Chapter 109: Chapter 109

At Bai Yuan’s command, the Bai family servants standing beside the catapults and Giant Crossbow Vehicles sprang into action. They grabbed the black cloth covering the siege equipment and yanked it off, fully revealing ten catapults and ten Giant Crossbow Vehicles. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on Novᴇl_Fire(.)net

The catapults were positioned behind the fortress wall, hidden from the bandit army’s view. However, the Giant Crossbow Vehicles were mounted directly on the wall and corner towers, immediately catching the eyes of the bandits outside and startling them.

Double-Winged Tiger stared blankly. “Huh?”

In the next moment, Bai Yuan shouted loudly, “Catapults, fire!”

Two blacksmiths already standing by each catapult with heavy hammers simultaneously swung them downward. Thunk! The plastic catapults flung their massive arms upward, hurling two large stones over the fortress wall.

Double-Winged Tiger’s bandits had only just begun their charge when two enormous stones soared through the air. One landed with a thunderous crash in the midst of the bandit formation, flattening two men instantly into paste. The other went off-target, slamming onto an empty patch of land two or three zhang away and rolling wildly, kicking up a vast plume of dust.

Double-Winged Tiger cursed, “Fuck!”

His subordinates screamed, “Ahhhh!”

In those two strikes alone, countless terrified bandits lost control of their bladders.

With the commander frozen, his troops naturally lost composure.

Just as Cheng Xu had predicted at the outset, the catapults targeted enemy morale. Once shaken, the bandit forces splintered. Some lost their nerve, halting their advance or even retreating, while the more reckless members still charged blindly forward.

Bai Yuan bellowed, “Giant Crossbow Vehicles, fire!”

The blacksmiths beside the Giant Crossbow Vehicles raised their heavy hammers. Thunk! Thunk! Two strikes hit the crossbows’ mechanisms. The stretched elastic bands snapped taut with an eerie twang, launching plastic bolts into the air. The bamboo-shaped arrowheads attached to their tips looked absurdly comical.

These bolts flew with far greater accuracy than the catapult stones. A hoard of reckless bandits charging ahead suddenly faced two incoming projectiles. One struck a bandit squarely in the chest — thump! Piercing him without hesitation, the bolt lifted him a meter backward before he crashed to the ground, utterly lifeless.

The other bolt struck another bandit directly in the face — the impact was terrifying. A muffled thud sounded as the center of his face exploded into pulp. The huge arrowhead tore away a chunk of the back of his skull, spraying red blood and white brain matter violently. Seeing this, bandits nearby screamed in fear.

This was far from the end. Blacksmiths from Bai Family Fortress had already moved to other positions, striking the mechanisms of two more catapults and Giant Crossbow Vehicles. The second volley — two more massive stones and two huge bolts — flew outward…

Meanwhile, beside the previously fired catapults and Giant Crossbow Vehicles, a group of strong women from the fortress swiftly appeared. They began loading new ammunition. Ten of them worked in unison, using ropes to pull down the giant arms of the catapults and placing fresh stones into their scoops. Elsewhere, several women hoisted giant crossbow bolts together, locking them onto the vehicles’ rails. They pulled back intensely, stretching the elastic tensioners to their limits before engaging the mechanisms.

Cheng Xu glanced left and right, inwardly musing: Even these strong women are trained… This guy Bai Yuan has truly organized the fortress militia well. It’s strange — why do these people follow his orders so willingly? How much has he promised these common folks to secure such unwavering obedience?

His own soldiers were never this reliable. Today, they’d slack off; tomorrow, they’d dawdle. They refused to train seriously. All he’d get when he scolded them were excuses: “Haven’t eaten enough!” or “Haven’t been paid enough!” — complaints that they were too famished to train.

They often infuriated him, but the complaint about unpaid wages was a real issue. Sometimes, he had to swallow his anger. As a commander, he understood: if you fail to pay your soldiers but try to drill them relentlessly, the inevitable outcome is mutiny.

Lost in these thoughts, Cheng Xu lifted his head just as the first volley of ten catapults and ten Giant Crossbow Vehicles had completed firing. Now was the “loading” phase. Out in the field, Double-Winged Tiger’s chaotic, charging forces… withdrew.

Though his reckless bandits were foolish, after being fired upon by ten Giant Crossbow Vehicles, even the dullest woke up. A glance backward revealed that most had been terrified by the catapults — not only halting their charge, but actually retreating.

Now, even the reckless ones weren’t reckless anymore. With startled cries, they began to flee. In minutes, every bandit had retreated to Double-Winged Tiger’s side. They clustered around him, too fearful to advance further.

Thus ended the bandit army’s first wave of attacks.

From Bu Zhan Ni’s command post, two messengers ran and entered the formations of Double-Winged Tiger and Purple Gold Dragon. Shortly after, both commanders hurried toward Bu Zhan Ni’s command post. The three bandit chiefs gathered, gesturing at Bai Family Fortress as if planning their next move.

Standing atop the corner tower, Bai Yuan snapped open his “Gentleman” fan with a swish. “Heh,” he smirked. “The celestial weapon gifted by the Deity is truly formidable. In less than a blink, we demolished the bandits’ first wave!”

Cheng Xu stepped up beside him. “These twenty siege weapons… they certainly inspire terror. Even an imperial army facing them would be bewildered, much less these bandits. Retreating out of fear makes sense. But they aren’t fools. They will soon find a counter-tactic — charging in scattered formations.”

Bai Yuan nodded. While devastating, siege weapons were notoriously inaccurate. The bandits would surely resort to dispersing their forces when attacking, eventually reaching the fortress wall.

“So they scatter? Let them,” Bai Yuan declared. “Scattered troops are weak ones. There’s no reason we can’t hold them off.”

Cheng Xu needed no such reminder — he was far more battle-savvy than Bai Yuan.

After weighing the options, Cheng Xu flashed a fierce grin. “Tell your servants to withdraw from the front line of the fortress wall. My soldiers will take their place. Damn it, I am a ninth-rank inspector of Great Ming, commanding imperial soldiers! I won’t be mocked by a bunch of amateurs!”

Hearing his words, Bai Yuan brightened considerably: This timid commander has finally gained some backbone! At last, he isn’t solely focused on escape. Excellent. With the imperial soldiers willing to fight earnestly, defending just became far easier!

With a wave of Chen Xu’s hand, over one hundred imperial soldiers surged forward to the fortress wall. Bai Yuan’s servants retreated to the second defensive tier, while the militia fell back to the third tier…

Just as the fortress completed its troop realignment, the bandit forces outside began stirring once more.

The three bandit chiefs had evidently finalized their plan. Double-Winged Tiger and Purple Gold Dragon returned to their own forces. Then, with a simultaneous bellow from both groups, their men rushed forward. Like ants escaping their flooded nest, they dispersed in every direction, positioning themselves over a zhang apart from one another.

“Charge!” screamed both Double-Winged Tiger and Purple Gold Dragon.

One thousand soldiers, under both commanders, surged toward Bai Family Fortress.