Chapter 60: Shi Jin Risks Danger to Save a Life
Shi Jin and Chen Da led the brothers of Shao Huashan straight to the northwest camp, and the officers and soldiers in the camp had already seen through the situation during the great chaos in the west camp. Seeing the group of people covered in blood in front of them, they knew that they were bandits from Shao Huashan. The ones closely following behind, wearing bright armor, were actually the governor's own troops. Therefore, with a single order from the officer guarding the camp, the archers guarding the camp shot out arrows wildly.
Shi Jin and Chen Da had long expected such a "welcome ceremony", so they each showed their skills, firing guns in front of them to block the incoming arrows. The brothers from Shao Hua Mountain also dispersed their horses, each wielding long spears to protect themselves, barely parrying the arrows that came flying in from all directions. However, they were ultimately too powerful and lacking in technique, and facing those scattered arrows, one misstep would result in being shot through their armor, with blood splattering on the ground. Fortunately, Shao Hua Mountain charged forward swiftly, taking advantage of the fact that the government soldiers' archers had not yet begun their second round of shooting, and a large group of people broke through the gate and killed their way into the camp. Shi Jin charged forward, his eyes fixed intently on the direction of the large flag in the camp, swinging his long spear and preparing to slaughter the defending soldiers who stood in his way.
The officers and men who guarded the camp originally formed a formation, lined up one by one, with hundreds of long guns outside and hundreds of pu knives inside. Behind them were dozens of rows of archers shooting arrows, and in the left and right barracks, there were still three hundred hook-handed ambushes buried.
As soon as Shi Jin and the others stormed into the camp, the long gunners welcomed them with a forest of gun heads, blocking their momentum. The hook-handed men quickly killed the hooks and pulled down the bandits on horseback, while the axe-wielding men guarding the inside advanced to finish off the fallen bandits. Meanwhile, the archers in the back could take advantage of this opportunity to shoot and kill the remnants of Mount Liushua's troops. The defending general had calculated that they should have a seven-out-of-ten chance of winning, but unexpectedly Shi Jin and the others were full of killing intent and came with such ferocity.
Shi Jin had made up his mind before charging into the camp and had also entrusted Chen Da to take over on the way. In this impact, the focus was on borrowing momentum. One is to borrow the momentum of the war horse, and the other is to borrow the momentum of the soldiers behind. Therefore, after Shi Jin charged into the northwest camp, he deliberately created a thick killing intent to intimidate the defending soldiers, but not with the intention of fighting to the death.
Shi Jin charged forward on his horse, and with a single move of "Lifting Fire to Heaven", he raised the spearhead that was thrust at his horse's chest. The warhorse galloped rapidly, and under the iron hooves, the long gun guards were trampled, their helmets shattered. Shi Jin's skill was indeed intimidating to the defending soldiers, but what made them even more fearful was the unyielding spirit of the brothers from Shao Huashan. They didn't have Shi Jin's exceptional martial arts skills, but in order not to hinder the overall momentum of the charge, they gazed at the gleaming sharp gunheads and charged forward with their horses, undaunted by death. At this rapid speed, although the spearheads pierced through their bodies and horses, the brothers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the front row broke through one wave after another of long gun formations. The brothers who followed behind were even more fearless, taking advantage of the opening created by the charge to gallop wildly, swinging their long guns, like an unstoppable torrent, slaughtering the axe-wielding guards along the way.
The officers and soldiers responsible for defending the fort had never thought that the troops on Mount Shouhua would be so brave and fearless, watching one by one rushing to their deaths in a tragic manner, they were all slightly panicked. Even those who were ambushing on both sides were stunned, originally waiting for the long spearman to block, and then ambush with hooks. But now those cavalrymen charged extremely fast, not only did they not block, but also broke through like a bamboo, and would soon rush over in an instant.
The general in charge of the defense took one look and his heart sank. Before leading his troops to garrison this place, he had received a secret order from Commander Meng, dividing his forces into two parts: one part was deployed outside the city to pretend to attack, while the main force was hidden inside the camp, arrayed in this formation. The arrangement of the formation inside the camp was indeed rare, and it was precisely by using this unexpected tactic that they could catch the enemy off guard. Moreover, according to Commander Meng's instructions, although this formation was small, it was complete in both attack and defense, and its success or failure depended on the coordination of each department. Therefore, the thousand-man formation was divided into four departments according to their attacking and defensive functions, with guns, knives, bows, and crossbows all under the direct command of the general. Each department's advance and retreat were all carried out in accordance with the general's orders. Although Commander Meng had only spoken a few words, he didn't fully understand them, but he knew how to carry out the orders. However, the troops that had gone out to attack the city earlier had been defeated and their whereabouts were unknown, and now the government army defending the camp was also on the verge of being breached. Even if they followed the usual procedures and failed, the blame for this defeat would not fall on Commander Meng's head, but in the end, he would still have to take responsibility, so seeing all this, his heart burned with anxiety.
That battalion of soldiers, gazing at the Shouhua Mountain, was about to charge through the enemy lines in a flash. His heart sank as he watched them approach the rear of the formation, on the verge of dispersing the entire thousand-man array into chaos. At this critical juncture, the general's mind grew even more frantic, and he hastily raised his command flag, ordering the archers in the rear to unleash a barrage of arrows at the enemy's flank, giving the gun and knife units a chance to catch their breath and regroup. With the reinforcements from the pursuing government troops, they would surely be able to turn the tide of battle around.
But his calculation in heart was good, however, the mistake lay in that he had just been flurried and hastily arranged the command flag incorrectly, which also led to the wrong military order.
Only then did the vanguard of the government army's cavalry, who were closely following the troops at Mount Shouhua, charge into the camp and coincidentally encounter the wrong order given by their general. Suddenly, between the barracks, hundreds of sharp and powerful grappling hooks shot out, instantly killing the government army's cavalry off guard. The grappling hooks pierced through armor and flesh, causing miserable screams, and those who were stabbed to death had nothing to say. However, the government soldiers who were hooked onto the grappling hooks suffered a more tragic fate. As the ropes attached to the grappling hooks were suddenly pulled tight, they dragged the soldiers on horseback down to the ground, splattering blood everywhere. The iron hooves of the following troops trampled them, making their bodies unrecognizable and their corpses incomplete.
At this moment, the team of Shao Huashan had already rushed to the rear of the thousand-man formation, not only dispersing the gun and knife departments, but also causing those archers to flee in all directions. Although Shi Jin and others did not kill many defenders, the good show was yet to come, and Shi Jin's heart was even more urgent, just taking advantage of the momentum to charge forward, straight towards the large flag in the camp.
The general guarding the fortress saw that a great mistake had been made, and suddenly his whole body went limp and he collapsed to the ground, staring blankly as Shi Jin walked towards the large flag, unable to do anything about it, and instead let out a desperate and bitter laugh from the bottom of his heart.
At this moment, Deputy General Feng Ping, who was in charge of pursuing Shi Jin and others, also saw their intention to cut down the big flag. The big flag is not only the dignity of each camp, but also represents the survival of a formation. If the big flag of the Northwest Camp is cut down by Shi Jin and others, it will also boost the morale of the enemy and destroy the prestige of the government army. At that time, the defending troops here will also be at a loss, and each will flee in disarray. The importance of this flag, for Feng Ping, was well understood. Therefore, he galloped his horse without regard for anything, just to block Shi Jin. If he could hold back Shi Jin and preserve the big flag, it would be a meritorious deed.
