Chapter 32

As the first line of soldiers, composed of a hundred spearmen, stood by, an officer shouted loudly: "The bandits are coming, all of you grip your spears tightly, don't be nervous! Get ready, follow my command... thrust!"

"Kill!"

"Bang, bang, bang... ah..."

As the bandits approached, the first line of soldiers finally clashed fiercely with the frontmost bandits. For a moment, the sounds of heavy impacts and screams of pain echoed on the battlefield.

The spearmen in the first line held a famous type of infantry spear called the ancient spear. It was 3.2 meters long, with a spearhead 7 inches long and weighing 4 ounces. The spearhead was flat and square, sharp at the front, making it very suitable for piercing. It was a powerful weapon for infantry to use against cavalry and other infantry. When a hundred ancient spears thrust forward at the unarmored bandits, they were a formidable force, and many bandits were impaled as soon as they rushed forward.

"Retract spears! Thrust!"

Orders from the officers at various levels in the battle formation were continuously relayed to the surrounding soldiers. These soldiers, who were on the battlefield for the first time, mechanically thrust their weapons as they had been trained, but unlike in training, what they reaped now was not sweat and experience but one life after another.

"No lowering your heads, keep thrusting!"

Seeing that many of the soldiers on the battlefield for the first time were showing signs of nausea and vomiting, the surrounding officers quickly shouted loudly.

"Thud!"

A spearman thrust his spear through a bandit in front of him. Before he could pull his spear out, a bandit with a spear took the opportunity to rush over.

This bandit was different from the emaciated and hungry civilians. He was a tall and robust figure, wearing a red mandarin jacket, which made him stand out among the variously dressed civilians.

"Kill!"

Taking advantage of the spearman's momentary delay, the bandit thrust his spear at the other's chest. Before he could even smile, he felt his spearhead hit something like a wall, making a "clang" sound. Then he felt his spearhead slide to the side.

"What, it can't penetrate!" This bandit was known for his bravery in his group, but this situation was truly unexpected. His full-force thrust could not penetrate the other's armor, which he found incomprehensible.

The bandit, being very brave, after his first thrust failed, he quickly retracted his spear and aimed at the other's face, not believing that the mask could also block his attack.

However, things did not go as he expected. He felt his spearhead hit a hard object and slide to the side again. This time, his luck ran out. Before he could retract his spear, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw a spear had penetrated his armor and stabbed into his chest. No matter how brave he was, he could only slowly fall to the ground.

The battle quickly intensified, with various shouts, screams, and the orders of the officers reaching Yueyang's ears. Countless bandits fell before the spearmen. In contrast, the spearmen, protected by the almost fully armored Gothic armor, suffered almost no casualties. This greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers on their first battlefield, and their initially stiff movements gradually became more proficient.

Seeing the bandits and hungry civilians falling and screaming in front of him, Yueyang felt a wave of discomfort, his stomach churning, but he still forced himself to stand by the battle formation and issue orders.

"First line of spearmen retreat, second line of spearmen advance." Taking advantage of the bandits' attack, Yueyang quickly had the first line of spearmen retreat and the second line take their place.

As soon as the second line of spearmen advanced, another round of attacks began.

"Prepare... thrust!"

The changes on the battlefield quickly caught the attention of both sides. Zhang Xianzhong was so surprised that he didn't even notice his beard being pulled. The development of the battle was truly unexpected. He was shocked to find that in just a few exchanges, Ai Nengqi's three thousand hungry civilians had lost nearly half their numbers. The soldiers, fully clad in steel, seemed impervious to weapons. The bandits' weapons hitting them at most produced a few sparks, while the soldiers inside the armor remained unharmed, continuing to use their weapons to take the lives of the bandits.

Not only was Zhang Xianzhong surprised, but even the originally desperate Zheng Fakui and others on the city wall were drawn in.

Wang Shoucheng called out first: "Lord Zheng, look at the banner of that army, it's the Sun and Moon banner, it's our Ming army! We are saved!"

"Yes, I see it too, it's definitely the Ming army, the Sun and Moon banner can't be faked!" Li Yuan also called out excitedly.

"Good, good!" Looking at the army fighting the bandits below, Zheng Fakui was also excited, his body trembling, though he didn't fully express his emotions due to his position as the prefect, his trembling hand holding his beard revealed his excitement.

After watching for a while, Zheng Fakui suddenly remembered something and asked: "Who is that Ming army below, their armor doesn't seem to be the standard Ming armor."

"Yes!"

Hearing Zheng Fakui's words, the people around him also remembered that the army below, flying the Ming banner, was wearing armor they had never seen before.

At this moment, Lin Yuanteng pointed forward in surprise: "Hey, look, what's written on that banner, it seems to be the character 'Yue'!"

"Yue?"

Zheng Fakui asked in confusion: "Gentlemen, have you heard of any military official surnamed Yue around here?"

Everyone shook their heads, becoming even more puzzled. Li Yuan suddenly said: "Right, Lord, didn't you send someone to Yuejia Village for help? Could it be Yueyang's... that guy's army?"

"How is that possible?" Lin Yuanteng suddenly became like a castrated rooster, refusing to believe that this powerful army could be from Yuejia Village.

"This... this seems unlikely." Zheng Fakui also didn't believe Lin Yuanteng's conclusion. He knew Yuejia Village's strength. Although Yuejia Village was one of the prominent landlords in Yingzhou Prefecture, after the death of Yue Yan's parents, the village had fallen into decline. Otherwise, Wang Shoucheng and Lin Yuanteng wouldn't have been trying to seize Yuejia Village's land and property. Moreover, weapons and armor were not something that could be easily obtained; the government's control over such items was very strict. How could Yueyang have obtained so much armor?

While Zheng Fakui was still puzzled, the situation on the battlefield changed again. Yueyang's five hundred soldiers advanced, continuously cutting down the bandits. Soon, Ai Nengqi's three thousand bandits were almost completely wiped out. These bandits were originally a motley crew, capable of fighting when things were going well, but when faced with such a fierce battle, they immediately showed their true colors. The remaining thousand bandits were terrified and turned to flee.

"Stop, don't run, don't run, stand still for me!"

Ai Nengqi, commanding from the rear, led dozens of his trusted men to try to stop them, but it was useless. Instead, he was swept away by the fleeing bandits. Seeing this, Yueyang immediately ordered his troops to pursue.

Ai Nengqi's quick defeat was also unexpected by Zhang Xianzhong. Due to the loss of thousands of men in yesterday's attack and the three thousand men he had given to Sun Kewang to attack the city, he now had fewer than three thousand men under his direct command. Seeing Ai Nengqi's defeat, his heart sank.

However, Zhang Xianzhong was a decisive person. He immediately said to Li Diguang: "Diguang, immediately take the remaining men to block that Ming army, they must not reach our front. Also, immediately order Old Second to stop the attack and withdraw the troops!"

"Yes!" Li Diguang knew the situation was urgent and, without further ado, led the remaining three thousand men to intercept Yueyang's direction...

"Quickly, form up, follow the drumbeat and advance!"

While Zhang Xianzhong was frantically mobilizing his troops, Yueyang also commanded his troops to form up and slowly advance toward Zhang Xianzhong's main force.

After the previous battle, the two rows of spearmen who had been at the front were already showing signs of fatigue. Yueyang immediately ordered these two hundred spearmen to retreat to the back of the formation and had the two rows of soldiers with swords and shields take the front.

The previous battle had greatly boosted Yueyang's confidence. He hadn't expected the defensive power of the Gothic plate armor to be so astonishing. Not only did the bandits' hoes and wooden sticks fail to harm them, but even the blades and spears of the bandits couldn't penetrate the armor. It seemed he could completely rely on these five hundred soldiers to launch a general attack on the bandits.

"Advance the entire army! Engage the enemy!"

"Kill!"

Following Yueyang's orders, this newly formed militia, which had only been in existence for a few months, faced another battle...

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