Chapter 2 The Downfall of the Bandits

  To avoid this war disaster in front of us and survive until the Jin army retreats, we must have enough food in our hands.

  Thinking of this, Wei Zheng let out a long sigh and asked Zhao Yun in front of him: "Old Zhao, you are the closest person to me in the entire mountain stronghold. Tell me, how much family property is left in our mountain stronghold? According to my calculation, the Later Jin cavalry surrounding Chengde City will not retreat within a few months. If we don't have food, we can't hold out until the Later Jin cavalry retreats..."

  Upon hearing the two words "family background", Zhao Yun's thick and honest face immediately turned gloomy.

  Taking a deep breath, under Wei Zheng's gaze, he replied: "Great leader, our mountain stronghold originally had over 140 people. But due to today's losses, the 140 people were reduced to only 63."

  Seeing the fleeting look of disappointment on Wei Zheng's face, Zhao Yun followed up by adding: "Although there are only 63 people left, however, all 63 remaining people are young and strong, not a single old or weak one is holding us back."

  Just then, Wei Zheng suddenly interjected: "Old Zhao, let me tell you something from the heart. In today's world, grain is the most important thing. Without grain, no matter how many people we have, it's useless. When the time comes, even if the Tartars don't attack us, hunger can still starve us to death."

  "So, what I want to know most now is our grain reserve... how much grain is left in the whole stronghold..."

  "Zhao Yun's face, which was just gloomy, was suddenly covered with despair."

  A bad premonition suddenly rose in Wei Zheng's heart.

  "Old Zhao, are you saying that we've run out of food? How is that possible? We're bandits, how can we not have food? If we don't even have food, then being a bandit is really too embarrassing..."

  Upon hearing this, Old Zhao seemed to recall the more than 70 brothers who had just died at the hands of the bandits. With a pained expression, he replied to Wei Zheng: "Big Master, if we had food in our hands, we wouldn't have taken such a great risk to rob the bandits, whom even government soldiers dare not confront in the wilderness... Our mountain stronghold also wouldn't have lost more than 70 brothers at once..."

  Although he didn't see the escape with his own eyes, through Zhao Yun's account in front of him, Wei Zheng already understood that if it weren't for those brothers who died, he wouldn't have been able to escape the pursuit of the Tartars and return to the mountain stronghold.

  Whether it was out of a desire for revenge for his deceased brother or out of his own hatred for the Tatars, that is, the Manchu Qing dynasty.

  Wei Zheng's calm face was suddenly covered with an unprecedented seriousness. He comforted Zhao Yun in a firm tone: "Brother Zhao, don't worry, our brothers will not die in vain. I, Wei Zheng, swear to heaven that one day we will make these Tartars pay for their crimes in blood, and they will pay the price..."

  In Zhao Yun's view, Wei Zheng's guarantee was absolutely a boastful statement made to comfort himself.

  Because now whether the mountain stronghold can continue to hold on is still an unknown number, let alone avenge, and it's against the undefeated Houjin cavalry.

  However, no matter what Weizheng thought in his heart, Zhao Yun's painful face still showed a hint of comfort because of this.

  After a brief moment of contemplation, he replied to Wei Zheng: "The head of the household, we still have some grain in our hands. However, all these grains are coarse grains and can only sustain us for seven days..."

  Upon hearing this, a wry smile filled with helplessness quickly appeared on Wei Zheng's face, and he asked Zhao Yun in response: "Brother Zhao, I didn't mishear...just enough coarse grain to sustain us for seven days is also considered having food...I think I understand now, we're a group of bandits who have fled to the wilderness, but actually, there's not much difference between us and the refugees outside; we can't even eat our fill."

  After finishing, without paying attention to Zhao Yun's constantly changing facial expression, he continued: "There is no food, let alone silver, there must be none. Besides, in this chaotic and lawless Junhua territory, even if we have silver, we can't buy food..."

  Just as Wei Zheng's expression on his face slowly changed from helplessness to despair, and then from despair to desperation.

  Zhao Yun's words suddenly took a turn, and he said: "The head of the household, although we don't have much food in our hands. However, there is one thing that we do have in our hands, and that is weapons."

  "Since the Tartars knocked on the gate, with a large number of officers and soldiers fleeing without a fight, it can be said that there are weapons everywhere in the entire Zhuozhou area. Our mountain stronghold also took advantage of this opportunity to make a small fortune."

  "Today, before departure, the standard weapons that only officers and soldiers could have, although not everyone had one. However, after losing so many people, the remaining sixty-three people almost all had a standard officer's weapon."

  "If we weren't facing Tartars, with such good weapons in hand, even if we were to run into two or three hundred government soldiers, we could still kill them off like falling flowers and flowing water."

  Finally hearing such good news, Wei Zheng's desperate face also revealed a glimmer of hope.

  There is no food, but you can go to the bandit's hand to rob. However, if there are no weapons at all, then there will be no chance to rob. From the current situation, although the entire mountain stronghold has fallen into disrepair, at least there is still enough capital for it to continue operating.

  Because Wei Zheng was only injured in the head, early next morning, as if nothing had happened, he began to conduct basic physical training in the only courtyard of the mountain stronghold, which was his own big house.

  In Wei Zheng's memory, there were many combat skills that surpassed this era, but these skills required a certain amount of physical strength to be effective. Although the body he currently occupied had a strong physique, if he couldn't train his limbs to be agile, many of the combat skills and movements he had learned would not be able to be used.

  So, just as the sky was getting light, Wei Zheng began his daily training.

  However, what made Wei Zheng puzzled was that he had been training in the big yard for three hours, but the huge mountain stronghold still didn't have any movement at all.....

  "Could it be that these bandits are still sleeping and don't train normally..." He thought to himself, having never truly seen his more than sixty subordinates, Wei Zheng.

  Just then, Zhao Yun happened to arrive at his own courtyard. Seeing himself training, he had a look of shock and amazement on his face.

  It wasn't until he asked himself the doubts in his heart that Zhao Yun came back to his senses from his shock.

  "Great General, you won't have forgotten this too, will you?... Our mountain stronghold still has a week's worth of rations, but these grains need to be boiled into porridge before we can eat them. The brothers drink porridge three meals a day, and there's no meat or fish at all - how are they supposed to have the energy for training? Moreover, in order not to starve, many brothers just lie down on their beds and sleep." Zhao Yun replied matter-of-factly.

  Wei Zheng, who still had a glimmer of hope for the counterfeit goods, was shocked once again.

  At the same time, I finally understood why in yesterday's battle, more than a hundred bandits with absolute military superiority could not defeat a dozen or so Jin soldiers.

  It's not that the Huns are too strong, but rather our own troops, these bandits, are too weak. Not only are they weak in combat, but they're also fighting on empty stomachs against the Huns.

  To let such a group of people go and desperately fight against the elite Golden Horde troops, in Wei Zheng's view, was no different from sending them to their deaths.

  After a brief moment of contemplation, he spoke to Zhao Yun in a firm tone: "No way, we can't let our brothers rest like this anymore. Otherwise, next time we encounter the enemy, we'll still be powerless. We must get our brothers to start training. Only when we're well-trained can we go out and seize food. With food, we can survive longer..."

  "Boss, I know you're thinking of everyone," Zhao Yun shook his head and asked back, "But when we can't even eat our fill, and haven't had a decent meal for several days in a row, how are the brothers supposed to train?"

  Under Zhao Yun's gaze, Wei Zheng directly affirmed in a tone that brooked no discussion.

  "If there is no food, we will find a way to get food. If there is no meat, we will also find a way to get meat..."

  Seeing Zhao Yun's furrowed brow and rapid descent into deep thought, Wei Zheng pointed to the large mountain behind the stronghold and asked: "Brother Zhao, if I'm not mistaken, there must be plenty of game in this big mountain behind us, right?"

  Zhao Yun's eyes suddenly lit up, but only lasted for five seconds before quickly dimming down.

  He nodded first, then shook his head and finally said: "The master of the house, in the mountains behind, there are not only prey, but also many large prey like wild boars. However, we don't have bows and arrows, no firearms, and there are no hunters here, even if we see the prey, we can't hit it."

  Wilderness survival is absolutely the most basic lesson for a special forces soldier.

  To survive longer in the wilderness, hunting is also a compulsory course for special forces. Standing in front of Zhao Yun, Wei Zheng was an excellent hunter in his previous life.

  A faint smile flashed across the corner of his mouth, and he gave a decisive order to Zhao Yun in front of him: "Who says you can't go hunting without bows and arrows? Don't worry, with me as the master of the house, tonight, I'll definitely let everyone have meat..."

  After finishing, he directly ordered Zhao Yun, who was shocked again in front of him: "Brother Zhao, you immediately go find twenty brothers with good martial arts skills, bring iron shovels and big knives to follow me into the mountain to hunt, hurry up, now is the right time for hunting..."

  Zhao Yun did not leave immediately, but instead asked in a daze: "Master, you can hunt... But I've never heard of it before, when did you learn to hunt?"

  "Wei Zheng waved his hand and said loudly: 'Don't care when I learned it, go find someone immediately...'"