The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

"Watch out for arrows!" Sun Tiechong shouted.

Everyone immediately crouched down close to the parapet, and arrows flew, clattering into the earthen wall.

When suppressed by arrows, Jia Chen and his men could only observe the movements of the Northern Barbarians through the shooting holes in the parapet.

Half of the northern enemy troops used arrows to suppress the enemy soldiers at the watchtower, while the other half continued to approach the watchtower at high speed.

Due to the suppression of arrows, the soldiers on the ramparts generally cannot peek out and are unable to mount an effective defense or counterattack.

The northern barbarians could take the opportunity to climb onto the fire-receiving mound.

The front beacon tower was not an important beacon tower. It was just made of rammed earth and was not covered with bricks. Therefore, after the Northern barbarians reached the bottom of the beacon tower, they could use their swords to carve out handholds in the tower wall for climbing.

With these openings for leverage, the northern barbarians could easily climb onto the watchtower without needing any ladders or similar equipment.

Once they reach the top of the watchtower, the watchtower soldiers will be virtually no match for them.

Even if some dared to resist, the northern barbarians below would keep an eye on them. Their archery skills were superb, and once the soldiers showed themselves, they were almost always killed with a single arrow.

This tactic has proven effective against the northern barbarians time and again, proving consistently successful.

Jia Chen could already hear the incoherent shouts coming from the Northern barbarians below.

Although Jia Chen couldn't understand the words, he understood what the Northern Barbarians meant. They were very excited because they saw him and his men as easy prey.

"Kill!" Jia Chen noticed that the Northern barbarians had begun to climb and immediately gave the order.

Everyone picked up the stones and hurled them down hard.

The northern barbarians screamed in agony, several of them were hit directly and fell heavily to the bottom of the mound, their fate unknown.

"Squat down!" Jia Chen gave the order again immediately after everyone had finished smashing the ground.

Just as everyone crouched down, another volley of arrows rained down. After the clattering sound, many more arrows were stuck in the walls and muddy ground on the platform.

"Duntou, you can't get up," Wang Baisheng shouted.

The Northern barbarians had clearly intensified their pressure on the watchtower, constantly firing arrows to make it difficult for Jia Chen and his men to stand up, let alone throw stones down.

This is even after the parapet was raised; if it had been before, it would have been even worse.

Jia Chen could see the Northern barbarians climbing higher and higher through the firing port.

Gritting his teeth, Jia Chen took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "We have no choice but to let them up. Are you scared?"

Liu Daniu was the youngest, and his face was full of fear. It was the first time he had encountered such a dangerous situation.

Sun Tiechong patted Liu Daniu on the shoulder and then shouted, "Dun Tou, what else is there to say? If we don't fight, we'll die; if we fight, we might have a chance to survive."

"Heh heh, you old bastard, I'm giving you a second thought today. Even if I die, I'll drag a few of these northern barbarians down with me to the King of Hell..."

Under the influence of Sun Tiechong and Wang Baisheng, everyone's fears subsided considerably.

They had no choice, no way out.

The only way to stop the Northern barbarians from continuing to suppress them with arrows was to wait for them to charge up and engage in close combat.

Finally, the first Northern enemy soldier climbed to the top of the watchtower. Even though he was alone, he let out a strange laugh, seemingly not taking Jia Chen and the others seriously at all, and dared to charge forward by himself.

*Crack! Crack!* Wu Jiangsheng and Zhou Shitou fired their three-barreled guns.

The three-barreled gun had a limited firing range and questionable accuracy; it was only lethal within twenty paces, or thirty meters.

However, the Northern barbarian was right in front of them. The two of them fired together, and the Northern barbarian's strange laughter quickly turned into a scream. His chest was covered in blood, and his body, which had just climbed to the top of the platform's parapet, fell backward and crashed off the platform.

Almost at the same time, other northern barbarians also reached the summit.

They ignored their slain comrade and charged towards Jia Chen and his men, shouting as they attacked.

They didn't take the guards seriously at all.

In their eyes, these soldiers of the Great Hong Dynasty were like sheep that they could knead at will, and could be crushed with a flick of their wrist.

Even though the number of soldiers is currently superior, they show no fear whatsoever.

"Kill them!" Jia Chen drew his sword from his waist and charged at a Northern enemy soldier.

With a parry, he shifted his body to the side and used force in his hand to knock the Northern barbarian's scimitar away.

Jia Chen seized the opportunity, took a step forward, and slashed the other man's neck with his long knife, blood spurting out.

The northern barbarian clutched his neck and collapsed in agony.

"Good!" Wang Baisheng shouted and charged towards the Northern barbarians.

Encouraged, the others immediately identified their opponents.

After a few loud bangs, Zhou Shitou and Wu Jiangsheng, without having time to reload their three-barreled guns, swung them directly at the Northern Barbarians.

The resolute counterattack of the garrison troops dealt a heavy blow to the arrogant northern barbarians.

Three of the first Northern barbarians to board the ship had already fallen, while none of Jia Chen's men were dead.

However, as the northern barbarians continued to join, the number of people on the watchtower gradually narrowed, and Jia Chen's numerical advantage quickly diminished.

Even while fighting, Jia Chen paid close attention to the changes around him, not allowing any mistakes, and remained tense.

They can still resist the northern barbarians now, and even kill some of them, but if the northern barbarians continue to increase their numbers, the nine of them will definitely be wiped out.

"Da Niu, set fire to the north and west!" Jia Chen shouted at Liu Da Niu as he turned around.

Although Liu Daniu was holding a spear, he was thin and weak, so its effectiveness was really limited.

Sun Tiechong would even take care of him a little because he was young.

Upon hearing Jia Chen's words, Liu Daniu put down his spear without saying a word, immediately turned around and picked up a jar from the corner of the wall.

Zhao Zheng and Sun Tiechong stood behind Liu Daniu to help him deal with the charging Northern barbarians.

After Liu Daniu opened the jar, he poured the contents out from the north side of the stack. The jar contained the kerosene that Jia Chen had brought.

After the one on the north side collapsed a few times, it quickly took a burning torch from the wall and threw it down.

Liu Daniu looked thin and weak.

But now it is very agile, probably because it has eaten well these past few days, and also because when faced with a life-or-death situation, people can always unleash infinite power.

Liu Daniu immediately rushed to the west side and, just like in the north, poured oil, threw torches, and set fires.

Jia Chen had rehearsed all of this with everyone in the days leading up to it, which is why Liu Daniu was able to react so quickly.

In order to make better use of the oil, Jia Chen had already piled up some dry firewood and straw around the base of the platform.

Most of the northern captives were climbed up from the north by the west, and the torches quickly ignited the dry grass and firewood that contained kerosene.

Dry wood catches fire; it ignites instantly.

The raging fire drove back the northern barbarians who were preparing to climb up from both sides.

They had no choice but to continue their attack from the other two directions, which gave Jia Chen and his team some breathing room.

Meanwhile, while the fire was still burning, Jia Chen and his men could temporarily disregard the defenses to the west and north and focus on dealing with the enemies from the other two directions.

Everyone was already bloodthirsty.

Jia Chen killed two Northern barbarians in succession, his hand gripping the knife went numb. The Northern barbarians were quite strong and fearless. Fortunately, he had some of his original memories and physical instincts, which enabled him to kill them successfully.

Jia Mao stayed close to Jia Chen, something Liu Cheng had repeatedly instructed him to do in private.

If it weren't for Jia Mao's support and assistance in holding off many of the northern barbarians, Jia Chen wouldn't have had such an easy time dealing with the two.

The Northern barbarians ultimately held the advantage in numbers. After continuously climbing to the top of the watchtower, Jia Chen and his men fought desperately, and each of them was wounded. The situation was not optimistic.

The northern barbarians who came up had ferocious faces. They hadn't expected to lose seven or eight of their comrades for this small watchtower, which further fueled their ferocity.

The southeastern part of the watchtower was almost entirely occupied by the Northern barbarians, who continuously compressed the space on the watchtower's side.

Just as the soldiers on the outskirts were about to be overwhelmed, a pottery jar the size of a watermelon, emitting sparks and blue smoke, and bound with straw ropes, rolled into the Northern Barbarians' group to the southeast.

Most of the northern barbarians had not yet reacted, but a few of the older ones showed expressions of fear on their faces.

Before they could react, they heard a loud 'boom'.

The earthenware jar exploded, sending countless fragments flying, and the northern barbarians cried out in despair.

The bombing killed one of the Northern Barbarians and wounded the other dozen or so.

The loud noise clearly startled the Northern barbarians, who temporarily halted their advance.

However, after the smoke from the explosion dissipated, the Northern Barbarians roared again, trying to charge forward once more.

"Da Niu, give it to me!" Jia Chen shouted loudly at Liu Da Niu.

Liu Daniu hurriedly ran to Jia Chen's side and handed him a pottery jar.

The mouth of the earthenware jar is sealed with mud, and there is a wire in the middle.

The pottery jar was also bound with some straw ropes, just like the previous one.

As Jia Chen prepared to light the fuse with a torch, a middle-aged man who appeared to be a leader from the Northern Barbarians changed his expression drastically.

He had raided the border towns of the Da Hong Dynasty many times, so he was familiar with some of the firearms used by the Da Hong Dynasty army.

He immediately shouted, stopping the Northern barbarians who wanted to charge forward.

"Come back!" Jia Chen immediately called out to Wang Baisheng and the others who were trying to rush forward.

Wang Baisheng and the others cautiously retreated to Jia Chen's side.

Jia Chen could tell that the leader of the Northern Barbarians should recognize the thing in his hand.

In order to survive, Jia Chen not only dug trenches and increased fortifications a few days ago, but also set his sights on the dozens of kilograms of gunpowder on the front hill mound.

He found two earthenware jars, mixed half of the gunpowder in them with some broken pottery shards, put them into the jars, and sealed them to make a makeshift thunderclap.

The straw ropes tied around the outside were to prevent the pottery jar from hitting the ground and breaking when it rolled out.

He had no other option; otherwise, the Thunderclap Bomb would have been made by wrapping gunpowder in sheet metal, and could have even contained sheet metal and nails to increase its destructive power after the explosion.

Using a clay pot as a substitute is a last resort; it will be less powerful, but it's better than nothing.

The level of firearms in the Great Hong Dynasty was similar to that of the Ming Dynasty, which was naturally not a problem for Jia Chen, who was familiar with Ming Dynasty artifacts.

Muskets and cannons are difficult to manufacture, but a simplified version of the thunderclap bomb is not so difficult.

Seeing Jia Chen pretending to light a fire, the Northern Barbarian leader hurriedly shouted something in their language.

After he finished speaking, a younger Northern enemy soldier next to him seemed to disagree and also mumbled something to him in his own language.

The two seemed to be arguing.

However, in the end, it was this advanced age that won the approval of most of the Northern Barbarians.

"What did they say?" Jia Chen turned to ask Zhao Zheng.

Jia Chen knew that Zhao Zheng could speak some of the languages ​​of the various tribes of the Later Yuan Dynasty, after all, he was a night scout.

"Dun Tou said they could let us go and retreat immediately, but we can't take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. We also have to let them take these Northern Barbarian corpses. The guy who was arguing earlier disagrees. They are both Alban, oh, that is, the head of ten households of the Northern Barbarians." Zhao Zheng translated.

Jia Chen pondered for a moment.

He roughly understood what the other party meant; they were probably afraid of causing even greater casualties.

There are already seven corpses of the Northern Barbarians here, and there are probably one or two more that fell off the platform, which means that the Northern Barbarians have lost at least nine people.

It should be noted that only about thirty Northern barbarians managed to reach the top of the watchtower, and the rest were mostly wounded.

On the other hand, Jia Chen's side, taking advantage of their defense, did not suffer any casualties.

Although the Northern barbarians had all taken up the watchtowers, if they were to fight to the bitter end, they could indeed wipe out Jia Chen and his men, but they would still suffer more casualties.

The appearance of this earth-shattering thunder, in particular, caused the psychological defenses of the Northern Barbarians to crumble somewhat.

The power of the thunderclap is not great, but its momentum is not to be underestimated. It is awe-inspiring and its large-scale killing effect is extremely deterrent.

"Okay!" Jia Chen nodded.

Zhao Zheng conveyed Jia Chen's message.

Under the watchful eyes of Jia Chen and the others, the Northern barbarians did not resort to any tricks. They simply took the corpses of their companions and removed them from the watchtower.

"Duntou, the Northern barbarians have really retreated." Liu Daniu cautiously observed from the crenellations.

"We must not be careless; the northern barbarians could launch a surprise attack at any time," Sun Tiechong said.

Everyone understands, of course, that there are many Northern barbarians.

"How are everyone's injuries?" Jia Chen asked.

"It's nothing, just some cuts on my arms and back," Wang Baisheng said loudly. "It's such a pity that they took the bodies back. If they had kept them, seven heads would have been a huge military achievement."

Wang Baisheng's body was covered in bright red blood, a mixture of his own and that of the Northern barbarians, which looked frightening. His injuries were indeed not too serious.

Jia Chen was in a similar situation, but he was protected by cloth armor and did not suffer any knife wounds. Instead, he was hit hard in the chest and was in some pain.

His body was stained with the blood of the Northern barbarians.

Zhou Shitou and Wu Jiangsheng were more seriously injured. They were both skilled with firearms, but less adept at close combat.

However, these injuries are not enough to render them unable to fight again.

Overall, this was a great victory for the soldiers of Qianshandun.

They killed more than ten enemies and wounded more than twenty, without losing a single soldier themselves.

Jia Chen also felt regret for those severed heads.

In the early days of the Great Hong Dynasty, the various tribes of the Later Yuan were the main hostile forces. Therefore, a single head of a Northern barbarian could promote a low-ranking officer or soldier by one rank.

The situation has changed; the Later Jin dynasty in the northeast has begun to rise slowly.

Initially, it took three heads of the Later Jin dynasty to advance one rank, but now it only takes one head. Later, it took two heads of the Northern Yuan dynasty to advance one rank.

However, given the circumstances, Jia Chen had no choice but to give up and let the Northern barbarians take the corpses away.

Survival is the most important thing.

Only now does Jia Chen feel a lingering fear; this was the first time he had ever killed someone.

Whether it was him or the original Jia Chen, it was indeed their first time killing someone.

That was a life-or-death struggle just now; one wrong move and you could have lost your life.

At that time, I couldn't think about so many things; I only had one thought: to kill the enemy.

Only after confirming that the Northern barbarians had truly retreated did Jia Chen finally breathe a long sigh of relief.

We're safe, at least for now.

Standing atop the mound, he looked south and saw that the Northern barbarian troops had set up tents about three miles away, thus establishing their camp.

It's unclear whether they'll rest for one night before heading south, or whether they'll wait here for the large contingent of northern barbarians who have gone south to plunder to return.

As long as they are here, Jia Chen will never be able to truly feel at ease.