Chapter 194: Clash

Muddy water dripped before his eyes. Wang Zenglu scrambled to his feet and once again shielded his front with the water-soaked rattan shield. As a former field hand, the feeling of muck wrapping his feet was not unfamiliar at all. The sword-and-shield soldiers around him had already steadied themselves, advancing through the paddy toward the Roving Bandits' flank.

Two screams rang out on the Official Road — battle had erupted. Long spears thrust in with lightning speed; the front-row bandits, caught off guard, scrambled to meet the attack. On the narrow Official Road there was nowhere to dodge. Two bandits were stabbed through the torso, the spearheads yanked back swiftly, and blood mist sprayed from the wounds. Both collapsed on the spot. The Long Spearmen's ferocious assault threw the bandits into chaos, and they shrank back one after another, but the rear was jammed with mounts and newly arrived men. The Official Road was a crush of disorder.

One fierce Sword-and-Shield Soldier still held his ground. Just before the long spears thrust, he swiftly raised his shield. Two long spears slammed violently into it. The wooden shield, covered in two layers of oxhide, shuddered fiercely, its upper half slamming back hard against his shoulder blade. One spearhead pierced through the wooden shield, its gleaming tip exposed on the back.

The shield-bearing bandit instantly became the target of concentrated attack. His shield was pierced by a long spear, and the Long Spearman pulled back with all his might, dragging the shield away from his body. Unable to move freely, and in his panic, it never occurred to him to abandon the shield and flee for his life.

"From the flank!" Wang Zenglu looked up at the Official Road and roared anxiously. The longer they were exposed on the Official Road, the heavier the casualties. He needed a swift attack, but in the heat of fierce battle, the seven Garrison Commander Battalion Long Spearmen were already in a state of extreme tension. No one heard Wang Zenglu's shout. No one remembered any key points of attack. The daily training of five hundred thrusts in ten sets had only forged the muscle memory of stabbing — just one motion, repeated endlessly, thrusting at that shield bearer.

Soon, two long spears from the flank stabbed into his shoulder and thigh. The bandit howled, yet his left hand gripping the shield clenched even tighter. The long spear was still lodged in the shield, as if he were being dragged along by that Long Spearman.

The shield had become useless. A long spear stabbed into his abdomen from the side. The shield bearer threw his head back with a shriek, his left hand loosened, and he pitched forward to the ground. Blood instantly flooded onto the road surface.

"Keep attacking!"

In the paddy field, Wang Zenglu trudged through the mud, following the spearmen forward. The rattan shield in his hand protected the flank as he directed the spearmen to attack ahead. Seven Long Spearmen formed the front. On the Official Road, over three hundred Garrison Commander Battalion soldiers were linked head to tail. The Roving Bandits opposite had long since exceeded a thousand, yet the battle was joined only on this narrow front. The men behind had already surged forward. Whether the seven front-row spearmen were willing or not, they could only advance.

Several arrows flew in from the side, striking the outer spearmen. Most hit the chain mail and fell away. Two broke through the lock rings but had spent their force, embedding only slightly in the flesh and hanging there. In their tension, the spearmen were utterly oblivious.

With the time bought by that shield bearer, the chaos among the bandits behind settled slightly. Under the direction of a Post Commander, they formed up three or four spearmen, wielding long spears and line spears of varying lengths.

The attacking Garrison Commander Battalion soldiers, now threatened by the enemy's long spears, slowed drastically. The two sides thrust at each other with long spears from a distance. The bandit spearmen flailed their long spears and line spears, slapping sideways at the Garrison Commander Battalion's long spears, preventing the Garrison Commander Battalion spearmen from attacking. The Official Road echoed with the slapping sounds of spear shafts.

Several loud shouts came from the bandits' rear ranks. Two Tie Bone Mace flew out from between the shoulders of the front rank. After two muffled thuds, one front-rank Garrison Commander Battalion Long Spearman pitched forward to the ground. Another spearman was struck in the shoulder, his attack capability greatly diminished. Both sides halted at the battle line. When one fell in the front row, another from behind filled the gap. The fallen lay in heaps. Blood water overflowed everywhere on the Official Road, and patches of red floated in the murky, muddy water.

The Garrison Commander Battalion's attack momentum stalled. Some bandits in the rear wielding line spears squeezed through the herd of horses and rushed forward as reinforcements.

Above Wang Zenglu's head, arrows from both sides whistled past each other. The Garrison Commander Battalion's archers were farther away and less trained; most could only reach the level of shooting for distance, but they still pinned down the bandits on the field ridges.

The arrows shot by the Roving Bandits had greatly diminished in number, but now the Garrison Commander Battalion's main force was jammed on the Official Road, most without armor. As long as one shot casually in that direction, a target was guaranteed to be hit. Long Spearmen collapsed on the Official Road one after another, splashing up large sprays of water. The outer ranks of the Second Company suffered heavy casualties. The rear ranks continuously filled the gaps, and the formation had already shortened by a large section.

Every extra moment of delay now meant paying more casualties. Wang Zenglu was frantic with anxiety. In his field of vision, he could not see the three Banner Captains. On the crowded, clamorous Official Road, orders could not be effectively issued.

"Throw javelins!" Wang Zenglu howled at the surrounding Sword-and-Shield Soldiers. Those who heard him pulled the javelins from their backs and hurled them at the bandits on the Official Road.

Javelins flew toward the Official Road one after another. Several bandits collapsed at the sound. On the crowded Official Road, no aiming was needed — just like the arrows, as long as you threw, you were guaranteed a hit. Javelins had ferocious lethality against bandits without armor protection. The fallen bandits writhed on the ground. The Sword-and-Shield Soldiers who had thrown their javelins pressed close to the Official Road and slashed at the bandits' legs with their waist sabers. The bandits, from their elevated position, hacked down at the rattan shields. The defensive line was a scene of chaos.

Someone on the road was directing. The chaos in the bandits' defensive line allowed the Garrison Commander Battalion Long Spearmen to fight many against few. One round of attack stabbed two men. The bandits' hastily organized defense collapsed once more. The remaining three rows of bandits fell into complete disorder, jostling and retreating backward. The horses blocked their retreat. The bandits shoved each other, scrambling to force their way into the gaps among the horses.

Wang Zenglu breathed a slight sigh of relief. He shifted his shield and looked past its edge. The bandit archers on the field ridges had also noticed the front line collapsing and were fleeing back toward the Official Road. But because the front line had shrunk back, the horses, spooked, had retreated, and the Official Road was already very crowded. Those archers could not escape back for the moment, blocked at the junction of the field ridges and the Official Road. Some jumped directly into the paddy field and fled north. The more ferocious ones drew their weapons and advanced to fight the Sword-and-Shield Soldiers.

These archers from Beidi had little experience in paddy fields. They moved slowly, but relying on richer combat experience, they fought the Sword-and-Shield Soldiers to a tangled stalemate, water splashing everywhere.

More bandits behind left the Official Road, struggling forward through the paddy field. Without Wang Zenglu's order, soldiers of the rear Garrison Commander Battalion also kept breaking ranks and jumping into the paddy field. The battlefield gradually expanded to both sides of the Official Road.

But Wang Zenglu remembered Pang Yu's order: the most important thing was still the Official Road. As long as they broke the resistance on the Official Road, those bandits in the paddy field would have their retreat cut off. Wang Zenglu roared at the spearmen on the Official Road, "Keep attacking!"

On the road surface, the Long Spearmen had already gained the upper hand, frantically stabbing with their long spears at the bandits who had no time to flee. Screams rang out continuously on the Official Road, blood spraying wildly. The bandits' corpses already covered that stretch of road.

The screams resounded across the Official Road. The crowded herd of horses began to stir restlessly. These intelligent but timid animals had long sensed the danger. Continuous neighing rose and fell. A gray horse, squeezed until it lost its footing, tumbled into the paddy field with a splash. Unable to stand steady in the field's mud, it struggled in panic, thrashing up large sprays of water.

Just then, Wang Zenglu saw ahead on the Official Road a bandit in a Lan Se Arrow Yi standing up in his stirrups to look around. Immediately, he howled several times. Swords and axes swung behind the herd of horses, and then beads of blood sprayed through the air. The rear herd of horses instantly exploded in panic. The docile warhorses turned into stampeding beasts, fleeing southward recklessly.

Chaos transmitted through the herd. Dozens of horses charged in panic. The bandits in the midst of the herd preparing to reinforce the front line were instantly swallowed up. More horses on the outer edges were squeezed off the Official Road, falling into the paddy field and struggling desperately.

The crowded herd of horses trampled over the bandits' bodies and stumbled toward the spear formation. The soldiers in the front ranks, facing these animals weighing five or six hundred jin, shrank back in alarm. Facing the long spears before them, the horses in front desperately tried to dodge sideways, but were madly pushed and shoved by the horses behind. Finally, they crashed headlong into the spear formation.

Spear tips stabbed into the horses' bodies. Spear shafts snapped with cracking sounds. The horses, shrieking in long, agonized neighs, crashed into the crowd. The continuous sounds of impact and breaking bones rang out. The powerful kinetic energy of the herd was released on the line of contact. Men and horses piled into a chaotic heap. The horses and people behind each side were pushed and shoved, tumbling into the paddy field one after another.

Wang Zenglu was dumbstruck. He had no experience whatsoever with horses and had never imagined the bandits could come up with such an idea. Facing the chaos before him, he could think of no solution. Only about thirty men of the Second Company remained on the Official Road. The front had suffered grievous casualties and was mixed together with the horses, on the verge of collapse at any moment. And behind them were the supervising Garrison Inspector Dui and the remaining men of the First Company. Their long spears were already leveled. Wang Zenglu had not the slightest doubt that they would kill all routing soldiers. The Second Company was finished.

Just then, a voice rang out on the Official Road: "Stay on the Official Road! Those who retreat die!"

…

The agonized neighing of horses came continuously. Wu Dacai's mouth was parched and his tongue dry. His back was already soaked with sweat. He had no idea how long he had been waiting. Not far away, the sound of killing shook the heavens, and a chaotic clamor of shouts came from the Official Road outside.

The pass city had certainly sent troops out to the rescue. The place of battle was not far, but from Wu Dacai's angle, it was blocked by the house opposite, so he could not see the situation to the south. Yao Dongshan in the room across had been peering south through a crack in the wall the whole time. This time, he finally raised three fingers. This was the hand signal from their usual drills. The moment to attack had finally come. Wu Dacai's mind went completely blank, his eyes fixed only on those three fingers.

He would rather charge and fight early — a hundred times better than waiting like this with his mind wandering in wild thoughts. He rose slightly and moved to a spot behind and to the side of Dong Mingyuan, ready to rush out at any moment.

Yao Dongshan had just retracted one finger when a figure suddenly appeared at the doorway. Dressed all in red, the man was walking toward where the horse was, cursing under his breath. Just as he reached the doorway, he sensed something wrong and stopped, looking into the room. He saw the room full of Garrison Commander Battalion men in white short jackets.

Neither side reacted. This bandit was barefoot and walked without making a sound. The Garrison Commander Battalion ambush troops were not wearing their Red Padded Jackets, so the bandit thought they were his own side. His gaze shifted back and forth across Wu Dacai's and Dong Mingyuan's faces with confusion.

"You…" After a moment of stunned silence, the bandit instinctively pointed a finger at Wu Dacai before him.

A buzz filled Wu Dacai's head. Suddenly, with a loud shout, he burst out the door, bringing the shortened seven-chi long spear in his hands and hurtling it madly at the bandit.