With the northern and western fronts in chaos, the main rebel army was finally able to refocus its attention on the Gao Family Village Militia.
However, before the rebel cannons could even be repositioned, war drums thundered once more from the south.
Shi Kefa had arrived.
He commanded only five hundred men. Worse still, his force was a chaotic mix of militia and useless, poorly trained rabble. Under normal circumstances, such a unit would have been nothing more than a rounding error on the battlefield.
But Shi Kefa's men carried new style flintlock rifles.
Their firing speed was terrifying.
Four rounds within ten breaths.
Such a rate of fire was so outrageous that even Emperor Zhu Youjian himself would have doubted it if he had not seen it with his own eyes.
The rebel troops guarding the southern flank barely had time to react before dense gunfire erupted. The moment the rifles spoke, the southern perimeter collapsed. Rebel soldiers scattered in all directions, fleeing in panic.
The Dashing General froze for a brief moment, stunned by the sudden turn of events. Then he roared furiously, "Who will intercept Shi Kefa?"
Earlier, no one had dared to face He Renlong.
Now, finding someone willing to confront Shi Kefa was even harder.
The Dashing General scanned the surrounding commanders, but not a single person stepped forward.
As a result, Shi Kefa led his mere five hundred men straight through the rebel army's southern flank, moving freely as if marching through an empty field.
This sight infuriated the Dashing General.
Inside his heart, he cursed violently.
"A rabble. Completely useless. Just a disorganized mob."
At that moment, someone suddenly burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha. A rabble indeed. Nothing but a rabble."
The speaker had voiced the Dashing General's inner thoughts aloud, completely unconcerned about offending anyone present.
Everyone turned their heads.
It was the Eight Great Kings, Zhang Xianzhong.
The Eight Great Kings of the South Camp had already been wiped out earlier. Among the roaming bandit forces, only the West Camp Eight Great Kings remained. Over time, people stopped bothering with the "West Camp" title and simply called him the Eight Great Kings, partly to avoid accusations of inflating their numbers.
One rebel chief immediately scowled. "Eight Great Kings, watch your mouth. Who are you calling a rabble?"
The Eight Great Kings rolled his eyes lazily. "You. Me. Everyone here." He laughed loudly. "A rabble, every last one of us."
He clapped his hands together, laughing as he spoke. "This entire rabble wants to earn those hundred catties of gold, yet no one cares whether we win or lose. Fine. You all chase your gold. I'll be the one to stop Shi Kefa."
He turned and waved at the two men beside him. "Sweeping King. Peaceful King. Let's move."
The three forces under the Eight Great Kings, along with the Sweeping King and Peaceful King, immediately broke away from the main camp and advanced south.
These two kings were the same rebel forces who had recently colluded with the Huangmei water bandits to attack Anqing Prefecture. They had plenty of old grudges and fresh hatred toward Shi Kefa.
Their combined army surged southward in massive numbers, tens of thousands strong.
Shi Kefa's five hundred riflemen could not possibly withstand such overwhelming force head on. He was forced to retreat southward, engaging the enemy only through constant skirmishes and harassment.
Seeing that the southern front was finally contained, the Dashing General let out a long breath of relief.
Good.
Now he could finally focus entirely on Gao Jie.
But before he could issue another order, war drums suddenly boomed again, this time from the southwest.
Governor Lu Xiangheng had arrived.
Lu Xiangheng led the Tianxiong Army, along with General Zu Kuan, Guerrilla Commander Luo Dai, and the Henan Relief General Zuo Liangyu.
It was a formidable force.
The moment the Dashing General saw them, his heart sank.
There was no one left on his side willing to peel off and block them.
At this point, the rebel army truly was nothing more than a disorganized mob. How could they possibly stop Lu Xiangheng?
The rage that had been burning moments earlier, fueled by thoughts of his stolen wife and Gao Jie's name, finally began to cool.
From the southwest, deafening battle cries shook the land. Lu Xiangheng's Tianxiong Army cut into the roaming bandits like a blade through rotten wood. Wherever they went, rebel soldiers collapsed and fled, clutching their heads and refusing to resist.
The Dashing General sighed heavily.
"Looks like I won't be taking Gao Jie's head today."
He waved his hand. "Retreat."
Once the order was given, the roaming bandits immediately demonstrated their one true advantage.
Their lack of organization.
Seventy two bands of roaming bandits scattered in seventy two different directions. Even immortals would struggle to capture them all in one sweep.
The Dashing General and Li Zicheng led their forces into the Dabie Mountains.
Geli Yan and others vanished into the Yingshan region.
The Eight Great Kings disappeared into the Huoshan area.
The once arrogant rebel army of hundreds of thousands dissolved in an instant, leaving behind only tens of thousands of captured labor reform prisoners, all destined for the Gao Family Village labor reform camps.
Xi'an.
Chang'an Automobile Factory.
A filthy, battered light armored vehicle was hauled into the workshop.
Workers swarmed it immediately. Wrenches, pliers, and tools flew in every direction. In mere moments, the armored vehicle was stripped down into a pile of scattered parts.
Then, its "soul" was extracted.
The steam engine.
It was rushed at top speed to the Steam Engine Assembly Workshop and placed before the workshop director, Bin Sheng.
An armored battalion soldier who had escorted the vehicle snapped to attention and saluted.
"Director Bin," he reported. "This armored vehicle participated in the bandit suppression operation and performed exceptionally near Lu Prefecture. However, during the final decisive battle, the steam engine suffered a severe malfunction and completely shut down. We expended great effort transporting it back. We hope the assembly workshop can identify the issue and prevent similar incidents in future battles."
Bin Sheng returned the salute immediately.
"On behalf of the Steam Engine Assembly Workshop, I apologize to the armored battalion," he said solemnly. "We will identify the problem as quickly as possible and ensure such failures are minimized in future production."
The soldier froze.
He had not expected the director to apologize to him personally.
No excuses.
No blame shifting.
He did not know that Bin Sheng also came from a military background. In his heart, responsibility always lay with the factory when soldiers were put at risk.
The soldier left, still somewhat dazed.
The moment he was gone, Bin Sheng's expression darkened.
"Damn it," he thought grimly. "This steam engine actually has defects. If I steal flawed technology back to the Later Jin Dynasty and it breaks down, the Emperor would skin me alive."
"No. Absolutely not."
"I must make sure it is perfected before bringing it home."
He immediately convened a review meeting, summoning every worker from the steam engine assembly workshop.
Standing on the platform, Bin Sheng's face was terrifyingly grim.
"Do you know this," he roared. "This steam engine was assembled right here. In this workshop. And it broke down on the battlefield."
His voice rose sharply.
"It shut down completely."
"Do you understand what that means for our frontline soldiers?"
"If it fails in the middle of battle, the soldiers inside become nothing more than fish on a chopping board."
"If it breaks down during long distance transport, the vehicle must be abandoned. If the enemy captures it, our military secrets are exposed."
"If it breaks during logistics transport, our allies at the front will starve."
His furious voice echoed even into the neighboring workshops.
"I will not blame any individual," Bin Sheng continued. "This is the responsibility of all of us. Every worker here. Including me."
"I want this steam engine dismantled immediately. Find the problem."
"And for the next ten thousand, no, one million, no, one hundred million steam engines we produce, this flaw must never appear again."
He slammed his hand down.
"Do it now. This is the most important task of this workshop."
The workers were filled with shame and determination.
They surged toward the engine.
"I found it," someone shouted. "I found the problem. This component has a slight deviation."
Bin Sheng's eyes lit up.
"Excellent," he said sharply. "Fix it immediately."