Chapter 76: Ambush

Toward noon, several officers of the Gangfeng Battalion sat on the ground in the shade of a tree, with a messy meal in front of them, such as pork knuckle with sauce and roast leg of lamb — all leftovers from yesterday's meal. There is an order in the body, no alcohol, everyone drinks the clear mountain spring water, tears off small pieces of food and throws them into their mouths, and chats with interest.

Several of the team officers were not very happy.

Originally, his direct prefect got married, such a good thing, but he missed it! It's all because the Gangfeng Battalion is too capable of fighting, and as a result, he was sent to this ghost place to stare at the forest and count the leaves all day long! It's just a matter of missing the opportunity to rob and make a fortune in the city, and I haven't even caught up with the big excitement of the Lord's wedding, and I don't know which life I can meet the opportunity to listen to the root of the wall again, you say it's not angry!

Unlike a few officers who were in a super depressed mood, the soldiers were all smiling. General Gu's marriage will definitely not be the turn of the soldiers to join in the fun, and there is no place for them to stand under the wall of the wedding bedroom, but ...... It's delicious! Yesterday, the old battalion sent an auxiliary team of 200 people, and the snow-white meat steamed buns in the picks were piled up to the top, and dozens of pigs and sheep were rushed over! Everyone ate even better than the New Year - a few guys, who couldn't eat anymore, simply cleaned up the camp: fetching water, sharpening knives, chopping wood, washing horses...... And then...... Wait for the contents of your stomach to digest a little, and then run back and continue eating!

Everyone immediately followed suit. In less than an hour, the camp was completely new, so neat that it was unwanted, and even the firewood was piled up, and the soldiers couldn't burn it all in two months!

It stands to reason that in those days, the whereabouts of the brigade were not easy to hide - there were no ready-to-eat foods such as canned food, and the smoke from the daily cooking would greatly increase the risk of exposure. Without modern preservation technology, the food will spoil in a short time, the soldiers will fall ill in batches, and the combat effectiveness of the troops will fall off a cliff.

Fortunately, the leader of this gang is Gu Baihua, who has been a horse thief, and has a wealth of experience in this area that is unmatched by regular generals.

As the name suggests, the two mountains are sandwiched by a line, and the official road winds through the valleys with continuous peaks on both sides. Gu Baihua arranged a group of soldiers to hide on the east side, near the direction of Michi. Their station is halfway up the hill on both sides of the road, where they usually cat, and they don't come out to intercept anyone passing by......

The other three infantry took turns to camp on the road, blocking a bend in the mountain road less than two miles to the west. In other words, when the pedestrians see the army blocking the road, they will also come closer! If you can stop all of them, it is best if there are a few people who run back through the net, there will be a few guns here, and the team in ambush in the east can just go down the mountain to intercept them when they hear the alarm - a few days ago, even if they have horses, they have all been intercepted in this way.

If the brigade of officers and soldiers attacked, the ambush personnel would still not be able to hide. However, Gu Baihua taught them a very practical way to communicate: the message tree.

In advance, at the back of the hilltop near the direction of Michi, in the blind spot of the visitor's line of sight, a piece of mountain land was cleared, and then a tree was buried shallowly, and if a large group of officers and soldiers were observed, the tree was put down. There is such a message tree on every hill behind, and it will not be long before the main force will receive a warning signal. The three infantry teams had enough time to prepare for battle, line up, set up barricades, etc., and the archers would also seize advantageous terrain halfway up the mountain on both sides...... Under such terrain conditions, it is impossible to spread out as many people as anyone comes. Only two or three infantry teams that dare to fight are enough to block tens of thousands of troops for ten days and half a month! The team lying in ambush behind enemy lines in the east can take advantage of the opportunity to sneak attack, set fires, and create chaos......

With the early warning weapon of the message tree, the soldiers can kill pigs and roast sheep with confidence and boldness, of course, without worrying about revealing their location.

There are people on the official road again.

There were three groups in total. The first group consisted of four or five poorly dressed fellows, carrying or carrying water and fire sticks, walking loosely.

"It's kind of weird." Jia Lianwang, an officer of the B team of the Gangfeng Battalion, pondered: If it is to deliver official documents, he will send a post officer instead of a tolerance; If it is a case, Mianchi is subordinate to the Shaanzhou Mansion, and it is enough for the two sent people to go together to report the case, and of course it is the business of the Shaanzhou Mansion to take people - do it yourself to arrest people under the noses of the superiors? Do you still have a Shangguan in your eyes!

However, how could four or five come out together?

Before Jia Lianwang could figure it out, a second group of people appeared in sight again. Separated from the first group, Jia Lianwang had good eyes, and vaguely recognized five or six, some of whom were also riding horses, and the clothes and other things were not very clear. Whatever, Jia Lianwang took out a bamboo whistle and blew it twice in a short way to inform his companions guarding the opposite mountainside: If someone passes by, don't pay attention to it.

Soon, the other side replied, so Jia Lianwang knew that the deputy head of the team, Fugen, had received the order.

When the tolerance team walked to the foot, Jia Lianwang was surprised to see that behind the second group of people, there was a third pedestrian in the distance! There were a lot more people in this group than in the previous two cases, there were more than a dozen, and they all rode horses!

It's weird! Jia Lianwang, who was born as a bandit, scratched his head and couldn't figure it out.

At that time, people who walked long distances often spontaneously walked in groups - there were more people who were brave, wild beasts, bandits, and when they saw many people together, they would generally take the initiative to avoid them. Especially with tolerance peers, the safety factor will be higher...... These groups of people are only about a mile apart from each other, so why do they have to go their own way? Especially a few tolerances, the leather worn is the best safety guarantee!

As the saying goes, the officials and bandits are a family, and the local resident bandits will always have inextricable connections and tacit understandings with the yamen. For example, you can usually hide in the mountains, but you always have to spend the year, right? The Chinese attach the most importance to this, even if it is a mountain thief, the Chinese New Year's Eve must be eaten on Chinese New Year's Eve! There are no candles in the mountains, no oil and salt on the trees, and no paper horse incense candles for the first day of the new year, so you have to go into the city to buy them. Therefore, years ago, there would always be some people of unknown origin who took advantage of the dawn to sneak in when the city gate was about to open, some stayed in the inn, some lived in the dart bureau, and some even rushed into a certain head catcher's house. When purchasing New Year's goods, they are very generous, and the poor men will drop out intentionally or unintentionally not far away - this is a kind of gray silent protection.

When these people leave safely, everyone will breathe a sigh of relief: the next year's peace is almost guaranteed. On the contrary, if someone comes to the city for various unexpected reasons, it should be known that the county lord can't sleep soundly: the bandits don't know who can rob and who can't. For example, officials who return to their hometowns or go home to mourn, as well as their relatives and friends, their old family members and nephews. looked like a fat sheep, but as a result, it caused a catastrophe and attracted the officers and soldiers of the brigade to encircle and suppress, and the gains outweighed the losses. Everyone stutters and eats, and it's not worth losing your life, right? Therefore, when they occasionally encounter the lord who is not sure, the kings of the mountain will eat and drink well and serve for a few days. If the county delivers the news, the other party has a lot of background, in addition to respectfully sending away, but also taking some "heart". Sometimes, the county magistrate has to pretend to be a personal commander and the soldiers of the hundred households to come to the scene to "suppress", and the new recruits, or the guys who look at the king unpleasantly, may have a few heads moved and become part of the transaction under the table between the two sides.

This kind of thing is relative, a kind of balance in the sense of unspoken rules. For example, the purchase of New Year's goods was really recognized by the bitter master, and the government shirked it but had no choice but to take it, and it would be quietly released in the middle of the night. I'm afraid that the grandfather is a stunned young man who has just entered the officialdom, and without saying a word, he will shoot people to death on the spot - then it's over! In the future, as long as there is a chance, the kings will pick out the past guests who are easy to cause trouble, the male unloading is cut into eight pieces, and the female relatives take turns to spoil and throw it on the official road, sincerely disgusting you, and then change the mountain to go away - the enthusiastic master who is full of cultivation Qi Zhiping is waiting to be killed by the above!

It's even more the same with a dart game. A small flag was planted in the dart car, and the trippers shouted as they walked: "Shake ...... Far ......", the gong is struck loudly, lest others not hear it, and this is also the truth. When the ambushed kings heard it, yo, Zhenyuan's friends? Forget it, don't come out; Or, sell face, come out and make two gestures on the scene, hug your fists and say: "Amazing, Zhenyuan Dart Bureau is worthy of its reputation and admiration" Turn your head and leave, that is to let you know: It's not that we haven't met, it's to give you face! Spread out, can the dart business be bad? On the contrary, as long as it is your dart, you will be in trouble when you go out of the city gate, and you will be stopped once you cross a mountain, who will dare to look for you in the future? Wait for the door to close and drink the northwest wind! It is said in the rivers and lakes that darts travel the world, relying on friendship, not kung fu. That's what I'm talking about.

Therefore, pedestrians follow tolerances and are the safest. Unless it is an extreme situation, no matter how powerful the bandit king is, he will generally not move even the tolerance of a single person. The tolerance of going out is also willing to partner with ordinary merchants: delicious food and drink along the way!

Although he couldn't figure it out, Jia Lianwang couldn't whistle anymore - just now, after a hundred zhang of separation, these people couldn't hear it, and now they were in front of him, so they could only watch Fugen's reaction.

The first few tolerances disappeared from view, and a second group of pedestrians also walked in front of them.

Although they are all casual clothes, who is Jia Lianwang? At that time, the famous Jia Yanzi in Yulin, northern Shaanxi, no one knew who didn't know! Good eyes, neat under the soles of the feet, how many times have you retreated from under the noses of the officials, the legend of the bandits, called Hanako Bandits! Otherwise, how could he be an officer of the main battalion in a team with the generals of the border army as the backbone? When the pedestrian approached, Captain Jia saw the problem at a glance: these are all public dinners, and they are all good hands! Look at the age, look at the eyes, look at the gait, don't ask, you can't be wrong! Everyone has a hidden guy in their waists and backs!

Looking further east, the last group of horseback riders can also see the clues: after half a mile away, you can feel that the few people who are caught in the team have a lot of momentum, which ordinary businessmen can't pretend!

These are officials!

Dare to love the two cases just now, they were all for them to go to the front station!

But how can it be so far away?

Before Jalian Wangna could finish his troubles, there was a faint noise in the west, followed by the second group of people who had just walked past and began to run back, shouting chaotically: "Zhongfula" and "There are thieves......

Although he didn't hear the containment signal conveyed by the sound of the gun, the situation at that time did not allow Jia Lianwang to think too much, so he roared "block shoulder to shoulder" and rushed down the hill first.

A long and sharp sound of "squeak......" sounded behind Captain Jia. This is the arrow that Butang conveyed to the deputy of Guan Fugen's team to encircle the order. Almost at the same time, the bushes on the opposite mountainside shook violently: the deputy of the management team who had already had a tacit understanding had already brought people down!

The guys in the second case were intercepted.

Including the one on horseback.

Finding that something happened to the first few tolerances, this guy turned the horse's head and wanted to run back, but the distance was not far and not close: for the horses, the distance was too close, just from a slow walk to a small step, and he hit a few spears head-on, so he could only stop and stop and spin in place to unload the little kinetic energy that had just been accumulated, for Jia, Guan and others, the distance was just right, the horses had not accelerated to run out of temperament to restrain their feet, and the brothers' spears were just flat!

The officials seventy or eighty zhang away saw all this, and because they had been mentally prepared, everyone did not hesitate, turned their horses' heads, and urged their horses to flee in the direction of Michi.

There was a sound of horses' hooves from the west: the large army had also discovered the problem, and this was the horse pond they had sent out to reconnoitre.

Jia Lianwang waved his hand: "Don't bother, you can't catch up." "A distance of a few tens of feet is enough for the fellows' horses to run at full speed—they don't need to worry about horsepower, and they can gallop all the way back to the county seat; If the scouts push their horses to get rid of their strength, they may not be able to come back!

You can figure out these things in an instant, Jia Yanzi's reputation is really not for nothing!