Chapter 911: Hard Impact

"In that case, there must be a large number of cavalry ambushed in the valleys on both sides." Pan Zhang cast a cold, stern gaze toward the woods on both sides of the valley.

"Yes." The Flag Leader responsible for reconnaissance was certain.

Pan Zhang stroked his chin. "Dongying has always lacked horses. According to our intelligence, Watanabe has only a little over twenty thousand cavalry under his command, led by Guigui. If Watanabe has set an ambush here, it means he anticipated we would pass through this way."

The reconnaissance Flag Leader nodded. "This valley is very long and narrow; I fear that besides cavalry, there is also a large number of infantry in ambush."

Pan Zhang smiled upon hearing this. "That is certain. To Watanabe, we are the true threat; the armies of the Oda Clan and the Mori Clan are merely miscellaneous troops. He will definitely mobilize his elites to swallow us in one bite."

After pondering for a moment, he said, "Continue forward."

Just as he had decided from the beginning.

Regardless of whether there was an ambush in the valley, he would charge through.

Because according to the plan, the fighting at Baihe City had likely already begun.

If he were to shrink back in fear, should any mishap occur, the overall war effort would be affected.

The time to eliminate Watanabe and the other participating forces would be delayed once again.

This was a situation he absolutely could not allow to happen.

Furthermore, his charging into the valley was by no means a reckless act, but one based on the current strength of the Marine Corps.

The twenty thousand troops under his command were sufficient to handle any emergency.

The order was passed down, and the Marine Corps soldiers continued forward in six columns.

However, Pan Zhang had already passed down the news that there were ambushes in the valleys on both sides.

While marching, the columns on the east and west sides each kept their eyes on their respective areas of responsibility.

And they only marched along the center line of the valley.

Where there was no road, they passed directly through the farmland, never approaching the mountain forests.

Before long, the entire force had entered the narrow valley.

At this moment, on the ridge on the east side of the valley, Guigui coldly watched the Marine Corps soldiers.

When all the Marine Corps soldiers had entered the valley, a cold sneer appeared at the corners of his mouth.

Waving his hand, he ordered all the cavalry and infantry to cross the ridge.

Arriving at the edge of the mountain forest, he mounted his Warhorse, drew the Japanese Sword at his waist, and said to the soldiers beside him, "The Great General is at Baihe City. If we let the Yan Wang army pass, the Great General will be in danger. For the sake of the Great General, for the future of Dongying, today we must fight to the death here. At all costs, annihilate the Yan Wang army!"

"Banzai! Banzai..."

The cavalrymen let out roars; the enemy had already entered the ambush circle, and they no longer cared about being discovered.

Guigui nodded and gripped the Bone Flute hanging around his neck, blowing into it.

The sharp sound of the flute echoed through the mountain forest. The cavalrymen charged out from the forest, brandishing their Japanese Swords, and rushed toward the Yan Wang soldiers in the middle of the valley.

As soon as the cavalry on the east side charged out, they were immediately spotted by the cavalry on the west side, and the Dongying cavalry ambushed on the west side likewise charged out.

At the same time as the cavalry charge, the infantry followed behind the cavalry, also closing in on the center of the valley.

They would take advantage of the cavalry engaging the Yan Wang army to close in, shortening the distance to the Yan Wang army to weaken their range advantage.

"Hollow Square Formation!"

The moment the Beidi cavalry charged out, without needing a reminder from Pan Zhang, the Marine Corps soldiers tacitly and rapidly changed formation.

The twenty thousand Marine Corps soldiers formed six Hollow Square Formations in the valley.

Although the Hollow Square Formation was a tactic from the Flintlock era for dealing with cavalry.

It did not mean that after re-equipping with the Qin-style Rifle, this formation was useless.

On the contrary, the Qin-style Rifle made the power of the Hollow Square Formation even more formidable.

After all, the Qin-style Rifle was not just a little bit better than the Flintlock in both accuracy and range.

"Fix Bayonets!" Inside the Hollow Square Formations, the officers gave orders one after another.

The Marine Corps soldiers immediately inserted the sharp Bayonets into the lugs at the muzzles of their guns.

"Fire!" Another order was issued.

At this time, the three rows of soldiers forming the square—the first row lying prone, the second row kneeling on one knee, and the third row standing—all aimed their muzzles at the charging cavalry.

Flintlocks required Three-Stage Shooting because their rate of fire was insufficient.

But the Qin-style Rifle, which could fire ten Bullets in a minute, did not need it.

"Bang, bang, bang..." Dense gunfire rang out in the valley.

The sound of gunfire drifted up the valley and echoed, making the gunfire seem even denser.

While the Marine Corps was changing formation, the Dongying cavalry had already charged five hundred meters, leaving only three hundred meters between them and the Marine Corps.

But following the order to fire, a dense hail of Bullets flew toward them.

The Dongying cavalry charging in the front were like fallen leaves swept away by a strong wind, falling from their horses in large numbers.

Even more Warhorses were hit, falling along with the men and rolling on the ground.

With so many cavalry falling in an instant, the cavalry behind could not dodge in time.

The hooves either trampled the fallen cavalry in front into pulp as they continued to charge, or they were tripped by the fallen cavalry and Warhorses, rolling onto the ground themselves, only to be trampled by the cavalry further behind.

"Bang, bang, bang..." Facing the numerous cavalry, the Marine Corps soldiers did not change their expressions.

Their focus was highly concentrated, and they displayed their usual fastest reloading speed.

After firing one shot, they fired a second, then a third.

The interval between each shot was almost five seconds.

In a short span of over fifteen seconds, the soldiers on both sides fired thirty thousand Bullets.

But the three-hundred-meter distance required at least twenty seconds for the cavalry.

And that was for a normal, unobstructed charge.

Yet because of the large-scale casualties of the front-row cavalry, their movement was clearly restricted.

Amidst the rain of bullets, they struggled to charge for fifty seconds before the cavalry reached fifty meters in front of the Hollow Square Formation.

"Banzai!" In their field of vision, the faces of the Yan Wang soldiers were now very clear.

The surviving cavalry held their Japanese Swords high and let out a roar; they wanted to hack the Yan Wang soldiers before them into mincemeat.

However, what they faced was a swarm of Hand Grenades flying toward them.

"Boom, boom, boom..." The Hand Grenades exploded among the cavalry.

Within a ten-meter radius centered on the Hand Grenades, the cavalry fell in large numbers once again.

At the same time, the deafening explosions frightened the Warhorses, and amidst bursts of neighing, many of the Dongying cavalry's Warhorses lost control and fled in all directions.

The charging cavalry fell into brief chaos once more.

After the first bout of chaos and the second, combined with heavy casualties.

The Dongying cavalry had no formation to speak of at this moment.

One minute of time allowed the ten thousand soldiers on both sides of the Hollow Square Formation to safely fire over one hundred thousand Bullets.

After this round of Hand Grenade throwing, fewer than two thousand cavalry remained on the battlefield.

As they continued their charge, arriving sparsely before the Hollow Square Formation, they were met with the Bayonets raised by the Marine soldiers, and there were no cavalry companions left behind them.

Of course, they still had Infantry, but clearly, because the Warhorses' charge was too fast, the Infantry had been left far behind and were currently struggling to catch up.

Although they realized something was wrong, in their fanaticism, they had no time to think about anything.

A portion of the crazed Dongying cavalry charged directly into the Bayonets.

A portion, out of fear, could only pass through the gaps in the Hollow Square Formation.