“Bang, bang, bang…”
The orderly, dense musket fire from the Zhejiang army’s position once again shattered the silence, pulling the world back to reality.
At this moment, seven or eight hundred Japanese pirates still lingered scattered before the Zhejiang line, survivors of the relentless explosions and steel storms, they stood like soulless husks on the battlefield, still reeling from the shock, this volley took down dozens more.
Their scattered positions as survivors spared them, otherwise, this round would’ve claimed far more.
Now, the surviving Japanese pirates snapped fully awake, if they didn’t, they’d be done for.
Run!
Run without looking back!
The six or seven hundred remaining pirates turned tail as one, if they didn’t flee, they’d lose their heads for real.
Supervisory squad? Ha, what supervisory squad? They were mostly wiped out! Those still alive ran alongside them.
The Zhejiang army wasn’t human! That string of earth-shaking explosions just now, could humans do that?!
Even if they ran back and got executed as deserters, so be it, at least they’d keep a whole corpse, maybe just a head detached.
If they stayed?!
Heh, they’d seen it with their own eyes, those at the explosion’s centre were blasted to bits, literal bits, not even scraps of limbs, not a chunk of flesh over an ounce, finding a severed hand would be a miracle of their ancestors’ accumulated virtue…
Even a凌迟 (death by a thousand cuts), the best executioner might manage a few hundred slices, nothing compared to this, this was minced meat, it’d take tens of thousands of cuts to match…
Not just these survivors bolted, even the main Japanese pirate force at the rear turned as one.
“Damn, looks like that unlucky Beitiao punk’s toast?!” Chen Dong scanned the fleeing survivors, not spotting Beitiao Dao San after several looks, he swallowed hard.
“You just noticed? He was unlucky, right at the blast centre, probably in pieces now. Didn’t he always yap about dying gloriously for their nonsense emperor, for their Beitiao lord? Heh, wish granted, dreams come true, he’s really shattered…” Ma Ye wiped cold sweat from his brow, tossing out snide remarks.
These pirate chiefs weren’t exactly pals, they competed and schemed, each aiming to swallow the others, grow big and strong, that’s how Chen Dong, Ma Ye, and Xu Hai rose, Ma Ye and Beitiao Dao San had plenty of bad blood.
Now Beitiao Dao San was blown to bits, his retainers and confidants shattered too, the rest of his pirates weren’t fit to lead, ripe for Chen Dong, Ma Ye, and Xu Hai to carve up.
“Cut the snark, the Zhejiang army’s firearms are too freaky, I keep feeling this spot’s not safe, what if they rigged the ground here too…” Chen Dong said, still shaken, paranoia creeping in.
“Damn, you’re right, let’s pull back a bit, wait till the sun’s up, check it thoroughly, once it’s clear, we’ll face the Zhejiang army again, can’t trip in the same ditch twice.”
Ma Ye jolted at that, leaping up, his panic surging, terrified of ending up like Beitiao Dao San.
Those relentless, earth-shattering explosions were too horrifying, too gruesome, beyond words.
How could they not be shaken?
“A gentleman doesn’t stand under a crumbling wall, let’s retreat for now.” Xu Hai nodded readily, this spot was just over a mile from the Zhejiang line, not impossible for them to tamper with.
The three pirate chiefs agreed, with a wave, they ordered a retreat, met with fervent support from all the pirates.
Thus, the rear guard flipped front, starting to pull back.
“What the hell? The main force is running too?”
“Must be the Zhejiang army catching up, run faster!”
The few hundred vanguard pirates fleeing back hadn’t reached their lines yet when they saw the main force retreating, thinking the Zhejiang army was in pursuit, they sped up.
The main force’s retreat started orderly, a slow withdrawal, then rumours sparked from somewhere, growing wilder and more absurd, “The Zhejiang army’s coming,” “They’ve buried explosives here too, it’s about to blow, run or it’s too late,” “Their commander’s casting spells for heavenly thunder again, slow runners get zapped,” and so on, under the rumours’ sway, the retreat quickened, from a slow pullback to a brisk one, then a fast one, accelerating until it spiralled out of control, the pirates scrambled to escape, like a camp in chaos.
No helping it, those relentless, earth-shaking, mountain-splitting explosions, turning men to mince and sieves, had shattered their minds beyond mere terror, their nerves teetered on collapse.
Now, hearing “Zhejiang army’s chasing,” “explosives about to blow,” “their commander’s summoning thunder again,” their frayed, terrified nerves couldn’t hold.
One man’s breakdown spread like a plague, infecting those around, they fought to flee, yanking someone back was mercy, some even drew blades to cut down those blocking the way.
In moments, the Japanese pirates descended into chaos, teetering on the brink of a full camp collapse.
“Damn it! The Zhejiang army isn’t chasing! There’s no explosives underground! Zhu Ping’an isn’t summoning thunder!”
“Stop running, or I’ll cut you down!”
Xu Hai roared, veins bulging on his neck, he swung his blade, felling three panicked deserters in a row.
He deeply regretted the retreat order now, too hasty, his mindset shaken by those blasts.
He’d forgotten their own nature, these pirates had little discipline, held by force and lured by gold, the more they faltered, the less they could retreat lightly, or they’d lose control, just like this.
Fortunately, it was still early chaos, there was room to salvage.
Ruthless slaughter could still cow them, prevent a full camp collapse.
A true camp collapse would be beyond saving, even the best generals would lose grip, half the army dying in the chaos was normal.
Chen Dong and Ma Ye grasped the gravity too, mimicking Xu Hai, they cut down a few out-of-control pirates, bellowing for them to stop.
Under Xu Hai and the chiefs’ decisive action, the pirates’ rout finally halted, they gradually stopped.
This ordeal left over a hundred pirates trampled or killed by their own, a grim toll.
