The drill ground where the water bandits were gathered stood more than a dozen zhang above the sea.
Jumping from such a height, landing feet-first in the water might be survivable, but striking the surface at an angle or flat would be no different from smashing onto solid concrete.
These water bandits were not professional divers. How many could maintain a straight entry after a free fall of dozens of metres?
Thus, when Jin Feng ordered them to jump from the cliff, he was effectively commanding them to commit suicide.
Yet his expression remained utterly calm.
This sent a shiver down Zheng Chiyuan’s spine.
In that moment, his resolve never to oppose Jin Feng grew even firmer.
Jin Feng usually appeared refined and gentle, speaking at a measured pace, resembling an ordinary scholar.
But now Zheng Chiyuan discovered that Jin Feng also possessed this domineering side.
Towards enemies, he was truly ruthless.
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The messenger escort received the reply, saluted Jin Feng, then turned and ran back.
Hearing the report, Han Feng glanced up the mountain in surprise.
He knew well that Jin Feng was not bloodthirsty.
Such an order to exterminate completely was rare.
It seemed the water bandits had truly crossed Jin Feng’s bottom line this time.
Han Feng’s surprise lasted only a moment. He quickly composed himself, climbed onto a boulder, and shouted towards the bandits trapped on the outcrop. “Who is the chief? Step forward!”
At Han Feng’s words, many bandits turned to look at the chief hiding among the crowd.
“A-Xin, go and bring him out.”
He pointed at the chief.
“Second squad, follow me!”
The squad leader called A-Xin led his men boldly into the throng of bandits.
In the earlier fighting, the escorts had utterly dominated the bandits.
The bandits were now completely cowed. Not only did no one dare block A-Xin and his men, they even parted to make way.
“Stop them!”
The chief tried to burrow deeper into the crowd while ordering the bandits to resist.
But no bandit dared raise a hand.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
The chief retreated all the way to the cliff edge, brandishing his long sword with outward bravado but inward fear.
A-Xin sneered, stepped forward to take the chief’s strike head-on, then kicked him sprawling to the ground.
Two escorts advanced, ignoring his pleas for mercy, hauled him up, and dragged him away.
The remaining bandits looked up at Han Feng in terror, awaiting final judgment.
Under everyone’s gaze, Han Feng signalled, and the drummer began to beat.
From the moment the bandits had ambushed Tang Xiaobei’s convoy, the two sides had become enemies.
Han Feng had nothing to say to enemies, especially those about to die.
The escorts advanced in neat formation, stepping in time with the drum.
For every step the escorts took forward, the bandits were forced back one.
The drill ground was limited in size. Over a thousand bandits had already packed it tightly, and now it grew even more crowded.
“They mean to drive us off the cliff!”
“Grandpa escorts, we know we were wrong. Spare us, please?”
“Brothers, fight them!”
“Yes, we outnumber them a thousand to one. Even if we die, we’ll take some with us!”
The bandits quickly grasped Han Feng’s intent. Some begged for mercy, others shouted for resistance.
But regardless of their choice, the escorts continued their steady advance.
The bandits’ footing shrank. Those at the rear drew ever closer to the cliff.
“Brothers, we killed over a hundred from Zhen Yuan Escort Agency and Jin Chuan Chamber of Commerce. These damned escorts are determined to drive us to our deaths. Kneeling and kowtowing won’t help!”
The third-in-command raised his long sword and bellowed. “We’re dead anyway. If you’re men, pick up your blades and follow me. Fight them!”
With the chief dragged away, the second-in-command slain by Monkey, and Adviser Liu absent, the third-in-command became the highest remaining authority.
The previously leaderless bandits suddenly found a rallying point. Many stopped retreating and, led by the third-in-command, launched a counter-charge against the escorts.
Yet the escorts’ armour was too sturdy. The bandits could not pierce it.
Whenever an escort’s black blade struck a bandit, the victim either died or was grievously wounded.
The female soldiers at the rear kept firing without pause.
The bandits could not halt the escorts’ advance and continued to be forced back.
Finally, some at the rear reached the cliff edge and were pushed over by the press from front, tumbling into the sea below.
Where one went, a second followed.
More and more bandits were squeezed off the cliff, falling like dumplings into a pot.
From the summit of the rear mountain, Zheng Chiyuan and his naval officers watched in stunned shock.
Many naval soldiers had felt dissatisfied after losing to the escorts in the earlier contest, believing the escorts had won through superior weapons rather than true skill.
Now they witnessed the escorts’ real ability.
Daylight had fully broken. They could clearly see the situation on the mountainside.
The escorts and bandits were now engaged in genuine close-quarters bayonet fighting. No exploding grenades were used, nor flash grenades that blinded.
Under mortal threat, the bandits erupted with extraordinary ferocity.
Yet they still could not stop the escorts’ advance.
The naval officers who had previously refused to accept defeat were now thoroughly convinced.
The coordination among the escorts was flawless, utterly overturning their prior understanding of battle formations.
Zheng Chiyuan could not help turning to look at Jin Feng.
Jin Feng still stood with hands clasped behind his back, silently atop the summit.
He did not watch the battlefield on the mountainside, but gazed instead at the sun just rising above the horizon.
In truth, Jin Feng’s heart was far from comfortable.
If the bandits had merely ambushed the escort convoy in Jiangnan and the East Sea, though Jin Feng would have been angry, he could have accepted it.
There was no rule that only escorts could strike bandits while bandits could never strike escorts.
Escorts travelled the jianghu delivering goods year-round and had been robbed by bandits countless times.
No general won every battle forever, nor could escorts triumph each time.
Jin Feng could accept all that.
Victory and defeat were commonplace in war. If defeated, learn the lesson and press on.
The ambush in Jiangnan resulted from the escorts’ carelessness, falling into a trap.
The surprise attack in the East Sea stemmed from their ignorance of naval warfare.
These were reminders to Jin Feng: strengthen escort training in future, and develop a naval force.
He could accept escorts dying in battle, but he could not accept the bandits torturing Old Liang and the others.
From intelligence, Jin Feng knew female soldiers had been among the captives, yet none were among those Da Zhuang rescued.
Neither Jin Feng nor Da Zhuang asked, nor did Old Liang volunteer the information.
They all understood that the fate of those female escorts must have been utterly tragic.
Jin Feng truly lacked the courage to hear it.
Different upbringings led to different mindsets.
On the battlefield, Jin Feng would use any means to secure victory.
Afterwards, however, he forbade his escorts from mistreating captives.
During the bandit suppression in Jin Chuan, captured bandits were not tortured but sent to labour in the mines, given a path to life.
A points system was even established there. Accumulate enough points, and freedom could be regained.
It was not that he was overly compassionate, but the education he had received instilled in him a reverence for life.
Killing brought him no pleasure.
If possible, he preferred not to kill.
Yet this time the bandits had truly crossed his bottom line. He had no choice but to unleash a massacre.
