Chapter 9: Reunion (Volume 1)

  On the Jiaoqing Highway, Qiao Anbang and Qiao Wu, Cao Er, and the servants of various families finally arrived at the border of Qing Town after nearly half an hour of rushing. Looking at the faintly visible mountains in front of them, Qiao Anbang immediately pulled the reins to stop, turned his head and asked: "Cao Er, how far is it from Quan Shan?"

  "Report back to Third Master, it's at most five miles away." As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed into the distance, saying: "Do you see that mountain? That is Quan Shan."

  "Hmm!" Jo Anbang nodded along the direction Cao Er pointed, and then asked: "Cao Er, tell me about the specific situation of Quanshan and the bandits."

  "Alright, Quanshan is not big, the south side is a cliff, the north and east sides are all bandits. At that time, the west side didn't have any bandits yet, I was able to take advantage of the chaos and break out from there. But now the west side should also be surrounded by bandits." Cao Er replied.

  "Oh? Why didn't your brothers go down the mountain with you from the west at that time?" Qiao Anbang asked in puzzlement.

  "Master, at that time the situation was urgent. If Master and the brothers had all retreated, the bandits would have pursued us. It was precisely because Master and the brothers were on the mountain attracting the attention of the bandits that I had the opportunity to rush out and report back! If Master had retreated alone at that time, it would not have been a problem, but Master gave me the chance to live." Cao Er's voice became choked with emotion as he spoke.

  "It's alright, don't be sad. My big brother will definitely not abandon his own brother to escape alone. If you didn't rush out to report the news, it might have been a complete disaster." Qiao Anbang comforted him with one sentence, then immediately rode his horse forward two steps, and began to think deeply with furrowed eyebrows.

  A moment later, Qiao Anbang turned back and asked: "Cao Er, how many bandits did you say there were earlier?"

  "There must be at least two or three hundred people, and they all have guns, including machine guns. Their equipment is extremely good. This is definitely not the bandits from Quanshan led by Zhang Huizi, who only has thirty or forty men and a dozen guns." Cao Er hastily replied.

  "Two or three hundred men? Each with a rifle? And machine guns?" Qiao Anbang was shocked by the news. How could such a large band of bandits appear in this small place, Qingtang?

  "Uncle Five, with your rich experience, do you know if there are any bandits in our Anhui northern border who can have such a scale?" Qiao Anbang asked Qiao Wu behind him with full of doubts.

  Qiao Wu Da Ma thought for a moment before responding: "The only bandit who could have an operation of this scale is probably Wei De Xi from Su County."

  "Who is Wei Dexi?" asked Qiao Anbang.

  "This man is known as the number one bandit in northern Anhui, with many guns and followers under his command. Over the years, he has grown stronger by absorbing smaller groups of bandits and gathering scattered soldiers and brave warriors. He has been active in the northern Anhui border for over a decade, and various government troops have tried to suppress him but failed. However, this man usually operates in the area around Su County and Mengcheng, so it's unlikely that he would appear in our Guyang territory." Qiao Wu also looked puzzled.

  "Never mind which gang of bandits it is for now, saving Big Brother is the priority. Fifth Uncle, do you have any good ideas?" Qiao Anbang asked.

  "We are outnumbered and unarmed, the bandits have many people and are very powerful. If we fight hard, we will definitely be at a disadvantage and may not be able to save Master Xiaoye, and we will put ourselves in danger. So I suggest that we should first rush up the mountain and reunite with Master Xiaoye before making further plans." Qiao Wu replied with furrowed brows. Obviously, he also didn't have any good ideas, after all, the strength of both sides was too unequal, only by reuniting with the security team of over a hundred people would they possibly be able to break through.

  "Alright, let's do as you said. First, we'll meet up with Big Brother and then decide what to do next!" Qiao Anbang thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. Originally, before setting out again, Qiao Anbang had the idea of taking out some light machine guns and rocket launchers from the multi-functional aircraft to use for rescue purposes. However, considering that many of the Dings didn't even know how to use guns, and might end up causing more harm than good, which would be beneficial to this group of bandits, he gave up on the idea.

  If he had twenty well-trained veterans, each equipped with a light machine gun and two mortars, although it was not possible to annihilate all the bandits, but to defeat them and rescue Qiao An Guo and the security team should be no problem.

  After making up his mind, Qiao Anbang pulled the bolt of his submachine gun and shouted loudly: "Brothers, wait for me and Wu Shu to charge forward first, everyone follow behind, don't get stuck in a firefight, we'll make a swift charge up the mountain and meet up with Big Brother."

  "Yes!" The Dings of various families responded in unison with a loud "Hurray".

  Qiao Anbang grasped the reins with one hand and held a gun in the other, shouting loudly as he urged his warhorse to lead the charge towards Quan Shan. Yalai, sitting in front of Qiao Anbang, quietly released the safety on her sniper rifle.

  "Charge! Charge!" Qiao Wu and the other servants followed close behind, brandishing their weapons.

  …………

  At the same time, on top of Quan Shan Mountain, Qiao An Guo was sitting on a rock wiping his mirror-faced box (Mauser pistol).

  "Captain, something's off here, take a look." Wang Ding-sheng reminded, who had been observing the situation at the foot of the mountain.

  Qiao An Gu put away his pistol, stood up and raised his binoculars to look out.

  "Captain, what are these bandits trying to do?" Wang Ding-sheng didn't have binoculars and couldn't see very clearly.

  "These bastards, it seems they're going to burn down the mountain." Joanne replied in a heavy tone while looking around.

  "Burn the mountain?" Wang Ding Sheng heard this and suddenly inhaled a breath of cold air, "Damn it, these damn bandits, if they can rush out, I will definitely catch them all!"

  "Notify the brothers, I have something to say!" Qiao An Guo's face was somewhat solemn, and he put down his binoculars and instructed.

  "Yes!" Wang Ding Sheng took orders and left.

  Before long, more than a hundred soldiers of the security team had all gathered, and everyone looked at Qiao Anguo with puzzled faces, feeling uneasy in their hearts. After all, they were surrounded by bandits, and it was hard to predict life or death. Who could remain calm?

  Qiao An's eyes scanned the crowd one by one, and finally said in a low voice: "Brothers, the bandits are about to burn the mountain, the situation is very bad."

  "Ah... Shānshān? .... What to do?" Before Qiao An could finish speaking, the soldiers had already blown their tops.

  "What's all the commotion about! All of you be quiet! Listen to the captain's orders." Wang Ding-sheng shouted loudly from the side.

  The crowd quickly quieted down, and Qiao Anguo's face was calm as he continued: "Brothers, Qiao is incompetent and has dragged everyone into danger. Now that the bandits are about to set fire to the mountain, staying here will only lead to death. You all have parents, wives, children, brothers, and sisters at home, there's no need to stay here and wait for death. You can go down the mountain on your own and surrender to the bandits, perhaps you'll have a way to survive."

  "Captain, how about you?" Wang Ding Sheng hastily asked upon hearing the voice.

  "Everyone has their own ambitions, as a soldier and as the son of the Qiao family, I would rather die than surrender to these bandits in the mountains!" Qiao Anguo said coldly.

  "The captain won't leave, and we won't either! The Qiao family has treated us with great kindness, if we must die, let's die together. How can we abandon you to live alone?" Wang Ding Sheng immediately blushed and shouted loudly.

  "Right! We won't leave either!" About a third of the soldiers in the crowd suddenly shouted in unison, and they were all originally the servants of the Qiao family.

  Wang Ding-sheng saw that the other soldiers were hesitant, and immediately stepped forward: "Brothers, everyone asks themselves, since joining the security team, how has the captain treated you? As a person, one must be true to their conscience. If the officer doesn't leave, how can we soldiers leave first? Besides, even if we get down the mountain, those ruthless bandits won't spare your lives."

  "We'll fight it out with them! Fight... won't retreat!" The soldiers exclaimed in unison.

  "Captain! The brothers won't leave, you give the order!" Wang Ding Sheng turned around and said to Qiao An Guo.

  Qiao An Guo looked at the crowd, nodded in satisfaction, and then shouted loudly: "Since that's the case, let's rush down the mountain together and fight a decisive battle with these depraved beasts. Let's kill more bandits and avenge those villagers who were harmed by them!"

  Just then, a burst of "da-da-da" gunfire suddenly came from the mountain below. Qiao Anguo hastily raised his binoculars and looked down to see that the bandits at the northwest corner of the mountain were in a state of panic, with the sound of gunfire and neighing horses mixed together.

  "Captain, could it be reinforcements?" Wang Ding Sheng guessed.

  "It's not possible, no, it's An Bang!" A familiar figure appeared in the telescope, leading a line of cavalry, charging up the mountain to kill. Qiao Anguo was shocked, he never thought that his third brother, who didn't take things seriously, would actually dare to come and rescue him. Without thinking, Qiao Anguo immediately pulled out his pistol and shouted loudly as he led the soldiers down to meet them.

  …….

  In the mountain valley, Wei Dexi and General Zhao Dechuan, who were smoking, were suddenly startled by the sound of gunfire and quickly stood up. Wei Dexi looked up at the mountain and cursed: "Damn it, where did the gunshot come from? Is it those hill bandits on the mountain trying to break through because they see us burning the mountain?"

  "Don't worry, big brother, all the roads down the mountain have been deployed with personnel and machine guns set up, they absolutely can't escape." Zhao Desheng guaranteed with confidence.

  Just then, Zhang Huizi rushed over with a huff, reporting: "Big brother, big brother, it's not good! The reinforcements from the security team have arrived."

  "What?" Wei Dexi and Zhao De were both startled at the same time. The former asked urgently: "How many people are there?"

  "There are only over twenty people, and they don't seem to be regular soldiers, but rather some household servants." Zhang Hu Zi replied breathlessly.

  "More than twenty people? Damn it, they dare to come and rescue with just this few people, really treating me as nothing! Get rid of them for me, not a single one can be let go!" Wei Dexi said in an icy tone.

  "Big brother! They also have two machine guns, the firepower is very strong, and the brothers couldn't stop them. They rushed up the mountain, and the security team on the mountain came down to meet them. I estimate they're already on the mountain." Zhang Huizi said with a bit of embarrassment, he didn't recognize the MP18 submachine gun, only seeing that it could fire continuously, he thought it was a machine gun.

  "Hum, trash! More than 20 people can't even stop him!" Wei Dexi's face turned red with rage upon hearing this.

  "Big brother! They suddenly appeared from behind, and their firepower was strong, so they were able to take advantage of the gap......" Zhang Hu Zi said with a bitter face.

  "Big brother, don't get angry, there are only more than 20 people, they can't stir up any waves, it's just right to wipe them all out, isn't it just adding a bit of firewood?" Zhao Dechuan said with a pleased expression.

  "Hmm!" Wei Dexi nodded in agreement, then turned to Zhang Huizi and said coldly, "You go and make arrangements right away. Give me some spirit! If you let them escape, I'll skin you alive!"

  "Yes, yes." Zhang Husi nodded repeatedly and responded, turning around hastily and leaving quickly.