Chapter 9

  The target was quickly identified: the bandits of Er Long Ridge. In this area, apart from the two highways in the north and south, there is only one major road, which is the road in front of Hei Feng Xia, and it's a mountain road on the west side that can only be traversed by horse-drawn carriages. If you take the detour to An Cheng, you'll have to travel more than 100 miles, so most merchants going to Ping Cheng usually take this road. Originally, there was only Fei Hu Zhai, one of the mountain strongholds, but after the old master passed away, a man named Hu Da Ya set up his own stronghold here. This person is ruthless and cunning, with no regard for kinship, and has developed rapidly, with excellent equipment. Wang Jin Long is like a fishbone stuck in his throat, yet he can't do anything about it.

  As for how to fight, Wang Jinlong thought: In the past, it was my weapon that wasn't good enough. Now I have guns and cannons, taking down Hu Daxia is just a small matter? The rest of the people also think so. Wang Jinlong wanted to hear Xiao Ming's opinion, and his gaze fell on Xiao Ming.

  Xiao Ming smiled: "Let's leave this to the Flying Tiger Team. Firstly, it will be more convenient for them to handle it, and secondly, it's a good opportunity to see what these kids are really capable of. They've been acting so arrogant all day, just let them take care of it." He then arranged for Ye Maozi to investigate the activity patterns of Er Long Ling without alerting them, while the others were not allowed to leak any information to prevent the other side from being prepared.

  After a few days, the night cat returned to report: Hu Daxia led fifty or sixty people, and early in the morning they passed through Heifengxia towards the west. Someone has been sent to follow them.

  Xiao Ming came over with interest and asked: "How many people are there in Er Long Ling?"

  "About one hundred fifty-six." The night cat replied.

  "So there are still about a hundred people on top of the mountain?"

  "It should be, and Hu Daxia took away all the good hands this time." Xiao Ming nodded, wanting Night Cat to keep a close eye on things, and report back as soon as there was any situation. He also called over Da Long, whispered a few words, and Da Long nodded and left.

  By dusk, the Night Cat reported: Hu Daxia had led his men across the western highway and continued westward. The scouts had already withdrawn. Wang Jindong and Xiao Ming immediately made a decision: Tonight, they would launch a surprise attack on Er Long Ling. Xiao Ming quickly produced a battle plan: Zhang Tiezhu and Xin Chengshan would lead sixty men, bringing four machine guns, to set up an ambush in the west to prevent Hu Daxia's return to the mountain stronghold; Wang Jindong would bring the guard unit, part of the defense unit, and part of the logistics unit to meet at Heifeng Gorge. Xiao Ming and Night Cat would lead the Flying Tiger Team to attack Er Long Ling Mountain Stronghold, and after success, they would fire fireworks as a signal. Finally, Xiao Ming emphasized: All personnel must wear National Army uniforms and not reveal their identities.

  "Wang Jinlong thought for a moment and said: 'Officer, with just thirty or so of you going, isn't that a bit too few?'"

  Xiao Ming shook his head and said, "Not less, but stealthy ambush. If it weren't for the sake of training the troops, we wouldn't have needed so many people. The more people there are, the easier it is to expose our target."

  "You'd better be careful, if all else fails, we'll just blast the place with cannons." Wang Jinlong was a bit worried, his original idea was to open fire with machine guns and howitzers at the same time, launch a charge, and take it down directly. Xiao Ming said it would attract too much attention, waste resources, and might cause casualties.

  Xiao Ming thought for a moment before and after taking action, suddenly saying: "When the family starts to move, it's a matter of life and death. You see..."

  Wang Jinlong didn't understand and asked: "What does the instructor mean?"

  Xiao Ming looked up: "My meaning is, don't leave any survivors." Wang Jinlong was shocked: "Captain, isn't this a bit too much? After all, there are also people in there who were forced into it!"

  Xiao Ming said faintly: "The news has leaked out, we will be very passive. If anyone is to blame, it can only be that they followed the wrong person."

  At night, Xiao Ming assembled the Flying Tiger team to set off. Everyone was fully armed and looked at their brand new National Army uniforms, feeling inexplicably excited, but when they heard it was for a nighttime infiltration drill, they all felt it was a pity, thinking that this should be worn during the New Year instead.

  As they gradually approached Er Long Ridge, Xiao Ming called a halt to the troops and led them into a small grove. He stated his intention: "Brothers, today we're not here for training, but to take down Er Long Ridge. Are you all afraid or what?"

  Everyone listened and got excited: "What's there to be afraid of? The brothers are all itching for action, instructor, just tell us how to do it!"

  "Keep your voice down, what's all the commotion! Now listen to me, Old Cat and Second Dog are up front, in charge of taking care of the sentry, pay attention if there's a hidden whistle. Big Dragon Ma Six is leading the team to follow up, remember, don't make any noise, try not to use guns, no survivors left behind, got it?"

  "Understood, do we need to use guns to deal with a few bandits?" Ma Liu said with a grin, "Brothers, put down your guns. Anyone who fires will be sent to the Flying Tigers and embarrass our instructor!"

  Xiao Ming heavily knocked Ma Liu on the head: "You little brat talks too much, if you speak again, you'll be going to collect dung every day. Da Long, arrange a few people to keep watch at the foot of the mountain, don't let anyone escape, and leave Shan Wa Zi behind."

  "Instructor, I'm scared when you're not by my side," said Guo Deshan with a silly expression. "What if I accidentally fire the gun?"

  Xiao Ming was delighted, and with a swift motion, he gave him a mushroom: "Kid, this is for killing people, okay? Follow me, and don't look at that time!" He glanced at his watch, it was almost 12 o'clock, and ordered: "Rest now, we'll set off at 2 o'clock."

  Erlong Ridge, actually a mountain range that was cut off in the middle, Hu Daxiong occupied the highest side, which happened to strangle the throat of the road. From afar, the mountain stronghold's lights were shining brightly, occasionally a few people came out for a patrol, but soon ran back into their houses, it was really too cold outside.

  "Is it a good time?" Xiao Ming put down the binoculars and asked in a low voice. Seeing everyone nod, he made a gesture: set off. The crowd pulled out their daggers, clenched them between their teeth, and quietly approached the mountain stronghold.

  Hudaya was not there, so the bandits in Erlong Ridge naturally let their guard down and spent the day drinking, gambling, and making a ruckus. They were all drunk and disoriented by now, and even those on watch had dozed off. Xiao Ming led Dalong Ma and six others into the house. One of the bandits felt a chill run down his spine and struggled to open his eyes. Seeing Xiao Ming and the others, he was about to shout when Xiao Ming covered his mouth and grabbed the back of his head, twisting it with force. A faint cracking sound could be heard as the bandit fell silently to the ground. Xiao Ming gently laid down the corpse and waved his hand, signaling the others to move forward. They followed suit, learning from each other as they twisted and broke the necks of the remaining bandits.

  Eliminate the sentry, Xiao Ming signaled to enter the village, divide into groups and enter the house, and clear one by one. Although they have been bandits for several years, most of them are still killing people for the first time, and they finally solved the outer ring in a state of tension and excitement. Xiao Ming counted the number of people, there were about thirty people left, ordered to surround the inner village, and quickly end the battle.

  Entering the inner village, they encountered some trouble. Perhaps it was too smooth, Sun Er Gou was a bit careless, and when opening the door, he bumped into a bandit who was urinating, the two of them collided, that bandit was not an ordinary person either, angrily shouting, the two of them started fighting, the shout startled other bandits, Xiao Ming had no choice but to order to open fire.

  The battle ended quickly, and Sun Erdou and others also subdued the bandit. If Xiao Ming hadn't shouted "Want to live", Sun Erdou, who was angry and annoyed, would have stabbed him with a knife. Xiao Ming ordered the cleanup of the battlefield, counted the casualties, and personally interrogated the bandit.

  Xiao Ming's questioning was very direct: "Where did Hu Daxia go, and where is his money? Don't say you don't know. Anyone who can live here is one of his confidants. If you speak up, I'll give you a quick death. If not, I'll hand you over to him," Xiao Ming pointed at Sun Er Gou, "This brother used to be a pig butcher. You won't talk, but there are plenty of people outside who will."

  The bandit knew that today was a dead end, so he might as well confess everything honestly. The only thing is that the money was nowhere to be found, and no one believed Hu Daxia.

  Money is easy to talk about, with the night cat around, nothing can't be found. Xiao Ming nodded, Sun Er Gou hadn't had time to move his hand, "Bang" a gunshot sounded, and the bandit fell to the ground: Shan Wa Zi stared blankly at the still smoking gun muzzle, hehe smiled and said "Sorry, misfire!"

  Xiao Ming was taken aback and thought to himself: "This kid is quite ruthless, he's got a future!"

  The big dragon came to report: except for Sun Er Gou being beaten into a black eye, there was no injury or death. The mountain bandits were all caught without exception, but there were still several women who should have been kidnapped from the surrounding villages and towns, and it is not known how to deal with them.

  Xiao Ming ordered to lock up those women together, deal with them later, and then set off fireworks and move things. Wang Jinlong saw the signal and brought people to respond. Hu Daxin had been doing it for a few years and had indeed accumulated some family property, gold, silver, treasure, guns, ammunition, food, and materials were loaded into several large carts, busy until dawn.

  Wang Jinlong and Xiao Ming discussed it and decided to let Dalong Ma Liu bring twenty people to stay behind, while the rest returned to the mountain stronghold. Xiao Ming called over Dalong and others, gave a few instructions, had them clean up the bodies, especially strictly ordering not to touch those women, otherwise they would be punished according to the stronghold's rules.

  Back to the mountain stronghold, the sky had already lit up. Zhang Tiezhu received a notice and also retreated back. The atmosphere in the stronghold was jubilant, with everyone praising the Flying Tiger Squad for taking down Er Long Ridge without suffering any casualties. Only Xiao Ming scolded Sun Erdou's group with a gloomy face. Sun Erdou knew he had caused trouble and didn't dare say a word, hanging his head low. It was Wang Jinlong who mediated the situation, and Xiao Ming ordered him to rest. In the afternoon, he led the team to the small woods from last night to find a suitable location for an ambush.

  Sun Erdou turned around with a pleased expression, and his subordinates asked him: "You were scolded, why are you still so happy?" Sun Erdou smiled and said: "You don't understand, the instructor's fierce scolding means he is still satisfied. If he had spoken with a smile, we would have been in trouble. Alright, this is an opportunity for us to make merits, everyone cheer up! If anyone makes another mistake, I'll break your dog legs."

  "Brother Dog, I don't quite understand something."

  "What's up, say."

  "Meaning, breaking someone's dog leg..."

  Wang Jinlong and others returned to the hall, discussing their next move. Xiao Ming said: "The main problem now is whether Hu Daxia will return by the original route. Therefore, we need to make two preparations. First, if he still takes this road, when he arrives at Xiaoshulin, near the mountain stronghold, we will launch an attack. They will definitely retreat to the mountain stronghold, and then we will form a pincer movement. Second, if Hu Daxia returns to the mountain stronghold from the east, Dalong and others can also catch them off guard, and Sun Erdou can provide timely reinforcements. The chances of winning are great, but it's impossible to annihilate them completely. What does the master think?"

  Wang Jinlong rubbed his head and chuckled twice, saying: "Instructor, although I've been to the Martial Arts Academy, this is really a different story. Let's just ask the instructor to take charge."

  Xiao Ming didn't decline, saying: "Alright then, I won't be polite. First, we'll place scouts on both sides of the highway. As soon as they discover Hu Daxiong's whereabouts, they'll immediately report back to us so we can respond quickly. To be safe, I think we should set up ambushes at three locations. One is on the east side of Er Long Ridge. This will prevent Hu Daxiong from escaping into the mountains from the east. Even if he comes from the west, it's a good place to block him and prevent any stragglers. If Hu Daxiong comes from the west, we'll set up an ambush ten kilometers east of Hei Feng Xia, let his vanguard pass through, then attack them from behind, forcing them to speed up their march. Then, Er Gou will launch a surprise attack, driving them towards Er Long Ridge. The rest is up to Da Long and the others. What do you all think?"

  Wang Jinlong burst out laughing: "It's all up to the instructor, go ahead and tell us what to do!"

  "I'll take twenty men, two machine guns, and set up an ambush at Erlong Ridge to the east, just in time to coordinate with Daliang and Ergou. Old Zhang and Old Xin will lead the charge, but don't pursue too closely, lest we push them into a desperate situation and cause casualties. The main force will hold down Heifengxia, ensuring the safety of our rear."

  Everyone nodded in agreement and got up to make preparations. Xiao Ming suddenly remembered something and added, "Be careful, try to avoid hurting the horses and goods!"

  "Has Wang Jinlong gone to pick up goods? What kind of goods?"

  "Big smoke", Xiao Ming burst out laughing, "We've struck it rich!"