Frontier Army Warrior

Chapter 1224 Continuous Strikes

The middle-aged man looked bewildered, grimaced and pondered for a long time, but still shook his head.

"The situation is still unclear. Please wait a moment, General. I will have a report."

Tokugawa Iemochi glanced at the entire riverbank.

How many ships sank in total?

"General, there are a total of ninety-one sunken ships."

Tokugawa Iemochi felt a sudden tightness in his chest; this could be fatal.

"Investigate the responsibility thoroughly and punish those responsible severely."

He roared and turned to walk toward his warhorse.

There's no use staying here; we also have to be constantly on guard against attacks from the Zhenxi Army. Our troops are out in the open, and they simply can't withstand the charge of the enemy cavalry.

Five hundred cavalrymen mounted their horses, while five thousand infantrymen were still on their way.

With a whistle, the warhorse galloped off, kicking up clouds of dust, and headed straight back the way it had come.

The dark-skinned middle-aged man turned to look at the distant warhorses, then turned back to look at the river, where only a few scattered boats remained, and sighed inwardly.

He had a total of over 1,800 men and had sailed over in 97 boats. In just one night, only six boats remained.

Fortunately, there were few casualties; apart from a few pirates who were injured in the bombing, no one died.

"Someone, drag a few more boats along and see."

He still hasn't given up.

The pirates, who had been standing dumbfounded on the riverbank, immediately went into the water and began to tie ropes to the sunken ship after hearing the order.

Just then, a soldier suddenly shouted loudly.

"Sir, this is bad! Enemy ships are coming..."

Upon hearing the sound, everyone turned to look upstream. Sure enough, a tall mast emerged from the distant river, and in a moment, the entire hull of the ship came into view.

Because it was going downstream, the boat was traveling at a very fast speed.

"Quick, get on the boat! Everyone get on the boat! Run!"

The dark-skinned middle-aged man shouted orders and ran quickly toward the remaining boats.

Seventeen or eighteen hundred pirates swarmed toward the only six boats on the riverbank.

The ships, which originally had a capacity of only a little over a hundred people, are now crammed with more than two hundred people on each ship.

Some who couldn't get on the boat in time jumped into the water in a hurry, trying to climb onto the boat from the water.

Because the ships upstream were moving very fast, they could already see the enemy's flags clearly; it was a warship of the Zhenxi Army.

With no other option, the captain on the ship ordered the ship to set sail and head downstream before all the soldiers had boarded.

The moment the boat moved, it triggered a series of wailing and howling sounds.

Many pirates who had not yet boarded the ship were desperately swimming towards it in the water.

Just as they started their ships and slowly accelerated, suddenly, a loud bang was heard, and the Zhenxi Army's warships opened fire.

A huge column of water shot into the sky not far from the ship, causing it to shake violently.

More people were thrown into the water from the boat.

The pirate soldiers were even more terrified and frantically shouted for the ship to move faster and faster.

Even if the ship can travel fast, it still can't outrun a cannonball.

The Zhenxi Army's artillery began bombarding the enemy ship in turn. Although the accuracy was not high, after firing many times, eventually one shot would hit the enemy ship.

The ships, already crammed with soldiers, were hit by the exploding cannonballs and capsized in the river.

The Zhenxi Army's six small warships sailed downstream and soon approached the pirates' warships, firing their cannons in succession.

Following the surging ships, they fired their cannons without needing to defend themselves.

The soldiers on the ship drew their bows and shot arrows into the water. The pirates who fell into the water swam desperately, but had nowhere to hide.

The scene was extremely tragic.

General Tokugawa Iemochi, leading a cavalry escort of 500, was galloping towards Ganqing Prefecture when he suddenly heard an explosion behind him.

He quickly reined in his horse and turned to look back.

Because of the distance, nothing could be seen, only the sound of artillery fire could be heard, one after another, the fighting was very intense.

Tokugawa Iemochi glanced at his troops, shook his head, gritted his teeth, and shouted an order.

"Come on, let's go back to the city."

After a brief pause, the five hundred cavalrymen continued their journey towards Ganqing Prefecture.

He knew very well that with his five hundred cavalry, if he ran back, he would only be met with cannon fire and would be completely powerless to fight back.

Although the possibility of the warships landing and attacking was slim, he still had to guard against the Zhenxi Army's land-based cavalry.

Tokugawa Iemochi had experienced firsthand how formidable that force was; they were like a pack of ferocious wolf kings, and his current cavalry was simply no match for them.

He was full of ambition, but finally Atsumi Akiyama was defeated and disappeared during the battle. His fate is still unknown.

Although Tokugawa Iemochi felt very sorry that such a beautiful woman was gone so suddenly.

However, what excited him even more was that the Emperor had ordered him to lead the troops in the southern border region of Dazong, to expand the gains as soon as possible, and to strive to occupy more territory.

Various supplies and troops successively entered Ganqing Prefecture from overseas, and the army was strong and well-equipped.

Unexpectedly, after two head-on clashes with the Zhenxi Army, both ended in defeat.

At present, Tokugawa Iemochi can only defend the castle and is thinking about how to launch an offensive to seize more resources.

Unexpectedly, the warship suffered such a major malfunction that the blow was fatal.

We must contact the rear troops as soon as possible to support the garrison in Ganqing Prefecture.

The warhorses galloped forward and encountered five thousand infantrymen hurrying on their way.

Tokugawa Iemochi, with a grim face, spurred his horse past the infantry ranks.

Without him saying a word, his men shouted to the infantry, ordering them to return to the city immediately.

Five thousand infantrymen were panting heavily as they ran, and were almost at their destination when suddenly an order came: turn back to the city.

Everyone felt resentful, yet there was nothing they could do.

Orders are absolute, and no one dares to disobey. Under the command of their leader, all the soldiers changed from the front ranks to the rear ranks and turned back.

Moving forward signifies carrying out a mission, while turning back signifies the mission's end; therefore, the marching speed slows down.

After all, it's more than 50 li from Ganqing Prefecture to Mihe Wharf, and few soldiers have the stamina to keep up with a fast run.

To their surprise, the five hundred cavalrymen in front disappeared, and as the five thousand soldiers slowly walked back, they suddenly felt the ground shake.

Some of the leaders wondered if the general had returned and had been given a new mission.

However, the next moment, they saw a cloud of dust rising from the northwest, and a large group of war cavalry appeared in the soldiers' sight amidst the roar of engines.

The leader who reacted the fastest immediately shouted.

"Everyone, form ranks and defend against the enemy!"

The leader knew very well that running away was useless against the Zhenxi Army's cavalry; no matter what, two legs could not outrun four.

There is only one way: form a battle formation to defend against the enemy, fight desperately, and wait for rescue.

The leaders of each unit also shouted, quickly organizing their troops, spreading out their distance, forming square formations, and extending their straight swords forward, attaching the handles to the blades.

This was an improvement for the pirates in dealing with the Zhenxi Army cavalry; instead of using straight swords against the cavalry, they invented a three-foot-long sword handle to connect the straight swords.

Normally carried on the body, it would be connected with straight blades when encountering cavalry, becoming a weapon similar to a broadsword.

This strategy was devised after they were terrified of the Zhenxi Army's cavalry.

The formation quickly took shape, and the Zhenxi Army's cavalry was also approaching.

Without any fancy moves, the two collided with a deafening roar.