Besieged

The remaining guards scrambled back beyond the crossbow's range, their faces deathly pale and their chests heaving violently.

"What kind of weird thing is that?" someone asked in a trembling voice.

The Government Army troops and soldiers also retreated at this time, craning their necks to look up at the city wall, and a buzz of discussion arose.

Zhou Xian stood at the rear of the formation, his brows furrowed in worry. He had fought for more than a decade and had never seen a weapon with such a high rate of fire and such destructive power.

He stared at the blurry figure on the city wall and said in a deep voice:

"Give the order: all archers forward, unleash concentrated long-range volleys at the city walls to suppress their crossbow bolts. Shield bearers, form ranks to protect the siege ladders and push forward! I refuse to believe those iron pipes can keep spraying bullets indefinitely."

At the command, more than two hundred archers immediately stepped forward from the ranks, advancing in time with the drumbeats. Their bowstrings were drawn taut like full moons, and they unleashed a powerful volley of arrows at the city walls.

Arrows flew densely onto the city wall, raining down on the concrete crenellations, only kicking up fine dust.

The guards on the city wall immediately ducked behind the crenellations. Two of them were a little slower, and arrows grazed their bright red safety helmets with a crisp "clang," sending sparks flying, but they were unharmed. Another arrow pierced their shoulder, but it only went through the outer layer of their clothing and was firmly stopped by their inner stab-proof vest.

Under the cover of the arrow rain, dozens of shield soldiers, holding heavy wooden shields, formed an impenetrable shield formation, protecting the soldiers carrying ladders behind them, and moved step by step toward the base of the stockade wall. The cement road was flat and hard, and they moved quickly, soon rushing to the foot of the wall. Two ladders were slammed heavily against the wall with a loud "bang".

"Charge!" The captain leading the team drew his sword and roared. Several elite soldiers, gripping their swords, climbed up the ladder using both hands and feet.

Hu Tieniu crouched behind the rampart, waited a moment, then raised his hand, extended the muzzle of his gun, and fired several short bursts at the ladder.

"Da da! Da da!"

This thing works really well.

After a series of sharp cracks, the soldier on the ladder tilted and fell straight down like a dumpling being dropped into a pot, crashing heavily onto the hard ground. He died without even uttering a sound.

The people behind them had only climbed two steps when they saw this and quickly retreated.

Zhao Kui wasn't idle either; he picked up a large rock. He was originally a tutor in the Pan family, and he could easily take on both Lin Shan and Lin Yue, the brothers, by himself; he was very strong.

He smashed down on a siege ladder, and with a "crack," the ladder snapped in two, also knocking down several soldiers who were halfway up the ladder.

The crossbow bolts from the city walls never stopped, and then that unknown "iron rod" would suddenly go off, killing someone with every shot. Continuing to resist would be suicide.

The captain in charge gritted his teeth and had no choice but to order a retreat.

More than two hundred corpses lay scattered on the open ground in front of the battle lines, and the groans of wounded soldiers echoed throughout the area.

Zhou Xian's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and the veins on his hand gripping the knife handle bulged.

He originally thought they were just a bunch of rabble who had taken over the mountain and that his three thousand troops could easily crush them. Who knew that not only were the walls of their stronghold as solid as a rock, but they also had such sharp firearms, which were even more terrifying than the equipment of the elite troops on the border.

"General," the adjutant beside him whispered:

"These bandits are incredibly cunning, and the mountain paths are narrow, limiting our forces. A direct confrontation would result in too many casualties. Why don't we retreat and surround the mountain first? Cut off their water and supply lines, trap them for half a month, and they'll surely come out and surrender."

Zhou Xian remained silent with a sullen face, glancing up at the towering stockade wall and then at the steep mountain walls on both sides.

He knew in his heart that besieging the mountain was easier said than done, as the mountain range was vast and three thousand men would not be enough to completely surround it. Moreover, the prefect and the heads of the major families were watching from behind, and it would be a loss of face to surround the mountain without attacking it on the very first day.

"Retreat to camp first."

After a moment's hesitation, he finally relented:

"Send men to guard all the key roads at the foot of the mountain, and don't let a single person down. Triple the number of sentries at night to prevent them from raiding the camp under cover of darkness."

The bugle sounded slowly, and the Government Army, carrying the wounded and dragging the corpses, retreated back to their camp at the foot of the mountain in orderly formation.

On the city wall, seeing that the Government Army had retreated completely, the village soldiers burst into cheers.

"We won! The Government Army are nothing special after all!"

"The boss's iron weapon is still the most powerful! It can shoot down a whole bunch of enemies with one shot!"

Hu Tieniu grinned, patted the slightly warm gun barrel, and felt a sense of satisfaction. But he didn't lose his composure and waved to the crowd:

"Stop having fun, everyone stay alert! Today is just the first wave. The Government Army have suffered losses, and they might launch a surprise attack tonight. Reinforce the posts, and double-check the kerosene and logs to ensure nothing goes wrong."

"Yes!" the crowd responded in unison, their morale even higher than when they arrived.

Zhao Kui stood to the side, gripping his goose-feather knife, his gaze fixed on the submachine gun on Hu Tieniu's shoulder, his mind churning with turmoil.

He had initially thought the stronghold could hold out solely because of its terrain and concrete walls, but after seeing it today, he realized that Young Master Shen had far more cards to play. Not to mention dealing with a mere three thousand Government Army, even if there were bigger storms in the future, he might not be unable to hold his ground.

He took a deep breath, stepped forward, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said:

"Boss, count me in for the night watch."

Hu Tieniu patted him on the shoulder and laughed loudly:

"Good! You're a real man! Let's go downstairs and grab something hot to recharge before we slowly wear down those damn Government Army!"

The Government Army withdrew to their camp. Zhou Xian removed his helmet and sat down behind his desk, his face still grim.

Prefect Zhang hurried over, about to ask about the battle situation, when Zhou Xian spoke first:

"Lord Zhang, this mountain stronghold cannot be attacked head-on; we can only resort to a siege."

Prefect Zhang was taken aback:

"General Zhou, why... why can't we fight? We have three thousand regular troops, can't we even take down a mountain stronghold?"

"You were also on the front lines today; you should have seen it clearly."

Zhou Xian tapped the topographic map on the table with his fingertips:

"There's only one path up the mountain, and at its narrowest point it's barely ten feet wide, making it impossible for troops to deploy effectively. The stockade walls are all made of cement, eight or nine meters high, as hard as iron; ordinary ladders and battering rams are useless. The bandits are positioned high up, and charging up would just be suicide."

He paused, then his tone became even more serious:

"Even if we send another 30,000 reinforcements, the mountain path is only so wide, we won't be able to set up a proper formation and still won't be able to take the fort. In the past, the only way to attack such a fortified village was to besiege it, cut off its supply lines and waterways, and wear it down until it couldn't hold out any longer and naturally surrendered."

Prefect Zhang's lips twitched as he listened, and his heart skipped a beat.

The siege sounds simple, but with thousands of people stuck at the foot of the mountain every day, the supplies, pay, and losses are bottomless pits. If it really drags on for months, the government's meager grain reserves simply won't hold up, and in the end, the responsibility will fall on his shoulders.

But he also knew that Zhou Xian was telling the truth. He had seen the casualties on the front lines today, and a direct assault was indeed not going to work.

After holding it in for a long time, he finally sighed:

"Very well, let's do as the general says and keep them confined for now."