Chapter Ten: Real Combat

  After entering winter, the weather suddenly turned cold.

  In the quiet valley, withered grass and yellow trees, a desolate scene.

  The sky was just brightening, and the cold air was thick. The two hundred water bandits had finished their heavy training and were gathering in formation outside the camp.

  After nearly a month of special training, these water bandits have undergone an earth-shaking change. The fierce and sinister aura on their bodies has been thoroughly washed away. They stand upright with solemn faces, not daring to glance sideways, following the rules strictly.

  Zhou Jian stood solemnly in front of the formation, his sharp eyes scanning over the two hundred pirates, and said in a deep voice: "Depart."

  Two hundred bandits lightly armed and wearing leather armor, carrying weapons, spread their legs and rushed northwest.

  There are three days left until the end of the special training period. The last three days will be combat training.

  Zhou Jianxuan's target was a group of mountain bandits who were entrenched in the Dabie Mountains, with a strength of around 1,000 people. They were not within the borders of Anhui Province, but in order to complete the final training course, they had to take on this group of bandits, which could be considered as eliminating harm for the people.

  Rushing all the way, by noon, they had traveled over 100 miles and entered the territory of Longxi County, less than 20 miles from Dabie Mountain.

  The Dabie Mountains stretch for hundreds of miles, connecting to Jiangxia County in Jingzhou in the west and reaching the borders of Lujiang, Longshu, and Wuhu counties in Anhui Province in the east. However, the Panshan Mountain within Wuhu county is only a branch of the Dabie Mountains.

  In front of us appeared a village, with smoke rising from kitchen chimneys, obviously farmers were cooking lunch.

  Village entrance, seven or eight children were chasing and playing, seeing a large group of people running over, immediately stopped and curiously looked around.

  More than 200 people were within fifty paces of the village entrance when the naughty boys suddenly scattered and fled back to the village.

  Zhou Jian also heard those children shouting while running, "The mountain bandits are coming! The mountain bandits are coming!"

  Jiang Qin hastily said: "Young master, we've been mistaken for mountain bandits. To avoid misunderstandings, it's better to explain things clearly."

  Zhou Jian nodded, but before he could speak, the village was already in an uproar. Dozens of men rushed out of the village entrance, each holding iron hoes, shovels and other tools, looking fierce as they charged towards the more than 200 people who were approaching with a menacing air, their tense breathing becoming somewhat urgent.

  "Jiang Qin, you go and explain it, and also find out where the mountain bandits are hiding."

  Zhou Jian hastily gave an order, and Jiang Qin hurriedly carried it out.

  Jiang Qin rushed to the village entrance, waving his arms and shouting loudly, "Fellow villagers, don't be afraid, we are government troops, not mountain bandits."

  "Isn't it mountain bandits?"

  Dozens of farmers holding farm tools immediately breathed a sigh of relief when they heard it wasn't mountain bandits.

  Taking a closer look, I became even more convinced in my heart that these people were not mountain bandits.

  In the past, mountain bandits would attack villages without warning, rushing in and plundering wildly, never bothering to talk nonsense with the common people. However, government soldiers were not much better either.

  "What brings Master Soldier to Wuligou?"

  A thirty-year-old peasant carefully asked.

  Jiang Qindao said, "I heard that there is a group of mountain bandits in the nearby mountains who often plunder villages. We have come to exterminate them. Do you know where this group of mountain bandits is? If you do, speak quickly."

  The man hastily said: "I know, I know."

  He pointed to a distant mountain pass and said, "From here, enter the mountain, walk thirty miles, there is a Tiger Stream, Huang Zong and his thousand or so mountain bandits are hiding in the Tiger Stream."

  Jiang Qin glanced around and asked: "Is there anyone familiar with the mountain road who can lead us down?"

  The man immediately looked embarrassed, one hundred thousand unwilling.

  Jiang Qin's face turned cold and he said in a low voice: "What, you're unwilling?"

  The man was startled and hastily said: "I'm willing, I'm willing, your humble servant is willing."

  Jiang Qin brought a man to see Zhou Jian and asked for his name. The man replied that his name was Niu San.

  Zhou Jian listened to Jiang Qin's report and glanced at Niu San, who was hiding his anger. After a moment of thought, he waved his hand and said: "The brothers have run for over a hundred miles, their physical strength is severely depleted, first get some food and eat a full meal, then enter the mountain to suppress the bandits."

  Jiang Qin responded with a sound and hurriedly asked Niu San to prepare food.

  Niu San cursed in his heart but didn't dare refuse, hastily agreeing and going back to prepare food.

  Zhou Jian said again: "Give more money and silver, these common people are not easy to eat a meal, don't let them lose money."

  Jiang Qin's heart warmed up and he happily said: "The little one obeys orders."

  The world is not at peace, and the people's days are not going well.

  The people of Wuligou didn't have much surplus grain and this winter was hard to get through.

  Providing food for over 200 people is a significant burden for Wuligou Village, which has only more than 100 households.

  The cow was originally still in a dilemma, how to get the farmers to take out food and supply these corrupt officials with food and drink. However, after getting a lot of money, his impression of these officials changed greatly, and he ran to arrange it with gratitude.

  After a hearty meal and a short rest of less than half an hour, more than 200 people set off immediately.

  Transportation mainly relies on walking, communication mainly relies on shouting, and security mainly relies on dogs.

  This is the most realistic social portrayal of this era, only a tiny minority can afford to ride war horses as mounts.

  Niu San was very familiar with this mountain pass, but after entering the mountain, he became a little fearful and walked slowly.

  Zhou Jian looked at her and said, "Don't be afraid, as long as you reach Wohu Gorge, you can leave."

  Niu San finally let out a sigh of relief and repeatedly said: "Thank you, Master Jun, thank you, Master Jun."

  The mountain bandits have more than a thousand people, and there are only two hundred or so government soldiers. Which one is the opponent of the mountain bandits?

  Niu San didn't dare say anything, but in his heart he was terribly afraid, fearing that these soldiers wouldn't let him leave and would drag him down to his death.

  The thirty-mile mountain road was quickly traversed, and there were no obstacles along the way. It's clear that the mountain bandits never thought that government troops would come to the mountains, so they didn't arrange anyone for sentry duty, nor did they have any defensive fortifications.

  After crossing a mountain pass, Niu San pointed to a dense forest and said: "General, after passing through that forest, it's the Sleeping Tiger Brook."

  Zhou Jian glanced at him and didn't want to make things difficult for these poor people, nodded and said to Zhou Wu: "Give him some money and let him go back! Consider it labor costs."

  Zhou Wu responded with a "yes" and handed over a small piece of silver to Niu San.

  Niu San was overjoyed, this small sum of money could be worth several taels, enough for his family of seven to use for a year. He knelt down and kowtowed several times, thanking him profusely before leaving.

  Zhou Jian's face gradually turned serious, and he said in a low voice: "Take a one-minute break, prepare for battle."

  No one spoke, and more than 200 people immediately found a place to hide, lay down and rested, recovering their strength.

  One minute later.

  More than 200 people were divided into twenty teams and quietly approached the vicinity of the dense forest.

  "Sir, there is no one inside the forest."

  Zhou Wu slipped in to investigate and came back to report.

  "Go."

  Zhou Jian waved his hand and rushed in first. More than 200 people quickly followed, their movements swift and silent as they ran.

  The forest is not very large, and it's less than a mile in circumference.

  Through the forest, behind is a mountain pass, the terrain suddenly opens up, on the west side of a mountain top, halfway up the mountain, many wooden houses were built, and there are people's shadows flashing, it is obviously the bandit camp.

  The slope is very steep and it's easy to be discovered if attacking from the front, and the difficulty is relatively high.

  More than 200 people lay prostrate in the dense forest, motionless, breathing evenly, without a single sound.

  Zhou Jian hid under a tree in the forest and observed that the cliffs on both sides of the steep peak were also very steep, making it extremely difficult to climb.

  If we launch a frontal attack, there will definitely be casualties, and they won't be small either. This would go against our original intention.

  This time attacking mountain bandits is just for military training, if there are too many casualties, it won't be worth it.

  Zhou Jianluo considered for a moment and immediately dispatched two attendants to go and survey the terrain.

  Twenty followers followed for a long time, except for the inferior martial arts compared to Zhou Jian, all other aspects were excellent. Sneaking and hiding, it was natural to investigate the terrain. Two followers immediately came out of the crowd and left quietly without making a sound.

  Half an hour later, two attendants returned to report back.

  Although the cliffs on both sides are steep, it's still no problem to climb up.

  However, the eastern cliff is bare and easy to be discovered when climbing.

  It is the western mountain ridge that has many trees and can hide two hundred people to climb into the bandit's big camp.

  "Alright, let's take a rest now and move again at night."

  Everyone received their orders and left, quickly dispersing to find a place to rest and wait for nightfall to launch a surprise attack.

  At this time, the sun had already set in the west, and more than half a time later, the sky quickly turned dark.

  The two hundred mountain bandits didn't move at all, just lying in the grass thicket resting.

  Zhou Jian is the king of soldiers, familiar with the drawbacks of the army, and emphasizes discipline and execution. Things that are not allowed to be done must not be done, even if you want to think about it, you can't think about it. After the order is given, you must unconditionally obey, and anyone who dares to disobey will definitely suffer the consequences.

  In the face of bloody lessons, strict discipline has been deeply ingrained in every pirate's bones.

  No orders came down, and the pirates didn't think of anything else, they just rested.

  The first watch has just passed, and it's the best time to sleep.

  Two hundred water bandits received the order and quickly sprang into action, making their way to the foot of the mountain ridge in the west. Using both hands and feet, they agilely climbed up like monkeys, with Zhou Wu and Jiang Qin leading the way at the front, while Zhou Jian brought up the rear.

  A water bandit's foot slipped on a rock and he immediately rolled down like a rolling watermelon.

  Fortunately, this water thief, although his head was bleeding, gritted his teeth and didn't make a sound.

  Zhou Jian casually picked up the rolling water thief and threw it aside, his eyes cold.

  The pirate's heart skipped a beat, he didn't dare to make a sound, and hastily tore off a piece of cloth from his collar, tied up the back of his head where the skin was broken, gritted his teeth and climbed up again, only his movements were slightly slower.

  Soon, more than 200 people climbed up the cliff and lined up in a dense forest for rest.

  Zhou Jian didn't say a word, and everyone else was silent too, sitting in the withered yellow grass to recover their strength.

  Time flies quickly, after a moment.

  "Everyone, divide into two teams. Zhou Wu and Jiang Qin, you two lead one team to attack from above. The rest of us will be led by me to cut off from below. Remember to raise the fire signal."

  "Roger."

  Zhou Wu and Jiang Qin immediately accepted the order and led half of the pirates to leave quickly.

  Zhou Jian led more than 100 people, taking advantage of the night to sneak to the outside of the mountain bandits' lair, quickly removing the outer fence and clearing away some supplementary traps and crude mechanisms, waiting for Zhou Wu to light the fire before charging into the bandit lair.

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