Chapter 58: The Mob

Of course, the telegram for help had to be sent. Although Bei Kai was more than 90% sure that he could repel the bandits’ attack, concealing the news of the bandits’ attack was always a dereliction of duty. He arranged for his life secretary to send a telegram informing them that bandits were about to attack Hon Gai, with a number of around two thousand. Hon Gai was ready for battle.

In the telegram, he did not explicitly state whether reinforcements were needed—given the current importance of Hon Gai Station, reinforcements were inevitable. Of course, Bei Kai hoped that this time he could leave the impression of being “unflustered in the face of danger” on the Senate.

Finally, since the marine platoon had already boarded the ship, he armed the most reliable naturalized citizens around him, such as the clerks and administrative personnel—in addition to the marines’ Minie rifles, Hon Gai Fort also had more than thirty spare Minie rifles in reserve. He distributed these guns to them, and also gave each of them a grenade, as the general reserve for Hon Gai Fort.

When the bandits approached Hon Gai Station, they saw that the fortress was heavily guarded and knew that it was ready. Shen Hu ordered the main force to stop, rest, and cook. This was not because he was considerate of everyone, but because the bandits’ ranks were stretched out for more than ten miles, and there were still seven or eight hundred people behind. So he decided to eat and rest first, and wait for everyone to arrive before doing anything. In addition, he had an ally at sea, “Fanhai Bao.” After he arrived, they would advance by both land and sea, and the chances of success would be greater. He heard that there was a large ship and three small boats at the mine by the sea, but Fanhai Bao had fourteen large and small ships, and Shen Hu did not think that these few isolated ships could play any role.

Shen Hu’s men were a relatively “regular” group of bandits. At least wherever they went, there were people to take care of their food and drink. At the moment, someone set up a pot at the bottom of a small hill and ordered the dozens of local women who had been plundered to boil water and cook.

Shen Hu looked at the fortress opposite Hon Gai. It was the first time he had seen such a fortress, and he felt it was very simple. The earthen wall was at most two people high. Although the slope was a bit steep, people could climb it without a ladder. The only difficulty was that the trench outside the earthen wall would take some effort to fill.

Other than that, the wall didn’t seem difficult to attack. Although You Long and You Hai told him that there were cannons placed at the salient angles of the earthen wall, Shen Hu didn’t care about it: he had seen many cannons, and it would take a while to fire a second shot after firing one. This was enough time for his men to swarm up the earthen wall.

“What about that earthen wall over there? Does it also have cannons?”

“That’s the miners’ stockade. There are no cannons,” You Long gestured. “It’s full of coal miners and their families. There’s not much to gain.”

“Okay, let’s not bother with them for now,” Shen Hu said with a lewd smile. “After we break the big fort, we’ll break the miners’ stockade as well and find some women for the brothers to have some fun.”

His trusted followers all laughed. Shen Hu generously patted You Long and You Hai on the shoulder: “One for each of you!”

“Thank you, great leader!” The two were overwhelmed by the favor and immediately knelt down to kowtow.

“Well, well, I see…”

Before he could finish his “I see,” a small group of about eighty or ninety people had already run towards the street between the two fortresses—there were some nice-looking houses on the street, and they probably had valuable things inside. The bandits couldn’t wait for his order and immediately wanted to start looting.

“Fools!” Shen Hu cursed. This group of bandits was not his men, and he couldn’t control everyone. Besides, he had already learned from the spies that the things on this street had long been emptied, and there was nothing but empty houses.

He watched as this group of bandits ran chaotically to the street between the two fortresses. At this time, a row of white smoke emerged from a salient of the main fort, and the bandits who were running suddenly fell one after another. The rest of them cried out strangely and quickly ran back.

“The muskets are so powerful!” Shen Hu cried out in surprise—he had seen matchlocks before, but the bandits were at least forty or fifty zhang away from the fortress that had opened fire. Firing a gun at such a distance was just for show. Let alone killing people, the bullets couldn’t even fly that far.

The group of bandits just now had left more than a dozen corpses on the ground. The muskets at the mine not only shot far, but were also very accurate.

He quickly called You Long and You Hai over and asked them how many muskets there were in the fortress.

“At most thirty to fifty!” You Long said. “It’s rare to see people with muskets. The local braves at the mine all use spears and machetes…”

“Really?!”

“I dare not lie! There are definitely no more.”

But even with thirty to fifty, such sharp firearms were not a bone that could be easily gnawed. Shen Hu had not expected the firearms at the mine to be so powerful, and he hesitated for a moment.

While he was hesitating, the bandits from the rear team continued to arrive. Shen Hu instructed his trusted followers to summon the leaders of each group for a meeting to discuss how to attack the stockade. Fearing that the news of the enemy’s powerful firearms would shake the morale of the army, he did not mention it at the meeting. Instead, Hu Lanyan said that the enemy was the Australians, who were famous for their firearms. Both their cannons and muskets were very powerful, shooting both accurately and far. He suggested that this attack should still use the method of fire and smoke.

“Release thick smoke and advance section by section. Release thick smoke again after advancing a section,” Hu Lanyan gestured. “Our men will follow the thick smoke. No matter how powerful their firearms are, they can’t see people through the smoke and can only shoot blindly. When we get close, we will rush up all at once…”

Hu Lanyan spoke with great enthusiasm, but everyone was half-believing and half-doubting. Many people did not believe that firearms could be as powerful as Hu Lanyan said. While they were talking, the order of the large group of bandits gathered outside became chaotic. In the ancient society that lacked means of communication, it was very difficult to organize nearly two thousand mobs that had been temporarily assembled. Everyone had followed Shen Hu to get rich. Seeing the stockade in front of them, but not launching an attack for a long time, many people had walked all morning and were tired and thirsty. They were ready to break the stockade, eat, drink, and rape. Now a large group of people were gathered under the sun, without food or drink, and they didn’t know what to do next. Gradually, some people began to curse, and some people instigated everyone to take action. Some people were also discussing loudly. The scene gradually became chaotic. The small leaders of each group tried to maintain order, but the sources of the gathered bandits were complex, and there were many sporadic bandits who had come in groups of three or five to get some benefits. They didn’t care about the leaders at all.

Suddenly, the restless crowd, as if receiving some order, rushed towards the laborers’ stockade. The leaders couldn’t stop them, and shouting was useless. Instead, they were swept along and rushed towards the labor camp in a chaotic manner.

By the time the news reached Shen Hu, the situation outside was already out of control. Except for Shen Hu’s own several hundred trusted followers, the other mobs had completely lost their order and rushed towards the labor camp.

From the direction of Hon Gai Fort, the loud sound of cannons firing immediately came. In this 250-meter straight-line space, there were now targets everywhere. The gunners on the fortress took advantage of this excellent opportunity to kill, firing fiercely at the large group of bandits who had poured into the space between the fortresses with two 24-pounder cannons. The militia armed with Minie rifles also fired their rifles at their fastest speed. Then, the typewriter also opened fire.

The solid shots with a lowered firing angle continuously crushed bloody alleys in the crowd—the power of the cannonballs was so great that they still had the strength to smash into the wall of the labor camp after penetrating the crowd, raising dust and smoke. The local laborers standing on the earthen wall were immediately agitated, and everyone squeezed and pushed, wanting to retreat—no one wanted to be hit in the face by this terrible thing.

“No retreat!” Dugu Qiuhun discovered signs of wavering and immediately jumped out, waving his katana and roaring, “Those who retreat will be killed without mercy!”

Although the local laborers did not understand his words, they understood his twisted and ferocious face and the shining broadsword in his hand. In addition, the shining spearheads of the naturalized laborers behind them were almost at their backs. After a period of commotion, the crowd was stabilized again.

The canister shot fired by the cannons and the lead bullets from the typewriter reaped the crowd like a torrential rain. The bandits fell one after another. The heads of some bandits suddenly exploded and flew backwards, and their limbs turned into fragments. The bandits were first stunned by such a tragic scene, and then they screamed and ran away, making inhuman cries. In less than five minutes, the large group of bandits who had rushed towards the labor camp collapsed under the artillery fire of Hon Gai Fort and fled in all directions. No matter how Shen Hu’s men intercepted them, many people simply fled the scene. The battle had not yet officially begun, and the bandits had already lost one-third of their men, which made Shen Hu so angry that he stomped his feet.

“Leaders—” before he could finish his words, many leaders had already left their seats in a panic. Everyone was in a hurry to gather their own troops. Without troops, there was no capital, and what was the point of “getting rich together.” Shen Hu, the temporary “alliance leader,” was nothing to them now.

Shen Hu was so angry that he could not speak. He quickly ordered his men to gather the main force to hold their ground, to see if he could manage to gather the main force of the bandits. He planned to make further plans after Fanhai Bao’s men arrived.

At this time, the marine platoon, which had been on standby at sea, launched an attack under Bei Kai’s order. They landed on the beach behind the bandits, which they had not noticed, and launched a surprise attack from the flank of the chaotic mob.

The sudden artillery fire from the mountain howitzer and the fierce attack from the flank by the marine platoon plunged the already panicked bandits into complete chaos. Many people were still in shock, and now they were even more terrified and only cared about escaping. Those bandits who were slightly calmer still wanted to rush up to resist, but the volley of rifle fire and a row of grenades that came at them made them cry for their parents. You Long watched as his nephew, You Hai, was blown to the ground, covered in blood. He rushed towards the marines regardless of his own life. A marine dodged his broadsword and stabbed him in the chest with a bayonet.