bullyxtreme Chapter 76 The Tough Pass
Chapter 76 The Tough Pass
Chapter 76 The Tough Pass
"Ugh, this damned little bird! After all that trouble, I don't get any of the benefits, but I'm the one who suffers the most!"
On the march, when no one was looking, Guo Xingye couldn't help but secretly curse that old bastard Wanfu.
In his opinion, Wanfu was truly shameless. Did he really think that no one knew he was secretly mining gold outside the court's restricted area?
Akdun, a Zuo Ling under Wanfu, was completely loyal to Wanfu. Not only were they both Manchus, but Akdun himself could also get some gold from Wanfu.
In addition, Wanfu's status as a member of the imperial clan led Akdun to fawn over the old man at every turn, hoping that the old man would say a few good words to expedite his transfer from the border region to the capital.
After all, the area outside the pass was too poor, and there was hardly any profit to be made. If it weren't for the fact that there was a gold mine that Wanfu had been illegally mining, and that Wanfu was willing to secretly share some gold with him, he would have exploded on the spot.
Unfortunately, Wanfu was already doing well to secretly give some gold to his deputy generals. As for giving gold to Green Standard Army commanders who were not even in the same military system as him, how could that be possible?
That's why Guo Xingye was so angry. In the end, it was his prime minister's Green Standard Army that sent troops, while those Manchu nobles remained carefree in the city. In the end, he didn't get any benefits.
As for whether or not to simply report Wanfu, that old bastard, for his gold mine, and make that old geezer regret it?
To be honest, Guo Xingye once had this thought when he was drunk: since he hadn't gotten any benefit from the gold mine, he might as well go all the way and make sure no one got any benefit at all!
But after thinking it over, he realized that even if he reported the gold mine, it would be a lose-lose situation and might even bring him additional trouble.
Wanfu has been illegally mining gold and will definitely be severely punished in the future. But Wanfu is, after all, from the royal family, and who knows what other background he might have? What if this guy tries to trip me up later?
Moreover, as a Han Chinese, if he secretly went to report Wanfu, a Manchu general, he would very likely incur the displeasure of his own masters.
If it were a Manchu who reported him, there might not be any problem, because everyone is equal in status. But he was just a servant who secretly reported his master. Even though Wanfu is not strictly speaking his master, he will most likely not get away with it.
After all, in the eyes of other Manchus, all Han people were their slaves, and his behavior was clearly that of a slave betraying his master.
So even though he was unwilling, he could only choose to endure it in the end.
At this moment, Rock was unaware that a Qing army stationed in Kaiyuan City had actually taken a detour and advanced from his rear. His attention was now entirely focused on the bandits who were launching an attack from the front.
When the main bandit force arrived at the mountain pass, they hesitated for a moment when they saw the treacherous terrain before them.
Although the simple wooden village has now been destroyed by a huge explosion and buried by an avalanche, even so, the terrain of the mountain pass, which is so formidable that it can hold off thousands of men, is still enough to make things quite difficult for the bandits.
"Damn it, are these Luo family soldiers incompetent? They're deliberately blocking the way here, trying to embarrass me!"
Looking at the Luo family army, which had already formed a dense formation on the opposite side of the mountain pass, the bandits couldn't help but want to curse.
Although the Luo family army on the other side seemed to be small in number, probably no more than 200 people in total, each of them was carrying a foreign gun!
Given the narrow terrain, the bandits couldn't possibly charge forward in large numbers at once. And with such dense gunfire from the enemy, every man who charged would inevitably die.
"Boss, let me lead the brothers on a charge!"
Under Black Whirlwind's command, a bandit leader thumped his chest and shouted loudly.
Seeing that this fool had nothing better to do than stick his neck out, Black Whirlwind kicked him hard, knocking him to the ground.
"Shut up, you clueless piece of trash! Who gave you the right to speak here?"
"If you dare to say another word, don't blame me for ripping your tongue out and using it as a snack!"
Honestly, Black Whirlwind was almost furious with this guy on the spot.
By being the first to stick his neck out at a time like this, that fool proved his bravery, only to find that the people he led out to their deaths were all his own men!
The other bandits were hoping someone would quickly sacrifice themselves to clear the way for the others. If the person in front charged forward and actually broke through Luo's army's defenses, wouldn't the bandits behind them have an easy time?
"Boss, how about I lead a squad of brothers up the hillside and then kill those Luo family soldiers from behind?"
Another bandit leader whispered something in Black Whirlwind's ear, eager to try his luck.
This bandit leader was a skilled fighter under Black Whirlwind, and also the one with the best lightness skill among his men, so the mountain path in front of him was not difficult to walk.
Given some time, he should be able to find a mountain path that can be crossed. Then, he can have the Xiao Gu brothers cross the mountain path to the other side and directly cross this wretched mountain pass. Wouldn't that be much easier?
After thinking for a moment, Black Whirlwind nodded and said, "Alright, Fifth Brother, since you trust your speed so much, why don't you take 20 brothers and see if you can get over there?"
"If possible, I'll send even more brothers to support you later!"
Seeing that Black Whirlwind's side had finally taken action, the other two bandit groups were not to be outdone and sent their own men to climb the mountain with them.
The valley here is very steep, so they don’t know if they can climb it, but in any case, it’s better than a head-on attack on Luo’s army’s musket formation, right?
However, the bandits did not notice that the Luo family soldiers blocking their way were not paying attention to them at all, but instead kept glancing behind them.
Even Luo Ke, who was standing behind the Luo family army, did the same, glancing at the bandits' back every now and then. However, because the bandits were blocking his view, he couldn't see anything behind them.
"Hey, it seems these bandits aren't stupid after all. I thought they would actually dare to charge straight into the mountain pass!"
""
Rock shook his head, looking at the musketeers in front of him, feeling a little regretful.
He quietly moved all his other troops out of the valley, leaving only a squad of young guards and the local soldiers he had recruited to guard the area.
According to his original plan, he was waiting for the bandits to attack the mountain pass from the front. When the bandits failed to break through, his troops, who were secretly lying in ambush behind the bandits, would then attack and cut off their path, thus completely trapping the enemy here.
However, things didn't go as planned; the bandits didn't launch an attack rashly, which he found somewhat regrettable.
"General, I think those bandits are preparing to climb the mountain!"
Suddenly, a sharp-eyed soldier next to Rock reminded him.
Rock, with his binoculars in hand, naturally spotted the bandits preparing to climb the mountain, but he wasn't worried at all.
"Don't worry, I expected this. There are people guarding the mountain!"
If those bandits were able to arrange for men to ambush on the mountain in advance, preparing to throw stones down after Rock's troops entered the mountain pass, how could Rock not have considered the troops he had arranged in advance on the mountain?
Although the mountain roads here are rugged and steep, making it impossible to station too many troops on the mountain, Rock still deployed half of his ratman grenadiers there, along with 30 Kalonburg greatsword warriors.
It has to be said that the physical abilities of these units from the Warhammer Fantasy world are truly beyond imagination. Thinking about how they were wearing heavy armor and carrying two-handed greatswords on their backs, yet were able to climb the hillside so quickly, Rock couldn't help but gasp in amazement.
He estimated that even though his physical attributes had been further enhanced by the system, he was still far inferior to these guys in terms of strength, which was already beyond human capabilities to some extent.
Because these soldiers had laid an ambush well in advance, Lao Wu of Erlong Mountain, who was leading a group of his men up the mountain, was completely unaware that an ambush had been set up above him.
Of course, they were quite cautious while climbing, since they knew this place could hide people.
To avoid potential attacks, they sent the most agile individuals ahead to scout the way, while the rest of the climbers spread out in a dispersed formation, ensuring that those behind did not all follow the path of those in front, thus avoiding forming a continuous trail.
Even so, when they climbed to a certain height, they still could not escape their fate.
A bandit had just struggled up a stone staircase, panting heavily, when before he could even rest, a short knife that appeared out of nowhere suddenly pierced through his lower body!
Because the short knife pierced through such a gruesome spot, directly through his philtrum, the intense pain instantly turned his face blue and purple, and the veins on his forehead bulged. However, due to the extreme pain, he couldn't scream no matter what, and could only keep gasping for breath.
Fortunately, the bandit's suffering did not last long. After stabbing him in a vital spot, the Skaven grenadier with the dagger turned around and slashed his throat with another blow.
Below the stone steps, the other bandits, though unable to climb up and thus unable to see what was happening above, heard faint, strange noises coming from above.
"Hey, gap-toothed guy, what are you doing up there?"
After calling out twice, the bandit known as "Gap-Toothed" did not respond. Just as they were about to call out again, a round, green ball suddenly rolled down, sparks flying from it.
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