Chapter 156: A Cup of Poisoned Wine

Following Zhao Min's instructions, the three young maidens—Gou Kaho, Zhu Xiaoyurou, and Jin Mengji—stepped together into the massive hull of the Thunder-Burst Chariot.

They intended to do the work of thirty, relying on just three people to pilot a battlefield weapon of mass destruction that normally required a crew of thirty.

Jin Mengji possessed the eyes of an eagle and the sharpest vision. Having already changed into a tank driver's outfit and equipped with an infrared scope, she took command of the top deck, responsible for operating the rapid-fire matchlock cannons to deliver long-range, area-of-effect devastating firepower.

Gou Kaho came from a military family, was skilled in archery and horsemanship, and possessed extensive battle experience. Zhao Min assigned her to command the second deck, operating the rows of Zhuge crossbows to maintain stable, medium-range lethality.

Among the three, Zhu Xiaoyurou possessed the greatest natural talent, the highest martial arts prowess, and a very profound internal energy. However, she had the drawback of being kind-hearted with insufficient bloodlust. Therefore, her task was to manage the lowest deck, focusing on defense, operating the lances and grappling hooks, and using her internal energy to provide propulsion for the Thunder-Burst Chariot alongside the warhorses.

The imperial government soldiers commanding the Iron-Flower Chariots were careening wildly when they ran headlong into this bizarre, gigantic contraption.

Before the imperial soldiers could react, Jin Mengji had already operated the rapid-fire matchlock cannons to open fire preemptively. The young maiden rapidly pulled the trigger, continuously unleashing a torrential downpour of explosive projectiles.

The firearms mounted on this Thunder-Burst Chariot were vastly different from those used in the Song Dynasty; they were newly modified products that Varhan conceived after seeing Yang Ye’s Maxim heavy machine gun.

The firing mechanism of the rapid-fire matchlock was modified, as were the explosive projectiles, resulting in a faster firing rate, easier reloading, and vastly increased destructive power.

These two weapons slightly broke away from the limitations of traditional matchlocks, bearing the faint shadow of modern firearms.

Moreover, because these were original inventions of this world, their might would not be affected by the laws weakening ranged weapons in the age of cold steel.

The fierce, torrential onslaught of explosive projectiles instantly devastated the artisan soldiers who were charging forward at the helm of the Iron-Flower Chariots.

Formidable as the Iron-Flower Chariots were, their effectiveness depended entirely on colliding with the enemy, as they lacked any ranged attack capabilities.

The Thunder-Burst Chariot, however, excelled at both close and distant combat, was nimble in movement, and combined both offense and defense. It possessed all the strengths of the Iron-Flower Chariot without any of its weaknesses.

A fierce chariot battle thus commenced, fought at an overwhelming numerical ratio of one to thirteen. The Iron-Flower Chariot fleet held an absolute combat advantage, with three female chariot drivers battling countless male drivers.

The practical result was that the few defeated the many, and women conquered men.

With fierce firepower, solid defense, all-range offensive coverage from distant to medium range, and nimble mobility, the Thunder-Burst Chariot—combining the merits of Eastern mechanical arts and Western engineering—possessed a practical combat potency that simply should not have belonged to the age of cold steel.

The Thunder-Burst Chariot was like a colossal beast, playfully toying with thirteen defeated dogs that possessed sharp claws but utterly feeble combat capabilities.

The iron barbs of the Iron-Flower Chariots were unbreakable, but the Thunder-Burst Chariot could turn with agility, pivot in any direction, and leap over trenches and chevaux-de-frise. Whenever the Iron-Flower Chariots formed a surrounding formation, Zhu Xiaoyurou would use her internal energy to propel the Thunder-Burst Chariot into a high leap, calmly escaping from the encirclement.

Simultaneously, at the moment of the high leap, Jin Mengji would inevitably drop thunder-balls to create explosions, blowing countless artisan soldiers driving the Iron-Flower Chariots to pieces.

In this chariot duel, the imperial soldiers fought with utmost frustration. The Thunder-Burst Chariot galloped freely and charged aggressively, bombarding targets from afar and stabbing them over with lances up close, leaving the Iron-Flower Chariot fleet utterly routed and bullied into submission.

Atop the Fan Tower, Song Jiang held a telescope specifically crafted for him by Varhan. Watching the Thunder-Burst Chariot and the Liangshan heroes grow ever braver in battle, he could finally no longer contain his excitement. Soon, he released a whistling arrow to signal that Liangshan's final reserve force should also throw themselves into the fray.

The whistling arrow pierced the air with a piercing shriek, startling countless ducks and mandarin ducks amidst the long reeds into a frenzy.

The Nine-Hachis Dragon Shi Jin hoisted his three-pointed double-edged blade high, riding a scrawny horse. Red-Haired Ghost Liu Tang, Unobstructed Mu Hong, and Little Overlord Zhou Tong assisted him. These four brave chieftains led a troop of foot soldiers charging forward, joining the battle lines and creating a fresh surge of pressure.

Seeing the terrifying might of the Thunder-Burst Chariot, even someone as composed as Wen Huanzhang could finally no longer maintain his calm.

The battle situation had deteriorated to the point of a desperate life-or-death struggle. His command flag waved once more, committing the imperial side's final reserve force to the battlefield for slaughter.

When narrow paths meet, the courageous win. At present, what they had to contend for was who possessed the perseverance to endure to the very end.

Zhou Ang, the final fierce general of the Great Song capital, appeared. Behind him marched a majestic and formidable elite imperial guard force of twelve hundred men.

Six hundred of them were the Golden Spear Company, a unit once trained by the Golden Spear Xu Ning, where every single man mastered the hook-sickle spear; the other six hundred had an even greater background and fiercer combat power. Trained first by Wang Jin and later disciplined by the Panther Head Lin Chong, they were renowned throughout the Eighty Thousand Imperial Guards as the "Panther Camp!"

This was the strongest and final strength of the Eighty Thousand Imperial Guards, representing the surviving martial soul of the Song Dynasty army.

Wang Liang and the remaining bandit soldiers of the Yuanyang Valley were intercepting the imperial troops when they ran headlong into this imperial guard unit. Zhou Ang waved his hand, and the fierce soldiers of the Panther Camp swarmed forward in a cohesive unit.

Charging at the very forefront were dozens of horse-chopping sabers measuring three feet long, half a foot thick, adorned with large rings, and as heavy as boulders.

The cold, piercing blade light carried an overwhelming, mountain-splitting killing intent.

Confident in his martial prowess, Wang Liang attempted to ride his horse over the fierce soldiers of the Panther Camp, but his mount could not outpace the massive horse-chopping sabers of the Panther Camp.

A continuous flash of blade gleams sliced through Wang Liang's horse legs, sending his entire body flipping down and crashing heavily onto the ground, leaving him dazed and dizzy.

Before he could recover his wits, the men of the Golden Spear Company had already caught up, thrusting dozens of spears downward in unison to pierce this pillar-like figure into a mass of bloody pulp.

The Yuanyang Valley bandit soldiers were the weakest and least cohesive among the forces that had come to create a ruckus in the capital, capable only of fighting when the wind was at their backs. The moment their commander was killed, they immediately turned and fled, instantly throwing the ranks of the Liangshan foot soldiers into chaos.

Seizing the opportunity, the Panther Camp and the Golden Spear Company pursued and slaughtered their way forward, colliding with the forces led by Shi Jin.

Zhou Ang wielded his great spear with ghostly, unpredictable movements. With a stern shout, he unhorsed the Little Overlord Zhou Tong. Just as he was about to deliver a fatal follow-up thrust, the Golden Sword Master Li Zhu rushed over with his sword, unleashing a lightning-fast swordsmanship that forced Zhou Ang back with a flurry of strikes.

From behind, Mu Hong spurred his mount forward, effortlessly extending his ape-like arm to rescue the wounded Zhou Tong onto his horse. The Nine-Hachis Dragon Shi Jin tried desperately to stabilize the formation and control the chaos within his main unit, while Red-Haired Ghost Liu Tang engaged the fierce soldiers of the Panther Camp in a life-or-death struggle.

In this sector of the battlefield, when it came to the quality of top commanders, the Liangshan heroes naturally possessed superior martial prowess; however, when it came to troop quality, the Panther Camp and the Golden Spear Company completely crushed the Liangshan foot soldiers. Both sides possessed their own advantages and tenacity, fighting to a brutal standstill.

Just as the melee grew increasingly intense, a sudden, violent gale arose, sending sand and stones flying as the heavens grew dark. Fifty Yellow Turban Warriors manifested in the gloomy midair, each possessing the gigantic physique of a bronze-cast giant and exuding the heroic demeanor of heroes who could uproot mountains and conquer the world.

The Yellow Turban Warriors opened their palms, setting down Yang Xiu, Shi Xiu, Mi Fang, Yuan Lang, and dozens of elite cavalrymen from Jishan onto the ground. The moment the heroes landed, they let out a battle cry, brandishing their weapons like a pack of fierce tiger cubs, and plunged into the imperial army's grand formation with soaring murderous intent.

Although Wen Huanzhang was exceptionally wise and well-versed in military strategy, he knew little of Daoist arts, believing that strange powers and chaotic spirits were unworthy of high society and that no sorcery in the world could resist the charms and magical talismans.

The scholar, ignorant of the arts of morality and the Dao, was fearless in his ignorance and immediately ordered the imperial guard archers to unleash a volley of ten thousand arrows, launching a dense barrage toward the Yellow Turban Warriors in midair.

"All units, prepare for a volley! Fiends, prepare to meet your doom!"

Every single arrow fired was stained with women's menstrual blood—the very ultimate technique Eunuch Tong had once used to break Li Zhu's Myriad Sword Art.

Ten thousand arrows flew simultaneously, resembling a swarm of locusts! They intended to slaughter this group of migrant workers in the sky—the Yellow Turban Warriors.

However, Wen Huanzhang ultimately did not understand that while the Yellow Turban Warriors were indeed migrant workers who relied on manual labor, they were by no means ordinary migrant workers!

They were the overlords among migrant workers, divine migrant workers. In this world, anything blessed with the word "divine" inevitably possessed formidable might.

Divine migrant workers were naturally no exception.

The menstrual-blood arrow formation proved completely futile. Not only did it fail to harm the divine migrant workers in the slightest, but it also infuriated them.

Originally, they had merely heeded Gongsun Sheng's talismanic summons to expend some physical labor for transport, having no desire whatsoever to make enemies of the imperial army. Yet now, before they had even done anything, the enemy had greeted them with a volley of ten thousand arrows, seeking to take their very lives.

This was utterly intolerable. Even divine migrant workers had their pride; failing to give these madmen retribution would mean forfeiting the right to be called divine.

The fifty Yellow Turban Warriors acted in unison, displaying divine miracles to forge a massive protective barrier that resembled flowers in a mirror and the moon in the water. The arrows fired by the imperial soldiers miraculously reversed direction in midair, shooting backward to pierce the very archers who had loosed them.

A continuous succession of whistling sounds rang out as blood splattered. Feathered arrows pierced armor, and the imperial archers fell in rows like harvested rice stalks. Beneath the divine miracles of the Yellow Turban Warriors, Wen Huanzhang's reserve archer corps was completely annihilated.

Spitting at the sky only soils one's own face, and drawing swords against the gods is courted destruction!

After issuing the decree of divine punishment, the Yellow Turban Warriors slowly faded away. Before departing, they released a powerful shockwave resembling lightning that blasted the sacrificial altar, shattering the entire ritual platform of the divine path to pieces and causing countless deaths and injuries among the Daoist priests standing atop it to pray.

While Wen Huanzhang was preoccupied with commanding from the high platform, Zhao Gou and Gao Qiu watched the battle from afar at the base of the platform. Seeing the Yellow Turban Warriors unleash divine punishment and demolish the sacrificial altar, their hearts felt like ants on a hot pan. The more they watched, the more terrified they became. The mysterious scholar Xu Hua, who served nearby, guessed his masters' intentions, stepped forward, and offered a stratagem.

He was a newly recruited secret strategist under Marshal Gao, well-versed in military tactics, skilled in strategy, possessing a tactical intellect surpassing even Sun Jing, and endowed with considerable personal charm and a knack for manipulating human hearts. Both the ferocious beggar Yan Shude and the skilled, handsome Ren Sen were talented individuals discovered and brought up by him.

Xu Hua's exact background remained unknown. He claimed to be a native of Yuncheng County, yet his spoken accent bore not the slightest hint of Shandong dialect, sounding instead very much like the local patois of the Wuwei Jun area in Jiangzhou.

Marshal Gao regarded him with great esteem; hence, whatever he said, others believed, and no one dared to doubt his place of origin.

Xu Hua remonstrated, saying: "Your Highness, Your Excellency, as things stand, this faction of Huainan remnants has clearly obtained the assistance of the Liangshan bandits. The bandits' forces are formidable, far exceeding the imperial court's preliminary preparations. Slaughter is rampant across the execution grounds, and the situation is murky. To avoid prolonged delays bringing complications, executing Wang Qing and the others at the earliest opportunity is the supreme strategy."