Novels online

Chapter 621: It's Our Turn

The water bandit leader, Fan Zhoulong, was incredibly arrogant.

Last time he came, he brought only fifty-six men and was scared away in an instant by Bai Yuan. But this time was different.

He had summoned dozens of water bandit gangs from Xiaolangdi.

With over a hundred "warships" and nearly a thousand men in total.

Why would he fear a few spineless government soldiers armed with flintlock rifles?

Fan Zhoulong brandished his saber, pointing it at Hengshui Town ahead, and roared with laughter: "All the brave men of Xiaolangdi are here! You dog-faced government soldiers, prepare to die!"

The other water bandits immediately cheered in response: "What's so great about government soldiers? This paltry naval force is useless! Brothers, today we'll take care of these government soldiers too!"

A large number of bandits meant great strength, and great strength begat great courage; they no longer even saw the government soldiers as a threat.

"Charge!"

"Plunder Hengshui Town clean!"

"Grab a few wives to take back to the stronghold, hahahaha!"

The water bandits, full of menacing fervor, surged towards the government soldiers' few warships...

The government military officer was scared out of his wits, roaring, "Prepare for battle!"

Numerous small boats swarmed around the government warships.

The government flagship was a medium-sized warship, and the sight of the hordes of small bandit boats rushing towards it, when viewed from above, was like a colony of ants besieging a cockroach.

The government soldiers climbed onto the ship's superstructure, desperately firing arrows at the bandit boats.

But the spineless garrison soldiers had weak arms and couldn't draw hard bows, using only light ones. Moreover, years of neglect meant their archery was wildly inaccurate and lacked any proper form, posing little threat to the water bandits.

The arrows were easily dodged or deflected by the water bandits, and the small boats pressed ever closer.

As they drew near, the water bandits threw grappling hooks and began boarding actions.

The government soldiers on board grabbed long spears and haphazardly stabbed below the gunwales...

The surface of the water immediately erupted into a chaotic mess.

The refugees in Hengshui Town, witnessing this scene, were also greatly startled.

In their minds, once the government soldiers were defeated, the water bandits would surely storm into Hengshui Town. Even with tens of thousands of refugees, a thousand water bandits would be more than enough to overwhelm ten thousand civilians.

The refugees definitely couldn't win! They simply couldn't!

The common folk trembled with fear.

Some young, able-bodied men immediately grabbed wooden sticks.

Some even pushed small boats from the shore, preparing to aid the government soldiers in battle.

It turned out that many of these disaster victims were skilled at rowing and familiar with the water, having grown up by the Yellow River.

However, while they were still preparing, Bai Yuan's voice rang out: "Ordinary citizens, please do not participate in the battle. We cannot distinguish between you and the water bandits, and accidental injury is likely. Please remain on shore. Please remain on shore."

The common folk murmured, "Eh? You don't want our help?"

Bai Yuan let out two hums, stepping to the forefront, his expression composed. The river wind ruffled his white robes, making him strikingly conspicuous in the predominantly yellow landscape. "Matters of war are to be handled by professional soldiers," he declared. "Ordinary people only need to focus on production. This is called the division of labor. The Heavenly Lord has said that division of labor brings higher efficiency... Do not try to do everything by yourself."

A family retainer beside him whispered, "Our master himself wishes he could master all Six Arts of a gentleman."

Bai Yuan: "..."

His performance suddenly instilled a strange sense of reassurance in the common folk behind him. This man, facing so many bandits, wasn't flustered in the slightest. He showed no fear at all.

As the saying goes, "expertise breeds confidence." It seemed he was worthy of their trust.

Thinking this, the common folk felt their spirits lift a little.

But as they looked up, they saw that the government soldiers were already done for.

The hundred-plus government soldiers were finished, overwhelmed by the water bandits' assault. The soldiers were slaughtered, and even their flagship was seized by the bandit forces, changing hands.

The military officer who had just been so fierce was now a corpse, his head impaled high on a long spear by a water bandit leader.

After dealing with the government soldiers, their attention swiftly locked onto Hengshui Town once more.

Bai Yuan waved his hand: "Gao Family Village navy, attack!"

In truth, he was practically speaking to thin air. The militia soldiers around him had already finished boarding their vessels and prepared for battle the moment the government soldiers and water bandits clashed; only Bai Yuan himself had yet to embark.

He couldn't be bothered to board anymore. In a naval battle, direct command held little meaning; it was better to let the crew fight on their own.

The Gao Family Village flat-bottomed cargo ships immediately sprang to life, charging towards the ant-like swarm of water bandits.

With no proper warships, they had to fight using cargo ships.

But it wasn't a problem!

Cargo ships were enough.

After all, the enemy didn't have any proper warships either, just a collection of small sampans.

The moment the Gao Family Village ships moved, Fan Zhoulong became excited: "That's the ship! The one that bullied me last time! The real masters are here; kill them!"

A water bandit leader on a nearby boat asked curiously, "That ship has no sails and no oars, just a flat hull, how does it move?"

This indeed felt profoundly strange, and the longer someone had made their living on the water, the stranger it seemed.

The water bandits stared at the flat-bottomed ships, lost in thought.

"Pondering what, you idiots?" Fan Zhoulong roared. "What are you all doing? They're charging us, so we charge them and cut them down! It's that simple! Attack!"

"Ahhh, you're right!"

The water bandits let out a chorus of yells, paddling their small boats with vigor, heading straight for the flat-bottomed ships.

The distance was still considerable, yet the Gao Family Village militia on the flat-bottomed ships had already raised their flintlock rifles.

"Bang!"

A water bandit, in the midst of brandishing his saber, was hit by a bullet and fell into the murky yellow water.

"They have flintlock rifles!"

Fan Zhoulong roared, "I told you bastards they had flintlock rifles! Be careful, damn it!"

Well, it wasn't strange for government soldiers to have flintlock rifles; the water bandits had fought them before and had experience dealing with such contraptions.

Which was... to hunker down!

They flattened themselves as much as possible, practically lying in their small boats, pulling their oars diagonally. Their boats still moved swiftly, but their target profile became very small.

This maneuver indeed made it difficult for the Gao Family Village riflemen to aim effectively.

But it wasn't a big problem. If the flintlock rifles were hard to use, they still had hand grenades.

A militia soldier pulled a fuse hand grenade from his pouch, lit the fuse, and as it burned, his eyes locked onto a small boat charging straight ahead.

A nearby soldier laughed loudly: "Aim true! This isn't fighting on land, where a bad throw might still kill your opponent. If you throw it into the river, it's just going to sink!"

Hearing his comrade's shout, the man holding the grenade immediately hesitated: "Oh, confound it! He's right!"

A flicker of panic in his heart, he threw the hand grenade just a tiny bit off target.

The hand grenade arced through the air, plunging with a splash into the river, missing the water bandit's boat.