nucmednet Chapter 458 Ace vs. Ace
Chapter 458 Ace vs. Ace
At the foot of the mountain, the sounds of gunfire had completely ceased, replaced by deafening shouts of battle and the agonizing screams and groans of the dying.
The well-trained and physically fit Qionghai soldiers used their skillful assassination techniques to deal with the disorganized refugees. Just as Zhu Jinhu had envisioned, his side consisted of professional soldiers who honed their skills daily through rigorous training, while the other side consisted of refugees who had taken up arms. The disparity in strength between the two sides was obvious—although the Qionghai Navy had many new recruits after its expansion and lacked combat experience, their opponents were not as tough as the Satsuma samurai.
The refugees, with their overwhelming numbers, continued their attack, killing wave after wave, only to be replaced by newcomers. The Qionghai soldiers were initially nervous and their movements somewhat clumsy, but as their opponents fell one by one while they remained standing, their confidence soared. Their movements became increasingly skilled; drawing their spears, thrusting, sheathing them, and thrusting again—the series of actions gradually transformed from mechanical and rigid into fluid and graceful movements.
Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong discovered that after paying a heavy price to get close to their enemy, there was no one-sided massacre as they had expected. The arquebusiers were also quite fierce in close combat, exceeding their understanding of firearms units. The battle became a stalemate, with countless refugees dressed in coarse cloth rushing like a swarm of gray ants against the human wall formed by the Qionghai Navy soldiers in red uniforms, but they could not break through the defenses.
The two men anxiously observed the progress of the battle, hoping for a turning point—they had both sent out their main force, preparing to use the cover of their main troops to approach the enemy and deliver a swift and decisive blow—if they couldn't defeat their opponent in close combat after going all out, the battle could be declared a failure. They couldn't think of any other way to win.
The old camp, bearing their hopes, had quietly moved to the foot of the mountain under the cover of the fighting at the front, following behind their main force. These men were few in number, less than two thousand in total from both sides. However, they were all battle-hardened veterans who had survived numerous major battles; they were the true elite, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong's last trump card.
These people came from the camps of the rebel king and the eight kings, and were not subordinate to each other or under a unified command. What guided them forward and the timing of their entry into the battlefield was their rich combat experience and keen battlefield sense.
When Zhu Jinhu and Lan Lin's battalion performed exceptionally well, routing the refugees in their path, both veteran battalions simultaneously noticed this spot. They broke through the refugees' lines and forcefully entered the battlefield. The reason for choosing this time and situation to attack was that the enemy, having achieved their objective, was prone to complacency and underestimation; moreover, this local refugee force was already showing signs of collapse, and if the tide wasn't turned, this local collapse could spread like a plague throughout the army, leading to the defeat of the entire battle.
Zhu Jinhu had gained confidence. Under the leadership of his company commander and platoon leader, he bravely fought against the enemy, killing one refugee after another. When he silently counted to five, he was surprised to find that the enemy, who had been relying on their numbers and momentum, was showing signs of panic and gradually retreating, as if they were ready to retreat and run away at any time.
The platoon leader shouted, "Everyone, give it your all and wipe them all out!" The other soldiers responded with a roar, picked up their rifles and strode forward. The refugees' morale was suppressed, and they hurriedly retreated. Many of them tripped over the corpses under their feet and fell flat on their faces, looking quite disheveled.
Just then, a large group of people suddenly rushed into the battlefield from behind, causing the refugees to stumble and fall, and they ran head-on into the advancing soldiers.
Zhu Jinhu saw that these people had fierce expressions and were much stronger than the previous refugees. They were covered with all kinds of weapons, including bows and arrows, broadswords, javelins, and axes. His intuition told him that these people were up to no good.
These men gave the soldiers no time to react. Before they could even get close, they unleashed a barrage of throwing weapons from about ten paces away. A hail of knives, short axes, and javelins rained down on the soldiers. At such close range, no one could dodge the dense attack. Soldiers were struck one after another. Zhu Jinhu watched in horror as his platoon leader, not far away, was struck squarely in the face by a short axe and collapsed, blood streaming down his face. He himself was lucky; a throwing knife somersaulted past his ear, severing only a few strands of hair.
The other comrades weren't so lucky. Things happened too suddenly. The opponents went from being novices to a group of thugs who threw knives at the slightest provocation. Many people fell down screaming, with javelins, throwing knives, and other weapons stuck in their bodies. The originally orderly formation was thrown into chaos.
These fierce men didn't stop. Taking advantage of the soldiers' confusion, they rushed forward, hacking and slashing with knives and axes. Some attacked the upper body, while others focused on sweeping the lower body, making it impossible for the soldiers to defend themselves. They were caught off guard and attacked with knives and stomps. Those who tried to kill the rolling guys on the ground were hit on the head with clubs, completely losing the exhilarating rhythm they had just experienced.
Xu Yifan had been closely monitoring the battlefield and quickly noticed the unusual situation of the First Battalion. Elsewhere, including the front and flanks, the Qionghai Army held the advantage, indicating that their overall combat strength and troop quality far surpassed their opponents. Only the First Battalion's line was being battered and shaky by a newly arrived group of refugees, which was highly unusual. He immediately concluded that these must be elite refugees; ordinary soldiers lacked such fighting spirit and ability.
He reacted quickly and decisively, ordering the messenger: "Raise a flag on the hilltop to request reinforcements!" The messenger immediately stood on a large rock, facing the hilltop, and raised a flag to request reinforcements.
At this point, reserves needed to be sent up to hold the line and prevent the enemy from breaking through from the First Battalion's position. However, all his troops were already in combat readiness, and apart from the retreating artillery, there were no reserves. He couldn't use the artillery as infantry—artillery is a technical branch, and training a qualified artilleryman is much more difficult than training an ordinary infantryman. It was better to lose an infantry battalion than to lose an artillery company.
Fortunately, there was a general reserve force on the hilltop, consisting of Liu Ye's personal guard battalion and special operations team.
The Imperial Guard Battalion is the force protecting Liu Ye's safety on the battlefield, and they cannot leave his side unless it is a last-ditch emergency; the Special Forces, after expansion, has reached a size of more than a thousand people, which is enough to serve as a reserve force to support the battle down the mountain.
After seeing the signal sent by Xu Yifan, Liu Ye also noticed the situation of the First Battalion. He frowned and said, "A group of particularly capable fighters suddenly appeared. Could they be Gao Yingxiang's or Zhang Xianzhong's elite veteran battalion?" He had seen the introduction of the refugee army's veteran battalion on the old timeline website. These were the elite veterans in the refugee army, considered their trump card.
However, besides the greenhorns from the foot of the mountain, the Qionghai Army also had its own trump cards. Liu Ye summoned Lin San: "The bandits have brought out their best weapons; it's time for you to make your move. See the location of the First Battalion? Take your men down the mountain and send those guys to meet their maker!"