Chapter 15: The Drum Blade (V)

“Move aside! Give way, you bastards! I’m not dead yet—why the hell are you all looking so gloomy?”
After a simple bandage, Jiang Chui’s wound on his cheek had stopped bleeding. Fortunately, the feather arrow wasn’t poisoned; otherwise, even the gods would have found it hard to save him from the poison’s effects.
“Elder brother, it’s the imperial troops.”
The second-in-command nodded slightly at Jiang Chui and repeated his words.
Though he and the third-in-command held high positions in Heiyun Fort, Jiang Chui was still the leader. In times of life and death for the fort, it was the leader who must make decisions.
“Heh, so what if it’s the imperial troops? I’ve killed plenty of corrupt officials and generals—adding one more won’t make a difference. Let our men catch their breath first. Once they run out of arrows and get tired, we’ll charge and wipe out every soldier in the county office.”
A true man should avenge his enemies and repay those who have done him favors.
This arrow-related grudge—Jiang Chui would avenge it!
No matter how many arrows the imperial troops had, there would come a moment when they ran out. Jiang Chui knew this well, so he had no problem waiting a little longer.
When the enemy was exhausted and they were at their strongest, it would be time for his men to charge on horseback.
As expected, after the initial panic, the men gradually calmed down under the commands of their leaders. The dense stream of arrows coming from both sides of the county office also thinned out, seemingly about to run out.
Just as Jiang Chui was preparing to order an attack on the county office gates, the sound of thundering horse hooves came through. His men hadn’t mounted their horses yet—so where did those hooves come from?
Jiang Chui had anticipated the former but not the latter. The imperial troops might indeed run out of arrows, but they didn’t stop and instead charged forward on horseback.
“Hurry up and mount your horses! Tell the men to get on their horses!”
Panicked, Jiang Chui shouted, urging his men to mount their horses. As a bandit turned warrior, he understood better than anyone else how devastating cavalry attacks on infantry could be. Moreover, these were Tang Dynasty imperial troops, while his men had no chance against them in terms of armor and weapons.
Their only option was to rely on the speed of their horses and fight desperately!
One hundred paces, eighty paces, fifty paces…
As the imperial cavalry drew closer, sweat beaded on Jiang Chui’s forehead.

Fortunately, when the enemy cavalry was still about thirty steps away, all his men had already mounted their horses. The enemy cavalry’s speed slowed down thanks to the dead men and horses, which greatly hindered their progress and gave his surviving men a chance to survive.

“Meet them head-on! Don’t be afraid! Fight to the death!”

Now that the enemy cavalry was charging, even if he tried to turn his horse around, they would catch up to him in less than thirty steps. Retreating at such a moment was the stupidest choice. When all seems lost, one must take a desperate gamble! Only by fighting can there be a glimmer of hope!

The bandits, who had hurriedly mounted their horses and formed ranks, charged forward with their simple knives and shouts. Many of their men had already been killed in the ambush by the enemy army, and they were filled with anger. Even if their leader said nothing, they wouldn’t act like cowards. Those who dared to become bandits were willing to risk their lives—those who truly feared death would never stoop to such a life.

Jiang Chui’er, Lengmian Yanjun, and Qi Laosan, along with their troops, charged headlong at the fierce enemy cavalry.

But only when they got closer did they realize the disparity between themselves and the enemy. Their simple knives could only scratch the enemy’s shiny armor and breastplates, leaving no significant damage. In contrast, a single swing of the enemy’s sword could carve a deep wound in their stomachs. Their wooden shields shattered instantly under the force of the enemy’s swords, while the enemy’s steel shields remained unscathed no matter how hard they struck.

This was a completely unfair battle—they had no chance of winning. But battles are inherently unfair; only the strong survive.

“Kill them all! Leave none alive!”

Li Kuo swung his long spear as if there was no one around, first throwing one bandit dozens of steps away, then using the spear shaft to pierce another bandit through the heart.

After nearly a decade in the military, killing people had become commonplace for him, especially since they were evil bandits.

“The commander ordered us to kill every bandit, leave none behind!” Dou Qing repeated Li Kuo’s orders while slashing at the bandits closing in. He agreed with Li Kuo—there should be no mercy for these evil bandits. If they were spared, they would continue to harm the people.

Swing, stab, thrust, lure… Li Kuo’s spear skills were masterful. With every swing of his spear, a bandit would cry out in pain and fall off his horse, rolling around helplessly.

Under his leadership, the soldiers of the Jianghuai Army were all inspired to fight bravely, clashing fiercely with the bandits. Li Kuo brought with him the elite troops of the Jianghuai Army, along with seasoned veterans from the Tongwu Camp—how could a ragtag group possibly resist them? Under his command, the cavalry struck like sharp blades, creating a gaping gap among the bandits. The bandits already lacked fighting spirit, and after being attacked by the official army, they became utterly demoralized, with no desire to fight at all.

“Bring me a bow!” Li Kuo casually tossed his spear to a nearby soldier, took a long bow from him, drew it back to full tension, and aimed at the bald bandit not far away.

Swish! With a loud shout, Li Kuo shot an arrow that flew swiftly toward Jiang Chui’er. At that moment, Jiang Chui’er was engaged in a fight with a Tang general—how could he know an arrow was being shot at him? With a thud, the arrow pierced Jiang Chui’er’s head. The bandit leader didn’t even have time to cry out in pain before falling off his horse and dying.

“The leader is dead! The leader is dead!” Seeing this, the surrounding bandits started shouting. Those still fighting against the official army lost all fighting spirit and scattered like birds and beasts.

“Stop! Don’t run, damn it!” Qi Laosan paced anxiously, but there was nothing he could do. The bandits already had poor discipline compared to the official army. They relied on their boldness to rob and kill, but now that boldness had been worn away by the official army, they couldn’t even face their enemies with swords. Though they had killed countless people and their hands were stained with blood, life was often ironic—the more people they killed, the more afraid they became of death. It wasn’t surprising that their leader had been killed by an enemy general in the chaos, and their followers had scattered.

But would the Tang army spare them? In their eyes, they must be utterly evil demons. Running away would only lead to certain death, so it was better to fight to the end. To capture the bandits, one must first capture their leader—there was only one chance left for him! Qi Laosan glanced at the young Tang general standing not far away, clad in black armor and holding a sword, then whipped his horse forward at full speed.