Chapter 9: Seven Guns and Nine Lives

  Di Lie and the Yang brothers lay in ambush at the edge of a rugged ditch, from which they could secretly observe the Jin army camp five or six miles away. In the distance, the thick palisade connected the five camps into a thin line, stretching for several miles. Even knowing that this was almost an empty camp, it still gave people a strong sense of oppression.

  Di Lie and the three of them were hiding here because from time to time, there would be Jin soldiers scouting around on horseback. If they got any closer, it would be easy for them to be discovered. According to Yang's brothers' method, this was still due to the Jin army having too few men, so the warning line they set up was only about five or six miles away. If the main force had not withdrawn, the Jin scouts would at least have gone out dozens of miles ahead, and in times of war, it would not be unusual for them to go out hundreds of miles ahead.

  According to Di Lie's observation for nearly an hour, the number of Jin soldiers left behind was indeed not many. Except for the occasional search for scattered horses by Jin soldiers, in groups of three or five, sending captured horses back to the camp, during this period, a total of five batches of sentry cavalry passed under their noses. Each batch of sentries consisted of three people, with two batches being repeated personnel, which means that there were fewer than ten Jin soldiers on sentry duty, divided into three groups patrolling back and forth.

  According to the intelligence provided by Yang's brothers earlier, there were less than 100 Jin soldiers left behind. Half of them went out to search for horses, and the remaining ones were only a handful of people, with one-fifth sent out for patrol and warning, leaving thirty or forty people to guard the camp, which was still a reasonable arrangement.

  Di Lie didn't know that these "not many" Jin soldiers in his eyes were actually a force to be reckoned with in the eyes of the Song people.

  The military strength of the Jurchen people, who had established their country for just over a decade, was currently on the rise. As early as several years ago, there had been instances where twenty-odd cavalrymen charged into 2,000 Song troops and caused them to rout. In the initial stages of the Jin army's southern invasion, more than a hundred Jin soldiers dared to penetrate deep into the Song army's rear, reaching the heart of their territory. Every prefecture and county they passed through closed their gates tightly, with not one daring to come out and intercept them, displaying an arrogant and overbearing attitude.

  Just a month ago, when Jin Jun Nan invaded the commander-in-chief, one of the Jin Taizu Wanyan Aguda's second son, Jin Jun Donglu Army Right Vice Marshal Wanyan Zongwang (Jurchen name: Olibu), was about to lead the army to withdraw from the Song Dynasty capital Bianjing and return north. He had planned to leave behind a portion of the Jin soldiers to protect the newly-established Chu regime (i.e., Zhang Bangchang's pseudo-Chu regime). However, this plan was politely declined. The number of Jin soldiers that Zongwang had planned to leave behind was "one mouke" - in the eyes of this commander-in-chief of the Jin Jun Donglu Army, a single Bianjing city could be intimidated with just one mouke of troops.

  This is indeed a sorrow for the great Song Dynasty which has been established for one hundred and seventy years.

  If defending a city like Bianjing only requires a small force of Mo Ke's soldiers, then in the desolate countryside of the Song territory where the Jin warriors have broken their spirits, how many troops would be needed to guard an empty camp that has stored some supplies? In fact, if it weren't for searching for the scattered and escaped horses, the temporary commander-in-chief of this Jin army had even considered deploying only a small force of Pu Wei's soldiers.

  The arrogant golden people couldn't have imagined in their wildest dreams that they were facing an unprecedented, unthinkable and terrifying great enemy. From this moment on, this enemy would bring them a string of nightmares that would haunt them forever.

  A sudden burst of hoofbeats, trampling the desolate wilderness, came from afar and drew near. About thirty yards away from the shallow ditch where the three men were hiding, three Jin soldiers on horseback galloped past. Although they also cast a few glances at the hiding place, they did not discover that in the shallow ditch below the slope were actually three tiger-like enemies lying in wait.

  The Yang brothers were secretly amazed, they were both elite scouts of the Great Song Dynasty's Western Army, and doing this kind of covert reconnaissance was their daily routine. However, they had never dared to venture so close in such an open and exposed terrain, almost right under the noses of the Jin people, yet somehow they hadn't been discovered. And all of this was simply because of a suggestion from the young man beside them who was dressed in strange attire.

  Before the raid, Di Lie asked if they could get something like a broken fish net. After getting a negative answer, he used a knife to cut down strips of tree bark and tore them into threads, then braided them into a fishing net shape, and inserted various withered grasses and leaves - a simple but effective sniper camouflage protection device "net helmet" was made.

  The Yang brothers also got a piece of this strange clothing, and then applied the oil paint from a delicate small box in the young man's arms to their faces, making them into big flower faces. Finally, they put on this "net stocking", and lurked in this shallow ditch with great fanfare.

  The Jin army scouts came and went several times, the last time less than twenty yards away from the three men's hiding place, even the eyelashes of the Jin people could be counted clearly. The brothers' backs were wet and dry, dry and wet again, but they were never discovered by the Jin people. Yang brothers gradually turned their ridicule into surprise, admiration, and joy for this strange dress, as an old scout, they deeply understood how important this simple equipment was to the scouting work. At the same time, they became more curious about Di Lie, who had such a wonderful idea - his hiding skills and methods were far superior to those of the two brothers, was he also from a military background? But which branch of the Great Song army could surpass the Western Army?

  Even if this strange young man had the ability, with just a few people, how could they cope with dozens of fierce and ferocious Golden Wolf Guards?

  Just as the Yang brothers couldn't figure out what Di Lie was up to, he quietly asked them a question: "These scouts all seem to have shaved heads and braided queues, and their clothes don't have any obvious distinguishing features. How do you tell who is Jurchen and who are the vassal troops from other tribes?"

  "The Jurchen people wear gold and silver earrings, while others do not. This is their characteristic."

  Yang Zhongchong also said in a low voice: "Last year, the government had an edict that for beheading a 'ring leader', one would be rewarded with 25 guan of silver and promoted one rank. Unfortunately, it's extremely difficult to kill even a genuine Jurchen dog, let alone behead one and then calmly cut off its head and retreat after killing it. Even in our Western Army, we can't find many such heroes."

  In fact, it's not just the Jurchen people, but also the Khitan people have the custom of wearing gold and silver earrings. However, at this time, Liao had already been destroyed, and the Song army was facing only the Jin people.

  Di Lie carefully examined the three golden armored cavalrymen galloping by. Hmm, one of them had a silver earring on his left ear, great, it's you!

  The sniper rifle was already set up, and also camouflaged with branches and leaves. From the scope, three silhouettes were very clear. At this time, the three Jinbing scouts had ridden out eighty zhang (about 280 meters), a distance that is still too trivial for the Barrett M82A1 anti-material sniper rifle with an effective range of 1800 meters.

  Di Lie almost didn't aim, from locking onto the target to pulling the trigger, it took less than 0.5 seconds.

  The Yang brothers then saw the most unbelievable scene in their lives - the Jin army scout, who was galloping at full speed, suddenly exploded from the upper half of his body without any warning, with blood and flesh flying everywhere. The remaining lower half of his body still charged out for several meters before falling off the horseback at an angle.

  The Yang brothers' eyes bulged out and their mouths were wide open, they had even forgotten to close them.

  Due to the silencing and flash-reducing effect of the muzzle brake, the Yang brothers only heard a very faint "puff" sound, as if someone was lightly exhaling beside them. Those two Jin soldiers, even if they had grown two more ears, would not have been able to hear any sound from eighty zhang away.

  The Barrett M82A1 anti-materiel rifle was originally designed to engage targets such as light armor, helicopters, and vehicles. In urban warfare, it can penetrate brick walls and concrete pillars. The term "anti-materiel" itself explains this point. Using such a powerful cartridge for "anti-personnel" purposes has terrifying consequences.

  In the time-space before Di Lie's traversal, a famous war example related to it had already occurred: on the Iraqi battlefield, a US soldier holding a Barrett M82A1 anti-material sniper rifle shot an Iraqi soldier standing on a water tower and holding an RPG-7 rocket launcher into two pieces at 1600 yards.

  Of course, this so-called "king of sniping" heavy sniper rifle also has some drawbacks: due to the large caliber Barrett anti-material sniper rifle, when shooting, every time a bullet is fired, the propellant gas ejected from the recoil brake will stir up dust and loose particles around the shooter. This can cause the enemy to discover the location of the sniper and eliminate them with weapons such as RPGs. Therefore, snipers using the Barrett have earned the nickname "cannon fodder snipers".

  However, in this medieval era without telescopes or powerful weapons, this is hardly a defect - no human eyes are sharp enough to see clearly in an environment where the wind blows and dust fills the sky. Even if someone's eyesight is good enough to see that rising smoke, who can connect that speck of dust with the exploding corpse nearby?

  The effect was stunning, but at such a close distance to hit such an obvious target, it's not worth celebrating for a sniper. Di Lie's expression remained calm, his right hand pulled the bolt back and rotated to eject the shell. With a light "ding" sound, a yellowish shell casing popped out, rolled a few times, and fell onto the yellow soil, shining with dazzling golden light in the midday sun.

  The Yang brothers stared blankly at the small, shiny golden cylinder that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, their minds a complete blank, and they were too stunned to say anything.

  Di Lie ignored the two brothers and focused on loading another panicked Jin soldier into his sights.

  Plop! Even from such a distance, the sound of that golden soldier's head bursting was clearly audible, just like a watermelon smashed by an iron hammer.

  Only one of the golden soldiers was left, letting out a mournful howl that didn't sound human, and fled on horseback in a frenzy, as if being chased by ghosts.

  Di Lie slowly lowered his gun and put the two shell casings into his pocket. The next thing to do was to wait patiently.

  As expected, the Golden Army didn't keep him waiting for long. Soon, a cavalry of a thousand men galloped out of the Golden Army's camp, stirring up a whirlwind of yellow dust as they approached.

  Taking a rough estimate, there are over forty of them. It seems they've all come out at once. This is for the best, saves us from having to gather them one by one later on.

  Five or six li distance is only two or three minutes for cavalry at full gallop. This team of golden armor quickly arrived at the scene, more than 40 riders formed a large circle, and dozens of riders outside the circle were on high alert, as if facing a great enemy. Inside the circle, there were several golden armored soldiers who looked like they were in charge, constantly circling around the two corpses with terrible deaths. Their faces showed extreme shock, even with a hint of fear.

  Several Jin soldiers called out to the scout who had a panicked expression and was looking around restlessly, but after repeated questioning, they got no leads.

  One of the banner holders raised his whip, ready to order the cavalry to disperse and search. Before he could bring it down, a crisp sound rang out, and a small hole appeared on the ear guard of the steel helmet, the large head suddenly exploded into fragments, the iron helmet fell to the ground with a clang, followed by a headless body in armor crashing down.

  The Jin army cavalry let out a furious roar, the sound of bowstrings ringing out in all directions as they wildly and aimlessly fired their arrows, some of which were shot in the direction where Di Lie and his two companions were hiding. Fortunately, even the closest Jin soldier was sixty zhang away from them, and most of the Jin cavalry's bows had a strength of around five dou, so they basically couldn't shoot that far.

  The Yang brothers saw that several arrowheads were only a few feet away from their noses, and they broke out in cold sweat. However, years of scouting had trained them to be extremely calm and cautious. The two remained motionless, lying flat on the ground, looking like a few insignificant piles of weeds from a distance.

  Di Lie quietly aimed at the target, pulled the trigger, and ejected the shell... shooting calmly and unhurriedly.

  The second corpse fell, with a burst head; the third corpse fell, with a cracked chest; the fourth corpse fell, with its upper body torn apart, as if it had been eaten by three or more tigers... What's even more frightening is that one of the Jin soldiers who was relatively close to him also inexplicably covered his chest and collapsed in disbelief. Except for a small wound on the left chest, no other injuries could be found, and the manner of death was extremely bizarre.

  The Jin soldiers let out desperate and fearful cries, completely unable to comprehend what was happening. There were no arrows, no swords or axes, nor any rolling logs or stones, yet their comrades beside them were dying one by one, with not a whole corpse left, just like in the intense siege warfare, being smashed by the defenders' giant wolf-toothed clubs...

  The Jurchen people were a savage and backward nation that believed in spirits, ghosts and monsters. They had only recently abandoned the primitive method of tying knots to keep records, and the creation of the Jurchen script was also only a few years old. Throughout the Jin dynasty, from Emperor Taizong Wanyan Wuqi down to ordinary herders, not one did not believe in shamanism. All kinds of mysterious and unknown phenomena were attributed to the doings of spirits and ghosts.

  In fact, in this medieval era, who else believed in gods and witches besides the Jurchen people? The Khitan, Western Xia, and even the highly civilized Song people were no exception - this can be seen from the fact that Emperor Taizong of Song called himself "Emperor of the Tao", to the time when the Jin army besieged Bianjing, the capital of the Southern Song, and the prominent officials Sun Fu and He Su actually believed that the Taoist priest Guo Jing could use his magical powers to defeat the enemy.

  Invisible and intangible slaughter, sudden and unexpected death, like a vengeful spirit's curse, the punishment of the gods.

  The Jin army finally collapsed, and they let out wailing cries as they turned their horses around and fled wildly in all directions. But the direction they were fleeing was not towards their camp, but rather southeast - the same direction that the main army had retreated this morning! This Jin army was actually so frightened that they abandoned their posts and deserted their camp!

  Di Lie was far from finished, he wanted to add fuel to the fire and make this Golden Army cavalry completely frantic, even if they ran a hundred miles they wouldn't dare look back.

  Di Lie pushed the seventh bullet into the chamber - previously, a gun had exploded due to a burst of gunfire, and one of the shrapnel had accidentally killed a Jin soldier at close range, creating an unexpected achievement of one shot, two kills. And this time, he wanted to truly achieve a result of one shot, two kills.

  At this time, the Jin army had already fled more than 100 zhang away, and the front ones had even exceeded 150 zhang.

  Di Lie took aim at the middle one of the female Jurchen golden armor with a ring, who was half a horse's length in front of another female Jurchen cavalry. Hmm, it's them, genuine Jurchens, and the distance is just right.

  Two loud explosions, two female Jurchen Jin soldiers fell off their horses while running wildly, and two six-sun helmets were cut off at the same time. The war horses that lost their owners ran wildly without stopping, dragging the two headless corpses dozens of feet away, leaving a trail of blood along the way.

  The remaining Jin soldiers desperately kicked their horses, whipped them, and fled wildly until they disappeared from the horizon. No one dared to look back. At the same time, Jin soldiers who had been searching for their mounts kept running into this fleeing army. Although they were initially unclear about what was happening, human fear is contagious. Seeing the desperate appearance of their comrades, they joined the fleeing army one after another.

  In less than an incense stick of time, the world became quiet and still.

  Di Lie sprang up and threw off the net sack, facing the vast golden army camp and laughing loudly: "Alright, it's time to take stock of our gains!"