Chapter 28: The Bandits Arrive

  "Gentlemen, what do you think is the intention of Master Ma's eldest son in getting us together to make such a big deal? Could it be that he wants to use the hands of the Southern Sichuan Army to wipe us all out?" A short and stout middle-aged man said hesitantly.

  "Lu Lao Er, what are you saying? If the Ma family wanted to wipe us out, would they need to go to such great lengths? The Qing Ma Army has 36 battalions, and even if just one battalion came, it would be enough to annihilate us completely." The man known as Ma Lao Da slammed down his wine cup with a loud "bang", speaking with some anger. He shared the same surname as Ma, and had also split off from the Ma family army, so over the years he had received no small amount of care from the Qing Ma Army, and thus couldn't bear to hear anyone speak ill of the Ma family.

  "Ma Lao Da, calm down, Lu Lao Er is just like that, he didn't mean anything else!" Another young man, about 27 or 28 years old, a sturdy and robust fellow, hastily mediated, he was also one of the leaders of the horse thieves, known as Poisonous Wolf, looking quite generous but actually full of evil intentions.

  "Yes, Old Ma, don't lower yourself to Lu's level." The thin, dark-skinned man also tried to persuade him, his name was Heizi.

  "Old Master Ma, brother, I spoke without reserve and offended you, I apologize to you!" Lu Lao Er seemed to have realized his mistake too, and hastily said. He picked up the wine bowl on the table and drank it all in one gulp.

  "Hum! I'm telling you, all of you are like dogs biting Lu Dongbin, not recognizing good intentions. Young Master knows that our days haven't been going well this year and it's hard to get through this winter, so he wants to lead us in making a big deal to solve the problem of getting through the winter. Of course, this includes letting us consume the Sichuan army, but rather than starving to death or freezing to death, we might as well take a chance. If we succeed, then this winter will be easy to get through. Think about how many weapons and livestock are at that Jiasangka military station. As long as we're successful, we can completely develop from there!" Ma Lao said.

  "Old Ma, what you said is true. But with our current strength, can we really take down the Garrison's military base? Although we have a lot of people, if we add up all our guns, they don't even amount to two hundred rifles. The Garrison's Sichuan army may be small in number, but their equipment is top-notch - not only do they have complete sets of rifles, but also heavy machine guns and artillery. If we go head-to-head with them, it would be like hitting a rock with an egg!" Du Long said with some concern.

  Hei Zi and Lu Lao Er were also looking at Ma Lao Da. Although they respected Ma Lao Da, it didn't mean they could let him go to his death.

  "Don't worry, the young master won't let us go to our deaths. For this operation, the young master personally led 500 well-trained Qingma troops to participate in the attack. At the same time, the young master also prepared 200 new rifles and gave them to us as a reward for this operation. The young master said that if anyone doesn't want to participate in this operation, he won't force them!" Ma Lao Da said.

  Du Long, Hei Zi and Lu Lao Er fell silent. What's absolutely not forced, even a three-year-old wouldn't believe such words. Once they refused to participate, they would definitely be unable to stand on the grassland. Therefore, they had no other choice but to either attack Gasangka's Chuanxi military station or be killed by the Qingma army, with no second path to take.

  "Ma Lao Da, since things have been said to this point, as long as the young master doesn't use us as cannon fodder, I, Du Long, and my 200 brothers will all be under the young master's command!" Du Long hesitated for a moment before speaking resolutely.

  "My brothers and I will follow your instructions, Young Master!" Blackie said immediately.

  "I'm Lu Lao Er's team, although we have fewer people, but when it comes to fighting the Sichuan Western Army, there is no room for hesitation." Lu Lao Er also hastened to express his stance.

  "Haha! Alright, young master will arrive tomorrow. At that time, with so many of us attacking Gasangka, we'll definitely be able to take it down. Come on, let's drink and have fun tonight!" Old Ma said with a big laugh.

  A group of bandit leaders immediately started drinking and reveling in debauchery within the felt house.

  The next day, a group of horse bandits gathered outside Lugousha Village, waiting for the arrival of Qingma's young master, Ma Qi. Before long, a loud rumbling sound of horseshoes came from afar. Then, a large cavalry team appeared before everyone's eyes. Although they were not wearing military uniforms, they looked like well-trained regular troops at first glance.

  Leading the way was a young man in his early twenties, who looked quite handsome, but his eyes seemed to be like those of a tiger or wolf. This young man was Ma Qi, the eldest son of Ma Haiyan, the leader of the Green Horse Army, and the young master of the Green Horse. Although still young, he had already been through many battles.

  "See the young master!" As soon as Ma Qi arrived in front of them, a group of horse bandits immediately knelt down to pay their respects.

  "Everyone, brothers, get up! This time's action still has to rely on everyone!" Ma Qiuxu said loudly with a push.

  "Don't worry, young master! Our nearly thousand men will all follow your command!" Ma Lao Da said first.

  Du Long, Hei Zi and Lu Lao Er also echoed in agreement. They had no choice now but to follow Ma Qi's orders. Otherwise, the consequences would be even worse.

  "Haha, great, with everyone's help, we will definitely succeed. Come on, bring all the gifts here!" Ma Qi loudly commanded. Suddenly, the soldiers behind him brought out twenty boxes and placed them in front of the bandits.

  "Open it!" Ma Qi said.

  "Bang!" All twenty boxes were opened, revealing rows of rifles inside, polished to a shine and still coated with gun oil - clearly brand new.

  "These are two hundred new-style M1886 Lebel rifles, which were distributed to our Qing Ma Army by the imperial court, and there are only five thousand in total. Now, I will give these guns to all of you brothers!" Ma Qi said loudly.

  A group of bandits, as soon as they saw these new guns, their eyes lit up. This is the standard equipment of the Qing dynasty's new army! It's said that one rifle sells for twenty taels of silver! With these rifles, their strength will increase greatly! Ma Qi was able to bring out so many rifles, clearly he had invested a lot. It seems that this attack on the Gasankya barracks is being taken very seriously. Looking at the 500 elite soldiers behind Ma Qi, they were all equipped with these rifles. The group of bandits suddenly gained a lot of confidence.

  "Don't worry, young master! We'll definitely be able to take down the Sichuan Army's garrison!" Ma Lao Da said with a thump on his chest.

  "Master, there are still heavy machine guns and artillery in the Sichuan-Xikang Army's garrison. Those things can sweep away a large area with one shot. How can we resist?" Lu Er is still worried.

  "You coward, with so many of us, what are we afraid of?" Ma Lao Da slapped Lu Lao Er's face heavily.

  Lu Lao'er suddenly didn't dare say anything more, although he was extremely angry, he didn't dare show it. Definitely, once Ma Lao Da or Ma Qi noticed, the other party would definitely be able to take care of him first.

  "Don't worry, everyone. We're fully prepared this time. Although the Kansu army has heavy machine guns and artillery, we have more people, cavalry, and as long as we disperse our attack, the threat isn't that great. The Kansu army's Gasa station only has a single company of soldiers, while we have several times their number. We'll definitely win this battle!" Ma Qi encouraged everyone with all his might. However, in his heart, he still considered these bandits to be nothing more than cannon fodder. But even cannon fodder should fulfill its role as cannon fodder."

  After resting for a day in Lugou Sha, Ma Ke led 500 elite Qingma Army and 1,000 horse bandits to gallop southward. At the speed of riding horses, it would take only four hours from Lugou Sha to Jiasangka. They could arrive at Jiasangka just in time for lunch, rest, and then launch an attack. Ma Ke's goal was to spend the night within the barracks of Jiasangka that very evening.

  Kasanaka, the third company's garrison, which originally looked relatively spacious, became overcrowded after several dozen herding households and tens of thousands of cattle and sheep were moved in. However, the herdsmen were very self-aware and did not bring trouble to the soldiers of the third company, and even took the initiative to help the soldiers reinforce their fortifications, which made the people of the third company feel much better.

  However, for safety reasons, Wang Yuezhe still secretly arranged people to monitor these herdsmen, and also strengthened the defense of important places such as the arsenal.

  PS: The second update is coming, please collect it!