Starting from his vigorous old age, he began to conquer Liaozhai.

After arriving at the drill ground, Cao Xiong stood at the very front of the First Banner.

Soon, all the officers and soldiers assembled, a total of more than 150 people lined up neatly, with high morale.

Moreover, on the other side of the training ground.

There were more than two hundred people. This group was not uniformly dressed, mostly wearing half armor, and their weapons were also of various kinds, with willow-leaf knives being the most common. They were all hereditary military households under the jurisdiction of the centurion.

Having served in the army for decades, this was the first time Cao Xiong had ever seen such a sight.

"Uncle Cao, what's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Wang Er looked uneasy. He had just taken up the post of junior officer and had already encountered such a thing, so he couldn't help but feel apprehensive.

"I don't know, let's wait for Commander Wei to announce it."

Cao Xiong was also puzzled. Five drumbeats were an urgent order in the Ming army, usually used in war.

He had been in the army for so many years and had never encountered such a thing.

After arriving at the training ground, Wei Qiang's face turned grim, and he walked straight to the high platform.

Without any preamble, the purpose of the emergency assembly was stated directly.

"Recently, bandits have been rampant. Three days ago, the summer tax silver sent from Changhe County to the prefectural government was stolen by bandits."

"Not only that, the bandits on the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Mountains seemed to have conspired together, constantly descending the mountains, rushing into villages, burning, killing, and looting."

"In the past two weeks alone, bandits in Guobei County have carried out two large-scale raids, resulting in dozens of deaths and hundreds of people going missing."

"Now, we have received orders from the Thousand-Household Office to annihilate the mountain bandits."

"Each squadron is to prepare three days' worth of dry rations, and after the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, we will set out to wipe out the mountain bandits."

After giving the order, Wei Qiang left the training ground.

Within the territory of Guobei County, bandits frequently caused trouble, and in Cao Xiong's view, they should have been eradicated long ago.

Cao Xiong gathered his officers and soldiers together, and the hereditary military households who were not enlisted also tacitly came to Cao Xiong's side.

Although these people were not officers or soldiers, they were all registered as military households and could be conscripted by the garrison in times of emergency.

As the only hereditary military household among the three banner officers, it was reasonable for these military households to be close to Cao Xiong.

Cao Xiong didn't know if Wei Qiang had made any temporary appointments among these military households, so he simply arranged for them all together.

By the time Cao Xiong returned to his barracks, more than half an incense stick's time had passed.

He didn't take his rations and water from the granary. Instead, he prepared his rations and water bottle in the barracks, slung his iron bow over his shoulder, and returned to the drill ground.

Although the items weren't heavy, carrying them like this was really inconvenient. Cao Xiong suddenly felt a little envious of cultivators; storage bags were such a good thing.

Unfortunately, we have a treasure trove but can't use it.

After an incense stick had burned, the officers, soldiers, and households of the Hundred Household Office of Guobei County left the county town and headed straight for the outer perimeter of the Ten Thousand Mountains.

Regarding this bandit suppression operation, for some reason, Cao Xiong suddenly felt uneasy ever since he left the county town.

"I hope nothing unexpected happens," Cao Xiong murmured to himself.

Mountain bandits are a product of the mountains, and the Ming Dynasty lasted for more than three hundred years.

These bandits have never so openly opposed the imperial court before.

In Cao Xiong's view, robbing tax money and looting villages was no different from rebellion, and there must be some hidden story behind it.

……

"Woo~"

When the soldiers from Guobei County reached a high slope, a bugle sounded, and everyone stopped and rested on the spot.

Cao Xiong, Xue Ding, and Fang Zheng were summoned by Wei Qiang for a private audience.

Wei Qiang was seen frowning, staring at a map thoughtfully inside a makeshift tent.

Cao Xiong and Xue Ding exchanged a glance, remained silent, and stood respectfully on either side.

Fang Zheng finally arrived at the centurion's camp. Upon entering, Fang Zheng's gaze immediately locked onto Cao Xiong, his eyes filled with a strange meaning.

Cao Xiong remained outwardly calm, but his heart was filled with murderous intent.

Cao Xiong had long harbored the intention to kill this man, but he had been waiting for the right opportunity.

This is an excellent opportunity to wipe out the mountain bandits.

On the battlefield, the death of a squad leader is not a big deal.

Cao Xiong possesses an attribute panel, allowing his strength to grow rapidly.

But today, Fang Zheng gave Cao Xiong a dangerous feeling.

Moreover, Fang Zheng has become even stranger than before, with stiff facial movements and uncoordinated limbs.

The whole person looked like they had been temporarily assembled.

Cao Xiong's nose twitched slightly; he could smell an extremely strong stench of blood emanating from Fang Zheng.

"Have they all arrived?"

Wei Qiang finally looked away from the map and turned to look at Cao Xiong and the other two.

"Come and take a look at this map. It shows all the bandit hideouts we've found so far."

"Before setting off, I had already sent scouts into the mountains ahead of time to gather intelligence on the bandits."

"Unfortunately, to this day, not a single person has returned with news; they have all disappeared."

"Tell me, what should we do?"

After waiting for a while, none of the three men, including Cao Xiong, spoke up, and Wei Qiang's expression turned somewhat grim.

"Commander Cao, you should be more familiar with these mountain bandits. What are your thoughts?"

"yes!"

Cao Xiong approached Wei Qiang and his gaze fell on the location where the bandits were hiding, marked in red.

"These bandits are scattered and not very strong individually. As far as I know, the smaller ones have only a few people, while the larger ones have hundreds."

"Currently, we have three generals, plus those military households, totaling nearly four hundred people."

"I think we can concentrate our forces to capture a few large strongholds, and then disperse our troops to sweep away the smaller strongholds."

Wei Qiang nodded, feeling that Cao Xiong's words made some sense.

"Tch~"

"Commander Cao seems to value these bandits quite a bit."

Fang Zheng, who had been silent all along, finally spoke.

"Centurion, I think it would be better if we, the captains and military households, were to be separated and each take charge of a region, so that we could wipe them out in one fell swoop and prevent any from escaping."

After he finished speaking, a frenzied emotion surged in Fang Zheng's eyes.

"Disciple, you are right. You must not let anyone know that you are practicing the Iron Corpse Technique."

A voice appeared in Fang Zheng's mind.

Hearing his master's praise, Fang Zheng's smile deepened.

After much deliberation, Wei Qiang finally decided to proceed with the plan provided by Founder.

Cao Xiong sighed inwardly. Wei Qiang had underestimated the bandits on the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Mountains.

Moreover, after they were separated, he no longer had a chance to kill Fang Zheng.

Finally, after discussion, Cao Xiong was assigned to be in charge of several mountain strongholds in the northwest of Guobei County.

Cao Xiong had his own reasons for choosing this area, as it was far from Lanruo Temple.

This greatly reduced the threat of the Yaksha.

After everything was agreed upon, Cao Xiong led the officers and soldiers of the First Banner into the mountains northwest of Guobei County.

Cao Xiong's first target was Liwang Village, the largest village in this mountain range.

Cao Xiong set up camp less than five kilometers from Liwangzhai.

Then two scouts were sent to investigate the area around Liwang Village and its defenses.

As night fell, torches still burned in Liwang Village.

Cao Xiong and his men lay in ambush outside Liwang Village, preparing to attack.

As midnight approached, the bandits guarding the gate of Liwang Village had all fallen asleep.

Cao Xiong held an iron bow, nocked an arrow, and shot it at a bandit on the stockade wall.

The bandits fell to the ground with a thud.

"Up!"

Cao Xiong made a hand gesture and rushed towards the gate of the stockade first.