Chapter Seventy-two: A Hard Fight

  Looking at Zhao Jie, who was sweating profusely, and the scattered soldiers behind him, Pang Gang felt a sense of vigilance rising in his heart. He asked coldly, "Sir, what brings you here?"

  Zhao Jie glanced at the bodies of the Japanese pirates scattered behind Pang Gang and the gold, silver, and fine silks turned up by the soldiers from Wanghai Fortress. A glint of greed flashed in his eyes, but he said solemnly: "Pang Baihu, this official is the garrison commander of Yangzhou. This time we came out of the city to support your unit, now that your battle is over, let's withdraw our troops and enter the city. Leave this place for me to handle."

  "Grass, this son of a gun was here to steal the credit!" Pang Gang, who had long been suspicious of Zhao Jie's intentions, suddenly became furious upon hearing this. His left hand, which had been gripping the knife handle, turned pale with rage, revealing blue-green veins.

  Pang Gang's face revealed a sneer, and he said slowly: "Zhao Shoubei, isn't this unnecessary? Your unit has arrived late, the battle is already over, I'm just cleaning up the aftermath. This kind of rough work doesn't need to trouble you, why don't you go back and rest?"

  "Dare!" Zhao Jie shouted loudly: "As the official in charge of Yangzhou's military defense, I have the responsibility to protect the border and ensure the safety of the people. All matters related to the military security of Yangzhou are under my jurisdiction. Although these Japanese pirates have been defeated, I still need to report the details to the imperial court. I also need to verify their corpses. Now, order your soldiers to retreat immediately!"

  Zhao Jie and Sun Zili spoke in a tone that was like a grandson, but when they faced Pang Gang, they had completely different expressions. Who made this Pang Gang's official position so small? Now Zhao Jie's title is equivalent to the commander of a military sub-district in later generations, while Pang Gang is just a battalion-level officer, and the two are not even on the same level. Therefore, when facing Pang Gang, he had no pressure at all. In his mind, as long as he gave an order, this outsider Pang Gang would have to obediently step aside.

  But he forgot that since this Pang Gang dared to lead his soldiers out of the city and fight to the death with the Japanese, how could his courage be small? Originally, he was a clever person who would not have thought of this problem, but under the temptation of interest, he chose to forget this problem and hit the iron plate at once.

  Pang was enraged upon hearing such shameless words and coldly sneered: "Alright, since the lord wants these Japanese corpses, I'll hand them over to you. However, you'll have to wait a bit."

  Zhao Jie saw that Pang Gang was indeed as he had imagined, not daring to compete with him for merit. His tone became even more arrogant and loud, shouting: "What are you waiting for? Can a small hundred-household like you afford to delay military affairs? This official doesn't have the leisure to grind teeth with you, hurry up and get out of the way!"

  "Alright, but as I said, you'll have to wait a bit longer!" Pang Gang coldly gazed at this cowardly good-for-nothing, who didn't even bother with superficial courtesy anymore, and directly said: "Wait until our soldiers behead the Japanese and clean up the battlefield. You can deal with these Japanese corpses however you want. Lord Zhao, your eating habits are really too ugly. Even if you want to steal credit, you can't rush out so hastily."

  "How dare you!" Zhao Jie didn't expect that this Pang Baihu would be such a stubborn donkey, daring to offend even his superior. Enraged, he shouted loudly: "You're just a small hundred household, yet you dare speak to your superior like this, without any distinction between high and low, what kind of discipline is this? This official will... will send an official letter to the Qingzhou Prefecture requesting that the Qingzhou Garrison punish you!"

  Originally, Zhao Jie wanted to say that he would directly deal with Pang Gang, but later he changed his mind and thought that this was an official from Qingzhou, who did not belong under his jurisdiction, so he temporarily changed his words.

  Pang Gang saw that the Yangzhou defender was eager to take credit and didn't care about losing face, it's really "when a person is shameless, they are invincible"! Since both sides have already torn off their masks, Pang Gang also got tired of pretending to be polite. He waved his hand impatiently and said: "Alright, if Lord Zhao wants to report to the authorities, then go ahead and do so. However, I'd like to offer some advice to you, my lord. You are one of the most promising people I've met, but for the sake of taking credit, you're willing to throw away your face. Your future prospects will surely be bright!"

  "Y-y-you......" Zhao Jie's face turned red with rage, his chubby cheeks quivering as he pointed at Pang Gang's body, shaking uncontrollably. Finally, on the verge of apoplexy, he bellowed: "Guards! Get these riotous soldiers out of my sight!"

  The soldiers behind Zhao Jie immediately raised their knives and guns after hearing the order, slowly pressing towards Pang Gang, intending to drive away the people in front of them.

  It was just that when Zhao Jie said this, he didn't expect that the person standing in front of him would be a master with a bigger temper than the sky. Pang Gang, who came from later generations and originally had no strong sense of identity with the Ming Dynasty, suddenly saw this fat man trying to force his way through, and the anger in his heart instantly erupted.

  He grabbed the collar of the fat man in front of him, and with a shoulder throw, he sent Zhao Jie flying to the ground. With one foot on the fat man's face, he sneered: "Hey, I originally wanted to leave you some face, but now it seems like you don't want to save face! Lord Zhao, since you insist on tearing off your skin, this official will no longer be polite."

  "Listen up, officers and soldiers of Wanghai Fortress! Prepare for battle!"

  "Whoosh!"

  The soldiers of the Wanghai Fort had been dissatisfied with this fat man since they saw him arguing with their commander, and as soon as they heard the order from their commander, the bird gunners in the front row immediately raised their bird guns and started to ignite the fuse hanging around their necks with fire.

  Originally, when Zhao Qian was trampled by Pang Gang and was about to rush over to rescue him, the Ming army was scared out of their wits. Just now, they had witnessed the power of these bird guns on the city wall, and those who were shot and had their intestines spilled out were still lying in front of them. They didn't want to personally experience the power of these bird guns.

  "Run quickly!"

  It was unclear who shouted, but the hundreds of soldiers who followed Zhao Qian suddenly spread their legs and collectively turned back, quickly running towards the city gate. They had only come to steal a bit of credit, but losing their lives wasn't worth it.

  Zhao Jie, who was thrown to the ground by Pang Gang, was shocked and lay on the ground like a dead dog. He looked at his soldiers retreating in unison and was so angry that he almost fainted. He shouted loudly from the ground: "Come back to Ben Guan, don't run!"

  Unfortunately, Zhao Jie's voice was dispersed by the wind at this moment, and only Pang Gang, who had his foot on him, could hear it. This guy heard Zhao Jie's voice, lowered his head and smiled at Zhao Jie, then used his foot to trample his fat face. The Yangzhou soldier felt a bloody mud fall into his mouth, making him want to vomit. He fainted and fell to the ground with a white face...