The entire journey was silent.
Ten miles away from Laohukou is Honglingdu.
Honglingdu is not a ferry, there is no river here, it is just a place name.
Fan Kuai led his team to ambush here and be ready to respond at any time. Fang Shiqing led Guan Yu's team to move forward.
At the end of the Xu period, they sneaked to the foot of Laohukou Mountain.
According to the battle plan, the attack time is set at Chou hour.
In Chou time, in the dead of night and the bandits are already asleep, it is the best time to attack.
It was still early, so Fang Shiqing sent out a warning post, and then ordered the rest of the county soldiers to lurk, take a good rest, restore their physical strength, and replenish their spirits.
Night, quiet.
"Gu Gu Gu Gu..."
The cry of the night owl is pitiful, and the silence of the cold winter night is eerie.
At the foot of Laohukou Mountain, Qinghe County soldiers lurked in the dark, like hunting tigers, waiting for the opportunity; on the mountain, calm gradually returned; except for gambling, there was no other entertainment on the mountain. It was cold and freezing, so it was better to hide under the quilt and feel comfortable.
If there was no shortage of women under the covers, life would be perfect.
Hong Rengan hugged the pillow and tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
Yan Song, the magistrate of Shanyang County, was his sworn brother. The two of them are an official and a gangster. They have cooperated tacitly over the years and made a lot of money.
It's a pity that he is a bandit after all. Even if his eldest brother is the county magistrate, he can't live in the city every day, eating well, going to brothels, and living a fairy life.
He spent most of his time in the mountains drinking wine and eating dried meat. Sometimes he wonders why there are so many differences between people.
Everyone is a bandit, why can Yan Song lie in the city every day and be a god, but he has to stay in the mountains and be a bandit?
Do you want to discuss it with him and exchange their identities?
And the Qinghe businessman named Wu, is he willing to exchange the secret recipe for hostages? The robbed fine salt was placed in Shanyang County, waiting to be sold. Even if the fine salt is not sold, it is still salt.
Salt is not silver, no amount of it is of any use to him.
He actually admired Yan Song for being able to think of the secret recipe for salt production in the hands of a businessman named Wu. It is the real treasure.
The wind blew and the dead branches rustled.
Fang Shiqing closed his eyes and fell asleep. The war was about to begin, and her spiritual platform was clear. She didn't have any distracting thoughts, and she just focused on rehearsing the entire battle plan. This is the first time she has independently led a team to suppress bandits, and it is also her first expedition, which is a huge challenge for her.
Su Xiucai's "The Essentials of the Art of War" states that in order to win a war, one needs to have the advantages of time, location, and people.
In this battle, she has no advantage due to the favorable location.
But she can attack him unprepared and take him by surprise. By making use of her own strengths and making up for her shortcomings, she has a chance of winning.
She must win, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous.
Ximen Feixue chewed on a piece of grass in boredom. The grass was dry and it was difficult to bite.
Guan Yu carefully wiped the gun with his gun hand. The adults said that this thing is delicate and needs to be wiped frequently, especially before going into battle, otherwise it will easily malfunction.
The county soldier who didn't have a gun suddenly came up to him with an envious look on his face, but he drove him away. Didn't he understand the military order?
The captain asked you to lurk and rest, don’t you understand?
Do you want me to say it again using military law?
The county soldier left angrily, thinking that sooner or later I would have a blunderbuss, you have to be such a jerk!
Laohukou was not without terrain advantages. Hong Rengan was able to occupy this place for a long time, except for the towering wall that he hugged Yan Song's thigh tightly. The wall is built against the mountain and is about two feet high.
If it hadn't been built on a mountain, some people might have mistaken it for a city.
In reality it was a bandit den.
Perhaps Hong Rengan was careless, or perhaps he never thought that anyone would dare to go up the mountain in Yansong's territory to cause trouble for him, so the defense of the entire village was lax. Fang Shiqing and the others only encountered one sentry post all the way up from the foot of the mountain.
The two bandits on sentry duty were sleeping soundly around the fire pit. Guan Yu slapped one of the bandits hard before he woke up. He was still confused, so Guan Yu slashed his artery with a knife.
The other one was stabbed in the heart by Zhan Zhao while he was still sleeping.
The operation went more smoothly than expected. Fang Shiqing's confidence increased greatly and his fighting spirit was high. They soon reached the front of the mountain stronghold.
The moon buds hang in the sky, and the moonlight is weak. The outline of the cottage city wall is vaguely visible.
"It's really really high."
Guan Yu looked at the wall of the village and sighed. He originally wanted to urinate against it. Because there was a beautiful captain by his side, he could only omit this signature move that best expressed a man's admiration and disdain.
Fang Shiqing signaled to Ximen Feixue. Ximen Feixue understood the idea and used the magic technique. However, he saw his silhouette flashing and the sound of the wind had not stopped. He had already appeared in front of the cottage door a few feet away.
"Pretending!"
Guan Yu spat lightly.
Fang Shiqing glared at him. Although she didn't know what "pretending" meant, she understood that it was definitely not a good word. I thought that the scholar was powerless, but his curse words were first-class.
The county soldiers under her would utter one or two curse words from time to time, and without exception, they were the spit of the scholar.
But they are not ashamed of it, but proud of it!
They also shamelessly said that they are so arrogant when they scold others, who wouldn't take them as an example?
When Guan Yu saw Fang Shiqing's unkind eyes, he explained nonchalantly, "Actually, those are good words, specially used to express personal praise."
Fang Shiqing's eyes became even more unkind, and he raised his hand and whipped Guan Yu.
"Are you really bullying me for not having read a book?"
Just as Guan Yu was about to open his mouth and cry out in pain, Fang Shiqing had already raised his whip again, his eyes sharp.
"Can you try shouting?"
Guan Yu quickly shut up and swallowed the pain.
After being honest, Fang Shiqing came to his senses and suddenly remembered that he seemed to have used Confucian swear words just now, especially...
Have I also been assimilated by the sour scholar?
"Gu Gu Gu Gu..."
The cry of a night owl from the cottage interrupted her confusion. That was a security alert from Ximen Feixue. The obstacle had been cleared and it was time for them to take action.
Fang Shiqing put away his whip, drew out his sword, and ordered softly:
"superior!"
County soldiers filed forward.
Ximen Feixue stood in front of the open door of the cottage and responded, "Quick, quick, move softly..."
Mao Shiba was awakened by a splash of urine, but the weather was too cold, and he resisted not only going to the latrine, but even leaving the bed.
But there are three urgent needs for people, and holding in urine is the most difficult.
In desperation, he reached out and grabbed the teapot, poured out the cold water inside, and let it serve as a chamber pot.
After the overwhelming feeling, he felt relaxed all over.
"rustle……"
The tips of his ears suddenly twitched slightly, and he seemed to hear footsteps. The footsteps were light and steady, as if there were quite a few people.
He concluded that the other party was not from the village.
So who are they?
Mao Laoba gently put down the tea...chamber pot, quickly put on his clothes, and took off the machete hanging on the wall. He also gathered the quilt to make it look like he was still sleeping in bed.
Then, he quietly walked to the door, machete in hand, and waited silently.
