Chapter 718

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As the Goryeo soldiers entered the village, Gao Shan and thirty militiamen had already put on their plate armor.

Twenty-five of them held longswords, and five were gathered with compound bows.

Zhang Dakang’s warning was still too late; some of the elderly, weak, women, and children in the village did not have time to evacuate.

“Gao Shan, it’s all my fault.” Zhang Dakang’s tears welled up in his eyes, filled with guilt.

Gao Shan glared at him fiercely. He roared, “What good is saying that now, you damn fool! Pick up your weapons! We can only fight the Goryeo soldiers!”

Blackrock Village was not large, with only five hundred people. The number of militiamen could not compare to other larger villages. Even so, this militia team was cobbled together.

Gao Shan was the oldest and a former veteran, making him the undisputed militia captain. The others varied in age, with the youngest boy being only sixteen years old.

“Uncle, I’m scared.”

Gao Shan’s young nephew was the youngest among them, and the heavy plate armor seemed a bit cumbersome on him.

Gently stroking his nephew’s head, Gao Shan’s voice was wild and deep. He said, “Don’t be afraid. With your uncles here, anyone who wants to kill you will have to step over me.”

Gao Shan’s composure calmed the militiamen. Zhang Dakang picked up his longsword and was about to charge the Goryeo soldiers, but he was stopped by Gao Shan.

“How do I usually train you?” Gao Shan was no longer the gentle captain; he had transformed into a beast on the battlefield.

Scanning everyone, Gao Shan said, “Follow me! Form a circular formation, archers in the middle! The villagers can only rely on us now!”

With that, Gao Shan was the first to charge at the Goryeo soldiers.

The others, seeing Gao Shan leading the charge, immediately mustered their courage and shouted, “Kill!”

Over thirty people rushed towards more than two hundred Goryeo soldiers.

Li Cheng-jae watched in surprise as thirty soldiers in Great Yu Empire armor charged at them. They had seen many militiamen dressed like this during this period.

This was his first time in the Great Yu Empire. He had initially thought they would only face a group of unarmed common people, but the current situation clearly left him somewhat stunned.

However, his confusion lasted only a moment. With over two hundred soldiers behind him, he had no reason to fear thirty men, even if they wore strange armor.

A distance of several hundred meters vanished in an instant. The people of Blackrock Village screamed and cried. The Great Yu Empire’s weakness had brought them too much suffering. Living on this land, they were always bullied by foreign enemies; their lives were as cheap as grass.

“Whoosh! Whoosh!”

As they fled, Gao Shan and the Goryeo soldiers had already fallen into a bitter struggle.

Five archers fired from the circular formation around Gao Shan, continuously shooting at the Goryeo soldiers. These bows were equipped with pulleys, which saved a great deal of effort, allowing these militiamen to shoot continuously without getting very tired.

Three Goryeo soldiers fell screaming as they charged. The militiamen were trained and would usually hunt wild rabbits with bows, so their archery skills were not bad.

Li Cheng-jae was immediately annoyed upon seeing this. He ordered his archers to return fire, and about thirty archers immediately shot arrows at Gao Shan and the others.

However, the arrows merely left dents as they struck their plate armor.

Li Cheng-jae became increasingly surprised and uncertain. However, they soon reached these soldiers, and over two hundred men completely surrounded the thirty.

The humiliation of failure made him temporarily forget the people of Blackrock Village. Now, their eyes were fixed only on these soldiers.

“Charge!” Li Cheng-jae roared.

The Goryeo soldiers, receiving the order, howled and lunged at Gao Shan and the others.

Facing the swarming Goryeo soldiers, Gao Shan showed no fear. The life-and-death struggle on the battlefield made him exceptionally calm. They stood back-to-back, forming a circle, their swords pointing outward like a hedgehog.

The Goryeo soldiers surrounded the thirty-odd men, hacking and slashing at Gao Shan and the others with their swords. Gao Shan and his group returned the blows, skillfully using their swords to counterattack.

“Thump, thump…” The sound of swords striking plate armor continuously rang out, accompanied by the screams of Goryeo soldiers.

The hedgehog formation formed by Gao Shan and his group prevented the Goryeo soldiers from gaining any advantage with their encircling tactics. Many Goryeo soldiers had to wait behind others, and only when those in front fell could they rush forward and directly engage Gao Shan.

Li Cheng-jae soon realized this problem. They were now in a stalemate with these thirty soldiers. Seeing the sun gradually rise, he became anxious. After all, this was a foreign country; sometimes, the fear of the unfamiliar triggered their wild killing instincts.

“Kill!”

Gao Shan roared, and with his roar, the militiamen fiercely thrust their swords into the Goryeo soldiers. Ten or so Goryeo soldiers had already fallen at their feet.

However, having learned their lesson, the Goryeo soldiers also became smarter. They no longer actively charged forward but instead teased them, trying to exhaust their strength.

Plate armor was inherently heavy, and if they continued to expend energy, they would eventually collapse from exhaustion.

“Gao Shan, have the villagers all fled?” Zhang Dakang panted. “Now, even if we die, it’s worth it.”

Gao Shan no longer blamed Zhang Dakang. In his view, they were going to die together this time.

He was about to speak when a “rumbling” sound suddenly echoed from the sea. The sound was like thunder. Turning his head, he saw a Great Yu Empire warship appear on the horizon.

“It’s the Dengzhou warship!” Zhang Dakang also saw it, and he immediately cheered.

Gao Shan also showed a hint of a smile. He gripped his longsword tightly. If they could just hold on a little longer, they would be saved.

Compared to the excitement of Gao Shan and the others, Li Cheng-jae’s face turned ashen. He then shouted, “Retreat!”

If the soldiers on that warship landed, they would not survive. These were Great Yu Empire regular soldiers; these soldiers were notoriously fierce.

A hint of panic appeared in the Goryeo soldiers’ eyes. They immediately ran back in the direction they came from.

How could Gao Shan let these Goryeo soldiers escape so easily at this moment? He shouted, “Kill these Goryeo thieves!”

The arrival of the warship boosted the morale of the militiamen. It seemed as if new strength infused their bodies. Zhang Dakang chased after the Goryeo soldiers, hacking and slashing.

The Goryeo soldiers were in disarray, only able to run like madmen. After chasing for a while, Gao Shan and the others could no longer run and finally stopped.

By this time, the warship had stopped at sea, and a contingent of soldiers came ashore by boat towards Blackrock Village.

“Captain Liu, you’re late! We drove the Goryeo soldiers away!” When Liu Chen and the others came ashore, Gao Shan said with a hint of pride.

Liu Chen looked at Gao Shan, a slight smile on his lips. He knew Gao Shan, as his father and Gao Shan had once fought together.

He smiled, “It seems I should petition the Prefectural Office for Uncle Gao’s merits. Driving away the Goryeo people with just a militia team is rare in the fishing villages of Dengzhou.”

Gao Shan laughed heartily upon hearing this. He said, “I don’t need this merit, but when can we completely eliminate these Goryeo and Japanese pirates?”

Liu Chen’s gaze was firm. “Soon.”