Chapter 35: Only a Fool Leaves Easy Gains on the Table

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The explosions came one after another, rolling across the land in thunderous succession.

In the flashes of fire from the powder charges, clouds of black-red smoke billowed into the sky. The acrid stench of gunpowder made many Japanese raiders and pirates cough violently, while tears streamed from the eyes of countless others.

Dozens, then hundreds of Japanese raiders and pirates were killed or wounded by Zhangzhuang’s first volley of artillery. Severed arms and legs flew through the air, blood mingling with splattered brains in a single grotesque spectacle.

More than a hundred meters away, beside the little woods, on the cinder road and in the fields alongside it, the Japanese raiders and pirates had fallen into complete disarray. They ran about in groups, scattering in every direction.

Whether Japanese raiders or pirates, they were accustomed to fighting with steel blades, hacking at their enemies face-to-face.

Some veteran raiders or pirates might have been ambushed before, but those ambushers had used feathered arrows—at most, cannons firing iron balls or grapeshot.

Never had they been bombarded with powder charges like this. Many of them screamed for their mothers and fathers, panic-stricken and helpless, running about like headless flies.

“Don’t scatter! Follow me and kill everyone in those woods.”

Dong Tiaoyingji, the leader of the Zhifu Island raiders, had been lucky enough to escape injury. Wielding his blade, he hacked down three or four Japanese raiders who were fleeing in confusion.

But it was useless. No one listened to him.

On the other side, Fu Xiaotian, leader of Futou Village, had been less fortunate. His right thigh had been torn open by an explosion.

“Run for it!”

Fu Xiaotian fled northward, limping badly. He wanted to make it back to Futou Village.

Inside the little woods, the men of the Zhangzhuang Militia artillery company were no longer afraid. Under the command of their company commander, Yang Zhike, they continued pounding the Japanese raiders and pirates with their improvised cannons, reaping their lives.

Preparing to charge out and beat the drowning dogs while they were down, Zhang Chen tied a strip of white cotton cloth around his left arm.

“We’ll charge after the third volley.” Zhang Chen raised his voice. “Comrades, don’t forget to tie white cloth around your left arms.”

The Zhangzhuang Militia had no uniforms. In a night battle, the greatest taboo was being unable to tell friend from foe.

That was why Zhang Chen had prepared white cotton cloth for the men of the Zhangzhuang Militia.

The Zhangzhuang artillery company fired three volleys, killing or wounding nearly a thousand Japanese raiders and pirates.

On the cinder road and in the fields beside it, the enemy ranks had descended into utter chaos. Most of them fled blindly in every direction.

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At last, the time had come to beat the drowning dogs while they were down. Led by Zhang Chen, the men of the Zhangzhuang Militia charged out of the little woods.

The more than twenty men in the Zhangzhuang artillery company had been selected from the militia. Zhang Chen had also ordered Zhang Da’an to recruit more than twenty strong adult male refugees near Zhangzhuang, bringing the militia’s strength up to eight hundred.

Zhang Da’an, Zhang Er’an, and Feiniu guarded Zhang Chen. More than forty men from the Zhangzhuang Suicide Squad, led by Wang the Second, Wang the Third, and the other Wang brothers, caught up with Zhang Chen, overtook him, and reached the cinder road ahead of him.

The Japanese raiders and pirates had broken and were fleeing for their lives, with no thought of continuing the fight.

Seeing their opportunity, the men of the Wang family thought that anyone who failed to take advantage of a bargain was a fool. Wang the Second swung his steel blade into the neck of a fat pirate.

“Die! Killing one completes my quota. Every one after that earns a bonus. Kill them all!”

Zhang Chen had assigned the Suicide Squad a quota: every man had to kill at least one enemy. Those who killed more would receive bonuses, with each additional enemy earning no less than two ounces of silver.

Like wolves and tigers, the more than forty men of the Zhangzhuang Suicide Squad, led by Wang the Second, Wang the Third, and the other Wang brothers, slaughtered the Japanese raiders and pirates who had lost all will to fight, cutting them down as easily as chopping vegetables.

Zhang Chen and the men of the Zhangzhuang Militia also reached the cinder road. They butchered the Japanese raiders and pirates who ran blindly in every direction or cared only to escape, slaughtering them like chickens and dogs.

Half an hour later, the men of Zhangzhuang had killed more than six hundred Japanese raiders and pirates. They divided into two groups and pursued the fleeing enemy separately.

Zhang Chen, Feiniu, and Zhang Er’an led more than four hundred men in pursuit of the Japanese raiders fleeing toward the Qishan Thousand-Household Garrison.

Following Zhang Chen’s orders, Zhangzhuang Militia company commander Wang Shumeng and Zhang Da’an led more than three hundred men in pursuit of the pirates fleeing toward Futou Village.

Dong Tiaoyingji led more than seven hundred veteran Japanese raiders toward the Qishan Thousand-Household Garrison. Their ships were near the garrison, and they planned to sail back to Zhifu Island.

Meanwhile, Fu Xiaotian, the leader of Futou Village, whose thigh had been shattered by an explosion, died amid the chaos. No one knew who had killed him.

Fu Xiaotian’s eldest son, Fu Changgeng, was the vice leader of the Axe Gang. He led more than two hundred veteran pirates in flight toward Futou Village.

Two thousand nine hundred Japanese raiders and pirates had launched a surprise attack on Zhangzhuang. More than seven hundred had been killed by the improvised cannons, and more than six hundred had fallen beneath the steel blades of Zhangzhuang’s men.

The pirates fleeing toward Futou Village and the Japanese raiders fleeing toward Zhifu Island numbered nearly a thousand altogether.

The remaining several hundred Japanese raiders and pirates were mostly wounded. Some escaped into the darkness, their whereabouts unknown.

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Meanwhile, the Fuxian County militia, which had arrived moments earlier, was surrounding and suppressing the Japanese raiders and pirates scattered across the countryside. They finished off the wounded and rescued injured men from Zhangzhuang.

More than half an hour earlier, the cries of battle rolling in from three or four miles north of Zhangzhuang had made everyone’s blood run hot. Unable to sit idle, Tian Xuewen had ordered Tian Yachun to hide inside Zhangzhuang, then led a thousand militia soldiers to the battlefield and joined the fight.

With government troops arriving, Dong Tiaoyingji and Fu Changgeng urged their Japanese raiders and pirates to run even faster. It was only after Tian Xuewen arrived with reinforcements that Zhang Chen decided to pursue them.

In the battle just fought, the Zhangzhuang Militia had suffered fewer than eighty casualties. Riding the momentum of victory, they continued their pursuit of the Japanese raiders and pirates.

Half an hour later, Zhang Chen and his men were still chasing more than seven hundred Japanese raiders. One group fled while the other pursued, and they were now close to the Qishan Thousand-Household Garrison.

In the cold moonlight, Dong Tiaoyingji glanced back at Zhang Chen and the more than four hundred men who were doggedly pursuing him. Furious, he suddenly laughed.

“There can’t be five hundred of them—three or four hundred men actually dare to chase seven hundred of us? They’ve got some nerve!”

“All of you, stop!”

Dong Tiaoyingji cursed. “Follow me and kill them all!”

The Japanese raiders stopped running and wheeled around, charging back toward their pursuers.

Zhang Chen smiled. He halted and used a fire striker to ignite the fuse coiled around his wrist.

“Comrades, light your fuses and prepare to throw your grenades. Wait until the raiders come closer before you throw.”

“Master, we—we don’t have grenades.”

Wang the Second had lost one of his cloth shoes while running, and his voice was full of grievance.

“Master, Qi Guoshu gave each of us only one steel blade. He didn’t issue any grenades.”

Moments earlier, beside the little woods on the cinder road, Wang the Second, Wang the Third, and the other Wang brothers had led the Suicide Squad in killing more than sixty Japanese raiders and pirates at the cost of six casualties. Wang the Second himself had killed three.

More than half an hour earlier, when the Zhangzhuang Militia had begun pursuing the Japanese raiders and pirates, Wang the Second had strongly urged that the Suicide Squad follow Zhang Chen.

“If we stick with Zhang Chen—well, if we stick with Master—then after the battle, no one will dare cheat us out of our bonuses.”

“The Japanese raiders will soon be routed by the improvised grenades. After that, you can still beat the drowning dogs while they’re down.”

Zhang Chen glanced at the Japanese raiders charging ever closer and smiled.

Wang the Second, you might have blown me up with those grenades. That’s why I told Qi Guoshu not to issue any to your Suicide Squad.

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