As a young marshal, it's reasonable for me to have 300,000 private troops, right?

Gunfight is about to break out!

The bandits behind them, like hungry wolves, fired wildly at the carriage.

Bullets whistled through the snow and the sound of "table tennis" echoed continuously. Some hit the wooden carriages, making small holes, while others grazed the wheels, splashing snow and wood chips.

happy Shun lay prone on the horse's back, gripping the reins tightly with one hand and firing back furiously with the other, holding up his pistol.

The muzzle flashes of gunfire were particularly blinding in the wind and snow. Veins bulged on his forehead as he roared, "Drive the wagon! Charge towards the woods!"

Gunfire, shouts of battle, and the sound of horses' hooves mingled with the wind from both sides, creating chaos in the world.

Qi Fan, inside the carriage, completely panicked. Her little hands gripped the edge of the carriage tightly, and her heart was pounding wildly, almost jumping out of her throat.

What kind of hellish start is this?! I just transmigrated here, haven't even experienced the life of a young marshal yet, and I'm already going to die here?!

"I haven't lived enough yet!"

He groaned inwardly, and just as he was about to shrink even tighter, a bullet whizzed past his scalp, scattering a wisp of hair before hitting the back of the carriage. The splinters of wood he kicked up stung his face.

Qi Fan was so frightened that his whole body stiffened, and cold sweat instantly soaked through his thin cotton-padded jacket, making his back feel chilly.

These are real guns and live ammunition, not special effects from a TV drama!

"System, my dear father! How far has your progress bar climbed?!" he roared inwardly.

"Your host is already close to being shot dead. Once this loading is complete, you'll be a lonely system! Even left-behind children aren't as miserable as you!"

But the mechanical voice in my mind remained slow and unhurried:

[System loading progress 51%...52%...53%...]

Qi Fan was on the verge of tears, placing all his hopes on Xi Shun: "Brother Xi Shun! You have to hold on! Just a few more minutes, and once the system activates, I'll show these bandits what modern high technology is all about! I'll make them cry for their parents!"

But reality rarely goes as he wishes. Although happy Shun was a fierce general with accurate and ruthless marksmanship, he couldn't withstand the overwhelming numbers of the bandits, and more importantly, the speed of the carriage was far slower than that of the warhorses.

As the sound of the bandits' hooves drew closer and the bullets rolled in, more and more holes appeared in the carriage.

Xi Shun's face turned ashen, his heart burning with anxiety. If the eldest young master, the eldest young lady, or the second young master were to suffer even the slightest mishap, the old marshal would skin him alive!

He glanced at the dense forest beside him, made a decisive move, and roared at the other two soldiers.

"Charge into the woods! Use the trees to your advantage and provide cover! Quickly!"

Qi Fan heard everything clearly in the carriage and instantly gave Xi Shun a perfect score in his heart.

"Well done, Xishun! You're so clever! You hold them off for now, wait until my system loads, then we'll see how I deal with these bastards!"

He was happily imagining what would happen after the system was activated when suddenly there was a crisp "click".

A bullet struck the axle of the carriage precisely!

The wooden axle snapped instantly, the wheels lurched to one side, and the unbalanced carriage slid wildly across the snow like a drunkard, sending snowflakes flying everywhere.

The next second, with a loud "boom", the entire carriage was overturned and rolled twice in the snow before coming to a stop.

Qi Fan felt dizzy and disoriented, his body was thrown up and slammed down, and all he could hear was the sound of the wind and Zhang Shoufang's screams.

He, Zhang Shoufang, and Zhang Xueming were thrown out of the car like a snowball, landing heavily on the thick snow.

Fortunately, the snow was soft enough to cushion most of the impact, and the three were only frightened and not seriously injured.

Ignoring his aching body, Qi Fan scrambled to his feet, grabbed Zhang Shoufang who was trembling with fear, and held onto Zhang Xueming, who was still in a daze. They scrambled and crawled to hide under an old locust tree.

"Sister, don't make a sound!" He lowered his voice, his small hand tightly covering his mouth, his heart still pounding.

Seeing this, Xi Shun disregarded the pursuing bandits and quickly led two soldiers to the back of the overturned carriage, using the carriage as cover to continue firing at the bandits.

However, there were simply too many bandits. They rushed up in a dark mass and quickly surrounded the three of them.

"Put down your guns! Or we'll kill you all!" the bandit leader shouted, his gun pressed against Xishun's forehead.

happy Shun looked at his men who were surrounded, then glanced at the three children behind the big tree, gritted his teeth and threw the pistol onto the snow.

The other two soldiers had no choice but to surrender, and were pinned down in the snow by the bandits with their arms twisted behind their backs, unable to move.

Qi Fan hid behind a tree, not daring to breathe, his eyes fixed on happy Shun and the other two, his palms covered in cold sweat.

Zhang Shoufang and Zhang Xueming huddled beside him, their bodies trembling like leaves. Zhang Xueming was so frightened that he cried out, but Zhang Shoufang covered his mouth tightly.

Qi Fan's gaze was fixed on the progress bar in his mind, and he silently chanted: Faster! Faster!

System loading progress: 85%, 86%, 87%

"Brother! Please! Hurry up!" he wailed inwardly. "If we're any slower, we'll both be in trouble!"

Just then, one of the bandits glanced towards the big tree and suddenly shouted, "Boss! There are three little kids here!"

Qi Fan's heart skipped a beat, and he tensed up in fright.

The bandits quickly surrounded him, and Qi Fan then realized that these bandits were completely different from the ones he remembered.

Ordinary mountain bandits usually don't cover their faces, after all, they are mountain kings who occupy the mountains and are not afraid of others seeing their appearance. But these people are all covered with black cloth, only their eyes are exposed, and even their mouths and noses are covered up, so their appearances cannot be seen at all.

Qi Fan began to have doubts: Something's not right! Aren't bandits just after money and food? Why would they need to be so secretive, even hiding their identities? Could it be that these people aren't ordinary bandits at all?

Before Qi Fan could think any further, the cold muzzle of a gun was already pressed firmly against his forehead.

The gun barrel carried the chill of the snow, making his scalp tingle. Qi Fan quickly raised his hands above his head in a gesture of surrender, his face turning deathly pale with fright.

"Brother, let's talk this out! You're just after money, right? We won't resort to knives or guns, we'll give you all the money!"

His voice trembled, tinged with childlike timidity, but in his mind he was frantically chanting: The system is almost finished loading! Give me two more seconds!

The bandits had no patience for words. They roughly shoved Zhang Shoufang and Zhang Xueming, and dragged the three children and Xishun to a snowy field, where they formed a circle around them.

With his arms tied behind his back and snow and bloodstains on his forehead, Xi Shun spoke urgently to the bandit leader.

"Brother, we are from the 27th Division of Fengtian!" He deliberately emphasized the words "27th Division," which was Zhang Zuolin's direct subordinate force, and ordinary bandits would think twice before daring to approach them.

"Money and supplies, you can have as much as you want, just please release these three children. They're still young and have nothing to do with this!"

happy Shun now has only one thought in her mind: as long as she can save the lives of the young marshal and his sister, it would be worth it even if she had to risk her own life.

But the bandit leader seemed not to hear him, his eyes were frighteningly sinister, and he went up and smashed Xishun's forehead hard with the butt of his rifle.

With a muffled thud, Xi Shun groaned in pain, blood instantly seeping from his forehead and trickling down with the snowmelt, leaving him looking utterly disheveled.

"Don't you dare mention the 27th Division to me!" The bandit leader's voice was rough and hoarse, carrying a hint of ruthlessness.

"With Lao Tzu here, even the Heavenly King himself wouldn't be of any use!"

When Qi Fan saw this, his heart sank: It's all over! This guy doesn't even give Zhang Zuolin any face; he's really going to kill us!

He glanced at the system progress bar in his mind; it was already at 95%, just 5% left! He just needed to delay it a little longer, just a few seconds!

Qi Fan, quick-witted, patted the snow off his body, put on a fawning smile, and took small steps to get closer to the bandit leader.

He was young and short, his little face red from the cold looking up with an expression of admiration. The bandit leader, seeing the little boy's eagerness, wasn't too wary and just asked in a gruff voice.

"Hey kid, what are you doing coming over here?"

"Big Brother!" Qi Fan deliberately raised his voice, his tone full of flattery.

"Your gun is amazing! It's jet black and shiny, clearly a high-quality German-made weapon. Where did you find it?"

He stretched out his little hand, looking eager to try.

"The way you rode the horse and fired the gun just now was absolutely amazing! Can I touch it just to feast my eyes? Just for a moment!"

The bandit leader felt pleased by these words and burst into laughter.

"I didn't expect you to have such good taste, little brat! This gun was specially purchased by me from..."

As soon as he uttered the word "from," his expression suddenly changed, and his eyes instantly turned sinister. Something was wrong! This little kid looked young, but every question he asked hit the nail on the head. He didn't seem like an ordinary child at all.

He turned his head sharply and met Xi Shun's surprised and suspicious gaze. happy Shun also realized that ordinary bandits could not possibly obtain German weapons. These people did not seem like ordinary bandits who robbed people on the road. They seemed to be after them!

Qi Fan wasn't thinking that far ahead; he just wanted to stall for time. His eyes were glued to the progress bar in his mind, his heart pounding: 98%...99%...

"You little brat, you dare to try and trick me into telling you something?" The bandit leader suddenly pulled out his gun and pressed the muzzle against Qi Fan's forehead again. His knuckles turned white from the force, and his tone was so harsh it could drip ice.

"So clever at such a young age, keeping him around is just asking for trouble! Sorry, but today you're going to meet the King of Hell!"

The cold muzzle pressed down even harder; Qi Fan could even feel the trigger. He held his breath, his mind focused on only one last thought: System! Hurry!