Chapter 366: I Am a True All-Rounder
Bai Yuzhu stood on a medium-sized merchant vessel, his gaze fixed on the cavalry unit perched atop the cliff. A deep frown etched itself across his brow.
He had expected taking this small, dilapidated county to be a simple charge, a swift victory. Instead, his forces had been thoroughly "educated" by a barrage of cannons and explosives on the riverbanks. And when he'd sent troops to outflank them, those cavalrymen had driven them back in disarray. This turn of events truly caught him off guard.
“Damn it all,” Bai Yuzhu roared, his anger flaring. “This pathetic little Heyang County thinks it can defy me, does it? I refuse to believe you have enough gunpowder to keep blowing us up forever. Today, this insignificant dock *will* fall!”
He turned to his lieutenants, barking orders: “Have everyone rest for a bit. Let the frustration from that last failure die down. Once morale is restored, we’ll charge again. Next time, all ships will surge forward to the dock simultaneously. The vessels behind won’t even bother to beach; they’ll use the ships in front as ramps, and we’ll just swarm ashore.”
The rebels responded with a roar, halting their offensive for the time being. The ships that had already pushed onto the dock were now being pulled back, retreating slightly upstream.
In other sections of the Yellow River upstream, it was virtually impossible for vessels to remain stationary without being swept away by the current. Yet, precisely here, a stomach-shaped eddy allowed this large fleet of ships to pause and rest. They would drift slowly downstream for a short distance, and then a few casual strokes from the boatmen would easily guide them back to their original position, holding steady.
And so, with one side entrenched on land and the other arrayed on the water, the situation reached a temporary stalemate.
Feng Jun frowned, muttering, “How dare these rebels? To halt so brazenly on the river, do they truly believe our government forces are so lacking?”
Bai Yuan spread his hands. “Well, the government *does* indeed lack manpower! The Shaanxi Grand General, Wang Cheng'en, is currently in the capital, aiding the Emperor.”
Bai Yuan spread his hands again. “The gunpowder packs are all used up.”
Feng Jun’s nose began to bleed again, silently trickling down his face. “How can that be? The cannons have only fired a few shots, and the gunpowder is already gone?”
Bai Yuan replied, “Padi Tu and the others tossed all the gunpowder packs out, you see. They can throw them much faster than we can load and fire the cannons. They were gone in the blink of an eye. Ah, it even prevented me from practicing my marksmanship.”
Feng Jun was speechless.
It was, to say the least, an incredibly awkward moment.
Feng Jun grew tense. “Then how will we possibly withstand the rebels’ next assault, now that we’re out of gunpowder?”
Bai Yuan glanced towards the northwest, a faint smile playing on his lips. “For the next wave,” he said, “we won’t need to hold the line.”
Feng Jun looked puzzled.
“The Gao Family Village Militia has arrived!”
Bai Yuan burst into laughter. “Master Feng, order your militia to withdraw and rest. Now, let’s see how Gao Family Village fights!”
The Gao Family Village Militia had indeed arrived. Leading them was a formidable general, clad in lamellar armor and with his face concealed—it was Cheng Xu. Behind him marched fifteen hundred soldiers: five hundred arquebusiers, two hundred grenadiers, and eight hundred armed with traditional cold weapons.
This was Wang Er’s first glimpse of Gao Family Village’s true military might. At the sight of their scale, he was momentarily stunned, then surprised, and finally, a surge of elation swept through him. Could Gao Family Village truly be this powerful?
As for Feng Jun, a single glance at this army sent a prickling sensation up his scalp.
There were far too many armored and firearm-wielding soldiers among them, weren’t there?
If only a handful of men were armored or carried firearms, it could be understood as a spontaneous effort by the common people to arm themselves against bandits, a simple act of self-preservation that the imperial court might overlook. But for the numbers to be this high...
Feng Jun dipped a finger into his flowing nosebleed, unsure what to draw on his face to convey his turmoil. He simply smeared it across, turning his face into a blotchy mess. Once done, he clenched his jaw and loudly commanded, “Heyang County Militia, fall back and rest! Hand over the defense of the Qichuan Ferry to the Gao Family Village Militia!”
Cheng Xu arrived, and with a sweep of his hand, no further commands were even necessary. The Gao Family Village Militia, under the guidance of their respective company commanders, immediately began to take up their assigned positions.
The arquebusiers did not scale the walls; instead, they formed neat, disciplined ranks and assembled behind the palisade.
The grenadiers and archers, meanwhile, ascended the arrow towers and the palisade itself.
Interestingly, the ten arquebusiers who had first used the Three-Eyed Arquebus in Gao Family Village did not join the main arquebusier ranks. Instead, each bearing a bird-gun, they ascended the arrow towers alongside the archers.
Seeing this, Bai Yuan felt a flicker of curiosity. “Instructor He,” he inquired, “why aren’t those ten arquebusiers joining the main formation?”
Cheng Xu chuckled, a hint of pride in his voice. “They’re also equipped with rifled arquebuses.”
Bai Yuan's eyes widened in realization.
With rifled barrels, their shooting accuracy was exceptionally high. There was no need for them to mix with the smoothbore musketeers, engaging in the traditional 'line-and-volley' tactics. They could operate with the same freedom as archers.
Bai Yuan smiled. “Then they should form their own distinct unit in the future. They’ll need a new name.”
Cheng Xu smiled. “The Heavenly Lord has already given them a name: 'Skirmishers.'”
“Skirmishers?” Bai Yuan repeated, puzzled. “Doesn’t that imply stragglers and loose ends? That’s a derogatory term!”
Cheng Xu explained, “I, too, raised this concern with the Heavenly Lord. But the Heavenly Lord declared that with the evolution of warfare, 'skirmisher' would no longer be a derogatory term in the future, and this name would prove to be correct.”
Bai Yuan pondered this carefully, then nodded. “Indeed,” he conceded, “if all arquebuses were rifled, and the issues of reloading ammunition were resolved, with both sides achieving ever-greater firing ranges, then the methods of war would undoubtedly change. Large square formations would become increasingly foolish, and every soldier would indeed become a skirmisher.”
In any case, the Heavenly Lord’s pronouncements were always correct!
Bai Yuan no longer dwelled on the matter, though he did feel a touch of loneliness. With ten skirmishers suddenly on the scene, his own status as a master archer—capable of headshotting enemies from hundreds of paces away—would no longer be quite so showy.
While the concept of “being showy” wasn’t strictly categorized among a gentleman’s Six Arts, Bai Yuan was, nonetheless, quite particular about it.
Cheng Xu climbed the arrow tower, his gaze sweeping across the river. Noticing the numerous rebel corpses strewn across the riverbank, he quickly grasped the situation. He smiled, observing, “It seems the bandits launched an assault, you repelled them, and now they’re resting, gathering strength for a second wave.”
Bai Yuan nodded. “Since Instructor He has arrived, I shall enjoy watching this second wave unfold.”
Cheng Xu chuckled, spreading his hands. “To be honest, I’m merely a spectator myself.”
Bai Yuan looked bewildered.
Cheng Xu explained, “Ever since we began deploying so many firearms, my role has largely been reduced to issuing commands before battle. Once the fighting begins, I’m quite useless, capable of doing nothing but watching the spectacle. The soldiers simply execute their trained procedures on their own.”
Bai Yuan was dumbfounded.
Cheng Xu laughed, pulling Bai Yuan up the arrow tower alongside him. “Come, come, Master Bai, join me up here for the show! Let’s witness a battle that requires no direct command.”
Bai Yuan drew out his rifled bird-gun. “Hmph, I am different,” he declared with a grin. “Even if I don’t participate in commanding, I can still use my 'Archery' to support my soldiers. I am a true all-rounder, a master of everything, ha-ha-ha!”
Wang Er also silently followed them onto the arrow tower, his gaze fixed intently on the front.
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