News that Xiong Ben had sneaked away spread like wildfire. After hearing the news that he had run away with his soldiers, some of the bandit soldiers began to stir up a commotion. At this moment, they saw the Perak Army approaching step by step. The sharp-eyed bandits even saw the Perak Army soldiers taking the grenades from their waists, which caused the bandits to retreat one after another. The soldier captain who did not want to supervise the battle, the newly promoted second-in-command, was also a ruthless man. He killed the fastest retreating bandit soldier with one knife and shouted loudly: "We must fight to the end until Master Xiong goes to Yongkang County to bring back reinforcements." , then turned to those around him and said: "You guys go and wait for the ignition. If the stronghold is destroyed, set fire to the stronghold and let the unscrupulous people in Liuliba die together."
The words of the soldier captain instantly ignited the anger of the bandits. On weekdays, the captain of the soldiers used his power as a fox and did a lot of things to bully men and dominate women. The other bandits feared and hated him. Now Xiong Ben is letting the bandits be used as cannon fodder, and even if he escapes secretly, he also wants to burn the village down, which directly makes these bandits red-eyed. You must know that over the years, bandits and soldiers have robbed civilian girls, and many of them have wives and children. There are also some bandit soldiers who were originally Wanjiaping mountain residents, and they still have parents and brothers in the village. If this village is burned down, the bandits can follow Xiong Ben and flee to Yongkang City to survive, but their own family members will not be able to escape. On this dry autumn day, once the fire breaks out, the food and buildings in the village will definitely be burned down. The Perak Army will not embarrass women, children, old and young, but how will they survive in the coming winter? The bandits all know that the Perak Army does not support idlers. The disabled bandits who failed to attack Liuli Village in the first two times were all driven back to Wanjiazhai, and they all ended up miserable. Speaking of the disabled bandit soldiers, Xiong Ben claimed that he had sent them down the mountain for resettlement, but in fact he ordered his soldiers to kill and bury them. "Master Xiong said it would be better for these losers to die, so as not to waste money and food..." This news was blurted out by a bandit soldier who was executing the order after drinking, and soon the whole village knew about it. Xiong Ben's viciousness towards his own people made the bandits even more timid and fearful of fighting. In this confrontation with the Perak Army, they were defeated as soon as they encountered casualties.
"How dare you disobey me?"
Seeing that the bandits were still retreating and trying to stop the bandits who were preparing to burn the stronghold, the captain of the guards roared loudly.
"Do you want this to happen to Mo Feier and others?" He pointed the knife at the fugitive's head hanging on the wall of the village and continued to shout. The threat made the bandits stunned, and then they rushed towards him with their knives raised. Facing the swarming bandit soldiers, the captain of the soldiers shouted in a tone of anger and fear: "Are you going to rebel?" As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen knives were slashed at him. Although he was physically strong and highly skilled in martial arts, and he cut down two people in one confrontation, he was still no match for the gangsters who killed Red Eyes. He was hacked to death in an instant, and several of his followers who tried to set fire were also killed. . The Pili troops outside the wall heard the sounds of fighting and killing inside the village, but it became quiet again when they approached the gate of the village. At the moment of doubt, two unarmed bandits emerged from the breach in the wall and shouted loudly, "The bear is running, we surrender."
Standing on the tallest arrow tower in the village, Ouyang Xuan looked down at the entire Wanjiazhai. This Wanjiaping Village covers an area of dozens of acres. There are hundreds of houses within the walls of the village, surrounding a large open space in the middle. In the middle of the open space is a solid courtyard, which is where Xiong Ben and his soldiers live. It is also the "official office of the governor" in the mouth of the bandits. According to the confession of the surrendered bandit, Xiong Ben still remembered his former status as a military attaché of the Song Dynasty after abandoning his official position to become a bandit, and promoted himself and his men to higher ranks from time to time. When he lectured the bandits two years ago, he said that he had contacted the Lin'an court, and soon the court would appoint him as the governor of the town. Since then, he has called himself the governor of the town everywhere. This town governor was a senior local official in charge of the military and civilians who was set up by the Southern Song Dynasty court in Huainan, Jingxi, Hubei and other roads bordering the Jin Dynasty and the Puppet Qi Dynasty when it faced internal and external troubles. It was mainly used to recruit people who rebelled against the imperial court and defend the Jin army. Generally, surrendered rebel leaders were used to serve. The area under the jurisdiction of a Zhenfu envoy ranges from several prefectures, prefectures, and armies, and they also serve as magistrates or magistrates of prefectures. The establishment of this semi-independent local government system objectively delayed the Jin army's invasion of the Southern Song Dynasty, but it was not established after the fall of the Jin Dynasty. From this point of view, Xiong Ben’s ambition is indeed quite big.
This battle won the extremely important Wanjiazhai, which not only opened up the Rendu and Du lines for the development of Jiguan Mountain Area, but also enabled the Perak Army to strategically advance, attack, retreat and defend. Using this as a base, the Pili Army can gradually develop down the mountain, and then slowly map out the "Land of Abundance" in western Sichuan, which is rich in products. Even if the Mongolian army is strong, the Pili army can retreat to the Jiguan Mountains and temporarily hibernate to accumulate strength. This battle is not only crucial for future development, but also very timely in solving the current difficulties in the development of the Perak Army. Currently, under the rule of the Perak Army, industrial, mining and military training activities are being vigorously developed. Food and materials are being consumed very quickly. This makes Yang Xiucai, who is responsible for logistics expenses, frowning all day long and complaining every time he holds a meeting. The capture of Wanjiaping this time resulted in a large number of seizures, which was completely beyond Ouyang Xuan's expectations. From this, we can see how ferocious Xiong Ben was in plundering the passing merchants and exploiting the people inside and outside the mountain. It's just that Xiong Ben exploits the people and doesn't want to be someone else's wedding dress, which solves the immediate needs of the Perak Army now and in the future.
The first is population. After counting Wanjiazhai and surrounding residential areas, there are a total population of more than 1,000 people, including more than 400 male laborers. After screening, about 100 of them have participated in the Xiongben Bandit Gang and committed crimes. In addition, some arrests were made during this battle. Of the more than 300 bandit soldiers, a total of 400 need to be convicted and tried. The Perak Army gave these people various years of reform-through-labor based on their crimes - equivalent to obtaining another 400 free laborers, which effectively solved the urgent manpower shortage problem in various industries.
Second is land. There are nearly 3,000 acres of grain fields in and around Wanjiazhai, most of which are owned by Xiong Ben and other bandit leaders. Because the bandits live a life of getting something for nothing by robbing and "collecting taxes" and have no interest in hard agricultural production, there are still thousands of acres of sloping land around Wanjiazhai that have not been reclaimed. The land and wasteland under the name of the bandits were confiscated by the Perak Army and used to reward soldiers with military merit or those who made outstanding contributions in industry, mining, and business.
Again, food and other supplies. The grain seized this time came not only from the mountains, but also from the plains below the mountains. The varieties include not only rice and wheat, but also soybeans, sorghum and other grains, totaling about 300,000 kilograms. According to a soldier's consumption of two kilograms of grain a day, this grain can supply the needs of five hundred bandits in Wanjiazhai for a year. In addition to grain, materials from five warehouses were also seized. These materials were mainly daily necessities and mountain goods, such as cloth, oil, hemp, wine, and salt. These materials are produced by the Wanjiaping bandits themselves, such as wine, but they can only be enjoyed by bandit leaders such as Xiong Ben and their soldiers. The rest are the proceeds of robbery or forcibly plundered from various villages in the mountains in the name of "taxation" Later, only a few were purchased from outside the mountain, and they were forced to be purchased by villages in the mountain to obtain high profits. This batch of valuable materials and food was immediately put under strict guard by the soldiers of the Perak Army who arrived immediately.
Of course, in Ouyang Xuan's view, although these seized materials are good, they are not as good as the mineral resources in Wanjiaping and surrounding areas. These are important strategic materials needed for industrial development. According to preliminary inspection, there are a large number of coal mines, lime mines, and iron mines around Wanjiaping. The coal here is not only large in reserves, but also shallowly buried and of good quality. An unexpected surprise was the discovery of a copper mine. You must know that both Song Dynasties were short of copper, and the copper produced in the country was not enough to cast copper coins. Because of the lack of copper, many places had to cast iron coins that were heavy and easy to rust. In Sichuan, the lack of copper forced merchants to invent "Jiaozi". Of course, Ouyang Xuan would not use this precious copper to make money. Some time ago, he specially told Zhu Tiaozi to ask the trade team to purchase large quantities of copper materials. Although the current output of this copper mine is not large, the savings should be enough for recent industrial development. According to the account of the captured bandit, a small amount of sulfur and nitrate were also produced around Wanjiazhai, which the villagers mined and later sold to the Taoist temple in nearby Tianguo Mountain. After witnessing the astonishing power of the Pili Army's gunpowder weapons, Xiong Ben had already sent people to use force to "persuade" the Taoist priests at the Tianguo Mountain Taoist Temple to help develop gunpowder weapons. However, before the matter was revealed, the Pili Army attacked.
