Seeing Liu Tiezhu's stern expression, Lin Changxing wisely shut his mouth.
"Anyone else have questions?" Liu Tiezhu's gaze swept over the other squad leaders as he asked coldly.
The remaining nine all lowered their heads, none daring to meet Liu Tiezhu's eyes. They understood clearly that going against Liu Tiezhu would bring no benefit. Since they wouldn't bear responsibility for anything that happened, they would simply follow his orders as arranged.
Seeing that no one spoke, Liu Tiezhu revealed a satisfied smile. "No questions, then go prepare. In ten minutes, launch the attack according to my command."
Liu Tiezhu waved his hand, and everyone quickly returned to their units. Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Liu Tiezhu gave a big wave, and five hundred men swiftly moved toward the Li family army's outposts.
After reaching the ambush point, Liu Tiezhu made an encircling gesture, and the five hundred men quickly split into two groups. Two hundred stayed to fight, while the remaining three hundred continued forward. They slowly crept through the dense overgrowth, hiding thirty meters on either side of the Li family army's ambush position.
The Li family army had no idea they were already surrounded. Their leader, Li Changfeng, paced back and forth among the men, occasionally glancing at the pocket watch in his hand. According to intelligence from Ming Tianfeng, the Ming family forces would attack around eight o'clock, passing along the path below him. But now it was nearly nine, and there was still no sign of movement.
"Brother Changfeng, did that bastard Ming Tianfeng screw us over?" Li Junkai said from the side. "It's this late, and there's nothing at all."
Li Changfeng waved his hand. "That shouldn't be. The intel has been confirmed by our Li family informants. If they haven't come by now, something must have happened, or the Ming family made new arrangements."
Li Junkai said, "Liu Tiezhu is leading this operation. That cunning bastard—could he have changed his mind on the spot?"
Hearing this, Li Changfeng froze, his brow furrowing. He was about to speak when his expression suddenly shifted, and he immediately crouched down.
A gunshot rang out, the bullet flying right past his face.
Liu Tiezhu, seeing the time was right, fired the first shot. The others, hearing the gunfire, immediately opened fire. In an instant, a hail of bullets followed. The Li family army, caught completely off guard, suffered heavy casualties before they could react. They never dreamed that their own ambush point would become their burial ground.
"Ming Tianfeng, I'll curse your ancestors for eighteen generations!" Li Changfeng roared in fury, his face dark.
He was convinced that Ming Tianfeng had leaked the information, allowing the Ming army to ambush them so precisely. The remaining Li soldiers snapped out of their shock and launched a counterattack. In moments, gunfire erupted everywhere, the dense thicket ablaze with dazzling sparks.
On the other side, the Li family forces hiding at both entrances of the Seven Ancestral Garden were completely bewildered. "What's going on? How did the Ming army attack us from behind?" their leader, Li Zheng, shouted angrily, his face dark.
"Brother Zheng, it must be Ming Tianfeng going back on his word," said Li Muran, an old man beside him.
"That bastard Ming Tianfeng, he played me for a fool! Everyone, turn around immediately and help Li Changfeng!" Li Zheng bellowed, charging back at the front.
The others didn't dare delay and quickly followed Li Zheng's lead. After more than ten minutes, Li Zheng led over three hundred men in a massive rush to the scene.
"Open fire!"
A command came from the Ming army forces hidden on both sides. As the order fell, another volley of dense bullets shot out. The Li army, rushing in haste, had no idea they were walking into an ambush. By the time they realized it, they were sitting ducks.
Bang, bang, bang...
The relentless gunfire echoed without pause. In just a few minutes, the Li reinforcements were routed. Of the 320-plus men, fewer than a hundred remained after only five minutes. The sight made Li Zheng's heart bleed. These were the Li family's main forces, and every loss was a devastating blow.
"Brother Zheng, it's a trap. We need to run!" Li Muran, sensing the tide had turned, urgently pulled Li Zheng to flee.
The remaining few dozen men, already terrified, followed closely behind Li Zheng as they sprinted out of the Ming army's encirclement. After running several hundred meters, the gunfire ceased. Li Zheng then realized that of the over five hundred men he'd brought, fewer than sixty loyal followers remained.
"Ming Tianfeng, I'll fuck your ancestors! I'll settle this score with you to the end!" Li Zheng cursed venomously a few times before leading the remnants of the Li army to escape the scene.
"What's going on? Did Liu Tiezhu not attack along the route we gave?" At another ambush point in the Seven Ancestral Garden, Zhang Zhiliang said coldly, his face iron.
Liu Zhigao thought for a moment and said, "Could he have discovered the route we gave was problematic?"
Zhang Zhiliang said, "That's possible."
A flicker of worry crossed Liu Zhigao's face. "If so, wouldn't he realize we had ill intentions toward him?"
They had originally planned to use this opportunity to gain leverage over Liu Tiezhu, then shift the blame onto Ming Zhenglong, making Liu Tiezhu resent him and serve them wholeheartedly. Now things had backfired. Once Liu Tiezhu discovered their bad faith, he might turn against them and side with Ming Zhenglong, which would be a huge loss. Given Liu Tiezhu's current strength, if he gained Ming Zhenglong's favor, he'd become a major threat to them.
Zhang Zhiliang said, "It's not that bad yet. We can pin everything on Ming Zhenglong. Say it was his route, and we came to save the day after finding out. We still have time to act. If there's a chance, we can have someone capture that kid."
"What about the Li family's supplies? Should we just abandon them?" Liu Zhigao asked.
"Don't lose the big for the small. Forget the supplies for now. Our target is Liu Tiezhu." Zhang Zhiliang waved his hand, and over a hundred men behind him quickly surged forward.
In the thicket, Liu Tiezhu was organizing the cleanup of the battlefield. These two ambushes had been brilliantly executed, with only seventeen losses while wiping out over four hundred from the Li family. It was practically a zero-loss operation. Aside from Lin Changxing, the other nine squad leaders were utterly impressed by Liu Tiezhu.
After tallying the battlefield, Liu Tiezhu ordered everyone to rest for half an hour, then bypass the Seven Ancestral Garden and advance toward Long Slope on the other side. Hearing the command, the men settled in for a break.
Just then, a burst of heavy footsteps approached. Liu Tiezhu paused, then seemed to realize something. A cold smirk curled at his lips as he immediately ordered everyone to open fire.
Bang, bang, bang...
The moment Liu Tiezhu's command was given, hundreds of bullets shot toward the direction of the footsteps. Zhang Zhiliang, leading the charge, barely avoided being hit. But the hundreds behind him weren't so lucky, riddled by the dense volley of bullets like a sieve.