After this happened several times, the servants lost their nerve and turned to run away.
As for the dockworkers, they were only there to bolster morale and fight when things were going well, but now they were completely terrified!
Run!
Someone shouted, and the entire dock erupted in chaos. The workers threw down their knives and ran for their lives!
As they fled, the He Family's servants were thrown into disarray and were swept along with them.
Then a bizarre scene unfolded at the dock—
Twenty-one armored warriors chased and killed hundreds of people!
He Xingzhou sat in the sedan chair, watching helplessly as his hundreds of men were completely slaughtered.
His eyes widened in fury as he jumped out of the sedan chair and roared, "Don't run! Turn around! Turn around right now!"
But the scene was too chaotic, and nobody listened to him.
The absolute authority at Yi Province Wharf is now like a lone tree standing in a flood, ready to be swept away at any moment!
A guard stepped forward, his voice trembling. "Master, let's retreat first. We can gather more men and fight our way back to He Family Town!"
He Xingzhou was about to say something when he turned his head and saw Bai Jinhuan, dressed in iron armor, wielding a Guan Dao and cutting down a He Family servant.
This servant possessed the skills of Seventh Rank martial artist and was a leader; He Xingzhou remembered him.
But at this moment, they are being slaughtered like chickens!
Bai Jinhuan's eyes, peeking out from beneath his armor, were filled with murderous intent, inspiring fear in all who beheld them!
"Let's go back to He Family Town!"
He Xingzhou had completely lost his will to fight and had his guards escort him away.
He abandoned the sedan chair and, surrounded by a dozen guards, stumbled and ran outside.
He Xingzhou ran a few steps, then slipped and fell to the ground, his face hitting the mud.
The guards hurriedly pulled him up and dragged him along. His hair was disheveled, covered in mud, and his face was covered in blood and dirt; he no longer resembled the imposing figure of the head of the He Family.
However, just as they reached the dock exit, the ground beneath their feet suddenly began to tremble.
The sound of horses' hooves thundered from the official road ahead!
He Xingzhou suddenly looked up and saw dust billowing on the official road ahead, with dozens of riders charging towards them.
"Whose person is this?"
"So many cavalrymen, could it be that Mist Hidden Temple has sent people?"
He Xingzhou felt a surge of hope.
Perhaps Mist Hidden Temple also learned that West River Market had sent people to Yi Province Wharf, so it dispatched cavalry to attack!
Soon, the cavalrymen were getting closer and closer to the dock.
He Xingzhou could already see the person charging at the front; it was a young man carrying a very long knife.
He still clung to hope until the young man suddenly pointed his knife at him.
'What happened?'
'Aren't they reinforcements?'
He Xingzhou's mind went blank.
Wu Shuangren led the attack!
To escort Zhou Zhengqing to the prefectural city a little earlier, Bai Jinhuan set off first. Wu Shuangren and the other party agreed to wait at the dock for a maximum of three days, and today was the morning of the third day.
Wu Shuangren led the main force along the official road all the way to Yi Province Wharf, which would take about three days longer than traveling by water.
He was also worried that something might have happened to Bai Jinhuan here, so he led his personal guards on horseback early this morning, arriving at the dock more than half a day earlier than the main force.
From afar, they could see a dark mass of people scattering and fleeing on the dock, and they could also see their own three cargo ships being besieged on the river.
Wu Shuangren immediately realized something was wrong and quickly led his personal guards to charge in this direction!
He immediately spotted He Xingzhou, who was surrounded by more than a dozen guards and dressed in a red robe, in the crowd.
Judging that the other party might be the leader, they charged towards He Xingzhou without hesitation!
"Quickly escort the master away—"
Several loyal guards drew their knives to block Wu Shuangren, while the rest dragged He Xingzhou away quickly.
In the blink of an eye, Wu Shuangren had already spurred his horse to the scene. Facing the guards who were blocking his way, he slashed diagonally with his Mo Dao, severing the sword in their hands, and then decapitated them with a single stroke!
Another guard on the left was swinging his sword at the horse's leg when Wu Shuangren squeezed his legs together, causing his black horse to rear up and just barely avoid the blade. Wu Shuangren then swept his broadsword from right to left, delivering a downward slash that struck the guard in the chest.
The man was wearing leather armor, which was cleaved through by the blade. The sound of bones shattering rang out, and he was sent flying, knocking over several fleeing laborers.
Wu Shuangren continued to spur his horse to pursue the fleeing He Xingzhou and his men. Like a swift knife slicing open a fish's belly, he slaughtered the guards surrounding He Xingzhou, leaving them no chance against him!
A flash of light, and the last guard's arm, still gripping the hilt, flew into the air. Wu Shuangren spurred his horse forward, grabbed He Xingzhou, and with a single jerk, lifted him off the ground!
He Xingzhou kicked his legs wildly, letting out a series of inhuman screams.
Wu Shuangren, holding the Mo Dao in one hand, pressed He Xingzhou horizontally onto the saddle.
He looked around and, channeling his Internal Skill, ordered his guards, "Surround the dock!"
More than eighty mounted guards immediately scattered and blocked the fleeing crowd.
Upon seeing their captured patriarch, the He Family's servants immediately lost all will to resist.
As for the laborers, they were terrified when they saw the imperial guards charging towards them on horseback, and dared not run away.
Soon, the people who had been scattering and fleeing all stopped.
"Everyone, lay down your weapons and kneel down!"
Wu Shuangren channeled his Internal Skill, his voice filled with anger.
Upon hearing this, the He Family's servants and helpers threw down their weapons and knelt down in unison, numbering in the hundreds.
On the dock, only twenty-one armored men, their bodies stained with blood, remained standing.
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126 It's noon! Chop! Chop! Chop! (5000+ words, please vote with monthly tickets)
Wu Shuangren stood on his horse in the center of the dock, surrounded by a sea of kneeling figures.
Bai Jinhuan, leaning on his Guan Dao (a type of halberd), walked out from the crowd. His armor was stained with blood, and drops of blood dripped down his body.
"Commander, Bai Jinhuan failed to complete the mission and apologizes to you!"
Bai Jinhuan, leaning on his sword, knelt on one knee and spoke in a hoarse voice.
Wu Shuangren dismounted and reached out to help him up. "How are your injuries?"
Bai Jinhuan stood up, swaying slightly, but Wu Shuangren caught him. "Commander, I'm fine, just a little exhausted. The supplies on the ship are all there, but the militia suffered casualties, and Infantryman A was also exposed."
Wu Shuangren patted him on the shoulder. "The Mist Hidden Temple already knew we had infantry armor, so it's fine if we're exposed. The most important thing is that everyone is safe. How about the casualties among our brothers?"
Bai Jinhuan glanced back at the cargo ships. "The enemy never truly broke through our defenses; the casualties were minimal."
"That's good."
Wu Shuangren breathed a sigh of relief. "Tell me, what happened?"
Bai Jinhuan briefly recounted the whole story, from arriving at the dock, to the He Family surrounding the ship, to the other side bringing in three ships to encircle it from three sides, and then to him leading twenty heavily armored militiamen in a counterattack.
Towards the end, he seemed somewhat dazed. "I used to read in military books that 'warriors, clad in armor, have no taboos,' and I only knew that armor was a weapon on the battlefield, but I never imagined it would have such power!"
He led twenty militiamen, donned infantry armor, and launched a counterattack, going all out and never expecting to achieve such a good result!
After listening, Wu Shuangren turned to look at the twenty heavily armored militiamen, who stood like twenty iron towers in the pool of blood.
In fact, Wu Shuangren was also taken aback by Bai Jinhuan's impressive record!
Twenty men wearing armor already possess such power; if one day I could gather a hundred, a thousand sets of infantry armor...
This thought ignited in Wu Shuangren's mind, but was quickly suppressed.
He noticed that the twenty militiamen were almost unable to walk; not everyone could fight for a long time while wearing over fifty pounds of iron armor.
Those who can wear infantry armor and fight on the battlefield are the elite of the elite. Even if I really have a large number of infantry armor, I still need to train a large number of elites.
The road ahead is still long...
Bring that person here.
Wu Shuangren pointed at He Xingzhou he had thrown to the ground.
Two guards dismounted and carried He Xingzhou over.
He Xingzhou's red robe was torn, his hair was disheveled, his face was covered in mud, and blood was still seeping from his nose. When he was brought before Wu Shuangren, his legs could not support him at all, and his whole body was shaking uncontrollably. He could only stand up by being supported by two guards.
"He Family?"
Wu Shuangren looked at him and asked.
He Xingzhou knelt down with a thud, his forehead pressed against the mud, his voice trembling and urgent:
"Militia Commander Wu, spare my life! I was momentarily blinded by greed and offended you, Militia Commander Wu. I'm willing to accept the punishment! Please, Militia Commander Wu, spare my life!"
Many of the He Family servants around were incredulous to see their once-powerful and dignified patriarch in such a state.
When He Xingzhou was young, he led the He Family to build their fortune in this area. He was known for his ruthlessness and willingness to fight. After He Family Town was established, he enjoyed seven or eight years of prosperity, but now he has lost all his backbone.
Answer my question.
Wu Shuangren stared coldly at the other person.
"Yes, yes, I am He Xingzhou, the head of the He Family."
"You're saying you acted because you were greedy?"
Wu Shuangren sneered, "With so many cargo ships coming and going at the dock, if you're always tempted by greed, who would dare to pass through here?"
This is one of the reasons why he dared to let Bai Jinhuan arrive at the dock ahead of him. It is common for cargo ships to stay at the dock for several days. If accidents frequently happen at the dock, who would dare to do business there?
Without the ships coming and going, how will the docks make money?
He Xingzhou trembled and cried out, "Militia Commander Wu, please understand! It's the Mist Hidden Temple! They spread the word that they have a grudge against the people of West River Market. I found out that the people on the boat were from West River Market, so I had no choice but to take action, otherwise I wouldn't be able to explain to the Mist Hidden Temple..."
Before he could finish speaking, Bai Jinhuan's expression changed, and he cupped his hands to Wu Shuangren, saying:
"Commander, it was my oversight that led to this bloodshed. My identity was discovered."
Wu Shuangren waved his hand.
If Guo Jiwang on getting Zhou Zhengqing into Yi Prefecture City as quickly as possible, given that the matter was crucial to success, he wouldn't have allowed Bai Jinhuan to leave with the cargo ship first.
If we're talking about responsibility, I gave the order myself, so I also bear some responsibility.
Let's clear the battlefield first.
Wu Shuangren gave the order.
The He Family servants on the three ships stopped fighting once the people on the dock had been slaughtered.
Now that the patriarch had been captured and dozens of enemy cavalry reinforcements had arrived, these people completely lost the will to resist and were soon all taken off the ship.
The casualties among the militia were quickly reported to Wu Shuangren.
Apart from the initial wave of axe attacks, one militiaman was hit on the head by a flying axe and died on the spot, while the others were only injured because they were wearing leather armor.
After the entire battle, eleven people were seriously injured and temporarily incapacitated, while the rest sustained minor injuries.
Just as Bai Jinhuan said, their defensive line was never breached from beginning to end, so there were not many casualties.
In addition, three militiamen wearing armor were injured by the He Family servants who knew Internal Skill, their bones broken by the impact through the armor. Although not fatal, they could no longer wear armor and fight. The rest were unharmed.
The situation was much worse at the He Family's place. There were more than sixty corpses, and the seriously injured lay on the ground, their cries of agony filling the air.
Wu Shuangren breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this; the casualties were much lower than he had expected. Out of a hundred men facing an attack by five or six hundred, only one person died and a dozen were seriously injured. Besides their equipment advantage, the First Battalion's coordination, morale, and willpower were all quite impressive!
"Strip the He Family of all their leather armor."
Wu Shuangren instructed Bai Jinhuan, "Hand over the dead and seriously wounded brothers to the Flying Feather Hall people here, and let them take good care of them."