Fortunately, the prince began recruiting jungle and mountain warriors, and Balai hesitated before signing up. He then received a large settlement allowance and was sent to Luzon. Just half a month ago, he was dispatched to Dingbei City to assist this Liu Laoqi in a major undertaking.
"Barley, take your men and lie in ambush over there. If the enemy chief retreats from your side, do your best to intercept them!"
Balai nodded and led hundreds of mountain warriors around the Luzon indigenous tribe in front of them to set up an ambush at the other exit, which was a valley. The indigenous people would most likely choose that direction to retreat.
"Hmph! Do you really think my sword and axe are so easy to replace? It's one thing to suffer a loss because you don't know the market, but to play dumb like this, do you really think I can't see through you?"
Liu Laoqi opened a shop in Beidingji, specializing in ironware. A group of locals would always exchange gold, silver, wood, and even gemstones for hunting knives, exchanging over a hundred of them in total.
Liu Laoqi had attended a short training course and knew what "destabilizing factors" were. He directly asked a local from Alai's tribe to squat in the shop and observe. Finally, he confirmed that these people belonged to the "Kana" tribe and that the leader was that Asen.
After the Battle of Beidingcheng, Asen escaped the encirclement of the Da Yuan army and fled into the mountains with several thousand loyal followers, making it impossible for the Da Yuan army to catch him in the autumn. They failed to capture him several times. This time, however, Liu Laoqi discovered him and naturally mobilized a large force, even bringing in the mountain brigade, which was skilled in mountain warfare.
"Set up the cannon."
Heavy artillery could not be carried during a march through dense forests, so a three-pounder became a good choice. Weighing several hundred pounds, it could be barely carried by a dozen or so people who had to drag and pull it along.
"fire!"
The cannons positioned at the edge of the dense forest began to roar, creating several breaches in the small camp. The three-pound cannons had a range of less than 500 meters, but in this narrow, dense forest camp, they were terrifying enough. The thunderous cannon fire from the recent Battle of Beiding City remained fresh in the minds of the local people.
“！@#%……&%￥”
Asen directed his soldiers to charge toward the artillery. If the artillery continued to roar, the camp would be destroyed sooner or later. If his men scattered again, it would be difficult for him to gather them back together.
The few remaining wizards also went berserk, pouring "divine water" into the warriors' mouths and following the frenzied warriors as they charged toward the artillery position.
"Don't fire randomly! Aim all your artillery at those sorcerers, the ones wearing clothes and covered in chicken feathers!" The two captains leading the army saw the menacing natives and, remembering the eerie rumor, immediately ordered the artillery to concentrate their fire on the sorcerers. Three-pound cannons were standard issue for the infantry battalion, so they naturally responded swiftly to their superiors' orders.
The wizards stopped two hundred meters away, raising larger, thicker wooden shields to protect their frail bodies. Meanwhile, the bloodthirsty native warriors were already close to the edge of the dense forest.
Unfortunately, this time they faced not ballistae and Type 1 rifles, but three-pound cannons. Three-pound cannons were powerful, but they were still cannons, and their projectiles were many times more lethal than ballistae. A single volley of fire shattered them, sending them back to the embrace of the gods.
The moment the shield wall shattered, Asen closed his eyes in anguish; this was his last resort. From then on, not only would these "invaders" relentlessly pursue him, but other tribes would also hunt him and his men. For centuries, this had been the fate of the defeated on this land.
“Let’s go find Taman and ask him to help us get to Borneo. I’d rather sell myself to the gods than let these officials get away with this.” Arsen ignored the chaotic camp and led his remaining hundred or so confidants into the dense forest, heading towards the valley entrance where Balai had set up an ambush.
Bale carefully wiped the rifle in his hand with a piece of fur, his eyes as tender as if he were looking at his wife; he truly loved this weapon.
At that time, the Prince's Palace ordered the lifting of the ban on the sale of bows and crossbows among the Gaoshan hunters. He exchanged all his savings for a cow horn bow, but now it seems like a huge loss. What a piece of junk that cow horn bow was!
“Barley, someone’s coming. Judging by his feathers, he’s a leader.”
Most of Balai's men were his own clansmen and neighbors. Originally, neighbors were enemies, but once they were in the army camp, they naturally became friends.
"let me!"
Bale saw the leader, who was clearly wary of an ambush at the valley entrance and had his men surround him in the crowd. But he didn't expect the valley entrance to be full of traps. Watching his trusted men fall one after another around him, his heart was truly bleeding.
Asen couldn't stop; he could only keep running. He knew this mountain forest very well. As long as he crossed the river ahead, there would be a dense jungle where many people could be drowned.
Bale was also running, just a few dozen meters away from Asen. The two were like two parallel lines, seemingly never to intersect.
Bale was looking for an opportunity, an open area where he could aim. The sound of flowing water ahead gave Bale a jolt, and he darted diagonally across, leaping onto a large rock by the riverbank.
Asen waded into the river, his figure slowed slightly for a moment, and then a muffled "thud!" was heard as blood spurted from his neck, instantly staining the river water beneath his feet red.
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