Chapter 61: One Battle to Fame

  At midnight, the weather was somewhat gloomy and the air was a bit depressing, as if it was going to rain again. The open field was quiet and still, with Cold One flying holding a telescope to observe the situation on the city wall. There were soldiers on the city wall carrying lanterns and patrolling, the dim light of the candles made it difficult to see clearly, but it was clear that the enemy's vigilance was very lax. In this era, battles were basically not fought at night, and the two armies facing each other would either attack or defend, or form a formation and engage in a fierce battle. The rebel army occupying the city did not expect a demon to appear under the city wall, about to take their lives.

  Leng Yifei took a look at the table and said in a low voice: Start acting, we must end the battle before dawn! He Meng waved his hand and led two small teams to move towards the city wall. Lin Xiong and Hadley also led their respective troops to move towards the two side gates, and the dark night quickly swallowed their figures. A few dozen minutes later, Leng Yifei gave a low command: The main force moves slowly towards the city wall, do not expose the target! The team members were well-trained and quickly took action.

  He Meng led the team to quietly move to the edge of the city wall, and after a brief observation, two team members threw out the hooks in their hands, which accurately hooked onto the upper battlements of the city wall. Then, two team members quickly climbed up along the city wall. Just as they reached the top, two sentries with lanterns came walking from the side. The two men hastily hid at the battlement. The two sentries walked over, completely unaware.

  Only two people suddenly attacked, and the patrol soldiers didn't understand what was happening before they were knocked unconscious. After sending a signal, He Meng led the way up the city wall first. The deputy captain captured two sentries. In the darkness, He Meng picked up one of the shorter sentries and shook him violently for a few times. When this sentry woke up, he whispered: "Don't shout, or I'll kill you!" Spare my life! Spare my life! If you want to live, take us to Wei Tianbiao's residence! Do you understand? I understand, I understand! A tall team member pressed his dagger against the neck of this little guy and said: "Lead the way, if you play tricks on me, I'll kill you immediately!"

  He Meng ordered two team members to stay behind and wait for the captain, then led the vanguard team to rush towards Wei Tianbao's mansion. About an hour later, they approached Wei Tianbao's command center, a large-scale courtyard door. In front of the courtyard door, there were two dim lanterns, and two soldiers holding big knives stood guard. He Meng waved his hand, and the tall team member knocked out the leading soldier, then everyone swaggered towards the entrance of the courtyard.

  Two sentries at the gate heard the noise and immediately shouted loudly. They didn't think that a group of people emerging from the darkness were sneak attackers, so they were full of confidence and didn't take them seriously. No one answered, and the team members continued to walk forward with big strides, the two sentries got very angry, thinking that this group of people was too bold, and couldn't help but draw their waist knives.

  Right before their eyes, He Meng raised his hand and fired two shots. The two bullets accurately hit the two men's heads, and the two sentries fell to the ground with only outgoing breaths left. The terrifying gunshot sounds were particularly clear in the quiet night. Without needing an order, the team members charged into the courtyard with their rifles at the ready. This courtyard was a standard siheyuan, with houses on three sides and a large open space in the middle. At this moment, the people sleeping inside must have been startled awake by the sound of gunfire.

  "Shut the big gate and block it for me, come out one by one to be killed!" He Meng shouted loudly. The captured sentinel confessed that Wei Tianbao's guard had more than 50 people, so He Meng was fearless. As soon as the voice fell, a group of people rushed out from the left room, and a burst of chaotic gunfire knocked down a piece, followed by the team members' bayonets seeing red, and in the darkness, more than a dozen team members surrounded the door and continuously stabbed, after a while, the door was filled with corpses, lying on the ground, those who were not dead yet let out mournful cries.

  Five or six more people jumped out from the room on the right, and several team members surrounded them, solving them with bayonets. The front room remained silent, and He Meng judged that Wei Tianbao was definitely in the main house, so he kept monitoring the movement of the main house. He Meng estimated that Wei Tianbao had already realized something, and maybe he had seen everything happening in the yard through the window.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, suddenly the roof made a loud noise, and in an instant, tiles flew horizontally. A black shadow jumped out from the roof ridge. He Meng raised his hand and fired a shot. The black shadow rolled down from the roof ridge. After falling to the ground, it got up again. Two team members charged forward, and their bayonets crossed and stabbed into the black shadow's chest. Gunshots were heard in the center of the village. Leng Yifei, who was waiting on the city wall, shouted loudly: "All teams form combat formations and launch a charge in the direction of the gunfire!"

  They rushed to an intersection and found a group of undisciplined soldiers. In the darkness, the undisciplined soldiers thought they were their own men, and one of the small leaders shouted loudly: "Wei Biao's team has been attacked, go and support them!" As soon as the words fell, a squad leader raised his hand and shot, killing the small leader. The undisciplined soldiers immediately exploded into chaos, starting to flee in disarray. The team members fired another round, knocking down dozens more, and the undisciplined soldiers ran even faster with their tails between their legs.

  The team members are to pursue, Leng Yifei loudly ordered not to care about them, and continue to charge towards Wei Tianbao's command post. After He Meng's attack began, the soldiers in the town started to wake up and spontaneously gathered at Wei Tianbao's mansion. When Leng Yifei led the team to arrive, more than 200 people had already gathered at the gate of the mansion, holding torches and smashing the door.

  Charge! With Leng Yifei's order, the team members' rifles spat out fire snakes, and after the gunfire, wails were heard. A large number of soldiers fell to the ground. It's bad, the government army is here! Someone shouted in terror, and the soldiers at the door began to flee. Pursue in small units and try to capture as many alive as possible! Leng Yifei saw this scene and knew that the defeat was already a foregone conclusion.

  Leng Yifei walked into the mansion, where torches had already been lit. At this time, the soldiers who had put down their weapons were coming out of the room on the left, with over thirty people squatting on the ground, holding their heads in their hands. The rest were corpses and wounded soldiers, the scene was extremely terrifying. Captain, it's all taken care of! He Meng reported as soon as he saw Leng Yifei enter. Well done, are there any injuries?

  Just now, three brothers were injured by She Leng's arrow in the room, but it's not a big deal. Was Wei Tianbao captured? After identification, he was beaten to death, and his body is over there. Leng Yifei walked over and found a bearded man lying on the ground, with eyes wide open and unblinking. There were two knife wounds under his ribs, and a large patch of congealed blood.

  Leng Yifei gazed at Wei Tianbao's appearance and let out a soft sigh. He Miao led a small team to pursue, the bloody atmosphere was too thick, Leng Yifei ordered to drag the corpses away. At dawn, Lin Xiong and Hadley brought the captured prisoners from both sides of the city gate, and the team members also brought the prisoners from various corners of the city. At this time, some brave civilians came out to take a look.

  Leng Yifei saw that the crowd was getting bigger and bigger, so he climbed up to a high place and shouted loudly: Fellow villagers! Our militia is specially here to execute the rebel bandits. You don't have to be afraid, our military discipline is strict and we won't harm a single hair of yours. The surrounding people were mostly Han civilians with a small number of Jing ethnic minority. Reporting to the captain, after investigation, the rebel army had 134 casualties, over 300 captured, and more than 50 escaped. He Meng reported.

  Leng Yifei gazed at the captives squatting on the ground, thinking to himself: In extraordinary times, they must be intimidated. He called over He Meng and gave him some instructions, and He Meng nodded in understanding. Then he walked up to the captives and shouted loudly: All leaders step forward! About a dozen people came out, and He Meng counted them - exactly 18. Give them weapons! The captives and small leaders were all stunned. The weapons were placed in front of these small leaders, but no one dared to pick them up.

  "Alright! Fall in, squad! Hurdly immediately understood what to do and loudly shouted: "Everyone, fall in, face the captives, at attention with guns. The team members automatically chose their targets and took up a dueling stance. He Meng said to the panicked little captain: "Pick up your weapons from the ground. You have only one chance, if any of you kill my people, I will let you go, I mean what I say, let's begin!"

  A brief silence, the team members slowly approached with rifles at the ready. A small leader came to and picked up a large knife on the ground, ferociously pouncing forward. The facing team member took a step back and made a swift thrust, the bayonet instantly inserting into the opponent's chest. Before people could react, the bayonet was withdrawn. This team member shouldered his rifle and slightly nodded his head, showing respect for the opponent. Several other small leaders charged forward, with the same result.

  The remaining ones were frightened, and they knelt on the ground begging for mercy. The team members stepped forward and inserted their bayonets into the opponent's chest one after another. The scene was too terrifying, and all the captives knelt down to ask for mercy. Even Lin Xiong was frightened by this scene, and he didn't know how the militia had cultivated such a powerful assassination technique. Don't be afraid, I won't slaughter you, Leng Yifei shouted loudly.

  The captives stopped begging for mercy, and Leng Yifei continued: Lin Xiong has already surrendered to me, are you willing to surrender to me? We are willing! We are willing! The captives shouted loudly, raising their hands one after another. Brothers, Lord Leng is the commander of the Wolf Troop of the People's Army, equipped with foreign guns and seasoned in battle. Each of them can take on ten men. Currently, the main force of the People's Army and the government army have begun to attack Yang Guangcai, and Yang Guangcai won't last for a few more days. You must believe me. Lin Xiong was half true and half false, but the captives believed it to be true.

  The captives were then escorted into the mansion, and Leng Yifei said: "He Meng, immediately eliminate the old, weak, sick and disabled among the captives, and then concentrate on imprisoning them. The current situation is unclear, even if these captives choose to surrender, they cannot be used for the time being." He Meng asked, "Are you worried that the rebels from Xuanhua will come to avenge?" Leng Yifei replied, "Not to avenge, but to attack. For the rebels, Xian'an is very important, and the escaped soldiers can reach Xuanhua by night. If nothing unexpected happens, the rebels from Xuanhua will arrive tomorrow morning."

  Lin Xiong! Subordinates are here! You dispatch a small team to escort the elderly, weak, sick and wounded soldiers to Beiguang, and replace the 2nd team back. Tell the 2nd team that they must arrive tomorrow morning. Lin Xiong led the order away. Khalid! Come! You lead people to immediately inspect the city wall, reinforce both sides of the city gate! I want to hold on to Xian'an, and fight a beautiful defensive battle tomorrow.

  In the evening, at Liu Yongfu's mansion on Old Street, several deputy generals sat on both sides. Hasn't the scout returned with news yet? Liu Yongfu asked anxiously. Sir! Not yet! Military advisor! I'm feeling uneasy about this! Are we being too unrighteous? Sir, what is the origin of these militia troops, we haven't figured it out. Even if they're not rebel troops, if they were sent by the imperial court, we need to be even more cautious.

  Yes, sir! These people are well-trained and equipped with foreign guns. The entire Guangxi government army doesn't have such strength, I think they must be sent by the imperial court. A subordinate echoed in agreement. That's not right! If they were sent by the imperial court, Feng Zicai should have informed us. Sir, maybe even Feng Zicai is unaware of this! The military advisor analyzed.

  It's impossible to deal with Yang Guangcai, the imperial court can't possibly send a team of foreign guns. The cold captain said it was sent by the master, I guess this master doesn't want to reveal his identity, that is, hiding from the imperial court. This team of foreign guns may be the private armed forces of the behind-the-scenes person, not difficult to see that this behind-the-scenes person has a lot of money and loves the country, it seems we misunderstood them! Sir, you are right, if they take down Xian'an, it will prove it without a doubt.

  Report, sir! The brother who went to gather information has returned! Liu Yongfu heard and stood up with a shout.