Chapter 261: Match Point

Amid the thunderous roar, the thousand-jin cannon cart recoiled sharply backward. Thick white smoke belched from the muzzle and immediately drifted back with the north wind.

The family dependents of the Roving Thieves who had been watching and jeering from the opposite bank screamed in panic and fled the riverbank in a chaotic swarm.

Acrid smoke hung in the air. Tang Ershuan's mouth hung wide open, his ears filled with a relentless ringing, his legs trembling uncontrollably. It was the first time he had been this close to a cannon firing; it felt as if the blast alone could knock a man unconscious.

Through the white smoke, the Artillery Chief strode toward the second cannon. The Cannoneer beside him also raised a hand and shouted something. Tang Ershuan, his ears still ringing, couldn't make it out clearly, but he guessed it was the same as with the first cannon. Only this cannon had no wheels and was simply placed on the ground, its barrel propped up on some piled clothing to elevate the muzzle.

The Artillery Chief moved behind the cannon, glanced in the direction of the muzzle, and then waved vigorously at those around him. The Cannoneer turned and ran, and the others followed. Tang Ershuan suddenly remembered the Chief had told everyone to get far away. He scrambled up from the ground, ran a few steps up the bank, and ducked behind a section of field ridge.

Just as he poked his head out, the Artillery Chief had already touched the torch to the fire gate. Tang Ershuan hurriedly raised his hands to cover his ears, but before he could, a flash of fire erupted at the fire gate, followed by a jet of white smoke. The thousand-jin cannon actually bounced off the ground, its barrel recoiling violently upward, pausing in mid-air for a moment before crashing heavily back to the earth.

The Artillery Chief scrambled and stumbled several steps to the side, then fell flat on the ground. Looking back and seeing the cannon body was still, he got up again and started shouting. White smoke hung thick around them, the smell of gunpowder filling their nostrils.

Tang Ershuan saw that iron shot arc high into the air, unlike the first one, which had flown out flat.

"Where did it hit?"

……

In Pang Yu's field of view, the cannonball traced a high parabola before plunging into the mass of people at the rear of the Roving Bandits' force, without even kicking up a splash of water. Pang Yu's mouth hung open. Such a trajectory had never appeared in any artillery drill.

The first cannonball just moments ago had smashed into the crowd on the Roving Thieves' right wing. Where the shot passed, severed limbs flew through the air. The nearby Roving Thieves retreated in a chaotic hubbub, leaving behind some dead and wounded infantry. A blank zone formed in the battle line, and the surrounding lines, due to overcrowding, fell into even greater disorder.

The rumbling thunder of the cannon fire echoed far and wide. The chaos among the nearby Roving Thieves was intensifying. Pang Yu could not see the other parts of the battlefield, and it was very likely that the vast majority of the Roving Thieves were equally unaware that the right wing was under attack. But now, with the sound of the cannons, the Roving Thieves in other sectors would also be shaken.

Pang Yu had no time to dwell on the artillery. "Personal Guard Unit, advance!"

He waved incessantly at the Personal Guard Unit behind him. Half the command flags had been lost; for now, communication relied entirely on shouting.

The Personal Guard Unit Company Commander bellowed orders. Two Banner Teams bypassed the left wing and charged toward the riverbed. This detachment heading for the riverbed moved rapidly, almost abandoning formation entirely. The riverbed originally held only some scattered infantry, who did not even dare to engage. Faced with the Personal Guard Unit's attack, they fled in all directions. The Personal Guard Unit was now slanting into the rear of the Roving Thieves' grand formation's right wing.

The Garrison Battalion's front line was still advancing. The Roving Thieves' battle line shrank backward, their right wing a complete mess. They had not formed up facing south at all, nor did they have time to adjust their formation. These government troops were not only attacking their flank but were also about to cut off their retreat.

All kinds of panicked shouts merged into a single din. People shoved each other, and even more were at a complete loss.

Another group of Roving Thief Horse Soldiers, about a hundred strong, appeared on the eastern side. They had been redeployed from the front of the right wing. Chen Yuwang and Chen Rulie were moving to engage them, but they had already fought fiercely today and might not hold for long. Pang Yu needed to crush the Roving Thieves' infantry formation at maximum speed to trigger a full-scale collapse of their lines.

The Garrison Battalion was now closing in on a small formation on the outermost edge of the Roving Thieves' right wing. Pang Yu's hands were clenched, slick with sweat.

……

His right palm, gripping the javelin shaft, was sweaty. Wai Lian loosened his hold, shifted his grip, and felt the dry wood of the shaft again.

The final thirty paces. Archers on the outer edge of the Company's formation loosed arrows toward the left wing to reduce the flank threat during the advance. A small number of disordered arrows came from the Roving Thieves' formation. Most of them had only melee weapons; the Horse Soldiers with bows were pinned down at the front of the formation and were completely unable to impede the Garrison Battalion's attack.

A thwack sounded against his rattan shield. He could tell from the force that the shooter was no skilled archer, utterly incomparable to the harassing Horse Soldiers of the past two days.

Listening to the shouts coming from the opposite side, Wai Lian felt a strange, nameless excitement. Ahead was a small array on the outer edge of the Roving Thieves' main formation, numbering roughly three to four hundred men. Originally a square formation facing east, it had now been compressed almost into a circle.

At twenty paces, Wai Lian peered over the upper rim of his rattan shield. He could clearly see the enemies' faces. Not a single one wore armor. They held all manner of battered weapons, some even wielding pitchforks and other farming tools. They were constantly shrinking backward, their faces filled with terror.

The excitement grew stronger. Wai Lian took a breath, suppressing the urge to charge and kill, and watched the Battalion Commander's flag on his right from the corner of his eye, maintaining his pace.

His position was on the extreme left of the First Division's formation. Whether in defense or offense, his task was always the heaviest. In defense, he had to guard against enemies from two directions. In offense, according to the Offensive Regulations, the twenty Sword-and-Shield Soldiers of the First Company were to throw their javelins just before engagement to shake the enemy's defensive line.

The drums beat out a rapid flurry. From the side came a howl: "Kill!"

Over a hundred Sword-and-Shield Soldiers in the front two Divisions howled in unison and charged forward several steps. A hundred heavy javelins flew across the ten-plus paces of distance and plunged into the crowd opposite.

Amid a chorus of agonized screams, rows of Bandit Infantry collapsed to the ground, and the ranks shrank back even further.

Ahead, a young Roving Bandit doubled over, clutching a javelin embedded in him. As he ran, Wai Lian drew the waist saber from his left hand, raised the blade high above his head, and hacked down with savage force at the back of the bandit's skull.

Amid the shrieks came a muffled crack. The Roving Bandit pitched straight to the ground, but Wai Lian's waist saber was stuck in the skull. Four spear shafts appeared to his left and right, stabbing fiercely at the Roving Thieves now exposed behind.

Wai Lian hastily crouched low. When attacking, Sword-and-Shield Soldiers had to stay low to expose the field of view for the Spear Soldiers behind them to attack. Unable to pull his saber free, he could only shrink his body behind his rattan shield and ram forward.

Sharp, agonized screams filled the air all around. The teammates behind him kept thrusting and stabbing with their long spears, the shafts already moving back and forth above his head. His teammates' legs constantly bumped into Wai Lian's rear. He failed to pull his saber free even once and had to abandon it, stepping on the Roving Thief's back to push forward.

Ahead was a mass of chaos, hoarse, desperate wailing everywhere. Wai Lian could no longer hear Yao Dongshan's shouts. He kept stepping on corpses and then back onto the ground. Above his head, the spear shafts thrust and stabbed without pause, each strike spraying fresh blood onto his head.

Keeping low, Wai Lian rammed forward relentlessly. At this point, he should have been using his waist saber to stab at the enemies' legs and feet, or to finish off enemy wounded on the ground. But now he was unarmed. He still had one short javelin left on his back, but with the spearheads stabbing so ferociously above him, he didn't dare reach back to draw it.

Those Spear Soldiers had been driven into a killing frenzy, capable of thrusting dozens of times in a row. During offensive drills, three men had been accidentally wounded by the long spears. Wai Lian could only keep ramming forward.

Suddenly, something tightened around his leg. Wai Lian couldn't move. Looking down, he saw a howling young Roving Bandit, blood streaming from his abdomen, both hands clutching Wai Lian's left foot. Wai Lian smashed the lower edge of his rattan shield into the bandit's face. Though the shield weighed nine jin, he dared not raise it high. He struck the bandit's face several times, but the bandit still wouldn't lose consciousness, even shrieking as he wrapped his arms around Wai Lian's leg.

His comrades from behind were already upon him. Anxiety surged in Wai Lian's heart. Ignoring the danger, he pressed his left-hand rattan shield onto the Roving Thief's face and leaned his upper body down onto it. The Roving Bandit continued to thrash wildly beneath the shield.

Lowering his body, he reached back and drew the javelin. His right hand gripped it three inches below the head. He moved the rattan shield aside with his left hand, and the young Roving Bandit's face appeared before his eyes. Wai Lian stabbed the javelin into the spot beneath his neck. The shrieking stopped abruptly.

The Roving Bandit's chin was forced high upward by the spearhead, his mouth gaping wide, his tongue protruding. Blood gushed continuously from beneath his neck and from his mouth.

The young Roving Thief's head twitched rapidly. A low, gurgling sound came from his throat. His eyes, filled with terror, stared fixedly at Wai Lian.

Wai Lian yanked the spearhead out violently. A jet of blood shot from the wound beneath the Roving Thief's neck, and his hands loosened their grip.

"Team Leader, move, quick!"

The Long Spearman behind him was roaring. Wai Lian looked left and right in alarm. Spear Soldiers were on both sides of him; they had fallen behind. He hastily picked up his javelin and charged forward. By the time he returned to the front rank, the Roving Bandits ahead were all fleeing. The first infantry formation had completely collapsed.

The battle drums had not ceased. The Sword-and-Shield Soldiers straightened up one after another and swept toward the main formation to the north.

……

The first small formation on the Roving Bandits' right wing had collapsed. The frantically fleeing infantry were now disrupting the second small formation. The third small formation further back had already disintegrated, because they had spotted the two Banner Teams of the Personal Guard Unit outflanking them toward the riverbed.

Pang Yu swept his telescope across the scene. The Roving Bandits' right wing was composed of many such small formations. Clearly, they lacked the capability to form a single large square formation; their Organization Degree only allowed them to array in this manner. As long as several small formations were routed in succession, their entire right wing would fall into complete chaos.

The Roving Bandits' formation at the front of the right wing was beginning to be affected. Pang Yu could also see cavalry galloping between the two armies; that government force was still tying down the main force of the Roving Thieves' Horse Soldiers. The Garrison Battalion could still attack the Roving Bandits' right wing with full force.

"Third Division, maintain formation and follow at double pace."

Pang Yu rode his horse past the front of the Eighth Company. The current commander of the Third Division was the Deputy Battalion Commander, who was marching between the Eighth and Ninth Companies.

Pang Yu stopped on the right side of the Ninth Company. At that moment, the Horse Soldiers from the east had already broken through Chen Yuwang's blocking force. About seventy to eighty cavalrymen were now charging toward the Garrison Battalion's right wing.

The Garrison Battalion was attacking the flank and rear of the Roving Thieves' main formation's right wing, and this cavalry force intended to strike the Garrison Battalion's own right wing.

Pang Yu now deeply understood the power of cavalry. If they were allowed to charge the flank of the attacking First Division, the Garrison Battalion's offensive would be completely checked, and they might even be routed like the Personal Guard Unit the day before.

"Ninth Company, fifty paces east!"

Pang Yu shouted at the Ninth Company's Company Commander. He had no other option but to shift the Ninth Company eastward. If those Horse Soldiers attacked the First Division's flank, their speed would slow. Pang Yu could then advance with the Ninth Company, bogging the cavalry down in a melee with infantry. But this would still greatly diminish the power of the Garrison Battalion's assault.

Those seventy-plus Horse Soldiers came charging over. Yao Dongshan of the First Division seemed to have noticed as well; the outermost Second Company visibly slowed its pace, and some Spear Soldiers were turning to defend the eastern side.

Pang Yu's gaze darted back and forth across the battlefield. The two Banner Teams of the Personal Guard Unit had already fought their way into the riverbed. The Second Division was advancing rapidly. The Roving Thieves' second square formation had collapsed with surprising speed, and the chaos had already spread to more areas of the right wing. If the attack continued just a little longer, the Roving Thieves' entire right wing would cease to exist.

But the seventy Horse Soldiers attacking from the east were also closing in. Pang Yu's breathing nearly stopped. In an instant, he had reached the match point of this battle.