Shi Fu trembled and asked,
“General Lu, shall we… shall we retreat?”
Lu Wen had never seen such a scene either, and he murmured, “How could this be? Where did they get such audacity? How dare they fire cannons and kill so many people?”
Shi Fu, however, thought to himself: If we charged in, wouldn't we kill even more? Even a cornered rabbit will bite, let alone these rootless Khitans?
But this time, both of them were acting on Luo Longwen's personal order. Since they couldn't break through, and something went wrong, they naturally had to report it immediately. Shi Fu then said,
“General Lu, shall I send someone to report to Lord Ma and Lord Luo first?”
Lu Wen waved his hand and said, “This is a major undertaking, we must see it through to the end. Let's wait a bit longer. You take the rear guard and circle around from that side!”
He pointed to the front left, near the fence at the foot of the mountain.
Shi Fu was already terrified and hesitated,
“General Lu, if they are so formidable, could they also be disguised as government troops?”
Lu Wen was naturally very suspicious, but at this moment, he could only grit his teeth and say firmly, “Impossible! I believe these are the same people from last time, the righteous volunteers from the Zhoushan Gongxie, at most a hundred or so… Don't be intimidated by them! Go, you must go at once!”
Shi Fu was still uneasy and stammered,
“General Lu, but what if they are disguised as government troops, and their firearms are so powerful, wouldn't many brothers be killed and wounded again?”
Lu Wen gave a cold laugh and whispered in his ear,
“What are you afraid of? Lord Luo wants many dead, he didn't say who should die! Do you care if they are villagers or our men, as long as many die, the matter will be blown out of proportion…”
Hiss!
Hiss!
Shi Fu was just a minor official, and he had witnessed many acts of wickedness in his time, but these words were still unheard of and truly terrifying. How could anyone do such a thing?
Alas,
He sighed inwardly, and without a word, ordered his deputy to lead his men towards the foot of the mountain to the front left.
Lu Wen watched leisurely, a cold smile appearing on his lips, and said to Shi Fu,
“Old Shi, you should grow another head. Those kiln owners and powerful families, they are so wealthy normally, shouldn't they contribute something at this time? Do you care if they live or die? It's not like it's your life… What do you say? As long as you push their private guards to the front, do you care how many die?”
Shi Fu truly experienced the darkness of the Great Ming today, and nodded,
“Yes, General Lu, this subordinate was foolish…”
Lu Wen paced a few steps and said again,
“Old Shi, we must fight again, don't be intimidated by them… I was just thinking, could Zhu Mo be among them? If he is inside, and we capture him, it would be an act of rebellion, and the Junior Grand Secretary would surely promote us three ranks…”
Shi Fu no longer cared about these things, but another matter made him unable to help but remind,
“General Lu, Fan Yingqi should know by now, shouldn't he? If he brings two thousand elite troops, we won't be able to fight anymore?”
Hahaha!
Lu Wen laughed,
“Old Shi, do you think Lord Luo Longwen is a vegetarian? That is our strategist! He has already thought of everything. As soon as Fan Yingqi brings government troops, our rear guard will also advance and confront him… In any case, it's all about quelling the civil unrest, and we haven't disobeyed the Governor's order…”
This?
There’s also this move?
Shi Fu was stunned. Recalling his first impression of Luo Longwen at this moment,
Lu Wen patted his shoulder and said with a smile,
“Old Shi, this Great Ming is deep waters. For us, we just need to do what we are assigned to do, don't overthink it…”
Oh?
This is quite an unusual line of thought!
Zhu Mo couldn't help but glance at Yin Xiaohu a few times, feeling that this person had indeed grown too quickly, and it was a shame not to let him go to the border. With such a talented general under him, Zhu Mo was naturally very happy and said with a smile,
“Good! I'll listen to you today!”
Yin Xiaohu gave a simple and honest smile and said,
“I'll go do it now!”
Zhu Mo did not fully believe that the enemy's detachment would retreat, so he immediately had Xu Chuan lead his men to guard the area at the foot of the mountain. Yin Xiaohu was indeed extremely proficient. The artillery team did not falter at all, aiming at the enemy's rear guard. The arquebusiers were deployed on both sides, but instead of providing cover, they slowly advanced a dozen meters forward. The two hundred or so men were again divided into eight small squads, interspersed and moving with unusual order.
In the blink of an eye,
The two formations were no longer far apart. Yin Xiaohu, confident in the speed of reloading his arquebuses and the absence of enemy cavalry, believed he could easily neutralize their attack within forty to fifty meters. He calmly stood to the side of the artillery team, raised a small flag high, waiting for the enemy's rear army to move.
At this moment,
Whether it was inside the fence or outside the small grove opposite, neither side treated this battle as a mere brawl between villagers. Both sides could see that it was a very formal battle formation. The villagers had never seen such a thing, and they all came out of the fence, lining up behind the artillery team, awaiting the final decisive battle.
It was already around Hai Shi (9-11 PM), the moon was bright in the sky, and crows were flying up in the distance. There were still scattered lights in the village that had not been extinguished, and the earth was strangely silent.
Zhu Mo watched quietly, as if he had returned to the Shuo Mo plains at that time, and the subtlety and danger here were even greater.
Finally,
Someone in the enemy's front formation shouted—
“Charge!”
With a rush!
More than three thousand men surged forward, their formation clearly much more orderly than in the first attack, clearly directed by disguised government troops.
Immediately after,
Bang bang bang!
A cloud of white smoke rose above the artillery team.
With a sharp whistling sound, the enemy's rear guard fell into disarray, and the charging front guard, upon hearing the loud noise, became flustered. Many of them stopped and looked back.
At the same time,
Yin Xiaohu waved his small flag with his left hand,
Bang bang bang…
After a burst of arquebus fire, a large number of the enemy's front guard fell to the ground.
This move was indeed very powerful. The enemy's rear guard was hit by artillery first, and in the ensuing panic, the front guard was met with another volley, the killing effect far exceeding expectations. Many of the private guards in the front formation were already fleeing towards the rear, and the government troops among them had been instructed to push the private guards forward, so they turned to chase after them, turning the scene into a chaotic mess…
Lu Wen and Shi Fu were terrified.
Shi Fu shouted,
“General Lu, there must be government troops in their formation! Let's retreat quickly!”
Lu Wen had expected some sort of fight between the two sides. His government troops would be in front of the private guards, and after a battle, a casualty of about a thousand men would be enough. Now, it was a one-sided situation, and the other side was completely unharmed!
He was a cruel man, and his temper flared up at this moment. He roared,
“Charge! Charge for me!”
With a whoosh!
The rear guard simultaneously pushed forward.
But at this moment, a series of hurried hoofbeats could be heard. The scouts from behind the grove galloped over, shouting, “General! General! Government troops from Jingde Town are here…!”
Lu Wen immediately panicked. He thought it must be Fan Yingqi. Although he was not wearing armor at the moment, if he were discovered commanding in the formation, it would be an indelible stain. He immediately said to Shi Fu,
“Old Shi, you order the rear guard to advance! I'll go mobilize the government troops!”
Shi Fu sighed inwardly and could only reply,
“As you command!”
Lu Wen, alone on his horse, disappeared into the woods on the right rear. Shi Fu, meanwhile, led the rear guard to continue advancing. And how could Yin Xiaohu be outdone? The arquebusiers quickly moved forward and fired another volley, causing another one or two hundred private guards to fall. Following this were more dense artillery sounds, and amidst the roaring explosions, the casualties in the rear guard were even greater than in the front.
Shi Fu could no longer stay for another moment, and shouted,
“Retreat! All of you, retreat!”
Huala!
As the words fell,
The terrified rear guard and their horses surged into the woods like madmen.
And at this very moment,
A series of rapid and neat footsteps approached. Looking in the direction of the sound, Fan Yingqi had arrived with a large contingent of government troops. This man was also quite observant and immediately had his troops insert themselves between the front and rear formations, which slightly improved the chaotic situation. Seeing that the government troops had arrived, the private guards gradually stopped.