A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 258 Night Battle at Nanshan
In the chilly valley of spring,

Countless torches were burning, lighting up the night.

"Damn, didn't they say that there were only a thousand or so Zhu bandits? There must be at least ten thousand of them, right?" Li Dejiang stood on the ridge, watching the winding fire dragon converging, and couldn't help but marvel at it.

As a son of a general, Li Dejiang was not only proficient in riding and shooting, but also had some skills in judging the number of enemy troops through smoke, torches, flags, etc.

"More than ten thousand, no more, no less." Li Jing said confidently from the side.

Li Yi only felt that the mountains and plains were full of torches and rebels were everywhere, which was really breathtaking.

"This snowballed so quickly! No wonder He Panren and Zhao Qin were defeated and killed earlier. Zhu Shanhai and Zhang Zihui must have a trick up their sleeve. They said they had a thousand men, but they actually had ten thousand."

Other bandits and rebels might have a thousand men but claim to have ten thousand or even tens of thousands. But Zhu Shanhai, who clearly had over ten thousand men, only claimed to have over a thousand.

This is a deliberate trap.

"Mr. Li, can we hold on?" Li Yi asked.

Li Jing remained calm and composed. "Although the troops are divided into three groups, we still have more than 2,000 people. These are regular soldiers and elite imperial guards. If more than 2,000 elite soldiers can't even defend a hilltop, then we will all die."

The sound of pine trees rustled and the faint sound of horns could be heard.

"Ask me where I come from!"

"Hey, hey, yo!"

"Paddle the boat on the Wei River!"

"Hey, hey, yo!"

"Ask me where I'm going!"

"Hey, hey, yo!"

"Let's go cut bamboo in the South Mountain!"

······
The mountain wind brought the bandits' calls. Li Yi pricked up his ears and listened. Someone was leading the singing, and then many people joined in the chorus. The calls were passionate, vigorous and powerful.

This is the Guanzhong call, people shout it while working.

Li Jing was also listening. "The Wei River horn song. Every year the Wei River embankment is repaired and the people are recruited to work. Everyone shouts the horn song while tamping the embankment."

"Most of the people down here should be good citizens, right?"

"Ah."

The two were silent for a moment.

At the foot of the mountain,

Zhu Shanhai carried his big axe and shouted to the bandits: "This damn world won't let us survive, so let's overthrow this damn world."

This former charcoal burner from Sizhuyuan was now wearing a gorgeous Mingguang armor, which was stripped off from General He Panren of the Zuotunwei after he was beheaded.

"If a person dies and a bird looks up to the sky, he will not die for tens of thousands of years!"

Behind him, huge echoes broke out, like the howling of hungry wolves in spring.

Without much mobilization, tens of thousands of bandits launched a siege on the hill where the government troops retreated from all directions.

On the mountain,

Li Jing stroked his graying beard.

"When the enemy is within 150 steps, the crossbowmen will attack."

"When the enemy is within sixty steps, the archers release their arrows!"

"When the enemy is within twenty steps, the archers will draw back, and the jumping soldiers and the vanguard will engage the enemy in hand-to-hand combat with spears, swords, and clubs."

"The special forces team is always on standby. If the front line is defeated, they will quickly fill the position."

Orders were issued one after another.

Li Yi, the chief steward, did not need to do anything. He only needed to stand at the top of the mountain under the six chief stewards' banners.
The flag is there, he is there.

If the flag doesn't move, he won't move.

The bandits' shouts shook the sky.
Like ants climbing mountains on all sides,
The officers and soldiers on the mountain were very quiet.

The leader of each team stood at the front of the team, followed by the flag bearer and flag guard. The rest of the soldiers were divided into several rows, with the deputy standing at the back.

The team leader leads the battle and the deputy team leader supervises the battle.

When the first wave of bandits finally reached a distance of 150 steps, the crossbowmen's attack drum order sounded on the mountain.

The crossbowmen from each crossbow team began to shoot arrows at the densely packed fire points on the hillside. Each fire point represented a bandit.

Crossbow triggers rang out one after another, and the fine iron crossbow arrows tore through the early spring chill, shooting down the bandits who were charging one after another.
The ones in front fell down, but the bandits behind were still pushing forward.

The crossbowmen on the mountain shot arrows one after another.

Li Yi looked at the dense torches that formed a line of fire. Torches in the front row kept going out, but the torches in the back kept pressing up.

Li Yi looked to the south,
I hope Qin Qiong, Luo Shixin and others can reach the enemy’s lair, Yishou Palace, as soon as possible and end this ruthless killing.

Li Yi did not feel the slightest bit of excitement or pride after killing these bandits. They were just disaster victims and common people of Guanlong.

The mountain wind swept through the treetops,

Cheng Yaojin squatted in the baggage camp behind the fire,

"This old Zhu was able to fight me back and forth, so he's quite capable, but unfortunately his brain isn't very good. He was easily tricked by that old Pharmacist Li.
Coming out in full force is foolish. No matter how many bandits there are, can they possibly defeat the well-trained and well-equipped government troops? The only thing they can rely on is the camp in the mountains and their familiarity with the terrain.
Now they've come out in full force to fight in the open, and are even attacking up the mountain."

Old Cheng spit out the straw in his mouth and shook his head, "Bandits are bandits after all."

Lao Niu chewed his fried rice and said, "Why is there still no signal? I can't wait any longer. The thieves in the manor ahead have all gone to attack Wu Yi and his men. I feel empty now, just like a naked woman waiting for a man."

Cheng Yaojin looked up at the sky.
"Shubao and Shixin should be at Yishou Palace by now, right?" Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin followed the herbalist's path and headed straight for the thieves' lair, Yishou Palace, in the dark of night.

"Here we are, right in front."

Yishou Palace was a summer palace built during the Renshou period.

The palace is not very large and has been occupied as a base by several forces in recent years.

At this time, the palace gates were tightly closed.

Qin Qiong led his troops quietly to the front of the palace, "It's much higher than the fence of Lu Mingyue's bandit camp back then."

Luo Shixin laughed and said, "Back then, when Zhang Gong led us with 10,000 soldiers to attack Lu Mingyue's 200,000 troops, our army was short of food and grass, and it was difficult to continue the confrontation for a long time. In the end, it was you who suggested to Zhang Gong that he pretend to be out of food and retreat, so as to lure Lu Mingyue's entire army to pursue him. Then, the two of us led a thousand soldiers to lie in ambush in the reeds, and when the enemy passed, we would go straight to his lair.

The fence was quite high at first, and there were many guards.
But didn't our brothers, donning thick armor, scale the fence, slaughter dozens of men in a row, then break open the gate, lead their troops inside, and set fire to Lu Mingyue's food and supplies, only for Zhang Gong to turn the tables and defeat them?"

"Yeah, several years have passed in a flash."

The palace walls are very high.

But it didn't pose any problem for the two brothers.

They brought a grappling hook, an iron hook plus a long rope, which is a powerful tool for climbing over walls.

The palace wall, more than three meters high, glowed coldly in the night.

Qin Qiong tied the four-sided gold-plated mace on his back and picked up the grappling hook.

The two brothers looked at each other.
The two of them, along with fifty elite soldiers, quietly reached the palace wall. They all swung their grappling hooks together and suddenly threw them towards the top of the palace wall.

The iron hook caught the parapet,
They climbed up the wall like geckos, holding on to the ropes.

The smaller Luo Shixin was the first to climb over the battlement, and Qin Qiong followed closely behind and jumped onto the top of the city wall.

"I'm one step ahead again!" Luo Shixin chuckled and pulled out his double-handed golden hammer.

Qin Qiong also took out his two maces,
One after another, the elite soldiers jumped onto the city wall.

They rushed to the city gate quickly,
"who!"

The thieves on duty finally noticed the movement.

With a whoosh of an arrow,
An archer shot him down.

"Enemy attack!" a bandit shouted miserably.

Qin Qiong knocked down the bandits' banner on the palace gate tower with his mace.

The two of them, with fifty elite soldiers, were like tigers among a flock of sheep, hacking left and right, chopping melons and vegetables, and killing their way from the city wall to the gate below.
Killed dozens of people in a row,
The palace was filled with the panicked cries of bandits.
But no one could stop them.

Qin Qiong rushed into the doorway,

With one hand, he removed the heavy bolt of the palace gate.

Luo Shixin arrived with a whip in hand, and the two brothers each opened an iron-clad door.

The heavy palace door was slowly opened.

The soldiers who had already rushed outside the door rushed in.

A thousand elite soldiers from Beiya Tunying and Qinwang Mansion stormed into the city like a tide. Most of those left behind were old and weak, and they were unable to stop them at all.

The second in command of the bandits, Zhang Zihui, had previously ambushed He Panren, Zhao Qin, and others, and had sustained some injuries. He was recuperating in Yishou Palace tonight.
"Oh no! The soldiers are coming in."

Zhang Zihui rushed out naked with a lance in hand, without even putting on his armor.
Luo Shixin saw from afar a burly man, naked, holding a lance. The lance was obviously of extraordinary quality. He rushed forward, raised the long pole and smashed it with both hands.

Zhang Zihui blocked with his spear,
He underestimated the short Luo Shixin and was knocked back several steps by the huge force. Before he could stand firm, the sledgehammer attacked him again.

The horse lance was obtained by Zhang Zihui when he ambushed and killed He Panren. Ming Guangjia gave it to Zhu Shanhai, and he kept the horse lance. However, although this horse lance was excellent, it was not suitable for infantry combat.

An inch longer is an inch stronger, but an inch shorter is also an inch more dangerous.

What’s even more terrible is that Zhang Zihui is injured and has not yet put on armor.

Luo Shixin attacked fiercely. When he found an opportunity, he smashed Zhang Zihui on the shoulder with a hammer. Zhang Zihui screamed and fell to the ground. This golden hammer could break any armor, let alone him who was naked.

One blow of the hammer shattered his shoulder bone, and his left hand was completely powerless.

Now he couldn't even hold the 10-foot-long horse spear.
Luo Shixin caught up and swung his hammer a few more times.

With a snap, the golden hammer hit his thigh.
Zhang Zihui fell to the ground with a broken leg.

The battle of Yishou Palace ended quickly.

Only a few old and weak people were left behind, and when a thousand elite soldiers entered the palace, the bandits were completely defeated.

"Light the fireworks signal and send someone to inform the general manager," Qin Qiong ordered.

Luo Shixin picked up the half-dead Zhang Zihui, cut off his nose with a knife, and put it into the cloth bag around his waist.

Downstream of Heishuiyu,
The battle on the mountain was still going on. Zhu Shanhai commanded more than 10,000 bandits and launched wave after wave of attacks on the mountain. However, the officers and soldiers had strong bows and crossbows, and they also had horses and spears to block the attack. The bandits were unable to break through the defense.

Li Yi smelled the bloody smell and felt like vomiting.

"Manager, there is a fire in the southeast, it should be the direction of Yishou Palace. General Qin and his men have succeeded." Liu Heizi's excited shout woke him up from his trance.

Li Yi looked up to the southeast.
Sure enough, the flames shot up into the sky, lighting up half of the darkness.

Li Jing has also seen it,

"Light the beacon fire. It's time for Cheng Yaojinniu to advance and attack their group."

When a few fires rise on the mountain top,
Cheng Yaojin, who had been waiting for a long time in the distance, jumped up and said, "Follow me, seize the manor and cut off the enemy's retreat!"

(End of this chapter)