Xie Ming

Chapter 74 Pre-war deployment
During the late Ming Dynasty, successive years of war and famine led to the gathering of more and more bandit dens entrenched in the mountains and forests in various places.

Among these bandits, there are stragglers who have fled and are hiding, as well as criminals, vagrants and bullies who are causing harm to the local area!

They are insidious and cunning, and their methods are extremely cruel.

Plunder the people, steal their food, money and women!

Kidnapping hostages and demanding ransom are common tasks.

If a mountain villager fell into their hands, they would cut off his hands and feet, or chop off his arms and legs. If the crime was serious, they would use all kinds of methods to torture him to death.

Men dug out hearts and livers, cut open stomachs, set people on fire, or even forced fathers and sons to kill each other.

Women are even more miserable. They will be subjected to inhuman abuse before death, and the vast majority of them die from being raped in turns.

Because of this, Xiao Jingchuan's attitude towards dealing with the problem of bandits was very firm.

It’s just one word, kill!

We strive to wipe out all the enemies wherever we go and eradicate them completely!
These evils bring disaster to the local area and do all kinds of evil. If we don't eliminate them completely, we will not be able to protect the people's livelihood.

It's okay to provide funding for the suppression of bandits, but they won't surrender or recruit them into the army. Xiao Jingchuan won't want such soldiers even if he has no more!

With all these disasters happening, there will be major changes in the army sooner or later!
Xiao Jingchuan ordered seven teams to set out from the southwest of the entrance of Jiulong Town. After about an hour, they marched quickly to a location 5 miles away from the Ma Dabanzi stronghold, where they stopped and took a short rest.

"Gu Changting!" Xiao Lang called.

"Yes!" Changting replied.

"Go check in the back to see if all the teams have brought them here?!"

"Be careful to hide! If we go any further, the bandits may set up sentries!" Xiao Jingchuan ordered.

"Yes!" Chang Ting received the order, bent his body and ran quickly to the rear to check the situation of each team and whether anyone was left behind.

After receiving the order, Xiao Lang took out the monocular telescope from his waist and looked towards the opposite hillside.

From there, go to the second ridge at the foot of the mountain. After passing it, walk two miles up the mountain and you will reach the main nest of the Ma Dabanzi stronghold!
His location was exactly opposite to where Xiao Jingchuan was at the moment. Xiao Lang hid in the dark and observed the surface situation of the mountain stronghold carefully.

This mountain village is hidden in the forest halfway up the mountain. It is difficult to get a glimpse of its entirety. You can only get a general glimpse through some gaps in the forest.

After careful identification by Xiao Jingchuan, he discovered that the main body of the village was a cave-style building carved into the mountain, with three floors: upper, middle and lower, arranged irregularly on the left and right. It was conservatively estimated that there were at least thirty rooms.

On the top floor there is a row of the largest kilns, which seems to be where the village chief Ma Dabanzi lives.

The kilns are connected in front of each other, forming a long open space, which may be the place where these bandits practice on a daily basis.

Double-layer high wooden chevaux de frise were erected all around, completely enveloping the main body of the stronghold in defense.

In addition, the stronghold was expanded outward by fifty steps, with tall wooden chevaux de frise and sentry towers at the two corners as outer defenses.

"Report!"

"General, all personnel are in place! Waiting for your order!" Gu Changting finished the inspection and came back to report.

"Well, call the leaders of the seven teams over here, I need to give instructions on the battle deployment!" Xiao Langyan said.

"Yes!"

Changting retreated again and issued a message. After a moment, the seven team leaders came and approached Xiao Jingchuan.

"Listen up, you seven!"

"The main part of this village is the kiln house in the middle, with three floors, upper, middle and lower, and an open space in front!"

"On the outer edge, there is a second line of defense. Both levels of defense have tall wooden chevaux de frise to block the way, and there are sentry towers at each corner!"

As he spoke, Xiao Jingchuan leaned down and squatted on the ground to draw the general shape of the village.

"Ma Minglu, Gong Yonggu!" Xiao Jingchuan began to give orders.

"I'm here! Here!" Chuanwu and Gong Yonggu replied.

"You two lead the team to surround the left wing of the stronghold and look for opportunities to attack. There is no need to charge head-on. At least make sure that the main force of the bandits does not break out from you! Did you hear me clearly?!" Xiao Lang said in a serious and majestic manner.

"I will finally understand!"

"I heard it clearly!" The two of them clasped their fists and received the order.

"Liu Wenbing, Jin Xuan, you two will lead the team to the right wing of the mountain stronghold. Your mission is the same as theirs. You must not let the main force of the bandits escape! Do you understand?!"

"Yes! Yes!" The two also accepted the order.

"Sun Peizhong!" Xiao Lang called again. "I am here!" Peizhong replied.

"You lead the team to the back and above the stronghold! When we start the attack, you don't have to follow us, hide first."

"We will surround him from three sides and attack fiercely. We must leave a gap to prevent these bandits from becoming desperate and resisting stubbornly!"

"When the bandits flee in panic, you will seize the opportunity to catch them all in one fell swoop!"

"You can figure out how much depth to leave in the front and back and how to arrange it yourself. I only ask for one thing, that when the fighting starts, I want to annihilate you completely!" Xiao Jingchuan ordered.

"Yes! I understand!" Sun Peizhong clasped his fists solemnly and accepted the order.

After giving this order, Xiao Jingchuan paused intentionally.

Li Huchen, who was standing by, saw this and became angry, unable to hold back and spoke.

"Well, hey, General, what about the two of us? The two of us!"

As he spoke, Qi Dayong, who was standing beside him, also came forward with a reserved smile.

"Oh, yes, and you two too!"

"When we were in the camp this morning, you seemed to be talking about making amends for your crimes, right?"

Xiao Jingchuan looked as if he deserved a beating.

"Ah! Yes! Make amends for your crime!"

"Yes, it's a meritorious service while serving one's sentence!" the two men replied.

"Well, then, I'll leave the frontal attack to you guys?" Xiao Lang seemed calm.

"Hahaha, General, I've been waiting for you to say this!"

"Well, yes, General, just wait and see!" The two men patted their chests and assured.

"it is good!"

"Li Huchen, Qi Dayong!" After Xiao Jingchuan joked for a while, he suddenly straightened his face again and spoke seriously.

"I am here, I am here!" Li Huchen and Qi Dayong also restrained their smiles and said seriously.

"You two will lead the team and take on the main attack mission this time!"

"Although these bandits are rarely trained and their combat effectiveness is not strong, they are well rested and waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out, and they are firmly defending their position in a dangerous place!"

"So, if you want to fight, you must fight with momentum!"

"Attack with all your might!"

"We can't give the bandits any time to react. Once we get into a stalemate, we will be at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, terrain, and other aspects. If we try to break through again, the casualties will increase exponentially!"

"Did you two hear clearly what I am worried about?" Xiao Lang said.

"I heard it clearly!"

"General! Don't worry!"

"If I can't even take down a bandit's lair, you might as well just kill me!"

Li Huchen clasped his fists and accepted the order, full of confidence.

"it is good!"

"All units should rest on the spot. In a quarter of an hour, be ready to attack the stronghold!" Xiao Jingchuan stood up and wiped off the traces of carvings on the ground.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

The seven men returned to their teams to make further deployments.

March 28th, noon!

Ma Dabanzi was in the mountain stronghold, eating and drinking with his brothers. It was such a lively scene!
He had no idea that danger was already approaching him!
Boom!
Boom!Boom!
Bang bang bang!
suddenly!

A burst of gunfire rang out in the mountain village!

What followed was shouts of killing from all directions!
"Ah! What's going on?!"

"Quick, go out and take a look!"

(End of this chapter)