“Cannon teams, fall back and reload! Muskets, continue! After the cannons are reloaded, fire another volley!”
Seeing the pirate vanguard’s morale collapse and their formation falter under the Tiger Crouching Cannon barrage, Zhu Ping’an seized the moment to press the advantage. He ordered his troops to capitalize on the cannons’ momentum and shatter the pirates’ spirit completely!
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
The Zhejiang army’s muskets fired another volley.
“Ah!” “Ah!” “Ah!”
Amid the screams, the pirates within fifty meters of the Zhejiang army’s front, already devastated by the cannons, were wiped out entirely. Not a single pirate remained standing within that range.
After the musket volley, the Zhejiang troops smoothly retreated to reload, while the next rank advanced, assuming the standard three-stage shooting stance. They leveled their muskets, pulled the triggers, and the lit fuses ignited the powder pans…
The pirates in the rear, witnessing this, lost all resolve to stand their ground or charge forward.
The death rate at the Zhejiang army’s front was 100%!
“Run!”
“Run for it!”
At that moment, the surviving pirates in the front, almost in unison, turned and fled.
“No retreat! Deserters will be killed without mercy!”
The enforcer team, positioned at the rear, had suffered fewer losses, with over half still alive and active. These were Mao Haifeng and Otomo Sadakawa’s loyal followers, well-fed and fiercely obedient to their leaders’ orders.
Seeing more pirates flee, the enforcers drew their Japanese swords and hacked at them without mercy.
“Charge forward, or this is your fate!”
“Forward means life, backward means death!”
The enforcers raised their bloodied swords, pointing forward and flinging droplets of blood, threatening the surviving pirates.
*Damn it! Wolves ahead, tigers behind—no way out!*
The pirates who had miraculously survived the cannon barrage now faced the enforcers’ dripping blades, tears welling in their eyes.
They didn’t want to charge forward—100% death rate! They weren’t saints; they were greedy, self-serving scoundrels. Knowing danger lay ahead, why would they rush toward it?
But the enforcers’ bloodied swords behind them left no choice. Retreat, and they’d be cut down!
Charge forward: death. Retreat: death.
Caught in a dilemma, the surviving pirates froze, unable to move forward or back, rooted to the spot.
“Charge! The leader commands you to charge now! The Zhejiang army’s firearms reload slowly—charge now, don’t miss this chance!”
“Rush them! Slaughter the Zhejiang army to avenge our brothers!”
“Charge! Their firearms are almost spent—don’t miss this opportunity! Don’t let our fallen brothers die in vain! Rush them, and the Zhejiang army dies while we live and earn rewards! The leader won’t skimp on prizes!”
“Hesitate, and you’ll be killed without mercy!”
As the pirate vanguard hesitated, another hundred-plus enforcers charged from the rear, cutting down a dozen idle pirates and shouting orders to storm the Zhejiang army.
These enforcers were Mao Haifeng and Otomo Sadakawa’s personal guards, sent to prevent a rout after the cannons’ display of power.
“Damn it, let’s do this! The leader’s right—their firearms reload slowly. Charge, and it’s them or us!”
“Kill!”
Under the enforcers’ threats, the surviving vanguard pirates had no choice but to charge the Zhejiang position again.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Facing the oncoming pirates, another Zhejiang musket volley rang out, sparks flashing and smoke rising!
The charging pirates fell like reaped wheat, wave after wave.
“Good! The Zhejiang army’s done with this volley—another round, and they’ll need to reload. Then the battlefield is ours!”
“Their cannons have fired, and their muskets are almost spent. It’s our time to dominate!”
The enforcers in the rear waved their swords, shouting.
Hearing this, the surviving pirate vanguard grew excited. The Zhejiang army was nearly done with their volleys! Many had died, but not them!
The cannons had fired, and the muskets were almost finished. One more volley, and they’d need to reload—a window long enough to reach the Zhejiang lines. Once inside their formation, it would be slaughter time, and the battlefield would be theirs.
“Charge!”
“Kill!”
Spurred by the enforcers, the pirates’ collapsing morale miraculously surged. Howling, they rushed the Zhejiang army.
“Tiger Crouching Cannons, fire!”
As the pirates’ morale flared and they charged again, a shout rang out from the Zhejiang camp.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
The earth-shaking roar erupted again as over a hundred Tiger Crouching Cannons fired nearly simultaneously, bursts of flame blooming as smoke billowed before the Zhejiang lines.
The familiar scene repeated.
Tens of thousands of iron pellets formed a nearly impenetrable net, raining down on the pirates like a storm.
A deluge of steel!
A deluge of death!
The howling pirates felt the sky darken again, the apocalypse descending once more!
“No!”
“Not again!”
“Didn’t they fire their cannons already?! How are they firing again?! How do they reload so fast?!”
The pirates despaired, their faces ashen, screaming in hopeless anguish.
But reality didn’t bend to their will. After the cannons roared, the dense steel rain slammed into the pirate ranks.
The crisp and dull sounds of metal piercing armor and flesh rang out, accompanied by the pirates’ screams.
Wave after wave of pirates fell in fan-shaped swaths. The close-range cannon fire was too powerful, easily piercing double-layered armor, let alone their flesh.
Hell reappeared.
Corpses littered the ground, severed limbs and blood pooling everywhere. Wounded pirates screamed like slaughtered pigs, crying for help…
The few who miraculously survived unscathed stood frozen, disoriented in the chaos.
Their ears rang with the cannons’ roar, looping endlessly, mixed with their comrades’ screams. Their minds felt like mush, consciousness fading as they stood dazed.
