I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 54: Those who play tricks will be killed

At first, Zhao Zi said he felt a little guilty about being ambushed and intercepted by Fan Rui.

The three people, "Fan Rui, the Demon King of Mischief", "Xiang Chong, the Eight-Armed Nezha" and "Li Gun, the Flying Great Sage", established their camp in Mangdang Mountain. This is clearly mentioned in the original text of Water Margin.

Even though this world is obviously different from the Water Margin, these people may not still be here. Zhao Zi said that we should still be on guard in advance to be prepared for any eventuality.

But Zhao Zicheng was a serious scholar of history in his previous life. His values ​​always made him scornful of superstitious things. So when he read Water Margin in his previous life, he skipped over scenes like Song Jiang meeting the Lady of the Nine Heavens, Gongsun Sheng using Taoist magic, and Fan Rui and Gao Lian using sorcery.

He had read the original version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Dream of the Red Chamber dozens of times, Water Margin only a few times, and Journey to the West he had never had the patience to finish, but only watched the TV series before the fourth grade of elementary school.

As he watched, he couldn't help feeling a sense of superiority: those ancient people must have been unfamiliar with the world and didn't even understand scientific common sense, so they were deceived by the simple tricks of the quacks.

Because he saw it so thoroughly, he didn't even know that Fan Rui had occupied Mangdang Mountain.

Fortunately, when the other party rushed out, they did not attack rashly immediately, but just shouted to intimidate Zhao Zi, asking him to put down his weapons and hand over his property, which gave him enough time to prepare.

Zhao Zicheng was not intimidated, but he did not deliberately provoke the enemy. He just ordered his soldiers to put on their armor quickly and used words to calm the enemy:
"Why do you have to fight to the death, heroes? We are just officials who have just been appointed, not merchants, and we don't have much property on our vehicles. If you insist on fighting us for such a small thing, it won't be worth it if a hundred people are killed or injured."

Zhao Zicheng didn't care whether these words could persuade the enemy to retreat, but at least they could buy time and undermine the enemy's determination to fight to the death, so it would be a waste not to say them.

After hearing Zhao Zicheng's call, the group of minions on the opposite side were indeed slightly shaken.

They all came here to seek wealth. If they really couldn't grab anything valuable, they would suffer a great loss if they fought to the death.

Fan Rui also knew the temperament of his subordinates. When he heard this, he shouted: "You despicable dog official! Don't try to flatter me. You don't have the final say on whether there are valuables or not. Unload everything from the car and let me see it. I will naturally spare your lives!"

Fan Rui said he wanted to "take a look", but in fact everyone knew that after seeing the goods, he would keep them regardless of whether they were valuable or not.

Zhao Zicheng did not give a direct answer, but continued to wave his hand, asking everyone to speed up the unloading. Soon, ten sets of infantry armor, ten sets of cavalry armor, and twenty sets of leather armor with iron heart-shielding mirrors were unloaded. The soldiers who were originally not wearing armor when they were on the road also frantically accelerated to put on their armor.

Time was short and there was no time to tie the armor slowly. Many people just put on their armor and then lined up with guns and shields to prepare for battle.

It takes a lot of time to put on a full set of armor, but it is much faster to just put it on.

The main disadvantage of doing this is that the weight of the entire body armor will be hung on the shoulders, and the physical exertion of the upper limbs and shoulders is very huge, but it can still be sustained for a short period of time.

After everything is tied up, the waist, abdomen and hips can also share some of the weight, and the whole person will be more flexible.

Fan Rui originally thought that his intimidation worked and the other party was scared enough to hand over their property, but in the blink of an eye, the other party lined up and put on armor, which made him cry out that he had been fooled. If he had known this, he would have rushed out right away and not given the enemy a chance to put on armor.

"This bastard official is cheating! All of you men, come at me!"

Fan Rui shouted and gave orders. He had already keenly judged that time was on the other side.

I have already set up an ambush here and my fighting power will not get any stronger even if I give it more time.

If we give the enemy more time, adjust the formation more strictly, and even have the soldiers tie their armor firmly, their combat effectiveness can be improved by several times. How can we delay at this time?
In an instant, hundreds of bandits rushed towards the chariot formation where Zhao Zicheng's troops were resting from three directions.

The terrain in the mountains is narrow, and the place where Zhao Zicheng's troops rested was at the edge of a low-lying swamp. The formation was relatively broken, and the situation seemed quite critical for a while.

Zhao Zicheng quickly took a look at the enemy situation and noticed that there were indeed quite a few enemy troops hiding in the mountains and forests. Following Fan Rui's orders, a steady stream of thieves emerged from the dense forest, and the total number was at least several hundred.

Zhao Zi said there were only about 70 or 80 people here, 60 of them soldiers and some officers. There were only about 70 combat-capable people, and the rest, including women, maids, old men, and military doctors, were non-combatants.

This was at least a one-on-five numerical disadvantage, and in extreme cases it could be close to one-on-10. Fortunately, his side was well-equipped and had two talented generals, so Zhao Zicheng felt a little more at ease.

"Shoot!" Before Zhao Zicheng could open his mouth, Yang Zhi, who was directly in charge of military command, gave the order first.

Ten crossbows and thirty strong bows were strung and pulled, and a rain of arrows quickly flew out, knocking down several bandits.

The enemy troops were all infantry, and their charge wasn't very fast, so the defenders had at least three rounds of arrow rain. The last two rounds were also fired quickly and sparsely, with the closer the enemy, the higher the hit rate. In total, the three rounds brought down nearly twenty enemies, slightly dampening the enemy's morale.

Yang Zhi shouted orders to his men to stay calm, shoulder to shoulder with their spears and broadswords, defending and counterattacking. He himself drew his precious sword and galloped back and forth to press the enemy lines, personally killing several bandits. The bandits led by Fan Rui, Xiang Chong, and Li Gun were mostly sword and shield soldiers, all wielding rolling blades and shields. While their weapons were undoubtedly at a disadvantage when fighting in formation, this combination offered great flexibility in the rugged mountainous terrain.

Yang Zhi's soldiers were unfamiliar with the terrain, and their formation was always filled with gaps, allowing the enemy to attack them at close range. Fortunately, Yang Zhi's soldiers were well-armored, and the elite soldiers at the edge of the formation were all wearing infantry armor, so they did not suffer significant casualties.

Several times, the bandits came close to them and swung their swords like the wind, but it was like tickling the infantry's armor and could not break it at all.

The armor-piercing efficiency of swords and knives is the lowest, because the impact surface is too narrow and long, and the pressure is too low. The armor-piercing effect is not even as good as the point attack of bows and arrows, let alone spears and heavy blunt weapons.

Zhao Zicheng, taking in the situation, felt a slight trepidation. He quickly thought to himself, "If I had known this would happen, I should have trained my soldiers in the Mandarin Duck Formation, a mountain warfare formation that's far more versatile than simply using spears and broadswords." Unfortunately, he'd never had the time, and he didn't have his own private army. He'd definitely put this on the agenda when he returned to Suzhou.

This round of attack by Fan Rui and other bandits also served as a reminder to Zhao Zicheng.

Relying on their heavy armor, the government troops quickly withstood the offensive of the ordinary bandits. When the bandit leaders saw that the situation was not right, they began to use long-range weapons to try to break the deadlock.

There were twenty-four flying knives in the quiver on Xiang Chong's back, which he could take out and throw at will. He was an expert in using flying knives, which is why he was nicknamed "Eight-Armed Nezha" in the martial arts world.

Li Gun was good at javelin, and had twenty-four short javelins in the quiver on his back.

Seeing their brothers being killed and wounded in the fight with the heavily armored officers and soldiers, the two men were furious. They immediately opened fire at full power, throwing flying knives and javelins wildly in an attempt to break the deadlock.

Xiang Chong's flying knife clearly lacked kinetic energy and was too light, clanging and clattering as it struck the infantry's armor, completely ineffective. He quickly adjusted his tactics, flinging it randomly towards the rear rank, barely injuring a few soldiers wearing only leather armor and shields. However, this technique also significantly reduced the kinetic energy of the knife, making it more like a smack than a stab.

Li Gun's javelin, on the other hand, was a completely different beast. Javelins were naturally good at penetrating armor, their kinetic energy concentrated on a single point, creating immense pressure. With just a few hurled javelins, he severely wounded two elite infantrymen. One was shot in the shoulder and neck, and was clearly dying.

Yang Zhi had originally intended to hold his temper and launch a defensive counterattack, using formations to wear down the enemy's spirit and then counterattack once their momentum had fallen. Suddenly, seeing Li Gun repeatedly injuring officers and soldiers with his spears, Yang Zhi finally lost his patience and charged out of the formation, brandishing his steel spear and using the Yang family's spear techniques to attack Li Gun.

Lu Da, who was standing by, could no longer hold back. Seeing Yang Zhi taking the initiative to attack, he also jumped out, waving his newly forged Zen stick, and pounced on Xiang Chong.

Xiang Chong and Li Gun also had some skills and were quite skilled in martial arts, but unfortunately, they were still far behind Yang Zhi and Lu Da. Furthermore, the combination of short-range weapons and long-range throwing weapons put them at a disadvantage in hand-to-hand combat compared to Yang Zhi's spear and Lu Da's staff.

Within a few moves, the two were in danger. Finally, they both used a throwing technique similar to a rain of flowers from the sky, throwing flying knives and javelins at a very fast frequency without even aiming. They finally forced away the pursuit of Yang Zhi and Lu Da, and then turned around and ran away at the speed of light.

Lu Da was angry that the other party had shot him in the back, but he was unable to dodge. He roared, swung his Zen staff with one arm, and smashed it down with a snowflake-like move.

Xiang Chong thought he had escaped the attack range of the opponent's weapon and breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly he heard the whistling of wind behind him, so he quickly dodged sideways and raised his shield to block.

The iron staff weighing dozens of pounds smashed hard against the barbarian shield, shattering the hard wooden shield wrapped in vines, leaving only a few vines entangled. Xiang Chong's arm holding the shield was also smashed, breaking the tendons and bones, and he screamed and fled in panic.

Because the space-time gate was wide open during the pursuit, Lu Da was also scratched by the opponent's flying knife, but he felt that he was not seriously injured.

The government troops took the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, and many of Xiang Chong and Li Gun's sword-wielding bandits were killed or wounded, and dozens of them were captured directly.

The Mangdang bandits, who had been so arrogant, were completely defeated. The defeated bandits looked at Fan Rui, who was holding the fort, with a hint of resentment in their eyes.

Fan Rui felt like he was on edge. He knew the temperament of the bandits under his command. This group of people would definitely not be able to fight a battle against the odds. They were united by interests and would lose their morale at the slightest setback.

He gritted his teeth and shouted, "Don't be afraid! Although this group of government troops are well-equipped, they will definitely not be able to withstand our magic. I have my own way to defeat them!"

After saying this, Fan Rui gave a few urgent instructions, and some of his trusted bandits immediately followed his plan.

Then Fan Rui pretended to spontaneously combust in front of the formation without any fire, burning a talisman and shouting "Hurry!"

There were only a few loud noises in the valley, and then black smoke rose in several places. The wind direction happened to be favorable to Fan Rui - Fan Rui was surrounding Zhao Zicheng on three sides, and he must have observed the battlefield environment in advance, so he was able to selectively release smoke in the upwind direction.

The black smoke was not only thick and mixed with flames, but also had a strange odor that was pungent and irritating.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Zicheng suddenly realized: It turns out that the so-called "Taoist magic" of these people who pretended to be gods was nothing but gunpowder smoke bombs mixed with poison!
"Everyone, cover your mouths and noses with soaked robes! Get your leather bags ready; if you get blinded by the smoke, rinse them out immediately! Don't be afraid! This isn't some kind of magic trick! It's just a poisonous smoke ball made of gunpowder used by the government troops!"

(End of this chapter)