Chapter 148: The Key Is Courage

148. Chapter 148: The Key Is Courage

And that number changed every single moment on the battlefield, because casualties kept mounting and demanded immediate response. The battlefield gave officers and sergeants no time to calculate, so every man was issued a booklet he could consult at any time. This need greatly spurred the development of practical mathematics in Europe — something Zhao Jin remembered very clearly.

Permutations and combinations for a hundred-odd men were not hard for Zhao Jin, and for his companions they were actually quite easy as well. But on a real battlefield, a Swiss square had a full several hundred men, and a Spanish tercio over a thousand — mental arithmetic at that scale was not nearly so simple.

The dozens of days of training bore fruit in this very moment. Though there was still some confusion during the shift, the household troops quickly formed into a horizontal line.

Zhao Jin was not entirely satisfied with the shift, but the household troops' formation change silenced the brawling crowd ahead. Many turned to look in astonishment before resuming their fight; everyone around was awed by the solemn formation.

The reason he had the household troops do this was that Zhao Jin felt the ruffians and idlers on his side could not beat the opposition.

The able-bodied men in front of Jinbao General Store clearly had a fierce, aggressive air about them. Most carried carrying-poles and wooden clubs, and they held a semblance of a formation.

One look told you they brawled often and were richly experienced. They held long weapons and knew how to coordinate. The ruffians and idlers on his own side, on the other hand, carried knives and hatchets that looked terrifying but could not actually reach the enemy. When bullying honest commoners, they put on a blustering show, but in a real fight they shrank back, terrified that someone might actually die and land them in a lawsuit. With that approach, of course they could not win.

Just as Zhao Jin had expected, after the initial shock on both sides, the outcome was quickly decided. You Zhenrong's men thrust and struck with clubs and staves; the men on this side could not get close at all. A few of the fiercer ones tried to duck in low, but once they rushed ahead they were isolated and beaten straight to the ground by the clubs. Seeing what happened to those who dared fight, the men behind grew even more afraid and dared not advance, shoving each other instead. Chen Ergou and Butcher Li were so furious they cursed loudly, but it did not help in the slightest.

Someone inside the Jinbao General Store gave an order, and the able-bodied men at the door suddenly surged forward. The idlers and ruffians on Zhao Jin's side instantly collapsed, many fleeing backward in blind panic.

Behind them stood Zhao Jin's household troops, long prepared. Because orders had been given in advance, the household troops thrust mercilessly with their long staves, and pained cries rang out at once.

The ruffians and idlers on Zhao Jin's side were now caught in a pincer attack and could not hold out at all. They scattered completely in moments. The opponents and Zhao Jin's household troops now faced each other across a gap of about twenty paces.

"Charge! Scatter them!" Zhao Jin bellowed the order.

The household troops glanced at one another, steadied their formation slightly, then, following the drills they had been taught, leveled their long staves and strode forward in a charge.

Though Zhao Jin's household troops were a beat slow, the sheer momentum of their unified advance stunned everyone in the field. The able-bodied men of Jinbao General Store stared at the formation bearing down on them like a single solid mass and, for a moment, had no idea what to do.

"Throw things at them!" someone shouted. Some of the Jinbao General Store men bent to scoop up dirt and stones; others simply hurled the clubs, staves, knives, and hatchets in their hands.

The clods and stones were one thing, but the firewood choppers and hatchets were far more terrifying. The household troops' neat formation broke at once. Many abandoned the formation and scrambled to dodge the falling blades.

The knives and hatchets looked frightening, and everyone dodged them carefully, but the dirt clods and stones were not so easy to avoid. Two men failed to dodge in time and were struck in the face; blood streamed down at once. The formation could no longer hold and looked about to collapse. Worse, many household troops were glancing around, ready to flee at any moment.

The able-bodied men opposite, their morale soaring, jeered and prepared to charge.

"Hold steady! Follow me and charge!" A great shout suddenly burst out, and the scene fell silent for a moment. The confused and panicked household troops saw that Zhao Jin had planted himself in front of them.

"Charge with me!" Zhao Jin bellowed again, using his long spear to continuously swat aside the objects hurled at him.

Knives, hatchets, clubs, and staves were easy to deflect with a long spear — it was only a matter of sharp eyes and quick hands. But the dirt clods and stones were not so easy to knock away. With his years of martial training, the best Zhao Jin could do was turn his head aside and keep them from hitting his face. Even so, he was struck several times on the body.

Zhao Jin wore only cotton clothes and certainly felt the pain, but he still advanced with unwavering resolve. Chen Sheng, Shi Manqiang, Ji Xiang, and Sun Dalei all rushed forward at speed and took their places beside him.

"Don't run! Follow me and charge!" Zhao Jin shouted again.

"The masters aren't afraid, so what the hell are we afraid of!" Lu Da hollered at the top of his lungs. The household troops might not have had Lu Da's courage, but seeing Zhao Jin and the others standing in front of them, shielding them from the dirt and stones being hurled their way, every man felt his blood surge.

The knives, hatchets, and wooden clubs had mostly been thrown in the first two volleys; all that was left was men scooping up dirt and stones from the ground and flinging them wildly.

A stone struck Zhao Jin square in the chest, and he felt a suffocating tightness. He endured the pain and glanced back. The formation was no longer neat, but no one had fled.

"Kill!" Zhao Jin roared, raising his long spear and charging forward. The men beside and behind him all roared in unison — "Kill!" — and charged together after him.

The moment that cry of "Kill!" rang out, the men of Jinbao General Store all shuddered. Many of them had already thrown away the implements in their hands and now stood empty-handed. Seeing the ferocious momentum of the enemy charging at them, they no longer knew how to resist.

The quick-witted ones turned and fled. Most, still thinking they had the upper hand, foolishly bent down to pick up dirt clods and stones — but by now even the ground had been picked nearly clean. In that short distance, Zhao Jin had already led his men right up to them!

The man directly facing Zhao Jin had just bent down and picked up a stone. He looked up to find Zhao Jin already upon him — and, more terrifying still, the gleaming spearpoint right there. Fighting was the last thing on his mind. He screamed, the stone dropped from his hand to the ground, and he collapsed into a limp sit.

Zhao Jin raised his spearpoint, kicked the man over with one foot, and kept charging forward. The situation was much the same for Chen Sheng and the others. Seeing them charging in with weapons in hand, the men in front of Jinbao General Store lost all will to fight at once. Some simply threw themselves flat on the ground; those behind them scattered frantically.

By the time they were about to charge through the door, apart from trampling a few men, Zhao Jin had not even struck a single one. It was much the same for the others.

This had originally been a gang brawl, with clubs, staves, knives, and hatchets swinging wildly — at worst, a few cracked heads and bloody faces. But when Zhao Jin led the charge with that furious roar, it made people feel they had come to kill. Who would dare stand in their way?

The main door of Jinbao General Store stood wide open. Inside stood six or seven men, staring slack-jawed at everything happening outside.

These six were not dressed like shopkeepers or clerks. The one in the lead was a fat, burly man wearing a wealthy merchant's robe, though it hung open with no regard for decorum. The others carried weapons — arhat knives, embroidered-spring blades, and the like — and looked thoroughly fierce.

At that moment, the situation at the door shifted again. The ruffians and idlers on Zhao Jin's side, seeing the men of Jinbao General Store routed, suddenly found their spirit again and surged forward with fresh shouts to give chase. The men of Jinbao General Store were sent scattering in every direction.

Before the fat, burly man inside the door could speak, a big fellow to his right, gripping a podao, stepped forward in indignation and hollered at the top of his lungs: "What kind of skill is relying on numbers? If you've got the guts, face me one-on-one!"

The words had barely left his mouth when Zhao Jin shook his long spear and charged in with great strides, startling the fat, burly man and the men beside him into scrambling out of the way.

But Zhao Jin paid no attention to anyone else; he went straight for the man who had spoken. The big fellow hurriedly raised his blade to block, but Zhao Jin drew his long spear back, evading the parry entirely, and with coordinated footwork thrust fiercely forward.

The big man's chest was wide open; he had no time even to retreat. Just as he was about to be run through, Zhao Jin swung both arms, using the long spear to directly flip the podao out of the man's grip. He shifted his stance, raised the spear, and brought it slashing down hard, driving the big man straight to his knees. "One-on-one, you're no match either!" Zhao Jin said coldly.

Everyone in the shop was stunned by Zhao Jin. That had been a genuine one-on-one just now, yet their man was utterly outclassed by Zhao Jin — to say nothing of Zhao Jin's ferocious, overpowering presence. In that instant, everyone had thought the big man was about to be skewered.

Outside gradually quieted. Inside the shop, the atmosphere grew somewhat frozen. The manager and clerks had long since hidden behind the counter; the fat, burly man and his companions were momentarily at a loss.

Zhao Jin was about to speak when he heard the sound of something cutting through the air. A small wooden stool came flying at him, and a child's voice, tinged with tears, rang out: "Villain! Get away from my dad!"

A flash of blade — the stool, made of wood two fingers thick, was split clean in two midair. Chen Sheng, long saber in hand, strode over to Zhao Jin's side.

At the sight of that stroke, the faces of the blade-wielders beside the fat, burly man all went deathly pale. They were blade-users themselves and understood at once how extraordinary Chen Sheng's strike was. Now they all understood one thing clearly: the other side did indeed have numbers, but they were not relying on numbers. Just these two before them could probably slash their way in and out several times over.

At that moment, the fat, burly man had no attention to spare for Zhao Jin's side. He spun around and roared in the direction the stool had come from: "You wretched little brat! Get the hell back inside right now!"

From the counter passageway came a child's loud wail. But Zhao Jin's companions were filing into the shop one after another, and for a moment no one dared move, and no one went to attend to the child.

The fat, burly man's face had now gone utterly white. He looked at the long spear in Zhao Jin's hand, then at the long saber in Chen Sheng's hand, and his face suddenly began to tremble.

"Why haven't you taken the child back inside? Have you all gone stupid?" These words, however, came from Zhao Jin.

At his shout, someone behind the counter hesitantly rose and peered out. After a glance, the person hurried to the passageway and picked up a child. The boy looked about eight or nine years old, round-faced and sturdy. Even as he cried, he was still swinging his fists at Zhao Jin.

Zhao Jin said to Chen Sheng with a laugh, "Not very old, but he's got guts. At his age, I would have been paralyzed with fear."

Chen Sheng and the men around him burst into laughter. The fat, burly man watched his child being carried back to the inner quarters, then looked again at Zhao Jin's attitude. His expression shifted several times, and then his hand moved toward his waist. Chen Sheng was still laughing, but his eyes had narrowed, and his shoulders tensed slightly. If the fat, burly man made a single wrong move, he could draw his blade and cut him down in an instant.