69novels Page 124
Page 124
"General Guan, you suffered a terrible defeat. In order to quell the criticism in the court, the Grand Commandant only risked his life to protect you in front of the Emperor because you did not suffer a complete defeat and still had the strength to fight."
The angel's voice was sharp and drawn out, with the distinctive accent of a Beijing official, each word sounding as if it had been chilled to the bone.
Guan Sheng swallowed his anger and did not retaliate, after all, he was still hoping for reinforcements.
However, the angel slowly took out a scroll of official documents wrapped in yellow silk from her bosom, but did not hand it over. Instead, she held it in two fingers and waved it in the air.
"I am here immediately on the orders of Grand Commandant Gao—good news! The Grand Commandant has sent troops to recapture Beijing and Daming Prefecture. You do not need to go to Beijing to reinforce them. Return to Shandong and continue your established tactics. However, the Grand Commandant has received important news in Beijing: Lu Junyi has rebelled. She is now your general. You are in charge of dealing with her. Slaughter her by a thousand cuts and behead her! A traitor cannot be spared."
In an instant, the tent fell into a deathly silence. Only the howling wind outside could be heard. Guan Sheng's originally straight back seemed to stiffen for a moment, and the veins on the back of his clenched fist under the table suddenly bulged.
I fell into Liangshan's trap while trying to save Beijing, and now my army has lost more than half of its strength, and Licheng is completely surrounded by Liangshan.
You traveled all the way from Tokyo to Licheng using Confucianism, and you not only insulted me like that, but what's the meaning of not bringing me reinforcements, supplies, or provisions? You even asked me to kill my most powerful general?
Are you crazy or am I crazy?!
Seeing Guan Sheng remain silent, the angel assumed she was hesitant and his smile grew colder, carrying an even more coercive tone. He almost added in a stern voice.
"Guan Sheng! Do you dare defy the Grand Commandant's decree? Lu Junyi is a traitor, that's a fact! If you miss the appointed time, you will be held responsible!"
Chapter 352: Guan Sheng of Qizhou is in a dilemma
Guan Sheng's gaze shifted from the angel's face, over his head, and landed on the tent flap that swayed in the cold wind. There, in the direction of the camp gate, under a gray sky, stood her silent soldiers, all stunned by the imperial edict.
At the last moment, it was Lu Junyi who led three thousand cavalry to cover the retreat of everyone, allowing Guan Sheng to bring half of the army back to Chengli. Now we're being told to kill Lu Junyi???
Guan Sheng slowly withdrew her gaze, which fell on the great sword on the general's desk, a symbol of her ancestors' glory, and remained silent for a long time. Her knuckles turned white from excessive force, and her nails almost dug into her palms.
Seeing this, the angel assumed she had finally given in, and his nauseatingly arrogant smile returned to his face. He looked around as if he were enjoying a good show about to unfold. He straightened his back, gently dusted the unseen dust off his official robes with a handkerchief, coughed lightly, and resumed his haughty tone.
"There is no time to lose, General. Please muster your troops immediately. I will await your good news from this command tent. By the way, the heads must be properly disposed of with quicklime. I want to inspect them myself before I can quickly report to the Grand Commandant."
Having said that, he walked straight to where Guan Sheng had been, unceremoniously sat down on the tiger-skin chair, crossed his legs, and waved for his attendant to pour him wine. The charcoal fire illuminated his smug face, and his smile was like a poisonous flower etched on it.
In the vast command tent, only Guan Sheng's solitary figure remained. His silver armor stood as silent as a mountain, with only a faint glimmer on the blade of his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, coldly watching the high-ranking Privy Council official behind the desk who seemed to have already taken control of everything as he flipped through official documents. The air seemed to freeze, and only the frost on the tent ceiling seemed to have thickened, falling silently onto the cold blade.
Guan Sheng felt a lump in her throat, and a past event resurfaced in her mind.
When he first arrived in Shandong, he witnessed the power of Liangshan's firearms and reported to his superiors that he wanted to build a similar firearms unit. The Song Dynasty did have this technology! Liangshan's artillery unit was even developed after Ling Zhen, the Thunderclap, surrendered.
Guan Sheng also captured several matchlock guns when she repelled Luan Tingyu. After the battle, she realized the importance of these guns. She saw that although they could not replace the high-speed bow and arrow in the short term, they were definitely the superior alternative to the crossbow, which had a similarly slow rate of fire, on the battlefield. With these guns, who would use the crossbow? Therefore, she immediately reported to her superiors. After that, Guan Sheng disappeared without a trace, as if she had vanished from the city of Tokyo.
The artisans of Bianjing (Kaifeng) in the Song Dynasty had no intention of imitating firearms or establishing an artillery force.
At the time, she didn't understand why, until the blacksmiths in Licheng also refused to forge a Vulcan spear for her. Licheng was the capital of Qizhou, one of the major cities in Shandong, with a population of over 200,000—a first-rate metropolis with blacksmiths and workshops. But precisely because of this, no one wanted to forge a new weapon.
The industrial system of the Song Dynasty is already very complete. Blacksmiths have been learning to forge water-cooled armor plates, giant axes and sabers, and even crossbows and steel arrows for generations. I have been making these for half my life, so why should I learn a matchlock gun forging method?
Furthermore, if you, Guan Sheng, intend to mass-produce matchlock guns to replace the Divine Crossbow, what will happen to the people involved in the entire Divine Crossbow forging profit chain? Do you know how many kinds of raw materials are needed to forge a single Divine Crossbow? How many officials are employed along each raw material supply chain? You think you can just replace it like that?
Okay, even if the matchlock gun industry really does replace the crossbow, how will the profits from the new industry be distributed? How will those in the old profit chains be appeased?
Moreover, the 800,000 Imperial Guards of the Great Song Dynasty all abandoned crossbows and retrained with firearms. Blacksmiths had to learn new forging methods, the Imperial Guards had to retrain, instructors had to learn new teaching methods, and generals had to learn new tactics... So many high-ranking officials and so many generals had wasted their lives, and you, Guan Sheng, think you can make everyone listen to you with just one sentence?
Who do you think you are? Guan Yu?
To his despair, Guan Sheng discovered that a few blacksmiths who were willing to forge matchlock guns had been shot in the back by crossbow bolts fired by the Divine Arm Crossbow and had committed suicide.
The Song Dynasty's warship was too massive. Its size had its advantages, but also its difficulties, namely, it was extremely difficult to turn around. This kind of military reform involved a vast amount of work. Not to mention Gao Qiu, even an emperor like Emperor Huizong, who did not have much power, might not have been able to accomplish it, let alone a small figure like Guan Sheng.
As for Ling Zhen—her artillery force only numbered a thousand from beginning to end, and its scale was never large. The Song Dynasty supported her for fun, and her gun and cannon factory was even responsible for producing fireworks during the New Year.
At this moment, Guan Sheng was truly in despair, even beginning to doubt whether his insistence was correct. The scene of Huyan Zhuo being forced to join Liangshan by Gao Qiu was still vivid in his mind. Did he have to follow in her footsteps?
Why is the world I live in completely different from the world described in the Spring and Autumn Annals? The emperor is incompetent, treacherous officials are in power, bandits are rampant, and the people are suffering... Could all of this be the work of Gao Qiu and his cronies? Is the emperor still a good man, just blinded by treacherous officials?
Guan Sheng gave a bitter laugh. Others could use this to deceive themselves, but she couldn't.
It wasn't because of the four treacherous ministers—Cai Jing, Gao Qiu, Tong Guan, and Yang Jian—that the emperor's eyes and ears were deceived.
Rather, it was because the emperor was utterly corrupt, indulging in flowers, birds, and poetry all day long, which led to the emergence of four treacherous ministers! This world has become so rotten that good people can no longer survive.
"My lord, I have just dispatched Lu Junyi to fight. After this battle is over, I will give you an explanation!"
Guan Sheng made up his mind: even if Lu Junyi was to die, such a hero should die on the battlefield, not at the hands of a villain!
She bowed to Gao Qiu's envoy, and one of her personal guards immediately understood and secretly slipped away to inform Lu Junyi: Dong Ping and Shi Wengong have reached a conclusion in their debate over defense versus field battle.
Stop defending the city! Attack!
The Privy Council envoy was somewhat bewildered. Before he could react, Guan Sheng issued an attack order, commanding the remaining infantry to charge out from all four gates to disrupt Liangshan's vision. Guan Sheng himself, along with Lu Junyi, Shi Wengong, Dong Ping, Zhang Shuye, Yun Tianbiao, and all his capable generals, as well as eight hundred elite troops selected from four thousand cavalry, prepared to take advantage of the chaos to launch another attack amidst the chaos, capturing enemy generals and flags!
Chapter 353: The Last Stand of the Eight Hundred Riders
In this surprise attack, Guan Sheng displayed her highest level of skill. She understood that the court was rotten to the core, and if she wanted to change it, she would have to become a high-ranking official like Gao Qiu to have even the slightest possibility of changing the empire! A mere patrol inspector of Pudong and temporary General Zheng Liang was nothing in the court.
Let's start by defeating Liu Hong!
At this moment, Guan Sheng didn't know if he was comforting or deceiving himself, or if he had completely lost hope in the world, just like Huyan Zhuo who charged alone towards Liangshan to commit suicide.
Or perhaps she just wanted to give herself an explanation—I have done my best, I have a clear conscience, I have done everything I could, now I leave the rest to fate!
Guan Sheng looked around and saw that the Liangshan camp stretched for thirty miles with banners fluttering in the wind. The apricot-yellow banner of the central command tent swayed precariously in the starlight and moonlight. Battle reports were also coming from the three city gates, north, south and west.
Jingmu Xuan Hao Siwen led his troops out of the north gate in a surprise attack, which alerted the commander of Liangshan's northern camp, Thunderbolt Qin Ming.
Ugly Prince Consort Xuan Zan led a force out of the south gate in a surprise attack. Hu Yanzhuo, commander of the Liangshan Southern Camp, immediately went to fight him.
Meanwhile, the prefect of Qizhou led his troops out of the west gate in a surprise attack, and Hua Rong, the commander of Liangshan's western camp, immediately went to challenge them.
Seeing that the three troops had attracted a lot of Liangshan's attention, Guan Sheng made up his mind to lead all his elite troops and eight hundred iron cavalry out of the east gate and head straight for Liu Hong's apricot-yellow banner!
"All four armies are deployed! The fate of Liangshan's elite forces hinges on this!"
Guan Sheng's Green Dragon Crescent Blade slashed down from mid-air, the blade tearing through the air with a whooshing sound.
"Generals! Follow me and break through the enemy lines, cut down their flags, and capture their commander!!!"
The ground beneath their hooves trembled violently as eight hundred iron cavalrymen, like tempered sharp cones, pierced through the Liangshan front lines. Dong Ping, the Twin-Spear General, led the charge. Her armor, gleaming with an intense red light at breakneck speed, seemed to have just been forged in a furnace and was now rapidly burning from friction in the air! Her arms transformed into two indistinguishable streaks of burning light—not weapons, but pure energy storms!
The naked eye of mortals could not possibly perceive its trajectory at the speed of light; all that could be seen was a crimson, twisted streak of light, like a red-hot tungsten-core bullet, crashing violently into the wooden gate of Liangshan with an incomprehensible and destructive force.
This isn't a charge, it's a penetration!
A deafening crash and tearing sound, mixed with the terrifying sound of melting metal, rang out. The light didn't penetrate the gate; instead, it merged directly into the wooden door! The thick camp wall, reinforced with layers of giant timbers, iron chains, and spikes, melted instantly, like butter thrown into red-hot iron. The sturdy hardwood didn't shatter upon contact with Dong Ping's twin spears; instead, it carbonized, burned, and evaporated! The entangled iron chains were torn apart and melted by incredible force, molten iron dripping from the broken ends and splashing in all directions.
The heavily armored infantrymen of Liang Army behind the gate didn't even have time to scream before the parts of their bodies that were swept by the light and heat vaporized and disappeared, their weapons and half of their bodies turning into charred remains and flying away!
Where the light pierced through, a huge hole remained, its edges molten and hissing with blue smoke. Tiny specks of molten metal dripped from the edge of the hole. Centered on this terrifying, melted hole, the Liangshan gate groaned under the weight of the pressure, its structure instantly collapsing and disintegrating, as if a piece had been bitten off by a giant beast.
Anyone who blocks my way shall die!
Dong Pingren had already charged into the Liangshan camp when, a second later, her roar slowly echoed from Guan Sheng's 800 cavalrymen.
The Liangshan army, which attempted to form a defensive formation to block their path, was easily torn apart, pierced, and crushed like pieces of paper!
The shield array crumbled before him: the massive steel shields, upon touching that beam of light, were not knocked away, but rather struck at their center by an invisible giant hammer. The entire shield surface melted, collapsed, and shattered from the point of contact outwards, and the shield-bearer, along with half of his body, was scorched to ashes by the heat that pierced through them.
The dense troop formation was rendered useless: attempting to block with a forest of spears? The spear tips bent, melted, and vaporized the moment they touched the edge of the halo! The soldiers only saw a humanoid red light flowing past them, scorching and distorting the air within several feet around it, leaving behind a scorched vacuum zone and charred, distorted humanoid remains scattered everywhere.
The barrage of comments was like a joke: the bullets that flew towards his trajectory like locusts melted into molten lead when they touched the outer layer of that flame, as if they had hit an invisible furnace barrier, futilely steaming up wisps of black smoke.
He was like a giant anvil launched at the speed of light with a lit fuse, destroying everything in his path! What remained were charred ruins, molten metal shoals, and the nauseating stench of burnt flesh mixed with molten steel. The long trail of light behind him gradually faded, revealing the straight, devastated path that had pierced the enemy ranks—like a scorching spear hurled by a god, tearing the entire Liangshan camp apart.
When Dong Ping finally revealed his human form and stopped in the open space only a hundred paces from the core of the command tent, his entire body was still covered with a flowing crimson aura, like a demon god just emerging from the flames of hell. Wherever his twin spears pointed, not a single Liangshan soldier could stand within a hundred paces. Only the two large banners he carried fluttered in the scorching air!
“Charge! Charge! Charge!!!”
Guan Sheng sat firmly in the center of the army, leading eight hundred cavalrymen to charge forward through the destructive rift that Dong Ping had smashed open! In an instant, the sound of hooves thundered and arrows rained down.
On the left, Shi Wengong's halberd, like a venomous snake, flicked its tongue, aiming specifically at the throat and heart, the gleaming spear tip bringing forth a shower of blood wherever it passed.
On the right, Lu Junyi's Golden Dragon Spear transformed into a golden dragon, sweeping across the enemy. The chevaux-de-frise formation collapsed like withered grass, and warhorses leaped forward, trampling over broken wood and bones. The Liangshan army roared and formed a human wall, only to be crushed into mincemeat by iron hooves and heavy armor.
Behind them, General Zhang Shuye personally led the charge. His massive, sky-covering form rose up with a deafening roar, pressing down on the nerves of the Liangshan army like a mountain range. A deluge of lightning, accompanied by deafening thunderous roars, descended from the sky, crushing everything into dust!
"Sister Dai Zong! You personally go and transfer the others over here!"
Liu Hong remained calm and composed. He first sent the swift and agile Dai Zong to recall the commanders of the other three major camps to fight Guan Sheng. Then, he dispatched five generals—Golden Spear Xu Ning, Blue-Faced Beast Yang Zhi, Vanguard Suo Chao, Sickly Commander Sun Li, and Nine-Tattooed Dragon Shi Jin—to charge into battle and attempt to intercept Guan Sheng's advance.
Guan Sheng remained calm and unhurried, revealing his trump card by sending out the Zeng family's five tigers to fight against the five generals of Liangshan!
Ten magnificent horses kicked up dust, like a giant dragon swirling in the clouds. A multitude of weapons gleamed coldly, like an avalanche of snow!
Zeng Tu, wielding a hooked spear, charged straight at Shi Jin's face like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, only to be deflected by the three-pointed, double-edged spear, sending sparks flying.
Zeng Sheng's steel spear pierced Suo Chao's heart like a poisonous dragon, but was instead struck hard by the mountain-splitting axe, causing the spear shaft to hum!
Zeng Suo and Zeng Kui rode their horses in a close formation, their hook-and-sickle spears aimed at slashing at the horses' legs. Yang Zhi's steel spear and Xu Ning's golden spear, however, wove an iron net to protect their mounts. The spear tips and blades clashed against the sickle blades, producing a series of ear-piercing sharp sounds, the clashes resounding loudly.
Zeng Mi's iron cudgel swept across the army, while the ailing Yuchi Sun Li wielded his spear to parry, forcefully blocking the mountain-splitting power. The two horses reared up with neighing! Then, he swung his steel whip with his left hand, clashing fiercely with the mace that Zeng Mi had pulled out with his left hand!
Ten figures swirled into a boiling vortex at the heart of the battlefield. Hooks and sickles clashed, swords and axes cleaved the wind, and spears and lances struck like stars. Every clash of weapons exploded with dazzling sparks. Horses galloped and trampled the dust. Ten angry roars mingled with thunder. In this small area, it seemed as if a hundred fierce warriors were fighting to the death!
Chapter 354: Thirty Spinning Firepower Suppression
"Liu Hong! Prepare to die!!!"
A glint flashed in Guan Sheng's eyes. The five sons of the Zeng family were probably at the level of eight generals. They had delayed five generals of Liangshan. Lin Chong, Huyan Zhuo, and Qin Ming were stationed in the three camps in the east and south. Even if they had Dai Zong, it would take them some time to return to defend.
Now, I have eight hundred cavalrymen and four fierce generals: Lu Junyi, Shi Wengong, Dong Ping, and Zhang Shuye. We are less than three hundred meters away from Liu Hong's apricot-yellow banner! The time it takes to return to defend is enough for me to kill Liu Hong eight hundred times over!
"Gongsun Sheng! Zhang Qing! Buy me some time!!!"
Faced with Guan Sheng's terrifying threats, Liu Hong's expression turned solemn. He also revealed his last trump card: Gongsun Sheng, who, along with Wu Yong, Zhu Wu, and Fan Rui, jointly commanded the secret military advisor and the magic strategist. Gongsun Sheng had been staying in the main tent all along.
The sky suddenly changed color! Gongsun Sheng's crane-feather cloak billowed like clouds, his ancient pine-patterned sword pointing skyward, summoning thunder. His incantations transformed into invisible ripples that spread across the heavens, and the rolling leaden clouds, as if kneaded and pushed by an invisible giant hand, pressed down on the city in the blink of an eye, obscuring the pale setting sun. A thunderclap, like tearing silk, exploded in the sky, followed by a torrential downpour, as if the Milky Way had been overturned!
This was no ordinary downpour, but a torrential torrent carrying the chill of the heavens. Hundreds of millions of rough rain whips lashed fiercely at the parched and scorched earth. Before the splashes of water could even fall, a second and a third, even more violent, rain columns followed in quick succession! The earthy smell instantly filled the entire battlefield. The ground, which had been hardened and solidified by the trampling of iron hooves and the burning of flames just moments before, softened and thawed like the gaping maw of a hungry swamp, frantically sucking in water.
In just a few breaths!
Before Guan Sheng's cavalry charge, the earth seemed to come alive! Mud churned and surged, thick and viscous like the stomach of a monstrous beast. The weight of the rain crushed the earth's last support, and a terrifying swamp, hundreds of meters in diameter, formed in mere seconds. The mud swallowed horses' hooves, emanating a chilling, bone-chilling aura, and possessing an unbelievable suction force. The first dozen or so riders didn't even have time to rein in their horses; they plunged into the mud, quickly slowed by the entanglement, and were thrown violently into the mire by inertia. Their heavy armor became their most fatal shackles, instantly dragging them downwards, steel struggling and colliding futilely in the mud.
The torrential rain not only created mud pits, but also, under Gongsun Sheng's exquisite magical control, wove a web of destruction covering the mud pits. Dazzling silver snakes leaped, linked, and twisted wildly between the leaden clouds and the swamp. That was the Five Thunder Orthodox Method.
Each lightning bolt was no longer a natural, random strike; instead, they were like liquid silver chains driven by a spell, weaving together in the damp mud to form an impenetrable electric net of lightning!
"Zzzzz—BOOM!!!"
Several valiant riders attempting to cross the edge of the mud pit were instantly caught in this net of lightning! The current surged violently through their damp armor and mud, instantly freezing them in place like charred sculptures, smoke rising from their flesh, and a pungent, burnt stench filling their nostrils. Even the mud itself, due to the penetrating electric current, would occasionally and violently bubble up with a foul odor.
The surging torrent of eight hundred iron cavalry was abruptly halted by this natural force descending from the heavens, before a death trap interwoven with mud and lightning. The edge of the mud pit was crowded with the unstoppable cavalry, a chaotic scene of men and horses neighing and shouting. Even Guan Sheng could only roar as he reined in his warhorse, the cold rain lashing his face as he watched helplessly as the enemy chieftain Liu Hong, whom he had so easily captured, stood beneath his command tent. Their gazes clashed through the torrential rain and raging lightning.
Sixty meters! Guan Sheng is now only sixty meters away from Liu Hong! But he is separated by Gongsun Sheng's magic!
Dong Ping refused to give up and tried to rush through the swamp, but no matter how fast she was, her body would still have to touch this deathly swamp filled with lightning. She had just collided with Gongsun Sheng's lightning net when her speed dropped drastically. Her body was also being shocked by the Five Thunder Orthodox Law, making her grimace and retreat repeatedly. She was unable to break through head-on at all.
Guan Sheng attempted to fly through, only to discover a vast curtain of rain stretching to the sky, which was also covered by Gongsun Sheng's terrifying net of lightning.
This is a three-dimensional, all-encompassing wall of thunder and rain!
"Liu Hong!!!"
Guan Yu roared, drew his bow and nocked an arrow, preparing to shoot Liu Hong from a distance of sixty meters. Lu Junyi and Shi Wengong also drew their bows and nocked arrows, showing off their archery skills through the rain.
But at that moment, another fierce general emerged from behind Liu Hong. He had a handsome face, wore silver armor and a blue robe, and was none other than Zhang Qing, the Featherless Arrow.
Song Jiang's poor martial arts skills likely meant he understood tactics but not combat.
Why should a general like Zhang Qing, who is weak in close combat but has terrifying ranged abilities, with obvious strengths and weaknesses, fight alone? Why not pair him with some support characters who have extremely high defense? The Xiang Chong she paired with Li Kui and Li Gun were quite good.
Therefore, Liu Hong took Zhang Qing with him. His pair of gilded wings, which blotted out the sky, suddenly spread out, like two huge shields, protecting himself and Zhang Qing. Even if they were shot through by Guan Sheng, Lu Junyi, and Shi Wengong, they could quickly repair their injuries with the help of the chivalrous Star Healing.
Zhang Qing twisted her waist and spun her arms on the saddle. The inconspicuous round iron ball in her palm faintly emitted a terrifying golden light. When the iron ball left her hand, it did not have the force of thunder, but it accelerated instantly when it left her hand, turning into a blurry ball that vibrated violently and was almost impossible to see!
The surface of the sphere trailed out dark golden, scorching spiral waves of air, like the trajectory of a burning fire. This trajectory was not a straight line, but an ever-expanding, illogical golden vortex!
The golden spiral of air ignored the pull of the mud and the obstruction of the lightning, its trajectory like a swimming dragon directly smashing through Gongsun Sheng's storm of lightning! Guan Sheng's hair stood on end, and his Azure Dragon Blade instinctively wrapped with divine power to slash and block!
“Buzz!!!!”
A deafening roar, far louder than the clash of metal, resounded! This wasn't an impact, but a resonance! The entire blade, along with Guan Sheng's arms, trembled violently from the wildly spinning spiral force! The swirling iron ball seemed glued to the blade, grinding and pulling at it relentlessly! Even someone as strong as Guan Sheng felt a slight numbness in his arms, and the immense tremor forced him and his horse back three steps!
With Liu Hong's protective wings and Gongsun Sheng's swamp lightning net, Zhang Qing was extremely excited. This was an excellent position for dealing damage. His hands flew like a thousand-armed Guanyin, unleashing a barrage of Golden Spin attacks as if they were free.
Lu Junyi was curious about what the iron ball was, so he deliberately let himself be hit by the second iron ball. The scales of the Qilin were shattered by the endless spinning. He was a little horrified. This was the first time he had been breached and bled. His twelve-foot steel spear struck out with lightning speed and hit the center of the third iron ball with perfect accuracy. He dared not be careless anymore.
Seeing that Lu Junyi's defenses had been broken, Shi Wengong immediately unleashed a dense barrage of halberd shadows around himself, unleashing three consecutive golden whirlwind attacks.
Dong Ping felt a chill run down her spine. Zhang Qing's position was too good. If it weren't for Liu Hong and Gongsun Sheng protecting her, she could have charged forward and gambled with Zhang Qing on who would die first. But now she could only retreat in panic and avoid the iron ball.