A few days later, in a small mountain village called "Woniu Village," more than 10 miles outside Shimenling in Lantian County, Zhu Youzhen was discussing a plan of action with Li Dingguo and others.

Since there were many more bandits entrenched in Shimenling than in Ziyun Mountain, Zhu Youzhen also invested more troops. At present, there are 700 militia members, and except for the newly recruited 100 people who are left to watch their homes, the remaining 600 people are all in battle.

And unlike the last time, the militia is also equipped with birds, so there are more materials that need to be carried. Therefore, Zhu Youzhen dispatched another 200 workers, so that Tuan Yong could save his physical strength and concentrate on suppressing bandits.

In order to avoid startling the grass and snakes, and at the same time to avoid attracting the attention of the officials and soldiers in Xi'an, more than 800 people were divided into small groups, pretending to be ordinary farmers or small merchants and hawkers, and divided into small teams to enter the mountains. Since there are few roads in Lantian County, the transportation of rations and ammunition is quite difficult. By the time the militia had finished assembling at the foot of Shimen Ridge, a few days had passed.

Of course, Zhu Youzhen and several leaders of the militia group, as well as Yan Ling, Xie Sheng, and other special service members who were in charge of reconnaissance work, had already taken the lead in arriving at the foot of Shimen Ridge.

It just so happened that the bandits in Shimenling had just ransacked Woniu Village, swept away all their belongings, and took most of the people up the mountain, leaving only some old men and old ladies who couldn't walk. If Zhu Youzhen and the others don't come, in a few days, these old people will starve to death.

But in this way, the militia just has a place to stay. So the militia took Woniu Village as their base camp and lived in an empty house. If they couldn't live anymore, they set up marching tents around the village.

After solving the problem of stationing, Zhu Youzhen first learned about the situation in Shimenling from the surviving old people in the village. Most of these old people were deaf and dazzled, and they couldn't figure out the identity of the militia, and they thought they were another group of bandits, and they trembled with fear.

Zhu Youzhen had to explain to them repeatedly and patiently, and ordered someone to take some grain and broken silver and give them to these old people, which won their trust.

One of the old men, who spoke a little clearly, said movingly: "It turns out that the old man is really here to suppress the bandits!" Are you officers and soldiers? ”

"No, we're just a militia in Jingyang County." Zhu Youzhen smiled gently.

"I don't think you look like an official soldier!" Due to his excitement, the old man's voice trembled slightly, "In the past, officers and soldiers have also come to suppress bandits, but they are worse than bandits!" Not only did they not fight a battle, but they caused the village to be unseemly! ”

"So the bandits are still merciful to the common people?" Zhu Youzhen asked in surprise, "Then why did they take the villagers up the mountain this time?" ”

After detailed inquiry, Zhu Youzhen figured out the reason for the whole story. It turned out that the bandits in Shimenling used to get by, and it was only during the summer and autumn harvests every year that they went down the mountain to rob the people's grain. As long as the common people do not resist, they are not very willing to kill. After all, all the people have been killed, but there is no one to farm, so who will rob them next year?

But this year, it is not the case, with the increasingly weak imperial court and the gradual growth of Shimenling's strength, the lord of Dazhai Jinyan Diao is no longer satisfied with small fights, but wants to merge other bandits in Lantian County first, and then wait for the opportunity to capture the county seat and create a big cause.

With this thought, the golden-eyed eagle was naturally eager to expand its troops. His method was very simple and rude, that is, he dragged all the villagers from the surrounding villages up the mountain, forced those young and strong villagers to join the gang, and the rest were forced to work as hard laborers, and those who dared to resist were killed. Therefore, Woniu Village has become what it is now.

After learning about this situation, Zhu Youzhen felt that it was imminent to attack Shimenling. Otherwise, more and more people will join the bandits, and it will be even more difficult to control.

In the past few days waiting for the militia to be assembled, Zhu Youzhen followed Yan Ling and others to reconnoiter the terrain every day. He found that the topography of Shimenling was very similar to that of Ziyun Mountain, and the front, middle and rear three cottages were also built on the top of the mountain, and water had to be taken down the mountain.

Therefore, at the pre-war meeting, Zhu Youzhen also planned to do the same, first killing a small group of bandits who went down the mountain to get water, and then sent Tuan Yong to pretend to be bandits to send water to the mountain and poison them in the water. When the bandits lose their combat effectiveness, they will storm the gate and annihilate the bandits in one fell swoop.

There is nothing wrong with this idea of replicating successful examples, and most of the militia leaders agree with it. But Li Dingguo, who first proposed a poisonous attack last time, was opposed.

He seriously analyzed for everyone: "Shimenling seems to be similar to Ziyun Mountain, but it is actually very different. First of all, the ratio of strength between the enemy and us is different, and last time we used 400 men against the 500 bandits, and it took three battles to defeat each of them. In every battle, we have an advantage in numbers, so we can ensure victory.

"This time it is different, although our number has increased slightly, the bandits on Shimenling have reached more than 2,000 people, and their strength has greatly exceeded ours. Not only that, but they were also stationed in three cottages, each with at least 500 people. These three cottages are horns of each other and can rescue each other.

"If we still use the method of poisoning last time, it is impossible to poison three cottages at the same time, because then our forces will be too scattered. But if we only attack one of the cottages, the other two will come to the rescue, and we will be attacked from top to bottom. Even if we can wipe out all the poisoned bandits on the mountain, the bandits below the mountain can also cut off our water supply, and then we will be in danger. ”

Zhu Youzhen was originally excited, but after hearing Li Dingguo's words, he broke out in a cold sweat, and at the same time secretly rejoiced. I thought that if there was no Li Dingguo, I would definitely attack the mountain immediately. If it is really as Li Dingguo said, the militia must be wiped out.

He hurriedly and sincerely said to Li Dingguo: "Dingguo is really far-reaching!" What should you do, then? ”

Li Dingguo also frowned, and said in a deep voice: "We don't have an advantage in troops, of course, we can only outwit." It would be best if you could break them down like last time. Helper, see if we can think of a way to lure some of the bandits down the mountain first, lure them into our ambush circle, and annihilate them all. In this way, the bandits' strength will be greatly reduced, and we will have more room for manoeuvre. ”

But everyone pondered for a long time, and couldn't think of a good way to lure the bandits out of the cottage. When he was worried, Xie Sheng ran in happily and said, "Gang leader, we caught a lone bandit on the mountain!" ”

It turned out that Zhu Youzhen had already scattered Yan Ling and Xie Sheng and other special service members up the mountain to see if they could catch a "tongue". didn't expect to have a harvest so quickly, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Come in, I'm going to interrogate me personally!" ”

Xie Sheng scolded and said: "The helper will have to repair him for a while, this kid is very horizontal!" ”

A short time later, a bandit with a shirtless upper body and some bruises on his face was pushed and escorted in. This man looked very young, only fifteen or sixteen years old. However, although he was captured, he scolded endlessly, and even when he saw Zhu Youzhen, he was not afraid.

Zhu Youzhen was a little surprised in his heart, secretly thinking that he had seen a lot of bandits before, all of whom were fierce and inward-looking. Usually very capable when he bullies ordinary people, but as soon as he is caught, he is scared of and urine. This little bandit was quite bold, so that Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but look up to him.

Before Zhu Youzhen could speak, the young man scolded first: "You guts bandits, take advantage of the master's unpreparedness to secretly poison him, and the master is not convinced!" There is a kind of loosening the rope and fighting alone with the master face to face! ”

Zhu Youzhen was amused by him, and laughed and said: "You are a bandit, and you dare to call us 'gutless bandits'?" ”

The young man glared at him and said, "I'm not a bandit, you are!" ”

Zhu Youzhen was made to cry and laugh by him, and hurriedly asked Xie Sheng how he caught him.

Xie Sheng smiled proudly: "I was ordered by Brother Yan to lurk in the northeast direction of Shimen Ridge for more than three hours, and then I saw this kid holding a steel knife and chasing someone over here. In a few moments, he caught up with the man and killed him, rummaging through the man's belongings. I took advantage of his unpreparedness and struck him in the back, knocking him unconscious. He kills and hurts people with a knife, what is it that he is not a bandit? ”

The young man hesitated when he heard this, and looked Zhu Youzhen up and down: "I don't think you look like bandits anymore..."

"We weren't bandits in the first place!" When Zhu Youzhen heard that the young man had killed someone, his heart immediately became angry, and he said coldly, "Let you be a clear ghost, we are a militia group in Jingyang County, specializing in killing bandits!" ”

The young man was stunned, and suddenly fell to his knees and shouted, "You are mistaken! I'm not a bandit, the one I killed is a bandit! I'm a villager in this village! ”

"Oh?" Zhu Youzhen was surprised and hurriedly asked, "You said that you are a villager, but what evidence do you have?" ”

"It's simple, there should be some people left in the village, just call them and ask!" The young man said eagerly.

Zhu Youzhen invited a few old men to identify. When they saw the young man, they were all surprised and delighted: "Laiheng, why are you back?" You've been grumpy since you were a kid, and we all think you're going to have to be killed by the bandits! ”

The young man smiled nonchalantly: "A few uncles also underestimate me!" Now that I'm older, I'm able to use stratagems! The bandits carried us up the mountain, put knives to our necks, and forced us to join the gang. I pretended to agree, but today the owner of the bird village asked me to hand in the 'vote', that is, to go down the mountain to grab things. He was afraid that I would run away, so he sent another bandit to follow me. As soon as I got off the mountain, I killed the bandit! ”

"Well done!" After the misunderstanding was resolved, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but admire the courage of this young man, and untied the rope for him himself.

At this moment, a bold idea sprouted in Zhu Youzhen's heart. He hurriedly asked the young man, "Are you familiar with the situation in the cottage?" ”

"How unfamiliar!" The young man said proudly, "I've been familiar with those bandits for the past two days!" ”

"Great! By the way, your name is 'Laiheng'? Zhu Youzhen's heart suddenly moved again.

The young man replied angrily: "That's right, my name is Li Laiheng!" ”