The hostages were successfully rescued, which greatly boosted the reputation of the newly established special battalion. Yu San took the opportunity to propose to Dong Hu that he should go to Yazhou to punish the traitors. According to the detectives of the Perak Army, the bandits who have frequently attacked caravans passing through Yazhou in recent times are the former Baizhang County Lieutenant who surrendered to the Mongolian army after killing the county magistrate. He later went to Mingshan City with the Mongolian army, but was abandoned when Cheli led the Mongolian cavalry to flee eastward. Because he knew that the Perak Army would not take him lightly, he fled into the mountains with dozens of new auxiliary soldiers from the mountain city of the same name and became bandits.
This traitor was ruthless and knowledgeable in military affairs. In a short time, he annexed several groups of small bandits nearby. The number of bandits swelled to more than 200 people, causing chaos in the area. Because he hated the Perak Army for driving away the Mongols and causing him to lose his glory and wealth, he vowed to be sworn in with the Perak Army. Cao Zhizhou aimed at this point and let him plunder everywhere, even deliberately condoning it. In fact, the attack on the Lizhou Fire Salt Mine was ordered by Cao Zhizhou. The reason why Cao Zhizhou did this was that on the one hand, he could use the hands of bandits to attack the Perak Army, which would disgust Ouyang Xuan even if it did not cause serious damage; on the other hand, this traitorous county captain was not an ordinary bandit, but a political bandit. They are the lackeys of the Mongols. Cao Zhizhou was currently secretly negotiating surrender terms with the Mongols, so naturally he did not want to become their enemy.
After reconnaissance, the Pili Army figured out the activities of this group of political bandits and learned that their hiding place was a remote mountain village in Yandao County, Yazhou Administration. This village is as easy to defend and difficult to attack as Qianjiazhai. If political factors are not taken into consideration, the field brigade equipped with heavy weapons is the first choice to attack strong strongholds and forts. However, when operating within the boundaries of Yazhou, it is obvious that there cannot be any fanfare and must be carried out in a secretive and low-key manner. A sneak attack by special forces is the first choice. This is why Dong Hu was persuaded by Yu San. But Ouyang Xuan named the anti-traitor company to take on this task. In fact, the Anti-Corruption Company and the Special Forces Battalion are both units of the Internal Guard Brigade, and in terms of combat effectiveness, the latter is stronger. The reason why Ouyang Xuan sent out the anti-traitor company was not only to train the troops and cultivate multiple strong armies, but also to build up the prestige of the anti-traitor company and let the outside world know that the Perak Army has a team dedicated to killing traitors, so as to expose and surrender the traitors. Inseparable.
To destroy this political bandit, we obviously cannot expose ourselves. Cao Zhizhou would definitely not allow the Pili Army to operate in the borders of Yazhou, not to mention that the bandit leader knew about his secret collaboration with the Mongols. In fact, in some of Cao Zhizhou's transactions with the Mongols, bandits acted as intermediaries. Once something happened, Cao Zhizhou could deny it and pass the blame to these bandits. For the bandit leader, he was already a traitor anyway, so he simply went all the way to the dark side.
It is the right of the Perak Army to kill the bandits who robbed the caravan, but according to the rules of the officialdom and to cross the line to suppress the bandits, it means that the hand is stretched too far. Ouyang Xuan asked the hoeing company not to make a big fuss, after all, this was on the border of Yazhou. He was not afraid of falling out with Cao Zhizhou, because the Pili Army killed not only bandits, but also rebellious traitors, which occupied the moral high ground. Ouyang Xuan has decided that after the matter is over, not only does it need to be concealed, but it will be publicized in a big way.
On a cold day with drizzle, a caravan left Baizhang Pass and headed straight towards Lizhou. It was mid-December, and the temperature in the plains of western Sichuan was already cold. Snowflakes began to fall in Ya and Lizhou, while places such as Diao, Yanzhou, and Dajianlu were already completely white. It is really not a good time for the caravan to choose this midwinter period to go to Fan District. It's just that the Pili Army urgently needs the fire salt transported back to Lizhou and really can't wait. Since the mine in Lizhou was put into operation, Qian Bao has organized the shipment of fire salt three times, completely solving the demand gap. Fire salt mines have also been discovered in the mountainous areas near Qiongzhou City and Dayi and Qingcheng counties, but the output in these places is far less than that in Shanglizhou. As military production capacity increases, new demand gaps will inevitably form.
In fact, this caravan setting out in the freezing cold was not just for trade. It is also a lure for political bandits. This group of bandits defended the stronghold and could not attack it without heavy artillery. Therefore, the Perak Army decided on a strategy of luring the snake out of its hole. The caravan brought a large amount of salt, iron products and other supplies when it set out, and also purchased a large amount of tea in Yazhou City, preparing to trade with Zelin's people in Lizhou, and then transport back fire salt, mercury and other supplies on the return trip. With the support of the Pili Army, Zelang has become the local agent of the Pili Army and the largest force in Diao, Yanzhou, Dajianlu and nearby grasslands. With his help, the Perak Army caravans could purchase large quantities of mules, horses, medicinal materials, minerals, furs and other items in Lizhou without having to go further into Tibetan areas. Although Zelang took away part of the profits, it not only saved time but also obtained a large amount of urgently needed strategic materials for the Pili Army. It was really a win-win choice.
The caravan was followed outside Yazhou City, but they just pretended not to know and moved forward leisurely. A few days before the caravan left Yazhou, the members of the anti-traitor company took a small road to the mouth of the canyon where the bandit's den was located. This canyon is more than ten miles long, but there is only one road in and out, and the bandit's den is in the deepest part of the canyon. The soldiers of the Anti-Corruption Company were quietly lurking in the dense forest at the only entrance and exit to the canyon. For fear of exposing their target, they did not dare to light a fire to keep out the cold and could not eat hot food. Fortunately, they all wore fur clothes and had high-calorie foods such as sugar and dried meat during this trip, so they were able to endure the cold. This place is four or five miles away from the bandit's nearest sentry point, and the winter in Yazhou is as humid and foggy as the plains of western Sichuan. Therefore, more than a hundred of them lurked here for three days without being discovered.
After learning that the Perak Army caravan was leaving from Yazhou City, the bandits also left their den and set off. Ordinary bandits are reluctant to leave the warmth of the fire and go to the snow to rob in this weather where water turns to ice. It was just that they heard that the caravan's cargo was very rich, and it was a fat sheep. The bandit leader also promised that the robbery would not be commissioned but all would be distributed. This made this ragtag group of people cheer up. Grab your sword and gun and go to the road the caravan must pass to ambush. In order to lure the bandits into action, the Pili Army spent a lot of money on goods, so they were not afraid that they would not be fooled. Of course, these supplies are also urgently needed by Fan District, and Ze Lin is still waiting to make a fortune after transporting them back to Dajian Lu.
"You look at the scenery on the bridge, but you don't know that it also becomes the scenery in other people's eyes." The bandits lined up in a long line on the mountain road. There were more than two hundred people. It seemed that they were all out this time. After all, the bandit leader had served as a county captain, and he knew a bit about marching and fighting. He divided the team into three teams: front, middle and back, and placed scouts at the front, while he sat in the middle and commanded. When approaching the mouth of the canyon, he specifically ordered the whole team to stop advancing and wait until the scouts went to the front to detect anything abnormal before continuing. As long as you pass the most dangerous canyon mouth and walk for more than ten miles, you will be the place to attack the caravan.
The bandit leader thought about the large sum of money that he was about to get, and also thought that he could beat the Thunderbolt Army to get rid of the bad breath in his chest. He was so happy that he wanted to hum a tune. But when he thought about the bandit's reaction to his humming, he still held it back. A few days ago, he felt really happy after drinking, so he hummed a song, but a few of his blind men hurriedly comforted him and asked him what was so sad about him, why he was crying so sadly? This made him immediately angry and beat these ungrateful guys, even mistaking his humming for crying.
