Chapter Ten Ambushed

  The troops of the Ling Shan Guard, who were suddenly attacked, scattered in all directions like frightened rabbits and ran wildly like headless flies, no matter how much the officers and servants scolded them.

  A household servant rushed to He Zhengnan and reported: "Sir, these poor military dependents are of no use, scolding them is useless, I couldn't stop them!"

  With a crisp "crack", He Zhengnan's face turned iron-green as he raised his whip and gave the house servant a flurry of head-splitting lashes.

  "You scoundrel, how could I have raised such a fool?" He Zhengnan glared at the house servant and cursed, "You idiot, are those things in your hand just firewood? If those defeated soldiers don't listen to you, can't you even kill them?"

  Listening to He Zhengnan's words spitting out from between his teeth, the house servant's whole body shook, "Sir, this......"

  "What's this, didn't you hear what I said? I'm telling you, if you can't get those poor devils in line within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, I'll take your dog head right away."

  "Yes, the little man will go immediately." The head of the household's eyes flashed with a cold light, and he casually threw away the large wooden stick in his hand, drew out the waist knife from his waist, and led these few household servants to walk towards the still scattered troops.

  Bin Shi Qian, who was standing beside him, looked at He Zheng Nan with a hesitant expression, and finally mustered up the courage to say: "Sir, there are habitual bandits nearby. If we were to start killing indiscriminately now, it's likely to stir up trouble. Please reconsider!"

  He Zhengnan waved his hand and said impatiently, "Ben Hu, I know you can't bear to punish those poor soldiers. In fact, I'm also heartbroken, but now that the great enemy is in front of us, if we don't first discipline our troops and wait for those bandits to attack again, we'll be doomed!"

  "Alas..." Bin Shi Qian sighed and fell silent. He also knew that He Zheng Nan was telling the truth, but his heart couldn't help feeling uneasy. It was because he didn't have a thick enough skin or a black enough heart that he had lost to Zhao Da Xian in the competition for vice captain two years ago.

  It's strange to say that after those bandits shot two rounds of arrow rain, they retreated into the mountains and disappeared. They didn't take advantage of the chaos to gain an advantage, which gave He Zhengnan and others a misconception that the bandits were outnumbered and could only use some small ambush tactics to harass the garrison.

  After almost a meal's worth of effort, under the intimidation of the household troops wielding their weapons and over a dozen bloody heads, those military households gathered again. After the troops had assembled, He Zhengnan drew out his newly acquired Damascus curved knife and pointed at the mountain forest where the bandits appeared, saying: "Brothers, now is the time to kill the bandits and report to the country, brothers, charge into that mountain forest, kill one bandit and reward with one tael of silver, capture the bandit leader Wang Damao alive and reward with 100 taels of silver."

  "Kill him!"

  Under the leadership of each hundred households, the troops marched slowly into the unknown mountain forest in formation. Comrade Pang Gang was naturally among them, holding the uneven gun stock and walking in the middle of the troops. The calm mountain forest seemed to have a murderous aura. Heh heh, if it were three days ago, Pang Gang might have found it laughable - what murderous aura? But now, Pang Gang wouldn't think that way anymore. A vague sense of danger appeared in his mind, becoming clearer and clearer, making his scalp feel numb.

  He looked around and saw that the family guards were watching them, their swords drawn and eyes fixed on the soldiers. They had been given strict orders to show no mercy to any soldier who dared to escape, and the headless corpses from earlier were a stark reminder of this. A sense of being in a precarious situation suddenly rose up in Pang Gang's heart.

  "I will never again let anyone force me to go to the battlefield with a knife and sword, even if I have to go to the battlefield, I want to be the one holding the knife and sword forcing others to fight!" At this time, Pang Gang did not realize that his psychology had undergone subtle changes over the past few days, and these changes were quietly completed without him noticing.

  The forest that Pang Gang and his men entered was not very large, if more than 600 people searched together, they could finish searching the forest in less than an hour, but would those bandits give them so much time?

  He felt the grip of his gun being penetrated by the sweat oozing from his palms, and for the first time on the battlefield, Pang Gang's heart was racing wildly, feeling like it had already jumped to his throat. He glanced around and found that even Da Zhuang's forehead was covered in sweat, and Gou Sheng, who was further left, wasn't doing much better either. They were all nervously scanning their surroundings.

  Pang Gang glanced around and whispered to Da Zhuang and Gou Sheng, "I reckon there's definitely an ambush ahead. Once the fight breaks out, be quick-witted and don't be a hero who throws away his life for nothing!"

  Dazhuang nodded in agreement, although he had only known Pang for less than two days, but his judgment was already admired by several people. He also glanced at the dog leftovers beside him, and the dog leftovers blinked silently.

  What happened next confirmed Pang Gang's words. When the troops entered the mountain forest halfway, a row of heads suddenly emerged from a slope, and they raised their bows and arrows to shoot at the dense formation of the Tu army. Under the sudden attack, dozens of soldiers in the front row cried out one by one and rolled down to the low ground.

  "Counterattack, counterattack quickly!" Following the team walking at the back, He Zhengnan saw a large area of people in front being shot down. In a state of desperation, he immediately ordered his family members to counterattack.

  Unfortunately, the household troops had already taken off their bows and arrows to start counterattacking, but it was too late. At this time, hundreds of men holding knives, guns, and clubs had poured out of the mountains and forests, shouting loudly as they rushed towards the troops, and for a while, the forest was filled with the sound of killing.

  On the other hand, those who were stationed in the army saw hundreds of ferocious-looking men suddenly jumping out of the forest, and many people had already lost their souls. They dropped their weapons and let out a terrified scream, collectively turning around and running back to where they came from.

  "Hold on, hold on! No one is allowed to run, otherwise kill without mercy!" He Zhengnan led the crowd of family guards, waving their weapons in hand, trying to drive the defeated troops back into the forest, but it had no effect at all. The great defeat was like a burst dam, sweeping away dozens of family guards who formed a thin human wall, and surging backward without stopping.

  He Zhengnan, who had finally seen that the situation was hopeless, could only be helplessly swept away by the fleeing soldiers towards the outside of the forest, and at this time, there were only more than a dozen family servants left beside him, the rest were either dispersed by the fleeing soldiers or killed by those murderous bandits.

  Pang Gang and a few others were also mixed in with these defeated soldiers. The defeated soldiers who had run to the front had already reached the outer edge of the forest, and as long as they could rush out of this forest, they would be able to escape. At that time, it wouldn't be so easy for the bandits to catch up with them on the plain, unless they had a large number of cavalry.

  Who would have thought that just as the first few routed soldiers were about to run out of the forest, another band of robbers charged in from outside the forest, and under the sudden attack, the first few routed soldiers were instantly beheaded.

  "Bastards, they've actually set up an ambush outside the forest too."

  Pang Gang, who was both shocked and angry, looked around and grabbed Da Zhuang and Gou Sheng, who were closely following him, and hastily said: "Hurry up and follow me to the right, where the terrain is higher and there are fewer people. The bandits won't notice us there for a while, let's hurry over."

  After finishing, Pang Gang rushed over before they could respond. Just as Pang had run a few steps, a bandit suddenly darted out from the side and raised his chopping knife, glaring viciously at Pang Gang. With no time to defend himself, Pang hastily ducked his head to avoid the blade's light and dodged to the side, only to have another bandit charge out from the other side towards him.

  "This enraged Pang Gang, who had been fleeing for his life. 'Damn it, did I steal your wife or burn down your house? Do you want my life that badly?!'"

  Pang Gang suddenly raised the long spear in his hand and charged at the bandit soldier, thrusting the red-tasseled spear forward with a fierce stab.

  "Pffft!" A faint sound was heard, followed by a blood-curdling scream that rang in Pang Gang's ears. The bandit who had been about to rush over and steal the credit was pierced through the heart by Pang Gang's red-tasseled spear, his ferocious grin slowly freezing on his face as he dropped the large knife he had been holding aloft.

  "Third brother... third brother!" A shrill cry rose up from behind, and it turned out that the bandit soldier who had been chasing him earlier was now rushing towards him like a madman, his large knife raised high.

  In his haste, Pang Gang hurriedly tried to pull back the red-tasseled spear in his hand, but unexpectedly found that he had stabbed too fiercely earlier and the spearhead was stuck in the bandit's breastbone, unable to be pulled out for the time being.

  As he watched, the enemy soldier opposite him had already become frenzied and was now right in front of him. The knife in his hand was raised high and came slashing down at him with a fierce cry of "Die!"

  Pang Gang, who had no weapon in his hand, quickly rolled to the side and made a lazy donkey move. "Clang..." A spark of fire flashed by, and this knife was chopped down on a stone on the ground with too much force. Immediately afterwards, this bandit soldier cut down another knife without caring, and Pang Gang, who was still lying on the ground and had no time to dodge, could only close his eyes and wait for death...