Chapter 270: The Heavenly Lord, Ever Protective, Intervenes Again
With a thunderous boom, flames, shrapnel, and mud erupted outwards, and a fierce heatwave surged through the air. Unfortunately, this hand grenade was merely a research prototype from Xu Dafu; its design was rudimentary, lacking steel pellets or a metal casing, which meant it produced no shrapnel.
Still, even without shrapnel, the black powder packed a considerable punch. Anyone caught directly in the blast would still suffer a gruesome fate.
Two rebel soldiers at the epicenter of the explosion were hurled into the air, while those nearby were badly shaken. Thick smoke billowed, sand and dust swirled, and the rebel ranks were enveloped in a suffocating cloud.
From the city walls, Liang Shixian and Fang Wushang watched, utterly dumbfounded. But the militia, local defenders, and ordinary citizens erupted in cheers, exclaiming, "Incredible!
On the rebel side, angry shouts and curses echoed from within the smoke.
"What the hell was that?
"Explosives! They packed them into a big black ball and threw them over."
"Damn it, it's not some miracle weapon. Just a bomb, isn't it? If we still had supplies, we could throw those too.
"Problem is, we don't have supplies right now."
Commander Lang stood at the rear of his formation, his face darkening with fury. Their opponents were actually using two burly, long-armed warriors to hurl those hand grenades.
Hand grenades were hardly a rare commodity. They couldn't be thrown far, their destructive power was limited, and their practical value was negligible. Border armies rarely bothered with them.
But now he was a rebel commander, and his auxiliary equipment was sorely lacking. For instance, he didn't have a single "shield cart" that could block arquebus fire.
Without shield carts to defend against arquebuses, the moment the enemy lit their Three-Eyed Arquebuses, his soldiers would have to hit the ground or squat, temporarily halting their advance, waiting for the arquebuses to finish firing before moving forward again.
But what were they supposed to do when hand grenades rained down from above while they were lying motionless?
Commander Lang roared in frustration, "Run! Charge!
Only sixty to seventy feet remained. If the soldiers charged now, they could close the distance quickly.
But at that very moment, Cheng Xu shouted back, "Light the remaining seven Three-Eyed Arquebuses! Gao Chuwu, Zheng Daniu, keep throwing those bombs!"
Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu, those two lovable simpletons, immediately pulled out two more hand grenades. Nearby soldiers helped them light the fuses, while also igniting the fuses of the other seven Three-Eyed Arquebuses.
The fuses burned, sputtering, but this time, the rebels couldn't see them.
Their formation was still shrouded in the hazy yellow smoke and dust from the previous two explosions. Furthermore, they were still worried about more bombs being thrown their way; even if the devices weren't overwhelmingly powerful, what if one landed directly on their heads?
Better to just charge the damn things.
With a guttural roar, the rebels surged forward.
Their charge carried them directly into the "effective range" of the Three-Eyed Arquebuses. Within this range, the arquebuses could unleash their full destructive power.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom!
The seven Three-Eyed Arquebuses spat out twenty-one lead pellets. Several of the fastest-charging rebel stalwarts in the front ranks collapsed instantly. Then, the two simpletons waved their arms, and two more bombs soared through the air, landing amidst the rebel formation.
"Boom! Boom!
Two more explosions, two more clouds of smoke rose. Soldiers at the blast centers were blown sky-high, and those nearby stumbled, disoriented.
The rebel formation descended further into chaos.
A disordered battle formation was never a good thing. At this critical juncture, where the front ranks were meant to clash with spear formations, the side in disarray would naturally have a broken spear line, giving the organized side a huge advantage.
The militia's long spears bristled like a forest, held firm and menacingly pointed forward.
Afraid of being shamed by more bombs, the rebels grit their teeth and charged headlong.
The opposing spear formations instantly collided.
Witnessing this scene, Li Daoxuan's heart tightened. He had to help.
His little people were still just a militia and local volunteers with little combat experience. In a head-on clash against a spear formation, they were sure to lose. He had sent them to gain battle experience, not to die.
Therefore, it was time to activate his cheat-like abilities and lend a hand.
He temporarily removed his gauntlet. He reached his hand into the box and, facing the rebel's outstretched spear formation, gently swiped his finger across them...
The spears, thin and tiny from his perspective, looked like bristles on a caterpillar. As Li Daoxuan's finger brushed them, the delicate spears were instantly deflected by his immense force, all veering uniformly in a single direction.
The militia, who had been panicking at the sight of a mass of spears thrusting toward them, suddenly saw all the enemy spears veer off course.
"Huh?"
"'Huh' your mother!" Cheng Xu roared. "Attack!
As if waking from a dream, the militia jolted into action. They quickly thrust their own spears forward, ramming them in with force.
Iron spearheads immediately plunged into the bodies of the rebel front-liners, making wet, sickening thuds. If a spear hit a plate of armor, it couldn't penetrate the body, but it could still knock the enemy soldier to the ground.
If it found a spot not covered by armor, it would pierce through thick cotton and directly into the opponent's flesh.
The rebels screamed in agony, and the front ranks instantly collapsed in a heap.
Commander Lang, watching from the rear, felt utterly bewildered, almost numb: "Why? Why did you suddenly deflect your spears like that?
He wasn't the only one confused; the spectators on the city walls were just as baffled.
Even Liang Shixian, who knew nothing of warfare, exclaimed in surprise: "These Guyuan rebels are worse at fighting than I am! Even I know to point the spear tip at the enemy and thrust. Why did they suddenly twist all their spears aside?"
Fang Wushang simply muttered, "I don't understand it!"
Of course, one person understood perfectly: Gao Yiye.
She turned to those beside her and declared: "The Heavenly Lord intervened just now! His venerable hand reached down and brushed aside Commander Lang's spear formation."
"So that's what happened!
The devout followers around her rejoiced, exclaiming: "I knew the rebels' formation suddenly went haywire! It was the Heavenly Lord's doing! Long live the Heavenly Lord!
"May the Heavenly Lord bless us!
The believers immediately began spreading the news through the crowd.
"Did you know? The rebels' spear formation suddenly twisted just now because the Heavenly Lord reached out and brushed them aside!
"The Heavenly Lord's great hand descended moments ago, but he used a concealment spell, so ordinary people couldn't see it."
The news spread across the city walls with incredible speed, like a zombie infection.
Meanwhile, the militia and the rebels were still locked in a fierce battle. Their spear formations lunged and thrust at each other, with Li Daoxuan's fingertip continuously disrupting the rebels.
A rebel soldier had just raised his spear, intending to thrust it forward, when he felt an immense force tap his weapon. The spear instantly drooped. The opposing militia soldier seized the opportunity and used his spear to knock the rebel down.
With another gentle tap of his fingertip, a rebel's waist-saber slipped from his grasp. The militia member opposite him seized the chance, thrusting his spear and felling this foe as well.
One rebel, whose spear had been dislodged by Li Daoxuan, brazenly drew his waist-saber, determined to fight on. With such shamelessly divine assistance from Li Daoxuan's finger, the battle naturally became a one-sided affair!
The militia gained a decisive upper hand.
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