From afar, Hu Da Hai watched the white smoke billowing from the Imperial Guard’s elite warriors, his face turning green.
Although this group of court soldiers was not numerous, their weapons were incredibly powerful!
Three-stage volley, two rounds of rapid fire, and within moments they had killed four to five hundred people!
He glanced back and saw Xu Da Qiu standing on a raised platform, watching him.
He hadn’t managed to break through the city gate earlier, and now they couldn’t even take down a few hundred men. Would Headmaster Xu have him beheaded in public?
Thinking about this, Hu Da Hai gritted his teeth and said:
“Their fire muskets are limited. Everyone, charge together, and hack them down with swords!”
The numerous members of the Incense Fragrance Sect, hearing this, finally came back to their senses.
That’s right. These court soldiers, although their muskets were powerful, were not numerous, only about a hundred men.
With two to three thousand people, if they just charged forward, even if they were killed by them, the remaining men would be enough to cut them down!
Hu Da Hai finished speaking and raised the large sword in his hand:
“Charge! Avenge our fellow sect brothers!”
“Kill!”
A group of Incense Fragrance Sect rabble rallied their spirits and followed Hu Da Hai in a fierce charge towards Chen Ran and his men.
At this time, the nearly a hundred Imperial Guard’s elite warriors had all reloaded their weapons.
Chen Ran waved his hand:
“Fall back to both flanks!”
Following Chen Ran’s order, the nearly a hundred Imperial Guard’s elite warriors immediately split into two teams, withdrawing to both sides of the entire formation, and also formed two rows.
Then, the five hundred elite Qi Family Army sharpshooters, with a collective shout, suddenly stepped forward, their entire formation instantly forming two rows!
At this time, Hu Da Hai, leading the rabble, had already rushed close.
“Tiger!”
The two rows of Qi Family Army elite sharpshooters instantly crossed their dense forest of spears in front of their ranks!
The entire formation, instantly transformed into a spiky hedgehog, bristling with sharp points!
“Kill!”
Chen Ran roared.
The Qi Family Army elite sharpshooters immediately raised their spears and thrust forward!
The more than two thousand rabble led by Hu Da Hai, instantly became a wave crashing against sharp spear points!
Poof, poof…
The spears, over ten feet long, instantly began reaping!
In a moment, hundreds of the rabble who were in the front ranks were pierced through by the spears.
At the same time, the Imperial Guard’s elite warriors on both flanks switched from three-stage volleys to free fire.
Bang, bang, bang…
The rapid-fire matchlock guns continued to unleash their power, killing nearly a hundred of the rabble on the flanks in an instant!
The rabble on both sides were afraid of the muskets, so they involuntarily squeezed towards the middle.
Meanwhile, the Qi Family Army elite sharpshooters in the middle held their spears and continued to stab, the first rank stabbing with a quick thrust, and the second rank immediately following with a spear from behind!
Although the formation was thin, the dense forest of spears constantly thrusting forward and back meant not a single member of the rabble was able to break into the spear formation!
Hu Da Hai was courageous, but just as he raised his large sword and charged to the front of the spear formation, he was pierced through the chest by the second rank of the Qi Family Army elite sharpshooters, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and falling to the ground.
In just a few minutes, nearly a thousand of the rabble had been slaughtered!
The two to three thousand rabble, after the first round of three-stage volleys and the second round of reaping with spears, had suffered nearly half their numbers in casualties!
The remaining rabble no longer dared to charge, and all turned and fled.
But Chen Ran waved his hand, the spearmen formed ranks and pursued slowly, leaving behind two to three hundred more corpses in the rabble’s wake!
From afar, Xu Da Qiu saw this, and was both astonished and furious.
Two to three thousand people, and they couldn’t even take down a force of a few hundred!
Whose troops were these?
Meanwhile, the rabble’s siege of the city walls of Ba County was at a stalemate. The city wall was short, but the rolling stones, battering rams, and arrows raining down from above were like a shower of rain, soon causing countless casualties among the thousands of rabble.
Many of the rabble no longer dared to approach the city wall. Even though those behind them urged them on and even threatened them, they dared not take another step forward.
At the same time, Chen Ran’s force continued to maintain their formation, slowly approaching the rabble’s rear!
Xu Da Qiu’s face was contorted, and he brandished the goose-feather fan in his hand:
“Order those attacking the city to stop. Everyone come back. First, we’ll kill off the court soldiers behind us!”
Hearing this order, the rabble attacking the city quickly retreated, many of the Incense Fragrance Sect members acting as if they’d been granted amnesty, rolling and crawling away from the city wall.
After a brief reorganization, about twenty thousand of the rabble remained.
Xu Da Qiu immediately ordered these rabble to quickly turn around and prepare to encircle and annihilate Chen Ran’s force.
Chen Ran saw the rabble abandon the siege, and immediately raised his right arm:
“Form ranks!”
Following his order, all of the Qi Family Army elite sharpshooters quickly formed two rows.
Outside of the two ranks, was a row of Imperial Guard’s elite warriors!
Behind the semi-circular formation, were only Chen Ran and Jin Yi Chuan.
The force, already small, seemed even smaller now that they were in formation!
Xu Da Qiu looked at this force, and he was also puzzled. How was it that he had sent out two to three thousand men, and they had been wiped out by this small group?
He couldn’t understand, and he didn’t bother to try. He gritted his teeth and roared:
“Quickly, kill those dogs first!”
The twenty thousand rabble immediately made a clamor, and rushed towards Chen Ran and his men.
“Kill! Kill all the court soldiers!”
“Avenge our fellow sect brothers!”
Twenty to thirty thousand rabble had been attacking the city for hours without success, and now their anger was directed at Chen Ran’s small force of a few hundred. They all rushed towards them.
Just then, Jin Yi Chuan, beside Chen Ran, suddenly blew a long and melodious horn call!
With the sound of the horn, the gate of Ba County suddenly opened!
Lu Jian Xing and Ding Xiu, leading hundreds of North Town Garrison Imperial Guard, along with the thousands of soldiers defending the city, all poured out of the city!
Ding Xiu, wielding the large Imperial Forest Guard sword, led hundreds of Imperial Guard on horseback, charging fiercely at the twenty thousand rabble.
Behind him, Lu Jian Xing led thousands of city defenders, wielding various weapons, rushing forward quickly!
The twenty thousand rabble instantly found themselves attacked from both front and rear!
Xu Da Qiu was instantly terrified, and he immediately ordered the rabble to turn around again, preparing to face Ding Xiu’s cavalry charge.
But just at that moment, Chen Ran behind him waved his arm, and hundreds of elite soldiers moved forward quickly.
The nearly a hundred Imperial Guard’s elite warriors at the very front, as soon as they were within two hundred yards, pulled the triggers of their rapid-fire matchlock guns!
Bang, bang, bang…
The rabble were instantly killed off by nearly a hundred more.
At the same time, Ding Xiu, wielding the large Imperial Forest Guard sword, had already led his hundreds of Imperial Guard to the front of the rabble’s ranks.
“Kill!”
Ding Xiu roared, his large Imperial Forest Guard sword slashing out.
Slish!
One member of the rabble’s upper body was instantly split in two!
The several hundred North Town Garrison Imperial Guard had already charged into the rabble’s ranks, wielding their embroidered spring knives and hacking down the rabble.
These rabble had no proper formation whatsoever, and in a blink they were torn apart by the Imperial Guard, opening up a gap.
Right after, Lu Jian Xing, leading thousands of soldiers, also arrived!
These thousands of city defenders and militia had mediocre combat ability, but they were like a steamroller against these Incense Fragrance Sect rabble.
At the same time, Chen Ran’s hundreds of elites had already reached the rabble’s rear.
The Imperial Guard’s elite warriors, firing freely with their rapid-fire matchlocks, while the five hundred Qi Family Army elite sharpshooters, held their spears and continued to pierce through!
Although the Incense Fragrance Sect rabble numbered twenty thousand, they were helpless in the face of the fierce attacks from both front and rear.
These rabble had no real cohesion, and in the face of Chen Ran, Lu Jian Xing, and Ding Xiu’s attacks from both sides, they quickly began to turn and flee.
Xu Da Qiu, dressed in a white linen robe, no longer dared to brandish his goose-feather fan and stand on the high platform, pretending to be like a second Zhuge Liang.
He had no skills beyond eloquent speech and using religious doctrines to manipulate people. This rebellion he led was entirely instigated by Shen Lian and Jiang Jie.
Seeing that his rabble was in defeat, he quickly slipped off the platform and into the crowd, removing his white robe and changing into a set of tattered clothing, following the crowd as they ran!