Tens of thousands of rebels blocked the path ahead. Tens of thousands more pressed in from behind. From both sides of the ravine, arrows poured down like a black rain that never seemed to end.
The moment Cao Wenzhao truly grasped the scale of it, his heart sank.
If no one came to help, if they relied only on their own strength, then this ravine would very likely become his grave.
The Guanning Iron Cavalry raised their shields in unison. They formed a tight ring, backs pressed together, shields overlapping, bracing themselves against the endless hail of arrows falling from the slopes.
Their equipment saved their lives.
Any ordinary garrison unit would already have been wiped out under such fire.
Liu Chenggong and Wang Xi had already accepted death. Both men let out long, bitter sighs.
"General Cao," Liu Chenggong said weakly, his voice barely holding together, "you came to save us, only to trap yourselves here as well. We truly… truly owe you."
Cao Bianjiao clenched his teeth.
Will reinforcements even come?
And that Henan Governor, Fan Shangzheng. He had better not be a useless fool.
If he is, then Uncle and I will both die here.
Almost unconsciously, he glanced toward the northwest.
Then his eyes froze.
"Huh?"
High in the distant sky, two Reconnaissance Hot Air Balloons drifted forward, clear and unmistakable against the horizon.
They were not far.
Not far at all.
Cao Bianjiao's blood surged. "Hold on!" he roared at the top of his lungs. "Brothers, hold fast! Reinforcements are almost here!"
When Bai Yuan reached the mouth of the ravine, all he saw was a sea of rebel backs.
Chuǎng Wang's forces were blocking the entrance, facing inward, fully focused on crushing the Guanning Iron Cavalry trapped inside.
Then someone shouted from the rear.
"Government troops!"
Another voice followed, sharp with panic. "It's the Henan Governor's men!"
Rebels were still rebels.
They could fight when everything went their way. But the moment they were caught in a pincer, their courage collapsed instantly.
Bai Yuan did not waste a single word.
"Open fire."
The Flintlock Rifle soldiers pulled their triggers.
The roar of gunfire thundered through the ravine. Rebel bodies dropped in rows, cut down before they even understood what was happening.
Screams erupted.
"It's them!"
"That strange Flintlock Rifle unit!"
"Damn it!" someone yelled. "Don't panic! We still have hidden forces!"
From the slopes on both sides, rebel archers cautiously emerged.
They had no idea that every one of those positions had already been spotted by the Reconnaissance Hot Air Balloons. Their locations had been marked on maps and sent down through bamboo tubes long before this moment.
The Flintlock Rifle soldiers were waiting.
The instant the archers showed themselves, gunfire exploded from both sides.
Rebels screamed as bullets struck home, bodies tumbling down the rocky slopes.
"Do not advance recklessly," Bai Yuan ordered calmly. "Secure your positions first."
In truth, the order was unnecessary.
The Dao Xuan Tianzun had long drilled a single belief into his followers. Never gamble your life just to look heroic. Survival came first.
The Flintlock Rifle soldiers held their ground. They did not rush forward to rescue Cao Wenzhao. Instead, they sealed off every possible angle of attack, pouring fire into the hillsides until not a single rebel archer dared lift his head.
"Hold steady."
"Advance slowly."
Two thousand seasoned veterans began to push forward step by step.
Behind them, three thousand newer soldiers kept their rifles trained on the slopes, fingers tight on the triggers.
The rebels blocking the ravine entrance were smashed apart. Their formation collapsed into chaos, bodies piling over one another in desperate retreat.
Inside the ravine, the Guanning Iron Cavalry heard it.
Gunfire.
"So many rifles!"
"Reinforcements are here!"
Cao Wenzhao felt strength surge back into his limbs. "The Henan garrison is far better equipped than expected," he said loudly. "With this attack from both sides, the rebels will break. Guanning Iron Cavalry, now is the time!"
With a deafening roar, the Guanning Iron Cavalry charged.
They burst toward the ravine's entrance like a steel tide.
The rebel ranks shattered instantly.
Li Zicheng, the Dashing General, stared in disbelief. "Old Eighth Squad!" he shouted. "Stop them!"
He personally led his Old Eighth Squad forward. These were his Mizhi countrymen, his core troops, the elite foundation that would one day become the Fengtian Changyi Battalion of the Great Shun.
It did not matter.
Against the Guanning Iron Cavalry, they were still crushed.
Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao led a coordinated double charge.
The Old Eighth Squad broke and fled.
The siege of Luanma Ravine was over.
At last, Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao burst free from the valley.
Outside, rebel forces were in full collapse. Bai Yuan's Flintlock Rifle soldiers chased them relentlessly, driving them up the slopes like frightened rats.
Cao Wenzhao stared. "Bai Yuan?"
Cao Bianjiao blurted out, "This is unbelievable."
Cao Wenzhao nodded slowly. "Look at him. His robes are still spotless white, even after all this fighting."
Cao Bianjiao wiped the sweat from his temple. "Uncle, are you serious? You are admiring his clothes? Shouldn't you be shocked that all these Flintlock Rifle units are actually militia?"
Cao Wenzhao blinked. "Ah. Now that you mention it, that does seem strange. I thought they were Fan Shangzheng's troops. To think they belong to Bai Yuan… that truly defies reason."
Cao Bianjiao sighed deeply. "Uncle, when will you ever focus on the important part?"
By then, the battlefield had fully settled.
Liu Chenggong and Wang Xi's forces, rescued at great cost, had escaped the trap. Fan Shangzheng's Henan troops finally arrived, late as ever, and began tending to the wounded.
Military medics carefully removed arrows from Liu Chenggong and Wang Xi, applying poultices to stop the bleeding. Both men closed their eyes, exhausted, lying still on their stretchers.
Cao Wenzhao took a few steps toward Fan Shangzheng, then stopped. He turned and walked toward Bai Yuan instead, clasping his fists in solemn respect.
"Mr. Bai," he said seriously, "we owe you our lives. Without your timely aid, I, Cao Wenzhao, would have died in Luanma Ravine today."
Bai Yuan smiled faintly. "It was nothing."
Cao Wenzhao studied him for a moment, then turned back toward the stretchers. He tapped the edge of Liu Chenggong's and spoke coldly.
"You had only three thousand men, yet you chose to face hundreds of thousands of rebels. Was that not courting death? You forced multiple armies to rush here just to save you."
Liu Chenggong struggled to open one eye. "We never expected… their strength to rise so fast. In Shaanxi and Shanxi… we were the ones chasing them."
Wang Xi added weakly, "The key issue is… His Majesty ordered… the rebels must be suppressed within six months."
Cao Wenzhao stiffened. He let out a long sigh. "Six months? That is impossible."
Wang Xi's voice trembled with anger. "Because of this impossible order… Liu Honglie, Ai Wannian, Liu Guozhen. All of them died. Every one of them."
Nearby, Bai Yuan quietly tugged at Fan Shangzheng's sleeve.
"Quick," he whispered. "Submit a memorial against them. Accuse them of dissatisfaction with the imperial decree and harboring rebellious intent."
Fan Shangzheng did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Mr. Bai," he sighed, "this is hardly the time for jokes. His Majesty does not understand warfare and does not know the true state of the rebels. He issues commands on a whim. What else can we do?"