Chapter 947 - 786: Cao Guild

At the breach of Jingjiang City Wall, sand and straw tumbled down like a landslide. The samurai climbed the earthen slopes to storm the city, while the Anti-Japanese Army tried to stop them, but the Hu Family Death Soldiers at the front raised their firearms and fired, extremely skilled in using the matchlock guns.

On the five-masted treasure ship, the Store Manager of the Wang Family held a thousand-mile mirror, watching. Seeing the Hu Family’s Death Soldiers tearing open the breach and the samurai pouring in like a tide, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He lowered the thousand-mile mirror, turned to Hu Junye, and said with a smile, "The Hu Family’s Death Soldiers are indeed elite. They can use the matchlock guns as soon as they get their hands on them, and each shot is incredibly accurate."

Hu Junye continued to look through the thousand-mile mirror in silence, but there was no expression of joy on his face. He merely said indifferently, "These are just leftovers from the Imperial Three Camps, nothing difficult about them."

At that moment, after opening the breach, the Hu Family’s Death Soldiers withdrew.

The Store Manager of the Wang Family was shocked and said, "Mr. Hu, what is this about?"

Hu Junye sneered, "Is opening the breach not enough for you? Do you really want our Hu Family to personally take Chen Yu’s head? Then what use are you?"

The Store Manager of the Wang Family pondered over this matter and stopped dwelling on it. He cautiously asked, "Mr. Hu, will the Jinling Central Army Governor’s Mansion send reinforcements to Jingjiang County? If the governor’s forces arrive, I’m afraid the samurai will suffer heavy losses."

Hu Junye glanced at him, "Do you not know whether the Central Army Governor’s Mansion can come? If your people aren’t keeping an eye on the Governor’s Mansion, how dare you come to Jingjiang County?"

The Store Manager of the Wang Family forced a smile, "Better be safe than sorry."

Hu Junye put down the thousand-mile mirror and sat back in the Taishi Chair, "Put your mind at ease and bring back Chen Yu’s head for me. That’s the main task. Without the Chen Family and the Zhang Family, even if Your Majesty doesn’t want to choose our Hu Family, there will be no other option."

The Store Manager of the Wang Family cautiously said, "Sir, I’m worried that the damn Wuxiang Morning News will spout nonsense again, stirring up the emotions of the city’s people and forcing the Governor’s Mansion to send troops. If the Governor’s Mansion doesn’t send troops even for this, it will be indefensible."

Hu Junye gazed at Jingjiang County in the distance and said calmly, "Who said the Governor’s Mansion isn’t sending troops? It takes half a month just to prepare the supplies and equipment. Start preparing slowly and then talk. Don’t worry, the Chen Family is already trapped in Jingjiang County, and the Zhang Family can’t even resolve the internal strife within the Xu Family, so they can’t stir up any trouble."

At this moment, a fast horse galloped into Jinling City through the Jubao Gate, rushing towards the government office.

On the road, the crowd was dense, and the posthouse soldier on the horse shouted, "Make way! Four hundred miles emergency!"

The people quickly made way, and the posthouse soldier passed through the crowd, causing the citizens to whisper under the eaves... Four hundred miles emergency? The people of Jinling had not often seen a four hundred miles emergency, having only heard about it in the tales of storytellers.

The posthouse soldier dismounted in front of the Duke of England Mansion, rushing inside with a black lacquered tube on his back.

Next door, Thirty-two and San Shichi, who were originally bickering in front of the door, stood up as soon as the posthouse soldier passed by, leaving the Qing Mansion entrance and heading behind the government office.

Half an hour later, the two entered through the side door of the Qing Mansion and ran all the way to the main hall.

In the main hall, Zhang Xia was sitting behind a desk, reading the local chronicles of Guangling County obtained from somewhere, with several boxes piled at her feet, all filled with local chronicles from various counties in Southern Zhili.

She was reading while reciting Cloud Covering Scripture under her breath, multitasking.

Xiao Man, the little monk, and Zhang Zheng were sitting beside her, whispering as they ate snacks, while Mrs. Zhang was on the Taishi Chair on the other side, leisurely drinking tea and reading a newspaper.

At this moment, Thirty-two and San Shichi arrived at the main hall door, panting, and said urgently, "Lady, it’s not good."

Zhang Xia looked up, still reciting the scripture with her mouth, while Mrs. Zhang put down her teacup and said slowly, "Why the rush? Speak slowly."

Thirty-two continued, "Just now, Guangling County sent a four hundred miles emergency report, saying that the samurai surrounded Jingjiang County last night, and a translator is leading them to burn, kill, and loot in the surrounding villages. They captured a translator for interrogation, and it was found that this time there are over 4,600 samurai, and they captured over a thousand civilians to use as cannon fodder."

Mrs. Zhang stood up abruptly, "What?"

Xiao Man also threw down his snack and exclaimed, "Jingjiang is surrounded by samurai?"

San Shichi said on the side, "The Anti-Japanese Army has only about a thousand people, and they are all untrained street ruffians. They probably can’t hold Jingjiang."

Zhang Xia abruptly stopped her scripture, and said, "What is the Capital City Ministry of War planning?"

Thirty-two replied, "The Ministry of War immediately ordered a deployment, but preparing the supplies and equipment will take at least seven days, and when the army slowly reaches Jingjiang, another seven days will have passed. By then, Jingjiang County will have already fallen."

Xiao Man cursed, "What is the Central Army Governor’s Mansion doing? No wonder the samurai run rampant in Jiangnan... Are these samurai being supported by them? Sister Axia, what do we do?"

Zhang Xia lowered her head in thought, not answering.

Xiao Man looked at San Shichi, "How many people does the lamp have?"

San Shichi said, "The lamp does have some people in the south, and they’ve all fought in Guyuan, but they’re scattered throughout Southern Zhili. It would take ten days to half a month to gather them... Should we let the Salt Gang go to Jingjiang? Right now, the only people in Southern Zhili who can put up a fight against the samurai are these Salt Gang members. San’er, where is Huang Que right now? In Suzhou or Jinling?"

Thirty-two hesitated, "Huang Que is indeed in Jinling right now. A few days ago, he brought the first batch of private salt into the city... But the Salt Gang’s people are also scattered everywhere, it might be too late."

Zhang Xia said calmly, "Even if it’s too late, we must try. Thirty-two, go find Huang Que, and tell him to summon as many people as he can. Even if it’s only two hundred or one hundred people temporarily summoned, he must go to Jingjiang County. They don’t need to launch a fierce attack to relieve the siege, just pretend to be the official army of Chengdu Governor Mansion and harass."

Thirty-two turned and left.

Zhang Xia stood in place contemplating, while San Shichi murmured softly beside him: "The pirates have besieged the city, the official army is not moving, and they expect us to break the siege. What kind of logic is this... Lady, the Xu Family also secretly keeps a troop. If we can mobilize them, the siege of Jingjiang can be broken."

Zhang Xia shook his head: "I can’t mobilize them."

Mrs. Zhang took a deep breath: "Even if we can’t mobilize them, we must give it a try. Zhang Zheng, Zhang Xia, come with me to the Xu Family Mansion."

Zhang Xia shook his head again: "You go. I have another place to be."

Xiao Man looked at Zhang Xia: "Sister Axia, where are you going?"

Zhang Xia rolled up her sleeves and strode out: "In Southern Zhili, not just the Salt Gang can flex arms with the pirates; there’s another troop that can, the Cao Guild."

Xiao Man and the little monk exchanged a glance unconsciously, both showing an expression of surprise.

Xiao Man hesitated: "Sister Axia, are you really going to the Cao Guild? Why don’t the little monk and I go?"

Zhang Xia replied without turning back: "It’s not some dragon’s lair or tiger’s den. You going won’t be of any use. I have to make the trip myself. Xiao Man, you follow mother to the Xu Family Mansion, don’t follow me."

...

...

At this moment, Yuan Xing and others were leading the Anti-Japanese Army into the city, looking back as they ran: They saw pirates entering the city and raising their guns to shoot at the Anti-Japanese Army. Some pirates pulled the trigger three or four times, but the long smoldering matchlocks couldn’t reach the pharmacy.

There were also pirates who fiddled around for a long time but didn’t know how to fire. Additionally, some pirates did not brace the matchlock gun against their shoulder, firing it skyward with a bang, failing to hit anyone, and ended up thrown to the ground by the recoil.

Yuan Xing immediately had a thought, shouting to Jin Zhu and Heavenly Horse who ran alongside him: "Sixth brother, seventh brother! Look, these fools don’t know how to use firearms. Why don’t we seize this chance to charge?"

Jin Zhu murmured quietly, running without turning his head: "Idiots."

Still yearning for support, Yuan Xing wasn’t resigned as he glanced over his shoulder, just in time to see a cloud of white smoke erupt from the pirate’s gun barrel. With a bang, a bullet hit the back of an Anti-Japanese soldier, exploding a fist-sized hole in his chest.

The Anti-Japanese soldier gazed down, watching blood gush from his chest in disbelief, reaching out to Yuan Xing with difficulty: "Sir..."

Before he could finish speaking, the Anti-Japanese soldier collapsed to the ground.

Yuan Xing’s expression changed; gradually, some pirates began to master the techniques, and the firearms fired continuously. Even if the pirates couldn’t aim accurately, a firearm was still a firearm; a pirate aiming at Zhang San could hit Li Si, and a casual shot could suppress the Anti-Japanese Army.

Those Anti-Japanese soldiers who couldn’t run fast enough were shot and fell one by one, and Yuan Xing no longer contemplated fighting back but pulled Zhou Chang to run faster: "Damn it, even a Seeking Dao Realm Official can’t withstand a shot, one shot and trouble is guaranteed. Where did the pirates get firearms? Without these things, we could comfortably hold the city until we starve these fools to death!"

Four hundred matchlock guns in the hands of the pirates roared in succession; even though it was the pirates’ first time using them and they couldn’t aim, they could still occasionally hit the Anti-Japanese Army. The critical issue was that this roar shattered the courage of the Anti-Japanese Army.

At that moment, two figures sprang out from the side.

Chen Ji and Old Ears were jointly holding a large, vermilion-lacquered door taken from the county government office, using it to shield the rear while urging the Anti-Japanese Army: "Quick, once you’re past Tongqu Street someone will support you!"

The pirates’ lead bullets struck the door planks with a thumping sound, but fortunately, the county office’s door was solid, preventing it from being shot through.

Jingjiang County isn’t large; the north-south traversing Chaoyang Street and the east-west Tongqu Street intersect in the center, forming a cross street that divides the entire county into four neat alleys, making Jingjiang County resemble a huge "rice" character.

Chen Ji and Old Ears carried the door plank onto Chaoyang Street, shielding all the Anti-Japanese soldiers as they headed north, momentarily lessening the pressure on the fleeing Anti-Japanese soldiers.

Yuan Xing’s eyes darted, pulling Zhou Chang turned and approached Chen Ji: "Godfather, we’ll lend a hand!"

After speaking, he bent down to pick up broken tiles from the ground, ducking behind the door plank while occasionally poking out to throw a tile.

Yuan Xing, being a Seeking Dao Realm, could casually hurl tiles to fracture bone and ligament of the pirates, while Zhou Chang was slightly inferior but could still smash pirates’ heads from dozens of paces away. The two of them slowed the pirates’ pursuit speed, forcing them to dodge.

The four engaged in battle and retreated simultaneously, until reaching the cross street where Jiang Chai, leading people, had earlier built barricade defenses made of a mixture of soil and bricks piled over half a person high.

Upon reaching the barricades, Chen Ji and Old Ears simultaneously dropped the vermilion-lacquered door and leaped into the shelter.

The pursuing pirates followed with matchlock guns ready to climb in, but upon mounting the barricade, they saw Jiang Chai and Yuan Xi leading Anti-Japanese soldiers to rise and stab.

The pirates, caught off guard, were pierced through the belly by Japanese swords and fell from the barricade.

Jiang Chai shouted: "Duck!"

The pirates behind fired shots, but they shot into empty space, with lead bullets striking the barricade’s sand and bricks, creating a reverberating sound and dust that fell on Jiang Chai and others’ faces.

More pirates charged the barricade, but Jiang Chai and others repeated their tactics; the pirates charged three times without breaking the defenses, instead losing eight matchlock guns.

A servant overseeing the battle noticed that forceful attacks were unsuccessful and immediately shouted: "Find an opening elsewhere; I don’t believe they’ve blocked all paths!"