The Thief Prince

The next day passed uneventfully.

Li Zheng received Wu Anqing's men who had come from Qinglong Village. They were indeed all strong and imposing, and their spirit and energy were different from those of ordinary henchmen.

Li Zheng was naturally pleased to receive such a batch of elite soldiers and ordered a grand banquet to be held.

However, only the henchmen were allowed to eat meat; they were strictly forbidden from drinking alcohol.

We have enough livestock in the mountain stronghold, and we can't take those chickens, ducks, and sheep with us. We might as well slaughter them to nourish our brothers.

Another day has passed.

Li Zheng was discussing matters with Wu Anqing and Zhang Yin when a person hurriedly arrived from the foot of the mountain.

Upon entering the mountain stronghold, the henchman saw Li Zheng and clasped his hands in greeting, saying, "Brother, there's been some movement from Danzhou."

Wu Anqing and Zhang Yin looked at Li Zheng with puzzled expressions. The latter stood up and said with a smile, "You came faster than I expected."

Then, pointing at the henchmen, he said to the two men:

"This man was originally a horse groom, and he's the only one in the village who can ride a horse. I sent him to the prefecture three days ago to investigate the situation."

Zhang Yin suddenly realized: "So it was all under my brother's strategic planning. No wonder you've been so calm these past few days."

Although no one mentioned it, Zhang Yin and his group have been very anxious these past few days.

Since they had never fought against the government troops, they still held a sense of awe towards the imperial army.

Li Zheng waved his hand: "It's not so much about strategizing, it's just that we made some preparations."

Wu Anqing asked, "How does the chief plan to deal with this?"

Li Zheng said, "Let's hear what kind of formation the government troops have first."

The henchman spoke up: "I've inquired, and the commander of the troops is the military governor of Shanzhou. From a distance, it looks like they've set up two camps, one with fewer people and the other with more."

Li Zheng was speechless after hearing what the henchman said.

This lackey's observation and language skills are comparable to those of an adult paramecium.

Unfortunately, he lacked qualified scouts, and the abilities of his ordinary henchmen were limited.

It was a miracle that they managed to escape and were not arrested on the spot by the government troops.

However, even with limited information, we can still deduce some things.

Li Zheng activated his memory before speaking: "The Imperial Guards stationed in the prefecture are organized into battalions by command. Each command is supposed to have 500 men, but they are often understaffed, usually having 200 to 300 men."

Indeed, Li Zheng knew from the beginning that once the government troops were dispatched, the Imperial Guards would inevitably be the ones to arrive.

Zhou Qing and his group didn't know much about the Great Zhou's official army, and thought that the Imperial Guards were a more elite army than the Xiang Army.

In reality, most of the Xiang Army were miscellaneous servants and rarely fought independently; they mostly fought in conjunction with the Imperial Guards.

He then looked at the henchman: "Tell me, does the camp with more people have twice the number of soldiers as the camp with fewer people?"

The henchman scratched his head and hesitated, then said, "More or less."

Li Zheng nodded slowly: "If the Imperial Guards have two or three hundred men, the Local Guards will have five or six hundred men. Add the county yamen runners and archers, and it will be a force of at least a thousand men."

Wu Anqing said solemnly, "Even with the combined strength of the three strongholds, it's impossible to defeat a thousand men."

Li Zheng shook his head: "There's no need to defeat them head-on. Our goal is to leave Danzhou alive."

"When Zhou's army went into battle, the Imperial Guards would go first, followed by the local militia escorting provisions and weapons, creating an extremely long procession."

"These past few days have been extremely hot, and the Imperial Guards are used to being pampered, so they may not be fully armored during the march."

Wu Anqing's eyes lit up: "Is the chief planning to ambush them halfway?"

Li Zheng nodded and smiled, "That's right. Dangshan has many dense forests, and the government troops don't travel at night. We just need to ambush in the forest at dawn and wait for the enemy to arrive."

"Let the Imperial Guards pass through first, and once the garrison troops escorting the weapons and armor arrive, they will charge out of the forest!"

"The Xiang Army will inevitably be thrown into chaos by the sudden attack, scattering and breaking formation. The Imperial Guards are not fully armored, so I expect they will not dare to fight back."

"At that time, we will use crossbows to hold the line, and take the opportunity to plunder armor and weapons. We'll take as much as we can, and if we can't take anything, we'll burn it all!"

Zhang Yin was dumbfounded. He was thinking about how to escape from the government troops, but Li Zheng had already begun planning to rob them.

Bandits robbing government troops—what unfamiliar terms these are.

Wu Anqing, however, remained calm and countered with, "What if the Imperial Guards are wearing full armor?"

Li Zheng shook his head inwardly; Wu Anqing was still not enough to quell Zhou's army.

The Imperial Guards are completely corrupt; they can even embezzle half of their salaries without working. How can you expect them to be disciplined?

"It all depends on human effort," Li Zheng replied. "If that military commander is truly skilled in managing troops, we can let them pass and then simply escape."

Upon hearing this, Wu Anqing nodded without further hesitation: "It's worth a try."

"Alright!" Li Zheng looked at Zhang Yin, "Have the brothers start preparing immediately, and also inform Tang Meng that they must assemble at the foot of the mountain before dark."

Zhang Yin said worriedly, "We haven't informed the brothers yet. What if some of them don't want to come with us?"

Li Zheng said, "Take those who come with us, and kill those who don't..."

Zhang Yin was taken aback: "Huh?"

Li Zheng said indifferently, "War is not a game. Deserters will be executed without mercy. This is an ironclad rule since ancient times."

I don't know how to say nice things like "I don't force things on others".

The most basic rule in the underworld: When you're in this business, you have to be loyal!

When the government troops come, you want to run away? What were you thinking when you were drinking and eating meat?

If you don't follow your own path, you'll die.

Zhang Yin hesitated for a moment, then bowed and agreed, and went to gather his men.

The next moment, the entire mountain village sprang into action.

Li Zheng also came to his room and called Yan Yun and Qing Yatou.

"We're leaving." Li Zheng looked at Yan Yun. "Can you ride a horse?"

Yan Yun replied, "Yes, Father taught me."

"Alright, I'm entrusting Qing'er to you now. You must protect her, understand?"

"Brother, rest assured, with me here, your sister will not lose a single hair."

Li Zheng patted his head: "Go to Old Guy's place and get a suit of armor. We'll be setting off soon."

"Yes."

After giving his instructions, Li Zheng went to put on his armor.

He wore two layers of iron armor underneath, a black overcoat, a hand axe at his waist, and a hard bow on his back.

Holding a spiked club, with his face covered by a black cloth, revealing only his phoenix eyes, he looked every bit the fierce and ruthless bandit.

"Brother," came Zhang Yin's weak voice from behind, "it's all ready."

Li Zheng turned around and saw Zhang Yin and Wu Anqing already standing outside the door waiting.

Zhang Yin's face was somewhat ashen. He carried a bow and arrows on his back and a knife at his side, and there were obvious bloodstains on his clothes.

Clearly, there were still some henchmen who refused to obey orders, and they have been executed by him.

Zhang Yin's personality made him more composed than Tang Meng, but he wasn't as decisive as Tang Meng when it mattered most.

If something like this happens again, let Tang Meng handle it.

Li Zheng didn't mention it, and simply said, "Let's go."

As the sun began to set, Li Zheng arrived outside the mountain stronghold, surrounded by a group of people.

All the henchmen have been assembled, including 121 former Black Wind Stronghold henchmen, 32 soldiers from Green Dragon Stronghold, and 57 surrendered soldiers from Zhang Family Stronghold, totaling 210 people.

Among them were thirty crossbowmen, eight archers, twenty armored shield bearers, and the rest of the henchmen, each armed with a long spear, a cudgel, and a broadsword, giving them quite the imposing presence of bandits.

This was all the power Li Zheng had at his disposal.