Chapter 366: I Am a True All-Rounder!

Bai Yuzhu stood aboard a medium-sized merchant ship, looking up at the cavalry unit on the cliff above. His brows knitted tightly together.

He had assumed that attacking a small, rundown county town would be a quick victory, easily taken with a single charge. Instead, his forces had been “educated” repeatedly by cannons and explosives on the riverbank, and the troops he sent to flank the enemy were routed and driven back by their cavalry.

This had genuinely caught him somewhat unprepared.

“Mother of…!” Bai Yuzhu raged. “This piddling Heyang County, do you insist on slapping my face?” He bellowed, “I refuse to believe you have that much gunpowder to blast away endlessly! Today, I will break through this measly little port!”

He turned to his subordinates and ordered, “Have everyone rest for now. Let the frustration from that last failure settle a bit. Once morale recovers, we’ll charge again. Next time, all ships rush simultaneously to hug the dock. The ships behind won’t even need to dock properly; they can use the front ships as stepping stones and charge straight onto the shore!”

The bandits acknowledged the order and temporarily halted their offensive. The ships that had already charged onto the docks were now pulled back, retreating upstream a little.

On most other stretches of the upper Yellow River, ships would be swept away if they tried to float idle. But here, precisely, there was a stomach-like oxbow lake with slack water. This large fleet could actually stop on the river surface to rest. They would drift downstream slowly, and after floating a stretch, the boatmen only needed to row a few times to paddle back to their original position and hold steady.

So, for now, the sides stabilized, one force on the shore, the other on the water.

Feng Jun frowned deeply. “How dare those thieves! They act so arrogantly, parking right on the river and refusing to leave! Are they truly scorning us officials as being without capable men?”

Bai Yuan spread his hands. “Well, the authorities are kind of out of people! General Wang Chengen of Shaanxi is currently guarding the Emperor in the capital!”

Feng Jun chuckled awkwardly. “Mr. Bai… if the thieves are parked like that and won’t leave, they’re undoubtedly resting, preparing for their next assault. What about your cannons? Now’s the chance! Fire a few rounds at them! Make their rest impossible!”

Bai Yuan spread his hands again. “Out of bombs.”

Feng Jun felt his nose silently start to bleed. “How? The cannons fired only a few times! How can the explosives be gone already?”

Bai Yuan explained, “Ground Rabbit and the others threw the bombs! That happens much faster than firing cannons. Gone in the blink of an eye! Ah, I didn’t even get a chance to practice my shooting accuracy!”

Feng Jun: “……”

This was decidedly awkward.

Feng Jun grew tense. “What about the thieves’ next wave? Without gunpowder, how can we possibly defend against it?”

Bai Yuan looked towards the northwest and smiled. “The next wave? We won’t need to block it.”

Feng Jun: “?”

“The Gaojia Village Militia has arrived!” Bai Yuan laughed heartily. “Lord Feng, have your militia withdraw and rest. Now, let’s see how Gaojia Village fights!”

The Gaojia Village Militia had indeed arrived. Leading them was a big commander wearing Mountain-patterned Armor, his face masked. It was Cheng Xu. Behind him marched fifteen hundred soldiers: five hundred firearm soldiers, two hundred grenadiers, and another eight hundred soldiers equipped with traditional cold weaponry.

This was Wang Er’s first sight of Gaojia Village’s true combat strength. The sheer scale of it made him pause, startled, but also elated. Gaojia Village is this powerful?

As for Feng Jun, a single glance at this unit made his scalp prickle.

Too many! Far too many soldiers equipped with armor and firearms!

A few civilians owning armor or firearms for self-defense against bandits? Something the court might tolerate, turning a blind eye. But this many? This… this…

Feng Jun dipped his finger into the blood trickling from his nose, uncertain what symbol to draw on his face. He simply wiped it around haphazardly, creating a chaotic pattern – a veritable war paint splash.

Finished painting his face, he gritted his teeth and loudly commanded, “Heyang County militia! Withdraw and rest for now! Hand the defense of Qiachuan Port over to the Gaojia Village Militia!”

Cheng Xu approached, waved his hand, and without needing further orders, the Gaojia Village Militia, under the direction of their various Captains, began taking up suitable positions according to their hundred-man teams.

The firearm soldiers did not climb to high ground. Instead, they formed neat ranks, assembling behind the stockade walls. The grenadiers and archers climbed the watchtowers and onto the palisade walls.

Interestingly, the original ten firearm soldiers of Gaojia Village who first used the “Three-Eyed Firearm” weren’t joining the firearm ranks. They clutched ten rifled firearms and climbed the watchtowers alongside the archers.

Seeing this, Bai Yuan was curious. “Instructor He? Why aren’t those ten firearm soldiers joining the formation?”

Cheng Xu chuckled. “They’re using firearms with rifled barrels.”

Bai Yuan immediately understood.

With rifled barrels, the shooting accuracy would be extremely high. There was no need for them to stand in formation with the smoothbore gun troops, engaging in volley fire. They could operate freely, just like the archers.

Bai Yuan smiled. “So later, they’ll form their own specialized unit. They’ll need an appropriate new title.”

Cheng Xu smiled back. “The Deity has already named them. They are the ‘Skirmishers’.”

Bai Yuan asked, “‘Skirmishers’? Isn’t that ‘loose soldiers and undisciplined troops’? A pejorative term, surely?”

Cheng Xu replied, “I raised that point to the Deity too. He said that as warfare evolves, ‘skirmisher’ will cease to be a derogatory term. This naming won’t be wrong.”

Bai Yuan pondered for a moment and nodded. “Indeed. If all firearms become rifled, and the challenges of loading are overcome, leading to ever-increasing ranges… the methods of fighting wars will surely change drastically. Large square formations will become increasingly foolish. All soldiers might well become skirmishers.”

Anyway, what the Deity says must be correct!

Bai Yuan stopped worrying about the terminology. He did feel a slight pang of loneliness, though. Suddenly having ten sharpshooters around diminished the distinction of his own skill – the prowess of someone who could blow an enemy’s head off cleanly at several hundred paces with a single shot.

While “showing off” wasn’t explicitly forbidden in the Six Arts of Gentlemen, Bai Yuan was still quite particular about maintaining his stature.

Cheng Xu climbed onto a watchtower, scanned the river surface, and noted the bodies of fallen bandits littering the shore. He quickly grasped the situation. “So the bandits charged once, got repelled, and are now resting to muster strength for a second wave?”

Bai Yuan nodded. “Now that Instructor He is here, for this second wave… I suppose I’ll just sit back and be entertained.”

Cheng Xu chuckled and spread his hands. “To be honest? I’m mostly just here to watch the show too.”

Bai Yuan: “?”

Cheng Xu explained, “Ever since we started relying so heavily on firearms, my usefulness ends after I give the order to commence battle. Once it begins? I’m next to useless! Beyond watching, there’s nothing I can do. The troops fight entirely according to the steps drilled into them during training.”

Bai Yuan: “……”

Cheng Xu laughed and pulled Bai Yuan onto the watchtower. “Come, come! Mr. Bai! Come up here to the heights for a better view! Let’s witness a battle that doesn’t require commanding!”

Bai Yuan produced his rifled firearm. “Hmph! I, however, am different! Even without commanding, I can aid my soldiers with my ‘shooting’ prowess! I am a true all-rounder! An all-rounder! Ha! Ha! Ha!”

Wang Er silently followed them onto the watchtower and looked intently towards the front.