The sky had just gotten a little brighter, and the sound of gongs and drums was heard in Zeyun Village. Then, many lights sounded almost at the same time, and countless noises came from the village. It was obvious that they had discovered something happened on the cliff.
"Send out all the people and search everywhere for me. We must find who has sneaked into the village?" After hearing the report from his subordinates, Kuang Zhaolei, the head of Yunze Village, frowned. He knew the danger of this matter because of his experience.
"Master, it seems that the officers and soldiers are about to launch an attack. You go to the front and take charge of the overall situation. Leave the task of cleaning up these infiltrators to me!" At this time, the second master of Yunze Village, Chen Tianshun, hurried over in his clothes. .
"Okay, thank you for your hard work, brother!" Kuang Zhaolei trusted Chen Tianshun, and after listening to his words, he led most of the bandits towards the village gate.
Chen Tianshun took the remaining bandits and searched around the village. Although Zeyun Village was relatively large, nearly two hundred bandits were scattered around and searching. It stands to reason that traces of the infiltrators would be found soon, but it has been so long. They found nothing.
"Boss, didn't you agree that the army would start attacking on time? Why is there still no movement yet?" Zhao Hu asked Ye Ying in a low voice on the trail leading to the back mountain.
"I'm also wondering about this problem. These bandits can't find us in the mountain stronghold, and they will search here sooner or later. And if we want to prevent their people from retreating to the back mountain, it is impossible to leave here." Ye Ying looked into the distance. , vaguely feeling that something was wrong, with a trace of anxiety in his eyes.
On the lake at the foot of Zeyunzhai Mountain, there were many boats of different sizes moored, and each boat was filled with fully armed soldiers from the new barracks. On the largest ship among them, Sima Chi, wearing bright silver armor, was standing on the bow of the ship in high spirits.
"Sir, didn't you say that Chen Shi has started to attack? It's almost Si Shi, why haven't you let the brothers take action yet?" Zheng Qiang, the opponent standing on the side, asked Sima Chi with some doubts.
"Why rush? When the sun rises three poles higher, the thick fog will become much thinner. Then we can see more clearly and the attack will be more efficient." Sima Chi looked at the direction of Zeyun Village and said slowly.
After listening to Sima Chi's words, Xu Qiang said nothing more, but he looked in the direction of Ze Yun with a worried look in his eyes.
At this time, the leader of Zeyun Village, Kuang Zhaolei, was standing by the lake with a large group of bandits. He frowned tightly as he looked at the officers and soldiers waiting in formation by the lake. He vaguely felt that the officers and soldiers would not move forward several times. The thunder is loud and the raindrops are small.
"Go and inform the second master and ask him to organize the brothers in the village and prepare to retreat to the back mountain." After thinking for a while, Kuang Zhaolei turned to a bandit beside him and said.
In the village, Chen Tianshun led the bandits who stayed in the village. I searched almost all over the village but couldn't find any trace of the infiltrator, so I turned my search to the back mountain.
When the bandit conveyed Kuang Zhaolei's words to him, a thought flashed through Chen Tianshun's mind. This thought immediately made Chen Tianshun break into a cold sweat on his back.
"Brothers, come with me to Niujiaopo." Chen Tianshun's face instantly turned frighteningly dark.
Niujiaopo is the only way to the back mountain from Zeyun Village. The road in this place is narrow, the terrain is steep, and it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. If someone blocks this place, it will completely cut off the retreat of the bandits in Zeyun Village.
After thinking about this clearly, Chen Tianshun suddenly became anxious. While he led people to Niujiaopo, he prayed that the infiltrator did not know this place.
At the top of Niujiaopo Mountain Road, Ye Ying and his more than 20 brothers were quietly hiding in the bushes there. At this time, his heart was not calm at all. The delay in launching an attack from the bottom of the mountain made him He felt a little uneasy.
When leaving, Sima Chi made a clear agreement with him that the army would attack the village from Chenshi. As long as he defended the enemy's retreat, there was a high probability that the bandits in Zeyun Village would be annihilated this time.
In order to avoid exposing his whereabouts, Ye Ying only brought more than 20 soldiers under his command this time. It is not a big problem to defend this place in a short time, but it will be troublesome if it takes a long time.
What are you really afraid of? What's coming? When Ye Ying was extremely anxious, a sound suddenly came from the mountain road ahead. He had always had good hearing, and he could tell from the footsteps of many people.
This situation suddenly made Ye Ying's heart sink completely. It was obvious that the people who came at this time were enemies rather than friends, but at this time there was still no sound of fighting from the bottom of the mountain.
"Boss, someone is coming!" At this time, Zhao Hu also heard the footsteps, and he whispered to Ye Ying.
"Tell the brothers to hide themselves. If they don't come up, let's do it. If they charge up, the brothers will attack. We must not let any enemy rush up this hillside."
Ye Ying looked at the mountain road in the distance, his eyes full of determination.
A group of bandits soon appeared in Ye Ying's sight. The number of bandits was similar to what Ye Ying had predicted. There were about two hundred people, which was about ten times the number of Ye Ying and his group.
No one was found on the road to Niujiaopo. Chen Tianshun breathed a sigh of relief, but he did not dare to be careless and ordered several of his gangsters to climb to the top of the slope and search the surrounding area.
Ye Ying and others on the top of the slope were also very nervous at this time, because there was no sound of fighting below, and they didn't know what was going on. If the enemy discovered them earlier at this time, they would be in more danger. .
What made Ye Ying feel helpless was that two bandits actually came searching up the slope. If they came up, he and others would have nowhere to hide. Thinking of this, Ye Ying had no choice but to wave his hand and summon Shan Fu and Zhao Hu over.
Shan Fu and Zhao Hu grew up together with Ye Ying. They had a good tacit understanding with Ye Ying. As soon as they saw Ye Ying's movements, they knew what was going on. So they each quietly drew a crossbow from their backs and aimed at the two bandits who were climbing up the slope.
Chen Tianshun below also kept his eyes focused on the two bandits. Seeing that they were almost at the top of the slope and nothing unusual happened, Chen Tianshun's hanging heart finally relaxed a little.
At this moment, two screams were suddenly heard, and the two bandits who went up to check the situation suddenly fell to the ground, and then rolled down the slope with a grunt.
Seeing this situation, the bandits behind them immediately ran over and grabbed the two companions, but they suddenly discovered that both of them had a crossbow arrow stuck in their chests, and their fronts were soaked with blood. It seemed that the two had encountered each other. There was an ambush.
The moment the two bandits rolled down the slope, Chen Tianshun already knew something was wrong. Next, the situation reported by the bandits confirmed his guess. The fact that Chen Tianshun least wanted to admit happened. The infiltrators were indeed hiding on Niujiao Slope.
"Boar, you have quick legs and feet. Go to the village and ask them to push those big guys up. The others are going to kill them with me." Chen Tianshun knew that the matter was urgent. He did not dare to waste any time and immediately issued the order. Order.
After listening to Chen Tianshun's order, the bandits immediately took action. Except for the bandit who went to report the news, the rest raised various weapons and rushed up the slope in a chaotic manner, shouting all the way.
At this time, Ye Ying and others on the mountain no longer concealed their figures, and emerged from the jungle one after another. They took out their crossbows and shot at the bandits who were getting closer and closer.
The bandits who ran at the front were quickly hit by arrows. They each held the injured part, either fell to the ground and started rolling, or started running away backwards.
The bandits behind did not expect that the people in front would want to run back at this time. For a moment, the entire team was squeezed into a ball, and many people were squeezed to the ground. They rolled down the slope. The bandit team, which was already very messy, Now it's even more out of order.
Chen Tianshun looked at the bandits who fled back in embarrassment. He was furious and prepared to organize them again to attack the enemies on the hillside.
At this time, a voice shouting to kill suddenly came from the bottom of the mountain. Listening to this voice, there were many people fighting below.
"Brothers, the officers and soldiers at the foot of the mountain have begun to attack the stronghold. If we don't open a retreat, our Yunze village will be wiped out by all the officers and soldiers. For our own sake and for the sake of our wives, children, and children, everyone, come on!" Chen Tianshun He shouted loudly, then picked up a ghost-headed sword and took the lead in rushing towards the hillside.
Seeing this, the other bandits finally plucked up the courage and once again rushed towards the hillside with various weapons, and arrows were shot from the hillside again. But this time, the bandits were well prepared. They either used weapons to block or built trees and rocks beside the road to hide, which greatly reduced the hit rate of the crossbow arrows.
"Brothers, don't be afraid. They climbed up from the cliff and couldn't bring too many arrows with them!" Chen Tianshun knocked away a crossbow arrow with his ghost-headed sword, turned around and shouted loudly to the people behind him.
So, under the leadership of Chen Tianshun, the bandits slowly moved towards the top of the slope again.
Chen Tianshun's judgment was very accurate. The arrows Ye Ying and the others brought were indeed limited. After several rounds of shooting, their crossbow arrows were basically used up.
Ye Ying raised his head and looked in the direction down the mountain, but saw nothing. He could only hear the shouts of death coming from down the mountain, with an anxious look in his eyes.
Ye Ying really didn't understand why the battle at the foot of the mountain was later than agreed. It was a full hour. You must know that these two hours were very fatal to him and others.
Although the number of bandits is greater than that of officers and soldiers, their combat personnel are less than half at most. The rest are old, young, women, and Confucians who serve as family members or servants. They cannot go into battle to kill the enemy.
Therefore, if the original attack time was followed, the main force of the new barracks led by Sima Chi would have at least reached the gate of Zeyun Village by now, but they delayed this time.
Now there is no other way but to hold on. Military orders are like mountains. Since I have accepted the task of guarding here, giving up here will be punished by military law.
At this time, Ye Ying finally understood that this matter was completely arranged by Sima Chi. Sima Chi would be very satisfied if he defended here and died fighting, or retreated and was dealt with by military law.
Judging from the current situation, Cao Zhen's temporary transfer to the army headquarters was most likely due to Sima Chi's conspiracy. No wonder Cao Zhen would ask his soldiers to bring him a "be careful" message before departure. Ye Ying originally thought he was telling himself to be careful of bandits in the mountains, but now he finally understood. Cao Zheng reminded him that this sentence was more important to make him wary of "one of his own" behind him.
But now, he has not been given a mission in the new barracks for a long time, and now he can understand that Cao Zhen deliberately arranged this in order to avoid being plotted by Sima Chi. The last time he was arranged to escort Lu Tianzhao, Cao Zhen also chose to send him out when Sima Chi was out.
Thinking of this, Ye Ying's gratitude to Cao Zhen increased. This battalion commander with no background would definitely not be able to compete with the powerful Sima family, but he still used his own way to silently protect himself.
Just when Ye Ying was thinking, the crossbows carried by the soldiers had been used up, and several corps commanders were directing the soldiers to throw down the stones they had prepared in a hurry after coming up. But in a hurry, what could be prepared was too limited, and there were no more stones.
