Chapter 443: Strange tactics to achieve miraculous merit

Before the forest at the mountain pass, the people resting in the forest moved upon hearing the news.

More than twenty musketeers gathered quickly and lined up at the edge of the forest; although there were not many of them, their every move showed no fear in the face of danger, and their momentum was fierce.

Luo Xiong could become a Guard Commander because he was knowledgeable and experienced; these twenty-some musketeers were clearly tempered by battle.

However, no matter how elite the firearms were, their power was limited by quantity; twenty-some musketeers, firing in three rounds, could only fire six or seven bullets per round.

They couldn't resist the charge of five hundred elite guards at all; in Luo Xiong's eyes, this was a battle without suspense.

Five hundred elite guards, well-equipped, and fifty crossbowmen.

Against the other party's hundred-some people, it was just a one-sided slaughter.

Luo Xiong pondered in his heart; even if they were secretly sent by the imperial court, as long as they didn't reveal their identities, even if they were all killed, there would be reasons to explain.

Zhou Zhengyang being abducted by the other party was a major matter, and he had to take a desperate gamble.

……

In the forest, Chen Kuishan saw the scene before him; he had been in the Jin Ling Guard for many years and was familiar with military formations; such a confrontation with a huge disparity in power made his heart settle.

Suddenly, there was a commotion behind the forest, and he saw the young man who led the team returning in a hurry.

Behind him followed a large number of people, actually several times more than those he had taken away just now.

These people were also carrying many boxes of different sizes, not knowing what was inside.

Chen Kuishan was surprised in his heart, wondering where these people came from; just as he was puzzled, he heard the young man say, "Tie up Chen Kuishan for me!"

Two people rushed up and tied Chen Kuishan into a ball.

Chen Kuishan had found something wrong since entering the forest, and then saw the Su Zhou Guard troops occupying an absolute advantage; his mood had risen and fallen several times, and he felt he had hope of escaping.

But he didn't expect that at the last moment, the other party suddenly turned against him; he was still somewhat unwilling to give up, hoping to muddle through.

He said, "What do you mean by this? I am a person from the Central Vehicle Department; now that the enemy is before us, you still want to have internal strife."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "You are indeed a person from the Central Vehicle Department; yesterday I asked someone to leave the Central Vehicle Department's mark at the Geng mansion at the Shen hour, to prompt you to cooperate inside and out.

However, you have been away from the Central Vehicle Department for too long, so it's inevitable that there are doubts, and I have to be careful.

After the Shen hour yesterday, I arranged more than twenty people to tightly seal off the Geng mansion; everyone who left the mansion was secretly detained by my people.

Among them, an inner courtyard maid took your note to transmit to the secret post of the Su Zhou Guard nearby, and was intercepted by my people; you showed your flaws long ago!"

Chen Kuishan's face was ashen; at that time, he spent a lot of money to let this maid leave the mansion to deliver the letter, but this maid never returned; although he was restless in his heart, he couldn't think of the reason.

Ever since he entered the forest, he began to realize that he might have fallen into someone else's trap, but he didn't expect that he had shown his flaws as early as the Geng mansion.

He subconsciously looked at the five detained people, but saw that those people took off their hoods, and they were not Zhou Zhengyang at all.

It turned out that people had been acting for him from the beginning, using him as a chess piece.

Chen Kuishan was completely desperate; he could foresee what kind of end awaited him.

Just at the last moment, he was still fantasizing in his heart, they only had a hundred people, how could they resist the Su Zhou Guard troops several times their size outside? At this time, he saw those newly carried wooden boxes being opened; when he saw the things inside, Chen Kuishan felt a chill rising all over his body….

……

Outside the forest, Luo Xiong's five hundred guards had all entered the mountain pass, filling the open area in front of the forest, and the sharp momentum of the troops was quite shocking.

The entire mountain pass was gourd-shaped; the forest occupied by the other party was the only passage out of the mountain pass.

Luo Xiong saw the terrain clearly, mobilized dozens of people, bypassed this mountain pass, and wanted to cut off the other party's retreat.

Fifty paces away from the musketeer formation, fifty Su Zhou Guard crossbowmen lined up in a confrontation; in front of the crossbowmen, infantry held rattan shields for cover.

Fifty paces was the effective lethal distance for crossbowmen, and it was said that tough rattan shields could block musket bullets.

Luo Xiong looked at the twenty-some musketeers lined up at the edge of the forest with disdain.

He shouted toward the forest, "As long as you abandon your weapons and surrender, and hand over the person abducted in the city, this Commander can show mercy; if you resist stubbornly, you will surely be turned into powder!"

It was just that he waited for a while, but saw no reaction from the forest; those twenty-some musketeers still lined up in a confrontation, and behind them, figures were flickering, and knives were shining.

It was just that the light in the forest was unclear, and it was impossible to see too much.

Although Luo Xiong knew he had victory in his grasp, he didn't launch an attack immediately.

It was because those twenty musketeers, although unable to reverse the situation, would still cause certain casualties to the guards if they launched a volley.

As long as the guards suffered casualties, military procedures such as pensions and attrition were unavoidable, which would attract more attention, and the difficulty of covering up the matter would be greater.

Luo Xiong hoped to force the other party to surrender by using his overwhelming force, or hand over Zhou Zhengyang, and then execute them on the spot, reducing casualties to a minimum.

……

At this time, a young man walked out of the forest, wearing coarse cloth clothes, a felt hat, with a handsome appearance and a calm demeanor.

He shouted toward this side, "Su Zhou Guard Commander Luo Xiong, hiding the imperial criminal Zhou Zhengyang, implicated in the Water Supervision Department case, following the Emperor's decree, to arrest and bring to justice, and hand over to the relevant department to investigate the crime.

Luo Xiong, if you don't surrender, that's fine, but you actually led troops to leave the garrison without orders, rising in resistance; do you want to rebel!

Soldiers of the Su Zhou Guard, do not follow this thief in doing things against heaven, committing the crime of extermination; do not ruin yourselves!"

Jia Cong's voice was clear and high-pitched, and these words were spoken clearly and with full momentum; the soldiers and generals of the guard present all heard them clearly, and a trace of commotion began to appear in the crowd.

They were just following orders to suppress bandits out of the city; how did it become doing things against heaven? And was what this young man said about the imperial decree true? Did their own Commander really commit a major crime?

At this time, Wei Yongzhou walked to Jia Cong's side and said, "Count, our people are all in place, no need to delay time anymore…."

Luo Xiong saw the wavering military morale and was furious, shouting, "Where did this yellow-haired kid come from, actually daring to fake the imperial decree? This official wants to peel your skin and dismantle your bones…."

It was just that before his words fell, the other party's muskets fired in a row, completely beyond his expectation, appearing so abrupt and strange, like a rogue act.

Bullets shot densely toward the shield soldiers in the first row of the guards, making the sound of rattan shields and bullets colliding; several shield soldiers were caught off guard and were shot down to the ground.

Luo Xiong was completely confused by the other party's sudden move; this kid opposite was too sinister, completely not playing cards according to common sense.

His own force was far superior to his, and he hadn't even ordered the charge, yet his twenty broken guns actually fired without a sound; was he in a hurry to die? This was really bullying people too much!

He heard the young man's slow voice again, "Luo Xiong, you harbor imperial criminals, rely on troops to be arrogant, attempt to surround and kill the imperial envoy, your crimes are heinous; if you don't wake up, you will surely die without a burial place!"

Wei Yongzhou beside Jia Cong couldn't help but twitch his mouth upon hearing these words.

The Count's mind was dark enough; this was setting a trap for Luo Xiong, first firing first, then provoking the other party with words, letting Luo Xiong angrily lead troops to charge, so he would have an excuse to destroy the other party.

But thinking about it, there was nothing wrong; Luo Xiong led troops to pursue, how could he surrender without a fight? A battle was unavoidable.

Luo Xiong was so angry that he felt like he was going to explode upon hearing Jia Cong's words; it was clearly this vicious kid who fired first, yet he still used words to provoke and confuse people.

He shouted like a thunderclap, "Crossbowmen, fire arrows, rear team prepare to charge, exterminate this group of mad bandits!"

The continuous firing of fifty crossbowmen of the guard was like flying locusts, quite formidable.

Those twenty musketeers began to withdraw their guns and retreat when Luo Xiong gave the order, hiding from the arrow rain by relying on the dense trees in the forest; except for a few people who were grazed by arrows, there were no casualties.

After a round of crossbow arrows from the guards, suppressing the musketeers in the forest, Luo Xiong seized the opportunity and commanded the shield soldiers in front and infantry in the back to launch a charge toward the forest.

Although the Su Zhou Guard was not equipped with musketeers, Luo Xiong, as a Guard Commander, was knowledgeable and knew that the other party's firearms soldiers had already fired a round.

They hadn't had time to reload ammunition and were suppressed by his own crossbowmen; now that the other party's guns were mostly empty, it was the perfect time for his side to launch a charge.

Because the Su Zhou Guard and the Songjiang Guard often confronted pirates and pirates along the river, they were quite tempered by actual combat and were the two major guard troops with stronger combat power under the Jin Ling Regional Military Commissioner.

Under Luo Xiong's military order, the charging Su Zhou Guard soldiers were extremely fast, and in a very short time, they advanced from fifty paces away from the forest to only twenty paces.

Luo Xiong's mouth revealed a cruel smile; he had almost seen the results of victory; he wanted to capture the kid who spoke nonsense just now alive, peel his skin and dismantle his bones, and punish him….

Just when Luo Xiong thought the situation was settled, many gun barrels suddenly stretched out from the forest, the number far exceeding the original twenty-some.

Densely packed, almost spreading across the entire edge of the forest, roughly estimated to be at least over a hundred muskets.

A chill rushed to Luo Xiong's crown, and a great sense of crisis exploded in his heart.

The sound of over a hundred muskets firing together was like an explosion, making people tremble.

Bullets flew like a sudden rain, tearing out sharp and harsh strange sounds in the air, revealing a death breath that went forward without hesitation.

The first row of guard infantry charging at the front, the moment the gunshots rang out, were like tree stumps cut down in an instant, and dozens of people fell down at once.

The guard infantry following behind, although hearing the loud explosion ahead, the inertia of the forward charge still kept them in a charging posture.

Luo Xiong, who was suppressing the formation in the rear, saw a scene that made his hair stand on end.

After the first batch of musketeers in the forest finished firing, they retreated quickly, their movements exceptionally skilled and seasoned.

Soon, figures flickered in the forest, and the second batch of gunners moved forward quickly; before Luo Xiong's vision could fully react, the second round of bullets had been fired.

The two rounds of gunners advanced and retreated, changing positions and replacing each other; their movements were like flowing water, almost unable to find any gaps, just like an extremely precise killing weapon.

What made Luo Xiong even more terrified was that the number of this second batch of replacement musketeers was almost equal to the first batch, which meant that there were at least two hundred musketeers in that forest.

Didn't the county yamen's official document say that this group of thieves only had twenty-some muskets? How did it suddenly become two hundred musketeers?

Luo Xiong felt his sanity on the verge of collapse, realizing that he had stepped into a huge conspiracy.

When the second round of gunshots rang out, the guard infantry who continued to charge were like harvested wheat, like waves surging one after another, and another large group fell down.

At a distance of thirty to twenty paces from the forest, the ground was full of corpses and wailing survivors flowing with blood.

Just two rounds of musket volleys caused more than a hundred casualties to the Su Zhou Guard.

When the second round of gunners retreated, and another hundred-some muskets stretched out from the forest, Luo Xiong's psychological defense line had completely collapsed.

As long as such musket volleys continued for a few more rounds, his five hundred guards would undoubtedly be wiped out.

He didn't know how many musketeers were hidden in that small forest, two hundred, three hundred, or even more.

Compared to the previous ridiculous statement of twenty muskets, the scene before him had completely broken through his cognition and imagination, as if everything was an absurd nightmare.

After the third round of gunners replaced them, they didn't fire immediately, but held their guns ready.

But after the second round of gunshots, no guard dared to take another step forward.

The Jiangnan guards, who had never seen musket volleys, had their military morale completely crushed by the huge lethality of the triple strike.

The corpses and wailers all over the ground made them clearly realize that in front of the terrible lethality of firearms, physical bravery appeared so ridiculous and vulnerable.

One person retreated, and a second person would follow, then it affected dozens of people, and finally, hundreds of guards retreated across the board, throwing away their armor and knives, and fleeing.

As the main general, Commander Luo Xiong only scolded a few times symbolically, completely unable to stop the retreat of his subordinates.

Finally, under the guard of more than ten personal guards, he also joined the ranks of retreat.

Facing the repeated volleys of hundreds of musketeers, the five hundred guards he led were just moving meat targets; fleeing the battlefield as soon as possible was the best strategy.

As for the original plan to kill these people along with Zhou Zhengyang to silence them and avoid future trouble.

Even the plan and ambition to peel the skin and dismantle the bones of that kid who spoke nonsense to vent his anger had long been thrown to the Javanese country by him.

The remaining four hundred Su Zhou Guard soldiers retreated toward the mountain pass like a tide.

But before the troop rushed near the mountain pass, they saw smoke and dust surging ahead, footsteps chaotic, and a large number of soldiers wearing Great Zhou military uniforms poured out of the mountain pass, with neat military bearing and unified, rapid actions.

Almost in a few breaths, they lined up and sealed off the retreat of the Su Zhou Guard soldiers.

These Great Zhou soldiers had hundreds of people, and what was even more chilling was that each of them held an improved Rumie musket.

Luo Xiong saw this scene, and his whole person was on the verge of madness; how could there be hundreds of musketeers again? Could it be that the entire Five Armies Divine Machine Battalion had been mobilized to Jiangnan? At this time, he saw from afar behind these Great Zhou musketeers, on the carriage shaft of a carriage, stood a young gentleman.

Wearing a silver bamboo-pattern moon-white soft robe, with a handsome appearance and eye-catching demeanor.

Luo Xiong had never seen Jia Cong, but he had heard too many rumors about Jia Cong, saying that he was in his youth and had an outstanding appearance and demeanor.

Could this person be the Count of Lord Weiyuan, Jia Cong? Added to these hundreds of Great Zhou musketeers, wasn't this exactly the posture of Jia Cong escorting cannons down to Gusu?

Luo Xiong seemed to understand at once that all this was Jia Cong's carefully planned scheme.

He sent people to sneak into the city overnight to abduct Zhou Zhengyang, and deliberately let people send out information, even the Wu County yamen was played around by him.

He used all means to lure himself out of the city, step by step into his trap; what a treacherous and vicious kid!

……

But he still refused to give up, shouting, "Is the person opposite the Count of Lord Weiyuan, Jia Cong? I am Su Zhou Guard Commander Luo Xiong; you and I are both imperial officials, why do you block my way?"

That young gentleman shouted, "Luo Xiong, you harbor imperial criminals, mobilize troops without authorization, surround and attack the imperial envoy; you cannot escape, surrender now!"

The voice was crisp and pleasant, carrying a heroic spirit, but it was hard to hide the soft and dashing intention.

Luo Xiong was half-dead with anger upon hearing this; how could this Jia Cong's tone be exactly the same as that kid who spoke nonsense?

And, how could this famous Count of Lord Weiyuan, Jia Cong, be a sissy….

Luo Xiong was full of unwillingness, wanting to think of a way to escape again.

He saw the young gentleman opposite wave his hand, and several mule carts dragging behind the carriage had their waterproof tarpaulins pulled off, revealing several black and heavy iron cannons, and soldiers were loading bullets into the muzzles….

Luo Xiong saw those five black and heavy giant cannons and realized that these were the new-style red-clothed cannons to be sent to the Su Zhou Guard.

Just a few rounds of musket volleys had already defeated his five hundred guards; if they were bombarded by several cannons, they would be flesh and bloodless in an instant….

What a Jia Cong; no wonder he could pacify the Jurchens in several battles; his strategy was deep, interlocking, and his means were cruel….

This was the momentum of a lion fighting a rabbit, leaving no room for others.

At this time, noisy footsteps came from the rear; Luo Xiong looked back in a daze.

Only to see countless firearms soldiers rushing out of the forest behind, densely covering the entire rear, and the number was no less than his five hundred guards.

Although these musketeers wore different ordinary clothes, whether it was their momentum or formation, they were undoubtedly brave and elite soldiers who had experienced military formations.

These musketeers rushed to a position fifty paces away from the Su Zhou Guard, stopped and lined up quickly, arranged a triple-strike formation, and held their guns ready.

Luo Xiong's face turned pale, and the horse whip in his hand couldn't even be held and fell to the ground.

As if receiving some kind of signal of relief, soldiers in the guard began to throw away their knives and guns; this behavior spread quickly, and the sound of weapons hitting the ground rang out in one piece.

More than eight hundred musketeers on both sides of the mountain pass continuously closed in, completely controlling the five hundred guard surrenderers.

Jia Cong pointed his finger at Luo Xiong and said, "Take this person, escort him back to Jin Ling, hand him over to the Dali Temple for interrogation, and wait for the imperial decree to judge the crime."

He asked the Firearms Battalion battalion commander Zhou Yong to send people to the Gusu Provincial Administration Yamen to report the situation, restrain the various guard camps in the city, and not allow them to move without authorization, waiting for the imperial court's disposal.

Jia Cong himself and Qu Hongxiu first took five hundred Five Armies Battalion musketeers, escorted Su Zhou Guard Commander Luo Xiong, and marched toward Jin Ling overnight.

He also ordered Zhou Yong to complete the aftermath, leaving thirty musketeers stationed in Huizhou to temporarily settle and guard the cannons, while the remaining nearly three hundred musketeers followed him and returned to Jin Ling quickly.

In the next few days, Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao's imperial decree would surely reach Jin Ling, and a storm sweeping through Jiangnan was about to unfold…. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 444 =====