The dense, disciplined volleys of musket fire instantly reminded the Japanese pirates who’d survived the Battle of Suzhou of the terror of being dominated by the Zhejiang army.
One salvo, and a swath of their comrades fell.
It wasn’t just muskets—there were far more terrifying cannons, in greater numbers than at Suzhou. The Zhejiang army’s cannons didn’t fire simple iron balls but “starry sky” shrapnel rounds, each containing hundreds of jagged iron fragments. A single shot blanketed dozens of metres, leaving almost no one standing.
Cannon after cannon roared, equipped with spare barrels to maintain relentless fire. The barrage thundered fifty or sixty times before slowing.
Each shot cleared a patch of ground. After fifty or sixty blasts, the number of fallen pirates was beyond counting.
“An ambush! So many firearms—it’s the Zhejiang army! Damn it, we’ve walked into their trap!”
“Retreat, quick! Their firearms are like they’ve got endless gunpowder—never stopping! When you face the Zhejiang army, don’t think, just run. Get out of their range to save your life!”
“Father, Mother, save me! I’ve been hit by a musket…”
“Run! Back in Suzhou, they slaughtered thirty or forty thousand of us. Our numbers are nothing to them. Run!”
In the depths of the valley, amidst death and blood, the pirates belatedly realised they’d been ambushed. The terrifying volleys of muskets and cannons jolted the veteran pirates, dragging them back to the nightmare of Suzhou. They knew they’d once again fallen into a Zhejiang army trap.
The Zhejiang troops held the high ground, maximising their firearms’ advantage. The pirates, trapped at the valley’s base, wielded Japanese swords barely fourteen metres in reach, useless against the elevated ambushers. Their bows could theoretically reach, but the Zhejiang soldiers fired from natural cover and trenches. Dozens of bold pirates tried shooting arrows upward, only to hit nothing, their efforts futile against the entrenched troops.
Every pirate who dared shoot at the Zhejiang army became a priority target. They faced concentrated fire—ten muskets at least, sometimes dozens. Apart from a few who shot and fled, those who targeted the Zhejiang troops were riddled with bullets, turned into bloody sieves.
This crushed any thought of resistance. The surviving pirates’ only thought was to run—run fast.
In an instant, every pirate still alive and able to move surged toward the valley’s entrance.
Those too injured to run crawled toward the exit…
While the pirates deeper in the valley faced the Zhejiang army’s barrage, those near the entrance fared no better—arguably worse.
Beneath the scattered dowry, the Zhejiang army had buried fifty jars of gunpowder, each packed with over a thousand iron pellets and copper nails. Building on their success at Suzhou and the equipment camp’s experiments, these jars were buried at optimal depths with a refined mix of gunpowder, pellets, and nails. Their power and lethality were more than double that of Suzhou.
All fifty jars detonated without fail. Each jar held over a thousand pellets and nails, so fifty jars unleashed over fifty thousand projectiles, exploding in all directions with devastating force.
After the successive blasts, the valley’s entrance resembled a gruesome slaughterhouse.
Of the pirates looting the dowry at the entrance, fewer than forty percent remained standing after the explosions.
Most were injured. With over fifty thousand pellets and nails flying, even poor aim was offset by sheer volume. Detonating amidst the pirate horde, few escaped unscathed.
Before the survivors could catch their breath, the Zhejiang troops on the slopes emerged, aiming muskets and cannons at the remaining pirates. The *bang bang bang* of gunfire resumed.
Pirates who’d just clung to life fell one by one under the relentless volleys.
“Ah! Damn you, Zhu Ping’an! Despicable, shameless, cunning, vile—you’ll die a wretched death!” Ma Ye, struck in the buttocks by a stray bullet, screamed. Touching the wound and seeing blood on his hand, he cursed Zhu Ping’an again.
“Leader, their firearms are too fierce, and they’ve got the terrain. We’re no match. We need to retreat now, or it’ll be too late!” Ma Ye’s trusted aide, dragging an injured leg and holding a shield, scrambled to his side, speaking in a panicked, dishevelled state.
“The Zhejiang army only has the advantage of terrain and surprise. Their firepower starts strong, but once we weather the initial volleys, they’ll need to reload, and their fire will weaken. That’s our chance.”
Ma Ye gnashed his teeth, unwilling to give up. His hatred burned—how he longed to tear Zhu Ping’an apart.
“Leader, wasn’t the lesson at Suzhou enough?! Somehow, their firearms reload twice as fast as ours. With their terrain advantage, we can’t win. The valley entrance is still open—let’s retreat now! As long as we live, we can settle the score with Zhu Ping’an later!”
Seeing Ma Ye’s recklessness, his aide urgently pleaded. The entrance was still clear, but if they delayed and the Zhejiang army blocked it with rolling boulders, they’d be trapped with no escape.
“Run! It’s the Zhejiang army up there—spare-no-pirate Zhejiang army! Even with two heads, we’re no match for their firepower. Brothers, the entrance is still open—run!”
“Retreat! They’re too tough—retreat!”
“Mother, brothers, run! The Zhejiang army’s too ferocious. Our squad’s been blown to bits. I don’t want to die—I’m still young…”
As the aide pleaded with Ma Ye, the surviving pirates at the entrance, terrified out of their wits, cried for their parents, scrambling in a frantic, disgraceful retreat.
Pirates from the valley’s depths also fled, wailing. To escape through the entrance, they trampled, dragged, and even slashed at each other…
“Damn it! Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!”
Seeing his men fleeing in disarray, devoid of fighting spirit, Ma Ye knew they were thoroughly defeated. If they didn’t run now, they’d be trapped. Who knew what other sinister tricks the cunning Zhu Ping’an had up his sleeve? If, as his aide warned, the entrance was sealed, they’d be dogs locked in a cage, fish in a barrel. Cursing, Ma Ye ordered a retreat.
Truth be told, his order was unnecessary—his men were already scrambling to save themselves.
