The defensive line of the bandits in the cottage was quickly breached, and the bandits, frightened by the bloody massacre, had to surrender, and all but a few bandits who held out to the end had subsided.

"Hey, what's the matter, are you still going to resist to the end?"

Zhao Zhongyao led several officers to the bandits who were besieged in the middle, and carefully looked at one of the young men with obvious spots on his face, "Your boss has already abandoned you and fled, is it worth it to resist stubbornly?" ”

The few people who were surrounded in the middle found that except for a few of them, all the other places had been calmed down, and a group of prisoners had been escorted and marched down the mountain. The originally high fighting spirit withered in an instant, and the man with a spotted face. looked at the two comrades-in-arms around him who had already shown desperate looks, sighed, and finally dropped the big axe in his hand and grabbed it.

The two comrades-in-arms around him had already shown a look of despair, sighed, and finally dropped the big axe in their hands and restrained their hands.

Looking at the fire that gradually subsided on the mountains in the distance, the round-faced middle-aged man's face flashed with a bloody light, "Qin Dui, the gentleman takes revenge, it is not too late for ten years, I will come back." ”

Just when the battle at the foot of the Boar Ridge had been successfully concluded, Cao Chongyue immediately led the Fourth Division to just reach the predetermined area. "Division commander, how are we going to fight this battle?" The dark-skinned man's eyes were full of wisdom.

"Oh? Looks like you've got a new idea, Yu Si. Cao Chongyue obviously admired the unattractive guy in front of him.

"My subordinates have some ideas, but I have to get the approval of the division commander."

The man named Yu Si was a squad leader of the former Tokugawa County that Cao Chongyue liked very much after the defense of Tokugawa County.

"If you have something to say, let it go." Cao Chongyue scolded Yu Si with a smile.

"We attacked their respective targets separately with the Fifth Division this time, and I heard that Lord Qin had something to say, and the prisoners captured this time, those who were willing to surrender will return to the division that captured them. It's no longer evenly distributed, I wonder if it's true? Yu Si's eyes were full of expectation.

His eyes were firmly fixed on Yu Si, "Yes, there is such a thing, but it seems that there are a lot more personnel in the 'Purple Turban Thief' than in the 'Black Tiger'." Cao Chongyue knew what the hell his subordinate was doing again.

"That's true, but I figured it out. The lair of the Purple Turban Thieves is located in a flat area, except for the difficulty of escaping to the south, the other sides are very easy to escape, and the Purple Turban Thieves are quite desperate, I heard that their leader also wants to be cunning, if the Fifth Division fails to do its best, and we capture all the Black Tiger gang, I think with this group of defectors, the strength of our division will be able to surpass the Fifth Division. Yu Si indulged in post-war fantasies.

"I'm talking about you, brat. The battle hasn't started yet, and you've designed us to accept the surrender of others. I tell you, the commander of the Zhao Division is not a reckless person, this kid is as cunning as he is, I estimate that the victory of their Fifth Division is certain, but like you said, is it better than the prisoner, this can still be tried. If there is anything good to build, take it out and let's listen to it. Cao Chongyue was talking. Zhong Wu also picked up: "That's it, you guy has a lot of ideas, I only thought you had a set of defense, but I didn't expect you to attack in a disciplined way." ”

Seeing that the two bosses praised themselves, Yu Si's heart blossomed, "Two adults." I carefully examined the topographic map of this area, and the camp of the Black Tiger was at the foot of the mountain, and it was very difficult to walk on all three sides, except for the relatively smooth road down the mountain, but it was about fifty kilometers above it. There is a trail that leads to the upper part of it, but it is difficult to walk, and it does not allow a large army to march, I think if we can send a small force to go around the upper section and touch it down, and launch a surprise attack while they are not paying attention, in a panic, they will definitely flee downward, and our large army will set up an ambush in the valley here, this valley is the only place to go down the mountain, and the terrain is excellent, we can create a posture of catching all of them, supplemented by the work of attacking the heart, then these bandits who have not been formally trained will definitely have to raise their hands and surrender. ”

Yu Si had already spread out the map and analyzed his plan step by step to the two division commanders, and even several other wing commanders who were watching were attracted by his plan.

Cao Chongyue and Zhong Wu exchanged glances knowingly, and both of them had a look of appreciation in their eyes. To be honest, it is very simple to win this battle, after all, it is several times that of the enemy, and it is still prepared to fight, but in order to capture as much of the opponent's living force as possible while minimizing his own losses, the method proposed by Yu Si is really original.

"Well, this plan is good, if you have any good opinions and suggestions, you can put them forward." Cao Chongyue smiled and looked at the officers around him and said.

Because Qin Duan vigorously advocated and encouraged his subordinates to put forward their own opinions in the army, whether it was right or wrong, it was worthy of praise, so the democratic atmosphere in the army was much more active than that of other troops in the Great Qin Empire. However, military discipline also stipulates that once a decision or order is made by a superior, the subordinate must obey it unconditionally, regardless of the reason, otherwise it will be punished by military law.

Seeing that the officers were very enthusiastic about this plan, Cao Chongyue also made a final decision: "Since everyone thinks this plan is feasible, then I will give an order." Yu Four! Liuda! ”

"Here!"

"Here!"

"The two of you lead the entire First Wing and all the personal guards, set off immediately, insert the hill from the path, and launch an attack on time at noon tomorrow, be careful not to expose it too early, and try to deal with their leaders first and create chaos." Cao Chongyue's methodical arrangement.

"Understood!"

When the fire was burning in the back camp, many of the bandits who were about to eat lunch thought that someone had accidentally caught fire, but then a group of soldiers rushed in with murderous violation, and they knew that they might not be able to eat this meal. Qin Duan's personal guards led by Kang Jianguo took the lead, taking the lead in rushing into the main village, and they cut down when they saw people, especially for those bandit leaders, and the unsuspecting bandits were suddenly stunned and completely lost their direction. Just like a large flock of sheep being driven by a few shepherds, a swarm of bees rushed towards the front village, and the bandits of the front village who had not yet figured out the situation were also swept away by the bandits who came in like a tide.

"Run, the captain has been killed!"

"The enemy is too fierce to resist!"

"There are too many enemies, and the back village has been swept away!"

The bandits rushed out of the gate. Running down the mountain, while exchanging "information" with each other, because the leader of the bandits who organized resistance at the beginning was killed, and no effective resistance was organized, resulting in the disorganized rout of the large group behind, all the bandits only thought about how to escape from the cottage and how to escape down the mountain, and they did not think about resistance at all, and those leaders did not know the situation at all. Carried by the swarming bandits, before they could make a correct response, they had already withdrawn from the cottage and rushed down the mountain.

Looking at the bandits rushing down, Cao Chongyue was as steady as Mount Tai, until almost all the escaped bandits rushed into the encirclement, he waved the command flag unhurriedly, and black and oppressive infantry formations immediately poured out on both sides of the valley, with shiny blades and arrows ready to be fired. Although there was not a word, the silent pressure seemed to squeeze these bandits caught in the middle into powder.

"Lay down your arms. Rao'er wait for his life! Zhong Wu's eerie voice echoed through the valley.

The frightened bandits looked at me, I looked at you, and finally all eyes fell on a stout bald man, the bald man had a sinister face, but when he saw the frightened looks on his brothers' faces, he looked at the neat formation of the armies on both sides. The majestic momentum finally paused, "Excuse me, who is the commander?" ”

Zhong Wu was a little surprised, but he still walked out slowly. "I am!"

"My Wang has no other requirements, only to spare the lives of my brothers, I myself am willing to kill and listen to the respectful side, I don't know if the adult can agree to the request below?" The bald man's voice was like a bell, "They are all from poor backgrounds, and they really can't live anymore to take this road." ”

"Okay, I promise you." Zhong Wu replied loudly.

The bald man glanced at Zhong Wu deeply, and then waved his hand at the bandits, and all the bandits immediately put their blades on the ground.

When Cao Chongyue led the Second Division to escort more than 2,000 prisoners back to Tokugawa Prefecture, Liang Qiming and the First Division had already rested in Tokugawa Prefecture for two days.

The Fourth Division annihilated a total of 2,788 enemies, 162 of its own casualties, 286 wounded, and collected a total of 4,900,000 taels of silver, of which 1,062 were killed and 1,726 were captured.

The 5th Division annihilated 2,564 enemies, 7 of its own casualties, 66 wounded, and collected a total of 5,300,000 taels of silver, of which 217 were killed and 2,347 were captured.

The whole campaign was a complete success, which not only cleared a major hidden danger for the economic development of Tokugawa County, but also greatly enhanced the economic and military strength of Qin Duan. In order to commend the achievements of the two divisions, Qin Duan deliberately took out 200,000 taels of silver from the trophies and awarded 100,000 gold coins to the officers and men of the 4th and 5th Divisions respectively, and awarded 1,000 taels of silver to Yu Si, the commander of the first wing of the 4th Division.

The news of the collapse of the two major bandit organizations immediately spread throughout the northwest region, and even the "Daily Express" of the imperial capital published the news: "According to the latest news of this newspaper, recently, the officers and soldiers of the 4th and 5th Divisions of Tokugawa County, a county in the northwest of the empire, respectively annihilated the two major bandit organizations 'Purple Turban Bandits' and 'Black Tigers' that had been rampaging in the northwest region of the empire for nearly ten years. ”

All those who intended to fight those caravans in the northwest were secretly wondering whether this kind of life would go on, and many bandit organizations were already packing up their things and looking for another development. The local people and businessmen are greatly relieved, and it seems that life will become more and more stable. The outside world has received even more criticism, which has also promoted the determination of those businessmen who are on the sidelines. (To be continued......)