Chapter 176: Breaking Through the Defenses

The E Detachment broke through multiple obstacles and finally arrived at the outer waterways of Sanliangshi at 16:00 that afternoon. The marines drove away the militia guarding the last blockade line on the riverbank. Along the way, the detachment had already eliminated thirty to forty men, but Shi Zhiqi was still very dissatisfied.

“Three to one! This casualty rate will get me criticized to death when I get back.” Thinking of how even the smallest matters in the Senate would lead to inquiries and hearings, Shi Zhiqi’s head was about to explode. Even if he immediately captured Sanliangshi, the loss of 12 dead was a very ugly number.

The routed militia from along the river trickled back into the stockade. As soon as they returned, they were given a few sips of water and then taken to the public office, where the committee members and militia instructors questioned them about the specific battle situation.

The battle situation was not ideal. At every blockade line, the militia had launched attacks as planned, but unexpectedly, the enemy had simultaneously dispatched troops to search the riverbanks and cover their fleet.

“The Kun thieves are like ghosts. We were hiding in the woods, and we didn’t expect the Kun thieves to sneak up from the shore. They fired a volley of muskets and killed more than half of our brothers…” a militia member with a torn cloth wrapped around his leg said with a mournful face.

A committee member didn’t believe it. “You didn’t see the Kun thieves?”

“I dare not lie, I really didn’t see them,” the militia member argued. “They just came quietly and fired a volley from a li away…”

“Nonsense! Only cannons can shoot more than a li!” Someone simply didn’t believe the Kun thieves’ firearms were that powerful.

“I’ve heard that the Kun thieves’ muskets shoot farther and more accurately than ours,” Luo Tianqiu said. “Never mind, continue!”

“They fired one volley, then another, and our brothers couldn’t hold on. Sometimes we only heard the sound of the muskets, but we didn’t know where they were firing from…”

The prepared native small cannons like the “tiger-squatting cannon” were useless in the battle. Many were abandoned before they could be fired, and at most, only one or two shots were fired. As for whether they hit anyone, no militia member could say for sure. The only thing that was certain was that all these cannons were lost in the end, which made the committee members very heartbroken. Such a small cannon, including the iron, charcoal, and casting labor, cost seven or eight taels of silver.

The militia’s reports were all similar. The common point was that the Kun thieves had not suffered many losses—at most, only twenty or so were killed. Because the sampans all had protective boards, no one could see anyone being hit by arrows. However, the “ten-thousand-man enemy” had indeed exploded right on a sampan.

This battle result did not satisfy the committee members. Blocking the river channel had cost a great deal of manpower and resources, and with the militia’s interception along the river, the Kun thieves not only suffered minor losses but also broke through the blockade and came all the way to Sanliangshi. The only thing that had some effect was the “ten-thousand-man enemy.”

“Let’s talk about it, what should we do?” said Lu Deyi, a local gentry member of the committee, in a muffled voice. “The Kun thieves’ firearms are invincible, and no stockade can withstand them. When they arrive at the walls of Sanliangshi, our militia bureau will probably have to disband immediately!”

“If we disband, we’ll just be waiting to have our homes confiscated and our necks wrung!” Luo Tianqiu slammed the table and said with a ferocious grin, “Have you all forgotten? Master Liu of Shigang and his son are swinging like pendulums right now. Do you want to swing along with them?”

Everyone was frightened by his imposing manner and dared not speak.

“All of you, wake up! The Kun thieves will not let us go. We are all in the same boat, and no one can think of jumping ship—even if you want to, it’s too late, unless the Kun thieves show mercy!” Luo Tianqiu pointed at them one by one with his folding fan. “Right now, we can only work together. Only by repelling the Kun thieves can we save our lives and property!”

The atmosphere in the stockade suddenly became tense. The militia bureau had already issued an order for all able-bodied men in the stockade to gather and prepare for battle. The pao-jia heads were beating gongs in the streets and alleys.

Baskets of gunpowder and iron projectiles were carried to the foot of the stockade walls. Bricks, logs, torches, and lime pots piled at the base of the walls were carried up to the top. Someone brought up buckets of stinking feces and poured them into large clay pots, with a fire lit underneath. For a time, a foul stench filled the air.

Qingxia and the members of her troupe also went up to the stockade walls, even Jiang Suo was no exception. At this time, anyone who could stand and walk had to go and prepare for battle, whether they were willing or not. Anyone who was unwilling would be treated as a spy and beheaded first. No matter how much Jiang Suo complained, he dared not disobey. He could only take his single broadsword, get dressed, and prepare to follow his senior sister up to the watchtower to protect her if necessary.

In the ancestral hall, Qingxia and the other adult members of the troupe were getting dressed and preparing their weapons.

Qingxia wore a tight-fitting black jacket with arrow sleeves today, and a black scarf wrapped around her hair. Black was resistant to dirt and bloodstains, and it was inconspicuous in a crowd, unlike her usual performing attire, which was meant to be as eye-catching as possible.

She drew her bow and tested its strength. When she was training the militia, she used a stiff bow issued by the public office—the bow she carried in her troupe was a soft bow. Later, Luo Tianqiu, seeing her skilled archery and strong bow strength, had someone find her a better bow from the warehouse. The back of the bow was made of mulberry wood, the string was made of dried deer sinew from beyond the Great Wall, and the pair of ox horns were also of high quality. It had a draw weight of twenty li. This was three or four li less than the strongest bow she could draw. But besides accuracy and range, archery also had the problem of sustainability. In battle, you couldn’t shoot five or six arrows and then be exhausted. In this respect, the bow Luo Tianqiu had chosen for her had been carefully considered.

Thinking of this, a faint blush appeared on her face. She subconsciously caressed the bow in her hand.

Jiang Niang was an experienced woman, and she had seen the changes in Qingxia’s expression recently. She had originally wanted to find a private moment to persuade her to give up this foolish fantasy before she fell too deep. But now that the Kun thieves were attacking, it was hard to say if they would survive this battle. It was better not to talk about matters of love. She sighed softly and said nothing.

Jiang Niang wore a newly made blue jacket with arrow sleeves, with four flying knives on each side of her waist. Her skill with flying knives was first-rate, but it was not very useful on the battlefield. Although her single broadsword was not bad, she was a woman and lacked strength. So Jiang Niang’s most lethal weapon was a slingshot. She was a hundred-percent accurate within thirty paces. She had always carried clay pellets for performance and self-defense, but this time she had replaced them all with iron pellets. It could be of some use in close-quarters combat like defending the stockade.

As for Uncle Zhou and Jiang Suo, they used their own school’s weapons. Uncle Zhou used a spear, and Jiang Suo used a single broadsword. They were unwilling to risk their lives fighting for the Luo family, so they had been dawdling in the ancestral hall to avoid being the first to be called out to lead a team out of the stockade to fight.

The three young children, on the other hand, were very excited. Each took a soft bow with a draw weight of eight or nine li, carried a quiver of arrows, and clamored to go up to the watchtower to shoot arrows. In their eyes, this was a good game! Although Qingxia’s father had recovered, he was still very weak. He was very much against the troupe fighting for the Luo family. But at this moment, there was no room for bargaining. Besides, the troupe’s current predicament was also largely due to his long illness. He had unknowingly received great kindness from the Luo family. There was no reason to stop them.

He could only repeatedly admonish everyone to act according to the situation and not to fight to the death.

“We are only a few people. If everyone else runs away, you don’t have to hold on—run quickly,” he said with a sigh. “I have implicated all of you. When things get critical, just run for your own lives! I’m an old man, and a performer at that. The Kun thieves won’t want my life.”

“Master, don’t say that,” Jiang Niang comforted him gently. “The Kun thieves might not be able to break in. This Sanliang Town is well-defended, and there are many able-bodied men. At worst, the prominent families will just pay them some silver to go away.”

After a few more words, the gongs outside urging them to go up to the stockade walls sounded again. The sound of footsteps outside increased, and there were occasional shouts of urging. They dared not stay any longer and left the ancestral hall together to go up to the watchtower.

The watchtower they went to was next to the stone bridge, guarding the water gate of Liangshi. The stone bridge was already piled with many sandbags and mounted with small cannons, many of which were makeshift large-caliber matchlocks made of wood and bamboo. The militia members crouched behind the sandbags, holding bamboo spears and broadswords.

Besides the exhibition, the bridge opening was also blocked by four or five boats chained together, completely sealing it. They were also piled with many sandbags and wooden and bamboo cannons.

On the watchtower, large cannons and muskets had already been mounted. The militia members nervously peered at the river channel outside through the crenels.

“They’re here,” “They’re here.” A small commotion rippled through the crowd like wind on water. In the distant river channel, the first sampan appeared…

Three signal cannons were fired from the watchtower, announcing that the Kun thieves were at the city gates.

The E Detachment began to land about 500 meters from the stone bridgehead. The riverbanks here were covered with dense bamboo fences and bamboo stakes, making it almost impossible to land. It took a lot of effort to remove the obstacles. Fortunately, the sampans carried some specialized engineering tools, especially the long-handled engineering axes and handsaws with steel edges, which saved them a lot of effort. While they were dismantling the fences, a group of militia secretly approached through the woods. Seeing that the Kun thieves were busy dismantling the fences on the riverbank and there were only a dozen or so people on guard with muskets, the militia leader knew his chance had come. The distance from the woods to the riverbank was only forty zhang. With a shout, they could rush into the enemy ranks in an instant. The Kun thieves would not have time to fire. As long as they engaged in close combat, the Kun thieves would lose the advantage of their firearms and would surely be defeated.

With a bang of a clapper, everyone shouted and charged out of the woods. The marines responsible for covering the dismantling of the fences quickly fired a few volleys, knocking down most of the militia who had already closed to within 10 meters. The rest who rushed over, swinging their broadswords wildly, were quickly bayoneted to the ground by the marines.

After half an hour, a large opening was made in the fence on the riverbank. The soldiers and cannons were finally able to land in large numbers. The cannons were quickly assembled, and Shi Zhiqi, deciding not to delay any longer, ordered an immediate attack.

The two 12-pounder mountain howitzers fired heavy solid shots. One shot blew away the gate of the stockade under the stone bridge. The cannonball sent the sandbags piled on the boats in the bridge opening flying, tearing off the arms, heads, and torsos of seven or eight people before it bounced off the water and flew straight into the mill, killing the two retainers guarding inside on the spot. It then landed in the stone mortar, smashing it to pieces.

The next few cannonballs destroyed the various defensive measures on the stone bridge: sandbags, brick walls, and fences. The militia and able-bodied men guarding behind them let out terrified screams and fled from the stone bridge, rolling and crawling. As for the large number of bamboo and wooden cannons, which far exceeded the number of men, they were either detonated by the cannonballs or abandoned without being fired once.

The marines immediately rowed their sampans towards the stone bridge. Without cover, the defensive measures were just a pile of illegal structures that could be dismantled at any time. After the marines occupied the stone bridge, they leisurely dismantled the iron chains stretched across the water and pulled the broken boats blocking the bridge opening out one by one and dragged them to the shore, all under the cover of the riflemen. Throughout the process, the two hundred-odd militia and able-bodied men around the pond did nothing but shout and randomly fire their weapons. They did not take any offensive action to stop the Aussies’ actions. After witnessing the power of the Aussies’ firearms, no one was willing to try again.

When Luo Tianqiu heard that the stone bridge had fallen, he personally led a group of able-bodied men to reinforce it. He knew that ordering the militia and able-bodied men to counter-attack was impossible, so he ordered all the boats in the pond to be burned to form a fire blockade. Then he would defend the various points along the pond to the death. At the same time, he ordered all the roads leading into the town from around the pond to be blocked.

The flames on the water temporarily halted the detachment’s advance. Shi Zhiqi had no choice but to order the troops to camp on the spot and wait until the next day to launch a fierce attack.

The next morning, they were attacked by a joint force of militia from several nearby villages. Shi Zhiqi was awakened by the sound of shouting and killing. When he hastily buckled on his pistol and stood up, a messenger had already run over, reporting nervously that militia from other villages had appeared in the river channels on all sides. They were shouting and firing cannons as they advanced. Militia from all directions, carrying flags, poured in from within the town, from outside the town, and from all sides. For a time, the sound of shouting and killing shook the heavens.

The external militia were the militia and able-bodied men from the villages in the mutual defense pact that Luo Tianqiu had contacted overnight. Including the men from Sanliangshi itself, the number of people participating in the counter-attack was over a thousand.

Shi Zhiqi remained calm in the face of danger. He observed with his telescope and found that most of the reinforcements were ordinary able-bodied men, who didn’t even have proper weapons and were just using sharpened bamboo poles. Although there were many of them, they were disorganized and chaotic, pushing and shoving each other, and instead blocked all the narrow river channels and land routes on all sides.

Shi Zhiqi made a decisive decision. He personally led a marine company in a determined charge towards the nearest group of militia. The marines paid no attention to the enemy’s noise and antics. After firing one volley, they charged at the already chaotic crowd with their bayoneted rifles. In ten minutes, this group was completely dealt with. The road was blocked with the bodies of militia and able-bodied men who had been stabbed and cut by bayonets.

He then led the marine company to quickly turn to the riverbank, and from a high position, they fired a volley of random shots at the militia boat team that was slowly advancing towards Sanliang Town in the river channel. The boat team in the river channel was thrown into chaos, and three sampans sank immediately. The other sampans panicked, hastily threw the dead bodies on the boats overboard, and fled.

Shi Zhiqi led this company, with its excellent organization and discipline, and in a running maneuver, repelled four groups of militia from various villages that were attempting to encircle them from the outside. The hundred-odd militia led by the militia instructors who charged out of Sanliang Town were hit by a volley of canister shot from the two 12-pounder mountain howitzers positioned on the bridge and were routed, with forty or fifty falling immediately. The remaining militia refused to charge any further and fled in disarray.

The detachment repelled the militia’s counter-attack and then launched a counter-attack of its own, capturing the buildings around the pond, especially the mill at the river mouth. This mill was built of green bricks and was very sturdy. It was defended by fifty or sixty retainers from the Luo family and other prominent families. Compared to the low-morale militia, their will to fight was very strong. They continuously fired bamboo and wooden cannons from the window openings and the roof, and shot a dense shower of arrows. The marines pushed the mountain howitzers over and fired directly at them from 150 meters away. Three solid shots blew several large holes in the walls and the main gate. The marines took the opportunity to advance, throwing grenades into the holes one after another. The mill was immediately filled with smoke, and screams and explosions were intertwined.

A few minutes later, the mill was occupied, and the resistance in other places collapsed one after another. Only the watchtower was still stubbornly resisting. Although the special marksmen in the marine corps successfully suppressed the militia on the top of the watchtower and the balcony with their high-precision J+ marked Minie rifles, forcing them to no longer show their heads, they continuously threw bricks, “ten-thousand-man enemies,” and fired firearms and bows and arrows from the loopholes and throwing holes. The marines suffered a dozen or so casualties and still could not get close to this sturdy fortress built of stone and green bricks.

“Comrades, hit this feudal landlord’s fortress hard!” Shi Zhiqi was already furious, seeing that the battle was not going well. He climbed onto the roof of the second floor of the mill and personally commanded the riflemen on the roof to concentrate their fire to suppress the loopholes of the watchtower.

This was only a hundred or so meters from the watchtower, already within the range of the watchtower’s bows and arrows. The marines piled up sandbags and wooden planks on the roof and fired from behind them. The officer commanding on the roof saw Shi Zhiqi standing on the ridge of the roof without any cover, waving his command sword, and quickly pulled him back behind the sandbags.

“Chief, it’s too dangerous here. You should go down quickly.”

“It’s alright!” Shi Zhiqi’s face was flushed, and he roared, “Bring the cannons over and blow it to pieces for me!”

“There aren’t many shells left. There are only ten solid shots left,” the officer reported. This was just the beginning, and who knew how many more fortifications and buildings would need solid shot below.

“Fire them all!” Shi Zhiqi pushed his helmet back on his head. “In a moment, send someone to Shigang—”

Before he could finish his sentence, an arrow suddenly shot out and hit him in the chest. Shi Zhiqi let out a pained cry and rolled off the roof of the mill.