The road truck is a brand new CA10 truck with a machine gun on it, and a squad of tribal fighters on board.

Yu Songyuan, Xu Tianyi, Mei Xue, and Mei Lin sat in the first off-road vehicle, Lin Tao, Long Ji, Yingya, and Su Ji sat in the second car, Zheng Shuwen, Liu Guodong, Lin Zhumin, Mei Shi, and Su Gong sat in the back two off-road vehicles, followed by the truck, and the most broken back was also a brand-new CA10 truck, with machine guns on it, and more than 20 tribal warriors guarded it.

Vientiane Street is narrow, and I chose to set off before dawn for fear of disturbing the people.

The convoy went out of the suburbs, and the genius was all lit up. Looking out of the car window, all you see are dilapidated stilted buildings or low-rise thatched huts. The further north you go, the more desolate and desolate you become. Almost everyone in the countryside here is barefoot or wearing slippers. After an autumn rain, the road was muddy, and the convoy could only drive slowly at a speed of thirty or forty kilometers, and it was not until noon that the convoy reached the urban area of Meng Penghong.

Long Jiming's convoy stopped in front of a small roadside restaurant, and several tribal warriors went in to help the restaurant cook. Yingya invited Xu Tianyi, Zheng Shuwen, Yu Songyuan and the four girls to eat in the store, while the tribal warriors beat out the rice and ate it on the truck. After the meal, continue to set off without stopping.

For the first time since Merlin moved to Vientiane, he had the opportunity to travel far away, looking around and seeing everything new. Seeing that everyone had weapons, even the two sisters each had a small pistol pinned to their waists, Merlin asked with a red eye: "Brother-in-law, my marksmanship is also very accurate, can you also give me a pistol?" ”

Mei Xue raised her hand and gave her younger brother a chestnut, "Little fart boy, what kind of pistol do you want!" ”

"Sister, you are full of growth, and you are one year older than me." Merlin protested, twisting his head.

"It's also your sister in the big month, don't make trouble!"

Yu Songyuan glanced at Xu Tianyi, who was sitting in the passenger seat, and said to Merlin: "The little pistols of my sisters are self-defense and have no attack power. You are a man, and a man should attack, and he should assault with a gun. Therefore, your weapon is an assault rifle, behind your seat. ”

Merlin leaned back in his chair and saw a rifle, a submachine gun, and a box of bullets, half a box of grenades, and so on. "Oh my God, bring so many weapons and ammunition?"

Xu Tianyi touched his head and said, "Little thing, you should also know how sinister the survival of the Dao is." Our trip will have to pass through the areas once controlled by the most dangerous armed forces, and moreover, we will have to cross the areas controlled by the tribes that have enemies with us countless times. ”

"Sister Xu, why do you refuse to be escorted by the Lancang army? Wouldn't it be safer to have them? Yu Songyuan sat on the co-pilot and asked.

"In that year, the Lancang government mainly relied on the strength of the Annan Army. Counting on the Lancang Army to fight, I have little confidence. Moreover, if they follow, the *** armed forces will definitely take the initiative to attack them, which will only drag us down. ”

It had slowly entered the mountains, and the further north it went, the more difficult it became, and by the time it was Ban Xinhe, the convoy had to stop at the Nanli River.

The Nanli River is a large tributary of the Nan Ru River, fifty or sixty meters wide. At its confluence with the Nan Oh River, it is the largest reservoir in Lancang, the Nan Oh River Reservoir. The reservoir dam is 66 meters high and 300 meters long, with a reservoir area of 120-270 square kilometers and a storage capacity of 3.8-8.5 billion cubic meters. In 1978, the second phase of the hydropower station was completed, with a power generation capacity of 110,000 kilowatts, capable of generating 700 million kWh of electricity per year.

Although the rainy season passed quickly, there was still a heavy rain, which seemed to be thunder and lightning, and pierced a large hole in the deck of the large wooden bridge over the Nanli River. But perhaps in the heavy rain, the bridge did not cause a major fire. Otherwise, you can only build a pontoon bridge, which will be a big trouble.

Long Ji, Yu Songyuan, and Liu Guodong went to the bridge to carefully inspect it, and they had to make up for it before they could bear the weight, otherwise it would be dangerous for the convoy to pass. Liu Guodong is an engineering expert, and immediately instructed the clan soldiers to cut wood and repair the bridge board, while the others could only sit in the car and wait.

With such a delay, the convoy traveled less than 50 kilometers in the afternoon. When it was dark, when there were still more than 30 kilometers away from Vang Vieng, there happened to be a flat land on the side of the road, and Yu Songyuan ordered the team to stop and camp through the walkie-talkie.

Yu Songyuan got out of the car and went to the flat ground on the left side of the road to check. It was all oily red mud, and although it was damp, the ground was relatively hard, not muddy, so he was ordered to camp on the spot. "Little brother, less than two kilometers ahead, there is a small village, can we go to spend the night, or borrow a place to cook?" Ryungi and Younga came over and asked.

"Brother Long, Sister Yingya, here has a wide field of vision, easy to defend, and relatively safe." Yu Song was far from unmoved. With so many goods, especially Sister Xu and almost all the important women of the Long Dai tribe are here, there is no room for the slightest mistake. His nerves have entered a combat state, and everything must be considered in favor of combat.

Lin Tao also supported Yu Songyuan, "Brother Long, Sister Yingya, from a tactical point of view, it is right for the boss to camp here." If a strong man comes to attack at night, the lights are on, and they have nothing to hide! ”

"It's so close to Vientiane, and it hasn't entered the mountains yet, so it shouldn't be possible that there will be bandits." Long Ji and Yingya disagreed, but Yu Songyuan still insisted that they had to camp here.

Lin Zhumin was directing the camp, the trucks and off-road vehicles were parked in two rows, a large tent was set up in the center, and the marching beds were set up inside, and the tribal warriors set up pots and began to cook. Lin Zhumin came over to ask for instructions, "Boss, is there a bright or dark sentry here, and how far is it released?" ”

"What about your opinion?" Yu Songyuan asked.

"It's still seventy or eighty kilometers away from the Priyan Mountains, and Vang Vieng has an Annam garrison, which is relatively safe. At night it should be mainly anti-theft, so I recommend putting a dark sentry, just on the lead and rear cars. ”

"Good. Inform all drivers to sleep in their own cars and turn on their headlights as soon as they hear a gunshot. Inform everyone that no shots are allowed without an order! Inform the clan warriors that they will immediately fire a gun into the air when they spot the enemy on duty. In addition, we have a team of five people who take turns to lead the shift at night! ”

"Yes!"

Lin Zhumin went to make arrangements, and Lin Tao and Liu Guodong arranged several defense organs outside the camp. Long Ji came over and said, "Little Brother Yu, I'm also on duty, right?" ”

Yu Songyuan said: "Brother Long, you are the banner of the entire clan, don't rush forward, just let us be on duty." You arrange that all the women sleep in tents at night, and all the men live in their own cars, and they must keep their guns with them! ”

The road was bumpy, and everyone quickly fell asleep. The brothers took turns to lead the shift, and to their satisfaction, these tribal warriors were very serious on duty.

In the early hours of the morning, everything was silent, and it was Lin Tao on duty at this time. A tinker of canned food suddenly made a crisp clanging sound, and the tribal warriors in the leading car immediately fired warning shots. The crisp sound of gunfire broke the silence of the night in an instant, and the headlights of the thirteen cars were all turned on in an instant, illuminating the four fields as if it were day.

Under the light, twenty or thirty ragged, barefoot local villagers, most of them armed with primitive weapons such as sickles and clubs, were all stunned at once, standing motionless on the ground.

Just when they were hesitating, Lin Tao fired a shot into the sky behind them, and shouted in half-baked Lancang dialect: "You have been surrounded, those who surrender hold their heads and kneel, those who dare to resist will be killed!" ”

The bandits didn't expect that they were coming to sneak attack, but they fell into the encirclement of others. Many people laid down their weapons, raised their hands and honestly knelt with their heads in their hands. Three or four of them were still holding guns, stunned.

"There's only one person in the back, rush back!"

The bandit leader standing in the center of the bandits shouted in his mouth, "bang", and shot at Lin Tao.

Lin Tao had already taken precautions, and while dodging the somersault, he threw a shot and knocked it down, and the bandit's rifle was thrown several meters away. The other bandits were so frightened that they all knelt down, and the tribal warriors surrounded them with guns and surrounded the bandits in the core. The four bandits, who hesitated with guns, were disarmed and tied up by the tribal warriors.

"Little brother, what should I do? To kill or not to kill? ”

Long Ji asked Yu Songyuan quietly. Yu Songyuan insisted on treating Mei Xue as his sister, and Mei Xue also regarded him as his elder brother, and Long Ji and Yingya were naturally called younger brothers.

"It's all local farmers who have confiscated their guns. It's in Vang Vieng in front, take the four people and weapons with you, hand them over to the Vang Vieng City police, and let the rest go! ”

"That's good!"

As a result, the four bandit leaders were tied to the car, their weapons confiscated, and the rest of the bandits were all released back to the village.

By this time, it was almost dawn, and after all this trouble, no one could sleep anymore. At breakfast, Yingya asked, "Little brother, how do you know that these robbers are coming to rob the camp at night?" ”

"Sister Yingya, I didn't know that they dared to rob with just a few broken guns. I just want to be prepared and make sure the fleet is safe. The countryside of Lancang is too poor, and the law and order are so chaotic. We are full of seven truckloads of goods, and there will definitely be a lot of people on the way, and we must take strict precautions! ”

"Did you see something wrong with the damage on the bridge deck?" Longji humbly asks for advice.

"The end of autumn is about to enter the dry season, and the bridge is already dry, and the thunder and lightning interrupt the bridge during a thunderstorm, but there are no burns on the wooden board, which looks very suspicious. Now it seems that the bridge plate is more likely to be damaged by man. Yu Songyuan said.

Yingya said, "Fortunately, little brother, you are vigilant, otherwise, we will suffer a loss this time." ”

The convoy continued to move forward, day and night. Before entering the mountain, the convoy stopped, the tribal warriors put incense on the table, Long Ji burned incense, bowed to the mountain three times and bowed nine times, and recited the words in his mouth: "Mountain god, mountain god, Long Ji has offended this time." I have disturbed you, please excuse me, and bless our convoy to pass safely! ”

After the worship, all the drivers of the team honked their horns three times at the same time before continuing to move forward.

From Vang Vieng to Banban, it is only 300 kilometers of road, but all the way is steep mountains, cliffs, very steep, and it takes five days to walk. Although the remnants of the Miao armed forces and bandits from all walks of life have always been rampant in the two mountainous areas of Pumiyan and Laobi Mountain, due to the strict precautions of the convoy and the escort of armed men, there was no danger along the way.