On Bai Yuan's side, the cannons were fully loaded. He stepped behind one of them, sighted left, sighted right, and began carefully adjusting the elevation of the barrel.
Wang Er could not help asking, "We're firing right away? Not even saying a few words first? That feels a bit against Jianghu etiquette."
Bai Yuan replied, "Talking means getting close. If we let their boats pull up to the dock, what's the point of having cannons at all? Might as well abandon the Qiachuan dock and just let them land."
Wang Er fell silent.
That… actually made sense.
He suddenly realized that once firearms entered the picture, letting the enemy approach was no longer an option. All that pre-battle shouting and posturing simply did not exist anymore.
This was a battlefield, not a Jianghu teahouse.
Besides—when Wang Jiayin's brother-in-law and clansmen tried to kill him, they certainly did not bother with etiquette either.
Wang Er said nothing more.
Bai Yuan chuckled, took a torch from Flat Rabbit, and lit the fuse of one of the cannons.
The fuse burned steadily. Everyone's attention locked onto the cannon.
Bai Yuan and the Gaojia Militia quietly retreated several steps back, clapping both hands tightly over their ears.
They had seen matchlock guns fired before. Even a tiny amount of powder could produce an enormous bang and terrifying power. This Red Barbarian cannon was over three meters long, its bore far wider than any firearm, and the iron ball inside dwarfed a musket ball by several tiers.
How loud would this thing be when it fired?
Nobody dared imagine it.
So they backed up again. And again. Ears covered tight, not daring to loosen even a finger.
Bai Yuan glanced sideways and noticed some militia from Heyang County had not covered their ears yet. He immediately shouted, "Get back! Cover your ears!"
Only then did they react, hurriedly doing as told.
Then the fuse burned out.
Boom!
The explosion was earth-shaking.
The Red Barbarian cannon jolted violently. A burst of flame erupted from the muzzle as a massive iron ball roared forward. At the same time, the barrel itself bounced backward, belching thick smoke.
Even the stone supports beneath the cannon were knocked out of alignment.
Though everyone had their ears covered, the sound still slammed through their bones, rattling them to the core.
"So powerful!"
"That's terrifying!"
The militia, seeing cannon fire for the first time, stood there stunned.
Bai Yuan, however, was watching the enemy fleet. He wanted to know whether all his careful aiming had paid off.
It had not.
Far out on the river, a towering column of water erupted—at least three meters away from the nearest boat.
The shot was wildly off.
Bai Yuan cried out in despair, clutching his head. "Artillery skill—delete, delete."
Even so, the single shot was enough to throw Bai Yuzhu's men into panic.
"They have cannons!"
"How does a tiny county like Heyang have cannons?"
"Those aren't the magistrate's. Must be from Xi'an!"
"Wang Cheng'en, the Shaanxi commander? No, impossible—he's gone to the capital!"
"Then who fired that?"
"If Wang Cheng'en's gone, maybe the Shaanxi governor himself is here!"
Shouting erupted across the boats.
The bandits were rattled.
And it was no wonder.
Not long ago, they had already been taught a harsh lesson by cannons.
Just days earlier, Wang Jiayin had ordered them to cross the river and attack Hequ County in Shanxi. They had rowed in singing, confident the small county would fall easily.
Instead, Shanxi commander Wang Guoliang had lined cannons along the city walls and blasted their boats apart, sending them fleeing in disgrace.
That humiliation felt like yesterday.
Now, under cannon fire once again, that fear came rushing back.
"Brother Bai, they have cannons!"
"What do we do?"
On Bai Yuzhu's flagship, the hardened bandits crowded around him, voices tense.
Bai Yuzhu was not exceptional in strength, but he also had no glaring weaknesses. He stayed calm, thinking for a few seconds before speaking. "Don't panic. They've only fired once. Maybe they only have a single cannon."
He had barely finished speaking—
Boom!
A second shot thundered from the dock.
Bai Yuan had not aimed any better this time. Smoothbore cannons were simply not precise. But luck was kinder now.
Splash!
A water column erupted right beside a small fishing boat.
The Yellow River's current was fierce to begin with, and steering was already difficult. A cannonball splashing down this close sent violent turbulence surging through the water.
A large ship might have weathered it.
A small fishing boat did not.
The boat lurched violently, nearly capsizing.
There were ten bandits aboard, along with a boatman. The boatman lived his life on the river; this kind of shaking barely fazed him.
The bandits were another matter.
As the boat rocked, seven of them fell straight into the river.
Most northerners could not swim. The moment they hit the water, they panicked, gulped down muddy river water, and flailed wildly.
The boatman hurriedly extended an oar to help. One of the men grabbed it desperately and yanked hard—dragging the boatman into the river with him.
The unmanned boat spun out of control, crashing into another fishing boat.
Bang.
That boat rocked violently as well. Three more bandits tumbled into the water.
Nearby boats rushed in to help. The entire formation dissolved into chaos.
Bai Yuzhu cursed, "Damn it!"
At the same time, Bai Yuan burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! Hit! I hit them! Artillery skill—add it back!"
Wang Er said flatly, "You didn't hit anything. They just screwed themselves."
Bai Yuan pretended not to hear him. He leapt back to the cannon, grinning. "Reload! Now!"
But as soon as he shouted, he realized something was wrong.
After firing, both cannons had shifted position. Their muzzles no longer pointed where he had aimed. Repositioning them would take serious effort.
These things were heavy. Very heavy.
Flat Rabbit, Zheng Gouzi, and the others rushed in to help. One militia soldier placed his hand on the barrel and immediately yelped, jerking it back.
"It's burning hot!"
Bai Yuan understood instantly. "Too much powder. The blast generated massive heat. The barrel's overheated. Cool it down—now! Bring water!"
Buckets were already prepared. Someone rushed forward and dumped water over the cannon.
Hiss!
Steam rose instantly as much of the water evaporated on contact. The heat was unmistakable.
Once the temperature dropped, Bai Yuan shouted again, "Reposition it! Bring brushes! Clean out the residue inside the barrel! And get cloth wraps—tie them to poles and dry the inside. If it's wet, we can't fire again!"
The cannon platform descended into frantic, organized chaos.
The beachhead fight had only just begun.