrow to disturb my shouting, I'll take your dog's life!"

The rebel army already had the upper hand, and their bows and arrows were powerful and accurate, so they couldn't gain any advantage in the exchange of fire. The defending troops dared not come out to fight back and could only let Fu Youde continue to shout.

"Scouts from Sizhou have arrived first, so the city must have already begun mobilizing troops. Do you all think that as long as we have walls to defend, we can hold out until reinforcements arrive?"

Another commotion and shouts erupted on the city wall, clearly indicating that some of the defenders had been correctly guessed by Fu Youde. "Back then, the officials and people of Hong County, unaware of the Red Turbans' might, stubbornly resisted the righteous army with a glimmer of hope. And what was the result? In less than an hour, the city was breached by us. The county magistrate, Gao Jingyi, was beheaded, and all the other officials and civilians were captured alive—not a single one escaped!"

The red walls of Qingyang Station are no more than two zhang high, and the guards number less than two hundred. Can any of you hold out for longer?

Due to its important location and distance from surrounding cities, Qingyang Station was built to a standard far superior to that of ordinary stations. The station wall was 24 feet high, covered with blue bricks, and had passageways, crenellations, and arrow towers, making it resemble a military camp.

Even the most fortified stronghold needs to be defended. With insufficient soldiers and scarce armor, it was difficult to maintain morale by relying on a few defeated scouts from Sizhou who had fled back, let alone hold out until reinforcements arrived.

The garrison commander of Qingyang Station, hiding behind the parapet, knew he couldn't let the demon bandits continue shouting and demoralizing his troops. He hurriedly roared at the scouts in a voice distorted with fear:

"Fire the arrow! Fire the arrow quickly!"

Boom——

Fu Youde moved even faster. A scout had just poked his body out of the crenellation and hadn't even drawn his bow when he was struck by an oncoming arrow, his body staggering backward.

Only then did the bystanders realize that the dead man had been pierced through the neck by an arrow, through the throat bone in an instant. They were immediately terrified. The other two scouts, who had already drawn their bows, quickly withdrew and dared not stick their heads out again, no matter how much the messenger shouted.

"Have you had a few full meals in all these years? How much food can the courier's embezzled service money buy for your whole family? A little over a month ago, the station guards of Chulan and Fangcun abandoned their evil ways and joined the righteous cause. Now, two of them have become commanders of the righteous army."

Under the Yuan dynasty system, a lower-level thousand-household office only governed three hundred people.

The fact that Ding Bushi of Qingyang Station did not know the rank of Commander, and replaced him with the more easily understood title of Thousand-Household Chief, was not a deception.

Of course, Fu Youde didn't expect to persuade Zhan Ding to turn against them with just a few words.

Taking advantage of the fact that the defenders were intimidated by his sharpshooting and dared not peek out for the time being, Fu Youde waved his hand and ordered the assault team to carry siege equipment and sneak close to the wall. He didn't stop talking either.

"The opportunity is right in front of you. Are you willing to work your lives for a few liters of stale, sandy rice, and muddying the waters for corrupt officials? Or are you going to take a gamble, kill these scoundrels, join the righteous army, and enjoy wealth and honor!"
"If you don't have the guts to kill the corrupt official, you can live by laying down your weapons. Whoever opens the gate will be rewarded with twenty strings of cash."

Before Fu Youde could finish speaking, the Qingyang post station commander panicked. He frantically whipped the station guards who were beginning to waver, while shouting wildly, trying his best to suppress the bandit leader's voice.

"Get the hell up! If you stand up naked, your whole family will die!"

This fellow was quite alert; while whipping the guards, he didn't forget to hide on the inner side of the parapet, bending his body extremely low, lest he be hit by a sneak attack from the bandit leader. Little did he know that Fu Youde had already guessed his location from the chaos on the wall.

Boom——

The arrow was shot at a slightly high angle, heading straight for the flagpole standing on the wall. The flag rope snapped instantly, and the flag, blown down by the wind, happened to wrap around the bent-over messenger. The man thought he had been ambushed by his men and hurriedly called for his trusted confidants to come to his aid.

"Who! Someone, come quick and save me!"

The station guard with a terrifying whip scar on his face was stunned for a moment, then his eyes flashed with ferocity, and he stabbed the postmaster wrapped in a flag with his pitchfork, his rough roar echoing across the station wall.

"Save him! Save your mother! That night my second brother froze to death in the stable, did that bastard even try to save him?!"

(End of this chapter)