SWDnovel Chapter 28 One Arrow Captures the Butcher
Chapter 28 One Arrow Captures the Butcher
On the eve of the decisive battle, there was no wine, no mobilization, and not even a single extra bold statement.
The warehouse in the north area was eerily quiet, with only the crackling sound of flames licking firewood in the iron furnace.
Li Wei neatly stacked the last batch of ammunition packets wrapped in oil paper. Each packet contained a fixed amount of gunpowder and a lead bullet, enough for a novice to complete a reloading in the shortest amount of time.
Inside the cellar, blacksmith Patrick was leading a few young men, using the last few pieces of hardwood and tanned cowhide to reinforce several rough tower shields.
Finn leaned against the doorframe, silently wiping a small flintlock pistol.
This was a token that Li Wei had received from Adjutant Gage, but now it was in his hands.
"This thing has an effective range of no more than twenty paces, and it can only be fired once," Li Wei's voice came from the cellar entrance, calmly stating the facts.
"Its function is not to kill, but to issue orders."
Finn raised his one eye and gripped the slightly heavy pistol in his hand.
The walnut wood grain and silver inlay on the gun handle were out of place with his rough hands.
He didn't speak, but nodded solemnly.
Livy turned to the other side, where Seamus was sharpening a spearhead with a whetstone.
"Your task is the most important."
Seamus stopped what he was doing and looked up.
"Hold the line, don't retreat an inch. You are the wall, the source of everyone's courage. As long as you don't fall, we will not lose."
Seamus grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. There was no excitement, only a spirit of facing death without fear.
He didn't know who Li Wei was, but he knew that if he lost tomorrow, his wife and daughters would never have peace under the rule of the butcher "Jack".
"Sir, unless I'm dead."
Li Wei didn't say anything more. He went upstairs, where Fiona had already prepared a pot of hot tea and a newly made bow for him.
This is a composite bow with an oriental design, made of bamboo, wood, sinew, and horn. The bow is jet black and exudes an astonishing power.
Fiona handed him a jar of arrows wrapped with animal sinew.
"Are you really not going to the front lines? Are you sure you can leave it to Finn?" she asked.
"My position is where I can see the entire chessboard." Li Wei picked up the bow and tested the draw weight.
"War is not a gladiatorial contest, Fiona. The essence of business is to achieve the greatest victory at the lowest cost."
Fiona looked at the Asian man in front of her and felt a strange emotion.
Does this Easterner still treat everything as a business at this point?
Dawn broke.
The narrowest street at the entrance to the North District was shrouded in morning mist.
The tall warehouse walls on both sides turned this place into a natural fortified city.
Seamus and Patrick, among others, stood ready, the five of them standing side by side, fitting the five newly made tower shields together seamlessly to form an impenetrable wooden wall.
Behind the shield, five sharpened hardwood spears protruded diagonally from the gaps in the shield, their tips gleaming in the dim light.
Twenty paces behind them were thirty Irish workers under Finnish command.
They had no decent weapons, only short sticks and slings hastily made by Patrick.
Everyone remained silent, waiting.
……
"Boom!"
A loud bang came from the direction of the South District; it was Jack kicking open the empty shell door of his headquarters.
"Butcher" Jack arrived, bringing with him almost all of the Blood Hands' belongings. Nearly a hundred men surged across the Charles River bridge like a filthy torrent.
"Butcher" Jack walked at the front, shirtless, the black hair on his chest trembling in the morning breeze.
He held a gleaming butcher's axe in his hand, his eyes were bloodshot, and he seemed to have descended into a state of madness.
"You bastards from the North District! Come out and die!"
They brandished axes, machetes, and chains, howling like wild beasts, expecting to witness a chaotic North District.
As they charged into "Gallows Alley," ready to wreak havoc, they stumbled upon the unmoving shield wall where Seamus and his men were hiding.
"Just five of them? They dare to stop us!" A Blood Hand Gang thug spat contemptuously.
"Crush them!"
Jack roared and charged forward.
Nearly a hundred people let out a deafening scream, like a turbid tide surging towards that thin defensive line.
"Raise your shield!" Seamus's voice was steady and powerful.
"Bang!"
The first wave of impact slammed heavily into the shield wall.
Seamus felt a tremendous force come over him, and he slid half a step backward, the stone slabs under his feet creaking loudly.
But he did not fall, nor did his four brothers.
They felt the immense impact from the shields; their arms ached and went numb, and their hands almost felt like they were about to crack, but their formation remained unshaken.
The thugs who charged forward were pushed and shoved by their own men, causing them to stumble and fall, their formation in complete disarray.
On the rooftops of the warehouses on either side, Li Wei nocked an arrow.
He didn't look at the chaotic battle below, but instead watched Jack's movements.
Fiona stood beside him, holding a small bronze mirror, using the morning light to indicate the wind direction and changes in the enemy's formation.
"The back row is starting to stir," Fiona whispered.
Behind the Blood Hand Gang, some people had already sensed something was wrong and began to shrink back.
Li Wei did not give the order.
He is waiting.
Waiting for the best opportunity.
Jack, seeing that he couldn't break through from the front, yelled in frustration.
He kicked aside one of his own men who was blocking his way, grabbed a machete that had fallen to the ground, and roared.
"Climb up from both sides! Get on the roof! Throw them all down!"
Several quick-witted thugs immediately began trying to climb the smooth walls of the warehouse on both sides.
Just as they looked up, searching for a place to stand.
"Release!" Li Wei's voice rang out.
On the other side of the roof, Finn and his slingers received the signal.
call!call!call!
Dozens of stones and lead bullets traced chaotic arcs in the air, flew over the shield wall, and rained down on the crowded rear ranks of the Blood Hand Gang.
The muffled thuds, the cracking of bones, and the screams of terror mingled together.
The crowd was in complete chaos.
Those at the back wanted to retreat, while those at the front wanted to advance. They pushed and trampled each other, and the formation collapsed on its own.
Jack went completely insane; he knew he had fallen into a trap again.
He no longer relied on his men, and charged towards the shield wall himself, wielding his butcher's axe, ready to smash open a breach with brute force.
He raised the axe high, his muscles bulging, revealing a huge opening.
Right now.
On the rooftop, Li Wei released the bowstring.
The bowstring emitted a barely perceptible vibration.
call out!
A black arrow silently pierced the morning mist.
Jack's axe, which was about to fall, suddenly stopped.
He looked down at his right wrist in disbelief.
An arrow pierced through the tendon of the hand, its tip dripping with blood, and emerged from the other side.
A sharp pain swept over the butcher's entire body in an instant.
"what!"
A scream, inhuman and agonizing, pierced the entire battlefield.
Clang!
The butcher's axe, a symbol of his cruelty and power, slipped from his weak hand and fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
Everyone saw this.
All the members of the "Bloody Hands Gang" saw their invincible, god-like leader kneel on the ground, clutching his wrists, like an animal with a nose ring.
The fierce aura that had sustained them vanished instantly.
Morale collapsed.
Finn seized the opportunity.
He jumped off the roof, raised the gleaming silver flintlock pistol high, and pointed it at the sky.
"Bang!"
A deafening gunshot rang out in "Gallows Alley," drowning out all the screams and wails.