While the female workers and Qin Fei’s attention were drawn to the charging bandits, Master Chen secretly ordered men to bring the catapults forward again. In one strike, they destroyed the female workers’ heavy crossbow and catapult positions.
Although heavy crossbows and catapults could no longer attack once hand-to-hand combat began, they could still block the mountain path behind the bandits. This prevented the bandits who had already charged forward from retreating and stopped reinforcements from coming up behind.
After the heavy crossbows and catapults were destroyed, the bandits no longer had this worry. They surged forward in a mad assault on the female workers’ position.
Qin Fei had no time to grieve over the lost catapults. He immediately ordered the escort guards to use shields and pot lids to hold back the bandits, then organised the female workers to counterattack with long bamboo poles.
It must be said that the Macedonian phalanx was perfectly suited to Yangjuan Ridge.
For a moment, the female workers and escort guards actually managed to hold off the bandits.
Master Chen received the report and immediately ordered the bandits to hurl a round of oil jars into the battle formation.
Shields and pot lids could block the bandits’ sword slashes, but they could not stop the fire that seeped in everywhere.
The escort guards Qin Fei had brought were already few in number. Now more than half were burned to death.
Those who survived by luck were badly burned and lost all fighting ability.
The female workers from Tieguan Mountain were undoubtedly loyal to Jin Feng, but they had never received proper training. Without the escort guards holding shields in front, their formation was quickly broken by the bandits!
Without heavy crossbows, catapults, or the escort guards’ shields, the female workers could only fight the bandits in close-quarters hand-to-hand combat.
The bamboo poles in their hands were too long. They were convenient for thrusting, but in melee combat they were hard to wield. The female workers’ side was completely at a disadvantage.
Casualties rose very quickly!
Just as Qin Fei and Zuo Feifei were both anxious and furious, they suddenly heard dense hoofbeats coming from behind.
Qin Fei’s face showed both expectation and caution.
The hoofbeats came from the direction of Xihe Bay. They were very likely reinforcements.
Judging from the density of the hoofbeats, the number of reinforcements was quite large.
If that was the case, the female workers still had a glimmer of hope.
But if the newcomers were enemies, the already disadvantaged female workers would be caught between two forces and completely finished.
In this conflicted state of mind, Qin Fei saw warhorses charging through the white mist and appearing in his view.
Although the thick fog made it impossible to see the riders’ faces clearly, Qin Fei recognised the black banner of the Zhen Yuan Escort Agency!
Qin Fei jumped down from the boulder in excitement and ran towards the warhorses.
“Old Qin, what’s the situation!”
Liu Tie reined in his horse and asked.
The fog was too thick. He could not see the battlefield clearly either.
Qin Fei had no time to greet Liu Tie properly. He asked urgently, “Tiezi, how many men did you bring?”
“Eighty men!”
“All cavalry?”
“Yes, and all wearing armour!”
“If I pull the female workers back, can your eighty men hold the bandits?”
“The mountain path is only so wide. Of course we can hold them!”
Liu Tie nodded confidently, then asked again, “How is the situation?”
“Very bad!” Qin Fei shook his head. “If you had come any later, I am afraid the female workers would all be dead in less than half an hour!”
“Then hurry and pull them back!” Liu Tie grew anxious too when he heard this.
“Right!”
Qin Fei turned and ran the moment he heard the reply.
As he ran, he shouted loudly, “Factory Chief Zuo, sound the gong to withdraw! Sound the gong to withdraw!”
Clang! Clang! Clang! …
The urgent gong rang across Yangjuan Ridge.
The female workers were already being beaten with no way to fight back. When they heard the gong, they immediately began to retreat.
Master Chen was at the other end of the battlefield and did not hear the hoofbeats. His target was not this group of female workers, but Xihe Bay.
Besides, the fog was too thick. Master Chen feared a trick, so he did not order the bandits to pursue the female workers. Instead, he told the bandits to gather and prepare to pass through Yangjuan Ridge quickly and continue their march.
Thick fog like this did not happen every day. Master Chen had to take advantage of tonight’s heavy mist to break through Xihe Bay!
It was precisely because of Master Chen’s decision that the female workers were able to withdraw smoothly.
The bandits occupied the female workers’ position and raised their weapons in cheers.
But before their cheering finished, they heard footsteps.
Then they saw a unit marching in perfect step emerging from the thick fog.
Black armour completely covered every person in the unit, leaving only their eyes exposed.
Although the mountain path was not extremely narrow, it was not wide either. Warhorses could not manoeuvre freely and could not display the advantage of cavalry. Instead, they were easily vulnerable to the bandits chopping at the horses.
So Liu Tie had already decided on the road that they would fight the bandits in hand-to-hand combat!
They all wore black armour. Even the elite infantry of Danzhu could not stop them. How could they fear a group of bandits?
The black armour was brand new and gleamed with a cold light. As the unit advanced, it produced clear metallic scraping sounds.
The orderly footsteps, the disciplined formation, the cold-gleaming black armour, the ruthless eyes…
The escort guards’ phalanx displayed a powerful aura. Although they had not yet clashed, they completely overwhelmed the bandits in momentum!
The bandit leader in charge swallowed hard. Retreat began to form in his mind.
But Master Chen had only given them a deposit. If they fled now, they would lose the remaining silver.
They had come all the way from distant places and already lost so many men. Going back like this would be a huge loss. The chief would never forgive him!
The escort phalanx kept advancing. It was too late to ask for instructions now.
With that thought, the bandit leader gritted his teeth, raised his blade, and roared, “Brothers, kill these pretentious bastards!”
He finished speaking and charged forward with his blade raised.
The other bandits were still a little afraid at first, but when they saw their leader charge ahead, they had no choice but to follow.
The bandits had already been worked into a frenzy beating the female workers earlier. Once they charged, they lost their heads. No one noticed that their leader gradually slowed down and fell behind.
“Draw blades!”
Liu Tie shouted once. The escort guards drew their black blades in perfect unison!
The next moment, the charging bandits crashed into the escort phalanx.
Although this group of bandits were fierce ones hired by Master Chen, bandits were still bandits. They could bully female workers, but against the elite veterans led by Liu Tie, they were completely outmatched!
The veterans struck cleanly and decisively, and extremely ruthlessly!
Almost every blade aimed at the bandits’ vital spots!
There were tough men among the bandits too, but the veterans’ black armour was too hard. They could not cut through it or pierce it!
So the battle became almost completely one-sided. The bandits could not stop the escort guards’ advance at all!
Because of the thick fog, the bandits further back did not know what was happening. They still thought the female workers had returned and rushed forward eagerly.
The chief had said that after the battle, rewards would be counted by ears. Whoever cut more ears would get more reward.
The fog was truly too thick. By the time they charged close enough to see the escort phalanx, it was already too late to regret.
The bandits from behind kept pushing forward. Even if they wanted to retreat, they could not. They were forced to keep charging ahead.
After fighting for more than ten minutes, Master Chen finally learned that black-armoured escort guards had appeared on the battlefield.
He had been sent from Xichuan by the powerful families. He knew very well how terrifying the black-armoured escort guards were!
They were the elite force that even ten times the number of Danzhu’s finest infantry could not stop!
All the way from Xichuan, Master Chen had been thinking about what to do if he encountered the black-armoured escort guards.
He thought the whole journey and finally came up with a method.
“Quick, send men to deliver oil jars. The black armour is impervious to blades and spears. We can only use fire to attack!”
