Whether they were White Pole, Yellow Pole, or Black Pole Soldiers, the terrain of Sichuan was not merely a battlefield to them. It was home. They had grown up among these mountains, eaten from fields carved out of slopes, slept beneath pine canopies that whispered in the night wind, and learned from childhood which cliff paths could bear a man's weight and which would crumble under careless steps. For them, mountain warfare was not a skill acquired through drills. It was instinct refined by a lifetime.
When the scattered rebel remnants collided with these vividly bannered Pole Soldiers inside the dense forests, the imbalance revealed itself almost immediately. The rebels were brave, yes, and not lacking in ferocity, but courage meant little in terrain that swallowed formations whole. Every time a rebel detachment tried to conceal itself in a ravine, spears would suddenly thrust from above. Every time they attempted to ambush along a narrow pass, arrows descended from tree cover they had failed to notice. The Pole Soldiers did not fight the mountains. They moved as part of them.
Inside a cave behind Jiange Pass, Chuang Wang listened to the steady drip of water from stone while messengers knelt before him one after another.
"Reporting, Chuang Wang. Er Zhi Hu was routed by the Enshi Pacification Commissioner and is now fleeing in disarray."
His expression tightened, but he remained silent.
Another messenger hurried in, still panting from the climb.
"Reporting. Guo Tianxing was ambushed in a mountain gully by the White Pole Soldiers and suffered heavy losses."
Before that weight could settle, yet another voice rang out.
"Reporting. Ma Tianxing was intercepted by the Kaixian Yellow Pole Soldiers and utterly defeated."
The cave seemed to shrink.
Not a single scrap of good news had arrived. His commanders were not fighting evenly matched engagements. They were being systematically crushed, stripped apart in terrain that turned every mistake into catastrophe.
Chuang Wang pressed his fingers against his temple. A doubt he did not wish to acknowledge surfaced anyway. Had he erred in ordering the army to disperse into small groups? He had reasoned that scattering would deny the firearms unit a concentrated target. Yet in doing so, he had sent his men into mountains dominated by chieftains who had mastered guerrilla warfare long before he was born.
If they had remained united as one great host, perhaps their strength could have forced open a path. But then the image of cannon fire rose in his mind. A massed army was precisely what the firearms unit desired.
As that thought crystallized, another rebel soldier burst into the cave.
"Reporting, Chuang Wang. Sweeping King and Wa Guanzi heard of the other defeats. They refused to continue dividing their forces. They defied your orders, gathered over ten thousand men, seized a small hilltop, and are openly challenging the White Pole Soldiers."
Chuang Wang's heart sank.
"Fools," he muttered, rising abruptly. "Send word immediately. Tell them to abandon the hilltop. Retreat. Do not hold an exposed position."
He had not even finished speaking when the mountains answered him.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The thunder of cannons rolled across valleys and echoed from cliff to cliff, each detonation overlapping the next in relentless succession.
Chuang Wang rushed from the cave and climbed a nearby tree with surprising agility for a man burdened by command. From the treetop he could see it clearly. In the distance, a hilltop was being devoured by smoke.
White smoke rose in thick spirals. Black smoke billowed beneath it. Yellow dust surged upward where earth and stone were torn apart. Within that churning mass, flashes of flame erupted and vanished, as if the mountain itself were being hammered by invisible giants.
He could not hear the screams at that distance, but imagination required no assistance. He knew what it meant for ten thousand men to stand upon a hill under artillery fire.
When Er Zhi Hu had previously reported that Tieshan Ping was shelled, it had been words on the wind. Now he witnessed the annihilation with his own eyes, and the difference between hearing and seeing was the difference between rumor and nightmare.
Cold prickled across his skin.
He understood in that moment with brutal clarity that there was no winning formation. Gather together and be obliterated by cannon. Scatter apart and be hunted through the mountains by masters of ambush.
"What are we to do?" he whispered to himself.
For the first time since raising his banner, Chuang Wang felt the hollow sensation of being strategically cornered.
After a long silence, he clenched his teeth.
"We retreat north. Cross the Sichuan mountains and return to Shaanxi. We rely on speed and agility to evade this firearms unit. Such a force cannot be large. Cannons and powder are expensive. The imperial court cannot afford many of them. If we keep moving, they cannot pursue us forever."
His decision spread quickly through the ranks.
Soon after, a White Pole Soldier scout reported back to Cheng Xu and Qin Liangyu.
"The Dashing Army is retreating north. Their route suggests they intend to pass through Guangyuan and return to Shaanxi. Hanzhong Prefecture will likely be their first stop."
Qin Liangyu and the assembled chieftains exchanged uneasy glances.
They could not cross provincial borders without explicit authorization. Even Qin Liangyu, loyal to the court beyond question, understood the political implications. As for the other chieftains, their willingness to march to Chengdu had already been a concession. Pursuing rebels into Shaanxi was another matter entirely.
Ran Ke spoke first. "We may pursue as far as Guangyuan. If we cross into Shaanxi without orders, we commit a capital offense."
Zhu Yujian, who had been traveling alongside Cheng Xu, stepped forward anxiously.
"Esteemed generals, the rebels have not been eradicated. Driving them out of Sichuan is not enough. Only by pressing the pursuit can we end this threat."
Ran Ke's gaze was steady.
"Rules bind us as tightly as chains. We cannot cross."
Zhu Yujian fell silent. He of all people understood the price of overstepping authority.
Nearby, Zhu Cunji stood atop a rocky outcrop wearing a battered straw hat and green scholar's robe, quoting loudly with theatrical enthusiasm, "The Sichuan Road is hard, harder than climbing to the blue sky. When Li Bai wrote those words, he must have meant this very stretch from Guangyuan to Hanzhong. Let us see whether I can cross it myself."
Zhu Yujian rubbed his forehead, unsure whether to laugh or despair.
At that moment, Cheng Xu stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
"Generals, I understand you cannot leave Sichuan. I do not ask you to. I only request that you pursue them closely to the border marker. We can encamp there to prevent their return. That alone will suffice."
Ran Ke smiled faintly.
"As long as we do not cross the marker, there is no problem. I owe Flat Rabbit that much courtesy."
The Zhongxian Pacification Commissioner added, "Gao Chuwu has aided Zhongxian County greatly. Out of respect for Instructor Gao Chuwu, we will pursue to the border marker."
One by one, the other chieftains nodded.
Cheng Xu allowed himself a subtle smile.
"Reaching the border marker will be enough."
Between Hanzhong and Guangyuan rose a towering mountain range so treacherous that even seasoned travelers hesitated before entering. It was here that Li Bai once composed his famous lament about the hardship of the Sichuan Road. Jagged peaks pierced the sky, narrow paths clung to vertical faces, and each ascent felt like a negotiation with death.
The Dashing Army moved carefully, yet caution could not eliminate danger. Even so, dozens of men slipped from cliffs and vanished into the abyss below.
Chuang Wang cursed under his breath as he watched another stretcher carried past.
Just then, a scout from the vanguard returned.
"Brother, we found signs left by Mi Chuang Jiang. He camped in a cave ahead."
Chuang Wang's eyes brightened for the first time in days.
"Mi Chuang Jiang passed through here?"
"Yes. The markings are clear."
Relief stirred within him. Mi Chuang Jiang had inherited the title of Dashing General and had separated months earlier. If he had reached Hanzhong successfully, perhaps he had already secured the prefecture.
"Then we follow his trail," Chuang Wang said firmly. "Once we cross this mountain, we regroup in Hanzhong."
For the first time since witnessing the cannons devour a hilltop, he allowed himself a fragile hope that beyond these brutal mountains lay rest, consolidation, and the chance to rise again.