Chapter 105: Avenging Erganzi

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From a tactical standpoint, Akberil’s deployment had no flaws. It was the kind of strategy that could shift the greatest possible losses onto the Qing troops. His mistake, however, was that he had completely failed to understand the strategic situation.

He believed the bandits would use the terrain in the valley to escape his pursuit, or else prepare to make a last stand. What Akberil had never imagined was that Yang Xiaolin had laid this ambush in order to break out.

Sometimes a charge is meant for defense, and sometimes a defense is meant to prepare a charge. In terms of the theory of warfare, Yang Xiaolin possessed an innate advantage. He had fought fewer battles than General Akberil, but no one in this era could compare with him in the number of war films he had watched.

The sun had already risen. The Qing soldiers entered the valley one by one at a moderate pace. The delay had allowed the Russians to lose sight of Yang Xiaolin entirely. Both sides of the ridge were deathly silent; one could even hear the wind.

That silence only deepened Zhao Yansun’s rising panic. He would rather have entered the pass and immediately suffered a sudden attack. In that case, he could simply turn around and run.

He understood the principle well enough: when entering a forest, one should proceed with caution. The deeper one went, the harder it became to get back out. He believed the Russians understood that as well.

One of the men beside him suddenly spoke in the Shaanxi dialect. “Sir, take a look at this valley. If there are ambushes above us, our brothers are going to be in trouble. At the very least, shouldn’t we send someone to search both sides before moving on?”

Sending men to search both sides would cost time. Zhao Yansun knew that the Russians were unwilling to waste any, which was why they had chosen this simplest method of crossing the valley. If the Qing soldiers all made it through, so much the better. If they could not, the ambushing bandits would be exposed.

The Russians were using them as cannon fodder!

Zhao Yansun felt both anger and fear. He planted one foot badly, staggered, and fell against a rock. The man beside him had only just helped him to his feet when the Russian officer assigned to supervise him came running over.

“What are you doing? Trying to shirk your duty? Move forward!”

As he spoke, the leather whip in his hand came lashing down on Zhao Yansun.

Zhao Yansun was stunned by the blow. He was an officer, after all, and a mid-ranking commander in the Qing army. To be struck by a Russian at the slightest whim made him feel utterly humiliated. A flash of anger crossed his eyes, but vanished at once.

He did not dare say a word. Once he had straightened himself, he shouted loudly, “Move faster! All of you, move your damned feet!”

The Qing soldiers were clearly afraid that the ridges on either side concealed an ambush. As they passed through, they repeatedly fired their rifles blindly toward the hills. The bullets were fired without aim. Apart from startling a few wild beasts that had only just awakened from hibernation, they did no harm whatsoever to the bandits.

A bullet struck the ground beside Liu Xianhe. He instinctively ducked, then raised his head again. Ever since being wounded at Ganzi Village, Liu Xianhe had not fought alongside the others. He had thought he was certain to die that time, but unexpectedly he had survived—and was once again able to fight beside his brothers.

The Fifth Company’s mission was to drive back the enemy troops entering the valley. Seeing more than two thousand Qing soldiers moving below, Liu Xianhe felt a little nervous.

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The enemy was slowly entering the pocket they had prepared. Liu Xianhe gripped his rifle tightly, watching the men pass one by one beneath his muzzle. His rifle was aimed directly at Zhao Yansun. The moment he heard the signal to begin, he would pull the trigger.

Outside the valley, General Akberil was nervous as well. As the Qing troops inside gradually advanced deeper into the valley, his heart climbed into his throat.

Lopatin stood beside him. “Akberil, I think we can send our troops in a little farther now.”

Akberil considered this, then shook his head. “No. Let’s wait a little longer.”

Lopatin was plainly becoming anxious. “I’m afraid that Yang the Ghost-Slayer may have escaped during this time.”

Akberil smiled. “You can put that worry aside. They attacked our vanguard last night and reached us this morning. That means they did not rest at all during the night. They could not have gone far.”

Lopatin said nothing more. Before a battle began, he would arrange the troops according to his own ideas. But once the shooting started, he generally followed Akberil’s judgment, because he knew that when it came to battle, he was indeed inferior to Akberil.

Only after the Qing soldiers had reached the far end of the valley did Akberil finally seem to set his mind at ease.

“Good. Order our men into the valley. Once the Qing troops have seized the exit, divide into three groups and advance at full speed!”

A thousand Russian soldiers had long been ready to enter the valley. At Akberil’s command, they set off toward the pass in neat formation.

When the Qing troops had passed through moments earlier, everything had been perfectly safe. But the instant these Russian soldiers entered, the situation changed completely.

A sharp rifle crack marked the beginning of the battle. As the Russian officer at the front fell to the ground, dense gunfire erupted from both sides of the ridge. Grenades came flying down one after another, arcing toward the Russians below.

The Russian troops that had just entered the valley were thrown into immediate chaos by the explosions.

Akberil was utterly astonished. He was not surprised that an ambush had been waiting there; what shocked him was that the bandits had chosen to strike at this particular moment.

This was clearly not a good time. More than two thousand Qing soldiers were already inside the valley, while nearly three thousand Russian troops and six or seven thousand Qing soldiers stood at his side. Did the bandits not fear being attacked from both front and rear if they ambushed the Russian troops still near the valley entrance?

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He had no time to think about it. “Order Captain Malik to hold the pass. Reinforcements will arrive at once!”

Although he could not understand why the bandits had chosen such a foolish course, they would have had a far better chance of retreating if they had ambushed the Qing troops instead. But since they had chosen this foolish method, he had no reason to let them escape.

“Order the Qing troops inside the valley not to turn back! Keep charging forward and seize the exit at the other end. Seal these bandits in! Artillery—aim at their positions and blast them! The entire army, prepare to attack!”

The distance from here to the valley was only six or seven hundred meters, close enough for them to see the battle with their own eyes. The heavy artillery fire Lopatin had called for immediately poured toward the places where the bandits were hiding on the ridges.

But once again, the shells fell wide.

After the Second and Third Companies of bandits unleashed a rapid volley, they used the smoke from the grenades as cover and rushed out of their original hiding places. By the time the shells came crashing down, they had already leapt from the ridges. One after another, they descended like ferocious tigers breaking from their cages, bayonets raised as they charged the Russians in the valley.

Ergazi was at the very front. He fired continuously as he charged, shouting at the top of his lungs.

Perhaps one of the Russian machine gunners was drawn by Ergazi’s cries. He swung the barrel toward him and unleashed a burst. Biaozi saw smoke erupting all around Ergazi as bullets struck the ground, and Ergazi’s body swayed before collapsing.

Pain stabbed through Biaozi’s heart. He shouted, “Dihui! Take out that machine gun!”

Dihui, who was charging forward, suddenly stopped behind a large rock. He concealed himself, raised the muzzle of his rifle, and—without appearing to take aim at all—fired once.

The Russian machine gunner fell dead.

Seizing the instant the Russian machine gun fell silent, Biaozi leapt more than two meters forward and hurled a grenade at the Russians.

“Kill them, brothers! Ergazi, I’m here to avenge you!”

The bandits charged into the Russian formation with bayonets in hand, shouting at the tops of their voices, “Avenge Ergazi!”

At that moment, Ergazi staggered to his feet. He had not yet understood what had happened. Hearing the earth-shaking cries around him, he raised his rifle and charged forward as well, even shouting along with them:

“Kill them! Avenge Ergazi!”

(I drank far too much last night—sorry, brothers. Let me timidly ask: could you give this novel a Sanjiang recommendation?)