Chapter 222: Battle

The battle was on the verge of breaking out, and the fighting spirit of the Salvation Army soldiers secretly shocked even these hardened bandits who were used to killing.

In close-quarters combat, these soldiers only knew one move: the thrust. They focused on disregarding their own lives and charging forward, a completely suicidal style of fighting.

This made the hardened bandits, who were skilled at maneuvering and shifting, very uncomfortable. Although they were higher in cultivation realm than the soldiers, they lacked the determination to die together with their enemies and were instead forced to retreat continuously.

The two sides fought together, both suffering casualties; neither side gained the upper hand.

On the other side, Shen Dahu led the hardened bandits along the stairs to launch a surprise attack on the city wall. He knew a Yellow Grade High Rank Lightness Skill; he was as light as a swallow and extremely fast, covering a dozen steps in a single stride as he rushed toward the top of the wall.

The battle happened too suddenly, and the soldiers on the city wall were caught off guard. Once they saw clearly that the bandits hiding in the Refugee Camp were suddenly rioting, the soldiers hurriedly turned their guns and opened fire on Shen Dahu and the others.

At this time, if they had been using matchlock guns, Shen Dahu would have already charged right in front of the soldiers before the fuse had even finished burning.

Fortunately, most of the soldiers on the city wall had already been equipped with Flintlocks. They pulled the triggers, the hammers struck the flints, and they fired immediately.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" A row of bullets sprayed out. Shen Dahu was very surprised that the soldiers on the city wall could fire so quickly, but he had been prepared. When he charged over, he had taken a solid wood pot lid from the porridge stall to use as a Shield in front of him.

"Clap! Clap! Clap!" The Lead Bullets hit the solid wood pot lid, and after piercing through it, their kinetic energy was sharply reduced.

Shen Dahu was a Third-grade Intermediate Martial Artist; his skin had already been tempered by True Qi and was extremely tough. At this moment, his True Qi surged, and his skin was covered by a thick layer of True Qi. Those bullets that had penetrated the pot lid were like spent arrows, completely unable to break through his skin.

Seeing that Shen Dahu was about to reach the top of the wall, it was already too late for the soldiers to reload their bullets.

At this critical moment, Xu Le raised his AK47 and pulled the trigger violently, aiming at Shen Dahu.

Meng Yifan had brought two hundred AK47 Assault Rifles and three hundred M67 Grenades from Earth. Aside from the Imperial Guard Company, where everyone was equipped with an AK47 and two grenades, Meng Yifan had distributed the remaining AK47s and M67 Grenades to the officers in the Salvation Army.

Officers at the company level and above were all allocated one AK47 and one M67 Grenade.

However, ammunition was limited; each officer was only allocated two magazines, totaling sixty bullets.

Xu Le usually carried the AK47 on his back and couldn't bear to use it, but now, seeing the enemy about to charge up, Xu Le couldn't afford to save bullets anymore; he pulled the trigger all the way and fired continuously.

"Da! Da! Da!" The AK47 let out a crisp sound. It fired 7.62mm bullets, which were much more powerful than the Flintlocks used by the soldiers. After easily penetrating the solid wood pot lid, they still maintained powerful kinetic energy.

Shen Dahu's skin was torn open directly by the bullets, and blood flowed everywhere. But when the bullets tried to continue penetrating the muscles beneath the skin, they encountered strong resistance; they only advanced a little before being stuck by the muscles.

Shen Dahu looked miserable on the outside, but in reality, he hadn't suffered any fatal injuries.

A magazine of thirty bullets sprayed out continuously, forcing Shen Dahu to retreat a few steps. Once Xu Le finished firing the bullets in the magazine, Shen Dahu seized the opportunity to leap up, preparing to finish off Xu Le.

Xu Le was prepared; he was already a Second Grade Lower Tier Martial Artist with strong, powerful arms. While his right hand held the AK47 to suppress Shen Dahu, his left hand held an M67 Grenade with the safety already removed. He pulled the safety pin with his teeth, waited three seconds, and threw the M67 Grenade just as the AK47 magazine ran out.

"Boom!" Just as Shen Dahu leaped up, the M67 Grenade exploded in mid-air. The powerful shockwave blasted Shen Dahu, sending him flying backward.

Dense shrapnel scattered everywhere; three nearby hardened bandits were killed instantly, one was seriously injured, and two were slightly injured.

Shen Dahu was stunned by the explosion. He had no idea what kind of weapon that was. The explosion just now was somewhat like a shell from a Shenwu Great General Cannon, but damn it, firing a shell from a Shenwu Great General Cannon was extremely complicated, while the guy on the city wall had just thrown it casually, and it was so powerful—what the hell was this thing?

Bird Guns were all single-shot weapons. What kind of weapon did that officer have in his hand that could fire thirty bullets in a row? He had never heard of such a powerful firearm; this was too devilish.

"Damn it!" Shen Dahu glanced with his peripheral vision at the battle near the porridge stall and discovered that his brothers were still deadlocked with the defenders, and five of his brothers had already been killed by them.

Those defenders were fearless, fighting impressively. After overcoming their initial panic, they formed two rows; the people in front used Stabbing Blades to thrust and block the bandits' attacks, while those in the back fired their Bird Guns, causing heavy casualties to the bandits.

"What the hell is going on? How is the army of Luolong County so powerful?" Shen Dahu was very surprised. He had led his brothers to raid other county towns before, and relying on his brothers' formidable strength, they had always moved as if through empty space, grabbing things and running away; even the government troops in the county towns couldn't do anything about them.

Shen Dahu had assumed the rebels in Luolong County were just a bunch of greenhorns not worth worrying about. He hadn't expected that once they actually fought, he would discover the Luolong County army had excellent weapons and was well-trained. In particular, these soldiers didn't fear death and thrust forward desperately, which made Shen Dahu unable to understand: why were these soldiers not afraid of death?

What Shen Dahu didn't know was that many of these soldiers were selected from the Refugee Camp. They had originally had nothing, but now that they were Meng Yifan's soldiers, not only did their whole families have food to eat and houses to live in, but they also received monthly pay, enough for their families to live with dignity.

In the Salvation Army, military discipline was strict; deserting in the face of battle would lead to public beheading, and their families would be driven out of Luolong County. But if they died on the battlefield, their families would be treated as families of martyrs, and Luolong County would take proper care of them so they could all survive.

In these chaotic times, human life was worthless. These former refugees understood clearly: even if they died themselves, they absolutely could not be deserters, or else their whole families wouldn't be able to survive.

"Second brother, the target is too tough, let's pull back." Shen Dahu didn't dare to stay. Just the defenders at the East Gate were already suppressing them. If they delayed any longer and the defenders from other areas came to reinforce, their whole group of bandits would be finished.

The bandits of Shuangtou Mountain gathered together and charged toward the city gate; they had to carve out a path before the defenders from other areas could surround them.