knife

Chapter 228 The Second Blow in the Chain

Zhu Zhe slowly pulled the knife out from under the last barbarian's ribs.

The other person's eyes bulged out, their gray pupils fixed on Zhu Zhe. When they opened their mouths, blood bubbles gushed out, and they mumbled something incoherently.

Zhu Zhe didn't understand, and he was too lazy to understand.

Judging from the other person's expression, they're probably not convinced!

This guy is indeed more capable than Zhu Zhe, but what good is it?
Zhu Zhe couldn't defeat them alone, so dozens of them rushed up, using every kind of weapon—long spears, small knives, crossbows, and arrows.

Twelve hundred men ambushed the enemy, while the enemy numbered only three hundred. In the first round, nearly two hundred were killed, leaving only about a hundred. It was roughly ten men serving one enemy. If you were not satisfied, you could only appeal to the King of Hell.

"Captain, we've lost five brothers!"

"Five of them died? How did those five unlucky bastards die?" Upon hearing his subordinate's report, Zhu Zhe's good mood vanished instantly.

He was determined to fight a surprise attack with zero casualties!
As a result, five people died.

"Captain, these barbarians are really fierce!" an old soldier said. "One barbarian was shot like a hedgehog and even stabbed by Huang Er. Huang Er was still gloating when the barbarian smashed the gun barrel with a punch, rushed up and grabbed Huang Er. Crack! All of Huang Er's bones were broken!"

Zhu Zhe's face was so dark it looked like it was about to rain.

Almost all of the five people who died did so because of their own carelessness or overconfidence.

"Secretary! Secretary!"

he yelled.

An officer rushed over, carrying a knife.

"Captain, what are your orders?"

"Write down how those unlucky bastards died, and have everyone in the entire Zhechong Prefecture read it carefully and memorize it!"

The clerk hesitated for a moment: "Captain, since they're all gone, let them go. At least let them leave with some dignity!"

"Bullshit!" Zhu Zhe said, "So what if they die in battle? It won't cost them a penny in compensation. But if we don't learn from these bloody lessons and teach them to future generations, are you planning to let other brothers follow in their footsteps?"

"Understood!" the clerk said loudly, puffing out his chest.

"Clean up the battlefield, build a mound of corpses, and have the secretary erect a wooden plaque next to it that reads: 'Those who offend the might of Great Qin, though far away, shall be punished!'"

"Captain, that's brilliant!" Several soldiers around him cheered loudly.

“These words were spoken by the young master, not by me. I could never say such a thing!” Zhu Zhe said.

Compared to Zhu Zhe, He Li, who was also a captain in the Zhechong Prefecture, had similar martial arts cultivation, both at the peak of the sixth rank. However, the two were twice as old.

He Li is already forty years old this year.

"Old He, this first battle should be fought by you, not that brat Zhu Zhe!" Han Jing, who was lying with He Li on a huge millstone in a farmhouse, said with some dissatisfaction. "He doesn't understand any rules. Everyone else is refusing to take it, but he jumps out."

He Li chuckled: "Zhu Zhe is only twenty years old, with a bright future ahead of him. I'm already forty, and Lao Han, you're in your late thirties. We might still have to rely on him in the future! Letting the young man make the first contribution shows that we old guys are mentoring the younger generation, doesn't it?"

“We love the young, but this guy has no respect for his elders! He’s too arrogant!” Han Jing said, “So what if he’s twenty years old and at the peak of the sixth rank of the Xuan Yuan realm? Can he compare to Commander Xia? Commander Fang? Or the two Protectors Xiao and Li?”

"Young man, it's good to be a little arrogant!" He Li laughed loudly. "When I was his age, my martial arts skills were terrible, but I was much more arrogant than him. Thinking about it now, if I hadn't met General Gu later, I probably wouldn't be alive today. Haha, who hasn't been young? Old Han, even if this isn't our first battle, it doesn't stop us from killing the enemy and making a name for ourselves!"

"That's true!" Han Jing nodded.

He Li's ambush location in Zhechong Prefecture was not in any dangerous terrain.

After Zhu Zhe's first victory, the barbarian armies that followed would inevitably be more vigilant, making it impossible for them to attack from geographically advantageous locations.

Therefore, the location for this battle was a village.

A village of seventy or eighty households would be considered a very prosperous and bustling village outside the Great Wall.

Now, all the original villagers have been evacuated, and in their place are 1,200 soldiers from the entire Zhechong Prefecture.

They arrived here three days ago and spent a day evacuating the residents.

Of course, outside the Great Wall, what they called evacuation was really just driving people away. The people outside the Great Wall were fierce and unruly; if you didn't draw your sword, they really wouldn't pay any attention to you.

For the remaining two days, they began to set up all sorts of traps in the manor.

It's not that we can't fight these barbarians head-on.
But since we've already anticipated the enemy's moves and can eliminate them at minimal cost, why waste so much effort?

Of course, you should choose the combat method with the highest cost-effectiveness.

These small groups of barbarians who set out from Longgoubao were there to cause destruction, kill, and plunder. It would be strange if they didn't come to such a prosperous village. Once they entered the village, it would become their graveyard.

Chaha was completely consumed by rage.

His brother died. Not only did he die, but he died a very tragic death.

My brother and three hundred men were all dead, and their bodies were piled up like a mound of corpses.

The soil, stones, human corpses, horse corpses, and other debris were piled up high, with the older brother's head on top.

It took Chaha a whole day to piece his brother's head and body back together.

He vowed to take revenge.

He wanted to kill every Qin person he saw along the way.
Cut off their heads and rip out their hearts to offer as a sacrifice to the spirit of our deceased brother.

The sinister Qin people set a trap; otherwise, with my brother's bravery, how could he have died so easily?
"Chief, look, there's a big village ahead!" a barbarian rider shouted excitedly.

It's been three days since we came out. Apart from seeing the corpses of hundreds of our comrades on the first day, we haven't seen any other tangible figures.

Their provisions were almost gone, and if they couldn't find a place to plunder soon, their lives would become very difficult.

Fortunately, things went their way. Just when they were feeling anxious, a large village suddenly appeared in their field of vision.

"Go! Kill them all!" Chaha spurred his horse forward, feeling that his murderous aura finally had a place to be released, and he was filled with joy.

Outside the village were vast fields of fertile land. The autumn harvest had just ended, but there were still many people bending over in the fields picking up fallen ears of wheat. Hearing the sound of dense hooves, these people rushed out of the fields and ran towards the village.

Running alongside them were some dogs that had been frolicking in the fields.

Only a dozen or so old oxen, upon hearing the sound of hooves, raised their heads to watch the barbarian cavalry galloping towards them. But these old oxen only glanced at them, mooed a few times, and then lowered their heads again, using their large tongues to roll up the ears of wheat that some people had just thrown down into their mouths, chewing them with relish.

To prevent anyone from escaping the village, the three hundred men of Chaha spread out in formation and rushed into the village simultaneously from four directions.

No one in the village fled.

Meanwhile, the dogs, cats, and chickens were running around on the roof and ladders, causing quite a commotion.

Chaha suddenly reined in his horse.

The narrow, winding roads and the mud-brick houses with blue tiles all indicated the village's wealth, but it was too quiet. The brothers had already rushed in, but there was no sound from inside the village.

This is not normal.

The thought had barely crossed Chaha's mind when he heard screams.

The first scream seemed to herald the start of a cacophony of shouts, screams, and the clanging of bows and arrows that erupted in the once quiet village.

Han Jing had just torn off the skirt she was wearing on the outside and hadn't even had time to pull down the floral headband when a barbarian charged in with his horse.

Han Jing reached out and picked up the iron rod placed on the millstone. He first jumped onto the millstone, and then delivered a crushing blow.

Despite his slender build, Han Jing possessed exceptional martial arts skills. With a single blow, he knocked the barbarian rider and his horse to the ground.

Chaha was both shocked and furious. He spurred his horse forward. The road twisted and turned. Arrows were shot out here and there, and there was a trap at that corner. A wall that looked very solid would suddenly collapse when someone passed by. Brothers rushed through the crack of a half-open door to take shelter. As soon as the door opened, arrows shot out in front of them.

As he turned his horse around, a troop of Qin soldiers suddenly appeared on the road he had come from, and in front of them were two repeating crossbows that could fire eight arrows at a time.

Archers appeared on the rooftops.
There are riflemen behind the wall.

The village's complex road network left the cavalry with no room to maneuver.

The barbarian roars grew fewer and fewer, while more and more Qin soldiers in black armor surged in from all directions.

Chaha was left with only about ten people. They gathered in a courtyard, back to back, looking desperately at the roof, the densely packed Qin soldiers on the courtyard wall, and the people constantly pouring in from the gate.

"Who dares to fight me to the death?" Chaha shouted angrily, brandishing his spiked club.

"Let's fight to the death! Let's fight to the death!" A dozen or so barbarians shouted in unison.

He Li glanced at Han Jing beside him: "What are these barbarians yelling about?"

Han Jing shook his head: "I don't understand, but judging from this, they want to fight us one-on-one?"

"Do you want to?" He Li asked.

"I'm too old!" Han Jing chuckled. "Why don't you go, Captain?"

“I’m older than you!” He Li said, dissatisfied.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Han Jing waved his hand and shouted, "What are you all waiting for? Shoot them all down so we can call it a day and go home!"

As Han Jing lowered his hand, countless arrows rained down on the remaining dozen or so barbarians in the courtyard.

Another squad of three hundred men was wiped out.

(End of this chapter)