Chapter 224: Defeat
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
Pei Zi Yun’s face turned pale. Compared to the previous time he deployed his archers, their effectiveness had been reduced by more than half now that the pirates had used wooden boards as shields.
"Fire again!"
"Xiu xiu, pu" could be heard again and again. The arrows took off and filled the sky before descending down upon the pirates like rain. Each time, the enemy gained ground and moved closer. Fogs of blood could be seen whenever an arrow found its mark. Some arrows pierced through the wooden boards and injured the person behind the board. This caused screams of pain to ring out.
At this point, the pirates inched closer and closer. The leading pirate wore steel armor as he held his sword up and shouted, "Charge. Keep pressing them. Nobody is to fall back. Whoever falls back shall be killed!"
The pirate charged forward as he continued shouting. Such bravery roused all his men, causing every single pirate to start shouting in a crazed frenzy while they dashed across the battlefield.
"Three arrows!" At this point, they were about ten meters away. The sound of arrows as they whooshed in the air could be heard. This particular assault claimed several more lives as several pirates fell after being struck by arrows.
"Kill!" The pirates crossed the ten meters mark and continued to charge. Several seconds later, several pirates arrived right at the wall, and were about to climb over.
Cai Yun Zhen shouted out loudly in response, "Spears!"
"Huaaa" The archers mechanically took several steps back, and allowed the spear wielding soldiers to take their place. There were many gaps within the fence, which allowed for the spears to go through. At once, numerous spears could be seen as they fit through these holes.
"Thrust!"
Once the command was given, the soldiers jabbed the spears out at the oncoming pirates. Blood was spilt like rain as many spears found their mark. The point of every single spearhead was covered in thick red blood.
"Archers by the side, fire more arrows!"
"Xiu xiu, pu!" Since the pirates were up against the long spears, they no longer had any use for the wooden planks. Hence, they tossed them down on the ground. However, archers had reappeared on both sides of the battlements and shoot arrows at the defenseless pirates.
"Do not fall back, keep pressing forward!" Fang Ji saw everything that unfolded before him clearly, as he shouted loudly and waved his hand. Although Third Leader Fang Tong was injured, he managed to wear his armor and lead an entire group of pirate leaders while they watched on.
"Kill, kill kill!" The group of pirates split into several groups as they charged into the thick of the battle. Some of them even slammed themselves into the fence, hoping that it would crumble. Since the fence wasn’t made up of concrete, it shook rather violently, but remained rooted up right.
"Circle them, we must attack from all directions. We have the advantage of numbers. Pressure them all at the same time."
"Let’s see how these wretched officials will defend themselves."
Fang Ji spoke coarsely as he instructed, "The sound of the drums have yet to cease, nobody is to fall back. Anyone who does will be killed. We are in no hurry to breach their defenses. All of you, retrieve some sacks and fill them with sand. We shall stack the sandbags up and climb over their fence."
"The beach is full of sand. Place the sacks of sand right at the fence and stack them up. Once there are enough sandbags, we can step over them and climb over the fence easily."
A cry of acknowledgement rang out as the pirates started to fill the sacks with sand and tossed them over.
"What a strange move by the leader of the pirates!" Pei Zi Yun stood atop a mound of dirt as he though out load. "But you only have 1,500 men. In just several minutes, more than 50 had perished. How long can you hold out for?"
"Shoot!"
Another wave of arrows filled the sky, the sound of arrowheads as they pierced through the air could be heard.
"Stab!"
Spears filled the remaining gaps in the fence as they thrust out occasionally, the screams of their victims could be heard. With a loud crunching sound, yet another spear had been broken by the pirate’s blade.
"Carry on, keep advancing, do not stop!"
Seeing that the sandbags were already of a suitable height, an entire group of pirates shouted out ferociously as they jumped up onto the sandbags and over the fence.
The military men were prepared for this however. Seeing that the enemy had closed the distance and was now going to engage in close quarter combat, they whipped out their blades and swords. The reflections of their swords were like snow as it fell, before blood spilt onto the ground. Severed limbs flew into the sky.
This first group of pirates who had flung themselves over the wall haphazardly were killed within several seconds.
Fang Ji wasn’t surprised by this. Instead, he was elated. As long as one person could breach the wall, it meant that it was possible. Even if this knowledge came at the cost of losing lives, he felt that it was worth it. He had more than a thousand men, why should he be afraid of losing several lives? He then shouted out once more, "Charge in again!"
Another group of pirates jumped up on the sandbags and flipped their bodies over the wall and entered the military camp.
At this point, Pei Zi Yun had already worn his armor and was prepared to start fighting once more.
"Binding Technique!"
"Whoosh!"
The group of pirates who had just charged through immediately felt their bodies freeze helplessly. In the face of life and death, there was no space to pause even for a second. In the next moment, the spears descended down upon them. "Pu pu pu" rang out continuously as the spears pierced through their bodies. Within a fraction of a second, all of them became the main targets of the officials and the military men.
In the time they were being slaughtered, Pei Zi Yun felt a dull ache in his chest, and almost retched out blood. At this point, the Stars Transformation rotated, dispelling the discomfort immediately.
"What’s happening?" Fang Ji asked anxiously.
"Dao arts!" Another Daoist replied, "But that’s not something bad. The enemy only has this many men. Look, even the leader of the troops has to engage himself in battle. This means they are short on men!"
"Carry on forcing your way in. Using his Dao arts on so many people at once would cause immense backlash on his body. I can see that he is trying his best to preserve the lives of the little soldiers he possesses."
"Die!" Another wave of twenty pirates charged their way in once more.
"Die!" Pei Zi Yun gave a cold laugh. His face was as calm as still water. Using the binding technique on so many people would cause a severe backlash. But what if he just used Dao arts on himself?
"Wind Form!"
His speed started increasing by the second until he completely transformed into a ray of light, he merged together with the gleam of his sword. The ray of light flickered along the battlements as he moved fluidly. The pirates who saw this were appalled.
"Oh…. Ah…." Seven or eight of them gave out shrieks of terror before the ray of light passed through them. Their bodies fell in strange ways as fresh blood and organs fell out of their wounds.
"Continue charging in." This time, there was no need for Fang Ji to shout the command. He spoke it silently, "Even if you’re strong, let’s see how long you can last?"
Under such a situation, it felt as though it was a repeat of whatever happened the night before. No matter how many people you had, they were all going to perish.
Looking down from the sky, the number of people clashing against one another resembled a great flood, flowing relentlessly. Both sides were engaged in fierce battle, as blood flowed like a fountain and stained the entire military camp red.
After several waves of pirates charging through, their speed had started to reduce.
"Binding Technique!" A shout rang out, causing chaos and panic to sweep across the enemy’s faces. The navy were extremely disciplined and regimented. They moved forward and backwards in unity, not giving their enemy a moment of breathing space. The next wave of pirates was mercilessly slaughtered once again.
"Screw this, how many times has he done that?"
Pei Zi Yun remained fixed to his spot, blood flowed all around him. The minute he saw his own troops losing ground, he used Dao arts to regain the upper hand. The pirates who were immobilized by his spell screamed in panic, as they knew they were in trouble. Within two breaths, they were stabbed to death by the methodical thrusts of spears. After several more waves of pirates who ran to their deaths, the pirates couldn’t help but started to fear the soldiers. Their courage broke as they started to retreat.
"Do not retreat, keep pressing forward!" Third Leader Fang Tong who was dressed in full armor shouted in anger. He stepped forward and watched on, as the gleam of a sword descended down on his men. Instantly, several pirates were beheaded effortlessly. He signaled for the horns to be blasted, as he continued to urge his men forward. Fang Ji’s face was ashen. He was aware that the peak of his assault was over, and was now starting to wane.
"That’s impossible. How could he have lasted for so long?" Even the Daoist was shocked. Fang Ji glared at the useless Daoist beside him, killing intent welled up on his face.
"Binding Technique!" Another gust of spiritual energy swept the battlements. "Pu" rang out continuously once more. All of a sudden, Pei Zi Yun gave a groan as blood started dripping down his nostrils. One of the pirates noticed this and shouted as he slashed his way towards Pei Zi Yun. Pei Zi Yun dodged it with frightening agility. The pirate managed to break through after seeing a weakness within the military’s defenses. Although the pirate was immediately killed, Fang Ji was elated. He then ordered, "Another wave, the enemy is exhausted!"
"I might be exhausted, but it’s not like I’m hiding or anything." He then glanced down to see the mound of enemy corpses at his feet, they were gradually piling up outside the military camp. He estimated that there were more than 300 corpses.
"The most important thing is that after hanging on for such a short time, the enemy troops are starting to get tired."
Soldiers in heavy armor wouldn’t be able to last for longer than 20 minutes under such intense fighting. The pirates repeatedly clashed against them. That was why the soldiers of olden days who wanted to siege a city would send wave after wave of soldiers.
"Die!" At this point, the horns of the military men rang out, and everything seemed to pause.
The doors to the military camp swung open as a large group of soldiers ran out. It seemed like the fence had some sort of mechanism to it. Although pirates from the outside were unable to push it open, there was a rope from inside that could be tugged on which would open the door. Soldiers flooded out and engaged in battle.
Four to five hundred soldiers started to rush out. The reflection of their swords could be seen all around the battlefield. The front group of pirates couldn’t even hold their own against these fresh troops. It almost seemed like had just they clashed against a solid wall. Several swings of the soldiers’ blades saw fresh blood splash into the air, as body parts were severed. The pirates were then overwhelmed just like they had encountered a huge tidal wave. In that instant, almost a hundred pirates were killed.
At this point, even the pirate leaders who were watching from afar couldn’t take it any longer. The pirates were all fatigued and were initially using their last ounce of energy to fight. Now, all of them shouted out in fear as they turned around and started to flee.
"Do not run. Do not flee!" Third Leader Fang Tong knew that the tides were turning against him. He drew his sword and charged into the thick of the battle, trying to stop his men from fleeing. At this point a pirate screamed out loudly, "Third boss, run…."
A fallen pirate screamed in agony as he was hacked down. When Fang Tong looked up, he saw that Pei Zi Yun was the one who had slain the pirate, as Fang Tong started to retreat as well.
With a flash of his sword, Pei Zi Yun charged towards him. Fang Tong was a fighter through and through. In that moment of life and death, he knew that it was impossible for him to escape. He let out a shout filled with courage, and drew his sword to strike Pei Zi Yun, hoping to take him along if he should die.
"Zhng!" Sparks burst forth as their blades peeled apart from the first strike. The next moment, Pei Zi Yun’s sword stabbed forward, as Fang Tong’s scream gurgled within his mouth, as blood spilled out.
"Third Boss is dead, Third Boss is dead."
This seemed to be a signal of sorts, as all the pirates started to echo this sentence. Every single pirate started to run towards the beach for dear life. They were all equally afraid, cursed their parents for only giving them one pair of legs.
This was a critical moment. The archers all had swollen hands from repeatedly firing arrows. However, the sounds of arrows darting through the sky could still be heard as arrows rained down. Another group of pirates fell and died.
One of the pirate leaders was running when he suddenly halted and looked down at his chest. He saw an arrowhead sticking out as blood dripped from the wound. He swayed for several moments before his heavy body crashed onto the grass.
"Kill the pirates!"
"Kill the pirates!"
The pirates continued screaming in fear as panic swept across their faces. Some screamed for the boats to escape without them. Even as they fell to the ground and were trampled on by their fellow pirates, they still screamed blood curdling screams of agony and desperation, even in death.
Blood scattered in all directions as the strong stench of blood perforated the nostrils of anyone nearby. Fang Ji cried out, "Third Brother!"
At this point, he was still protected by the core group of pirates who were devoted to him. Their entire group fled towards the boats. All of a sudden, someone screamed out., When he turned back to look, he saw that warships were raising their masts and moving out to sea.
"The officials and their soldiers wish to finish all of us!" Fang Ji immediately understood this as he spat out a mouthful of blood. He then knew that this entire mission was a failure. Big Brother and Third Brother had died in battle, and the core pirates were severely weakened. Even if he were to flee, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to remain as the king of the seas.
The Fang family was done, the reputation of the Dragon King was done.
"We’ve won. But we have sustained many casualties as well." Pei Zi Yun wiped his face and realized that it was covered in blood. He was completely drained.
He wasn’t just drained of energy, he was also drained of spiritual energy.
"Thankfully I have the Stars Transformation, which allowed me to persist." It had been extremely tough on him. Pei Zi Yun exhaled deeply and smiled.
If he had released his hidden soldiers earlier, he knew that the pirates would immediately retreat, for they were well versed in battles too. As long as he had his troops alive, he could still rebuild his entire base.
Pei Zi Yun had to hold off until the most opportune moment to draw the enemy in, and allow them to develop a misconception that they had the upper hand. The enemy would then add wave after wave, and send them all to their deaths.
Doing this repeatedly finally exhausted the enemy. At last, the enemy suffered three times more casualties than them. This would be the breaking point for any army. Hence, when he unleashed his batch of hidden soldiers, he defeated them instantly.
He then watched on as his soldiers chased after the fleeing pirates. One group was organized, and the other was disorganized. Besides, the warships were already chasing after the fleeing pirates. He knew that he had finally defeated the pirates after decades of no one else being capable of this feat.