usatvline Chapter 125 Kill
Chapter 125 Kill
A clear whistle rang out.
Almost instantly, the crowd surged about like ants in a disturbed nest.
Holding his newly purchased large shield, Li Fu rushed to the front immediately.
Another shield bearer, Wu Shangyuan, was a little slow in his movements, and was glared at by him.
Wu Shangyuan was startled and subconsciously quickened his movements, holding the shield in his left hand and the knife in his right, standing side by side with Li Fu.
Li Fu then withdrew his gaze and stared intently at the soldiers shouting and yelling in front of him.
His breathing became noticeably rapid, and his face flushed with a sickly redness. He seemed to be thinking of something, his eyes were slightly moist, and he gripped the knife handle with great force, his knuckles turning white.
Wu Shangyuan didn't have such deep-seated grudges as him. Although he was usually brave and fierce, had injured people, and was wanted by the government, he was able to calm things down by having his family pay compensation. But when it came to real fighting with the enemy, he was inevitably nervous.
You should know that the other side is very likely to be government soldiers.
Then he thought of Brother Shao's kindness to him and sighed inwardly. If he retreated now, Zhang Jing and even all the seafarers in Taicang would look down on him and point fingers at him. What difference would that make from being dead?
Footsteps sounded behind me, along with the heavy thud of a spear striking the ground.
Wu Shangyuan knew that Gao Daqiang and Bian Sandou had arrived; they were spearmen and stood in the second row.
The footsteps continued as four spearmen—Wei Erdi, Jiang Sanbao, Zhao Xiaoer, and Zhao Xiaosan—took their positions.
Next came Wang Huadu and Wu Heizi, one holding an anchor axe and the other a wooden club.
Shao Shuyi and Cheng Ji, each carrying a strung bow, came to either side of the formation.
Through the crowd, Shao Shuyi glanced at Cheng Ji's face, which didn't look too good, but his hands moved swiftly, and an arrow was already nocked. Tie Niu, kicked by Shao Shuyi, also held a rattan shield in one hand and a knife in the other, and quickly ran to the front of the group.
Liang Tai, carrying a flintlock pistol, moved outside the ranks, a small drum used for opera hanging from his left waist and a cow horn on his right. Shao Shuyi exchanged a glance with him, and the latter nodded, striking the waist drum without hesitation.
"Dong dong dong..." The sound of drums rang out.
Although he couldn't see it, Shao Shuyi clearly felt the vibration in the air.
Is it reasonable for a group of desperados to form a military formation and charge at the government troops?
Not only did he think this way, but his subordinates also had to go through this psychological hurdle.
"Come forward!" Liang Tai yelled.
After a pause, the line finally began to slowly begin to move.
Shao Shuyi walked in the middle of the left side of the line, his feet sinking into mud, slipping with every step.
This is a typical tidal flat terrain, which remained unchanged until later generations.
Everywhere was mud and puddles, with only a few relatively dry sections in the middle, which were artificially raised to facilitate people's access, until the end was submerged by seawater.
After the two enemy forces emerged from their hiding places, they were constrained by the muddy swamp and gradually converged along the same path. Neither side had any room for trickery; they could only clash head-on.
By this time, the number of enemy troops had been roughly determined.
Perhaps they had come all the way from several salt fields and didn't have time to summon more people, or perhaps the number of people was limited to begin with; at a glance, there were only about twenty people.
The leader appeared to be an official, dressed in leather armor, wearing a cymbal-shaped hat with a black tassel, and a red half-sleeved shirt underneath. He held a shield in one hand and brandished a knife in the other, shouting and yelling with an imposing manner.
Behind him followed seven or eight soldiers in blue robes, unarmored, with a variety of weapons. Two of them were archers, and they had begun to spread out to the sides. Good heavens, what a "big move"! A patrol officer only has three bows, yet he brought two.
Behind them were more than ten strong men dressed in coarse linen clothes, without proper weapons, mostly carrying bamboo spears and wooden lances.
"Woo!" A dull sound of bull horns rang out.
After blowing the whistle, Liang Tai, perhaps worried that the archers wouldn't be able to react in time, loudly added, "The patrol team shoots arrows."
Cheng Ji didn't need to be told; he had already shot an arrow.
The long, light arrow flew in a graceful arc and landed seventy paces away.
The enemy officer was enraged. He didn't even use a shield to block the attack; he simply swung his sword to parry. Then, with bloodshot eyes, he continued to charge forward in small, shuffling steps, like an enraged bull.
Shao Shuyi aimed at the opposing archer, and upon noticing that the archer was also nocking an arrow, he fired first, intending to kill the ranged archer. The enemy archer hurriedly dodged, followed by a cry of pain.
It wasn't him who was hit by the arrow, but the soldier in blue who was only half a step away from him. The arrow struck his arm, instantly staining his sleeve red. In his panic, he was knocked to the ground by his comrade and rolled into the mud.
"Brother Shao, kill one first!" Liang Tai shouted, seeing clearly.
Upon hearing this, the anxiety of their comrades in formation was greatly reduced, and their morale improved.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!" Two arrows flew from the opposite formation. One was aimed at Cheng Ji, which he dodged. The other was aimed at Shao Shuyi, but it went far off course. Seventy paces is not a long distance for an archer, but the hit rate is really not high.
While the archers were fighting on both sides, the two sides were about to meet on the narrow frontal path.
"Hush!" The whistle sounded a second time.
The group immediately stopped.
Tie Niu retreated between the two shield bearers, knelt on one knee, holding a shield in one hand and a sword in the other.
In the second row, Gao Daqiang and Bian Sandou had already extended their spears.
The third row held their spears at an angle, ready to find an opening to stab out at any moment.
The fourth row stood with long spears as a support.
Wang Huadu and Wu Heizi were somewhat anxious, because it seemed that it was not their turn to step forward.
As the commander, Liang Tai rushed forward with his musket, silently counted a few times, and then stuck the flintlock into the medicine room.
"Bang!" Three bullets shot out.
A sliver of light streaked across the sky, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound.
A bullet grazed the side of an enemy officer's waist and landed in the abdomen of a man behind him, eliciting a bloodcurdling scream.
The last bullet struck the thigh of a soldier in blue, and a bloodcurdling scream, like that of a pig being slaughtered, immediately rang out.
Without hesitation, Liang Tai turned and hid behind the spearmen after firing.
He had only been gone a short while when an arrow came in pursuit, but missed.
The enemy officer's charge slowed imperceptibly for a moment, but he quickly charged forward with even greater rage, like a tiger, raising his shield and slashing fiercely with his sword.
"Bang! Bang!" The sound of the ring blade striking the shield rang out repeatedly.
"Squeak, squeak!" The ear-piercing scraping sound of the spear tip came from the shield.
Several soldiers in blue robes arrived and collided with each other like a surging wave.
Among the three shield bearers, Wu Shangyuan was caught off guard and knocked to the ground.
In his panic, he instinctively raised his shield to protect his entire body, while his right hand swung his ring-blade, slashing forward unconsciously.
Li Fu, his eyes bloodshot and disregarding the danger, used the skills he had learned to press down with his shield, slamming a blue-clad soldier's spear into the ground.
The jet-black spear shot out from behind like lightning, striking the soldier in blue squarely in the throat.
"Bang!" The spear fell to the ground, and the soldier in blue clutched his throat and collapsed to the ground.
Iron Bull was charging directly at the enemy officer.
His strength shocked his opponent, as if his body contained some kind of brute force. Facing the fierce slash, the shield in his hand remained as steady as Mount Tai, showing no intention of retreating.
On the contrary, Tie Niu retaliated with his right hand, his ring blade slashing horizontally with great power.
With a deft flick of his wrist, the enemy officer pinned Tie Niu's slashing sword beneath his shield. Just as he was about to strike Tie Niu's shoulder, Bian Sandou from the rear thrust his spear forward, forcing him to dodge.
"Ah!" A scream rang out as a soldier in blue robes took advantage of Bian Sandou's weakened spear technique and thrust his own spear directly into Sandou's abdomen.
Just as he was excited about killing someone, a sharp pain suddenly came from his calf. Before he could figure out what was wrong, Jiang Sanbao, who was standing behind Bian Sandou, thrust out a spear and stabbed the soldier in blue into the chest, causing blood to gush out.
Wu Shangyuan got up from the ground in a disheveled state, blood still stained the blade, dripping down the edge.
The battle was intense, but it only lasted for a moment.
After the two sides clashed, the swordsman Li Fu and the tall spearman behind him worked together to kill one of them;
Swordsman Tie Niu achieved no results, but he managed to entangle the charging enemy officer.
Wu Shangyuan, the swordsman, was knocked to the ground. Bian Sandou was killed by enemy soldiers while trying to save Tie Niu. Wu Shangyuan took the opportunity to wound the enemy, and Jiang Sanbao reaped the rewards. During the charge, the enemy suffered one death and two injuries. One of the wounded was rolling in the mud, while the other was lying on the ground, groaning in pain. In just one exchange, both sides paid the price of six casualties.
Meanwhile, the archers continued their battle on both sides.
Shao Shuyi and an archer on the opposite side were complete noobs, each shooting two or three arrows, but both missed.
On the contrary, Cheng Ji pinned his opponent to the ground with his third arrow.
After dealing with the enemy in front of him, he turned his bow and fired an arrow, fast and swift, straight at the enemy officer.
The enemy officer was extremely annoyed by Tie Niu's entanglement. When he heard the sound of arrows piercing the air, he didn't care whether they were aimed at him or not. He gritted his teeth and charged towards Jiang Sanbao, who was raising his spear to thrust at him.
"Whoosh!" The arrow landed in the mud.
"Bang!" The large shield parried the long spear, and the steel blade gleamed brightly.
Looking at the other party's face, which resembled a demon, and hearing the thunderous roar, Jiang Sanbao felt his limbs go weak for a moment, and his dodging movements became as slow as if they were in slow motion.
Another long spear suddenly thrust in from the side; it was Wei Erdi who mustered his courage and came to Wei Erdi's aid.
The enemy officer changed tactics midway, dodging to the side while still slashing with his sword, seemingly hitting something, yet also seemingly not hitting anything. "Whoosh!" Another arrow flew in.
The enemy officer felt a chill run down his spine and immediately rolled to the side of the road.
The arrow grazed a foot above him and disappeared into the distance.
"Bang!" Mud and water splashed everywhere.
The enemy officer was soaked to the bone and fell into the mud.
Jiang Sanbao finally realized what was happening, but it was too late for revenge, because there was still a soldier in blue on the other side.
Wu Shangyuan charged in from the side, using his shield to block and his sword to entangle the enemy.
Jiang Sanbao stepped forward and thrust out a spear, striking the enemy squarely in the waist and kidneys.
Hearing the dying cries of the enemy, he seemed to have broken free from some inner demon. Ignoring the burning pain in his arm and tears streaming down his face, he charged forward with a "Ya!" He was already a little carried away until Wu Shangyuan pulled him back.
The man in blue robes had vanished, replaced by a group of rough-looking men in hemp clothing who were hesitating to advance. Clearly, these were not well-trained soldiers, but rather a bunch of nameless ruffians and archers.
They were not as brave as the officers and soldiers, and seeing the soldiers in blue robes falling one after another, and the patrolman leading the team falling into the mud, they were already somewhat terrified. Just as they hesitated, Tie Niu suddenly sprang up and charged over like a demon god.
"I am from the Zhang family!" The large shield slammed heavily onto an outstretched bamboo spear, and a gleaming steel blade descended from the sky, slashing viciously at a man's neck. A piercing scream rang out.
"Dong dong dong..." The drums thundered.
The swordsmen and spearmen, whose formation had already become scattered, hesitated for a moment, then quickly reformed into a tight formation and began to advance slowly. "I'm not fighting anymore," a rogue archer threw down his bamboo spear and turned to flee.
Once one person is caught, another will follow. Soon, a second and a third person will abandon their weapons and flee. The ten people are pushing and shoving each other, scattering everywhere.
Liang Tai stood at the very back, having just loaded the flint and ammunition. Watching the Mongolian inspector tumbling in the mud, he calmly raised his musket.
"Bang!" Two bullets flew out.
One splashed out a large spray of water.
A large spray of blood erupted from one of them.
Batu's face contorted in extreme pain, his features almost contorted. He thrashed about twice before collapsing back down, falling silent once more.
The results have also come out on Shao Shuyi's side.
The enemy archers, affected by their own rout, lost all will to fight and turned to run.
Perhaps it was this panicked escape that prevented him from focusing on his own affairs, and Shao Shuyi quickly seized the opportunity, shooting him in the back with an arrow, causing him to fall to the ground.
This also brought the entire battle to a close.
Shao Shuyi put down his bow and arrow, looking somewhat bewildered for a moment.
Smuggling salt was bound to lead to government pursuit sooner or later—that was an obvious fact—but no one expected it to happen so quickly and so suddenly. Now, it seems he's killed an official.
Although there is no direct evidence pointing to him, it's hard to say indirectly.
What to do next...?