Crushing the Black Armor Army
The two rushed to the vicinity of the shield wall. On the other side, there was a dense mass of heads, with spears thrusting wildly through the gaps in the shield, while the Azure Cloud Stronghold soldiers behind the shield also returned fire through the gaps.
Several Black Armor Army wielded blunt weapons like sledgehammers, aiming to smash the heads of those holding shields.
The battle was intense when a shield bearer was struck squarely on the helmet by a hammer, leaving him dizzy and disoriented, and he staggered as if about to fall.
Without a word, his comrades stepped forward to plug the gap. The shield wall was teetering on the brink of collapse, in dire straits.
At that moment, Hu Tieniu and Lin Shan pounced forward from the left and right, their gun muzzles protruding along the edges of the shields, aiming to fire at the heads exposed behind them.
The Black Armor Army's helmets were originally fitted with face shields, but unfortunately, those shields were too thin, and bullets from submachine guns pierced through them with a single impact. After a burst of fire, the front ranks fell one after another, and the pressure in front of the shield wall immediately eased.
Lin Yue, who had a clear view from the roof of the vehicle, jumped off and pulled the submachine gun slung across his back to his chest. He rushed to the shield wall and opened fire on the exposed areas on the other side.
The three men took turns firing, reloading three magazines of bullets, before finally breaking the Black Armor Army in front of them.
Ultimately, their rear guard had long been exhausted and wiped out by machine guns and cannons.
One by one, the people in the front row fell down. Those in the back turned around and saw that there was nothing behind them, not even a soul to help them. The ground was littered with corpses. Their last bit of courage vanished, and they turned and ran back.
As they ran, the Maxim on the roof of the wagon fired again, sweeping behind the fleeing soldiers. The entire Black Armor Army completely collapsed. Of the eight thousand men who had charged forward, only a few hundred remained, abandoning their armor and weapons as they fled towards the main camp.
The shield wall parted sharply to both sides, and the spearmen shouted as they gave chase. The entire force of over two thousand men from Azure Cloud Stronghold pressed forward, pursuing the routed soldiers all the way to the Government Army's main camp. Upon reaching the camp, they charged in.
Lin Shan, Lin Yue, and Hu Tieniu, carrying submachine guns, charged ahead.
There were hardly any people left in the village; almost all the able-bodied men had been left outside. As the group was chasing after them, a dozen or so riders suddenly rushed out from the front, seemingly trying to escape on horseback.
Hu Tieniu raised his hand and fired a burst of bullets, sending the first rider and his horse tumbling to the ground.
Lin Shan and Lin Yue were not to be outdone. With their three guns striking from the left and right, in just a few breaths, the three men swept all the dozen or so riders off their horses.
From the moment the two machine guns opened fire until the Black Armor Army collapsed completely and several camps at the foot of the mountain were wiped out, it took no more than half an hour.
Next came the task of collecting the spoils. It was pitch black at night, and they didn't dare chase after him too far; those who could escape were left to run.
Hu Tieniu left 100 men to clean up the battlefield, while the remaining 2,000 men set off immediately towards Yuxi Prefecture.
Yuxi Prefecture is less than forty li away from here. The group was not in a hurry to travel, and they slowed down to conserve their energy, as there was still a tough battle ahead.
They marched normally for two hours. Hu Tieniu took out his pocket watch and saw that it was already 4:30. The troops had just arrived at the south gate of Yuxi Prefecture.
It was still dark, but torches had already been lit on the city walls, and soldiers were climbing up the walls in twos and threes.
Gunfire and explosions echoed all night long down the mountain, and firelight illuminated half the sky. The Yuxi Prefecture had already sensed something was wrong, so they kept the city gates tightly closed and increased security again and again.
Hu Tieniu ordered the troops to stop on the spot, letting the men eat the dry rations they had brought with them and wait until dawn.
As dawn broke, the movements on the city wall became clearer. The garrison on the wall was sparse, numbering only two or three hundred men, all local soldiers from Yuxi Prefecture, and could hardly be considered combat-ready.
The carriage equipped with a machine gun was pushed to the front of the formation and adjusted. Hu Tieniu directed his men to form a battle formation, then turned and waved to Lin Yue.
Lin Yue had been itching to get his hands on it for a while, and immediately grabbed the machine gun.
Thump--
The cannonballs, two or three hundred meters away, blasted straight toward the south gate. The city gate was indeed sturdy; Lin Yue fired half a burst before a muffled boom was heard, and the entire gate was shattered.
Shield bearers led the way, followed closely by spearmen, and then a large contingent of crossbowmen. The troops of Azure Cloud Stronghold, arranged in neat ranks, surged in wave after wave through the open city gate, splitting up to seize control of the city walls.
The attack on Yuxi Prefecture took only two hours, and the entire city fell into their hands.
At this time, the streets were deserted, with not a single pedestrian in sight, and no one stepped forward to organize the remaining soldiers for street fighting.
Yuxi Prefecture didn't have many troops stationed there to begin with, and more than two hundred more were lost in the battle at the south gate. The city was almost empty, and the soldiers who were lucky enough to survive all took off their armor and hid in a corner.
Hu Tieniu immediately ordered that fifty men be left to guard each of the four city gates, while the remaining troops split into four groups and headed straight for the Four Great Lineages Wang, Li, Pan, and Huang in the city, intending to confiscate their property.
Of the four families, the Wang Household was the least conspicuous in ordinary times, but at this critical juncture, its true strength was revealed. The walls of the Wang mansion were high and thick, guarded by two hundred servants, and the gate was reinforced from the inside with stone slabs and wooden beams.
When Lin Yue arrived, he didn't waste any words. He set up the machine gun and fired a barrage at the gate.
No matter how strong the gate of the Prince's mansion was, it couldn't compare to the city walls and gates. After only a dozen or so cannonballs, the iron-clad gate was blasted into pieces.
As soon as the gate was breached, the soldiers rushed in, shouting. The two hundred servants were also quite fierce, and they charged forward with swords, spears, and clubs. The corridors, courtyards, and doorways were all embroiled in a chaotic melee of close combat.
Swords flashed and screams filled the air. Some men tumbled down the steps in a tug-of-war, while others stabbed each other across the flower trellis. But no matter how brave these servants were, they were fighting individually, and they were no match for the waves of well-organized, armored soldiers pressing in.
After a fierce battle, the resistance of the Prince's mansion was gradually crushed, and the entire household was driven to the front yard and imprisoned.
Seeing that the Prince's Mansion had been captured, Lin Yue jumped into his carriage and rushed off to another house, intending to lend a hand. Before he even arrived, three loud bangs could be heard intermittently in the distance.
"Those bastards, they're pretty quick," Lin Yue cursed in the car. "Before I even got there, the door was blown open again."
When he arrived at the Li Household, the Li Household gate had indeed been blown to pieces, and soldiers from Azure Cloud Stronghold were pouring in.
Among the Li Household's servants, there were indeed a few tough guys, skilled in hand-to-hand combat and swordsmanship.
Ordinary martial artists in the martial arts world are only good at fighting one-on-one, but once they run into an army advancing in formation, their skills are not enough.
Soldiers wear armor, so a servant can slash at them without harm; but a soldier from Azure Cloud Stronghold can easily kill a servant with a backhand slash or an arrow from a crossbowman.
The Li Household's guards only numbered a few dozen in total, and being so few in number, they were surrounded by armored soldiers and quickly fell silent after being hacked and stabbed indiscriminately.
In this battle, Azure Cloud Stronghold also lost thirty or forty men.
They went door-to-door promoting their services, and within half an hour, they had completely taken down the four families of Wang, Li, Pan, and Huang.