Chapter Forty-One Facing the Enemy

To facilitate the command of operations and fully unleash each villager’s maximum fighting potential, Qi Jun divided the members of the bandit suppression team into four squads.

The first squad was the reconnaissance team, with Liu Biao appointed as its leader. This unit was made up of villagers who were familiar with the terrain and possessed quick reflexes and good stamina. Their main responsibilities included scouting the landscape, gathering enemy intelligence, capturing and interrogating prisoners, and assisting in the selection of battle sites as well as planning routes for both attack and retreat.

The second squad was the close-combat team, led by Liu Kui. This team consisted of robust villagers with some skill in hand-to-hand combat. Their primary role was to breach enemy lines during battle and to defeat foes in close quarters.

The third squad was the crossbow team, with Qi Jun himself serving as captain. Every member was equipped with a crossbow. In battle, their duty was to provide cover for the close-combat team’s charge, eliminate key enemy targets from a distance, and suppress the enemy’s counterattacks.

The fourth squad was the engineering team, headed by Liu Fuyuan. In peacetime, they were responsible for repairing and forging weapons for the bandit suppression team; during battle, they operated heavy weaponry to support their comrades in attack and defense.

These four squads could be flexibly reorganized into new combinations according to the demands of each mission.

Once the leaders and duties of each squad were determined, Qi Jun allowed the villagers to choose which team to join based on their own abilities and physical condition.

Firstly, the villagers were well aware of their own strengths and weaknesses. Secondly, since the squad leaders and their team members were already well acquainted, this arrangement allowed for quicker integration, fostering cohesion and rapidly forming effective combat units.

The villagers quickly selected their respective leaders. Qi Jun made a few minor adjustments to ensure that each squad had a balanced and reasonable distribution of fighting power.

It was still only mid-afternoon, with plenty of time before operations would begin. Qi Jun decided to use this period to urgently produce a batch of crossbows and bolts. Meanwhile, he dispatched Liu Biao with a team to scout the surroundings near Panlong Ridge, instructed Liu Kui to split his team into two groups for intensive combat drills, sent the crossbow team into the woods to practice marksmanship, and had the engineering team, under Liu Fuyuan's direction, fell trees and hurriedly assemble a second siege weapon.

Qi Jun wanted the team to experience practical training in the limited time available, hoping to minimize casualties and maximize their fighting strength in the coming night's battle. Fortunately, after yesterday’s fight, many of the team members had already overcome the psychological hurdle of taking a life for the first time.

For many new soldiers, the greatest fear upon entering the battlefield was not only the enemy’s guns and cannons, but also the psychological impact of killing for the first time. That sense of guilt could become a lifelong shadow. Pulling the trigger and felling an enemy might sound simple, but overcoming the psychological barrier was a formidable challenge.

Although Liu Fuyuan had managed to assemble a strange-looking contraption from Qi Jun’s blueprints, he still didn’t quite understand its purpose. He only knew that it had four wheels for mobility and an axle that could pivot the crossbar.

No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t see how this device could be used as a weapon. In fact, the lever and attached rope reminded him more of a slingshot children used to hunt birds.

Qi Feng, who was diligently practicing his archery, saw Qi Jun leading some villagers into the woods and thought his brother had come specifically to observe his training. Overjoyed, he dashed over.

“Brother, my aim is even better today than it was yesterday!” Qi Feng exclaimed proudly, raising his crossbow for emphasis.

To his surprise, Qi Jun snatched the crossbow from him and turned to the nearby villagers. “Everyone, take a look. This is a crossbow—here’s the bow arm, and here’s the trigger…”

“Brother! Are you even listening to me?” Qi Feng froze for a moment, then shouted in exasperation.

Qi Jun frowned and glanced at him. Suddenly, he asked, “You’ve figured out the structure and operation of this crossbow, haven’t you?”

At last, Qi Feng had his brother’s attention. Puffing out his chest, he boasted, “What’s so difficult about that? I can—”

Before he could finish, Qi Jun interrupted, shoved the crossbow back into his arms, and said, “Good job! I’ll leave them with you. Make sure you teach them how to use and aim the crossbow properly! I need to get back to making more.”

Qi Feng stared at his brother in astonishment, then looked at the eager villagers behind him. He straightened up solemnly, instantly feeling like a master archer ready to instruct others.

Qi Jun had no concerns about letting Qi Feng teach the villagers the basics of marksmanship. Crossbows were simple to operate—after a bit of practice, anyone could hit a target and become an effective fighter.

This was precisely why the Great Liang dynasty outlawed crossbows among the populace but not bows. Using a bow required exceptional arm strength, while a crossbow could be fired simply by squeezing the trigger. If every commoner had a crossbow and rose in revolt, could the government hope to suppress them?

But with time pressing, Qi Jun had no leisure to worry about attracting the authorities’ attention. His only hope was that all of this effort would help the newly formed bandit suppression team survive and prevail in battle.

“Mr. Qi, the second one is almost done. Can you tell me how to use it now?” Liu Fuyuan ran over excitedly to report on their progress.

Qi Jun immediately set aside the half-finished crossbow, dusted himself off, and followed Liu Fuyuan.

Coming to an open space by the riverbank, Liu Fuyuan called out, and several villagers wheeled out a peculiar device.

“Sir, don’t keep us guessing. Tell us how this thing works,” Liu Fuyuan urged impatiently.

“This is called a trebuchet. It can hurl stones a great distance. This one is a small model, but it should be more than enough to attack the bandits’ stronghold.”

It was only then that Liu Fuyuan and the assembled villagers learned of the terrifying power of a “trebuchet.”

“This thing is called a trebuchet? You must be kidding, sir. Are you telling me this pile of wood can really launch stones?” Liu Fuyuan stared at the contraption in disbelief, while the other villagers murmured and shook their heads.

“If you don’t believe me, watch and see. Bring a stone over—I’ll show you a miracle!” Qi Jun said with a grin, eager to demonstrate.

Liu Fuyuan looked around, hurried over to pick up a stone the size of a human head from the riverbank, and, laboring under its weight, set it down before Qi Jun.

Two villagers quickly followed Qi Jun’s instructions and loaded the stone into the netting.

“Now for the moment of truth!” Qi Jun smiled triumphantly, aimed the crossbar at the woods, and triggered the mechanism.

The stone soared in a graceful arc and landed precisely a hundred paces away in the forest. As it struck, a crackling sound of breaking wood echoed through the trees.

Liu Fuyuan and the others stared in wide-eyed astonishment, mouths agape. The machine had upended everything they thought they knew. None of them could have imagined that such a crude-looking device could unleash such terrifying power.

They exchanged glances, then hurried into the woods to see where the stone had struck. When they saw a tree as thick as a bowl snapped clean in two, Liu Fuyuan and the others felt a deep, instinctive awe for the power of this weapon.

Their reaction was exactly what Qi Jun had expected—this was the most direct impact that epoch-making technology could have on ordinary people.

The army of Great Liang still used weaponry no more advanced than that of the Qin and Han dynasties. A siege weapon like the trebuchet was enough to overturn the traditional methods of warfare.

Qi Jun knew that such a weapon must never come to the attention of the authorities. The only reason he had built it now was to deal with the bandits at Panlong Ridge—he didn’t want to waste too much time or manpower there.

Once battle began, it had to be swift and decisive. If they failed to breach the stronghold in time and were surrounded by reinforcements, they would be trapped and doomed.

Now that Liu Fuyuan’s crew was free, Qi Jun decided to teach them how to make crossbows as well, speeding up production. He then planned to visit Liu Kui’s close-combat team to teach them some practical fighting techniques.

As he was pondering this, Qi Jun looked up to see Liu Biao running toward him.

“Mr. Qi, bad news! Another group of more than fifty bandits is heading our way!” Liu Biao reported, panting nervously.

“Again? Where are they now?” Qi Jun’s heart tightened, wondering if this new appearance meant the bandits at Panlong Ridge were already on alert.

“We saw them less than half an hour after leaving the village. There was still some distance between us, so I don’t think they spotted us.”

“Gather everyone and prepare to meet the enemy. Since they’ve come, we can’t let them leave. Each squad will get a chance to test their skills!”