Chapter Fifty-Seven: Calamity

  The night color gradually shrouded the earth, and torches were lit on the wall of the village, under the illumination of the torches, the shadows of people overlapped on the wall, it was clear that the people in Fanjia Village had also made preparations for nighttime defense, apparently not intending to give any opportunities to outsiders.

  Outside the Fanjia Fort, there were also bonfires burning everywhere. Although it was already late spring and the daytime temperature had risen, because this era was in the Little Ice Age, the temperature would still drop sharply at night. For people like them who came out to work, it was impossible to bring any tents or anything, so everyone could only gather around the bonfire to warm up.

  As for the tenants who were concentrated and watched, they suffered a lot. No one gave them food, only letting them light up several bonfires to keep warm. Some children cried loudly with hunger, but Wang Tianlong's subordinates didn't care at all.

  Because these tenants are under Wang Tianglong's management, Xiao Tianjian's people can't intervene, although they can't bear it, but also don't dare to say more.

  Xiao Tianjian pitied these people, and in the end, he still had his men cook a large pot of porridge and sent someone to deliver it to those tenant farmers. As for whether they would be grateful to him or not, Xiao Tianjian didn't have any expectations either way.

  Unlike Wang Tiandong's group, Xiao Tianjian's side immediately set up simple defensive facilities around their camp using available materials after deciding to camp, apparently to prevent being ambushed at night. Xiao Tianjian also arranged for sentries in the camp according to habit, while Shi Rang and several scouts took turns to monitor the movements inside the village.

  But Wang Tiandong obviously didn't have this temperament, in his opinion, Xiao Tianjian was being overly cautious, it was like dropping his pants to fart, they had many people and were in a strong position, could it be that they were still afraid of the people in the village going crazy and launching a night attack on them? So Wang Tiandong didn't arrange these things at all, he let someone set up a tent for him, after eating and drinking his fill, he went inside to rest comfortably.

  Xiao Tianjian didn't have the leisure to indulge in such emotions. After nightfall, when he was eating by the bonfire, he gathered his men around him and asked while eating: "Today's battle, everyone also saw it with their own eyes, did you notice anything?"

  Such a good opportunity for learning, Xiao Tianjian would not let it go no matter what. His subordinates have not yet formed the habit of summarizing their experiences, and he needs to lead them step by step to learn this good habit, not only summarizing experiences from his own actions but also trying to learn from others whenever possible!

  "Wang Tiandong is ruthless! He actually used the tenants to fill the moat, this move is quite vicious! I'm sure that after this matter is over, regardless of whether they can take down Fanjia Village or not, these tenants will have lost heart. Who would still be willing to work for the Fans? The Fans have really offended all the tenants to death this time! Just wait and see!" Zhao Erdui turned his head to look at where the tenants were gathered and immediately spoke up.

  "I think it's a good idea to use cavalry to deal with the suspension bridge, it's very effective for sudden attacks! And Wang Tianlong did a great job in the first step, surrounding the outer tenants and not letting them escape into the village. This greatly weakened the manpower of Fanjia Village, they were too clever for their own good, now they must be blinded!" Feng Gouz said with some schadenfreude while chewing on a piece of flatbread.

  "Wang Tiandong is just a thing! His subordinates are also a bunch of mobs! He doesn't treat his subordinates' lives as his own, where's the difference between him and us? We treat our brothers like brothers, but he doesn't know how to appreciate it!" Li Zhuozhu said with a sigh, still with a face full of emotion.

  Yan Zhongxi lowered his head and thought for a moment. Although he was still a knife shield, he had already taken on the title of a teaching head, so he also had a say here: "Although Wang Tiandragon has many men under him, they are not working together at all, everything is chaotic, relying solely on bravery, wanting to attack Fanjia Fortress will not be easy! Moreover, I think there may be someone inside Fanjia Fortress who understands the situation and is directing them. If not, Wang Tiandragon would have been able to rush in today! From what I've seen, Fanjia Fortress fought a standard battle today, with fairly good coordination, which means that there are experienced people inside directing the troops. It seems that this time attacking Fanjia Fortress will be quite troublesome!"

  Xiao Tianjian still attaches great importance to Yan Chongxi's words. He also had some doubts about this matter, but now that Yan Chongxi has spoken, he can be even more certain that there are capable people in Fanjiabao!

  "I also want to say something about my views! Today everyone has seen it, the importance of discipline for us, although we have lost a few people, but compared to Wang Tianlong's side, our losses are much smaller, this is inseparable from our disciplinary nature!"

  Another is organization, Wang Tianlong's side lacks organization, high morale and they rush forward, low morale and they scatter, and there is also a lack of coordination between each other. Otherwise, their losses would definitely be much smaller! Even if Zhuang Ding counterattacked fiercely, at least dismantling the suspension bridge was not a problem today!

  You all remember, after a loss comes a gain, at any time we must remember that when we do things, it's an overall situation, and we must take care of each other! We absolutely cannot learn from Wang Tianlong's side! Otherwise, we'll be just like them, and if we continue down this path, not only will we not last long, but our own lives may also be lost in vain!

  This time, we don't ask for credit, but seek no fault. This battle at Fan Family Fort is our first try, let's just take it as a practice! If tomorrow is still like this, we'll leave, there's no need to stick with them and die here! I won't use my brothers' lives to fill the gap! You all be careful too!" After speaking, Xiao Tianjian picked up his bowl and drank the porridge in one gulp. He waved his hand for everyone to rest early, conserve their energy, and wait until dawn to see what happens next.

  The night should have been quiet, but after so many people gathered here in Fanjia Fortress, the night could no longer be still.

  Before dusk, that attack, Wang Tiandao ended in failure, and the dead were left with some seriously injured people under the wall of the village. For a time, these wounded could not die, but only wailed and cried out in despair under the wall of the village.

  But Wang Tiandong was not interested in caring about them, in his view, people who were seriously injured were basically the same as dead people, even if they were rescued, it would be useless, so there was no need to care about them anymore.

  So the wounded were abandoned like this, Wang Tiandong didn't care, and his men naturally didn't care either. The few survivors who hadn't died yet wailed and moaned in agony, making many people's hearts feel a chill.

  Xiao Tianjian's subordinates listened to the mournful cries of these people and couldn't sleep for a long time. Compared with these people, they were really lucky! Although in the afternoon, some of them died or were injured in battle, Xiao Tianjian still managed to retrieve all the fallen brothers, and the dead were quickly buried in a pit, their names recorded, and their clothes not stripped off! They would definitely be mourned when they returned.

  The wounded are even more so, after returning, Lü Langzhong treated them, except for one who died of serious injury, the rest of the wounded received careful care and bandaging, their lives were definitely not in danger, and Xiao Tianjian also went to comfort them one by one at night, each person was well taken care of, compared to Wang Tiandragon's men, these people are really very lucky.

  So everyone, even if they don't say it out loud, is very grateful to Xiao Tianjian. Following him has also made their hearts more determined. Some people think that following such a leader, even if one day they really die, they can only blame their own bad luck. At least in this life, they have had good food and drink for some days, compared to those refugees who starved to death on the side of the road, they are also worth it.

  Just as everyone was about to fall asleep, a big commotion suddenly broke out among the prisoners being closely watched, followed by the sound of women and men wailing and begging for mercy. Everyone immediately sat up and looked in that direction.

  The crowd saw, by the light of the bonfire, that among the group of people on the tenant's side, there were several of Wang Tiandong's men who were laughing and cursing loudly. They dragged out a few young women from among the tenants, and then used the handles of their knives and wooden clubs to beat the men who tried to stop them. One man who resisted the most fiercely was dragged out and beheaded in front of all the tenants, instantly silencing them. Only the women who had been dragged out were still crying loudly.

  "If you don't want to die, be honest with me. It's your good fortune that I've taken a liking to you. Accompany me and have some fun, and tomorrow I'll treat you to a good meal!" A voice came over, and someone immediately recognized it as one of Wang Tiandong's subordinates.

  Soon, the young women were dragged into their camp by Wang Tianlong's men. Before long, bursts of lewd laughter could be heard from inside the camp, and a woman was sent into Wang Tianlong's tent. The women let out cries of pain and despair.

  Another stir arose among the tenant farmers, but some of Wang Tiandong's men immediately shouted and used whips and clubs to suppress their protest.

  "What the hell, are these bastards even human? Are they capable of causing such harm? I'm going to go reason with them!" One of Xiao Tianjian's subordinates couldn't bear it anymore and stood up after cursing loudly.

  "Sit down! I'll handle this, all of you go rest! Tie Tou, come with me!" Xiao Tian Jian barked orders as soon as he saw the reaction from his subordinates.

  Those who were eager to try their luck had no choice but to sit back down, huffing and puffing as they stared in the direction of Wang Tianlong's group.

  Tie Tou didn't say a word, grabbed the waist knife and hung it on his waist, and immediately pointed at Yan Chongxi and several other knife shield hands to follow Xiao Tianjian towards Wang Tianglong.

  (In fact, spending a few minutes registering an account is not too much trouble, and collecting, for a writer, is a kind of achievement display. Therefore, this collection is also a respect and support for the writer. I beg those friends who have not collected yet to kindly register an account.)