The rebel army's foremost master craftsman forged a million iron pylons!

In Mopan Village, flames engulfed everything, with more than a dozen houses burning fiercely.

The men and women of Mopan Village were divided into two groups. The men were tied together with ropes and guarded by a dozen bandits dressed in tattered clothes and carrying long guns.

There were dozens of women trembling on the side, while three or four bandits picked and chose among them, occasionally pinching the women's bodies, causing them to scream in pain.

A burly man carrying a ring-pommel sword sat on a millstone at the village entrance. Whenever the women screamed, he would laugh heartily, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"Second Master Sha, we've asked around, and every family is poorer than the last. They can only scrape together this little bit of silver! These lowly people wouldn't dare to lie to us!"

At this moment, a sleazy-looking bandit walked over and whispered.

He was carrying a cloth bag filled with loose silver coins, some of which were stained with blood, clearly stolen from the villagers.

"What?! There's no money!"

Upon hearing this, Uncle Sha jumped up from the millstone and pointed at the villagers, shouting in a sarcastic tone.

"You don't have any silver? It's not good that we men came down the mountain and couldn't rob any silver."

"Since we have no silver, we'll exchange it for grain. If we have no grain, we'll exchange it for women. If we sell these women to the south, we can raise five hundred taels of silver."

"Five hundred catties of grain for a woman? Now all of you go find some grain for the men!"

A commotion arose among the men, and an older man stepped forward, bowing tremblingly to Master Sha.

"Second Master Sha, we've suffered from drought for the past two years, and every household is starving. Please, let us go and give us a way to survive!"

"Let you go?"

Master Sha jumped off the millstone and grabbed the old man by the collar.

"You want a way out? I want a way out too! If we let you go, what will the men on the mountain eat and drink?"

"Today, you either hand over the grain, or we'll kill you all here!"

He knew that the villagers had surplus grain, which they had hidden away.

As he spoke, Master Sha slammed the old man to the ground, and the old man immediately cried out in pain.

"Sha Lao Er, don't go too far!"

"Yeah, you even lay a hand on an old person, are you even human?"

The crowd was immediately filled with righteous indignation, and some hot-blooded young men even wanted to rush out and fight.

Clang!

Master Sha placed his ring-pommel sword directly against the neck of the young man at the front, who was so frightened that he dared not move.

Master Sha slapped the young man's face with his large knife.

"You can still kneel down and call me 'Grandpa' three times if you want, but if you wait until your Grandpa Sha loses his patience, you're dead!"

"Now! Kneel down before Grandpa Sha!"

Although the young man was trembling with fear and clenched his fists, he refused to kneel down.

……

At the entrance of Shimo Village,

A dozen or so cavalrymen were charging rapidly toward Shimo Village.

Li Tian and General Chen were standing close together. He used his eagle eyes to observe the situation in the village and said...

"There are more than twenty bandits in total, but only three horses!"

"Why don't we split into two groups and flank them from both sides, catching them off guard?"

General Chen was somewhat taken aback. In his view, Shimo Village was just an outline, but Li Tian had clearly surveyed the village's intelligence!

This kid is not only a good blacksmith and a good soldier, but also a born scout!

He didn't speak, but waved his arm from horseback.

brush!

The cavalry split into two groups and charged towards Shimo Village.

……

Within Shimo Village,

"I told you to kneel down! Don't you understand?"

When Master Sha saw that the young man refused to kneel, he was so angry that he gritted his teeth.

"If you don't kneel down by the time I count to three, I'll chop you down with this sword!"

Master Sha suddenly raised the large knife in his hand.

"one!"

When Master Sha shouted "One!", Li Tian had already loaded arrows into his crossbow.

"two!"

When Master Sha shouted "Two," Li Tian's crossbow was already aimed at his head.

"three!"

When he shouted three.

The young man had already closed his eyes.

hum!

A muffled whooshing sound came from not far away.

Immediately afterwards, a black arrow pierced his temple with perfect accuracy.

Blood splattered, covering the young man's face.

Master Sha fell to the ground without uttering a sound.

"Second Master...Second Master is dead! Ambush! Someone ambushed us!"

This sudden scene startled the group of bandits.

at this time,

The sound of horses' hooves shook the earth.

Two groups of cavalrymen, fully armored, split into two groups and flanked the enemy from both sides.

Whoosh whoosh!

Before the bandits at the front could react, Li Tian had already killed them all with his crossbow.

After getting close,

Li Tian took off the broadsword from his back and slashed forward fiercely.

One of the bandits was instantly cleaved in two.

The bandits had never seen such a brutal scene before, and two of them were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground.

The remaining bandits were so frightened that they scattered and fled, shouting as they went.

"Oh no! The imperial armored army is here! Run!"

However, how can two legs outrun four horse legs!

Soon, he was caught up by General Chen's cavalry and hacked and slashed. Those who ran slowly were killed on the spot, while those who ran fast were shot to death with arrows.

The fighting ability of these mountain bandits is simply incomparable to that of regular troops.

In a short while,

The bandits who had been so arrogant just moments before were all wiped out.

General Chen gathered his cavalry and slowly appeared before the villagers of Shimo Village.

"Thank you so much, General, for saving my life!"

Then,

The villagers of Shimo Village all knelt down on the ground. They didn't know which army had come from, but they were absolutely certain that they called him the General.

General Chen raised his arm. "You don't need to thank me. I am Chen Nian'an of the Loyal Army. You can call me General Chen."

"Our righteous army is the people's army; we don't kill the people, we only save them."

"I, Chen Nian'an, am late in arriving today because I have caused trouble for the people."

"I, Chen Nian'an, feel guilty!"

With that, Chen Nian'an jumped off his warhorse and bowed deeply to all the villagers of Shimo Village.

Ever since Li Tian started helping farmers harvest wheat, he's had a breakthrough and is on the right track!

Perhaps they themselves are unaware that red ideology is gradually awakening within them!

"If bandits attack in the future, you can light a signal fire, and our Loyal Army will set up sentry posts nearby!"

"When you see the beacon fires, someone will come to rescue you."

"No, no, General Chen, you mustn't!"

General Chen's approachable manner moved the villagers to tears.

They had only ever experienced being treated with utmost sincerity by government troops, rebel armies, and bandits; they had never been treated with such sincerity by others.

I'm absolutely flattered!

Many villagers surrounded General Chen, asking him all sorts of questions. When they learned that General Chen's troops were actually harvesting wheat for the villagers in Shitou Village, they were surprised.

The villagers of Shimo Village immediately cheered.

"Finally, we've found our own people! The Loyal and Righteous Army is our people's army, and we welcome the Loyal and Righteous Army!"

Immediately, many villagers brought stools for the Loyal Army and invited them to sit down. They also brought out all the thin pancakes and dried meat that they had hidden in their homes, which they were willing to risk their lives for, for the Loyal Army to enjoy.

Li Tian rubbed his beardless chin, his eyes shining brightly.

People are simple and honest; as long as you give them dignity and hope, they will open their hearts to you.

Li Tian's heart was burning with the Communist Party's manifesto, but he knew that some things couldn't be rushed and needed to be done gradually.

My arrival might truly bring a different perspective to this chaotic world!

Li Tian's train of thought was quickly interrupted when a young woman stuffed a piece of dried meat into his hand and ran away shyly.

Li Tian grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and joined the crowd in the revelry.

Soon, General Chen's troops had become one with the people of Shimo Village.

Overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the people, General Chen and Tie Niu drank more than a dozen bowls of strong liquor before reluctantly parting ways with the villagers of Shimo Village.

"Today was truly a day of exhilarating killing, drinking, and eating!" General Chen said to Li Tian, ​​who was accompanying him, while hiccuping from drinking on the way back.

As he spoke, General Chen glanced back at the direction of Shimo Village and said with a hint of helplessness.

"I lied to the villagers just now. I said I was going to send soldiers to the center of the village."

"We simply cannot do it right now."

"We're even short-staffed enough to defend Nankai City!"

"Where are there still troops stationed to guard the villages?"

"Why not form a local militia?" Li Tian suddenly suggested. "Let the able-bodied young men from a dozen or so villages spontaneously form a guard brigade, and they can work in the fields during busy farming seasons."

"When they are not busy, they can ask the army instructors to teach them some basic martial arts, and our Loyal Army will be responsible for distributing weapons to them."

"That way, even if bandits come, they will have the strength to protect themselves."