Tiger Guards

Chapter 696 Theft of Jishan
On the eastern foothills of Jishan Mountain, amidst cypress trees on the hillside.

Han Gao and more than thirty others were hidden among them, all dressed in the classic attire of the former Jishan bandits.

Even the prints on the leather armor are the same as they were back then, made from the same mold.

Unlike the Jishan bandits around him who wore masks to cover their faces, Han Gao only used a half-mask to cover the area below his nose, and his expression was very depressed.

After their failed attempt to escort the empress years ago, they and some deserters fled into Jishan.

In recent years, Zhao Ji has been busy with external wars. As long as Han Gao and his men do not plunder the mountains, the counties surrounding Jishan will not send troops to sweep away and annihilate Han Gao and his men.

As time went on, the size of the county militia in each county became smaller and smaller, and they were only left with the functions of maintaining order, patrolling, and preventing theft. They no longer had the combat capability to enter the mountains to suppress bandits.

Even if they had that fighting capability, this shouldn't have been done by county soldiers.

They do as much work as they are paid. County soldiers are not as well-paid as prefectural soldiers. Prefectural soldiers are responsible for suppressing bandits, and this kind of work should be done by prefectural soldiers.

Only soldiers who made meritorious contributions during the suppression of bandits would be given priority for promotion to field troops.

As a result, the county soldiers were even less motivated to go into the mountains to suppress bandits, otherwise they would be resented by the prefectural soldiers after the bandits were suppressed.

During the period before and after Hedong Commandery was changed to the Hedong Duchy, Zhao Xu served as the commandery governor and the prime minister of the duchy. He had no interest in sending troops to Jishan to suppress bandits.

Unless Zhao Ji or Zhao Yan gave relevant orders, but since no similar instructions were given to the Hedong side, why did Zhao Xu go to suppress the bandits?
Thus, Han Gao and his group went from being terrified at the first sign of trouble to hiding in the deep mountains.

This year, Han Gao even reclaimed land and built houses in a flat area in the mountains, and was even planning to ask someone to act as a matchmaker.

As a result, after autumn arrived, Pei sent people to Jishan to find him and some other hunters.

Han Gao also had relatives and friends. Whether it was due to Zhao Ji's negligence or Pei Shi's protection, Han Gao's relatives and friends were not affected after causing such a great disaster.

He had no choice but to join forces with the hunters in the mountains and obtain the horses sent by the Pei family.

The Pei family also sent riding instructors, and after more than three months of intensive training in the mountains, this group of people had already shown the style of the original Jishan bandits.

While not quite able to shoot upon hearing a sound, it wasn't far off.

Han Song, who fled from Jiting to this place, was also wearing a mask and a well-fitting leather armor.

Han Song observed and stared at the battle seven or eight miles away. His mask concealed his emotional changes and facial expressions well, so much so that in the eyes of others, Han Song's back was upright, like a pine or cypress.

Inside the Pei family compound, the elite armored cavalry jointly dispatched by Jia Xu, Zhang Hong, and Pei Xiu were charging back and forth in formation, showing no intention of engaging in battle.

These three hundred armored cavalrymen were divided into more than twenty assault squads, each with two or three shield-bearing cavalrymen in the lead, and the rest of the scouts following behind, shooting at anyone who dared to resist.

Even strong women wielding carrying poles and hoes at them would be targeted and killed by arrows at this moment.

The swift riders galloped back and forth, their hooves pounding and neighing drowning out the shouts and cries from within the manor.

Chen Rong stopped his horse and observed from a high point outside the manor.

He wore a cold, gray-black iron mask, his gaze indifferent. He showed no concern for the injured knights who fell from their horses, nor any joy at the killing of the rebel leader.

Having suffered greatly from the ravages of war, both internal and external, Chen Rong had become numb.

He held on in the army, hoping to participate in the Hebei campaign and kill Yuan Shao so that he could truly avenge his former lord, Zang Hong.

If it weren't for this thought supporting him, he would have been transferred to a local post long ago to live a comfortable life. Beside him was the temporary supervisor assigned to him: "Captain, we have not yet seen any trace of Lord Tongxiang, nor have we seen any of his guards or servants."

"What does the military supervisor mean?"

"We can't kill anymore. We need to capture more prisoners to find out where Lord Tongxiang is. If all the traitors who knew about this have died in battle, how will we investigate?"

The supervising officer was from Hedong. He couldn't bear to see the Pei family's sons, servants, and other servants fighting back with weapons one after another.

However, most of the Pei clan did not resist, but instead hid in their houses.

But the Pei clan, lacking courage, is destined to have little 'value'.

In a family, only a few are truly courageous.

The supervisor's suggestion was ignored by Chen Rong.

Without Chen Rong's order, the twenty-odd cavalry squads charging through the Pei family manor continued their slaughter without pause. More and more members of the Pei clan, enraged by the injuries and deaths of their relatives and friends, disregarded the objections of their elders and rushed out of their houses to join the counterattack.

What awaited them was close-range shooting by the scouts.

Chen Rong observed for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Seeing that the resistance inside the Pei family manor was very weak, he turned to the flag officer and said, "Search the dilapidated house layer by layer. Don't miss an inch of the ground! Lord Tongxiang may have been hidden in the cellar by the thieves, or he may have been killed by the thieves and buried underground."

"Here!"

The flag officer began to wave the battle flag, and the messenger rode away on horseback.

However, Chen Rong's hundred cavalrymen remained on standby for rest and reorganization, while the other hundred cavalrymen, which had been split into two, also remained stationary, determined to surround the Pei family manor and not let a single person escape.

With the two hundred riders remaining still, the so-called Jishan bandit cavalry on the hillside dared not make any unusual moves either.

These small guerrilla units, taking advantage of the cover of night and familiarity with the terrain, can launch surprise attacks and ambushes with the strength of ten men each.

However, if they were to clash with the elite cavalry under Zhao Ji's command... the so-called Jishan bandits don't even have iron armor. If they charged in during the day, they wouldn't be able to kill many armored cavalrymen. Once the armored cavalrymen got close, they would inevitably be stabbed and cut down from their horses.

Han Song took a few deep breaths and coughed a few times. Since it was difficult to spit out with the mask on, he swallowed the phlegm. He turned to look at Han Gao and said, "When the traitorous ministers and their henchmen search the Pei family, they will surely gather a large army to search Jishan. We will all be surrounded. How can we escape?"

Han Gao asked in a cold, hard tone, "Then what should we do?"

"Kill their general, escape in the chaos, and once you enter Shangdang and Hanoi, the world is vast, where can't you go?"

Han Song offered his advice and went to see Han Gao with great sincerity.

Unexpectedly, this distant relative nodded, drew his sword, and thrust it out again. Han Song couldn't dodge in time and was stabbed in the jaw.

After a moment of shock, Han Song didn't feel any strange sensation in his neck, but his chin hurt a lot.

Han Gao tried twisting the sword before drawing it, but his sudden attack caused him to lose his footing, and the sword sliced ​​open Han Song's chin as it stabbed.

The other hunters, seeing this, were not surprised and simply watched Han Gao quietly.

Now that the Pei family manor is in such a state, who cares about these hunters?

Since they started intensive training, they haven't gone out to do anything. They didn't say anything, so who would know all this?
As for the instructors who trained them, they suddenly left some time ago... If they escape back later and kill the instructors in Jishan and bury them, who can say anything?
(End of this chapter)