On the twenty-ninth day of the fifth month, in the second year after the Sage fled south to Jiangdu, the Exorcising the Dragon Army, entrenched along the upper Ji River, and the Qi-Lu Government Army, which had risen along its lower reaches, collided in an unforeseen decisive battle. After a full year of organizing, expansion, friction, and warfare, developments in the wider situation brought them to this day.
After the fighting had lasted an afternoon, Zhang Xing, commander-in-chief of the Exorcising the Dragon Army, could hardly wait to declare victory.
And this battle truly was a great victory for the Exorcising the Dragon Army and a crushing defeat for the Qi-Lu Government Army-the kind of total collapse in which the latter's principal leader was killed and the vast majority of its main force surrounded and forced to surrender.
But that also meant the battle's consequences could not possibly end with Zhang Xing's declaration.
In fact, throughout the evening and night, the Exorcising the Dragon Army operated in the rain, clearing the battlefield, hunting down routed soldiers, and accepting their surrender. Nor was it only the army: large numbers of local able-bodied men and civilian laborers were mobilized to clear the battlefield and search the surrounding area. After dark, every nearby settlement-towns, hamlets, villages, markets, and ferry crossings-also received notices delivered through the darkness by the Exorcising the Dragon Gang. They were instructed to gather women and children together for protection, organize patrols to capture scattered enemy troops, and bring them to Lihu in exchange for rewards.
Besides this, Zhang Xing took advantage of the momentum to issue further orders on the battlefield. Wang Shuyong was to lead Zhang Shanxiang and Ding Shengying in pursuit of the fleeing Fan Bao and the enemy's sole remaining main force. Niu Da, Guan Xu,