Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 319, Matching Mechanism

“Break through, break through!”

Tuo Lei's perfect performance boosted the morale of all the soldiers.

Even a remnant of the army can still display courage, and in dire straits, they are even more capable of defeating the enemy.

The soldiers, fueled by despair, charged forward with unparalleled might.

Warhorses gallop, and battle rages through the sky.

Chen Zhengdu took the lead, leaping out of the forest and charging towards the weakest point of the Liaodong soldiers' camp.

To the astonishment of the Liaodong soldiers, he pierced through one of the patrolling soldiers at the front with a single shot.

With a heart as fierce as a warrior, he dared to sever mountains and rivers, and alone rode through a million-strong army!
The grassland soldiers behind them, like lone wolves with crazed faces, charged into the military camp.

The Liaodong soldiers responded hastily.

"Prepare for the enemy! Quickly prepare for the enemy!"

Before a Liaodong soldier could finish speaking, Chen Zhengdu stabbed him to death.

Here, no one is a match for Chen Zhengdu.

Tuo Lei, who was following behind, smiled. If things continued like this, he would have a chance to break through and leave.

However, accidents always happen.

Just as Chen Zhengdu was about to lead his men to break through the military camp, a particularly burly general suddenly led his men to block Chen Zhengdu's path.

The general was nine feet tall, with a waist circumference of four feet. He was dressed in thick armor and held a long spiked club.
The man didn't recognize Chen Zhengdu and assumed he was from the grasslands, so he said:
"You bastard, you're quite skilled with a gun, but it's a pity you ran into Grandpa Bear. You'll all stay here!"

The burly man charged forward on horseback.

A powerful, heavy blow from a spiked club came crashing down.

Chen Zhengdu swung his spear to defend, and with a loud bang, the spear shaft cracked, his palm split open instantly, and his warhorse let out a mournful cry.

"What a strength!"

Chen Zheng couldn't help but say.

The general was taken aback upon hearing this.

Are you Han Chinese?

Chen Zheng seized the opportunity instantly, changed the direction of his spear tip in a flash, and thrust the spear into the general's neck!

Blood flowed.

"Despicable! Traitor!"

Shockingly, the general did not die. Instead, he roared, grabbed Chen Zhengdu's spear shaft, and raised his spiked club with his other hand to smash it down.

It turned out that the general was wearing thick armor, including around his neck. Although Chen Zhengdu's spear tip pierced through, the thick armor prevented the spear tip from penetrating very far. Furthermore, the general was extremely obese, and the skin on his neck was three or four times thicker than that of an average person. Therefore, although the spear pierced through, it was not fatal.

Seeing that the gun barrel had been grabbed by the other party and that he knew he couldn't take it back, Chen Zheng quickly abandoned the gun and retreated.

The general missed his attack, pulled out his spear, tossed it aside, and gave chase.

"General Du, take the spear!"

Seeing that Chen Zhengdu was in danger, his men quickly threw him their guns.

Chen Zhengdu took the spear and began to fight the general.

The general possessed superhuman strength, but his speed was not fast. Chen Zheng was able to use his speed advantage to find the opponent's weakness and launch an attack.

The problem was that the general was wearing heavy armor and had a thick body, so even if he used all his strength to pierce through the armor, he could not cause fatal damage.

On the contrary, every heavy blow from his opponent, even if he blocked it with his gun, the recoil was so strong that he almost vomited blood.

At this rate, we won't be able to leave anytime soon!

Chen Zhengdu was getting a little anxious.

Faced with such an opponent, the only way for him to win is to slowly wear him down, inflicting numerous wounds to gradually drain his strength. However, what he lacks most right now is time.

If they can't break out quickly, the surrounding camps will definitely react soon and come to their aid. At that point, with ten or a hundred times the number of troops, they will have no chance at all.

As the saying goes, haste makes waste. With time running out and unable to defeat his opponent, Chen Zhengdu made a desperate decision to take a risk and stabbed his opponent's only exposed eye during an attack.

But how could such a tiny spot as the eye be easily attacked?
The opponent only has this one weakness, and we've been keeping a close eye on it for a long time.

As soon as Chen Zhengdu made his move, his opponent immediately ducked and dodged, then swung a powerful spiked club across him.

Chen Zheng had no way to avoid it at this point, so he could only turn his body to the side and use his shoulder to take the hit.

He didn't have the same heavy armor as his opponent, and even if he did, he couldn't wear it. Such armor was too heavy, and only someone with an extremely strong physique could sustain the strain. Chen Zhengdu was only wearing light armor, which was completely useless against a weapon like a spiked club. It was instantly dented by the blow, and Chen Zhengdu was knocked off his horse. He felt a heavy blow to his shoulder, and excruciating pain swept through his entire body, making it extremely difficult for him to even stand up.

The other party charged forward with a sinister grin, intending to end Chen Zhengdu's life.

At the critical moment, soldiers rushed over without regard for their own safety.

"General, hurry up!"

Those were Chen Zhengdu's only remaining direct subordinates.

He was a veteran he brought from the Zhen Ding battlefield.

These people followed him as he fought across Zhili, conquered the grasslands, and marched south to break through the pass, and now their story has finally come to an end here.

One by one, veterans stood in front of Chen Zhengdu like moths to a flame.

They recklessly charged at the enemy, brandishing their weapons.

Then he was knocked away by the opponent's spiked club, along with his weapon.

"No!"

Chen Zhengdu roared in despair.

Tears of blood streamed from his eyes.

The moment he stepped onto the grassland, he was already a wild ghost.

Only the soldiers who have always followed him faithfully can make him feel his own existence.

Now, as these soldiers die one by one, Chen Zheng's despair is beyond measure.

He stood up angrily.

Anger made him forget the pain in his shoulder.

He remounted his horse and fought his opponent with one arm.

But reality is not fiction.

With only one arm, his combat power was greatly reduced; this time, he couldn't even break through the defenses.

The general could see the despair in Chen Zhengdu's eyes.

He laughed loudly and said:
"Hahahaha, you traitorous dog, this is the end you deserve! Our reinforcements are coming soon, you can just wait to die!"

As he spoke, he continued to swing the spiked club in his hand and attack.

However, its power is much weaker than before.

Because he wasn't having an easy time either.

Beneath the armor was a pale face and a body breathing heavily.

The armor was too heavy and took a huge toll on his stamina. Chen Zheng had previously pierced the armor, leaving many wounds.

Although these wounds were not fatal, they caused him to bleed profusely, greatly weakening his strength.

But it doesn’t matter.

Two or three quarters of an hour have passed since the battle began.

Even if the reinforcements are slow, they should be arriving by now.

He just needs to delay a little longer, just a little bit more.

Time passed, and half an hour later...

Chen Zhengdu's face was ashen, yet he laughed heartily.

"Hahahaha, the imperial court, hahahahahaha!"

Let's go back to a short time ago.

Within half an hour of the battle beginning, other Liaodong troops nearby noticed the situation and prepared to provide support.

If all goes well, they should arrive in less than fifteen minutes.

However, Chu Renfeng resolutely ordered that this was a ploy by the enemy to lure them away from the mountain, and commanded everyone to stay put and not to attempt a rescue.

……

"Young Master, Xiong Yanlin is the Master's top general. Shouldn't we..."

Chu Renfeng said expressionlessly:
“Since he is the top general, his life is not in danger. I had no other choice. If we really block the grassland people here, what will the Huaiyin bandits do after the battle is over? What will become of Liaodong?”

(End of this chapter)