Chapter 367: Washed Ashore
Chapter 367: Washed Ashore
Bai Yuzhu’s eyes snapped open: “That’s enough rest! Order the entire army to prepare for attack.”
His few trusted aides immediately sprang into action, spreading the command.
Issuing commands between ships was actually a cumbersome affair—navies usually relied on flag signals.
But Bai Yuzhu’s naval force didn’t have that issue, as the rebel ships were all jammed tightly together, with minimal gaps between larger and smaller vessels; all they needed to do was holler loudly to relay orders.
“Prepare to work!”
“Attack the docks.”
“Boss Bai ordered that soon, all ships push straight toward the shore and pile up together. If we can’t dock properly, no problem: just use the front ships as footbridges to rush ashore.”
“Kill that reckless Heyang County magistrate.”
“Chop up all those militias opposing us and feed them to the dogs.”
“Feeding dogs is wasteful—take them back to eat ourselves, hahaha.”
As they acted, the rebels cursed and grumbled, pent-up after the recent defeat.
Since joining Wang Jiayin’s uprising, they had only suffered two losses: one in Hequ County where they were pounded into retreat by General Wang Guoliang of Shanxi with Western cannons, and another in Yichuan County where Hong Chengchou inexplicably crushed them. Beyond that, they hadn’t known the taste of defeat.
The more victories they had, the less they could accept failure!
Thus, any minor setback made them increasingly furious.
The whole fleet stirred to life: boatmen readied themselves to row hard toward the docks, while soldiers began preparations. From the prior skirmish, they had seen that the defenders’ main attack was arrows.
The bomb just made a bang to intimidate—it lacked real power.
As long as they raised their shields, they feared nothing. Even without shields, holding a thick quilt overhead could block arrows—no need to be afraid.
Once they closed in and the arrows became useless, this rag-tag militia was nothing but a scattered mob, easy to sweep aside in one fight.
“Prepare to attack!”
“Hear my order!”
Bai Yuzhu snapped down a F2A and barked loudly: “All troops charge.”
Every vessel on the river, except Bai Yuzhu’s “flagship,” surged forward—a truly frightening sight. If it were the Heyang County militia guarding the wall’s edge, just this view might have made them weep in fear.
But now it was replaced by the Gaojia Village Militia, making all the difference.
From his high vantage point on the watchtower, Feng Jun observed. Though a small group of the Gaojia Village Militia showed fear on their faces, most remained utterly unmoved.
Of the 1,500 men, only 500 were new recruits; the other thousand were veterans from the Huanglong Mountain bandit suppression, already battle-hardened in clashes against Wang Zuogua.
Completely unmoved!
A Captain shouted loudly: “Prepare to topple the barricade wall.”
Feng Jun: “Huh? Why tear down the wall? Without it, how can we defend?”
Bai Yuan smiled: “The single-layer wall is too narrow up top—it hinders our firearm soldiers shooting in relays. So we need to topple it. Fear not: our troops can hold this spot without any wall.”
Feng Jun: “…”
The first line of ships crashed onto the shore. Fierce bandits leapt off noisily, raising shields, grabbing pot lids, hoisting quilts overhead, or propping up planks… They exhibited every conceivable trick to block arrows with dazzling skill.
The boats at the back cramped against those in front, immediately piling up several layers of vessels by the shore, densely blotting out a large expanse of the river. Bandits leaped from the boats at the rear onto those in front, then jumped onto the bank. Their movements were quite agile, almost like monkeys crossing a river.
The members of the Gaojia Village Militia standing on the watchtowers raised their hand crossbows and fired a sweeping rain of arrows at them.
Something interesting happened. The Gaojia Village Militia force equipped with cold weapons had only eight hundred men, far fewer than the Heyang County militia. However, the rain of arrows they unleashed was greater than what over a thousand men of the Heyang County militia fired.
This was certainly because the Heyang County militia could not equip every man with a bow. Their equipment was too disorganized, and their rain of arrows was sparse and scattered.
But the Gaojia Village Militia had a hand crossbow for each person, all crafted by carpenters from the artisans’ well in Gaojia Village. Materials were supplied by the Deity, so cost was ignored during production. Each was exquisitely made, and the power of the bolts fired was far stronger than the bows of the Heyang County militia.
Bandits landing under such an arrow rain suffered greatly.
One man did not hold his shield properly. Thud—an arrow hit his leg. He cried out in agony, his shield tilted, followed by thud-thud-thud—his chest was pierced by several arrows, and he screamed while rolling on the ground.
Another man advanced with a cotton-padded quilt over his head. He heard thudding sounds of arrows striking the quilt, not knowing how many had hit him. Afraid to lift the quilt to see the path ahead, he misstepped at a gap between the boats and fell into the Yellow River.
Instantly, a large number of bandits fell.
However, this time they were determined to charge and “teach these foolhardy militias a lesson,” unwilling to retreat easily. The border army members who had landed held up their shields firmly, advancing slowly under the arrow rain. They were also wearing cloth armor, so even an occasional arrow hit was not a big problem.
Their forceful advance did carry some weight.
A large group of mutinous garrison soldiers followed behind, and behind them came the bandits.
Three distinct tiers formed a clear hierarchy.
Soon, this group gained a foothold under the arrow rain.
The border army leader laughed heartily, “They stopped tossing bombs, so they must have run out of bombs.”
“Forward!”
“Keep the shield formation tight, and advance.”
At that moment, they suddenly heard a thunderous “boom!” The wooden palisade wall collapsed in a large section, dust filled the air, and the rising sand obscured a wide field of vision.
The bandits were briefly stunned, then suddenly overjoyed. “Hahaha, their palisade wall just collapsed on its own.”
Bai Yuzhu said, “Heaven helps me! They must have cut corners when building the palisade, not driving the timber deep enough. Attack! Aim for where the wall fell.”
The bandits cheered and roared, charging toward the spot where the palisade had collapsed.
Just then…
“Bang-bang-bang-bang!”
The sound of firearms erupted right where the palisade had fallen. Amidst the thick, blinding dust, hundreds of firearms fired continuously.
Smoothbore guns did not need aiming; one just fired in a general direction in a standing line. So the dust had no effect on them. Bullets shot through the swirling yellow sand, hitting the onrushing bandits with a barrage of savage violence.
The power of bullets was completely different from arrows!
Soldiers holding iron shields could block one or two, but bandits with pot lids were not so lucky. Lead bullets easily pierced through the pot lids. A bandit behind screamed, clutched the spot hit, and collapsed.