The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 165 Bloodbath at the Valley Pass

Ai Wannian pierced the bandit leader's helmet with a single spear thrust, his heart brimming with heroic spirit.

At this moment, if he were to pull back his gun and thrust it again, he could achieve victory in one fell swoop and kill the bandit leader on the spot!

However, when he looked closely at the bandit leader's face, he was instantly stunned.

The face before him was dark and sturdy, with a simple and honest air about it. It did not resemble a bandit leader at all.

Although Ai Wannian had never met the bandit leader, he had heard Cao Wenzhao describe the physical characteristics of the mountain tiger.

According to Cao Wenzhao, the tiger that went up the mountain was lean and wiry, with a sinister look in his eyes and a brow that looked like it had been carved with a knife, like a Yama, the King of Hell, who was collecting debts.

He was nothing like the honest, simple farmer in front of him!
Who the hell is this?

Ai Wannian was shaken to his core, a chill running from his tailbone straight up to the top of his head.

In the instant he lost his composure, the farmer in front of him had already reacted, grabbed his waist knife, and swung it down at Ai Wannian's face.

At the critical moment, Ai Wannian finally came to his senses and subconsciously pulled on the reins, pulling his warhorse half a foot to the right, barely dodging the fatal blow.

Even so, the sharp blade still managed to cut a bloody wound on his thigh.

The excruciating pain instantly brought Ai Wannian back to his senses.

He didn't have time to think about why the person in front of him wasn't Shangshanhu, and why the real bandit leader wasn't under the central command flag. Where had he gone?
In a flash, a ruthless glint rose from the depths of Ai Wannian's heart.

As a seasoned general with many battles under his belt, Ai Wannian made a decision instantly.

Whether it's a real tiger or not, just kill it all!
The battlefield is in chaos right now. As long as this person dies, the golden armor falls, the commander's flag drops, and thousands of bandits around him witness it all. At that time, even a fake will become real!

Then, I will raise my arms and shout "The bandit leader is dead!" to disrupt the morale of the bandit soldiers, who will inevitably fall into chaos and collapse without a fight.

Thinking of this, Ai Wannian ignored the wound on his leg that was still bleeding profusely, roared, picked up his spear, and launched a new attack on the "mountain tiger" in front of him.

"Come die!"

Dong Erzhu did not expect Ai Wannian to suddenly attack. Seeing the enemy general's silver spear coming, he subconsciously wanted to raise his knife to block it.

But Ai Wannian flicked his spear, turning a point into a sweep, and swept the waist knife in Dong Erzhu's hand to the ground. Then he drew his spear, turned around, and stabbed at Dong Erzhu's chest.

"not good!"

Seeing this, Li Laowai, who was not far away, became so anxious that his eyes turned red. He forced Ai Hui and Wu Yongze back with a knife, and without thinking, he turned around to protect Dong Erzhu.

He knew perfectly well that it didn't matter who was under that golden armor.

The important thing is that this "person" wearing golden armor, representing the commander-in-chief of the entire army, absolutely cannot have anything happen to him in front of everyone!
In the midst of the chaos, the soldiers below couldn't distinguish between the real and the fake; they only recognized the flag and the armor.

If Dong Erzhu really falls, in everyone's eyes, it will be like their own commander being killed by the enemy general.

If the commander-in-chief dies, it's like the sky has fallen. At that point, everything will collapse and no one can save us.

"Get out of my way!"

Li Laowai arrived just in time, wielding his heavy saber, and forcefully deflected Ai Wannian's spear, rescuing Dong Erzhu from the entanglement.

"Good brother, I'm counting on you!"

"Let's take him down together!"

When Dong Erzhu saw Li Laowai coming to his aid, he breathed a sigh of relief and then drew his spare longsword from his horse, preparing for a righteous two-on-one fight.

Ai Wannian frowned upon seeing this. He originally wanted to go after Dong Erzhu again, but Li Laowai stopped him. Helpless, he could only turn around and deal with the troublesome enemy general in front of him first.

Seeing this, his personal guards around him also desperately moved closer to Ai Wannian.

In an instant, the center of the battlefield became a bloody grinder.

Li Laowai wielded his broadsword with both hands, his movements powerful and swift. The blades whistled through the air with a dull thud, their force so great that Ai Wannian's hands went numb.

The two fought to a standstill, the sounds of metal clashing echoing incessantly.

But Dong Erzhu was completely at a loss. He couldn't get involved in this situation at all. When he swung his broadsword, it was either deflected by the spear tip or swept away by the horse-slaying saber.

Left with no other choice, Dong Erzhu recognized his own limitations and turned to fight Ai Hui and his men who had come to his aid.

With a different opponent, he instantly felt like a fish in water, charging forward headlong and forcing Ai Hui to retreat repeatedly.

Seeing that the government troops had been temporarily forced back, Dong Erzhu quietly withdrew from the battle, rode his horse around to a corner, and then pulled out a heavy three-barreled gun from a leather pouch on the side of his horse.

Watching Ai Wannian and Li Laowai locked in a fierce battle in the center of the battlefield, Dong Erzhu cursed inwardly:
"Damn it, you think you can bully me because I don't know how to use close combat? Let me give you a good shot!"

Not far away, some sharp-eyed soldiers saw Dong Erzhu secretly loading lead bullets in a corner, intending to launch a sneak attack on their commander.

He was terrified and immediately turned his horse around, spurring it toward Dong Erzhu in an attempt to stop the thief.

"Damn it, now anyone can come and cause trouble for Grandpa?"

Seeing the soldiers rushing towards him from not far away, Dong Erzhu was both anxious and angry. He grabbed the wooden handle of the three-barreled gun and used it as a hammer.

With a roar, he struck the approaching government soldier with a single blow, knocking him and his helmet to the ground. Instantly, the soldier's brains splattered, and he collapsed, unable to rise.

"If I can't beat Ai Wannian, surely I can beat you?"

Dong Erzhu glanced at the pool of red and white liquid on the ground, spat inwardly, then raised his three-barreled gun and aimed at Ai Wannian not far away. He wanted to help Li Laowai, but the two men were already in a bloodthirsty frenzy, fighting like butterflies flitting among flowers, their guns and knives flashing indistinguishably.

Dong Erzhu held the gun, panting heavily, his palms sweating profusely. He couldn't find a suitable opportunity and didn't dare to fire easily.

Just as he was about to give up, Ai Wannian, who was not far away, revealed a flaw.

He exchanged a blow with Li Laowai, then took a few steps back, using the recoil from his weapon to shake his numb hands, and stared at Li Laowai with a serious expression.

Just then, Li Laowai heard a loud shout from behind:
"Old Wai, lie down!"

Without a second thought, Li Laowai's instinct, honed from years of living on the edge, made him suddenly bend down.

Dong Erzhu seized the opportunity and lit the fire door on Ai Wannian.

"boom!"

With a loud bang, three lead bullets, arranged in a triangular pattern, whistled towards Ai Wannian's face!

Ai Wannian reacted quickly, instinctively tilting his head. The lead ball grazed his cheek, leaving only a burning cut on his face, which startled him and made him break out in a cold sweat.

Ai Wannian was both surprised and furious. He glanced around and immediately spotted Dong Erzhu holding a three-barreled gun not far away.

He reined in his horse, drew his gun, and turned to confront Dong Erzhu.

Seeing this, Li Laowai quickly stood up, blocked Ai Wannian's spear with his sword, and cursed loudly:
"Zhu Zi, you fucking missed!"

With the sound of the gunshot, Ai Hui, who was not far away, came to his senses and led his personal guards to try to protect Ai Wannian.

But before him stood the elite of the bandits, each one fearless and relentlessly blocking Ai Hui's path, preventing them from getting close.

Dong Erzhu missed his first attack, but he wasn't angry.

He quickly calmed himself down, soothing his frightened warhorse while waiting for an opportunity to strike.

This time, he learned from his mistake, aimed at Ai Wannian's chest, and patiently waited for his opportunity.

But this time Ai Wannian was smarter and dared not distance himself from Li Laowai. Instead, he kept pestering Li Laowai, trying to hide behind him.

Li Laowai naturally understood Ai Wannian's thoughts, and wielded his broadsword with wide, sweeping movements, giving Ai Wannian no chance to get close.

In order to create an opportunity for Dong Erzhu behind him, he seized the moment, pulled a javelin from his horse, and threw it at Ai Wannian's face.

Ai Wannian was startled and spun around abruptly, barely avoiding the oncoming javelin.

But just as he turned around, Dong Erzhu's roar rang out again!

"Get down!"

Li Laowai understood immediately and bent down again in response.

"boom!"

With a deafening gunshot, Ai Wannian's chest felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer, and the breastplate on his chest instantly dented into a large hole.

He felt a burning sensation in his throat and suddenly spat out a mouthful of hot blood, which immediately splattered all over Li Laowai's face.

However, Ai Wannian was a veteran general and a graduate of the military examination, so his physical abilities were far superior to those of ordinary people.

Despite the excruciating pain, he gritted his teeth, suppressing the churning blood in his chest, gripping the reins tightly with both hands and hooking his feet firmly into the stirrups.

He managed to steady himself and avoid flying off the horse.

"Zhu Zi, well done!"

Seeing this, Li Laowai was overjoyed and quickly picked up his knife, preparing to go forward and kill the injured Ai Wannian.

At this moment, Ai Hui finally broke through the encirclement of the elite bandits and stood in front of Li Laowai.

Ai Hui struggled to block Li Laowai's attacks while directing Qianhu Wu Yongze to protect the commander Ai Wannian and retreat frantically.

Just when he thought he could withdraw from the battlefield smoothly, he heard a series of rousing battle cries coming from afar towards the center of the battlefield.

This reinforcement was the elite vanguard previously led by Shao Yong.

They had just destroyed the enemy's artillery position, and everyone was covered in blood and wounds, suffering considerable losses. But when they saw the enemy general in the center of the battlefield, they immediately rushed over with bloodshot eyes.

At this moment, Ai Wannian was lying on the back of Qianhu Wu Yongze, having difficulty breathing, clearly suffering from serious internal injuries.

He raised his head and looked around. He saw more and more bandits surging up, their torches standing tall as far as the eye could see.

He assumed he had fallen into the trap set by the mountain tiger, who had used a double as bait to lure his elite troops into a deadly situation.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Ai Wannian made a decisive move and roared at Wu Yongze in front of him:
"Blow the bugle, retreat!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Yongze's heart sank. He hurriedly pulled out his horn from his pocket and blew it three times.

Woo——woo——woo——

As three long bugle calls sounded, the officers and soldiers still fighting desperately on the battlefield were startled. They immediately shook off the enemy soldiers in front of them and retreated to the rear without looking back.

But at this point, how easy is it to retreat?

(End of this chapter)