Chapter 368: Suppressing Bandits in the Mountains
In the Taishan Mountains, in a bandit camp, dozens of bandits were hiding in the camp, guarding by the brazier and eating dry food.
The howling cold wind blew outside the tent, suddenly blowing up a corner of the tent.
A biting cold air suddenly rushed in, and the bandits shivered one after another.
"Er Gouzi, why don't you go and wrap yourself up in the tent cloth? Believe it or not, I will skin you alive." A bandit lying on the bed said angrily.
The slightly thin bandit who was near the door had a hint of fear in his eyes when he heard this, and he quickly stood up and wrapped the tent cloth.
He was the newcomer and the youngest, so he was often bullied by these people and had long been used to it.
In fact, he was not the youngest a few days ago. The youngest one was already lying in the snow.
Because they heard that nearby bandits had been attacked a lot in the past few days, their bandit leader arranged for him to go out and stand guard.
But they only had two thin clothes on, one of which was in tatters, which could not protect them from the heavy snow and the biting cold wind.
In just one night, a life was lost because the person on shift didn't wake up.
Fortunately, since then, their leader never mentioned standing guard again.
There were only a few dozen bandits in total, who used to live in this remote mountain area, barely making a living by robbing the surrounding people, passing merchants, and the hundreds of acres of thin farmland behind the mountain.
Later, he was recruited by Yuan Shu and thought that life would be much better, after all, Yuan Shu had money and food and was a loyal person.
Unexpectedly, the result was only better at the beginning. Just by waving the flags and cheering, there was no risk and you could get a lot of rewards from Yuan Shu.
There are a lot of food supplies, including this tent.
Unexpectedly, as the situation changed, life soon became difficult.
Because of the existence of Zang Bajun, all the people and merchants in the surrounding area were killed, and the harvest was poor due to drought.
They hadn't had a few days of good life and now they were back to their original state.
Moreover, they had to stay here according to Yuan Shu's request. Although Yuan Shu would provide some food, it was not much, and they could only say that they would not starve to death.
But fortunately they have gotten used to it.
In this world, it’s good enough to be alive.
The thief leader Heisan curled up in the thick bear skin, but he was frightened and couldn't sleep well.
He knew that their end was approaching.
The surrounding villages are disappearing one by one, and soon it will be his turn.
He also wanted to resist.
After all, Yuan Shu's men said that life under Tian Ze was very hard, especially for bandits like them, who would be dead if they were caught.
The best outcome is to be assigned to a mine and work yourself to death.
Although he was just a small thief, he was quite brave, otherwise he wouldn't have this bear skin on his body.
But he really didn't have any confidence in dealing with a well-trained army.
He had thought about joining Yuan Shu's army and eating his food, but the risk was too great and it might not be as comfortable as he was doing now.
So now we can only take one step at a time.
Er Gouzi huddled in the corner, unconsciously leaning towards the fire, muttering, "When will this hell of a life end? If this continues, I'll starve to death on this mountain."
Ma Zi next to him said, "Don't complain. It's good enough to have a meal. Wasn't it tragic enough that our brothers froze to death a few days ago?"
As the two were talking, suddenly, a low sound of footsteps appeared around the tent.
Er Gouzi, who had excellent hearing, looked at the situation in the tent in confusion, and then immediately realized something.
"enemy……"
Before Er Gouzi could utter the second word, the tent was opened and a group of black-armored soldiers rushed in.
They were wearing heavy armor, holding sharp blades, and were in neat formation, pressing forward step by step.
The bandits had never seen such a scene before, and many of them were so frightened that their legs went weak.
Hei San, who had been panicking, calmed down at this moment. He stood up, picked up the steel knife beside him, and cursed: "Why are you panicking! Stay calm and meet the enemy!"
But his voice was soon drowned out by the noise.
Most of these mobs instinctively fled in all directions, with no intention of fighting at all.
Zang Ba's army surged in like a tide, and the centurion Lei Tong, who was in the lead, shouted, "Those who surrender will not be killed! Those who flee must die!"
This group of bandits was so small that he didn't take it seriously at first.
But the location is indeed important and extremely steep. There are cliffs on three sides and only one mountain road, which has been blocked by this group of bandits.
Yuan Shu transported food to them by using ropes and wooden boxes to carry it up from the bottom of the cliff little by little.
Ordinary soldiers would not be able to easily deal with this kind of terrain, but it was a pity that they encountered them.
Hei San led a few of his confidants and more than a dozen bandits who had killed people and stood up, ready to fight to the death.
However, Zang Ba's army directly formed a military formation and raised their spears.
Ma Zi brandished a broadsword and rushed towards a soldier of Zang Ba's army, but as soon as they started fighting, he felt his arm go numb. The opponent's strength and moves were far superior to his.
After a few rounds, he was kicked to the ground by the opponent and the sword fell out of his hand.
Seeing this, Er Gouzi wanted to help, but was hit hard on the head with a shield by another Zang Bajun soldier next to him and fainted on the spot.
Hei San saw that the situation was not good and wanted to organize an effective resistance, but the bandits had already been defeated.
He was extremely anxious and shouted the names of several of his confidants, but no one responded.
At this moment, a cold arrow whizzed over, and Hei San was unable to dodge, and the arrow hit his shoulder. He gasped in pain, knowing that the game was over.
Zang Ba's army became more and more courageous as they killed more bandits. Most of the bandits who resisted were killed or wounded, and the few who remained knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.
Lei Tong scanned the battlefield with cold eyes, looking at these miserable bandits, without a trace of pity in his heart: "Tie them all up and take them back for custody."
The bandits were escorted down the mountain, and along the way, Ergouzi's heart was full of regret.
He remembered that he was forced by life to embark on the path of banditry. He thought he could make a living, but he didn't expect to end up like this.
Ma Zi was unconscious and was being held by two soldiers, his life or death unknown.
When they arrived at Zang Ba’s military camp, the bandits were locked up in cells that had already been built.
Looking at the clean and warm cell, there was plenty of clean water, even some braziers, quilts, and even the bed was warm.
Er Gouzi's face was suddenly full of confusion.
"Sir, where is this?"
"Prison cell?" the guard replied as if it was normal.
"Is this a prison cell?" Er Gouzi widened his eyes.
Wow, the family of landlord Zhang in the village wasn’t so good before.
"Hurry up and don't waste time. There are still a lot of people queuing behind you."
When he first answered these country bumpkins' questions, his attitude was relatively good. But after being asked dozens of times a day for several days in a row, he was completely fed up.
(End of this chapter)
