"Kill!"

"Catch up!"

"Hugh is going to tell them to flee!"

To the west of the Black Tiger Village, Ishihara, Yang Dang and other catchers led the warriors of the thief army to pursue the escaped thieves.

No, it wasn't an escape, looking at the bandits on the other side fighting and retreating, Ishihara knew that the other side was evacuating in an orderly manner.

After all, they chased after them all the way, and they never saw any women and children halfway, and they knew that the group of bandits on the opposite side had already transferred the women and children in the cottage in advance, leaving only Jingzhuang to break off again.

Ishihara didn't know exactly where the other party was going to retreat, but he knew that as long as he bit the other party and didn't let go, the other party would bring them over sooner or later.

"Whoosh-"

With a sound of breaking the sky, an arrow was nailed to the trunk of the tree on Ishihara's side, startling Ishihara to subconsciously hide behind the trunk, and at the same time reminded his own people: "Beware of thieves and cold arrows!" …… Fight back with a crossbow! ”

Under his orders, the nearby county officials, village warriors, and rangers covered their bodies with tree trunks, and at the same time launched a counterattack with crossbows.

For a while, the arrows shot by both sides came and went, so it was not lively.

Unfortunately, the mountainous area was not conducive to the power of the crossbows, and the crossbow arrows fired by both sides hit the trees by mistake, but the bandits still bought time and quickly retreated.

Seeing that the bandits on the opposite side were quickly retreating, Ishihara was about to lead his county guards in pursuit, when suddenly not far from the other direction, another wave of arrows was fired, forcing him to hide behind the trunk again.

"These bandits......

Leaning back against the trunk of a tree, Ishihara frowned slightly.

He gradually discovered that there were actually two groups of bandits on the opposite side, one group of people retreated a certain distance, and then ambushed on the spot to cover the other group of people to retreat a certain distance, and the other group of people also referred to this pattern, in other words, there was always a group of bandits retreating, and another group of bandits were covering for Qi.

During this period, if Ishihara and the others wanted to forcibly catch up, they would be shot by the crossbows of one of the bandits, which was also the reason why the county guards, rangers, and village warriors led by Ishihara and others were unable to catch up for a long time.

"Behind these bandits, is there really a person who understands the art of war in command?"

Ishihara glanced sideways from behind the trunk of the tree, took the time to raise the crossbow in his hand and shoot an arrow, secretly guessing in his heart.

Although he didn't know who it was, he was sure that there must be a person who knew the art of war behind the bandits on the opposite side in command, and this person was quite capable, such as using bamboo, vines and other things to block them and deliberately divide them, and today, leaving two bandits to cover each other and evacuate, making it almost impossible for them to get close.

"Ahh

Suddenly, there was a scream not far away.

Ishihara turned his head to look, only to find that a villager was impaled through the thigh by a deliberately sharpened bamboo, and at the moment he was holding his thigh and falling to the ground wailing.

"Trap? Did these bandits prepare traps in advance?'

Ishihara was slightly startled, and immediately reminded everyone: "Be vigilant and be careful around, there are traps set by bandits around here." ”

As soon as they heard this, the nearby county officials, rangers, and village warriors immediately became vigilant, and this vigilance made them avoid many traps, but at the same time, it also delayed their pursuit of those bandits, so that the other party took the opportunity to escape.

When the figure of the last bandit disappeared into the dense mountain forest, Ishihara punched the trunk of the tree beside him with some annoyance.

After all, I still lost it!

"Damn it!"

He couldn't help but curse secretly.

At this time, his companion Wang Ping stepped forward, and when he saw Ishihara's annoyed face, he smiled and said with relief: "This group of bandits retreated in an orderly and orderly manner, and they set up a lot of traps in this area in advance to hinder our pursuit, so it can be seen that they are ready to retreat, and it is not unusual for them to escape." ”

As he spoke, he glanced up at the sky and continued: "It's getting late today, and we have lost the trace of this gang of bandits, so why don't we stop here, and after dawn tomorrow, let's search the mountain together." …… I guess there's a thief in the area, so let's look for it after dawn tomorrow. ”

Hearing this, although Ishihara was unwilling, he could only listen to the advice of his companions, after all, it was already dusk at this time, and it would soon be night, which was indeed not conducive to finding traces of thieves in such dense mountain forests.

Half an hour later, Ishihara, Yang Kang and others led the pursuing officers and soldiers back to the old village of Black Tiger Village.

At this time, the sky has completely darkened, but there is a little light in the old village of the Black Tiger Village, it turns out that the officers and soldiers of the thief army have settled in this cottage and are cooking their own food.

And the county lieutenant Ma Gai moved a chair and sat at the gate of the cottage on the west side, with his arms crossed, waiting for Ishihara and the others to return.

Seeing Ishihara, Yang Dang and others returning with a large number of people, Ma Gai immediately stood up, stepped forward, and asked, "How is the situation?" ”

Ishihara was a little surprised that Yu Ma Gai actually got up to greet him, but he didn't think much about it, and replied with his fists clasped when he heard this: "I betrayed the trust of the county lieutenant and was escaped by those people......"

From the side, the head catcher Yang Dang hurriedly explained: "That's the case, Yang Tong and his gang retreated in a neat and orderly manner, frequently returning fire with crossbow arrows, hindering our pursuit, plus it was getting late, and there were traps in the mountains......"

Perhaps fearing that Ma Gai would be disappointed in them, or that Ma Gai would be angry, Yang Dare recounted in detail what had happened to them when they pursued the bandits, and Ma Gai was silent.

Of course, Ma Gai believed his subordinates' explanations, after all, he had long known that Yang Tong and his gang would abandon the old village, so it was not difficult to guess that the other party had already prepared to retreat in advance, and he was only slightly disappointed.

In addition to the disappointment, he also felt a sense of relief in his heart.

The next morning, Ma Gai woke up from his sleep and stood outside the house where he had been temporarily staying last night, looking around the cottage.

He knew that this was originally a mountain village, and Yang Tong seized this mountain village back then, and built a cottage on this basis, and therefore, this cottage could not talk about any defense against the enemy and early warning, at best, it was a fence about two people high around the cottage, which was very simple.

But no matter how simple it is, this is the nest of Yang Tong and his gang after all, why should Yang Tong give it up?

Was it just to let him Ma Gai capture this cottage in order to wash away the humiliation of the first two defeats, so that he could better serve as the internal response of Yang Tong and his gang?

Thinking about it, Ma Gai didn't think that Yang Tong had the courage to make such a move.

He guessed that on the nearby mountain, there might be a cottage to which the Black Tiger Village belonged, and the location of this cottage was better and easier to defend than the old village, and only in this way could it explain why Yang Tong did not hesitate to abandon the old village.

But......

Ma Gai exhaled slightly.

At this time, a call came from not far away: "County Lieutenant." ”

Ma Gai turned his head to look, and then saw Ishihara and his three companions walking this way.

"So early?"

Ma Gai smiled and said hello.

Ishihara was stunned, a little flattered, he walked quickly to Ma Gai's side, and said, "County Captain, today I want to take someone to the nearby mountains to look for it. …… I suspect that there may be a hidden cottage of Black Tiger Village nearby. ”

"Oh?"

Ma Gai pretended to be ignorant and asked, "How can you see it?" ”

Ishihara Masasei said: "The cottage we attacked earlier has obviously defected to the Black Tiger Village, and it stands to reason that the Black Tiger Village is not without the strength to fight with us, but they chose to retreat, which shows that they still have a hiding place, so they don't care about losing this cottage." …… They even had a lot of food in their new hideout, which explained that they would leave some of it behind when they retreated. So today I want to take someone around the neighborhood to see if I can find any trace of the thieves, preferably their hiding place. ”

"This Ishihara is worthy of a ranger who fought against the rebels in Jiangxia......

Ma Gai secretly praised in his heart, and after a little thought, he nodded and said, "Okay, I will order He Feng and Yang Dang to assist you, and the three of you will take half of the people to go, and you must find the traces of the thief." …… If you find any traces, send someone back to report them immediately! ”

"Yes!" Ishihara clenched his fists and took his life.

An hour later, after waiting for the officers and soldiers of the thief army to settle breakfast in the old village of the Black Tiger Village, Ishihara took his companions Xu Bai, Wang Ping, and Chen Gui, and took He Feng and Yang Dang to catch the head, and led more than 200 officers and soldiers of the thieves to the deep mountains, while Ma Gai sat in the old village of the Black Tiger Village.

In the afternoon of the same day, Ishihara and his party were on their way to the main peak of their mountain when they were blocked by a group of bandits.

Judging by the number of bandits blocking them, Ishihara concluded that there should be a cottage of the Black Tiger Village on the main peak of the mountain, otherwise it would be impossible to explain why these bandits were holding them back here.

He summoned Xu Bai, Wang Ping, and Chen Gui, and instructed them: "I will lead all the officers and soldiers here to attract the attention of the bandits, and the three of you will go around from the other side to see if there is another cottage on the top of the mountain." ”

Xu Bai, Wang Ping, and Chen Gui nodded and left.

About an hour later, Xu Bai, Wang Ping, and Chen Gui returned to the team and reported their findings to Ishihara: "That's right, there is another cottage on this mountain, and the mountains and forests around the top of the mountain have been cut down. ”

"Is there another cottage?"

According to the direction pointed by Xu Bai, Wang Ping, and Chen Gui, Ishihara frowned and looked at the top of the mountain.

Unlike the old Black Tiger Village, which is halfway up the mountain, the mountain road leading to the top of the mountain in front of them is steep and difficult to walk, which is not conducive to their strong attack.

"If I set fire to it here, will it work?" Ishihara asked with a frown.

"I'm afraid not." Xu Bai shook his head and said, "The trees on the top of the mountain have been cut down, even if you set fire here, it is almost impossible for the fire to spread to the top of the mountain, at most you smoke them...... No, it's August now, the west wind is gradually rising, and we are in the east, they are in the west, and most of the time the smoke and fire can't smoke them. ”

From the side, Chen Gui also chimed in: "I also think it's inappropriate to burn the forest." …… If you burn the trees here, the thieves will be able to see them from above, and it will be even more difficult for our people to get their arrows. ”

“……”

Ishihara thought about it and decided to withdraw for the time being, report the situation to Ma Gai, and discuss with him in the long run.