88: Chapter 0088 The Advantage Lies With Me

Heiya Village.

Hei Tiaozi, from the village chief's household, had taken a group of the village's elderly, weak, women, and children and hidden in a cave halfway up the mountain.

"Brother, the Zhenbei Army has all left. What are we going to do about our village?"

His younger sister, Hei Erni, who had just turned fifteen, looked nervous and afraid.

"Don't be afraid, little sister. General Zhao, Staff Officer Wei, and the others are still here! Plus, there are three thousand Zhenbei Army soldiers guarding the village!"

"What use are three thousand? They have five thousand in the city alone! Counting Governor Guo's troops, it's probably around six thousand!"

An old man smoking a dry pipe nearby said indignantly,

"They're just going through the motions. If things go south, they'll just run away. They never intended to care whether we live or die!!"

The villagers in the cave wore bitter and helpless expressions, clearly sharing the same opinion.

They had thought that after the Zhenbei Army arrived, the villagers could live a good life, but as soon as the coal was mined, the main army left?

"I told you, you can't trust officials! After they finished using our villagers, they abandoned us again!"

"Now that the White Kings Army is coming, they'll definitely blame us for helping the Zhenbei Army mine coal. Even if we don't die, we'll be skinned alive!"

Several of the village elders chimed in one after another, venting their inner resentment.

Hei Tiaozi frowned, not knowing what to say.

Although they had only spent less than a month together, he could feel that the people of the Zhenbei Army were different from the White Kings Army.

This feeling was subtle and indescribable.

However, three thousand against six thousand—was there really a chance?

Hei Tiaozi sighed, wrapped his arms around his shivering sister, and leaned his head out to look into the distance...

"They're here!"

Atop a cement tower, the soldier responsible for reconnaissance saw catapults approaching from a mile away!

The soldier raised a red flag and a yellow flag, signaling with a simple flag code.

At the cement command post behind the village, Wei Dongxue understood immediately upon seeing it.

"One mile out, enemy attack, thirty catapults."

Upon hearing this, General Zhao Kuan laughed heartily: "Lin Xiao's method is truly excellent. No need to run back and forth to pass orders; just watching two flags wave is simple and easy to understand!"

"It's just that for rough folks like us, it's a bit troublesome to memorize. I'm even reciting flag codes in my dreams at night."

Commander Xu Zhen of the Border Army gave a helpless, bitter smile from the side.

He and several old subordinates from the Border Army had chosen to stay behind with General Zhao Kuan this time.

Although they all respected Lin Xiao, deep down, General Zhao Kuan was their old superior, so naturally, they had to stand together through thick and thin.

"You'll remember it after seeing it a few more times."

General Zhao Kuan issued the order: "Tell them to keep waiting. Report again when they are within one hundred zhang!"

At the entrance of the command post, a soldier signaled the flag code.

The soldier on the cement tower acknowledged receipt.

In the distance, the White Kings Army camp.

"General, look at that arrow tower. Is someone waving something?" the staff officer asked curiously.

"Hmph, it's nothing but a signaling method. They're probably already panicking."

General Du Lun waved his hand: "Catapults, once you are within one hundred zhang, launch the first volley!"

Soon, the thirty catapults were lined up two to three hundred meters away.

Each catapult was operated by a group of several dozen men. After loading the stones, they pulled up the counterweight boxes with all their might...

"Release!!"

Following the order, the stones traced parabolas through the air, smashing toward the dozen arrow towers and bunkers at the village entrance!

But when the stones landed, the soldiers of the White Kings Army were dumbfounded!

They suddenly realized that these dark, imposing structures... were too small as targets!

Of the thirty giant stones, only two or three hit, and most had no accuracy to speak of.

Compared to attacking city walls, these scattered defensive fortifications were actually not very afraid of catapults.

"Haha! General Zhao, did you see that? They missed everything!"

Xu Zhen and the others saw this scene and laughed until they were doubled over.

General Zhao Kuan and Wei Dongxue's eyes lit up as they realized the bunkers had such an advantage!?

"A bunch of trash! Aim more accurately!!"

General Du Lun cursed loudly.

But he himself understood that while the range of this thing could be controlled, as for accuracy, it really wasn't that great!

After a dozen consecutive volleys, at most twenty or thirty percent of the stones hit, and many just grazed the structures.

Even when they did hit, they didn't cause any damage.

Meanwhile, the group of soldiers pulling the counterweight boxes were exhausted like dead dogs, their hands and legs trembling!

"General, this won't work. Those arrow towers and houses the enemy has look very hard; they're not easy to smash!"

"Why waste this effort? Aren't they just a few arrow towers? Can they really shoot tens of thousands of arrows? Just go up and tear them down, and that'll be the end of it!!"

"That's right. Anyway, it's six thousand against three thousand; the advantage is ours. Just charge up and kill them all!"

Several lieutenants on the side were eager to try. With human wave tactics, the enemy wouldn't even have time to shoot their arrows!

General Du Lun thought that made sense. Rather than wasting time, it was better to use their numerical advantage to crush everything!

"Soldiers!! Kill everyone in the village, and His Highness Prince Bai will reward you heavily!!"

Following General Du Lun's order, several lieutenants led the cavalry and infantry to launch a charge!

Meanwhile, General Zhao Kuan issued the command for the soldiers hiding in the bunkers and towers to release their crossbow bolts!

In an instant, the "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" of crossbow bolts erupted from the arrow towers and bunkers, from the sky to the ground...

From different angles, they wove a deadly web of arrows!

Inside the towers, after a row of repeating crossbows was fired, they were quickly swapped out.

The soldiers behind them immediately brought up another row of repeating crossbows that were already loaded.

In groups of ten, those responsible for communication, command, shooting, and loading each performed their own duties.

Inside the bunkers, which could accommodate more people, they worked in groups of twenty.

Besides those in charge of the crossbows, there were also soldiers holding long spears.

Occasionally, a few cavalrymen would reach the vicinity of a bunker, and the spearmen would immediately step up.

"Pfft!!—"

The spears thrusting out from the bunker windows killed the enemy cavalrymen instantly!

Some cautious cavalrymen, even if they dodged, were immediately shot by those firing cold arrows.

The ceaseless, non-stop rain of crossbow bolts was like a human life harvester.

Thousands of White Kings Army soldiers had not even entered the village before they were thrown into chaos, with nearly half killed!

The key point was that they discovered these cement houses were simply indestructible!?

Swords and spears were useless, and setting fires didn't work either.

As long as the soldiers inside didn't come out, they had absolutely no way to deal with them!

Whenever they tried to force their way in, crossbow bolts from all directions would send them to see the King of Hell!

Those who were lucky enough to break through between the bunkers and arrow towers and kill their way into the village found themselves attacked from both front and back!

General Zhao Kuan led the remaining two thousand-plus soldiers, swarming out from both sides!

"Brothers of the Zhenbei Army!! Kill!!—"

Seeing the situation was very favorable, the Zhenbei Army soldiers were pumped up, and the two thousand-plus men managed to shout with the momentum of a ten-thousand-man army!

Conversely, the White Kings Army, having inexplicably lost more than half their men, were terrified and fled in panic!

But the more they ran, the faster they died.

The crossbow bolts from the arrow towers and bunkers were like vengeful ghosts claiming lives, reaping them endlessly!

Blood soaked the village entrance, and everywhere were White Kings Army soldiers with expressions of fear, dying with their eyes wide open.

General Du Lun looked terrified and bewildered. He didn't understand how those dark arrow towers could continuously shoot so many arrows in one breath!?

He didn't understand why these round houses couldn't be smashed no matter what!?

"Retreat... Retreat!!"

General Du Lun suffered a mental breakdown. Seeing that the situation was lost, he turned his horse around.

The remaining thousand-plus soldiers were so scared that they abandoned even their catapults and weapons, wanting only to escape with their lives!

Halfway up the mountain.

Hei Tiaozi and the group of villagers watched the White Kings Army abandon their armor and weapons, fleeing in panic, and it felt like a dream!

"We won... We won!! The Zhenbei Army won!!"

Hei Tiaozi hugged Hei Erni excitedly, and the siblings wept tears of joy.

"I knew it! Lin Xiao's Zhenbei Army wouldn't abandon us!"

The few old men who had just been cursing the Zhenbei Army were now filled with shame, yet they also shed tears of relief.

The villagers understood that they had returned from the gates of hell; they wouldn't have to die!

At noon one day later.

While on the road back to Baishui Prefecture with the main force, Lin Xiao received a military report from Heiya Village in the rear.

"Husband, is it Brother Zhao and the others? How are they?"

Mu Wanying and several soldiers, very worried about the situation there, immediately asked.