Chapter 328: Blow Them Up

Ground Rabbit crawled slowly forward along the forest edge.

Zheng Gouzi and Shi Jian followed half a meter behind him, both moving with extreme caution, terrified of making a single sound.

Ever since they had entered Huanglong Mountain for bandit suppression, Ground Rabbit had been serving as a scout, and he was doing surprisingly well.

Someone of his temperament truly didn’t fit into a large military unit. But in the scout team, he flourished just like water to a fish; it allowed him to showcase his talents.

“The lair of Wang Zuogua is right up ahead,” Ground Rabbit whispered. “See? That cave down below? Wang Zuogua’s men are definitely in that cave.”

Zheng Gouzi nodded. “Can see signs of people moving around near the cave entrance. We can’t be wrong.”

“There are definitely scouts from the bandit army nearby,” Shi Jian murmured. “Be careful. Don’t get surrounded.”

Ground Rabbit chuckled softly. “Heh-heh. With these ears of mine around, no need to worry about bandit scouts.”Hardly had his words faded than he crawled past a tree hollow. Suddenly, he discovered a bandit soldier sleeping right inside it. Ground Rabbit crawling past woke the bandit soldier. The man stared at Ground Rabbit with wide, utterly dumbfounded eyes.

Ground Rabbit stared back at him, equally dumbfounded.

Neither of them had expected such a sudden encounter.After the brief moment of shock, the bandit soldier opened his mouth to shout.But Shi Jian pounced forward instantly, clamping a hand over the man’s mouth while driving a dagger into his throat with the other.

“Whew!”

All three men heavily sighed in relief.Shi Jian said, “See? If the enemy is moving, your ears can hear them. But if they’re hiding and motionless, you won’t catch a sound. Be careful.”

This was a lesson for Ground Rabbit. He obediently nodded.Shi Jian cautiously peered over the cliff edge, taking in the entire valley below. He thoroughly surveyed and firmly memorized the terrain around the cave where Wang Zuogua kept his troops. Only then did he begin to cautiously withdraw. “I need to head back, report to Instructor He, and sketch this terrain for him.”Ground Rabbit said, “I’ll stay here, keep watch on Wang Zuogua.”

“Alright!” Shi Jian agreed. “Gouzi, stay with him. You two, be careful.”

He backed away slowly, crawling cautiously. Only after putting a great distance behind him did he slightly pick up his pace, heading towards the camp where Cheng Xu’s troops were stationed.Meanwhile, Ground Rabbit looked left, looked right, studying the area intently for a long while. Suddenly, he pointed to a hidden ditch. “Gouzi, look at that ditch.”

Zheng Gouzi asked, “What about it?”

Ground Rabbit explained, “If I were Wang Zuogua, suddenly attacked, caught in a barrage of grenade explosions, I’d definitely dive into that ditch, crouch down, and run. Once the valley mouth is blocked, that would be the only possible escape route.”

Zheng Gouzi: “Oh, oh. Then what?”

Ground Rabbit: “Then, of course, we should lie in ambush beside that ditch! Wait for Wang Zuogua to flee right towards us, spring out, and take him down. Wouldn’t that be a glorious achievement? Heh-heh.”

Zheng Gouzi: “Hey, don’t act reckless! Wang Zuogua will be surrounded by his fierce bandit followers. Just the two of us couldn’t take them on.”

Ground Rabbit declared grandly: “I, Mr. Rabbit, with One Sword Shines Coldly Across Forty States, am a match for ten thousand soldiers! Scared of a few fierce bodyguards? One sword thrust per scoundrel, dispatch the lot of them.”

Zheng Gouzi raised his Bowl-sized Fist. “No need to wait for the enemy to finish you off. I’ll pummel you flat right now. After all, dying by someone’s fist is still dying.”

…

Night descended, the starlight dim.

Cheng Xu led the militia and crept quietly to the edge of the valley.

Wang Zuogua had chosen this valley to evade the pursuit of officials, and it was extremely hidden. However, the more hidden a place was, the more “enclosed” it became. The valley had only one entrance and exit, and that entrance was overgrown with vines. It was truly hard to spot the valley from outside.

Cheng Xu and the others lurked at a distance, grinning eerily: “Do you see those guys guarding the valley entrance? Send a few crossbowmen to shoot their throats and make sure they don’t make a sound.”

“Grenadiers, climb up to the peaks on both sides. At the start of the battle, throw grenades randomly into the valley. When our troops enter the valley, stop throwing grenades to avoid blowing up our own people.”

Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu swiftly accepted the order, each leading fifty grenadiers, and climbed to the peaks on both sides.

“As usual, after entering the valley, the firearm soldiers fire a volley first. Once the enemy’s morale is shattered, the Spear Formation will advance forward.”

The crowd replied: “We obey!”

…

Wang Zuogua was feeling proud at that moment.

His information wasn’t slow; he had also received the news that the Jurchens had invaded the pass and the Five Troop Divisions had been withdrawn. He laughed heartily in the cave.

“With the Five Troop Divisions gone, isn’t the northwestern region entirely at our mercy? Ha ha ha! The next time I charge out of the mountains, who can stop me?”

Miao Mei whispered beside him: “Big brother, those firearm troops from Bai Family Fortress are still harassing us all over the mountains. Third brother and fourth brother were ambushed and fought twice, suffering heavy losses.”

Wang Zuogua spat: “Those bastards from Bai Family Fortress, I don’t know where they got so many firearms—it’s really infuriating. Anyway, with the Five Troop Divisions gone, there’s no need for us to stay trapped in the mountains any longer. We might as well head straight north, out of Huanglong Mountain, to Yichuan County for some fun. Without the Five Troop Divisions, who can do anything to us?”

Miao Mei laughed heartily: “Big brother is absolutely right. Even if Bai Family Fortress’s firearms are powerful, would they chase us all the way to Yichuan County to fight us? We can’t afford to provoke them, but we can afford to avoid them.”

Wang Zuogua said: “Hmph! Wait till I recruit more men in Yichuan and build a bigger force. Then I’ll come back to deal with those fools from Bai Family Fortress. At that point, I don’t believe I won’t finish them off.”

Right after they said this, they suddenly heard a shrill scream from outside. The sound was extremely loud, piercing the night sky, echoing through the valley, and exceptionally jarring.

It turned out that a bandit troop guarding the valley entrance had been shot, but the bowman had been slightly off-the-mark and didn’t hit the throat dead on, allowing that bandit to scream out loud.

This stirred up the bandits’ nest!

The men from Feishan Hu and Big Honglang’s forces immediately rushed out of the cave. Leading them was the fourth leader, Big Honglang, who bellowed: “What happened?”

Had she not come out, it might have been fine; the valley was empty, and the grenadiers wouldn’t have bombed the open space. But with Feishan Hu and Big Honglang appearing like this, weren’t there now perfect targets?

The grenadiers who had long been prone on the mountaintops immediately gleefully lit their fuses and tossed grenades down into the valley.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Continuous explosions rang out.

At that sound, Feishan Hu and Big Honglang were terrified. Neither was being bombed for the first time—they practically had prior experience from such attacks. Upon hearing the explosions, their first move was to hit the ground, then shout furiously: “The men from Bai Family Fortress are back again! Damn it, how did these guys find us? We were hiding so secretly.”

“What about our scouts on both mountaintops? Why didn’t they detect the enemy closing in? Damn it! Did they just let the enemy take the high ground so easily?”

“To hell with this, run! If we stay and get bombed, it’s only a path to death.”