Chapter 62: Who Will Be the Village Head?

  The clock rewound to ten days ago, which was April 22. The Taixing 19th Zhai Righteous Army gathered in Luan City finally waited for an opportunity. On this day, the defender of Luan City, Ah Lan, was ordered to withdraw more than a thousand laborers and hundreds of mules, going south to respond to the army of Zong Wang, in order to alleviate the transportation pressure of the Jin army.

  To ensure safety along the way, Ah Lang gathered his most elite troops of one thousand from the main force and five hundred new recruits, escorting thousands of laborers and mules out of the south gate.

  As a result, the military strength of Quan Cheng was almost halved, and not one of the four hundred female Jin soldiers who were the strongest in combat remained. The righteous army of Taihang's 19 strongholds had long been waiting anxiously, how could they let such an opportunity slip away? So, the people and horses of the 19 strongholds gathered together to launch a pincer movement from both inside and outside.

  Fu Xuan from Baima Village, Meng De from Cheyuan Ridge Village, Liu Ze from Fushan Village and Jiao Wentong from Heiyashan Village, the four leaders of the Taihang Righteous Army, jointly commanded. Fu Xuan and Meng De led 800 elite soldiers of the Taihang Righteous Army who had infiltrated Luan City half a month ago to set fires and cause chaos in the city, and then opened the city gate. Liu Ze and Jiao Wentong led 3,000 Taihang Righteous Army soldiers to launch an attack from outside the city.

  Baima Mountain Village Chief Fu Xuan had military experience in his early years and was quite familiar with military affairs. This attack plan was proposed by him and unanimously adopted by the 19 villages.

  Fu Xuan not only sent out a large number of local militiamen from Zhending Prefecture to infiltrate Luan City in batches, but also took advantage of the resentment of the new surrendered army towards the Jin army, and pulled down some of the city's defenders who were part of the new surrendered army as internal responders, promising to open the city gates when chaos broke out in the city. In addition, to prevent Ah Lang from sending troops with ulterior motives, Fu Xuan also sent out over a hundred scouts to monitor Ah Lang's large army movements along the way, and immediately report back if there were any unusual movements.

  It should be said that Fu Xuan's plan is still quite good, and if everything goes smoothly, there is a great possibility of success. Unfortunately, he miscalculated one thing - the speed of Jin Jun's cavalry!

  Fu Xuan had fought against the Western Xia army in his early years as a soldier, but he had never clashed with the Jin army before. He did not know that the quality and combat strength of the Jin soldiers were far superior to those of the Western Xia people.

  Ah Luan was indeed playing tricks, and he also had no choice but to take risks. If he stayed in Lan City without moving, the Taihang Righteous Army would not dare to move either. He could not send troops to penetrate the vast Taihang Mountains to clear out the righteous army, and the Taihang Righteous Army could not fight its way into the city either, thus forming a stalemate.

  If this were in peacetime, a stalemate would be just that, and as long as the main army gathers later, what's to fear from these mere bandits of Taihang coming to ask for Wildfire?

  But now Zong Wang has arrived.

  Due to Di Lie's successive attacks, the Jin army suffered its heaviest losses since invading Song. In fact, the loss of soldiers was not many, but the loss of generals was severe, with four Mu'an commanders and six Mouke commanders killed, and more than ten Puji commanders were also lost. In comparison, when they destroyed a large Song state, the Jin army only lost two Mouke commanders and more than ten Puji commanders.

  This was a great stimulus to Zongwang. Therefore, he could no longer tolerate any unstable factors during the march. If there were any, whoever caused trouble would be responsible; whoever's territory it was would take the blame.

  Because of this, Ah Lang had no choice but to take the risk of being broken through by the Taihang Righteous Army, pulling out his elite troops from the city and then making a surprise attack. Of course, he wasn't entirely putting on an act; he had indeed received orders to go and escort the returning army, and those porters and mules were indeed heading south. However, Ah Lang had handed over this task of escorting to his deputy. That deputy would lead two hundred Khitan soldiers, supervising five hundred new recruits as they escorted the porters south, in order to deceive the scouts of the Taihang Righteous Army. Meanwhile, Ah Lang led eight hundred elite cavalry back to Luancheng.

  When Ah Lazi's cavalry had just passed Zhaozhou, they suddenly turned back when they were on their way between Zhaozhou and Gaoyi. The scouts of the Righteous Army did not notice at first, but soon discovered that something was wrong, so they immediately rushed back to report. However, the problem is how can the horses of the Righteous Army compare with those of the Jin army? How can one horse per person compare with two or even three horses per person?

  A lazy eight hundred fine riders rushed back to the south gate of Lancheng, while Liu Ze and Jiao Wentong's three thousand Taixing Righteous Army had just formed an array outside the west gate. A lazy led the eight hundred fine riders did not enter the city, directly from the city outside around to the west gate, a sudden raid on the three thousand Taixing Righteous Army flank...

  The result is predictable, the combat effectiveness of these Taihang Righteous Army is only equivalent to that of the Song Dynasty's Xiang Army, and even in terms of armor equipment, it is not as good as the Xiang Army. In just half a progress, nearly 3,000 Taihang Righteous Army were defeated, completely collapsing, with ducks scattered all over the mountains and fields. The righteous army inside the city was almost wrapped up like dumplings.

  In the city, 800 righteous soldiers were almost completely annihilated. Fu Xuan escaped with injuries, while Meng De hid in a cellar and was able to survive thanks to the protection of an old brother who had been running a grocery store in the north of the city for many years.

  Liu Dazhang, the leader of Tianping Village, unfortunately was among the 800 righteous soldiers who were acting as insiders and died together with him. There were also more than 20 villagers from Tianping Village who died with them.

  Tianping Village was just a mediocre village among the nineteen villages of Taihang that attacked Luan City this time. The entire village had a population of nearly 1,000, with many family members, women, children and the elderly, and only about 300 young men, of which more than 100 people had simple weapons and some combat skills. Previously, let Guan Zhongyong take away more than 60 people, as a result, they were killed and left with only a dozen or so, plus the villagers who died in the city, Tianping Village's already weak strength was destroyed at once.

  Gao Liang had just arrived at Bao Du village when he was intercepted by a group of villagers from Tian Ping village who had rushed over. Together, they headed to Feng Long Mountain, which is 100 miles away from Luan City. In a small village at the foot of the mountain, there was a villager's house that served as a base for Tian Ping village, where they discussed their strategy together.

  Logically, the head of the village has passed away, and the one who should take over is Guan Zhongyong, the second master. However, there is a problem here. Guan Zhongyong has been in Tianping Village for less than a year, with shallow experience and insufficient prestige. He relied on the trust of the head of the village and the remaining 30 or 40 Song army soldiers under him to get the position of second master. But now that the head of the village is dead, others may not obey him, and when they heard that most of Guan Zhongyong's men were also killed, the remnants of Tianping Village became even more disobedient after the failure of the mission.

  Gao Liang has a special status in Tianping Village, he is the apprentice of Liu Tiesheng, the former leader of Tianping Village, when he was wandering around Jianghu. As an active young man, he doesn't have the same thinking as other villagers who prioritize seniority. Gao Liang shares the same idea with his deceased master that Guan Zhongyong is a capable person and letting him take over the position of leader will be more beneficial for the future of Tianping Village.

  Gao Liang left a heart eye here, he didn't mention the huge energy that Di Lie possessed, for fear of causing the crowd's disgust and resistance: Our leader's body is not yet cold, and you, the second master, have brought in a large group of people. What does this mean? Thinking well, this is to pull people into the partnership, enriching our village; thinking badly, isn't this just using external forces to usurp the throne?

  So the highlight just vaguely mentioned that they were rescued by a group of good guys, and then pulled this group of good guys into the gang, without mentioning specific numbers.

  It can be imagined that, due to the absence of Guan Zhongyong, the second master, such a consultation would not have any results. So, Gao Liang hurriedly led several brothers southward, intercepting Di Lie and Guan Zhongyong's party.

  After listening to the whole process of the event, Guan Zhongyong's face sank like water, and he didn't say a word for a long time. Suddenly, he whipped his horse's buttocks and galloped away with flying hooves.

  At this time, Asha quietly approached Dilie on horseback and whispered: "Master, this is a good opportunity..."

  Di Lie raised his palm to signal silence, pondered for a moment, and then raised one finger: "Take action when the opportunity arises."

  Iron hooves like thunder, rolling up a yellow dragon, rushing straight northwest.