Chapter 293: They Didn't Save Me by Accident
Hand grenades exploded.
The sky was already dim, and the flames from the two exploding hand grenades were exceptionally dazzling in the darkening world.
As the flames erupted, shrapnel and fragmented iron flew outwards, instantly felling a swath of people nearby.
Some lay lifeless where they fell, others shrieked in agony, while some stared in disbelief at their abdomens, where holes gushed blood...
“What was that?”
“What kind of strange contraption?”
“Something burrowed into my stomach! It hurts, it hurts so much, ahhh...”
In the middle of Wang Zuogua's spear formation, two massive gaps were instantly torn open, and men writhed and rolled on the ground.
Everyone nearby was utterly stunned.
Then, she heard loud laughter erupting from the south. “The Old Devil Head of Guyuan is here, ha ha ha! What are you squabbling over? All the horses here belong to me!”
Zao Ying instantly understood what this meant: a clash between rival bandit groups. The 'Old Devil Head of Guyuan'—from the name alone, she recognized him as part of the Guyuan Border Army, undoubtedly a unit that had defected during the last Guyuan mutiny and established themselves here.
Her spirits lifted. *This is fantastic!* she thought. *I’d resigned myself to death, but now with this infighting among bandits, I might just escape in the chaos.*
She raised her cavalry saber and roared, “Brothers, prepare to seize the opportunity and break through at any moment!”
Behind her, the horse bandits roared in unison, “Ooh!”
Wang Zuogua, who had been observing the battle from afar, had his attention fixed on Wu Zhimian’s imperial forces. Now, it abruptly shifted to Zao Ying’s position. *What was that explosion just now? Why are Flying Tiger and Big Red Wolf’s troops in disarray?*
Those two grenades had inflicted the most damage on Big Red Wolf’s forces.
He was responsible for the 'southern flank' of Duzhong Village, precisely the direction from which Cheng Xu and Xing Honglang were approaching. Thus, both hand grenades had landed among Big Red Wolf’s men, sending his subordinates into a panicked frenzy.
Big Red Wolf whirled around, roaring, “Who goes there?!”
His answer was the sharp crack of a flintlock rifle.
Flintlock rifles were convenient to fire; a pull of the trigger was all it took, no need for a matchlock.
Beside Big Red Wolf, one of his subordinates shrieked and fell backward, dead.
Big Red Wolf cursed, “Damn it! Muskets?!”
Then, he saw a large, dense crowd of people advancing towards them. The sky was too dark to discern their attire from a distance, but he could clearly see the sparks of burning matchlocks in their hands.
“Muskets! So many muskets!” Big Red Wolf spluttered, tumbling to the ground.
His subordinates, however, weren't so quick-witted. They were hardly elite troops, with little experience facing muskets, and had barely even encountered a Three-Eyed Arquebus before.
A chaotic barrage of “bang-bang-bang” erupted as the Gao Family Village Militia's bird guns and ten Three-Eyed Arquebuses opened fire in quick succession.
A wave of rebel soldiers instantly crumpled on their side.
The ten musketeers wielding Three-Eyed Arquebuses cheered excitedly, “Hahaha, we hit so many! I swear, I almost lost faith in my Three-Eyed Arquebus, but it’s still great for shooting rebels, ha ha ha!”
In an instant, the musketeers' confidence soared once more.
“Reload! Reload!”
The musketeer captain bellowed.
But once they entered the reloading phase, the musketeers' enthusiasm waned. They first had to use a special brush to clean out the residue left in the barrel from the previous shot. Then, they would open a pre-measured paper cartridge, pour all its gunpowder into the barrel, ram it down with a ramrod, insert a lead bullet, and ram that down again...
This entire sequence of operations would take at least two to three minutes.
Big Red Wolf scrambled to his feet, pointed at the militia, and roared, “Damn it! Charge! Before they can fire a second shot, rush them and wipe them all out!”
No sooner had he spoken than two more dark spheres descended from the sky.
Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu were already throwing their second volley.
Their hand grenades, however, required no reloading. As long as they had grenades left and their arms could still throw, they could keep launching them.
The two hand grenades landed again: “Boom! Boom!”
Once more, the rebel forces were sent scattering in disarray.
When the first two grenades exploded, the rebel soldiers were bewildered, not fully comprehending what had happened. But this time, they saw it with their own eyes: these explosive devices were being thrown by their enemies.
Hand grenades packed with iron pellets and shrapnel were devastatingly effective against soldiers. All the men within a wide radius of the explosion were either killed or severely wounded; it was utterly terrifying.
*They threw out two things like small copper hammers, and they managed to kill so many of our soldiers?*
*What in the world are these demonic contraptions?*
The rebel army’s morale suffered an immense blow.
Humans, by their very nature, always harbor an innate fear of the unknown.
Especially when that unknown entity can instantly kill so many.
That fear was only amplified.
Big Red Wolf's rebel troops wavered.
After all, they were merely rebel bandits, not seasoned border troops like the Guyuan Border Army, who could press forward despite the Gao Family Village Militia’s explosive charges.
Many found their legs trembling, too terrified to charge forward, while others had already begun to sneak away in both directions.
As for their spear formation...
*Wait, wasn’t the spear formation just facing Zao Ying? Now it’s completely turned towards the militia.*
By the time this realization dawned on them, it was already too late.
Zao Ying, a horse bandit who had spent her entire life with cavalry, was a master at seizing opportunities.
The moment Big Red Wolf’s spear formation turned away, Zao Ying’s cavalry saber was already pointed at the gap, and she bellowed, “Charge!”
Leading the charge, she galloped forward, her cavalry saber flashing. With a sickening *thud*, she decapitated a spearmen, sending his head spiraling skyward. Blood sprayed high, half-reddening her fierce face.
Behind her, 120 horse bandits roared in unison, surging forward in a furious charge.
A whirlwind of flashing blades ensued, and Big Red Wolf's troops were instantly cut down, screaming in terror.
Without their spear formation, infantry were mere pawns against cavalry.
Zao Ying sliced through Big Red Wolf’s ranks almost instantly, breaking free.
As she burst out, she half-expected to be attacked by the Guyuan rebel army outside. To her surprise, the moment they saw her emerge, they immediately lowered their firearms.
Zao Ying mused, “Huh? They didn’t just accidentally save us; they intended to help us from the start.”
A subordinate shouted beside her, “Boss, now’s not the time for analysis! Let’s get to a safe position first!”
“Right!”
Zao Ying waved a hand, pointing towards a distant hillside. “Charge to that hillside!”
Over a hundred cavalry thundered out of the battle circle in an instant, moving to a nearby hill to observe the spectacle.
Big Red Wolf bellowed in fury, “Damn it! My duck on the plate just flew away! It’s all the fault of these cursed Guyuan Border Army scum! Brother Hu, Brother Hu, quickly, come aid me!”
Flying Tiger's troops, originally flanking Zao Ying on the other side, immediately rushed over at top speed.
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