The sparse and chaotic gunshots did not scare Brandon away. Instead, a scornful smile appeared on his face.
He could hear the fear of these gold diggers from the sound of gunfire. It was the same when he first went to the battlefield to fight the Mexicans. He trembled with fear when he heard the gunfire.
Brandon has rich experience in how to rob gold from gold diggers. Those gold mining companies and teams that seem to be well-organized are actually weak and often scatter when faced with their plunder.
He believed that the gold prospectors he was facing today were the same. The only difference between them and other gold prospecting teams was that they had more people.
Of course, they also have more gold, enough that even such a rational person is willing to take the risk for it.
Thinking of the gold, Brandon became more excited and fired two shots at the house more than 200 yards away to cheer him up. He directed his men to advance slowly and orderly.
At this moment, familiar pictures flashed through Deng Yan's mind. The thugs in light blue jackets and light blue military pants in front of him also turned into lobster soldiers in red clothes, and the Grenadiers' March seemed to echo in his ears.
As the gunfire rang out from the opposite side, the two Chinese guards beside him were shot and fell, just like his brother fell beside him ten years ago.
"Kill the fucking ghost!"
Deng Yan's blood boiled, he raised his revolver, pulled the trigger, and then pressed down the hammer with his thumb until all the bullets in the revolver were fired.
At a distance of more than 200 yards, it would be a waste of ammunition even with a modern pistol, let alone a pistol of this era.
After running out of bullets, Deng Yan habitually pulled out a short scimitar and tried to rush out of the wall to fight the bandits.
"Second uncle! Come back!"
Liang Yao realized that Deng Yan was acting strange, so he reached out and pulled Deng Yan back, then slapped him twice. At this moment, Liang Yao felt as if his left arm had been bitten by something.
Deng Yan then came back to his senses. This was not the battlefield from ten years ago. Everything that happened just now was just an illusion.
"Come closer before you hit me! Come closer before you hit me!"
Liang Yao left Deng Yan aside and roared loudly.
Everyone understands this principle, but not everyone has the courage to get close to the enemy.
Liang Yao's Chinese guards had no combat experience, and Deng Yan was not in good shape just now. In order to show off in front of Liang Yao, these Chinese guards exposed most of their bodies and bravely fought back against the bandits.
Unfortunately, their fearless spirit could not reverse the disadvantage, and four or five guards were shot and fell immediately. Two of them were hit in the vital parts and died on the spot.
The enemy's weapons and equipment are better than theirs. Liang Yao heard that the garrison at the California military fortress replaced a batch of new rifles last year. It should be the Plainfield M1842 that has been modified with rifles and can fire .69 caliber Minié bullets.
Otherwise it would be hard to explain why these bandits could shoot so accurately at a distance of more than 200 yards.
The weapons on his side were varied, ranging from the old Charleville M1795 and Springfield M1812 to the Monkey Edition Brown Bess and Baker Carbine that the British sold to Mexico as a clearance sale. It was like an international weapons exhibition.
Of course, he also had a Springfield M1842, but it was a smoothbore version. The gun was relatively new and its performance was not outdated, but its range was not comparable to that of the rifled version.
It's not that he was reluctant to spend money to buy better weapons, but that he couldn't buy them. The guns equipped by Liang Yao's guards were already the best guns available in California. After all, this was the remote western frontier area, not the industrially developed eastern United States, where everything could be bought.
The Colt revolver weighing more than two kilograms in Liang Yao's hand had an overwhelming advantage over them in terms of firing rate.
However, at a distance of more than 200 yards, with the effective range of a pistol, he couldn't even reach them. He could only watch anxiously.
"Damn, they have the latest rifles!"
Weber, a veteran soldier who had been through many battles, also realized that the situation was very unfavorable to them. After failing to fight back, he could only order his men to hide under the brick wall to save their lives.
Bullets rained down on Liang Yao's house, and rubble and wood chips flew everywhere from the buildings hit by bullets.
"It's impossible to repel these bandits with our strength. Liang is right. We should wait until they get close and then open fire to repel them. As long as we hold on to this yard, there is hope."
Sven calmly spat out a lead bullet from his mouth, stuffed the bullet into the barrel, and spoke while tamping the ammunition with a cleaning rod.
"Liang, luckily your yard is built very solidly. Your arm is injured. Liang, doctor! Doctor!"
After Sven's reminder, Liang Yao realized that he was injured. He subconsciously looked at his bloody arm. Under the effect of adrenaline just now, he hardly felt any pain.
Dr. Robinson hurried over with a medicine box to bandage Liang Yao.
"Luckily the bullet only went through your arm."
After checking Liang Yao's injuries, Robinson was relieved. It was only a minor injury, not fatal. Most of the armed forces in the yard obeyed Liang Yao. If Liang Yao had any problems, it would be a fatal blow to their morale.
The other side seemed very patient and well aware of the gap in equipment between them. After advancing fifty or sixty yards, they stood still and continued to fire at Liang Yao's house.
The powerful and precise firepower suppressed Liang Yao so much that he couldn't even raise his head, let alone fight back.
The people in the hospital were in a panic. They were not at a disadvantage in numbers, but they were suppressed by more than 60 bandits. This was the gap in weapons and equipment, and also the gap between professional soldiers and amateur rabble. From time to time, guards and gunmen whose psychological defenses collapsed chose to desert. Weber and Deng Yan were both veteran officers with rich practical experience. They knew what to do in such situations and executed those deserters on the spot without hesitation to stabilize the morale of the army.
What surprised Liang Yao was that the calmest people were Sven and his sailors.
Seeing no movement in the house, Brandon thought it was almost time to seize the house and the gold. He drew the slender U.S. Army saber from his waist and commanded his men to charge forward.
"Fire!"
When Brandon approached the house, dense rain of bullets suddenly launched a counterattack on them. Four or five of his men were unfortunately shot and fell. Brandon was unwilling to return empty-handed. After launching a round of counterattack on the spot, he continued to rush forward in the face of the rain of bullets and the scalp.
"Damn it! For the gold, charge forward. The gold is only forty yards away from us!"
Brandon remained calm amidst the hail of bullets. One had to admit that this once brave officer of the United States did not lose his courage after becoming a gangster.
In close-range shooting, Liang Yao's revolver showed its power. The thirteen Colt revolvers that Liang Yao spent a lot of money to get from Flagg finally played out his advantages.
The thirteen Colt revolvers fired with the momentum of fifty or sixty people firing at the same time. Faced with such dense firepower, the enemy was obviously a little confused, and even the sound of the returning gunfire became sparse.
"This gun is good, but it's a bit hard to use."
Liang Yao stretched his right hand a few times, which was almost dislocated by the huge recoil, and threw the pistol to a guard to load it.
"It's also very difficult to load."
A gentle complaint came into Liang Yao's ears.
Sven was obviously an expert in using guns. Liang Yao had just finished the first round when he was already fighting the second round.
He tightly grasped the revolver that Liang Yao had just given him in his right hand, pulled the trigger tightly, and then quickly slapped the hammer with his left palm, firing all the bullets in just two or three seconds.
Ruthless iron hands! This is Liang Yao's evaluation of Sven's rough hands. He didn't expect that this old sailor could even master the unique skills of American cowboys. If he played like this, his delicate hands would probably be written off on the spot.
Brandon was furious after being defeated. After a short rest, he launched three more attacks on Liang Yao's house.
The lonely house of Brandon was shaking under the crazy attack of these thugs and was on the verge of collapse.
In a rage, Brandon set fires all over Sacramento, hoping to anger the gold diggers in the house and lure them out.
Liang Yao's heart was bleeding when he saw his three months of hard work go up in smoke in the raging fire.
Not only Liang Yao, the fire in Sacramento also turned into anger in the hearts of everyone present at this moment.
These thugs are burning their homes with impunity!
"As long as there is green, there will be no shortage of firewood. Third brother, take the younger kids and go first. I will cover your rear."
The situation was extremely unfavorable for them. Deng Yan suggested that Liang Yao take a few members of the Deng family with him to preserve their fire.
"You and I have sworn an oath to Master Guan that we will live and die together and share wealth and honor together. Even if I die, I will die with you. There is absolutely no reason for any of us to live in disgrace."
Liang Yao flatly rejected Deng Yan's proposal and decided to continue to hold on. Liang Yao's statement greatly strengthened the confidence of his guards.
"Ordinary gangsters wouldn't risk their lives like this. They looked like they were being instructed by someone. They kept biting us like mad dogs."
Liang Yao expressed his judgment that the purpose of these bandits was not just to make money, but to kill them all, and they were obviously targeting him.
"It's obvious. Who in California hates Sacramento the most? Who hates you, Liang Yao, the most?" Sven's thoughts coincided with Liang Yao's. "Brannan, that sinister and vicious country bumpkin, I felt that he was not a good person from the first time I saw him!"
"We suffered heavy casualties and it will be difficult for us to resist their next attack."
Captain Weber of the gold diggers team was deeply worried when he saw the heavy casualties in the hospital.
The fact that these white-skinned and yellow-skinned gold diggers could withstand the attack of four professional armies was beyond his expectations. Their performance was impeccable, they were true warriors, but the enemy was too powerful.
"We must find a way to hold them back, otherwise we will all be doomed!"
"Maybe the San Francisco mounted police can help us, but it will take at least a day to get from San Francisco to Sacramento!"
"Hey, man, take back your unrealistic idea. The mounted police in Sacramento have all run away, and the mounted police in San Francisco are even less reliable."
"The troops stationed in California will definitely be able to wipe out these bandits, but their base is at least 200 kilometers away from Sacramento. I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out until then."
Everyone was talking at once, and a pessimistic mood quickly spread among the crowd, as if they would die at the hands of those brutal bandits in the next moment.