Chapter 148

Yang Hongbin on the side looked at Jia Cong in shock, seeing him staring intently at the intentions of those Eastern Japanese ronin to advance or retreat.

Once the shooting efficiency of the three-stage firing could not match the speed of the Eastern Japanese ronin's advance and retreat, he would timely order the archers to shoot arrows to disturb the enemy.

Providing the most appropriate buffer and timing for the loading and rotation interval of the three-stage firing gunners.

The archers and the three-stage firing gun formation were perfectly integrated, almost making the bullet interval of less than two breaths invisible.

This requires a very strong grasp of the battlefield rhythm and an incomparably calm and meticulous mind.

Perhaps a veteran general who has been on the battlefield for a long time and has superb wisdom can reach this state.

But he is only a teenager. I only heard that he is a seed of reading, and he hadn't even left the Divine Capital before. Where did this experienced courage and strategy come from?

Before, he didn't believe that there were heaven-sent talents in the world who knew things from birth, but today it seems like he saw one.

After the third round of bullets was fired, the remaining Eastern Japanese ronin, at the cost of their companions' lives, kept retreating, finally pulling away from the gun formation.

It's just that the ronin leader didn't entangle, jumping left and right like a tree frog. When someone got close, he waved his sword. Not only could he not aim, but he was also afraid of hurting his own people.

This ronin leader was the one with the strongest martial arts and sword skills among his companions. As soon as he landed, he slashed left and right with the sword in his hand, quickly killing two gunners who were close to him. His movements were as fast as a ghost.

He saw clearly just now that whether it was the gun formation or the archers, it was the strange youth with a curved knife hanging from his waist who was in command. He was the culprit, and he hated this person to the bone.

The three rows of gunners passed the trees blocking the road in an orderly manner, and under Jia Cong's command, maintained the formation and moved forward slowly.

Then he ran a few steps on the stone wall strangely, and then kicked his feet hard, flying into the air like a big bird. His body actually crossed the gun formation in the air and rushed straight to the position where Jia Cong stood.

Yang Hongbin was shocked and shouted loudly: "Stop him quickly!"

The dozen or so archers behind, under Jia Cong's command, shot feathered arrows to cover the movement of the gun formation.

A new round of three-stage firing began, archers disturbed the enemy, and it was another slaughter without suspense!

Just at this time, the sturdy ronin leader suddenly jumped into the air and jumped onto the stone wall beside him.

And the direction the ronin leader was moving forward was exactly the position where Jia Cong stood.

But because of hacking the cold arrows, his inertia of jumping in the air was consumed, and he barely landed in the three-stage firing gun formation. The gunners in each row, who were originally in neat formation, were suddenly in chaos.

Now his companions had been killed, leaving only a few, and even he himself was shot. The government army surrounding them had more than a hundred people, and he expected that it would be difficult to survive today.

The archers of the yamen had long shot feathered arrows into the air. Although the sturdy ronin leader was in mid-air, the bright sword in his hand rolled and hacked like lightning, actually hacking down all the incoming arrows.

Before dying, if he couldn't kill the leading youth, he wouldn't be reconciled even if he died. So, holding a fierce and stubborn anger, he seized the opportunity and rushed into the other side's gun formation.

He had just led his companions to charge, but he didn't expect that the other side's fire guns used a strange formation, and the power was much greater than usual, and they were mixed with bows and arrows, actually killing almost all his people.

Jia Cong was about to order the third row of gunners to fire and end the matter completely. He didn't think these ronin who were not afraid of death would take the initiative to surrender.

Only after the second row of bullets were fired, the remaining Eastern Japanese ronin fell one by one like wheat cut flat, and finally only five or six people were still standing, but most of them had gunshot wounds.

This change happened suddenly, beyond the expectations of everyone present.

A group of gunners were all terrified, fearing that they would be poisoned, and subconsciously scattered with a bang. Some agile ones raised their fire guns to shoot.

After the gun formation and the retreating Eastern Japanese ronin entered the shooting range, they stopped moving forward and rearranged the formation.

Jia Cong ordered loudly: "Gun formation move forward, archers be on alert, listen to my order!"

These Zhou people just relied on the advantage of fire guns. Once they got close, they were really vulnerable. In the blink of an eye, they killed four gunners, and no one could stop them.

And the youth was already in front of him, so he exerted his remaining strength, jumped up like a fish, and slashed down with a knife in the air.

This move of his was a stunt of his family's sword technique, running fast in the air, combined with jumping and falling speed, waving the knife to slash, the power is very great.

How could this little youth block it? He could be split in half with one knife, avenging his dozens of companions.

Yang Hongbin saw that the ronin's knife was as heavy as a thousand jun, slashing towards Jia Cong, and his heart seemed to jump out of his throat.

Just now the ronin jumped into the gun formation, his sword technique was fierce, and he killed several people in a moment. How could Jia Cong, a youth, escape?

Seeing that this hard battle to encircle and suppress the Eastern Japanese ronin was about to be a complete victory, Jia Cong planned carefully and commanded properly, and he must be the first merit of this battle, and his assistance was not small.

If at this last moment, this person with the first merit was killed by the ronin, how could he bear it?

Jia Cong had just been ordered by the Emperor to be promoted, and Prince Ning also valued this person highly. If he encountered an accident, I don't know how the matter would end.

It was too late, the Eastern Japanese ronin leader slashed down with a knife, but didn't feel the refreshing bloodiness of hacking flesh as usual.

Before the knife power was exhausted, he saw the youth quickly pull out a curved knife from his waist, his movements were swift and agile, which was astonishing.

The two weapons collided fiercely, the sound of gold and iron trembled, and a string of dazzling sparks exploded.

The ronin leader's sword was a sharp weapon that cut iron like mud. Under such a heavy slash, it failed to cut off Jia Cong's curved knife.

He saw Jia Cong draw his knife swiftly and actually block his knife, and he was shocked. In the past, when he confronted Zhou people, he killed them with one knife, and there were few repetitions.

And this youth's curved knife was very strange. When the two knives met, he saw the other side take advantage of the situation to lift the hilt, and unloaded most of the slashing power of his mid-air slash.

He landed in the air, and his feet were already unstable. The knife power was suddenly unloaded like this, and he lost his balance. The sword actually slid sideways along the curved knife body that was not under force, causing his body to sway a little.

When masters fight, they pay attention to strength from the ground. A difference of a hair is a matter of life and death.

The ronin leader noticed that his body was out of balance, and his heart felt cold. Eastern Japanese sword technique is fierce, but Central Plains martial arts have a soft and clever way. This youth was actually a master in this.

Jia Cong seized the moment when the ronin leader was unloaded of his knife power and stood unsteadily. His footsteps slid sideways quickly, and his body avoided the place where the edge was facing like electricity.

Compared with the fierce slash of the Eastern Japanese ronin, the path he learned was full of soft and dense murderous intent.

The two bodies passed each other, their clothes rubbed, and Jia Cong's curved knife followed his arm, taking advantage of the situation to swipe, fiercely cutting a knife on the other side's waist, bringing out a smear of blood, and then his body quickly retreated.

The curved knife in his hand was built by a master craftsman found by Qu Hongxiu before going south, and it was a very sharp weapon.

This was his first time facing a master like the ronin leader. In the crisis, he was fully focused. Although this knife just slid past, the force was really not small, plus the curved knife in his hand was incomparably sharp.

This knife actually cut the Eastern Japanese ronin's waist in half, and even his intestines flowed out. The ronin leader slowly softened to the ground, his eyes full of unbelievable expressions, and he was clearly not going to live.

Yang Hongbin saw Jia Cong and the ronin have a knife fight and was able to seriously injure the other side. He felt a great relief in his heart. Seeing that the ronin was not yet dead, he shouted fiercely: "Fire!"

At least five or six muskets were raised, and a round of firing turned the dying ronin leader into a sieve.

Jia Cong on the side looked at the bloody corpse on the ground, his hand holding the curved knife trembling slightly. That ronin's mid-air slash had great strength, and his arm was still a bit sore and numb.

If it weren't for the fact that the other side was already shot and was in a weak position, and didn't even think that he was actually skilled in martial arts, he wouldn't have been caught off guard by himself.

If both sides were in good condition, who would live and who would die was really uncertain.

……

Jin Ling, Prince Ning's temporary residence.

The atmosphere in Prince Ning's temporary residence today is a bit strange. The entrance of the temporary residence is strictly guarded by Prince Ning's personal guards, and entry and exit are strictly prohibited.

Not only is Jin Ling Prefect Jia Yuancun here, but even the Ying Tian Prefecture coroner and a dozen yamen runners who participated in the investigation of the Shicao Wozi incident yesterday are all here without exception.

Yesterday, based on the examination results of the corpses found in Shicao Wozi, Jia Cong deduced that they were killed by Eastern Japanese ronin, and these ronin disguised themselves as Great Inner Clan crew members and mixed into the Great Mercy Temple construction site to hide.

The situation of the Eastern Japanese ronin causing trouble in the Longtan Port case is confusing, and the Water Supervision Department and the Jin Ling Embroidered Uniform Guard have all been involved.

The yamen of Ying Tian Prefecture escorted prisoners to the construction site for hard labor. Who leaked the news of this kind of internal yamen affairs to those ronin, allowing them to take the opportunity to kill and impersonate?

The leaker is likely someone in the Ying Tian Prefecture yamen, or someone who can know this kind of news, and this person must be directly or indirectly colluding with those Eastern Japanese ronin.

Now, relying on the Shicao Wozi incident, the secret of the Great Mercy Temple construction site was deduced.

To encircle and suppress those Eastern Japanese ronin in one fell swoop, not letting them have any possibility of escape.

It is nothing more than that matters are achieved by secrecy and failed by leaks.

Otherwise, things like suspects being silenced in the Embroidered Uniform Guard prison might happen again.

So Jia Cong and Yang Hongbin discussed letting him take Prince Ning's personal guards and the soldiers under Liu Hai to strictly guard Shicao Wozi, and on the grounds of emergency, everyone was not allowed to leave without authorization.

He also went to Prince Ning's temporary residence himself, explained the cause and effect of the matter to Prince Ning, and mobilized thirty fire gunners trained by Prince Ning, as well as half of Prince Ning's personal guards.

He also asked for Prince Ning's imperial edict, ordering Ying Tian Prefect Jia Yuancun to bring all the yamen personnel who participated in the investigation of the Shicao Wozi case to Prince Ning's temporary residence to discuss matters all night.

(End of chapter)