Yangjuan Ridge.
By now the sun had already set, and the fog was growing thicker and thicker.
Bloodstains covered the official mountain road everywhere.
The battle for the Tieguan Mountain female workers had started very smoothly. Under Qin Fei’s command, the female workers used heavy crossbows and catapults to completely seal off the mountain path. The bandits could not break through at all.
But as the thick fog spread, the female workers gradually lost sight of the bandits’ positions.
At first, the female workers could hold the enemy several hundred paces away.
Later, the fog grew denser, visibility dropped lower and lower, and the bandits drew closer and closer.
Just now the bandits launched another charge. Although they were beaten back, this time they were less than fifty paces from the female workers.
The most deadly part was that as night fell, the fog became even thicker.
Visibility was now less than five zhang.
This made Qin Fei extremely worried. While sending escort guards with female workers to light bonfires ahead, he considered whether to persuade Zuo Feifei to retreat temporarily.
But before he could decide, several loud shouts came from the thick fog, followed by the explosion of a signal arrow in the sky.
“The enemy is coming!”
The escort guards quickly retreated with the female workers.
“Everyone, prepare to attack!”
The female workers had been fighting the bandits for half the afternoon and were already very familiar with the routine.
They did not even need Qin Fei or Zuo Feifei to speak. Zuo Feifei’s assistant raised an iron-plated megaphone and issued the orders.
On the high ground on both sides of the mountain path, the female workers swiftly adjusted the direction of the heavy crossbows and catapults, aiming forward.
But after waiting for a long time, the bandits made no movement at all.
Qin Fei and Zuo Feifei did not dare send anyone else into the thick fog to scout. The two sides simply remained locked in a stalemate.
It continued until the sky turned completely dark, when visibility fell to less than one zhang. Suddenly, a group of dark shadowy figures appeared in the thick fog.
Zuo Feifei’s assistant had been staring into the fog the whole time, her nerves stretched to the limit.
When she saw the figures appear, she instinctively shouted, “Fire!”
The female workers were in much the same state as Zuo Feifei’s assistant, all extremely tense. Upon receiving the order, they immediately released the triggers on the heavy crossbows and catapults.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The mountain path in front of the female workers’ formation was instantly covered by heavy crossbow bolts and a rain of stones.
But after the attack ended, the female workers suddenly realised something was wrong.
Although many of the shadowy figures had been hit by arrows or stones, why were there so few screams of agony?
Could they all have been killed outright, without even time to cry out?
Even the female workers noticed something off, let alone Qin Fei, who had served in the army, had far more experience, and was much more alert.
“Old Three, go and see what is going on!”
Qin Fei shouted from atop a huge rock beside the road.
A escort guard below answered and ran over with his sabre in hand.
It was only a few zhang away, so the escort guard reached the spot quickly.
The next second, Qin Fei heard the escort guard shout, “Platoon leader, they are straw men!”
“Straw men?”
Qin Fei was slightly stunned, then his face filled with shock and horror. He roared hoarsely, “Quick, reload! Old Three, come back fast!”
Zuo Feifei widened her eyes and immediately understood.
“This is bad, we have fallen into a trap!”
Heavy crossbows reloaded quickly and had strong penetration, but their killing radius was small.
By now the bandits had learned their lesson. During each charge, they spread out as much as possible. Each heavy crossbow bolt could kill only a few bandits at best, and some bolts even missed entirely.
Although catapults had a wide attack range, their loading and cocking speed was much slower than the crossbows.
The bandits had used straw men to deceive the female workers. A sudden assault was surely coming next.
The escort guard called Old Three soon confirmed Qin Fei’s suspicion.
“Everyone, reload quickly! The enemy is charging!”
Old Three roared as he ran back at full speed.
Before he could return to his own formation, several hidden arrows suddenly flew from behind.
Old Three was hit in the neck and back one after another. He collapsed to the ground and fell silent.
Qin Fei had no time to grieve for Old Three’s death. From the thick fog, a dense swarm of bandits rushed out!
At this moment, the catapults had not even finished loading!
Some heavy crossbows had already been reloaded, but after what just happened, Zuo Feifei’s assistant and the female workers feared being tricked again and hesitated.
“What are you waiting for? Fire the arrows!”
Qin Fei shouted himself hoarse in desperation, “This time it is real! Fire quickly!”
Only then did the female workers react and pull the triggers one after another!
But the fog was far too thick. By the time the female workers could see the bandits, the bandits were already within three zhang.
They hesitated again for a moment.
When Qin Fei called out to remind them, the bandits were already within two zhang!
Although the heavy crossbows killed some bandits, many others slipped through and charged forward.
These bandits were not ordinary people pretending to be bandits. They were real bandits that Master Chen had hired.
Moreover, he had promised them heavy rewards and recruited the most ruthless and valiant ones.
After breaking through the heavy crossbow blockade, they did not hesitate for a second. They raised all kinds of weapons and charged straight at the female workers.
Fortunately, Qin Fei had organised the female workers into a Macedonian phalanx. Fortunately, he had placed the escort guards holding shields and pot lids at the very front. The formation was not broken by the bandits.
“Beat the drum!”
Qin Fei shouted with bloodshot eyes.
The signal soldier behind him quickly struck the war drum once.
As planned, this was the signal for the female workers behind the escort guards to attack with bamboo poles.
After all, the female workers were not professional soldiers. Earlier, they had come because they did not want to lose face to the textile factory women and had rushed in with hot blood.
But when it came time to fight the bandits face to face, many female workers froze in terror.
The war drum was beaten twice. Only a few female workers made any attack movements, but because of panic, only one managed to stab a bandit.
They were still among the better ones. At least they had reacted and attempted to strike.
The rest of the female workers looked completely lost. Two of the most timid ones even dropped their long bamboo poles and squatted on the ground crying.
Qin Fei stamped his foot in fury and roared hoarsely, “Fight back quickly!”
But the battlefield was far too noisy. The female workers could not hear his shouts at all.
Seeing that the pressure on the shield-bearing escort guards was growing heavier, Qin Fei had no choice but to jump down from the huge rock with his two deputies. He picked up a long bamboo pole and stabbed swiftly at the bandits.
An expert’s skill was immediately clear.
Qin Fei did not miss once. In less than three seconds, he had killed five bandits!
While stabbing, he shouted to the female workers beside him, “See that? Just like this!”
His two deputies did the same.
With an example to follow, the female workers finally came to their senses and began to counterattack.
Only then did Qin Fei jump back onto the huge rock.
It was not that he was afraid of death. He had received training from the Zhen Yuan Escort Bureau and knew that his role at this moment was not to fight, but to command.
He needed to observe the situation from a high vantage point.
Just as he jumped back onto the rock, Qin Fei’s eyes widened in shock.
Because he saw a burst of firelight whistling through the air towards their own heavy crossbow and catapult positions!
This scene was all too familiar to Qin Fei.
It was a catapult hurling ignited oil jars!
“How do the bandits have catapults too?”
At that moment, Qin Fei felt as if his heart had stopped beating!
His eyes were filled with disbelief and rage!
But no matter how confused or furious he was, it changed nothing.
Crack! Crack! …
With the sound of oil jars shattering one after another, their own heavy crossbow and catapult positions were instantly engulfed in a sea of flames!
