Jin Feng and the Guangyuan prefectural troops appearing here together proved that someone must have sent word to him.
Moreover, judging by the timing, Jin Feng had received the message on the very day they were surrounded, then immediately rushed to Guangyuan to request aid from the prefect.
Only that could explain how quickly he had arrived.
“Who amongst you sent word to the young master?”
Qing Muluan looked at her personal guards and asked again.
“Miss, it was me!”
A-Mei answered softly. “My duty is to protect your safety, so before the bandits completely sealed the mountain, I sent A-Xia back to inform the young master.”
“Your duty is to protect my safety. Did you ever consider the young master’s safety?”
Qing Muluan glared at her. “Don’t you realise that under these circumstances, asking him to come here is extremely dangerous for him too?”
“I know, but I had no other choice.”
A-Mei replied, “I told A-Xia to explain the full situation here, including everything about Mr Feng. Since the young master still came, he must have a plan.”
“Looking at his forces, the prefectural troops and escort masters he brought total at most two thousand men. The bandits number over four thousand, they hold the high ground, and they have seized our trebuchets and heavy crossbows. What plan could he possibly have?”
Qing Muluan snapped. “Is he relying on these prefectural troops whose fighting ability is even worse than the Changxin Army?”
The range of a trebuchet or heavy crossbow firing from the mountain down is completely different from firing uphill from below.
It is like throwing a javelin from the top of a tall building, easily reaching dozens of metres, yet impossible to throw the same javelin from flat ground up to a building dozens of metres high.
Now the bandits possessed both heavy crossbows and trebuchets, and they had long occupied favourable positions halfway up the slope. They completely neutralised Jin Feng’s own trebuchets and crossbows.
Apart from launching a direct assault, Qing Muluan could not think of any way to break the deadlock.
When Jin Feng had taught her military strategy, he once quoted, “With ten times the enemy’s numbers, surround them; with five times, attack them; with double, divide them; if equal, engage if able; if fewer, retreat if able; if outmatched, avoid battle.”
In other words: tenfold superiority allowed encirclement; fivefold allowed direct attack; double allowed splitting the enemy and defeating them in detail to minimise losses; if evenly matched, fight only if victory was certain; if outnumbered and outclassed, run without hesitation, or risk losing one’s life.
Right now, the prefectural side was inferior in equipment, terrain, and numbers.
Qing Muluan could see no hope of victory at all.
“This maid acted on her own initiative. Please punish me, Miss!”
A-Mei dropped to one knee without further excuse.
“You… we’ll settle accounts when we get back.”
Although furious, Qing Muluan knew A-Mei was not truly to blame. She stamped her foot and turned to head down the mountain.
She needed to quickly organise her men. If Jin Feng launched a frontal assault, she would have to coordinate from above.
“Sister A-Mei, the miss has already gone.”
A-Lan helped A-Mei up, and the two hurried after Qing Muluan.
Perhaps stimulated by Jin Feng’s arrival, Qing Muluan became exceptionally ruthless. To restore discipline, she ordered A-Mei and the escort masters to execute five or six Changxin soldiers who were deliberately dragging their feet.
While Qing Muluan busied herself reimposing order, Jin Feng down below was equally occupied.
The prefectural army advanced until it was little more than a li from Wulang Mountain before halting.
They stopped because Jin Feng had spotted the trebuchets and heavy crossbows on the mountainside.
By his calculations, moving any further would bring them into effective range.
Jin Feng, Zhang Liang, and Captain Xiao stood side by side behind a large boulder.
The spot offered an excellent view and lay in a blind spot for the bandits’ trebuchets and crossbows.
“Captain Xiao, we can send someone to call for surrender now.”
Zhang Liang turned to Captain Xiao.
“Calling for surrender at this point? Won’t the bandits just laugh at us?”
Captain Xiao grumbled inwardly, but still waved to a prefectural squad leader. “Old Liang, go shout at them!”
The squad leader pulled a sour face, acknowledged the order, and rode out in front of the army.
“Listen up, bandits! We are the Guangyuan prefectural army. If you know what’s good for you, come out and surrender at once, or you will be killed without mercy…”
Before he could finish, roars of laughter erupted from the opposite side.
“This prefectural soldier must still be asleep. With just that handful of men, he dares tell us to surrender?”
“Hahaha, killed without mercy? You’re killing me with laughter!”
“Little turtle, get lost quick, or we’ll twist your head off!”
The bandits’ laughter had barely died down when several heavy crossbow bolts whistled towards the squad leader.
Perhaps the bandits were still unfamiliar with the heavy crossbows; every bolt missed, the closest landing a full zhang away.
Even so, the squad leader broke into a cold sweat. He kicked his horse’s flanks and galloped back.
Maybe missing every shot embarrassed the bandits. The moment the squad leader turned his horse, a shower of stones flew from the mountainside.
Heavy crossbows killed along a straight line, while trebuchets killed across an area.
This time the squad leader’s luck ran out. He was struck repeatedly by rocks and died on the spot.
“Those damned bandits!”
Captain Xiao pounded the boulder beside him in fury.
Jin Feng’s face turned ice-cold, but he said nothing. Instead he crouched down, picked up a stick, and began drawing symbols on the ground that Captain Xiao could not understand at all.
Zhang Liang, however, remained perfectly calm and simply nodded to the escort masters behind him.
Rumble, rumble!
A group of female soldiers pushed the three newly assembled trebuchets forward to the front line and waited silently.
Moments later, Jin Feng tossed the stick aside and looked up. “Machine One: bearing three, elevation six, full draw, type-two ammunition, three rounds.”
“What does that mean?”
Captain Xiao scratched his head.
Apart from “Machine One”, he had not understood a single word Jin Feng said.
Zhang Liang and Big Liu both understood perfectly, yet nobody explained it to him.
These three trebuchets were treasures from Jin Feng’s personal arsenal in the back hills. Not only were they portable, they were fitted with rotatable bases and the latest ranging scales Jin Feng had developed.
As soon as the order left Jin Feng’s mouth, the female soldiers manning the first machine sprang into action.
Some turned the base, some wound the winch, some adjusted the angle, and some opened boxes to remove three jar-like projectiles the size of small bowls.
“Bearing set!”
“Elevation set!”
“Draw set!”
“Fire pots loaded!”
Within a dozen seconds, the reports came one after another.
“Machine Two: bearing two-point-five, elevation six, nine-tenths draw, type-one ammunition, two rounds.”
Jin Feng continued.
The crew of the second machine moved just as swiftly.
Halfway up the mountain, Qing Muluan had barely managed to rally the Changxin troops. Watching the scene below, she muttered in puzzlement, “What is the young master doing? Surely he doesn’t think trebuchets can hurl stones all the way up the mountain from that distance?”
