Chapter 826: Gao Chuwu, the Human Beast
The Manchu soldiers at Yanmen Pass were indulging in a life of luxury.
Since entering the pass, they had plundered, burned, and killed their way through the land. The loot from Chun County alone filled three hundred carts, and these very provisions were being transported back north through Yanmen Pass.
As the convoy passed through Yanmen Pass, the garrison soldiers, naturally, took their cut. They helped themselves generously from the plundered goods.
This group of Manchu soldiers was no exception. They draped fabric looted from Han people over their animal hide armor, stuck blood-stained silver hairpins, stolen from Han women, into their long braids, and gathered around purloined iron pots, cooking pilfered grain...
They were absolutely delighted!
Although they had heard that the frontline troops suffered a major setback while attacking Daizhou, they paid it no mind. Han people might occasionally get the better of the Manchu, but this didn't change the overarching truth that the Han couldn't defeat them.
While gorging themselves and drinking heartily, they grumbled that the frontline soldiers were incompetent fools who didn't know how to fight.
Just then, a loud "boom" echoed from the distant woods.
"Huh?"
The next instant.
"Boom!"
A second explosion ripped through the air, sending a burst of fire across the city wall. Smoke billowed, shrapnel tore through the air, and a section of the defenders on the ramparts instantly collapsed.
"Enemy attack!"
"Enemy attack!"
"Cannons!"
"No, cannons are louder."
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
From the woods, the blasts rang out one after another.
Shells arced through the sky, one after another.
Explosions bloomed like deadly flowers atop the city walls.
Human flowers.
Yanmen Pass was instantly plunged into chaos. The over five hundred Manchu soldiers garrisoned within were seized by bewilderment and panic.
"The enemy is shelling us from the woods!"
"Damn it, where are the scouts? They let the enemy get this close and start shelling us without a single report!"
"Engage the enemy!"
"How can we engage them if they haven't even shown themselves?"
"Shit, take cover! Hide!"
"What kind of demonic shells are these? Why do they explode a second time after they land?"
The Manchu defenders were bewildered, taking hits and completely failing to understand what was happening.
A single step ahead in technology can instill inexplicable terror in the enemy. Because they don't understand, they're afraid, and because they're afraid, the enemy's weapons seem even more incomprehensible.
This was precisely the state the Manchu now found themselves in.
All the Manchu soldiers scrambled for cover, abandoning even the city walls.
At that moment, figures flickered through the treeline, and the infantry of Gao Family Village began their advance.
With artillery suppressing the pass walls, the infantry found it much easier to advance, quickly jogging towards the ramparts.
When they first set out, the artillery was still indiscriminately pounding Yanmen Pass, keeping the Manchu soldiers inside from daring to show their faces, completely unaware that infantry was approaching from outside.
But once the infantry had run a certain distance, the artillery had to cease fire to avoid friendly casualties...
The Manchu defenders inside the pass noticed the shelling had lessened. Boldly, they crept out from their hiding places and peered over the city wall, only to see... the Gao Family Village infantry less than fifty meters from the ramparts.
"Enemy attack!"
"The Han army is here!"
Someone shrieked, and then another scrambled up the watchtower, ready to sound the alarm bell.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Several muskets fired simultaneously. The man who had climbed the watchtower, intending to ring the bell, was struck by multiple shots and fell.
Although the man hadn't managed to ring the bell, the sound of firearms from outside the city had, in effect, rung it for him. The defenders inside finally understood what was happening.
"Defend the wall!"
"Archers!"
From the crenellated battlements along the pass wall, many Manchu heads immediately appeared, bows drawn, arrows nocked...
Manchu men,
Having hunted and fished since childhood, were quite confident in their archery skills. With the enemy now within fifty meters, they reckoned it wouldn't be a perfect score, but at least seventy out of a hundred shots would hit their mark.
However, no sooner had they drawn their bows than they saw the charging Han soldiers, still running forward, suddenly swing their arms, unleashing a barrage of small black spheres that arced towards the city wall.
The crenellations could defend against enemy arrows and muskets, but they offered no protection against these small black spheres flying in a parabolic arc...
Moreover, hand-thrown grenades were far more accurate than the small grenades launched from mortar barrels. Many in the Gao Family Village Militia had proven their ability to accurately toss grenades into target rings dozens of meters away during their training competitions.
A swarm of black spheres flew over the city wall, followed by a cacophony of explosions.
A relentless chain of blasts!
The Manchu archers sheltering behind the crenellations were instantly shattered and routed by the explosions.
Only a few sparse arrows flew back, striking the militia soldiers' cotton armor, which easily absorbed their impact.
"They can't hurt us, but we can hurt them!"
Such a realization was a tremendous morale boost!
The Gao Family Village Militia, their morale soaring, surged forward, covering the final fifty meters with accelerated steps.
In the blink of an eye, the militia reached the base of the city wall.
The defenders should have been raining down rolling logs and boulders, but they were in utter disarray, with no one left to deploy such defenses. The militia soldiers easily held their ground beneath the wall.
Someone produced a grappling hook, flung it upward, and it snagged on a crenellation.
Then, Gao Chuwu, gripping the rope with both hands, swiftly scaled the wall.
This was one of the special training exercises for the Gao Family Village Militia!
Nowadays, the militia's training regimen was extensive, including cross-country running, climbing, and all sorts of demanding drills.
And a man like Gao Chuwu, with perfect scores in physical prowess and zero in scholarly pursuits, naturally excelled at every single special training exercise.
In the blink of an eye, Gao Chuwu reached the top.
Just as he was about to crest the wall, a Manchu warrior emerged from behind the crenellations, swinging a spear to impale Gao Chuwu, who was still clinging to the rope. But Gao Chuwu, holding the rope with his left hand and wrapping his legs around it to secure himself, drew a musket with his right.
Point-blank shot!
With a "bang," the Manchu soldier who had tried to stab him with the spear toppled backward.
"Muskets are really useful,"
Gao Chuwu grumbled, his voice thick, and tossed the musket down to the base of the wall, where a comrade would retrieve it. He pulled himself further up the rope, swiftly climbing until both his feet were finally on the city wall.
More Manchu soldiers immediately confronted him on the wall. Gao Chuwu had no time to draw another weapon; he sidestepped, evading a Manchu spear, then lunged forward, seized a warrior by the neck, and snapped it with a sickening crack.
Finally, with a brief moment of respite, he drew a large saber from his back.
It was a thick-backed broadsword, a loving gift from Xing Honglang.
Purchased at the Xi'an market for three taels of silver!
Its hilt was even wrapped in red cloth! Truly, it was incomparably stylish.
Gao Chuwu brandished the saber, slashing wildly. Within a several-meter radius, no one could get close to him.
A few Manchu soldiers joined their spears, aiming to overwhelm him with numerical superiority, thrusting their long weapons from a few meters away. But Gao Chuwu merely half-squatted, snatched a Manchu corpse from the ground, and hurled it at the charging spearmen.
The Manchu corpse became a grotesque projectile, and the spearmen, faced with this ferocious, unexpected weapon, had no idea how to react. They crumpled like bowling pins struck by a ball, all of them toppling down.
Seeing this Han commander's utter ferocity, the other Manchu warriors couldn't help but feel a chill creep down their spines.
"Damn it, this is absolutely a human beast!"
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