Chapter 58

Standing in front of his team, Cai Yuan held a flag spear planted in the ground, its long wooden shaft adorned with a triangular red flag fluttering in the wind.

Twelve nine-headed bird lifting guns were mounted on tripods, arranged in two rows of five each.

In front of them was an array formed by the former central flag, now the front flag, composed of local militia. They used shields, long spears, and bows to provide cover for the three flag teams behind them.

Behind them, the left and right flag teams, consisting of six combat units, were arranged in a column, leaving gaps for the artillery flag team to fire through.

The lifting gun team and the artillery were at the rear, but since the lifting guns had a longer range than the bird guns, they were the first to open fire.

As the team leader, Cai Yuan also held a lifting gun, and even the fire soldiers in his team each had one. A team of twelve, with twelve lifting guns, they were a fully armed heavy fire team.

"Check the match!" Cai Yuan checked his own match while shouting to the team behind him. This lifting gun team was newly formed, and Cai Yuan was selected from twelve squad leaders to be the team leader. He was eager to achieve excellent results in the team's first battle.

The lifting gunners had already completed the loading process and were waiting with the firing ports closed, and the matches were already lit.

Now, all they had to do was blow the matches to a bright flame, open the firing ports, aim, and fire.

The lifting gunners checked again as ordered. Dong Gouzi had just fired a shot, and the match in the dragon head had jumped out during the firing. He reinserted the match, blew it to a bright flame, opened the firing port, and aimed the flame at the powder pan.

The military households watched the nine-headed bird cavalry with fear, no one daring to charge directly. They circled around to the side. The bandits who followed also noticed that the nine-headed bird cavalry was different. This team, though small in number, was equipped with many large bird guns.

The second-in-command had never seen such bird guns before, but judging by their thick appearance, he guessed they were more powerful than ordinary bird guns. Although he was somewhat afraid of these large bird guns, he saw that the team was only about a hundred people. He immediately raised his guandao and called the bandits to charge, hoping to scatter this hundred-person team and cause the left wing of the government army to completely collapse!

"150 paces!" a nine-headed bird local militiaman shouted loudly.

Liu Jun waved his hand, "Aim the lifting guns!"

The lifting guns had an effective range of 200 paces, but at such a distance, accuracy would inevitably be greatly reduced. Therefore, Liu Jun ordered the bandits to be fired upon at 150 paces, and then the bird gunners of the combat units would fire at 100 paces. This would form a continuous and multi-layered attack on the bandits.

This battle was different from the night attack a few days ago. That night, the bandits did not even have the chance to engage in a frontal battle. Now, a number of bandits roughly equal to the nine-headed bird team were charging madly. Liu Jun felt nervous, unsure if the nine-headed bird team could hold the formation under the pressure of daylight.

"Aim!"

150 paces was a considerable distance, about 240 meters, which was quite far. Even if the bandits charged quickly, it would take at least a minute.

Although the bandits were fierce, they had no means to attack the nine-headed bird team at this distance. However, they had entered the range of the lifting guns.

Dong Gouzi calmed down after killing a military household, entering a subtle state. He locked onto a new target, a middle-aged man with a dark complexion, probably around forty, with a fierce expression. From over a hundred paces away, he could clearly see the blood dripping from the Japanese sword in the man's hand.

"Fire!"

Cai Yuan also locked onto a target, shouting the order to fire while pulling the trigger.

Cai Yuan and the first squad of six lifting guns immediately let out a loud blast, spewing out a large cloud of smoke. The sound of the six guns firing together was even more intimidating than when Dong Gouzi fired a single shot.

Cai Yuan felt a buzzing in his ears and a slight dizziness.

Liu Jun, holding a telescope, watched the bandits in front. After the blast, two of the bandits at the forefront fell. One was hit in the head by a lead ball, and the other lost a leg, writhing and screaming on the ground.

"Six shots, two hits, one dead, one injured," Liu Jun said expressionlessly.

This hit rate was quite good, especially at a distance of over a hundred paces. At least their six shots achieved the effect of 640 arrows from the Zhu Pengwei army.

"Fire!"

Squad leader Dong Gouzi shouted the order and pulled the trigger. The five gunners and one fire soldier in his squad fired their six bird guns immediately after the first batch.

"Six shots, three hits! Well done."

Li Chunjiang, looking through the telescope, clearly saw that the second batch of six lifting guns hit three bandits. The three bandits fell almost simultaneously, hit by the large lead balls, which were much larger and more powerful than ordinary bird gun lead balls.

The large lead balls easily crossed the distance of a hundred paces, striking the unarmored bandits and tearing their flesh, creating large wounds. One unfortunate bandit was hit in the abdomen, and his intestines spilled out.

Within a hundred paces, ordinary bird gun lead balls could penetrate armor, let alone these large nine-headed bird guns. Bandits hit by these guns were either dead or severely injured.

After the gunfire, Dong Gouzi saw his target fall to the ground, another successful kill.

After firing, the lifting gun team immediately began cleaning the barrels, reloading the powder, and reinserting the matches, preparing for the next round.

These local militiamen, after strict training and two real battles, had become more composed. They did not overly focus on the bandits they had attacked. After each shot, they immediately followed the training procedures to prepare for the next shot.

The bandits, however, were terrified.

The oversized bird guns, the deafening blasts, and the high number of casualties.

After two rounds of firing, five bandits were down. One had only a broken leg, which could be saved with timely treatment, but would likely be a cripple. The other four lay motionless on the ground.

These bandits were not unfamiliar with bird guns. In the past, when facing the government army's bird guns, even a hundred shots might not hit one. Often, after a volley of bird guns, only one or two bandits might be killed, while the government army's gunners might be injured by two or three due to misfires.

Even if the bird guns did not misfire, their hit rate was shockingly low.

Now, the enemy had fired only about ten shots, but hit five? The kill rate was terrifying, especially considering the shots were taken from a distance of a hundred paces. In the past, government army bird guns were often only effective for the sound at such a distance, and only the unlucky would be hit.

Government army gunners often had to get close to kill, within fifty paces, or even thirty or twenty paces. At such distances, their arrows were more effective than the government army's guns. After one shot from the government army, they could fire two or three arrows, or even engage in close combat.

Now, they were being killed from a hundred paces away.

The bandits' steps began to slow, and at this moment, Liu Jun gave the order again without hesitation.

The trumpet sounded.

Twenty-four bird gunners from six combat units, divided into two waves.

The first wave of twelve gunners fired on command.

The bandits had already entered the 80-paces range of the nine-headed bird guns. After twelve shots, Li Chunjiang reported excitedly, "Two more hits!"

"Fire!"

The second wave of bird gunners fired again.

"One hit."

After two rounds of bird gun fire, twenty-four shots hit three bandits. The hit rate was not high, but it was normal, especially since the better marksmen like Dong Gouzi were mostly in the lifting gun team.

The bird gunners were still loading紧张地装填中。

而这时，第一波发射的六名抬枪手已经重新装填完毕。

“放！”蔡远大喝一声，带头又是一轮抬枪射击。

“中了三个，比上轮多中一个。”李春江兴奋地观察，然后报数。

冬狗子这时已经重新锁定目标，并大声喝令，“开火！”

“又中三个！”

又一轮抬枪射击过后，火箭已经准备妥当并引火发射出去，数十支火箭飞舞着射出，在敌群中乱窜。

“没中！”李春江有些失望地报道。

不过贼匪那边，此时内心几乎都是崩溃的。

那个百多人的阵列，居然拥有如此之多的火器，尤其是他们的火器射击连绵不绝，每次也就几把火器发射，可就是没断过。又是巨铳又是火箭，还有鸟铳，而身边的人接二连三的倒下，贼人从没有遇到过这样的经历。

前面冲锋最快的贼匪死伤惨重，还没有靠近到那支阵列，结果他们就已经倒下了十几个人，尤其是这火器的轰鸣和火光对贼人的心里有极大的震慑，这远比近身格斗来的更震慑人。十几个人的伤亡说来也并不算多，可是这种隔的远远的，他们连敌人毛都摸不到一根，可对方却已经击杀他们十几个的感觉，真的让人崩溃。

这远比被箭射死，被刀砍死来的更震慑人心。

死了十几人，他们距离敌队还有四五十步。

而这个时候，他们甚至看到敌人挡在铳手前面的那几列兵，已经张弓搭箭，准备放箭了。

绝望，贼匪此时心里充满绝望。他们甚至在想，他们真的能冲到对方面前吗？贼人除了二当家这样的少数骨干有过丰富的战斗经验外，其余有不少都只是很普通的流民，就算曾经出去劫掠过，那也只是面对着普通的百姓、或者商人的护队，地主家的家丁，什么时候遇到过如此的敌人？

“准备近战！”刘钧已经拔出了双手长刃，准备与贼人近身接战。

可是这个时候，他却突然发现，距离他们只剩下了不到三十步距离的贼众，开始转头逃跑。

是的，贼人跑了，他们怕了。

受到连绵火器的轰击后，他们直接就心里崩溃了。从凶残的贼匪，变成了胆心的流民。

刘钧提着刀，心里倒松了口气，他还真不愿意跟敌近战。

李春江却是对刘钧大喊着道，“吹冲锋号吧，咱们掩杀过去。”

刘钧一把拉住他的战马，这里又不是只有他们一支部队。若只有他们九头鸟队，面对此时情况，当然当抓住机会，趁势反击冲锋。可既然这里还有一千多人呢，那他们也没必要再上。

“把这些丧胆的贼人留给正兵营吧，你看，我们已经过来了。”刘钧向前一指。

果然，正兵营已经从后面包抄了过来，贼匪被九头鸟击溃转头想往山上跑，可退路已经被保生堡的正兵营和马队拦截住了，现在他们已经从后面包抄了过来。

The bird gunners were still loading紧张地装填中。

And at this moment, the six lifting gunners of the first wave had already reloaded.

"Fire!" Cai Yuan shouted, leading another round of lifting gun fire.

"Three hits, one more than the last round," Li Chunjiang reported excitedly.

Dong Gouzi had already relocked onto a target and shouted loudly, "Fire!"

"Three more hits!"

After another round of lifting gun fire, the rockets were ready and ignited, flying out and dancing among the enemy.

"No hits!" Li Chunjiang reported, somewhat disappointed.

However, the bandits were almost in a state of despair.

That formation of over a hundred people had so many firearms, and their continuous fire never stopped. Even though only a few firearms were fired each time, it never ceased. With giant guns, rockets, and bird guns, and the continuous fall of their comrades, the bandits had never experienced such a situation.

The bandits at the forefront suffered heavy casualties, and even before they could get close to the formation, over a dozen of them had already fallen. The thunderous sound and the flashes of the firearms had a tremendous psychological impact, far more terrifying than close combat. The loss of a dozen men might not seem significant, but the feeling of being killed from a distance, unable to even touch the enemy, was truly devastating.

This was far more terrifying than being shot by arrows or killed by swords.

With over a dozen dead, they were still forty to fifty paces away from the enemy.

At this moment, they even saw the soldiers in front of the gunners drawing their bows and preparing to shoot arrows.

Despair filled the bandits' hearts. They wondered if they could really reach the enemy. Apart from a few experienced leaders like the second-in-command, many of them were just ordinary refugees. Even if they had raided before, it was usually against ordinary civilians, merchant guards, or landlords' retainers. They had never faced such an enemy.

"Prepare for close combat!" Liu Jun had already drawn his long blade, ready to engage the bandits in close combat.

However, at this moment, he suddenly noticed that the bandits, who were now less than thirty paces away, had started to turn and flee.

Yes, the bandits were running, they were afraid.

After being hit by the continuous fire, they had completely lost their nerve. The fierce bandits had turned into frightened refugees.

Liu Jun, holding his blade, felt a sense of relief. He really did not want to engage in close combat.

Li Chunjiang, however, shouted to Liu Jun, "Blow the charge horn, let's pursue them!"

Liu Jun held back his horse. This was not just their team. If it were only the nine-headed bird team, they would certainly seize the opportunity to counterattack. But with over a thousand troops here, there was no need for them to charge.

"Leave these frightened bandits to the main army. Look, they are already here," Liu Jun pointed forward.

Sure enough, the main army had already moved in from behind, cutting off the bandits' retreat. The bandits, hit by the nine-headed bird team and trying to run up the mountain, found their escape route blocked by the main army and the cavalry from Baosheng Fort. Now, the main army had surrounded them from behind.