My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 543 Rejecting Bribes and Breaking Through the Stronghold
Lu Xun frowned slightly, and his face darkened.

Although Lu Xun always presented himself as low-key and humble, he was never a genuinely kind person; otherwise, he wouldn't have earned a reputation for being petty.

Historically, apart from Sun Shiwan and Pan Zhang, few people who offended Lu Xun met a good end.

"Go and have a look."

Lu Xun personally led his generals and officers up the high slope in front of them, looking at the sentry post ahead.

At this moment, the entire team stopped, then automatically formed small formations and sent out troops to occupy the high ground on both sides of the road.

All of these actions did not require Lu Xun's personal command, as Liu Feng's training manual detailed these procedures. Junior and mid-ranking officers primarily studied similar training materials during their training.

The reason for forming small formations is mainly due to the terrain. The roads are only two or three meters wide in total, and in some narrow places they are only wide enough for one person. It would be a pipe dream to form a large formation in such a place. On the contrary, small formations of five people each are just like fish in water.

After Lu Xun climbed up the hillside, he saw a gorge about two miles ahead, and a village standing on the hillside to his right.

The village is not large, only about a hundred paces long and fifty paces deep, covering an area of ​​about nine thousand square meters.

The problem is that the village is built on a hillside, not on flat land. Therefore, the terrain is not only very irregular, but also full of dangerous slopes, and the usable area is much smaller than the actual area.

Even so, this village still has more than two thousand people, including more than six hundred able-bodied men, making it a large village within a hundred miles.

With over six hundred able-bodied men, plus a sturdy camp and treacherous terrain, it's no wonder the local chieftain dared to block Lu Xun's advance.

"General, what should I do?"

The speaker was Xianyu Dan, Lu Xun's trusted and beloved general.

This man was from Wu Commandery and was recruited by Lu Xun. He was tall and strong, skilled in wearing heavy armor and charging into battle. Under Lu Xun's command, he and two other brave generals, Li Yi and Xie Jing, served as his henchmen, always vying to be the first to fight.

"General, these lowly barbarians dare to defy the heavenly army."

Li Yi, standing to the side, sneered menacingly: "Give me five hundred men and two hundred suits of armor, and within an hour, I will capture the bandit leader and bring him before you, General, to do as you please."

Upon hearing this, Xie Jing immediately became anxious, realizing that Li Yi had already said everything he wanted to say, and hurriedly started shouting.

"General, I only need three hundred men!"

Xianyu Dan glared fiercely at his two brothers, completely devoid of the camaraderie they shared on the battlefield. He only wished that his fist, as big as a sandbag, could smash into their foreheads.

"All right."

Just as Xianyu Dan was about to explode, Lu Xun uttered only two words, which immediately made these fierce generals, who were like fire and water, restrain their anger and look at Lu Xun cautiously.

Lu Xun seemed oblivious to this, his eyes fixed on the distant mountain stronghold, while his mind wandered.

After a moment, Lu Xun suddenly spoke, issuing a command: "Zheng Tong."

Xianyu Dan's eyes lit up, and he quickly replied loudly, "Your humble servant is here!"

Lu Xun instructed, "Take five hundred men, equipped with two hundred iron armor, one hundred tower shields, and two hundred powerful crossbows, and attack from the main road in the east. If you fail to break through the camp, I will punish you according to military law."

Xianyu Dan had no worries about military law; his eyes were only filled with the joy of receiving the mission. He eagerly replied, "General, rest assured, if I fail to break through this fortified camp, I will gladly offer my head to you, even if you don't enforce military law!"

Li Yi and Xie Jing glared at Xianyu Dan with jealousy in their eyes, but the latter glanced at his two friends triumphantly, showing no fear whatsoever.

"Um……"

Lu Xun simply nodded, his gaze never leaving her, and then called out, "Bo Shu."

Li Yi, who had just been glaring at Xianyu Dan, was overjoyed and quickly replied, "This humble servant is here."

Lu Xun pointed in a direction and said, "Take two hundred men, dressed only in leather armor, carrying long swords and a hundred large crossbows, and go up the mountain from the back of the village. Launch a surprise attack from behind to support Zheng Tong's offensive at the village gate. Do not make any mistakes."

Li Yi carefully memorized the location Lu Xun pointed to and nodded emphatically: "This subordinate understands. Please rest assured, General, this subordinate will do his utmost to cooperate with Zheng Tong."

"good."

Lu Xun nodded in satisfaction and for the first time turned his gaze away.

He first looked up at the sky, then turned his gaze to Li Yi and Xianyu Dan, and said, "It is now 3:45 PM. I will give you one hour. I need to enter this stronghold before 5:00 PM."

"Here!"

Xianyu Dan and Li Yi responded loudly and then turned to leave.

Immediately, Xianyu Dan selected five hundred elite soldiers, then unloaded their iron armor and crossbows from the southwestern ponies and mules, and began equipping them.

Meanwhile, Li Yi selected two hundred men, lightly armed with only short weapons and crossbows, and led them around the mountains and forests, sneaking towards the rear of the stronghold.

The two had worked together for several years and served under Lu Xun for a long time. The two thousand elite troops that went on this expedition were also veteran soldiers of Lu Xun's troops, so they could be commanded as easily as if they were their own limbs.

Lu Xun stood on the hillside looking at the camp opposite, where people were moving about.

Several tall wooden buildings were filled with figures, clearly the leaders from the other side.

Lu Xun's prediction was indeed correct; the people on the high building were indeed the chieftain and several leaders of the mountain stronghold.

This mountain stronghold belongs to the Long family, and they are the largest chieftain within a hundred miles, commanding six villages of varying sizes. This village at the gorge entrance is their largest, with a population of over 2,300.

The gorge occupied by the Long family is very important. If you go another fifteen miles forward, you can rejoin the Wen River. That is also the place where you can re-board the boat after passing the dangerous shoals. If you don't go through this gorge and want to take a detour, you will have to go through more than three hundred miles of mountain roads, and it will be very difficult to travel.

The Long family occupied this gorge and, taking advantage of its location, levied tolls on passing merchants, making a fortune. They had never seen Han soldiers before, and although they were shocked to see so many strong men, the lure of wealth ultimately made them grit their teeth and refuse Lu Xun's request to pass through. Instead, they demanded exorbitant tolls from Lu Xun and his men, asking each of them for a liter of salt or goods and cloth of equivalent value.

Although the toll was expensive, it was not something Lu Xun could not afford.

One stone is ten dou, and one dou is ten sheng. A team of two thousand people would only amount to twenty stones in total. Moreover, the Long family only wanted coarse salt. If they were to use snow salt as payment, even if the other party asked for an exorbitant amount, one or two stones of snow salt would probably be enough.

However, Lu Xun directly rejected the other party and began to make attack plans, clearly intending to make an example of them.

He has now penetrated more than a thousand miles into Yizhou, and is now located at the border between Zangke County and Yizhou County. He is not far from the first important county, Lügao County, only a little over 120 miles away.

The Han army's influence here was very weak, and its deterrent power was almost non-existent.

The barbarians from all directions of China have always shared a common trait: they fear power but do not cherish virtue. While trade may temporarily win over these barbarians, most of them are inherently greedy. Without deterrence, trade is nothing more than lambs walking into the tiger's den.

Therefore, Lu Xun had previously intended to start a battle nearby, picking out an outlier to show the others what was going on. The Long family, who had taken the initiative to intervene, became Lu Xun's top priority target.

"There are quite a few of these Han Chinese."

Long Kuang, the head of the Long family, frowned as he looked at the seemingly endless Han army on the mountain path.

"Father, do not worry."

Long Ben, the young master of the Long family, was full of resentment. It was not because he was reckless or ignorant, but because the Longjiakou stronghold had never been lost since it was established more than 160 years ago.

The Long family also grew and prospered thanks to this village. They survived several near-death experiences, and it was the Longjiakou village that preserved their foundation and gave them hope of turning things around.

Therefore, Long Ben was not afraid at all; in fact, he was eager to try.

“Father, the Han people are wealthy, but they are not familiar with the mountainous terrain around our home.”

Long Ben confidently boasted to Long Kuang, "If they obediently pay the toll, we can let them go and continue our business. If they don't know what's good for them, then we can just seize all their goods. I saw clearly just now that their rear group consisted mostly of horses and mules, carrying large bundles on their backs, which must be all good stuff."

Long Kuang was still somewhat worried about the first part of his son's words.

But when he heard the last sentence, the worry in Long Kuang's eyes was replaced by greed.

After Long Ben finished speaking, Long Kuang slowly opened his mouth and instructed, "Very well, all the troops in the stronghold are entrusted to you. Remember, never rashly go out of the stronghold to fight in the field. The Han people are cunning, be careful not to fall into their trap."

Long Ben was overjoyed and immediately replied, "Yes, Father, please rest assured, I will be careful and cautious and will not dare to be careless in the slightest!"

Not long after the father and son finished speaking, the sound of the Han army's conch shells rang out from the foot of the mountain.

The Han soldiers, already fully equipped, formed small formations and assembled on the hillside. Countless small formations merged into one large formation, and then pushed upwards towards the mountain stronghold on the hillside.

Upon discovering the Han soldiers gathering, Long Ben hurriedly went to the watchtower at the entrance of the stockade, preparing to personally command the front line.

"Bow and arrow ready."

"Fire! Target: Han troops, fire! Fire!"

Long Ben issued a series of commands, which were relayed to the archers on the stockade wall by the flag bearers.

Upon receiving the order, the archers drew their bows and began firing at the well-prepared Han army that was pressing forward.

One or two hundred arrows soared into the air. Although they did not create a sky-covering effect, they did form a curtain of arrows. The falling arrows struck the Han army's iron armor, producing a clanging sound of metal striking metal, and were then deflected.

The Han soldiers didn't even need to raise their shields; they simply lowered their heads and were unfazed by the rain of arrows.

Long Ben's expression changed slightly; they had never seen a full set of iron armor before.

This is not just because of poverty in the mountains, but also for many other reasons.

For example, trade is difficult, and few people sell armor into the mountains. Moreover, the mountains are very humid, with higher rainfall than the plains throughout the year and extremely high humidity, making it difficult to preserve iron items, let alone armor.

From a distance, Long Ben saw that the Han soldiers were all wearing black protective gear. He had assumed that the armor was made of leather and that the soldiers in Longjia Village could also have a set for each person.

But now it seems that the armor's defensive capabilities far exceed those of leather armor. At least the armored soldiers in his stronghold cannot ignore a rain of arrows.

Although the situation on the battlefield was far beyond Long Ben's expectations, he did not panic too much because he still had many trump cards up his sleeve.

One of them is rolling stone logs.

Not only are there abundant materials in the mountains, but the slope of Longjia Village is also readily available, making the use of rolling stones and logs even more advantageous.

Seeing that the Han army had closed in by another seventy meters, Long Ben stopped waiting and raised his flag.

At Long Ben's command, more than a dozen thick ancient trees, each requiring one person to encircle, and six or seven boulders weighing tens of kilograms each, were pushed down and rolled toward the Han army.

"Change!"

Having experienced countless battles, Li Yi knew from the scale of Longjia Village that there would inevitably be rolling stones and logs, and he had long been on guard.

Upon seeing the other party launch an attack, they immediately took action.

At Li Yi's command, a hundred halberd soldiers rushed out from behind the first row of shield bearers. These halberd soldiers were divided into four teams of twenty-five men each. They all stuck the base of their halberds into the ground, then reached out to support them, pointing diagonally upwards.

Then, the shield bearers rushed forward, driving the base of the tower shields deep into the ground and pressing them against the base of the halberds, helping the halberd bearers to secure the halberds.

The others gathered together, avoiding the rolling stones and logs from other directions, and all took shelter within a width of twenty-five people.

In this way, the Han army's front line was reduced by more than half. When the dozen or so giant trees and six or seven giant rocks rushed in front of the Han army, the Han army only had to face five giant trees and two giant rocks.

The first thing these rolling stones and logs struck was the forest of halberds formed by the long halberds.

The rolling stones had some of their power reduced, changing their course. Some veered off course from the formation, while others, weakened, crashed into the tower shield wall.

As for the logs, except for one that crashed into the tower shield wall after being hit by a rolling stone, the other four were all held up by the halberds.

"Archers, advance!"

Li Yi shouted loudly, "The wounded should step back and take their place in turn. Do not move around!"

Under Li Yi's command, the crossbowmen stepped forward, continued upward, and began firing at the village walls.

Although the soldiers in the village were all armored, the quality of their leather armor was inferior to that of the leather armor in the Central Plains, and it was no match for the powerful crossbow bolts.

In just a few dozen breaths, the Dragon Clan soldiers on the stockade wall were either killed or wounded, and for a time they could no longer even stand on the stockade wall.

The soldiers who had just been injured by the rolling stones and logs were immediately relieved and replaced by their comrades. Then they lined up again and attacked the camp on the hillside.

At this moment, Long Ben's face began to change; the original color had completely faded, leaving only a pale complexion.

(End of this chapter)