Chapter 69: The Makeshift Airplane (Explosion)

Of course, the transmigrators had no bugles, nor any “little devils” like buglers. When he gave the order, Yuan Qiushi simply fired another signal flare, this time a red one. The assault team saw it and immediately blew their whistles. This time, it was the assault group, all burly men. In addition to full riot gear, each man carried a steel riot shield and wielded a 21st-century cold weapon—a steel replica of a Ming Dynasty border army standard longsword ordered by Wen Desi from a sword website. Both the steel shield and the longsword were very heavy, so this group consisted of burly men over 180cm tall and weighing nearly 100kg. The one charging at the very front was You Laohu. This man was actually a bit old and not particularly tall or imposing, but he had repeatedly volunteered himself, claiming to have countless experiences in street brawls and a willingness to be the vanguard, even if it meant dying. That’s how he got into the vanguard. He originally wanted to use his own giant Green Dragon Crescent Blade, similar to those used in operas, but everyone around him objected—they were afraid he would accidentally chop them up if he made a mistake.

The militiamen and retainers in the village were already shaken and terrified by the earth-shattering explosion. Some who were close to the gate were either hit by clods of earth and rubble, bleeding from the head, or were so shaken that they bled from their mouths and ears. Seeing such a group of burly men in black helmets and armor, with giant shields and long blades, charging out of the smoke, they were scared out of their wits.

Someone turned and fled, shouting, “The stockade is breached! It’s breached! Everyone run for your lives—”

You Laohu wasn’t tall, but he ran extremely fast. He was the first to charge through the gate and almost tripped. The ground was covered with clods of earth and rubble. He stepped on something soft and, looking closely, realized it was a corpse. It was probably killed by the shockwave, as there were no wounds on the body, but blood was flowing from its facial orifices, a truly horrifying sight of death.

They had been prepared for a fierce melee at the gate, but after the assault team charged in, they found no resistance at all. The overly powerful explosive charge had collapsed the watchtowers on both sides, burying alive the dozens of militiamen who had been waiting inside. The dozen or so men who had gathered behind the gate after hearing the alarm, ready to fight, were also injured by the shockwave and flying bricks and wood. All that was left was a ground full of dusty corpses; there wasn’t a single living person. This group, who had been planning a great slaughter, was momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Wu De had already charged in with the follow-up troops. Seeing that there were no more enemies to clear at the gate, he quickly ordered the assault team to charge towards the main gate of the Gou family residence at the crossroads. The other teams also rushed along the streets towards their respective key points. Wang Ruixiang led a team up the stockade wall. Two night watchmen came running towards them. Seeing this group of strangely dressed people, they were startled. Wang Ruixiang let out a strange cry and was about to grab his axe for a melee when the rifles behind him fired. The two enemies fell from the wall on the spot.

“What’s the damn hurry!” he had just cursed when he was pushed aside by the people behind him. These few had just killed someone and were so excited their eyes were red. They let out strange cries and ran forward wildly, firing their guns randomly along the way, even stomping on a broken lantern. Unfortunately, there was a lot of stuff piled on top of the wall. The one in the lead was running too fast, tripped over a piece of wood, and since the wall was a bit narrow, he fell straight down.

The first casualty of the attack thus occurred. A few people quickly climbed down from the wall and carried this unconscious brother to the gate to await medical treatment.

Wu De had his men shout continuously while also sending someone to set fire to a wooden tower. This was to intimidate the people in the village into not moving, allowing the panicked militiamen to disintegrate on their own. The various assault teams split up to occupy the intersections, quickly cutting off the connection between the outer village and the Gou family residence itself. He raised a white flag at the crossroads and had people repeatedly shout in the local dialect, Minnan dialect, and Cantonese: “Surrender and you will be spared!” In a short while, they had taken dozens of prisoners. After being disarmed, the prisoners were tied together in groups of five and taken out of the village.

Street fighting, as expected, did not occur. The gates of the poor households in the village were all tightly shut. Some people peeked out to see what was happening and were shot for their trouble. Wu De heard the sound of Saiga-308 rifle fire in the distance and knew that some people were already escaping over the walls, but he was confident that the main leaders inside the village had not had time to escape.

The assault team surrounded the entire residence. Inside, Gou Xunyi and his close confidants knew that their chances were slim this time. Relying on the high, thick walls and the sturdy residence, they continuously sent people out for help while randomly firing their matchlocks.

The residence was surrounded by streets on all sides. Inside, there were one to two hundred women and children, and seventy to eighty men. As soon as anyone approached the residence, the Gou family members would throw down a dense rain of bricks, tiles, and stones from above, forcing everyone to keep their heads down. The assault team, relying on the high protection of their riot gear, charged directly to the base of the wall, preparing to use ladders to climb it. The women inside the residence boiled water and carried it bucket by bucket to the roof, pouring it down along with the bricks and stones. Several of the charging assault team members were immediately scalded. One was unlucky enough to be doused head-on. Although he had inner and outer protection, the scalding water seeped in, and the pain made him roll on the ground. Seeing their own brothers injured, the transmigrators, most of whom had come to battle with a sense of toying with their prey and a certain reluctance to kill, were now filled with murderous intent. They roared in anger together:

“Kill! Kill them all!” “Leave no one alive, not even the chickens and dogs!” “Raze Gou Family Village to the ground!” On this side, everyone was red-faced. A wild volley from the SKS rifles sent tiles and wood splinters flying from the eaves, and blood splattered everywhere. People on the eaves were seen toppling and falling. A woman who had been carrying water was crawling on the eaves, slowly retreating, when suddenly a puff of blue smoke erupted from her shoulder, and she fell down stiffly. This scene was met with a cheer.

Taking advantage of this lull, everyone quickly pulled down the few who had been scalded. Fortunately, their protection was solid, so the injuries were not too severe. The heat capacity of boiling water is also relatively small, so the most serious were only second-degree burns. The worst-off individual mainly had a large burn area but was not in life-threatening danger. However, the brother who had fallen from the wall remained unconscious. The medical team’s diagnosis was extremely pessimistic; it was very likely a skull fracture. After simple treatment, a vehicle was quickly dispatched to transport him back.

“Put sand on the cart, quickly!” He Ma ordered. Spreading sand on the cart was to reduce shock, a makeshift method for transporting the wounded in wartime. He decided not to send back the burn victims for the time being; their lives were not in danger, and the chance of infection after treatment was not high. However, it was difficult to diagnose this particular injured person without diagnostic equipment, and if surgery was needed, the conditions here were not suitable.

The transmigrators’ rifle volleys suppressed the people on the eaves, preventing them from showing their heads. But the retainers behind the thick walls continued to fire matchlocks and arrows through the loopholes. The biggest threat to the transmigrators was the “wall gun.” The wall gun was much more lethal than a fowling piece or a hand cannon. It was loaded with many fava-bean-sized iron pellets, iron nails, and small stones, like a giant shotgun, firing a wide spread. Although the transmigrators’ rifles were powerful, they couldn’t get close for the time being, and the enemy was mostly hiding behind walls and eaves, making them difficult to observe.

“Let’s blow it up again, there’s still one more explosive charge!” Although Zhang Bolin’s face was wounded, he refused to leave the front line with a minor injury—in fact, his injury was far from fatal, just a scratch.

Wu De thought that a direct charge and wall-climbing would likely still result in casualties. He decided to stick to the old method and let the Gou family “ride the makeshift airplane” again. He nodded, “But you have to reduce the charge by half!”

“Got it, I’ll do it right away.”

This time, to prevent the Gou family from repeating their trick of pouring boiling water, in addition to the full riot gear, they also wore an extra plastic poncho. Zhang Bolin was holding the explosives and about to charge out when Wu De grabbed him:

“Are you looking to die!” he said sternly.

“What’s wrong?” Zhang Bolin looked innocent. “I’m protecting myself from them pouring boiling water—”

“You’re only thinking about waterproofing. This plastic raincoat, if they come at you with a torch—” he pointed, “you’ll become a human torch.”

“I heard plastic burns are horrible. The molten plastic sticks to the skin—” someone added, finding it amusing.

Hearing this, Zhang Bolin quickly took off the poncho. Wu De ordered the assault team to assign five men to cover him. They linked three steel shields in front to form a curved surface, with two more shields placed on top, creating a “turtle formation” to protect Zhang Bolin as he advanced towards the gate.

“Watch out for the enemy’s wall guns!” Wu De knew these things were powerful at close range. “This formation must not break at any time. Hold on. We’ll provide covering fire for you.”

On this side, the transmigrators organized continuous rifle fire. Some had mounted scopes on their rifles and were shooting directly into the enemy’s loopholes. Zhang Bolin’s demolition team slowly advanced. Arrows clattered against their steel shields, leaving many white scratches on the steel plates. Bricks and tiles rained down on the shields above them, making a loud drumming sound. The shields had observation slits, but no one was in the mood to look outside. They just kept moving forward. Whenever the SKS rifles outside fired, the sound of impacts on their shields would lessen. At this moment, the defenders lit a wall gun. The assault team members saw the red flash of light, stood still, and braced themselves. After the flash, the wall gun fired. A fierce barrage of projectiles hammered against their shields, more intense than the densest hailstorm. The force of the gunpowder also made them stagger.

However, this was the enemy’s last desperate struggle. Although some people, disregarding their own lives, threw lime pots and lit sulfur packs from behind the wall, it could no longer stop their advance. The sulfur packs were blocked by the steel shields and slid to the ground. The lime had no effect on those with goggles. The turtle formation soon reached the gatehouse and planted the explosive charge. They quickly retreated again.

The people inside the residence were a little confused. They had thought that the people who reached the gate were either preparing to chop it down or set it on fire, but they did neither. If they were preparing to blow up the gate, it would logically take at least one or two hundred catties of gunpowder to break through this gate, and they would also have to dig a pit under it. What could they accomplish by just coming and going like that?