Chapter 9: Overnight Counter Ambush (Revised)

  Xu Bin's calm demeanor in the face of bloody slaughter also made many bandits feel that this young master might actually be able to sit firmly as the master, at least for now. The bandits of Hei Feng Fort looked at this former young master with a hint of reverence in their eyes.

  Maybe it's really like the old saying 'a good son is a hero', the son of the big master, this level will not be bad.

  With tonight's bloody victory, the old bandits who worried about the future of the mountain stronghold also felt that Xu Bin had the ability to take over the power of the deceased leader. They can continue to lead them to survive in this chaotic mountain and era.

  As long as they can survive, these bandits really don't care about other things. They all chose to be bandits in order to survive, so living is their ultimate goal, and they really have no other extravagant hopes!

  "King Two Pockmarks, nothing wrong?"

  Looking at Wang Erpiao who was paralyzed with fear on the ground, Xu Bin walked over calmly with two shotguns and asked.

  For this young master of Hei Feng Zhai, the calm and experienced handling of the unexpected situation just now made Wang Er Bo feel that he didn't lose unfairly tonight. He gritted his teeth, got up from the ground, knelt on one knee, and bowed: "Wang Er Bo thanks Master Xu for saving my life!"

  Although what just happened was a bit perilous, he managed to keep his life intact after all; Wang Er Chui still felt that he had to say a word of thanks.

  What surprised Wang Er Gou was that, in response to his thanks, Xu Bin calmly shook his head and said: "You really don't need to thank me. If you hadn't been so clever just now, what I said would have come true anyway. Even if the three monkeys had killed you, I would have killed them without hesitation. Don't think that just because I saved your life, you should feel embarrassed. It's nothing, and we'll all do what we need to do in the future."

  "Uncle Li, send a few brothers to escort them to the prison house at the back of the mountain and let them spend the night there. Also, inform the brothers in the village to get ready. Since they came without an invitation, it's impolite not to return the courtesy. Let's go find trouble with Ma Liu together later."

  Li Chengbing, who was standing behind him, listened to Xu Bin's words and asked in surprise: "Master, do you mean we set out now and attack Xianglu Peak tonight? Is that appropriate?"

  In response to Li Chengbing's inquiry, Xu Bin said with certainty: "Tonight is the best opportunity. The dozens of people brought by Wang Erchu are all in our hands now. At this time, Xianglufeng must be empty. If we don't destroy them now, when will we?"

  You should be clear, I have a different temperament from my father. He likes to say "leave some face for others and we'll get along well in the future", but I'm not like that. In my opinion, whoever dares to mess with Black Wind Fortress will be met with revenge, tooth for tooth. Even if it's Yan Wang himself who wants to make a move on Black Wind Fortress, I'll knock out his two front teeth.

  "What's more, think about it, if Wang Erpiao and the others don't return tonight, with Ma Liu's suspicious nature, it would be strange if they didn't run away at night. If we wait until dawn to go find them and ask for an explanation, I'm afraid you won't even be able to catch a feather from their birds. If we don't eliminate them now, when will we? An opportunity like this is hard to come by, and once it's lost, it's gone forever!"

  Listening to Xu Bin's analysis, Li Chengbing also felt reasonable, but after thinking about it, he advised: "The master's words are reasonable, but considering the current situation of the mountain stronghold, can we take down Xianglu Peak? According to my knowledge, in addition to Wang Erpao bringing these people, there must be at least a hundred or so people on Xianglu Peak.

  Even if we mobilize the entire village, I'm afraid it's uncertain whether we can take down Xianglu Peak. Why don't you reconsider and deal with today's affairs in the village first, then go find Ma Liu to settle the score?

  Alas!

  It seems that I overestimated the enemy situation of these bandits, and they don't even understand the basic principle of "eliminating evil and not letting opportunities slip away". By the time you're fully prepared, the yellow flowers have already wilted. Who are you going to settle accounts with now? Xu Bin sighed inwardly.

  To dispel the undying heart of the Black Wind Fortress, Xu Bin looked at the bandits beside him and shouted loudly: "Brothers, I know that something big has happened in our mountain stronghold today. My father, second uncle, and dozens of brothers in our stronghold have fallen down the mountain, and our stronghold has suffered heavy losses today.

  But you all saw last night, the government troops in the Maluohou fortress of Xianglufeng, not only ambushing our mountain stronghold, but also sending so many people to sneak up on our sentries at night. If it weren't for the brothers on night watch doing their job and discovering their movements early, I don't need to say what the consequences would be, brothers can all imagine what it would be like.

  How can we just sit and wait to be slaughtered by this ruthless person who wants our lives? If we don't show some color, other villages will really think that our village is easy to bully. If we don't give Ma Liu a little color to see, they'll really think we're freeloaders.

  "If we don't provoke others, they won't provoke us. If they do provoke us, I will surely kill them. This Ma Liu has owed the lives of many brothers in our mountain stronghold. You tell me, if you don't behead him and avenge the brothers who died today, can you live with yourselves?"

  These days, bandits are not to be feared, what's to be feared is that they have culture. Let Xu Bin simply stir up the bandits and they immediately shout out one by one wanting to avenge Ma Liu. In this situation of public outrage, Li Chengbing, this cautious old man, can only close his eyes and agree with Xu Bin's methods.

  With a wry smile, he suddenly felt that perhaps in the future of Mountain Stronghold, there would be a master named Xu Bin who liked to "settle scores on the spot", and this might not necessarily be a bad thing for these bandits who regarded the stronghold as their home.

  After all, people's lives are too cheap these days. It's rare to have a master who values their lives, and it's only natural that they would be willing to die for him. From this perspective, the young master is still competent!

  After Xǔ Bīn's instigation, the Black Wind bandits quickly reached a consensus on the suggestion of launching a surprise attack on Xiāng Lú Fēng that night. That is, "Let's do it!" Li Chéng Bīng, who knew that things couldn't be changed, could only try his best to help Xǔ Bīn perfect this counterattack plan.

  The guns collected from the bandits at Xiangfeng Peak were selected to replace the bird guns that were still using black gunpowder in the mountain stronghold. The bandits who had always envied others for being able to use rifles and could only use bird guns were overjoyed when they received the rifles given by Xu Bin, which they had been keeping and taking care of.

  Compared to the excitement of these bandits, looking at his subordinates who were mostly using single-shot rifles that could be described as 'old antiques', he, who was used to automatic rifles, couldn't help but look down on this kind of rifle that could only fire a single shot.

  Of course, with these bandits' words, this old antique that is still widely welcomed in today's time and space is also called 'old-fashioned'. It seems that taking it as an old antique really makes some sense!

  The "army" of Hei Feng Zhai, which can be described as using bird guns to exchange for cannons, under the leadership of Xu Bin, this big boss, took advantage of the moonlight and advanced towards Xiang Lu Peak, not far from them. For bandits who live in the mountains and make a living, walking at night on mountain roads is the simplest thing, until Xu Bin's group of nearly 100 people, after nearly two hours of climbing over mountains and crossing ridges, finally arrived in the dense forest under Xiang Lu Peak.

  Li Chengbing, who had been leading the way, soon ordered the bandits following him to take a short rest on the spot and called together several leaders to discuss and plan the specific attack on Xianglu Peak.

  Several heads appointed by Xu Bin's father before his death, similar to squad leaders or platoon-level commanders in the army, came to Xu Bin under Li Chengbing's summons and began discussing how to attack Xianglufeng.

  The number of bandits on Xianglu Peak who can actually fight, in Li Chengbing's estimation, should not exceed 100 people. This means that in terms of numbers, the people they sent over at night are roughly equal to the other side. The advantage is that they launched a surprise attack under cover of darkness, while the other side was in an exposed position.

  The disadvantage is also obvious, that is, the other side has a geographical advantage, and they are on the offensive, while the other side is on the defensive. If we launch a fierce attack, even if we finally take down Xianglu Peak, I'm afraid most of the bandits who came tonight will be dead.

  This is also why Li Chengbing, when he first heard that Xu Bin wanted to launch a surprise counterattack on Xianglufeng at night, spoke out to stop him. If the last batch of mountain stronghold's core strength suffered heavy casualties, according to the bandits' tacit rule of survival of the fittest, they would either surrender to one of the larger bandit gangs to save their lives or resist to the end until they were annihilated.

  Compared to the worries of these small heads at the critical moment, Xu Bin seemed a bit calm and said: "Li Shu, just send Gouzi and Lao Du Shu to me later. The rest of the brothers will wait for my news here.

  "Just clear the sentry post on the mountain, and you can sneak in quietly. Tonight, your task is to enter the mountain stronghold and capture Ma Liu. As for the rest of the matters of attacking the mountain stronghold, just teach me one person."