One step, two steps, three steps, four steps… In the blink of an eye, the Japanese pirates had surged forward more than ten metres, now just twenty metres or so from the Zhejiang army, close enough to clearly see the whites of the Zhejiang soldiers’ eyes.
“Go to hell!”
The Japanese pirates roared, leaping forward, their signature move, fast, fierce, and ferocious, slashing and dismembering, unstoppable.
Seven steps, within seven steps, they would surely claim the heads of the Zhejiang army!
The Japanese pirates had this confidence! They could leap four metres in a single step, and within seven steps, they would plunge into the Zhejiang army’s ranks.
One step, two…
Before the second step could land, the Zhejiang soldiers in front of them pulled out another set of arquebuses from behind, raised them, and pulled the triggers.
“Bang, bang, bang…” A neat and dense volley of arquebus fire rang out again.
A familiar scene unfolded!
The Japanese pirates, leaping in mid-air, were as if struck by a giant scythe, crashing to the ground in a series of thuds.
Blood, brains, severed fingers, and mangled remains splattered the ground.
Screams of agony, like cries for their mothers, shook the heavens.
At such close range, the Japanese pirates’ armour, even the heavy kind, was like paper against the arquebus rounds, utterly unable to withstand them, especially since the Zhejiang army’s gunpowder was the black powder improved by Zhu Pingan.
Its power was more than double that of the firearms of this era.
Firearms were already the bane of cold weapons, let alone the firearms improved by Zhu Pingan for the Zhejiang army.
The Japanese pirates, charging with all their courage, faced what could only be described as a slaughter before the Zhejiang army’s ranks.
After the front three rows of Zhejiang soldiers fired, they retreated to reload, while the three rows behind smoothly stepped forward, also drawing arquebuses from behind, raising them, and pulling the triggers. Another neat and dense “bang, bang, bang” of arquebus fire rang out.
The scythe of death swung down again!
The Japanese pirates fell like harvested wheat, one patch after another.
After this group fired and retreated, the next Zhejiang soldiers smoothly advanced, also drawing arquebuses, raising them, and firing. The neat and dense “bang, bang, bang” of arquebus fire sounded once more.
The scythe of death swung down yet again.
The fallen Japanese pirates, if not quite a field of corpses, were sprawled chaotically, too numerous to count.
As this row of Zhejiang soldiers retreated, the first group that had withdrawn had already reloaded their arquebuses, two each.
Watching the battlefield from across the river, Zhu Pingan nodded. These Japanese pirates, as expected of Wang Zhi’s personal guard, had endured six rounds of arquebus fire without breaking, a tenacity that surpassed even the pirates under Mao Haifeng and Otomo Sadagawa by a notch or two.
But the Japanese pirates couldn’t withstand praise.
No sooner had Zhu Pingan commended them than the Zhejiang army fired another “bang, bang, bang” volley, shattering the pirates’ courage completely.
Mother!
Was the Zhejiang army possessed by demons?! Were their firearms forged in the underworld?! How could they reload so quickly?!
After three volleys, shouldn’t they be reloading?!
But no, they had another arquebus!
Another three volleys!
The Japanese pirates thought, surely now they’d have to reload?!
But damn it, their firearms were already reloaded, and not just one, but two arquebuses!
Because, after firing one round, the Zhejiang army pulled out yet another arquebus from behind and raised it…
By now, fewer than half the Japanese pirates were still standing. Seeing this, the survivors’ souls nearly fled their bodies!
Mother!
We can’t take this anymore!
Their armour was like paper against the Zhejiang army’s firearms, utterly useless against the arquebus rounds.
They had hoped to charge in and cut down the Zhejiang army like chopping melons while they reloaded, but they never expected the Zhejiang army to reload so quickly—too fast for their numbers to survive!
When the Zhejiang army’s firearms roared, their brothers fell in droves. Those still alive were partly lucky, partly positioned at the rear, and their armour had nothing to do with it!
Now, with the front ranks nearly wiped out, they were the front, and if the Zhejiang army fired again, they had no confidence they’d still be standing.
At this moment, they were just ten metres from the Zhejiang army, but that distance was a chasm of death!
An uncrossable divide!
They were certain that before they could reach the Zhejiang army’s ranks, they’d fall in that ten-metre gap.
“The Zhejiang army’s firearms are demonic, they reload too fast! With our numbers, charging head-on is a death sentence! I don’t want to die yet, I still have dozens of taels of silver I looted, and I haven’t had my fill of the women I took!”
One Japanese pirate shouted, turning to flee.
“Run! The Zhejiang army’s firearms are cursed!”
“Those who don’t want to die, escape together! The Zhejiang army’s about to fire again!”
“I’m no coward, but I don’t want to be a dead dog either! I have a seventy-year-old mother and a three-year-old child, I can’t die!”
“Run fast, or it’ll be too late!”
Instantly, many Japanese pirates followed, fleeing in a frenzy, crying for their mothers, scrambling to outrun each other.
A step too slow, and they’d be the ones left dead!
“Bang, bang, bang!” The Zhejiang army’s neat and dense arquebus fire rang out again, becoming the trumpet call for the pirates’ flight.
Every Japanese pirate still standing fled for their lives, shoving aside those who were slow or in their way.
“Damn it! Deserters will die!” Xue Tao, hair dishevelled, swung his Japanese sword, cutting down a fleeing pirate passing by.
But it was useless. He had only one sword, and one swing could only kill one deserter, while over four hundred pirates were fleeing, crying for their mothers, rushing past him.
The guards by Xue Tao’s side tried to join him in cutting down a few deserters to intimidate the rest.
But the fleeing pirates, though perhaps still fearful of Xue Tao, had no such fear of his guards.
Before the guards could swing their swords, they were knocked over by the fleeing mob, trampled under countless feet. In mere moments, several guards were stomped to death by the escaping pirates…
“Fix bayonets! Pursue for two hundred metres, then halt!” Liu Dadao’s command rang out from the Zhejiang army’s position.
“Fix bayonets, pursue for two hundred metres!”
Mid- and low-ranking officers relayed Liu Dadao’s order down the ranks.
In an instant, the Zhejiang soldiers attached bayonets, raised their weapons, and pursued the fleeing pirates in groups of five.
The slower pirates were overtaken, and with a few bayonets thrust, they fell with a scream, dead…
“General, retreat now, or it’ll be too late!” The two surviving guards by Xue Tao’s side saw the Zhejiang army charging with bayonets. With no time left, they ignored Xue Tao’s protests, hoisted him up, and ran.
As Xue Tao was carried away, the Japanese pirates on the field completely collapsed, each one desperately fleeing for their lives.
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