Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 815: The Strange Foreigners
The arrows of the barbarians were surprisingly sharp, which was something Zhu Su, Li Jinglong and others had not expected. After a rain of arrows, the leather bags used by the Ming army to cross the river had completely sunk into the river, and even the Ming army soldiers who jumped into the water and swam away were washed downstream by the current.

The foreigners on the other side of the river thought they had won a great victory, and they jumped and shouted at the Ming army on the other side of the river, looking extremely excited.

"Fortunately, Uncle Wu, you were on guard...those religious bandits actually instigated the foreigners to ambush us!" Li Jinglong said with lingering fear.

"I didn't expect that Fu the demon would move so quickly." Zhu Su said. "But their ambush has been exposed. The brothers downstream should be able to cross the river... We can wait until nightfall to see the outcome of the battle with them."

Their main army was stationed here, pretending to cross the river, in order to lure ambush troops to block them. Meanwhile, a small force responsible for sneaking across the river moved quietly downstream. On the one hand, they were responsible for rescuing their comrades who jumped into the water upstream, and on the other hand, they could attack the ambush camp at night to help the main force cross the river.

Under the shouting of the barbarians, the Ming army pretended to be angry and blew up the leather bags, which made the barbarians think that the Ming army was going to force a crossing of the river, and they became more alert. However, when the sun set, the Ming army did not urge the army to force a crossing of the river.

At night, the foreigners still confronted the Ming army across the river, which had already set up camp and made fire.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang like thunder. The camp of the barbarians on the other side of the river suddenly became noisy. The bored Ming army soldiers who had been waiting for a long time and had been resting all started. Li Jinglong said excitedly, "It's a grenade."

"The soldiers on the other side have begun to attack the camp!"

"Quick, get on the leather bag!" Zhu Su, who had been looking at the other side of the hillside, ran down the hillside in a hurry. "Cross this river at night!"

Rapid drumbeats sounded, and the Ming army soldiers quickly mounted their leather bags. The light from the torches illuminated the entire river as if it were daytime.

It was not until the large group of troops was about to land that the chaotic foreign people on the other side realized that the Ming army was coming. Several foreign archers randomly pulled their bows and shot a few arrows at this side, but they were not accurate at all, and most of them fell into the river.

Beside Zhu Su, the quick-eyed and quick-handed Gou'er stretched out his arms and grabbed an arrow that was accidentally shot at Zhu Su. He was about to throw it away, but felt something was wrong, so he took the arrow in front of his eyes and took a look. When he saw it, a strange light suddenly flashed in Gou'er's eyes, and he immediately presented the arrow to Zhu Su, "Your Highness, please look..."

"Hmm?" Zhu Su, who was staring at the other side of the river from his leather bag, turned back in confusion. Dogs are excellent guards. Unless there is an emergency situation where they have to retreat, they will not interrupt him from commanding the army. In the firelight, Zhu Su looked down at the arrow and was stunned.

"Iron Arrow Cluster?"

Under the firelight, the arrow's tip flashed with a cold light, and it was obvious that it was made of the finest iron.

"...No wonder, when they rained arrows just now, even the leather bag was overturned." Zhu Su frowned uncontrollably.

The foreigners on Da Wan Island were different from the barbarians on the grassland. They made their livings by fishing, hunting and farming. Although they had formed a political system similar to a country, their level of civilization was still quite rudimentary.

They have lived on the island for a long time and have few external enemies. As for weapons, they are mostly stone tools. Otherwise, the ruler of the Big Belly Kingdom would not be so easily defeated by Philip and Firut who are far less in number than him. Even if they have one or two iron tools, they are usually just crude pig iron, and it is impossible to have such fine iron arrows.

It seems that there is a lot behind these savages. Zhu Su felt a little heavy in his heart.

However, even with iron weapons, without the river and terrain to rely on, these barbarians were still vulnerable in front of the elite troops of the Ming Dynasty. These Ming soldiers who had fought against the Timurid Empire in Central Asia were like using a butcher knife to kill a chicken against the barbarians. Almost as soon as Zhu Su landed, these barbarians who dared to block the Ming army were slaughtered.

"Your Highness, I have fulfilled my mission and have wiped out these barbarians." Chang Mao, the vanguard, laughed and clasped his fists towards Zhu Su, then scratched his head: "But these barbarians... are a little strange. Although they have lost their order due to the sudden night attack, they have not completely lost their rules."

"They don't look like foreigners, but more like... more like pirates or bandits?"

Chang Mao also had ambitions to explore and he had once gone out to sea to clear out some of the savages on the South Sea islands. As far as he knew, those savages only knew how to show off their bravery, and when they fought, they fought like wild beasts, without much discipline.

But this group of savages…although they were in a panic, their leaders knew to attack in groups, and even sent out a team to try to temporarily stop the Ming army. Although their methods were still crude, they were far different from those of ordinary uncivilized savages.

Zhu Suyuan was squatting down, looking at the face of a dead barbarian. Hearing Chang Mao's words, he brushed off the smoke and dust on his clothes and stood up. "It doesn't matter. From a barbarian to a bandit... Isn't that still just the level of a bandit? We are all good men who have fought thousands of miles away. Even the Northern Yuan Dynasty and Timur the Lame were defeated by us. Are we still afraid of some mere barbarians?"

The generals had doubts in their hearts, but when they heard this, they all laughed again, and the gloom that had arisen in their hearts naturally disappeared without a trace.

Seeing that the sky was bright and the army was in high spirits, Zhu Su ordered the thousands of troops to continue their march. The three armies were full of vigor and confidence, and they all believed that they could defeat the savages in no time.

But no one noticed the solemnity and doubt in their prince's eyes: Logically speaking, the appearance of the savages on Dayawan Island should be not much different from that of the Han people. Why did the savage who just died have high cheekbones and a hooked nose, not at all like the people of the Dadu country?

……

On a mound about three or five miles away from here, two people were looking at the battlefield in the dim morning light.

"The Ming army is very powerful, and it is not in vain... The tribe that is blocking them must have at least a thousand people, right?"

"They couldn't even hold them back for a night. In less than half an hour, they were routed by the Ming army. With such elite troops, it's no wonder that the Zhu family was able to conquer such a vast empire..."

The man had his clothes unbuttoned, had a broad face and a square mouth, and looked square-minded, but his eyes were full of jealousy and fear. He was none other than the shopkeeper Fu Puxin.

"Hmph! Isn't it because of the advantages of firearms?" The other man was dressed gorgeously, but unfortunately he was thin and dark. At first glance, he looked like a monkey in human clothing. However, the sinister look in his eyes made people dare not underestimate him.

"Firearms, firearms... How come all the good things in the world seem to have fallen into the hands of the Ming court?"

"If I had this firearm, I would be as invincible as these Ming soldiers!"

The dark and thin man narrowed his eyes and said.

(End of this chapter)