Swish! Swish! Swish!…
As Jin Feng snapped his fingers, huge arrows shot out from the woods on the left, streaking like meteors into the bandit horde!
The heavy crossbow, modified by Jin Feng, had a lethal range of a terrifying sixteen hundred metres. The distance from the woods to the threshing field was a mere dozen metres or so. To the powerful kinetic force of the arrows, the bandits’ bodies were as fragile as a sheet of paper.
Spear-like arrows flew in from the left side of the bandit group, skewering them like kebabs, killing a string of bandits before exiting on the right and vanishing into the woods.
Any bandit hit by an arrow was either dead or grievously wounded!
In just the first round of shooting, nearly a hundred bandits were killed or injured!
Whoosh!
The unharmed bandits panicked, scattering in all directions like headless flies.
But at that moment, Jin Feng raised his right hand again.
To the left of the threshing field was a patch of woods, and behind it, an open clearing.
In that clearing, several catapults were positioned at different angles.
Unlike at Qingshui Valley, these catapults were not loaded with stones but with iron caltrops.
These iron caltrops were spherical iron blocks with four iron spikes, designed so that no matter how they landed, one spike always pointed upward.
Making iron caltrops consumed a great deal of iron ore. Jin Feng had made some while testing a new furnace, intending to melt them down once the furnace was adjusted. But when he heard bandits might come, he kept them for this moment.
Now, they proved useful.
Iron Bull was perched on a large tree, his eyes fixed on the threshing field.
Seeing Jin Feng’s signal, he immediately shouted downward, “Attack!”
The veteran soldiers, already prepared, swung their wooden hammers and struck the triggers!
Swish, swish, swish…
Several catapults launched simultaneously, and the iron caltrops formed a dark cloud that descended upon the threshing field.
The bandits, who had just started to flee, were entirely engulfed by this cloud.
The iron blocks were far heavier than stones. When they struck a person, they caused broken bones and torn muscles at best, or instant death at worst.
This time, over half the bandits were hit. The threshing field turned into a hellscape, with blood staining the ground and agonised screams filling the air.
Even the bandits who miraculously survived both attacks unscathed could not move.
The ground was covered with densely packed iron caltrops. One careless step would pierce their feet, leaving no room to stand, let alone escape.
Though it seemed to unfold slowly, it happened in a flash.
From the moment Jin Feng gave the order to attack until the battle ended, less than a minute had passed.
At the edge of the threshing field, the bandit leader and a few lieutenants, outside the range of the heavy crossbows and catapults, narrowly escaped disaster.
But at that moment, their minds were reeling.
Even the leader was stunned.
Before coming, the leader knew Xihe Bay had skilled archers, so he had prepared accordingly, wearing a layer of soft armour under his clothes.
This soft armour, stolen from a travelling merchant in his youth, was made of some unknown material impervious to blades.
With a helmet as well, ordinary arrows posed no threat.
With his safety assured and hundreds of bandits backing him, the leader had been brimming with confidence from start to finish.
If not for Master Zhou’s insistence that he not harm Jin Feng, he would not have wasted so much time negotiating.
Yet, everything that had just happened shattered his confidence completely!
Even now, he could not comprehend how things had turned out this way.
Hundreds of men, and in just a moment, more than half were gone?
Even slaughtering hundreds of pigs would not be this quick, would it?
“Well, are you satisfied with my methods?” Jin Feng glanced at the dazed leader, smiling as he asked.
“You little brat, you deserve to die!” Hearing Jin Feng’s voice, the leader snapped out of his stupor, brandishing a long sabre and charging at Jin Feng on horseback.
“Don’t just stand there, get him!” the second-in-command roared, leading the remaining lieutenants to follow.
It was not loyalty driving the second-in-command, but the clear understanding that capturing Jin Feng as a hostage was their only chance of survival!
Unfortunately, the veteran soldiers gave them no such opportunity!
Dozens of hand-crossbow bolts shot out from the woods, and the lesser lieutenants all fell from their horses.
Each had several arrows lodged in critical areas like their heads and necks, dead beyond doubt!
But the leader, relying on his soft armour and helmet, narrowly escaped. He reached out with his left hand, grabbing for Jin Feng’s collar.
This turn of events caught even Jin Feng off guard, and it was too late to dodge.
But just as the leader was about to seize Jin Feng, Zhang Liang stepped forward, grabbing the leader’s hand.
With a fierce tug, he yanked the leader off his horse!
The leader crashed to the ground, his vision darkening. When he came to, his helmet was gone, and a black blade rested against his neck.
“Move again, and I’ll gut you!” Zhang Liang said coldly.
The leader knew the situation was hopeless. He had no strength left to resist. With a heavy sigh, he lay back on the ground, letting Liu Tie and others bind his hands and feet.
Only then did Iron Bull lead the veteran soldiers, Qing Mulian, and others out from the woods.
Whether veteran or female soldier, each held a crossbow, advancing slowly with small steps toward the threshing field, surrounding the immobilised bandits.
Yes, hundreds of bandits were encircled by just over thirty veteran soldiers and a dozen female soldiers.
“Drop your weapons, squat, and put your hands on your heads! Anyone who disobeys will regret it!” Iron Bull bellowed.
The bandits, already terrified, hurriedly threw down their weapons and squatted obediently with hands on heads.
“Dazhuang, take your men and bring out those who can still move!” Iron Bull shouted. “Second team, third team, ready the ropes. Everyone else, stay alert. Shoot anyone who tries anything!”
“Yes, sir!” all the veterans replied in unison.
“First team, with me!” Dazhuang handed his crossbow to a veteran and, taking a rake, entered the threshing field.
The five soldiers in his team followed suit, using rakes to push aside the iron caltrops, clearing a path about a metre wide.
When the path reached the nearest bandit, Dazhuang kicked him lightly. “Get out yourself!”
The bandit obediently shuffled along the path, stepping out of the caltrop zone, only to be tightly bound by the waiting veterans.
Half an hour later, over a hundred bandits who could still walk were taken captive.
Those left in the threshing field were either dead or crippled by the heavy crossbows and catapults.
The Tieguan Mountain bandits, who had rampaged through Jinchuan County for decades, were utterly defeated.
Many veterans’ eyes gleamed with excitement.
This was their first battle, and the most exhilarating of their lives, decisively crushing an enemy ten times their number!
This one victory was enough to boast about for a lifetime.
But Jin Feng, seemingly uninterested, yawned and mumbled, “Mulian, it’s your turn. Go finish them off.”
