Chapter 1190: It's Our Turn Now!

In truth, it made no difference. Surrounded by such high walls and deep trenches, with sufficient troops to guard them, this was the toughest strongpoint and fortress to crack. If they tried to storm it by force, the defenders would certainly suffer casualties, but the attackers would pay an even heavier price in blood and cost. Moreover, the attackers would have to bring up provisions from the rear, which in itself was a massive drain on resources and manpower. In a prolonged standoff, the attackers were often the first to falter.

If they used this place to pin down the main force of the Xuzhou Zhao Clan Camp, the effect would be excellent, leaving the Xuzhou Zhao Clan Camp's core strength unable to advance or retreat. Once the other fronts gained the upper hand, they could converge and encircle them. Even if battle broke out here, they could use a smaller cost to wear down a larger portion of the Zhao Clan Camp's strength, all while a steady stream of reinforcements continued to arrive. In the end, it would still be the Xuzhou Zhao Clan Camp that could not hold out.

None of these considerations were wrong. Anyone versed in military strategy would find them sound and prudent—the kind of plan only veteran generals could devise. Datong Regional Commander Yang Zhaoji was a battle-hardened campaigner, and Zhou Baolu, reassigned to Northern Zhili, was also a seasoned commander of troops. It was no surprise they could make such cautious and thorough arrangements. This kind of response, in fact, treated the Xuzhou troops as a strong army. The government troops conceded they were no match in the field, so they sought to drag things out and wear them down as much as possible while waiting to mass a superior force.

But they never imagined the Zhao Clan Camp had so many cannons, such fine cannons, cannons of such large caliber, and gunnery skills already beyond the comprehension of the government troops. When the first thunderous roar sounded, chaos erupted inside Shang Family Village. Everyone's composure had rested on those sturdy high walls, deep trenches, and the main government force—and these cannons smashed all of it to pieces. The high walls were battered into collapse. What shelter was left then?

The government troops' reaction was not slow. They immediately responded. Cannons took time to fix in place and fire; every volley took time to deliver. Seizing that interval, if they rushed forward with cavalry, they could surely capture the guns. But no one expected the second volley to come so fast. Still, those within the government army believed the enemy cannons outside were simply too numerous—that these were just the ones that hadn't fired before, now opening up. They still sent men charging out. And if anyone dared not charge, they used the battle-enforcer squads.

But the cannonade that followed smashed everyone's illusions to pieces. How could these Xuzhou cannons fire without pause? How could these Xuzhou cannons seem almost alive, advancing step by step to bombard the interior? Men within range who had barely crawled out from piles of corpses would just reach what they thought was a safe spot when another shell came crashing down. But what could they do? The only option was to flee backward. Nearly twenty thousand men, all fleeing backward, packed in an unbearably dense crush, shoving and trampling one another.

Blades had already been drawn between government troops and civilian levies, and government troops were fighting and killing each other as well. No one had anticipated such a bombardment. They had to get far away. Anyone blocking the way forward was blocking their path to survival—how could that be tolerated?

The Regional Commanders, Vice Generals, Mobile Corps Commanders, Battalion Commanders, and Company Commanders were struggling to maintain order. They had originally been quartered in the residences of the village head and the prominent families inside Shang Family Village, all located at the village center. At first, they assumed the shells could not reach them and were still issuing orders to prepare a counterattack. But as the shells fell closer and closer, no one dared to hold firm any longer. They all fled in panic to evacuate.

Some tried to be clever, forcing villagers to lead them to cellars to hide. But some were unlucky—a single shell dropped straight into a cellar, and everyone inside was shaken to death. By this point, no one had the presence of mind to wonder why Xuzhou's cannons were so devastatingly effective or whether some sorcery had been applied. Now, everyone thought only of fleeing, the farther away the better.

No one in the entire government army dared show their face on the eastern side of Shang Family Village anymore. That area had been blasted into rubble, the ground covered entirely with corpses. Everyone was jammed at the other village gates, ready to fight and scramble their way out. They simply could not bear being penned in and shelled any longer. Even if it meant going outside and fighting blade-to-blade, dying in battle was preferable! The government troops were in such utter disarray that they naturally could not see why the cannons outside were firing from closer and closer.

When the range reached its limit, the household troops would swiftly wipe down the hot barrels with wet cloths, then shout as they hauled the cannons forward. From heavy cannons weighing several thousand jin to light cannons of a few hundred jin, every gun was slowly moved forward, then repositioned to resume direct and angled fire, continuing to blanket Shang Family Village.

Zhao Jin no longer lingered to admire the spectacle of the bombardment. He sprinted out of the cannon position. Several signalmen holding flags of various colors were waiting there. Zhao Jin had not been there long when he saw a household trooper riding over at a gallop. The man reined in and dismounted at a distance, then sprinted the rest of the way on foot. The reason he did not ride closer was that such a bombardment would spook the horses and drive them wild.

"Master Jin, the government troops are coming out of the village! They're charging out of the east gate, and the north and south gates have been opened too!" the household trooper shouted at the top of his lungs amid the thunderous roar of the cannons.

Zhao Jin nodded and immediately bellowed at the signalmen, "Cease fire! Send the orders, send the orders!"

The signalmen at once began waving their flags in sequence. At the same time, the household troopers near the signalmen sprinted toward where Meng Zhiqi was positioned. The roar of the cannons began to thin out, then ceased. Zhao Jin shouted again, "Cannon companies on standby! The cannon battalion is to use its own companies to guard and seal the breach on the eastern side! Mounted household troops and volunteers, scatter the massed government troops! Order the local militia to leave camp and press forward—militia to the north gate! The Guards Brigade Second Regiment follows me to the south gate! Cavalry to the west gate first—move!"

Zhao Jin did not notice that he was already shouting himself hoarse. Everyone near the cannon position was the same. The flags sent out signal after signal. The household troopers soothed their restless horses while relaying orders. The entire Zhao Clan Camp host began to move.

Hoofbeats rumbled like thunder. The Mounted Household Regiment rode past Zhao Jin. As they passed the cannon position, someone could be heard shouting, "Now it's time for our regiment to shine!"

Everyone heard this roar clearly. The morale of the entire Mounted Household Regiment was ready to explode. Every man bellowed wildly, brandishing his weapon. Their morale was not sky-high because of those words, but because of that thunderous, lightning-like cannonade. With such cannons on their side, what enemy could they not defeat?

Zhao Jin mounted up and caught up with the Guards Brigade Second Regiment, which had already formed ranks and was advancing. He dismounted, picked up a long halberd, and, surrounded by his guard company, walked at the right-rear position of the Second Regiment. Zhang Hubin, walking beside the standard-bearers, drummers, and buglers, turned back and pounded his chest armor with a fist in salute, then led the unit forward. The chaos at Shang Family Village was already visible. At the village gate and drawbridge, countless men were shoving and fleeing outward in a crush. Others were clambering over the walls, and with one careless move, they would tumble into the trench and be impaled on the spikes within.

"Firearm company, run forward! Fire volleys, then three rounds of independent fire, then return to the main body!" Someone could be heard bellowing orders. The firearm household troops were seen running forward, forming up just to one side of the drawbridge at Shang Family Village's east gate, and opening fire directly—shooting from the flank.

No one even noticed the fire from the flank. No one even had the attention to spare. Everyone was fleeing outward. When the crackling reports rang out in succession, it was just like swinging a scythe through a wheat field. With every volley, men fell in rows. Only then did the fleeing government troops and civilian levies realize what was happening, but they merely fled in even greater panic, only to be cut down by the volleys that followed.

"Extend into line! Level pikes and advance!" The flags shifted, and the drums and bugles sounded the signal. The Guards Brigade Second Regiment slowly deployed, the household troopers leveling their long pikes and pressing forward with that menacing advance.

Amid this maneuver, Zhang Hubin gave a second order: the firearm household troops need not pull back, but were to continue firing and inflicting casualties from that position. For such pure slaughter, tactics and battle drills were truly unnecessary.

"We brothers have to put on a proper show! Otherwise, in the future, there'll be no need for pikes, firearms, or cavalry—the cannons will have fought and won everything! This time, we don't let a single one escape!" Tao Gui shouted from horseback. The Mounted Household Regiment's formation also began to slowly deploy. The three battalion commanders were just about to return to their respective units.

Hearing Tao Gui's words, Xu Yong and Ba Yin both nodded vigorously. As spectacular as the cannonade had been, it also gave everyone a sense of crisis. Charging into the enemy lines, fighting blade-to-blade—that was the true path to victory. Yet now, how had it become so easy? A few dozen cannons pushed forward, firing wildly for a while, and then victory was at hand. If that was the case, what use was everyone else? It was not only the battalion commanders who thought this; the household troopers below them thought the same.

With shouts, relayed orders, and waving flags, the already deployed squadrons of the Mounted Household Regiment, fully armored, leveled their lances and charged straight at the government troops who had just regrouped near the west gate.

The west gate was farthest from the direction of the bombardment, so the most people had fled out this way. Personal guards clustered around their commanders, and village braves clustered around the village's prominent figures, all of them still in shock. Only as the sound of cannons from the east gradually died down did anyone have the presence of mind to busy themselves with regrouping and taking stock. The faces of everyone from Shang Family Village were filled with bitter regret and fear.

That thunderous, lightning-like bombardment was naturally shocking and terrifying, but the Shang family regretted even more that they had bet on the wrong side. They had thought that once the government troops arrived, their family could turn the tables and become masters, and that they could take advantage of the chaos to swallow up Xuzhou's properties in Guide Prefecture. Who could have imagined Xuzhou's methods would be so formidable? Setting everything else aside, just that cannonade alone had swept away every last trace of wishful thinking in their hearts.

So Xuzhou was this strong. They had seen over ten thousand government troops and heard of encirclement from multiple routes, and thought the show of force was considerable. Who could have imagined they could not hold out for even a moment before the Xuzhou Zhao Clan Camp? What would happen next? Xuzhou's methods were ruthless. Over the years, they had seen and heard far too many examples.

"What fools we were! We'd have been better off fighting the government troops alongside Xuzhou! Those Xuzhou people still follow rules—this lot of soldiers are worse than bandits!" someone cursed bitterly, not bothering to lower his voice. At this critical juncture, there was no awe or fear left for the authorities or the government troops. If it came to a fight right now, the able-bodied braves and village militia of Shang Family Village were not incapable of battle.

No one in the government army paid any mind to such brazen insults. The fleeing government officers and soldiers were even more panicked and terrified than the people of Shang Family Village. Whether they were Daming troops, Henan troops, frontier infantry and cavalry, or Weihui Prefecture militia, none of them had any real understanding of the Xuzhou Zhao Clan Camp's strength. Today, they had learned how formidable it was. Their confidence and courage had been utterly shattered. Now, all they could think of was how to get away.

Thunderous hoofbeats rang out. This side immediately spotted the Xuzhou cavalry. Someone screamed at the top of his lungs, "The Xuzhou cavalry is charging!"

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