Chapter 5: A Bullet-Triggered Bloodshed

  As the three of them walked further northwest, the smell of livestock and horse dung grew thicker. Along the way, row upon row of large carts were piled high with fodder, stretching as far as the eye could see. This was a key section of the Jin army's defenses, and patrols were very strict. Di Lie and his companions hadn't even seen the shadow of a stable when they encountered three batches of patrolling soldiers. If it weren't for Di Lie having learned a few phrases of Jurchen from Hou Fangming in advance to bluff their way through, plus the fact that he was wearing a suit of fine armor that only high-ranking generals could wear, they would have almost been discovered.

  Hou Fangjing was getting more and more anxious, the early summer night still had a few degrees of coolness, but he couldn't stop sweating: "Di Yingxiong, can't go any further, the closer we get to the stable, the stricter the inquiry will be. The last few times we weren't discovered were just lucky, but next time may not be so fortunate."

  Di Lie didn't say a word, he just measured the distance with his eyes, nodded: "Although it's still a bit far from the stable, we can only make do." After that, he casually threw away the iron thistle bone, took off the sniper rifle from his shoulder, removed the magazine, opened the gun box, and took out a special bullet with a silver tip from another magazine.

  This is the M8 armor-piercing incendiary shell, loaded with 0.97 grams of IM11 incendiary agent, which can penetrate an 8mm thick steel plate at a distance of 1200 meters and effectively deal with lightly armored targets. If used to attack an oil depot, the effect would be simply awesome.

  If it were just Di Lie alone, with his rigorously trained skills, infiltrating the destination wouldn't be difficult. However, adding two burdens made it impossible. Di Lie had no choice but to change his plan and set fire to the hay instead of the stables. But he couldn't use the original method of manually setting each vehicle on fire one by one; this approach had a low success rate and was very dangerous. He had a more convenient way - just one bullet would suffice, don't look down on its small size, it's enough to trigger a fire.

  But speaking of bullets, Di Lie suddenly remembered something: just now when he shot and killed those two Golden Generals, he didn't hear a very clear gunshot! The muzzle brake can only eliminate the flash, not the sound, what's going on? Could it be that some structure of this firearm also underwent a strange change during the space-time leap?

  This was naturally something Di Lie couldn't understand, so he simply ignored it. Anyway, this was a good thing, don't think too much about it, first solve the problem at hand.

  Hou Fangjing and Ye Die'er stared blankly as Di Lie inserted the yellow, cylindrical metal into a square card slot, then connected it to the sharp instrument. He immediately jumped onto the large vehicle, aimed the weapon far ahead, pulled the trigger (board machine), and quickly jumped down, urgently shouting: "Go! Go fast!"

  No sooner had the words fallen than a long streak of fire shot up to the sky, and in that instant, countless carts loaded with fodder burst into flames. Even at the end of the fodder carts, at the southeast corner of the stables, there was a violent explosion. The intense explosion not only caused one side of the stables to collapse but also startled the horses into a frantic stampede out of their stalls.

  Don't mention those patrolling Golden Soldiers, even Hou Fangjing and Ye Die'er, who had personally witnessed Di Lie's small movements, were shocked and stunned. No matter how hard they tried to figure it out, they couldn't understand how Di Lie, standing right there, could set fire to countless hay carts hundreds of steps away. And the flames were so fierce, as if hundreds of people with torches were launching a nighttime attack.

  "How...how is this possible?" Even as he fled, Hou Fangjing couldn't help but ask the question that had been on his mind, even forgetting his usual respectful tone.

  "Perhaps you don't believe me, but I'm actually a professional soldier, an expert in killing and arson." Di Lie simply responded with a faint reply, without detailed explanation, nor could he possibly explain it clearly to people of this era.

  A piercing incendiary bullet that can explode a light armored vehicle at 1200 meters, continuously penetrating over a hundred wooden carts lined up in a row. The high-speed bullet sparks and ignites the dry hay inside the cart, making it easy to achieve. Of course, being able to knock down one corner of the stable is also partly due to luck; in fact, if the projectile had deviated by another 10 centimeters, the best result would have been just blowing up a few horses.

  The entire Jin army camp was thrown into chaos at this moment, with panicked figures rushing wildly in all directions, triggering even greater panic. Under the dark night sky, everyone's negative emotions were triggered and uncontrollably spread out of control. It is unknown who was the first to draw their blade, cutting down those suspected of attacking them, then the second, third... As more and more people became embroiled in the chaotic slaughter, the air was filled with the stench of blood and death.

  Yes, this is the "camp shout" that generals in ancient times feared most when marching and camping!

  Soldiers carried their heads in battle, today unknown tomorrow, the pressure in their hearts can be imagined. Nightmares, insomnia, murmurs, and even sleepwalking often occurred. At this time, the military camp sought to maintain silence, lest it stimulate the soldiers' bad emotions. Therefore, there were often many star-studded officers patrolling around with a small team, once discovering any bad signs - even if the voice was slightly louder, they would be immediately stopped and punished, lightly beaten with a military stick, heavily subjected to corporal punishment, until beheaded.

  In a military camp where even the slightest snore must be kept to a minimum, such an earth-shattering explosion and fire would not have occurred if it were not for the Golden Army, but rather the American army!

  When the melee began, most soldiers were just afraid of being attacked and took a preemptive strike as a form of self-protection, but with the stimulation of bloodshed and frenzied slaughter, the nature of the situation gradually changed.

  This Jin army had about 5,000 men and horses, of which less than 2,000 were true Jurchen people. The vast majority were vassal troops recruited by the Jin people, such as the remnants of the Khitan people from the already destroyed Liao State, the recently conquered Koreans, Bohai people, and Han people signed military from the northern border of Liao. These motley troops with different ethnicities and nationalities had deep contradictions and hatred towards each other, as well as towards the Jin people. Normally, they were suppressed by the Jin people's strong power, but once a certain "fuse" was ignited, their backlash would make even the arrogant Jin people turn pale.

  There's no better chance than this! Revenge for past grievances, settling old scores! Those who have been at odds with me, harboring resentment, and holding grudges will all be dealt with together.

  Di Lie did not expect that a small bullet would trigger this mass hysteria, and even lead to a bloodbath. However, this was exactly the opportunity he had been waiting for - a chance to muddy the waters and fish in troubled waters. Was there any "water" more turbid than this?

  Di Lie did not follow Hou Fangjing's advice and flee east-southeast, which was the eastern gate of the Jin army camp, but instead followed the route he remembered before to return to where he was being held captive. Although it would be easier for him to escape in the chaos now, his instincts as a soldier kept reminding him that he couldn't just leave like this, as there were still many comrades-in-arms being held captive there, and also because of a promise he had made to a young boy.

  No matter whether those detainees were willing to escape or not, he wanted to give them a chance to choose.

  The craftsmen were imprisoned in a place that was originally located in the center of the Jin army camp, and the guards were not strict at ordinary times. At this chaotic moment, many of the Jin soldiers who were on guard rushed to see what had happened, and the guards became even more lax.

  Di Lie led the two of them to charge into the village, passing through three layers of defense lines, and only when they reached the earthen house where the craftsmen were being held did the guards discover them, but it was already too late.

  At this time, there were only four guards left, two Jurchen and two Khitan. Due to the unclear situation, all four guards held knives and bows, in a state of high alert, which brought some minor trouble to Di Lie.

  The golden soldier guarding the gate noticed that Di Lie's accent was off and he was approaching quickly, just in time to raise his knife and shout a halt. Di Lie then threw out the iron lotus bone flower that had been placed on his shoulder. The over 30 jin heavy iron thing whizzed over, the golden soldier didn't even have time to dodge, instinctively swinging his knife to chop, resulting in both him and his knife being twisted into a ball of dough.

  Di Lie's fierce wind-like movement swept past the inhuman corpse, and with a swift motion, he snatched up the iron bone spike and swung it horizontally, sending another Khitan soldier wielding a large axe flying away. By the time he landed, he was already gasping for air.

  The golden soldier guarding the house, who was also the guard who had previously scolded the workers, seeing how brave his opponent was, became frightened and kicked open the door of the room where the workers were being held, and hid inside.

  Di Lie was about to rush in when an arrow suddenly shot from the rooftop. Di Lie reacted quickly, raising his iron trident to block it, and the arrowhead broke off one of the wolf teeth, sparks flying everywhere. Before Di Lie could even catch his breath, a second arrow followed immediately - this guard on the rooftop was actually firing consecutive shots!

  Di Lie was caught off guard and took an arrow to the left chest - at this point, the excellent craftsmanship of Tang Qing's armor was revealed. At such a close distance, the arrow with great force and momentum shot out, yet it only broke through the first layer of armor plates, and was blocked by the second layer of scale-like armor plates. Furthermore, the inner layer of bulletproof clothing had good shock-absorbing properties, so Di Lie was hardly injured at all.

  Di Lie was slightly startled, taking advantage of the guard's momentary distraction to grab an arrow, he swiftly pulled out a dagger and threw it. The guard on the roof fell with a thud, rolling off.

  Di Lie pulled the dagger out of his opponent's throat, wiped the blood off on their clothes, and gazed into those dead, unblinking eyes. He said calmly, "Don't think you're the only one who can go berserk!"

  Di Lie nodded at Hou Fangjing and Ye Die'er, who were hiding outside the courtyard, telling them to keep an eye on the gate before rushing into the house.