"You guys step back and reload the gunpowder. We'll take care of this little pirate leader."
The Zhejiang Army squad that had evacuated earlier had already loaded the gunpowder, dismounted, lined up in a dense formation, raised their muskets and aimed at the first Japanese pirate leader, pulled the trigger, and the fuse stretched to the firing port, and flames exploded.
“Bang, bang, bang…”
A dense and orderly burst of musketry rang out.
Suddenly, the little Japanese pirate leader, who was wearing half armor and holding a Japanese sword in a majestic manner, was hit by several bullets. He seemed to be electrocuted, and he started to tremble, bleeding from his mouth and nose, and fell down in disbelief.
The Zhejiang army soldiers' hit rate when shooting on the ground was still quite high, as they had already fed them with bullets.
Although I can't become a sharpshooter, I can still hit seven out of ten shots.
Ten muskets concentrated their fire, and the Japanese pirate leader was hit by at least six or seven bullets. He was dead before his body fell down.
The other Japanese pirates subconsciously stopped when the muskets sounded, and touched themselves in shock. When they found that there was not a single hole on their bodies, they couldn't help but grin in relief. Then they found that their leader was dead.
Suddenly, they were in a situation of being leaderless. They looked around in confusion, not knowing what to do, whether to continue rushing forward or just turn around and run.
When they were at a loss, the Zhejiang Army team did not share their confusion. They quickly replaced the spare gun barrel and opened fire again.
“Bang, bang, bang…”
A round of salvos, ten bullets were fired at the confused Japanese pirates on the opposite side.
Due to the scattered positions of the Japanese pirates, the hit rate of this round of volleys was not that high, and only five Japanese pirates were shot down.
"Damn it, if we don't eat them, we will die if we retreat."
Several prestigious pirates among them quickly reached a consensus and continued to carry out the orders of the original small leader.
The Japanese pirates were all experienced fighters, and they knew that if they didn't defeat the Zhejiang troops in front of them, they would not be able to escape.
They were running on two legs, but the Zhejiang Army was chasing them on four legs, so they could never outrun the Zhejiang Army. The Zhejiang Army could easily chase and fire at the same time, so they would become sitting ducks for the Zhejiang Army.
The road to escape is the road to death.
Therefore, only by defeating the Zhejiang troops in front of them could they retreat without any worries.
"Brothers, they are few in number and we are many. Eat them and then we will go after the main force. In this way, the leaders will not be able to punish us again."
Following the speeches of several prestigious Japanese pirates, they quickly reached a consensus and once again waved their Japanese swords, rushing towards the Zhejiang army, howling.
This time the Japanese pirates were smarter and stood more dispersed, with each pirate being at least two meters apart.
Seeing the Japanese pirates charging again, the Zhejiang army team jumped on their horses without hesitation, turned around and retreated.
Their muskets, including the spare barrels, had all been fired, and they had to retreat and reload before they could continue firing.
The Zhejiang Army squad retreated on mules and horses. How could the two-legged Japanese pirates catch up with the four-legged mules and horses
When the Japanese pirates chased for about twenty meters, the Zhejiang army squad had already retreated behind the two Zhejiang army squads that had just retreated.
“Bang, bang, bang…”
The two Zhejiang Army squads, which had fully reloaded their guns, raised their muskets and fired a volley of shots at the roaring Japanese pirates.
Since the Japanese pirates were more dispersed, the salvos from the two teams only took away eight of them in this round.
"See? The more dispersed we are, the harder it will be for the Ming dogs to hit us with their muskets!"
"Keep charging, don't stop, don't let them use the Mongolian tactics to wear you down, go faster, faster."
Several prestigious Japanese pirates who had been through many battles immediately saw the intention of the Zhejiang army team and shouted to warn the other Japanese pirates.
The other Japanese pirates were also veterans of battles, having fought in the sea of blood for many years. Once reminded, they realized the key points, so they ignored their dead and wounded Japanese friends lying on the ground, and roared as they sped up again, rushing straight towards the two Zhejiang Army teams that were replacing spare gun barrels.
The two sides were too close to each other, and the two Zhejiang army squads had no time to open fire before the Japanese pirates came within ten meters.
If we open fire, we will be surrounded by the Japanese pirates.
"Retreat and keep some distance." The two squad leaders acted decisively and gave the order without hesitation.
The two teams of Zhejiang soldiers mounted their horses, turned their horses' heads, kicked the horses' bellies repeatedly, and rode away quickly.
Seeing this, the Zhejiang Army squad that was loading gunpowder in the back had no time to reload, so they jumped on their horses and retreated quickly.
"Hahaha, brothers, catch up with them. There is a ditch ahead. The horses are slow to climb the slope. They can't run away..."
The Japanese pirates chasing behind became excited.
The Zhejiang Army squad was about 20 to 30 meters away from them. In front of the Zhejiang Army squad was a ditch with a slope about ten meters high. The speed of the horses would slow down when going uphill, so this was their chance.
In addition, the Zhejiang army was on horseback, making it difficult to load gunpowder and fire their muskets. This was a godsend opportunity, so how could the Japanese pirates not be excited
As a result, the Japanese pirates became more and more courageous and faster and faster as they chased, and in a short period of time their speed was not much slower than that of mules and horses.
Especially when the Zhejiang army retreated to Gouliangzi on mules and horses, their speed suddenly slowed down. Seeing this, the Japanese pirates' morale suddenly boosted and their speed increased, taking the opportunity to close the distance with the Zhejiang army squad.
Especially when the Zhejiang army was climbing the slope on mules and horses, the Japanese pirates were less than ten meters away from them.
“Kill!”
"Kill the Ming dog and leave! Return to the lair, advance to a higher position and receive the reward!"
The Japanese pirates' faces were ferocious with excitement. In their excitement, adrenaline was secreted so much that they increased their speed a bit.
Just when the Japanese pirates rushed to the bottom of the slope and were ready to rush up the slope and chop the Zhejiang army on the slope into pieces, many Zhejiang soldiers suddenly appeared on the slope, each holding a musket and aiming at them expressionlessly.
One row, two rows, three rows, squatting, bending, standing, the densely packed Zhejiang troops were like a solid wall of steel.
"What the hell?!"
The Japanese pirates were stunned and panicked in an instant, and some of them subconsciously wanted to turn around and run away.
"Don't panic. There are Ming dogs in front of us. They dare not open fire. If we rush forward and tangle with the Ming dogs in front, we will have a chance to survive. If we run backwards, how can we outrun the four-legged beasts? We will become living targets for the Ming dogs."
Several prestigious Japanese pirates shouted hurriedly.
So, the Japanese pirates made another effort and continued to rush forward, trying to engage in a fight with the three Zhejiang army squads in front of them, making the Zhejiang army on the slope afraid to fire at them.
How could the three Zhejiang Army squads in front do what the Japanese pirates wanted? The moment they saw the reinforcements, they split into two groups and drove their horses to the sides, exposing the Japanese pirates behind them.