Chapter 34: The Ambush

However, Zheng Zhilong did not walk straight into the ambush. He had been taking a circuitous route, deliberately choosing desolate paths. Although he had temporarily shaken off his pursuers, he had anticipated that the enemy might try to intercept him in the area of Puzhao Temple. He ordered his men to rest for a moment and summoned Tōtarō to confer.

“Tarō!” Zheng Zhilong took a sip of water from his bamboo canteen. “Puzhao Temple is just ahead. In a moment, have one of your trusted men lead the main group that way. You and a few others will escort me on the small path we took last time.”

After retaking Xiamen Island from Li Kuiqi, Zheng Zhilong had surveyed the terrain around Wulao Peak with Tōtarō many times, familiarizing himself with all the roads and paths. He was a true warlord, and he knew that keeping an eye on his escape route was of the utmost importance.

He had learned from the local people about a small path in a bamboo forest about a li outside Puzhao Temple that led directly over Wulao Peak. He had taken his personal guards and walked it once. The path was in poor condition but was passable. He had secretly sent a few of his trusted men to repair it. The entire path was hidden in the jungle and undergrowth, very secluded.

Tōtarō nodded. “Few people know that path, so there shouldn’t be an ambush. But if it’s just a few of us escorting you, we’ll be a small force. If something happens on the way, I’m afraid we won’t be able to protect you, my lord.”

“Don’t worry, I have you,” Zheng Zhilong said with great gravity.

“Yes, I will risk my life to protect you, my lord!” Tōtarō was filled with gratitude. For a master to entrust his life to a samurai in a time of crisis was the greatest honor. He readily agreed.

“Change of clothes!” Zheng Zhilong commanded. A personal guard who had been following him took out a bundle of clothes. Inside was a set of slightly used blue cotton trousers and a jacket, the same kind worn by the local commoners and Zheng Zhilong’s own soldiers and sailors. He helped him change.

His own armor was put on by one of his personal guards. He clapped the guard on the shoulder. “Dalin, you’ve been with me for a long time. Your chances of survival this time are slim, but don’t worry about what happens after.”

“I am willing to die for you, my lord!” the guard named Dalin knelt and kowtowed. “Please take care of yourself, my lord!”

Tōtarō instructed the Japanese mercenaries who were to escort Zheng Zhilong to discard their matchlocks. They were inconvenient to use here and too conspicuous. In contrast, many of the Zheng army soldiers used tachi.

After changing, the main group, with the personal guard disguised as “Zheng Zhilong” in their midst, headed towards the main road to Puzhao Temple. Zheng Zhilong and Tōtarō, with a few men, slipped into the undergrowth and followed the little-used path.

Through his telescope, Qian Shuixie noticed that the enemy had made a brief stop outside Puzhao Temple before continuing their advance. As the enemy drew closer, he was reminded of his deer hunting days in America, hiding in the bushes, waiting for a deer to appear in his scope.

Now, his scope was always filled with people. Qian Shuixie had no time for sentimentality. Seeing the enemy enter the kill zone, with the nearest group only 300 meters away, he immediately picked up his walkie-talkie. “Prepare to fire!” Then, with a clatter, he pulled back the bolt of his machine gun.

To ensure a kill, the Hornet team had brought a machine gun, which Qian Shuixie would operate himself. The machine gun itself was standard equipment for the special reconnaissance teams, but the ammunition was strictly controlled. For training, they used reloaded black powder cartridges, and even then, they had to count every round. But this time, with a dual-stamped approval from the Planning Commission and the General Military Administration, Qian Shuixie had drawn several hundred rounds of original 7.62mm NATO ammunition from the Planning Commission’s arsenal. He couldn’t help but sigh: Zheng Zhilong was getting the VIP treatment.

Through the scope mounted on the machine gun, Qian Shuixie could now make out the appearance of the group. Most of them seemed to be Japanese, with about a dozen dressed as Chinese. The man they were surrounding, a young and sturdy individual, though his armor was in disarray, had the most exquisite clothing and weapons. He was probably Zheng Zhilong himself.

A thrill of excitement ran through Qian Shuixie. At this distance, with three teams firing simultaneously, it would be a storm of bullets. Besides his machine gun, the other teams had at least one automatic rifle each. In an instant, they could turn these few dozen men into a beehive.

However, it would be better to wait until the target was closer. Qian Shuixie raised his telescope again. This time, he could see them more clearly, even making out their facial features. He was suddenly startled. This man was not Zheng Zhilong!

The intelligence bureau had provided several high-definition digital photos of Zheng Zhilong, from the front and the side. By any standard, in any timeline, Zheng Zhilong was a handsome young man. In contrast, the man before him, though also young, was far from handsome.

“A double?!” Qian Shuixie’s eyes widened. He continued to scan the faces in the crowd, but looking at so many made his eyes blur. He quickly lowered his telescope. It was clear that either Zheng Zhilong had changed into plain clothes and was mixed in with this group, or he had used the “golden cicada sheds its shell” trick and had taken another route.

Qian Shuixie issued another order: “All teams, be advised, the target may be attempting to cross the blockade in small groups! Be vigilant! Anyone attempting to cross the blockade is to be shot first, identity to be confirmed later.”

He no longer had time to personally inspect the entire blockade line. Seeing that this group of enemies was now less than 200 meters away, Qian Shuixie decided not to delay. He would eliminate this group first. Whether Zheng Zhilong was among them or not, after wiping them out, he would go to the other observation posts to check for any who might have slipped through.

He took a deep breath, slowly traversed the muzzle, and aimed the scope at the front of the formation. He had fired the M77B1 many times at the range in America and was very familiar with its ballistics. Although it was configured as a light machine gun for portability, he was confident he could shoot well at this distance.

Qian Shuixie loaded a disintegrating belt of 7.62mm NATO rounds, genuine American-made ammunition from another timeline. The belt was loaded with a three-to-one ratio of tracer/incendiary rounds, their tips painted orange-yellow, which were excellent for observing the fall of shot.

It was the first time such a lavish setup had been used against a single person. Qian Shuixie sighed, gripped the stock of the machine gun, carefully adjusted the shoulder rest, and slowly moved his right index finger from the trigger guard to the trigger, gradually applying pressure. It was less of a pull and more of a squeeze.

The machine gun bucked back and began to spit out bullets. The tracers, fired at a three-to-one ratio, drew a red line, making it easy to observe the point of impact.

The ammunition belt snaked and twisted, flipping from the left side of the gun to the right.

Qian Shuixie fired two three-round bursts first. The sixth bullet hit the crowd, and a Japanese mercenary clutched his stomach and fell, screaming. He immediately followed up with a long burst, pouring bullets into the group, tearing through flesh and blood. The crowd scattered like an anthill doused with boiling water.

As he fired, the other two teams also opened fire. The Serbian M77B1 automatic rifles, mounted on bipods, fired from the flanks, mowing down the panicked, fleeing crowd like scythes.

“Don’t let a single one escape.” This was the standing order Qian Shuixie had given. The special reconnaissance team members did not waste a single bullet. Even those who were hit and were writhing on the ground, trying to crawl away, were unhesitatingly shot again with high-precision rifles until they stopped moving. Blood and dust flew everywhere.

It was a textbook one-sided slaughter. When the gunfire stopped, all thirty-odd people who had been trying to escape along the road had been cut down. Their bodies lay in heaps, and the blood flowing from beneath them had stained the entire path red. Severed limbs and remains were scattered everywhere. The 7.62mm NATO round was powerful enough to tear flesh and limbs from the body.

Qian Shuixie sent men down with photos to search for any important figures. He himself led a team to the other posts. As they were on their way, a single, sharp crack of a rifle shot rang out from Post 6—the sound of a Mosin-Nagant! Qian Shuixie’s heart skipped a beat. Could Zheng Zhilong be breaking through at another location?

The firepower at the other posts was not weak. They not only had M77B1 automatic rifles on bipods for suppressive fire but also scoped precision rifles. However, with only three men per post, it would be difficult to completely seal off the area if a large group of enemies charged. If the enemy broke into smaller groups, it would be easy for them to slip through. Therefore, when Qian Shuixie had assigned their tasks, he had given each team a photo of Zheng Zhilong and ordered them to first use their high-precision rifles to snipe any similar-looking individuals before opening up with full firepower, ensuring a kill.

“Enemy attempting to cross the blockade!” the report from Post 6 came over the walkie-talkie.

“Second squad, with me!” Qian Shuixie drew his Magnum pistol and raised it in the air. “The Zheng rebel is at Post 6!”

Hearing that the main target had appeared, the team members, ignoring the tall grass and dense forest, followed Qian Shuixie at a run along the small path they had cleared between the posts. They quickly reached Post 6.

Post 6 was situated on high ground, overlooking a small path that was barely visible in the undergrowth. Because this path was so difficult to traverse, with some sections barely recognizable as a path, Qian Shuixie had initially planned not to waste manpower here. However, during their pre-battle reconnaissance, the special reconnaissance team had discovered that this path, which should have been unused for years, showed signs of recent man-made repairs. Some thorn bushes had been cleared, trees obstructing the path had been cut down, and in some places where it was easy to get lost, small piles of stones had been left as markers.

Although the person who repaired the path was not necessarily Zheng Zhilong, the intelligence bureau analyzed that ordinary people would not bother to maintain a difficult, wild path. As a precaution, Qian Shuixie had placed a team here to monitor it. He had not expected this bit of caution to land them the big fish.