Chapter 20: Get your gear ready!

  （0020）

  "Get your stuff together!"

  "Go back!"

  Zhang Zhun immediately gave orders.

  The guards returned to Yangjia Village and found that what had happened in Yangjia Village was even more cruel than what the mouse had described.

  Not only was the private salt stolen, but even people were taken away in batches, including Yang Yinghua, Yang Rui Feng and Yang Gan Sheng siblings. More than half of the team members' families also had brothers and sisters taken away, the situation is very serious. The salt bandits came and left quickly, obviously they are old hands.

  All the thatched cottages were in a mess, and all the valuable things had been looted. Those who resisted were beaten to death or injured. Yang Zhiyuan quickly counted the wounded villagers, totaling over ten people, two of whom were seriously injured and on the verge of death, fortunately still clinging to their last breath, and should be able to be rescued in time.

  Zhang Zhun returned to the Yang's house and saw that the wind chimes made of broken shells were scattered all over the ground, it was clear how Yang Yinghua had been taken away. Upon entering the house, he saw Yang Kaidi lying in a corner, already unconscious. There was blood on his forehead, apparently inflicted by a sharp blade.

  Looking around again, the sea salt stored at home was gone, and all the valuable things were also gone. Even the last 20-30 kilograms of rice in the rice jar were taken away by the salt thieves. These salt thieves are really more ruthless than bandits.

  "Which direction did the Salt Hawk retreat?"

  "Willow Creek!"

  "Let's go!"

  Zhang Zhun immediately led the crowd towards Liu Shu Gou.

  From Yangjiatun to Liushugou, it's about a ten-mile journey. The soldiers of the Zha Yu team are trained very rigorously every day, so they have a relatively strong physical quality and can march quickly. It's estimated that they will arrive in about thirty minutes.

  Zhang Zhun ran at the forefront of the team, running all the way and thinking along the way.

  Was Yan Xiang's looting this time intentional or unintentional?

  The salt bandits had never come to Yangjia Village to plunder before, why did they suddenly come today? Why didn't they rob Renjia Village or Hou Nan Village, but instead came all the way to rob Yangjia Village? This doesn't make sense. For the same gain, they would have to pay a greater price, unless the salt bandits were instructed by someone else.

  According to Haozi's intelligence, there are 19 salt bandits who have come to Yangjia Village this time, led by a man named Lei Lao San. This Lei Lao San had previously appeared in Wang Shengxin's thousand household official hall. This suggests that even if the two men do not have an extremely close relationship, they at least know each other. If we continue to speculate along these lines, it is highly likely that Lei Lao San's robbery this time was targeted.

  Wang Shixin himself did not show up, but he instructed Yan Jiao to come and poison him. He was indeed a sinister guy.

  "My god!"

  "If you dare to do it, then you must dare to take responsibility!"

  Zhang Zhun hastened his pace.

  As salt bandits, they were all desperate and fearless fugitives. Although there were only nineteen of them, their combat strength was still quite strong. Zhang Zhun would not underestimate his opponents. However, he had also made up his mind to absolutely not let a single one of them escape.

  You use violence against us, I will fight back with even more violent violence!

  Who's afraid of who when using violence?

  It's somewhat comforting that, since these salt smugglers grabbed the sea salt, they had to force others to carry it for them on foot, so their speed was definitely not fast. The purpose of capturing Yang Ruiqiang and others was also to help them carry the salt. The salt smugglers themselves would not have been willing to rush along with over 100 catties of private salt on their shoulders. The uneven footprints on the road also proved this point.

  Zhang Zhun and others had only weapons in their hands, and they were filled with anger, advancing at a very fast speed, rushing to Liushuigou before the salt bandits, which was definitely not a problem. Sure enough, after half an hour, Zhang Zhun and others arrived at Liushuigou first.

  The terrain of the willow tree ditch is very special. To be precise, it's not a good place for an ambush. The two sides of the willow tree ditch are all slopes, bare and barren, with no vegetation to hide people. If the salt bandits arrive here and send people to check the slopes on both sides for any hidden dangers, Zhang Zhun and his men would definitely be exposed.

  However, the willow tree ditch also has its advantages for an ambush. The road passes through a depression in the middle of the slope, with a width of less than one zhang, just like a tunnel in later generations. This terrain is not conducive to the salt bandits' deployment. If they were to be suddenly ambushed, they would still be flustered. Another great advantage of this terrain is that it's like closing the gate and hitting the dog, with both ends blocked, not a single salt bandit can escape.

  Since we're going to take them all out, this terrain is naturally the first choice.

  So Zhang Zhun decided to ambush the salt bandits in Liu Shu Gou.

  He arranged the members of the fishing team to lie down on both sides of the slope, about ten or more zhang away from the road below. When the salt bandits passed by on the road below, everyone immediately jumped out and rushed down along the slope. This section of the slope happened to increase the penetrating power of the bamboo spears. From a high position, charging downwards, even if the enemy was wearing iron armor, they would still be pierced to death by the bamboo spears.

  Of course, on the premise that the bamboo spear has enough accuracy.

  However, Zhang Zhun believes that everyone has already practiced assassination tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of times, and the accuracy and strength are still

  There must be some effect after tens of thousands of times of practice.

  Besides, since it's a battle, there's no way to avoid casualties. He has already prepared himself for the cost of sacrifices. Even if it means losing a few lives, being able to rescue his fellow villagers would be worth it.

  "Get ready for battle!"

  "First use bamboo spears to charge and stab!"

  "If the bamboo spear is not handy, discard it immediately!"

  "Don't ever try to pull away from Yan Jia!"

  "When engaging in close combat, use the triangular spear to end the fight!"

  While waiting for the arrival of the Salted Fishes, Zhang Zhun carefully explained the tactics to each member of the Zha Yu team and boosted everyone's morale.

  Hao Linyong and others are also grasping the time to teach every teammate around them practical combat skills. Some team members' emotions seem a bit anxious, needing comfort.

  This is not a drill, not an exercise, this is real combat, people will die. If the team members master a few more skills, casualties may be reduced. Of course, everyone must be mentally prepared to make sacrifices, that's for sure. Cowards who are afraid of trouble would never join Zhang Zhun's Zha Yu team.

  "Here I come!"

  The scout mouse appeared in front of them.

  The vanguard of the salt bandits' troops was less than a mile away from Liutree Gully.

  "Take up your arms!"

  "This is your only chance to rescue your loved ones!"

  "Nineteen salt smugglers! Not one will be spared!"

  Zhang Zhun calmly gave out a string of orders.

  Everyone's heart is about to beat violently.

  Everyone held a bamboo spear and a trident, quietly crouching behind the earth slope.

  Before long, footsteps echoed from afar, and the Salt Hawk squad swaggered in.

  Nineteen salt smugglers, escorting more than twenty people, were indeed moving at a very slow pace.

  Yang Rui and others who were captured, all carried salt bags, walking slowly, seemingly very weak. Their usual pace of walking would not be so slow, this was to give Zhang Zhun more time to rescue them. They believed that Zhang Zhun would definitely come to their rescue.

  Yang Yinghua carried a load of salt on her back, walking behind Yang Ruijing, with several young men from the same village by her side. It seemed that they were consciously protecting Yang Yinghua. What's more, Yang Yinghua somehow got some soot and smeared it on her face, covering up her original beauty. Plus her outfit was plain, unless you knew her well, you really couldn't tell she was a beautiful woman.

  That salt smuggler called Lei Lao San was walking in the middle of the group, right next to Yang Yingwa. Lei Lao San's body wasn't tall, but he looked very sturdy, with scars all over his body that were clearly visible. His most distinctive feature was his triangular eyes, which were very cold and very ruthless. Obviously, this was a man who had crawled out from under a pile of dead bodies.

  However, today's Lei Lao San is clearly not in good shape and didn't even notice the ambush troops within twenty zhangs of him. Looking at his appearance, it seems like he just rushed to grab the salt and capture people, and then considered it done, without worrying about other military households catching up.

  These bandits didn't have firearms, only steel knives and the like for weapons, no bows or arrows either. This means they couldn't launch a long-distance attack. After a brief moment, everyone charged down, bamboo spears thrust forward, and it was a real melee fight.

  It was probably unexpected that Zhang Zhun and others would ambush themselves halfway, each salt bandit looked very relaxed, steel knives were basically inserted behind their backs, and few people held them in their hands. Even some salt bandits were humming unknown tunes, shaking their heads and enjoying themselves.

  "Kill!"

  As the Salt Hawk troops entered the ambush position, Zhang Zhun swung his hand without hesitation.

  The warriors of Zha Yu's team immediately jumped up, raised their bamboo spears and charged down.

  "Ah!"

  Zhang Zhun was the first to jump up and run down like a cheetah.

  The two sides of the willow tree ditch were steep and straight, about two meters high, just blocking the line of sight of the salt bandits. They heard movements on both sides, as if someone was rushing down, but due to the blocked view, they couldn't judge for a while how many people there were and what kind of people they were, and involuntarily became somewhat flustered.

  Zhang Zhun rushed to the edge of the pit and jumped down.

  The place where he jumped down was just beside Yang Yingwa.

  Yang Yingwa has two salt smugglers by her side.

  The two salt bandits heard someone rushing down from above, but couldn't see anyone. They hastily drew their knives, however Zhang Quan arrived too quickly and the two steel knives didn't have a chance to be raised before a black shadow had already fallen beside them.

  "Pffft!"

  Zhang Zhun's two three-edged daggers stabbed left and right, and the two salt bandits immediately fell to the ground, without even making a humming sound. It wasn't until the steel knife in his hand hit the ground that it made a dull thud.

  Lei Lao San's reaction was not slow, and he immediately drew his steel knife as soon as he sensed that someone was ambushing him. From his posture, it could be seen that he was an old hand at fighting. He tried to gather all the salt bandits around him, forming a circle, united against outsiders.

  However, Zhang Zhun never gave him this opportunity.

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