The grenades exploded.
By now the sky had already dimmed into deep dusk, and the twin bursts of fire from the explosions tore through the darkness like two sudden suns punching holes in the night. Flames surged upward, and with them came a vicious storm of shrapnel and jagged iron fragments ripping outward in all directions.
Men dropped instantly.
Some fell without a sound, their lives cut off before they could even process what had happened. Others screamed, high and broken, clutching at wounds they did not understand. One man stared in disbelief at his own abdomen where a hole had opened, blood spraying out in rhythmic pulses as if his body were trying to argue with reality.
"What was that?"
"What the hell is that thing?"
"Something went into my stomach, it hurts, it hurts, ahhh!"
In the center of Wang Zuogua's spear formation, two massive gaps were ripped open as if an invisible beast had taken two bites out of it. The ground was suddenly littered with writhing bodies, some crawling, some rolling, some already still.
Everyone nearby froze.
Even Zao Ying blanked for a brief moment, her brain stuttering as it tried to catch up. "What just happened?"
Then from the south came a loud, shameless laugh, rolling across the battlefield with all the subtlety of a tavern drunk kicking open the door.
"The old ghost of Guyuan is here, hahaha. What are you scrambling for? Every horse here belongs to me!"
That line snapped everything into place for Zao Ying.
Black eats black.
Of course. That name alone gave it away. Guyuan troops. No doubt deserters or mutineers from the earlier Guyuan rebellion who had drifted into this region and turned into yet another armed wolf pack.
Her spirit surged back to life.
Perfect. She had thought she was finished, that she would die here surrounded by spears, but now chaos had descended again. In chaos, there is always a crack to slip through.
She raised her saber high. "Brothers, get ready. The moment we see an opening, we break out."
Her riders answered with a unified roar. "Aooo!"
Far away, Wang Zuogua had originally been focusing on Wu Zimian's fleeing troops, but the explosions dragged his attention back like a hook through the ribs.
What was that explosion just now? Why are Feishanhu and Dahonglang's units in disorder?
The grenades had hit Dahonglang the hardest.
He was holding the southern side, exactly the direction Cheng Xu and Xing Honglang had approached from, so both grenades had landed squarely in his formation, blasting his men into a chorus of panic and agony.
Dahonglang whipped around and roared, "Which bastard dares?"
The answer came in the form of a single sharp crack.
A flintlock shot.
It was clean and efficient. Just a pull of the trigger and the shot was out, no need for fumbling with fire.
A man beside Dahonglang screamed and dropped flat on his back.
Dahonglang blinked. "Firearms?"
Then he saw them.
A mass of figures advancing from the darkness. It was too dim to make out their clothing clearly, but the tiny burning points of their fuses glowed like a swarm of fireflies in their hands.
"Firearms. A lot of firearms."
Dahonglang did not hesitate this time. He threw himself flat onto the ground.
Unfortunately, his men did not share his instincts.
They were not elite troops. They had little experience dealing with firearms. Even the basic three barreled fire lances were unfamiliar to many of them.
Then came the barrage.
Bang bang bang bang.
The muskets of Gao Village's militia roared, joined by the ten three eyed fire lances, and in an instant another swath of bandits dropped.
The gunners burst into laughter. "Hahaha, we hit so many. I was starting to lose confidence in these three eyed guns, turns out they work just fine against bandits!"
Confidence surged back like a tide.
"Reload! Reload!"
The squad leader shouted, and the mood immediately dipped.
Reloading was no joke.
They had to take a special brush and clean out the residue left in the barrel from the previous shot, then tear open a premeasured paper packet of gunpowder, pour it in, ram it down tight, then drop in the lead ball and ram it again.
This whole process took at least two to three minutes if done properly.
Dahonglang sprang back to his feet and pointed forward. "Damn it, charge. Before they fire a second round, rush them and kill them all!"
His words had barely left his mouth when two more dark shapes arced through the air.
Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu had already thrown the second round.
They did not need to reload anything. As long as they still had grenades and strength in their arms, they could keep throwing all day.
The grenades landed.
Boom. Boom.
Another violent explosion tore through the ranks, sending bodies tumbling and screaming in all directions.
The first time, the bandits had been confused, unable to understand what had happened. This time, they saw it clearly.
Those small hammer like objects thrown by the enemy caused the explosions.
Inside them were iron pellets and jagged metal fragments that shredded everything within a wide radius. Anyone near the blast was either dead or crippled.
Two small objects could wipe out an entire cluster of soldiers.
What kind of monstrous weapon was this?
Fear spread faster than fire.
Humans are always afraid of the unknown, and when that unknown can instantly kill dozens of people, that fear turns into something much darker.
Dahonglang's men began to waver.
They were bandits, not hardened frontier troops. They did not have the discipline of the Guyuan soldiers who could push forward even under explosive bombardment.
Some of them had legs trembling so badly they could barely stand. Others had already started edging away, slipping toward the sides in quiet retreat.
And their spear formation?
At some point, it had completely turned.
Moments ago it had been aimed inward, trapping Zao Ying. Now every spear was pointed outward, facing the militia.
By the time they realized this, it was already too late.
Zao Ying had spent her entire life riding and fighting as cavalry. If there was one thing she understood better than breathing, it was timing.
The instant the spear formation shifted, her saber was already raised.
"Charge!"
She surged forward like a released arrow, cutting straight in. Her blade flashed once, clean and merciless, and a spearman's head spun into the air. Blood sprayed high, splashing across her face and staining half of it red, making her look even more ferocious.
Behind her, one hundred and twenty riders roared and followed.
Steel flashed in waves.
Dahonglang's unit collapsed almost instantly under the assault, screaming and scattering as the cavalry tore through them like a storm.
Without a proper spear formation, infantry against cavalry were nothing more than targets.
Zao Ying punched straight through the formation and burst out.
As she broke free, she could not help but tense, half expecting the so called Guyuan rebels to turn their weapons on her as well.
But instead, the moment she emerged, the opposing side actually held their fire.
Zao Ying blinked. "They were not rescuing us by accident. They meant to save us from the start."
A subordinate shouted beside her, "Boss, this is not the time to analyze that. Get to a safe position first."
"Right."
She swung her arm and pointed toward a distant slope. "Head for that hillside."
The riders thundered away as one, galloping out of the battlefield and up onto the nearby hill, where they promptly turned around and began watching the show.
Dahonglang was furious. "Damn it, the duck flew out of my mouth. It is all because of those damned Guyuan troops. Hu-ge, get over here and help me finish this."
From another side, Feishanhu's unit, which had been moving to assist in the encirclement of Zao Ying, immediately changed direction and rushed over at full speed.
Ming Context:
By the late Ming collapse, "black eating black" fights—bandits ambushing other bandits—became routine across Shaanxi and Gansu. The appearance of grenades and muskets in peasant militias marked the earliest grassroots firearm production in Chinese history.
Trivia:
Zao Ying's line "They didn't save me by accident" is often quoted by readers as a turning point—when she begins to see the mysterious "Guyuan militia" (Li Daoxuan's people) not as rivals, but as allies chosen by fate.