The kerosene burned fiercely, but there was not much of it, and it was soon consumed, leaving only the wooden parts of the heavy crossbows and trebuchets still on fire.
Only then did the bandits comeily move forward to put out the flames.
However, both the trebuchets and the heavy crossbows had been completely destroyed.
During the siege of Wulang Mountain, the bandits had tasted the power of trebuchets and heavy crossbows, and they had not yet had their fill of them when a single blaze ruined everything.
Many bandits showed expressions of dejection and worry.
“Brothers, don’t worry. They have fewer than two thousand men, while we outnumber them more than two to one. If they dare come, we’ll make sure they never go back!”
One of the bandit chiefs shouted at the top of his voice, “Mr Feng said it clearly: five taels of silver for every government soldier killed, ten taels for every escort master. Brothers, here’s our chance to get rich!”
“Brothers, we’re all kings of our own hills, yet lately a bunch of escort guards have forced us to flee our homes. I don’t know about you, but I, Zhou Liankui, cannot swallow this insult!”
Another chief followed up with a roar, “Today’s our chance for revenge. The head of Zhenyuan Escort Bureau, Jin Feng, and his second-in-command Zhang Liang are both here, along with the prefectural captain from the county seat. If we take them down, no one will dare mess with us again!”
“Chief Zhou and Chief Xu are right. Today it’s either them or us!”
A third chief leapt onto a rock, brandished his blade and bellowed, “Kill! Wipe them out, and we’ll go back to the mountains to feast on meat and wine!”
In the past, whenever escort caravans met bandits, they would kowtow, bow, and meekly hand over toll money.
But ever since Zhenyuan Escort Bureau was established, their style had been utterly uncompromising. Anyone who dared block the road was met with a full volley of crossbow fire.
This bandit-suppression force was also flying Zhenyuan’s banner, chasing several gangs from Qing Shan County all over the place, leaving them scrambling in disarray.
The bandits had long been nursing a bellyful of rage. With Mr Feng mediating behind the scenes, the different gangs had finally banded together.
Ordinary bandits were simple-minded folk. Egged on by their chiefs like this, many raised their weapons and shouted excitedly.
Atmosphere is contagious, which is why every army holds a pre-battle mobilisation.
At first only the bandits near the chiefs were roaring, but soon the others caught the fever and raised their own weapons.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Thousands of bandits shouted as one, their combined roar deafening. Birds on several nearby hills took fright and wheeled into the sky.
A few hundred metres away, many government troops who still hadn’t grasped the situation were scared out of their wits by the bandits’ war cries.
Zhang Liang glanced towards Wulang Mountain, paid no attention to the troops, and turned back to the neatly arrayed escort formation in front of him.
The veterans Jin Feng had brought from Xihe Bay, plus the escorts temporarily transferred from Guangyuan to fight at Tiger Howl Ridge, were all here except the women operating the three trebuchets.
In total, a little over a hundred people, divided into three groups.
The first group consisted entirely of strong, burly men, each carrying a full-body shield.
The second group was also all male, each holding a spear over three metres long tipped with vicious barbs.
The last and largest group was half men, half women, every one armed with a repeating hand crossbow.
“With more than four thousand bandits out there, are you afraid?” Zhang Liang asked.
“Captain, you’re looking down on us. When has the Iron Forest Army ever been afraid?”
“Exactly. They’re just a mob of bandits. Even if they were Dangxiang iron cavalry, we wouldn’t flinch!”
“The gentleman said bandits are nothing but a rabble. They can shout all they like now, but once the fighting starts, watch them run faster than anyone.”
“Captain, rest easy. We’ll definitely complete the mission!”
The escorts answered with confident smiles.
Zhang Liang’s official title now was Deputy Regimental Commander of Zhenyuan Escort Bureau, but the old veterans still preferred to call him Captain.
“Very good!”
Zhang Liang gave a slight nod. “Move out. Bring Miss Munan back!”
“Yes, sir!”
More than a hundred veterans answered in unison, then swiftly formed a triangular battle array that looked like a gigantic arrowhead.
At first glance, this formation resembled the Macedonian phalanx: shield-bearers in front, spearmen behind, with the addition of a crossbow unit.
In fact, Zhang Liang and Jin Feng had spent a long time refining it.
The greatest weakness of the Macedonian phalanx was that its flanks and rear were easily breached.
This arrowhead array had no such problem. All three sides of the triangle were lined with shield-bearers. No matter which direction the enemy attacked from, they would face the same forest of spears.
“Advance!”
At Da Zhuang’s command, the escorts marched forward in perfect step towards Wulang Mountain.
“Has Jin Feng gone mad? Sending so few men, are they here to fill the gaps between our teeth?”
“With more than four thousand of us, if every man throws one rock we could bury that lot.”
“These people must have offended Jin Feng and been sent here to die.”
One of the chiefs watched the approaching force below as if they were lunatics.
Another chief said worriedly, “Rumour has it Jin Feng is fiercely protective of his own. Why would he send men to their deaths?
Look at their equipment; they’re clearly Zhenyuan’s elite. Even if he wanted someone dead, he wouldn’t send them.
I think these people must have some other purpose.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he was met with jeering laughter all around.
“Old Ruan, your surname is Ruan, are you really that soft?”
“If you’re scared, just take your men and piss off. From now on we’ll collect the tribute from Niutou Mountain ourselves!”
“Ruan, your guts are getting smaller every day. Jin Feng can use kerosene, and so can we. No matter how good their gear is, they’re not immune to fire, are they?”
Chief Ruan could only shut his mouth.
Yet deep down he was still uneasy.
Because up to this moment, Mr Feng had still not appeared.
While the chiefs were arguing, the triangular array had already advanced more than a hundred zhang. Another dozen zhang and they would reach the bandits’ position.
The bandits at the front all clutched small jars, ready to throw.
As soon as the array came three zhang closer, they would hurl their jars.
But at that instant, the wall of shields suddenly opened narrow slits. Dozens of crossbow bolts shot out, flying straight into the bandit crowd.
The front rank of bandits instantly fell, struck by arrows.
Before the ones behind could react, the second volley arrived.
Another row of bandits collapsed.
The remaining bandits panicked and flung their jars at the array without thinking.
Unfortunately, each jar weighed four or five jin, and they could not throw them far.
“These idiots! Didn’t we give them shields? Use the bloody shields!”
One of the chiefs was so angry he nearly jumped out of his skin.
Before the operation began, Mr Feng had specifically warned the chiefs to beware Zhenyuan’s crossbows.
The chiefs had hurriedly ordered carpenters to make a batch of shields and distributed them.
But the bandits were not used to carrying shields and had not taken Mr Feng’s warning seriously. After receiving them, they had tossed the shields aside.
Moreover, the veterans moved too quickly. The two volleys together took barely ten seconds.
Only after the second volley did the bandits finally snap out of it and scramble to pick up their shields, holding them in front of them.
“Let’s see what you can do now.”
The chiefs gritted their teeth and stared down.
