Chapter 368: Fleeing Far Too Swiftly

The bandits recoiled in shock: “Firearms! And so many of them!”

The front ranks of the border army suffered the worst from this volley. Yet they reacted the fastest. Upon discovering the enemy possessed numerous firearms and witnessing comrades fall beside them,

they became exceedingly cautious with their shields—especially the iron ones. These could indeed block firearms, but only if the entire body remained hidden behind the shield, with not a single part exposed.

Shrinking their target profile, they advanced slowly.

The garrison soldiers and bandits behind, meanwhile, shrieked wildly. Yet this single volley hadn’t shattered their morale entirely. They steeled themselves and pressed on. Someone roared: “Don’t fear! How many firearms could a small county town possibly have? That first volley used all they had! They’re spent! Charge and we win!”

“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The second volley of firearms erupted.

The firearm soldiers of Gaojia Village, due to insufficient training, weren’t using a three-stage firing tactic but rather a two-stage one. Only two hundred and fifty firearms fired in the first round. After a pause lasting just over ten blinks of an eye, the second volley unleashed.

Bandits tumbled en masse in an instant!

Feng Jun, observing from higher ground, saw clearly how swathes of bandits crumpled like wheat before a scythe. The power of massed firearm volleys was terrifying.

He couldn’t help but think to himself: Forget bandits—even if imperial officials had come, they couldn’t withstand bombardment like this from the Gaojia Village Militia! Too formidable! Far too formidable! And this was just a village militia? This was surely the Divine Machine Camp!

But that wasn’t all. It was time for the grenadiers to act.

Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu swung their arms with full force, simultaneously hurling their fuse hand grenades. The two-hundred-strong grenadier troops followed their Captain’s lead, unleashing a barrage of grenades.

In a flash, a sky full of small “clubs” rained down upon the sandy shore.

What on earth were these things?

Few onlookers had any clue.

Currently, besides the people of Gaojia Village, only Wang Zuogua’s former subordinates understood these devices. But aside from Miao Mei and a handful of fierce bandits who’d escaped, every last one of them now languished in Huanglong Mountain’s labor valley, pursuing the promising vocation of labor offenders.

Then came the terrifying ploughing of the earth by hand grenades.

Boom!

The first grenade detonated—thrown by Gao Chuwu. It flew far and true, landing squarely amidst the bandit army’s formation. Its explosion was catastrophic; dozens of bandits nearby grunted softly and collapsed simultaneously.

Next, Zheng Daniu’s grenade arrived. Boom! Another large group crumpled lifelessly.

Wherever the grenades struck within the bandit army, everyone in their vicinity dissolved limply. Even those untouched by the blasts fell, with no trace of what had struck them.

Just this one wave of explosions!

Utterly stunned the bandits—dazed beyond recovery.

Bai Yuzhu, aboard a distant ship, was equally dumbfounded: “What in blazes was that?”

“Why did everyone around it collapse when it exploded?”

“What kind of weapon is it?”

“Aaaaah! Too horrifying!”

Wails for parents and cries for kin swept through the bandit ranks.

“Bang!” Skirmishers fired again. A minor commander among the bandit army shrieked and fell, never knowing who slew him.

“Bang!” Another minor commander dropped.

The accuracy of rifles was simply a nightmare for the minor leaders who liked flamboyant outfits and who acted like heroes.

The front-most border army troops and garrison soldiers were unwilling to advance any further; they let out strange cries, rolled back, and hurriedly retreated. Their withdrawal led the bandits behind them to naturally not dare to push forward either, and with a sudden roar, the rout was complete and overwhelming.

The bandits scrambled onto the boats……

“Bang bang bang!”

The firearms fired again.

The bandits exposing their backs while fleeing screamed and plunged into the water, swallowed by the Yellow River. The lucky ones clung to their lives, paddling desperately toward the center of the river with utter disarray until they dodged toward Bai Yuzhu’s flagship and confirmed they were out of the range of the firearms and that bizarre bomb, finally stopping then.

That single charge claimed at least hundreds of corpses from the bandit side.

Bai Yuzhu let out a sharp breath: “Are we truly attacking a county town?”

A minor leader who escaped back jumped onto his flagship and shouted at him: “Boss Bai Yu, retreat! We can’t fight here. The defending forces here are far fiercer than General Wang Guoliang of Shanxi—Wang Guoliang only had a few cannons and a hundred firearms at most. Here… it’s sheer terror. Impossible to gauge their strength.”

“Retreat! Boss Bai Yu, we truly can’t fight here.”

“This place is more fearsome than Hong Chengchou. I’d rather turn around and attack Yichuan County again.”

“I’d rather attack Hequ County.”

The fierce bandits under his command had lost all will to fight, wanting only to flee.

Seeing this, Bai Yuzhu knew the situation was hopeless. Retreat it was—after all, they were bandits, and fleeing wasn’t unusual; it couldn’t really be called disgraceful.

“Withdraw!”

“Head north.”

The command spread, and all big and small boats began paddling frantically together. The bandits wanted only to escape this wretched place as fast as possible, rowing the boats swiftly. The heroes even used their swords as makeshift oars, paddling madly in the water.

So, Bai Yuzhu led his heavily shattered bandit army northward in retreat. Soon after, they vanished from the northern river surface.

Bai Yuan held binoculars, watching the bandit fleet disappear until it was gone. He finally spread his hands and exclaimed: “Yikes, they ran!”

Cheng Xu snatched the binoculars from his hand and took a glance: “Indeed! So fast. My men just arrived and haven’t even fought to their satisfaction.”

Bai Yuan retorted: “Why crave a satisfying fight? Isn’t wasting gunpowder terrible?”

Cheng Xu chuckled softly: “You just don’t understand. The Deity told me not long ago that our firearm soldiers need real combat training opportunities. We can’t just focus on saving gunpowder. If we keep skimping and saving until all our firearm soldiers become timid recruits, we won’t stand a chance against the Jurchens’ cavalry in the future.”

Bai Yuan made a surprised sound: “The Jurchens? We’re far too distant from them. Is there really a need to treat the Jurchens as imaginary enemies?”

Cheng Xu responded: “Since the Deity said so, it’s… still worth considering. The Deity’s words are veiled wisdom. Don’t dismiss it lightly.”

That made sense. Bai Yuan hurriedly bowed respectfully toward the sky.

Yet, there was no sign of the Deity’s low cloud in the sky. Evidently, the venerable one hadn’t even paid attention to this battle.

Exactly!

At that moment, the Deity was strolling with Gao Yiye through the streets. Gao Yiye walked on the ground, while the Deity floated in the air. Together, they wandered Heyang County—a renowned Chinese ecological food city by the Yellow River, abundant with unique delicacies. As Gao Yiye wandered, she came across a peculiar snack shop called “Fresh Water Hele”…