Chapter 125: The Battle of Fengyuan Town
Li Daoxuan knew at a glance that Gao Chuwu, the simpleton, was in for trouble.
This was 52% alcohol, 52% alcohol!
He was chugging it from a bowl, for heaven's sake?
Just tipping the whole bowl into his mouth?
He might as well be dragged out and buried.
Sure enough, after Gao Chuwu gulped down that bowl, he immediately felt something was wrong. Swaying left and right, he collapsed with a thud.
Yet the people nearby didn't take it seriously, still clapping and laughing loudly: "Hahaha, that idiot Gao Chuwu! Who drinks like that?"
Not an ounce of caution among them.
Li Daoxuan had no choice but to order: "Make him vomit, get the liquor out."
Gao Chuwu lay blissfully asleep in a corner of the courtyard.
Li Daoxuan stated, "This liquor is potent; consume it in moderation."
The crowd quickly bowed in respect: "Heavenly divine liquor, mortals must not guzzle it like cattle; we understand." They glanced at Gao Chuwu, thinking to themselves: "Guzzling will make you like that imbecile. You can learn from anyone, but never from Gao Chuwu!"
Li Daoxuan then took a bottle cap, filled it with beer, and slowly lowered it into the box: "This is called beer. It's less potent and suitable for most people. Those who aren't used to strong spirits can drink this."
"Thank you, Heavenly Lord!"
Now, there was plenty of liquor to go around.
It was no longer a privilege reserved for a select few; everyone could receive a share.
Soon, all the blacksmiths, papermakers, road workers, and weaving women of Gao Family Village, along with the labor reform prisoners cutting timber, temporarily set aside their work.
They raised their cups!
It was clearly just an ordinary, unremarkable day, not even an important festival, yet everyone felt high-spirited and joyful.
"Cheers!"
"Drink up!"
"What exactly are we celebrating today?"
"I think it's to celebrate Bai Family Fortress defeating the bandits."
"That's not really a big deal, is it? Last time our Gao Family Village defeated the Supreme Bright King, we didn't have such a massive celebration."
"Who cares? With liquor to drink, why are you complaining? Liquor is brewed from grain, you know what kind of times these are? I haven't smelled liquor in three years."
"The Heavenly Lord's divine liquor, it smells so good," "but it's incredibly potent. Damn it, I can't even finish a cup; just a tiny sip and my head is spinning."
"Hahaha, why else would it be divine liquor?"
"Bottoms up!"
Throughout Gao Family Village, laughter and cheer echoed everywhere...
----
Meanwhile, in Chengcheng County, Fengyuan Town.
"Bandits! The bandits are here!"
The scout, shouting hoarsely, rushed through Fengyuan Town's main gate. The gate immediately slammed shut with a "boom" behind him. Large groups of village braves swarmed the ramparts, anxiously looking north.
To the north, across the yellow fields, appeared a vast horde of bandits. Among them, two large banners unfurled, one emblazoned with "Ni," the other with "Gua." These were the armies of Bu Zhan Ni and Wang Zuogua.
Watching the overwhelming bandit army approach, the gentry, wealthy merchants, and militia instructors standing on Fengyuan Town's low walls, less than ten feet high, all turned pale with fright.
Magistrate Liang Shixian of Chengcheng County was also among them, and his heart pounded with fear!
But he was the magistrate. Even if he was afraid, he had to stand firm. A magistrate's duty was to protect the land of his county.
"The bandits have indeed come to Fengyuan Town," he muttered. "They couldn't conquer Bai Family Fortress after two attempts, so they abandoned it and bypassed it to strike directly at Fengyuan Town. Hmph, good thing this official was prepared and has been waiting here for a long time."
Liang Shixian, a man of vast learning, immediately activated his tactical analysis mode in his mind. The enemy's numbers, formations, equipment, morale, routes, weaknesses, vulnerabilities... all sorts of data combined and spun ceaselessly in his mind like a carousel. Finally, with a "ding," it settled on a single image.
On that image, four large characters read: "This official cannot!"
Liang Shixian gasped, "Oh no, matters of war touch upon this official's blind spot!"
"Your Excellency, quickly order them to fire arrows!" Fengyuan Town's militia instructor jumped forward.
His shout snapped Liang Shixian back to his senses slightly. He quickly bellowed, "Fire arrows! Fire arrows!"
Although he genuinely didn't know how to fight a war, his preparations for battle had been quite good. Large numbers of civilian militia and village braves stood on the town walls, brandishing their longbows, all uniformly made of plastic.
That's right!
These were the very bows Li Daoxuan had lent him.
The performance of these bows was far inferior to the "Kaiyuan Bows" used by government soldiers, but because their limbs stretched half a *zhang*, they possessed a decent draw weight, making them slightly stronger than the small bamboo hunting bows used by hunters.
The civilian militia and village braves drew their large bows, notched the hastily made wooden stick arrows with sharpened tips, and unleashed a flurry of chaotic shots at the bandits outside the town, *shua-shua-shua*.
Plastic bows with pointed wooden stick arrows had extremely low power.
But there were just so many bows.
Five hundred plastic bows, even if the arrows flew crookedly, the sheer visual impact was enough to give anyone a shock.
Bu Zhan Ni and Wang Zuogua truly hadn't expected that such a small, dilapidated town could field five hundred archers. What the hell is going on here? Is this even reasonable?
The fierce bandits charging at the front were hit by arrow after arrow, *poof-poof-poof*. Although these arrows lacked power, unlike the brutal barrage they faced from government soldiers at Bai Family Fortress last time, the front-line bandits still suffered heavy losses, many howling in pain.
Some fell, others trampled over their fallen comrades, some hid behind their companions, using their fellow fighters as shields, and soon, their own people began to curse at each other.
In an instant, the bandit army devolved into chaos.
"So many archers!"
"Fengyuan Town is just a small place; where did all these archers come from?"
"We can't get through!"
Arrows rained down from the town in a chaotic deluge; the bandits couldn't get close at all. Seeing their morale on the verge of collapse, both Bu Zhan Ni and Wang Zuogua began to consider retreating.
Just then, an army suddenly emerged from a ravine to the east. At its head was Inspector Cheng Xu, who had been secretly observing for a long time, finally waiting until the bandits' momentum waned, and the tide of battle could be turned.
If it was a losing battle, Cheng Xu was more cowardly than anyone.
But if it was a sure victory, Cheng Xu was braver than anyone.
With a hearty laugh, he declared, "You came to attack Chengcheng County, thinking it was a soft persimmon to squeeze? Come on, see if I'm a soft persimmon!" Waving his hand forward, he roared, "My men, charge!"
Over a hundred government soldiers slashed into the bandit forces from the flank.
From inside the town, Liang Shixian saw this and exclaimed, "Haha, Cheng Xu is here too! Heaven helps me! Now, what should I do?" Liang Shixian, the vastly learned man, immediately activated in his mind...
"Open the town gate and charge out!" The militia instructor beside him roared.
The town gate swung wide open. Nearly a thousand civilian militia and village braves shouted in unison and rushed out.
Liang Shixian cried, "Huh? This official's carousel of tactics didn't have time to start!"
With Cheng Xu and the civilian militia and village braves charging from two sides, Bu Zhan Ni and Wang Zuogua were scared out of their wits. The two dared not face the enemy, turned tail, and fled.
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