Chapter 1334: Only by Taking the Fight to Them Can You Hold

The Zhao Family Army's matchlock soldiers had been firing from behind those three two-wheeled carts all along, and the three weapons that looked like Nest-of-Bees had yet to go off. But at this distance of forty paces, with the rotating volleys of the matchlocks momentarily paused, those three Nest-of-Bees spat out flame.

In that instant, it was like the loudest burst of firecrackers at Spring Festival — a dense, explosive roar. All anyone could see were ceaseless flashes of fire bursting from the boxes on those three two-wheeled carts. The Jianzhou Jurchen soldiers charging at the very front reacted on instinct: these were matchlocks firing, only now it was dozens of them going off in an extremely rapid rotating volley!

The dense, explosive roar brought every man's movements to a halt. Even the wretched screams of those struck by bullets were drowned out. The three boxes soon finished firing. Within a stretch of over seventy paces from the front edge of the matchlock formation, not a single man remained standing. The ground was littered with corpses and wounded, lying every which way.

What kind of firearm was this? Its power was terrifying. Enduring casualties to charge the front was one thing, but in the span of a breath, the dead and wounded already exceeded a hundred and fifty. A full tenth of the garrison force had been fed into the meat grinder, and they hadn't even closed to cold steel yet. The enemy had done nothing but shoot with firearms, and the Jianzhou Jurchen garrison troops were completely stunned by the concentrated firepower of this Nest-of-Bees.

Once the Nest-of-Bees finished firing, men stepped forward and busied themselves. Some removed the rear cover plate and took a wooden board studded with brushes, shoving it into every iron barrel of the Nest-of-Bees. In no time, the powder residue was cleaned out — one wet pass, one dry pass. Then they began loading each barrel one by one. Once loaded, they used another board, this one studded with ramrods, to tamp down the charge in every barrel at once. Finally, they fastened on the rear cover plate fitted with fuses.

Each Nest-of-Bees had three of these fuse-fitted rear cover plates. When firing, they used one while loading another, ensuring a steady rate of fire. Cleaning the barrels, tamping the charges, even loading the ammunition — there were specialized tools for everything. Otherwise, treating a Nest-of-Bees with its dozen-plus or even twenty-plus stacked barrels according to the standard matchlock drill would take far too long on the battlefield.

Even with specialized tools at hand, it still took time before the Nest-of-Bees could fire again. Yet for a moment, the Jianzhou Jurchen soldiers on the other side didn't know how to react. They had just steeled themselves and charged headlong into it, never expecting such a ferocious torrent of firepower. But seeing the tense, hurried reloading on this side, they summoned their courage once more. They could hear their officers cursing and urging them on, but no matter what, the forward steps of the soldiers below simply could not quicken.

They could not quicken, but the Zhao Family Army's matchlock soldiers were not about to wait around. They didn't bother with the standard firing drill using forked rests and wooden supports either. The soldiers, holding their loaded matchlocks, rushed out at a quick march, closing the distance to the enemy until they were within range, and then opened fire. Over a hundred matchlocks kept up their fire, relentlessly advancing.

The stunned Jurchen garrison soldiers were already somewhat panicked and at a loss. The sudden, massive casualties, and now their comrades dropping one after another before their eyes — these Xuzhou men's firearms were this deadly, who knew what other tricks they had up their sleeves? This Jurchen force no longer had the courage to hold on. They turned and retreated, fleeing all the way back toward the shore.

As for the flanking detachment sent to strike the side, they had halted in their tracks the moment the Nest-of-Bees opened fire. Without a pinning action and attrition on the main front, a small force on the flank would just be throwing itself into the meat grinder. When they saw the main force pulling back, they too scrambled to withdraw.

The garrison's Jurchen officers had their own calculations. Rashly moving out into open ground to meet the enemy just now had been a miscalculation. If they could force the fight into the cramped terrain of the landing point, the enemy would lose their advantage and wouldn't even be able to deploy their formation. They had already lost nearly three hundred men, dead and wounded, because they had misjudged the power of the Xuzhou troops' firearms.

As one side waned, the other waxed. The Xuzhou men also held the advantage in firearms. Meeting them head-on right now would be highly unfavorable. Better to hold fast to the ships and the landing ground, wait for the main force in the north to achieve victory, and then combine their troops to thoroughly wipe out this damned Xuzhou fortress. Listening to the earth-shaking roar coming from the north, they reckoned the main army would be coming back to strike very soon.

The force led by Zhao Song did not pursue their victory, but neither did they pull back into the fortress. After securing the port area, men were drawn from every company to move through the various warehouses and freight yards, taking inventory.

"People coming from the north!" "Our ships are back!"

The two voices rang out almost at the same time. Zhao Song, commanding outside, felt his heart give a great leap. The north likely meant the main Jianzhou Jurchen army. And 'our ships' — could that mean reinforcements had arrived from within the Pass? But he quickly calmed down. To the north, he could see over a thousand people running toward the fortress in a noisy, chaotic mob. One look told him these were common folk from Pi Island. As for the ships at sea, they were the two seagoing vessels that had left port earlier, both circling Pi Island at a distance, observing.

"Get the cannons ready. The slightest thing off and open fire!" Zhao Song assigned a company of men to go over, and they brought a Nest-of-Bees with them. The two light cannons atop the fortress wall were also adjusting their angles. If anything was off with these thousand-odd recruits, they would start shooting.

As for those two seagoing ships at sea, there was far less need to worry. They could only be the Zhao Family Army's own vessels. The only question was what news they brought.

Zheng Xiao'er had brought over a thousand Pi Island commoners. Among them were over three hundred women, children, the elderly, and the weak; the rest were able-bodied adults. Fewer than thirty men from the Third Company had returned. Of the rest, there was no sign.

"Those officers said they were going to recruit more people. Some of the Pi Island folks are guiding them around!" Zheng Xiao'er's reply was very curt.

Zhao Song understood immediately why. The men of the Third Company now saw the hesitation and timidity they had shown when receiving orders earlier as a burning disgrace. Now they had to do this task well, to cleanse themselves, to prove themselves.

The clerks from Cloud Mountain Trading and the Zhao Family Army's own cooks had long since prepared flatcakes. It was impossible for everyone to eat their fill, but each person got a palm-sized coarse-grain flatcake, enough to restore some strength.

The Pi Island commoners were long accustomed to hardship. The moment they saw the flatcakes, their eyes lit up. During these past few days of battle, all supplies had gone first to the Dongjiang Garrison troops, and those at the bottom had it even worse. Many were still starving. At the sight of the flatcakes, they wolfed them down ravenously. Some, not satisfied with just one, set their sights on the women, children, elderly, and weak — they actually reached out to snatch the food, throwing the scene into chaos.

"Drag out those who stole the flatcakes!" Zhao Song stood there, roaring the order. Zhao Family Army soldiers charged straight into the crowd and hauled out the thugs who had been stealing food.

"You've come to my turf, so you follow my rules. Anyone who doesn't follow the rules loses his head!" Zhao Song shouted until his voice was nearly hoarse.

No matter how loud he shouted, the commotion below continued. But after several heads were lopped off, the scene instantly became quiet and orderly. Yet the Pi Island commoners were used to being ruled by the Dongjiang Garrison's official troops; they didn't necessarily submit to the Xuzhou men. After a brief silence, someone pointed at Zhao Song and yelled, "You're not official troops! What gives you the right to kill people? Is there no law anymore?"

At this challenge, the crowd stirred again. Zhao Song, who had been about to speak, was cut short. He flew into a towering rage, pointed at the man who had shouted, and bellowed, "Drag him out! Kill anyone who gets in the way!"

Questioning and stirring up trouble was one thing, but no one dared stand in the way of blades and spears. The crowd instantly parted to make a path. The enraged Zhao Family Army soldiers directly hauled the man out. Judging by his looks and attire, he might have been someone of note before coming to Pi Island, and perhaps he still commanded some respect here.

"Right now, Xuzhou IS the law!" Zhao Song spat out savagely, and brought his blade down.

The head fell to the ground, blood spurting. This time, the crowd fell utterly silent. Zhao Song leaped onto a high spot nearby and roared at the top of his lungs, "The Tatar main army has landed on the island and is attacking from two sides. The Dongjiang Garrison is finished! If you don't want to die, if you don't want to be beasts of burden for the Tatars, then follow our orders! Anyone who doesn't want to listen can leave right now!"

Those who had already fled here all understood the situation, or trusted Zheng Xiao'er. Who still wanted to leave? Who still dared to leave? After a few heads hit the ground, they immediately fell silent and obedient.

Zhao Song didn't wait for an answer from below. He directly declared, "Every unit, pick your people according to the prior arrangements. Get busy, now! Move — we don't have much time!"

The soldiers of the various companies roared their acknowledgment. In groups of a few men, they ran swiftly into the crowd, shouting and kicking, each group herding out over a hundred people and rushing them toward the various warehouses and stockyards. They hauled goods out of the warehouses, rolled logs from the lumberyards, and blocked off every part of the dock area.

Even the women, children, elderly, and weak could not be idle. There was plenty for them to do inside the fortress. Meanwhile, Zhao Song stood on a slightly elevated spot, watching the Jianzhou garrison troops not far away. If the enemy tried to charge, they would have to go out and fight.

"Pick up all the Tatars' weapons! Take anything and everything!" Zhao Song roared his order.

The Jianzhou Jurchen garrison troops had also noticed the unusual activity on this side. They moved to advance but then pulled back. The Xuzhou firearms were truly terrifying. And now, with nearly a thousand more able-bodied men added to the enemy's ranks, if they fought again, they wouldn't even have the advantage in numbers. In any case, once the encirclement and annihilation on the northern shore was complete and the main army converged here, they would surely swallow this fortress whole.

The wave of sound coming from the north grew louder and louder. More and more Pi Island commoners came running this way in scattered groups of three or five. After the earlier chaos, everything now had order. There were men specifically assigned to guide them, others to allocate tasks. Fully armed Zhao Family Army soldiers maintained order. There were no admonishments or warnings. Anyone who broke the rules was simply dragged out and cut down with a single stroke, their life serving as a warning to the other scoundrels itching to stir up trouble.

The two seagoing ships that had gone out earlier did not come ashore. For such large ships, docking and then setting sail again took considerable time. The Jianzhou Jurchen had many boats in their hands; if the ships were trapped and besieged, it would be a disaster. So the large ships lowered a sampan in a blind spot shielded by the fortress. A few sailors rowed swiftly to shore. The Jianzhou Jurchen could see there was a ship there, but had no idea what was going on. With their seamanship, rowing from here to there was one thing, but anything more complex was beyond them.

"Just give us the news, no need to come ashore!"

"The Dongjiang Garrison fleet has already broken off from the battle and headed west. We saw the Dongjiang Garrison officers boarding the ships, but Mao Wenlong's command banner is still there — no telling if he's left or not. The northern shore is in complete chaos. Plenty of Dongjiang officers and men are jumping into the sea. The water's full of corpses now. It won't be long before the fighting there is over. What are your orders, Battalion Commander!"

Thank you, everyone.