Chapter 112: Bu Zhan Ni Arrives
Chapter 112: Bu Zhan Ni Arrives
The sun had not yet fully risen, and the sky had just begun to show streaks of dawn when the sentinel at the corner tower of Bai Family Fortress sounded the bamboo alarm.
The hollow, echoing sound resonated in the air above the entire Bai Family Fortress.
Bai Yuan and Cheng Xu almost simultaneously rolled out of bed and sprang up.
They ran to the corner tower at the fastest speed.
Gazing toward Huanglong Mountain to the north, they immediately spotted a large group of bandits descending the slope.
They were not coming down along a single mountain path but dispersing across several paths.
They were like filthy water, surging wildly down the mountain along every stream when floodwaters erupt from the mountaintop.
“There are too many!” Bai Yuan couldn’t help but feel nervous.
“The bandit army is thousands strong? I can’t tell at all.”
“Fifteen hundred!” Cheng Xu, standing beside him, saw the number of the bandit troops with a single glance.
He snorted.
“It really is quite a lot.”
Bai Yuan said, “I heard that there were five or six thousand bandits stationed in Huanglong Mountain. Why did only fifteen hundred come?”
Cheng Xu said, “Although the bandit army was large, at least half were elderly and weak, women and children, and only three thousand could fight. Moreover, these three thousand troops belonged to two forces: Luochuan’s Bu Zhan Ni and Yichuan’s Zuo Guazi. These two groups of bandits might not be willing to act together, so only one of them has come today.”
Bai Yuan thought, Officials of the court indeed have more intelligence. I had never heard of these things, but Cheng Xu knew because he must have already received urgent military reports from Luochuan County and Yichuan County.
Cheng Xu snorted.
“Even if only fifteen hundred have come, it’s still troublesome. These two groups have been fighting in Luochuan County and Yichuan County for a long time and are much more formidable than the Supreme Bright King you dealt with before.”
This snort carried a hint of cowardice.
As he stared at the descending bandit army, he saw a person in gray clothes look up from afar and glance at him.
When that person raised their head, Cheng Xu saw clearly: it was his grandmother’s face, and she grinned at him.
She opened her mouth and said something.
Judging by the lip movement, it seemed like she was saying, “My dear great-grandson, come keep your grandmother company.”
Cheng Xu quickly shook his head twice.
He focused his eyes and looked again.
Alright, the distance was too great to actually make out the person’s appearance.
The scene he had seen earlier was entirely his hallucination.
“Seeing my grandmother is an ill omen for this battle,” Cheng Xu thought, already planning to retreat.
He turned and whispered quietly to the deputy inspector, who had just gotten up and run to the fortress wall.
“Discreetly notify everyone to flee through the south gate as soon as I give the order. Understood?”
The deputy inspector nodded.
He said quietly, “Understood.”
Bai Yuan gave a sidelong glance at the two patrol officers whispering to each other but pretended not to mind.
He turned to his trusted hired guards beside him.
“With the bandit troops descending the mountain, all the farmers around us will soon flock to Bai Family Fortress. Open the gates to let in those we recognize, and not a single stranger is allowed to enter.”
As he anticipated, numerous villagers soon appeared.
Dragging children along, carrying the elderly and weak, with bags on their backs containing their last belongings, they surged towards Bai Family Fortress.
During the previous attack on Bai Family Fortress by the Supreme Bright King, Bai Family was unprepared, the surrounding commoners were unprepared, they were caught off guard, suffered heavy casualties, scattered in chaos, and Bai Family Fortress itself was plundered clean.
But this time was different.
Bai Yuan had prepared early and notified the surrounding villagers in advance to come to Bai Family Fortress for refuge at the first sign of trouble.
Therefore, the villagers had packed their belongings ahead of time, abandoned their homes as soon as they saw the bandit troops descending the mountain, and all came to Bai Family Fortress.
They were all neighbors, visible daily, making identification easy without worry about letting in spies.
Before long, the villagers had all taken shelter inside the fortress.
The elderly and weak retreated into the houses.
The able-bodied young men who could fight picked up the bamboo spears that had been piled in the warehouse beforehand and stood in positions assigned by Bai Yuan.
The robust women ran to the piles of rolling logs and stones, readying themselves.
Little Bai Family Fortress became tense like drawn bows and nocked arrows.
Seeing this, Cheng Xu couldn’t help but say, “Huh.”
He said to the deputy inspector, “That fellow Bai Yuan… why does he seem so experienced in warfare?”
The deputy inspector said quietly, “I heard he has fought three battles recently: one loss to the Supreme Bright King, one victory over the Supreme Bright King, and one where he eliminated Zheng Yanfu and Zhuang Guangdao… This guy must now be considered an experienced militia instructor.”
Cheng Xu said, “That last battle doesn’t count, as Gaojia Village’s monsters helped out.”
The deputy inspector said, “Hmm… That…”
Bai Yuan tallied the numbers: twenty hired guards, his trump card.
Seventy-seven men in Bai Family Fortress’s militia, his main force.
One hundred and twenty miscellaneous able-bodied young men, an additional bonus.
And eighty robust women.
Bai Yuan knew this battle would be tough. With only so many people, relying on the not-so-high fortress wall to withstand three thousand bandit troops was a risky business indeed.
The key was Cheng Xu’s attitude.
If Cheng Xu didn’t flee, there was a chance to fight; if he ran, Bai Yuan would likely be unable to hold out and would have to abandon the fortress.
Therefore, the key to this battle was seizing the initiative early.
He could not let Cheng Xu sense any sign of defeat. As soon as Cheng Xu felt even a hint of losing, ordering the officials to flee would doom the battle.
“The bandit army is forming ranks to the north!”
The sentinel shouted.
Bai Yuan and Cheng Xu both looked northward.
The one thousand five hundred bandit troops arranged themselves into three clusters—or rather, huddles.
Their formations were slanted and disorderly, not worthy of being called ranks, just heaps.
The last heap of fierce bandits stood guard, hoisting a tattered flag with the character “泥” drawn on it.
Cheng Xu pointed at the fierce bandit under the flag.
“The one guarding the rear is Luochuan’s Bu Zhan Ni, so the two heaps in front must be his generals, Double-Winged Tiger and Purple Gold Dragon.”
Bai Yuan snorted, feeling somewhat flustered.
He flicked open his folding fan, revealing the characters “Gentleman,” covering his slightly pale face.
“Why do these bandits all have such ugly names? It’s too stupid, isn’t it?”
Cheng Xu said, “They use aliases to hide their true identities and avoid implicating their families. Rebellion is a crime punishable by execution along with their families.”
Bai Yuan said, “Bandits still want to protect their relatives? Ridiculous.”
Cheng Xu rolled his eyes.
“Quit the sarcasm. Here they come.”
The moment this was said, the situation became tense.
The first to strike was Double-Winged Tiger.
Judging by his alias, he was a swift one.
With a shout and without any prelude, he directly led his five hundred subordinates charging toward Bai Family Fortress.
Cheng Xu immediately took half a step backward, ready to flee at any moment.
Bai Yuan, however, stepped forward.
He said loudly, “Catapult, giant crossbow vehicle, stand ready on my command!”
The Bai family hired guards and militia responded in unison.
“Yes!”
Cheng Xu glanced left and right.
Damn, they have higher morale than my own men?