Chapter 320: Night Raid
Chapter 320: Night Raid
The scout battle in the mountains and forests was incredibly dangerous.
Cheng Xu was a bit worried about the ten scouts he had sent out.
Among those ten scouts, only Shi Jian had learned from salt smugglers for a while and had some basic experience; he had also brought out two or three brothers. As for the others, they were all first-time scouts, and he truly feared they might get into trouble.
Especially Ground Rabbit—he hoped that guy wouldn’t mess around in such a crucial operation.
But just as he was worrying, he saw four scouts returning, escorting two prisoners with proud faces.
Cheng Xu said, “Huh? Seems like the rookies have gained the upper hand.”
The four scouts approached Cheng Xu and said, “Instructor He, we brought back two enemy scouts, hehe.”
Cheng Xu caught the key phrase “brought back”; usually, if they wanted to brag for credit, they’d say “We caught two enemies,” not “brought back” two of them.
Cheng Xu, who often padded report letters for merit in the past, understood the finer points perfectly.
He whispered, “Did Shi Jian catch them?”
“No!” The four shook their heads. “Ground Rabbit captured them. He’s still ahead and asked us to bring the captives back first.”
“What?” Cheng Xu was shocked. “It was Ground Rabbit?”
The four chuckled, “Ground Rabbit’s ears are sharp. That guy can hear enemy movements from far away in these woods.”
Cheng Xu went silent: Was that guy really a rabbit?
But never mind—now wasn’t the time to fuss over that. With two captives before them, they clearly had to interrogate them properly.
After some harsh treatment with whips and clubs, the two prisoners revealed the situation on the mountain. Big Honglang led Wang Zuogua’s four teams, about fifteen hundred men, lying in ambush on the hill to the right front. They were waiting for the Gaojia Village Militia to enter the valley so they could rain stones down.
Cheng Xu gave a strange laugh. “Get ready, the whole army. We’ll night raid Big Honglang, that bastard.”
Ancient people often had poor nutrition leading to night blindness, so few attempted night raids.
But the Gaojia Village Militia did not have night blindness!
Li Daoxuan insisted on a balanced diet for the militia, feeding them well and ensuring nutrition. Occasionally, he even crushed vitamin pills into powder and gave it to the cooking teams to mix into the rice for the militia.
Few of these soldiers now suffered from night blindness.
Plus, they had seized the initiative in the scout battle; it would be a waste of the situation not to night raid Big Honglang.
After it turned completely dark, Cheng Xu quietly led the army forward.
A bright moon hung high in the sky, but dense woods blocked the moonlight; the Gaojia Village Militia moved gently through the trees unnoticed by Big Honglang’s sentinels atop the mountain.
Crawling ahead for a stretch, Cheng Xu met Shi Jian on the mountaintop midway.
Cheng Xu whispered and asked, “What’s the situation ahead?”
Shi Jian said, “We killed many enemy scouts; they were scared stiff and retreated to camp, not daring to come out.”
Cheng Xu chuckled under his breath, “So, that means the outer area is all ours now?”
Shi Jian nodded.
Cheng Xu asked, “Where’s Ground Rabbit?”
Shi Jian pointed upwards and said, “He’s still farther ahead. That guy’s hearing is unmatched—in complex terrain like this, ears beat eyes, and enemy scouts couldn’t approach him at all.”
After saying that, he wore a peculiar expression. “Could he be a rabbit monster?”
Cheng Xu laughed and scolded, “If he really were a rabbit monster, wouldn’t Deity have dealt with him long ago? How could any monster deceive Deity’s all-seeing eyes?”
Shi Jian answered, “That’s true.”
Cheng Xu continued leading the soldiers up the slope. Before long, the “encampment” of Big Honglang’s army came into view ahead.
It couldn’t be called an encampment at all—it was merely “a chaotic gathering of bandits huddling together for the night.”
Big Honglang clearly possessed no knowledge of marching, warfare, or setting up camp.
A typical unruly bandit force. Just over a thousand people were scattered haphazardly within a patch of forest, with a few teams patrolling the perimeter while others lay or sat in disarray among the trees.
Some who looked like “forest heroes” sat leaning against large trees, clutching swords to their chests, with bamboo hats upon their heads. Were a time-traveler to see this scene, they’d surely remark, “A lone shadow on cold rivers, past travelers on life’s journey; meeting now, need we have been once acquainted?”
Cheng Xu found the bandit army’s disorder laughable.
He raised his hand, signaling the militia behind him to crouch.
The thousand men settled silently, not a single sound escaping them.
In terms of training and discipline, the militia outmatched the bandits a hundredfold.
Cheng Xu summoned the captains of the ten hundred-man teams, gave them low-voiced instructions, then grinned and waved. “Prepare for action.”
Meanwhile, Big Honglang sat beneath a large tree, her face dark with displeasure. Losing the scout battle meant the “Bai Family Fortress Militia” had discovered them. There would be no chance now to ambush them foolishly marching through the valley, crushed by falling rocks.
Big Honglang cursed irritably. “Our scouts are forest heroes who’ve walked the jianghu for years! How could they lose to the Bai Family Fortress’s hired hands in the woods? Have you all wasted your years in the jianghu? We’re blind to what’s outside our camp now—can’t even scout what the Bai Family Army is doing! How useless are you?”
The circle of small captains around her took the scolding meekly, humiliation burning their faces.
Usually, their poor performance in battle could be excused—they were just forest ruffians, not soldiers, so losing head-on engagements was understandable. But failing at the very underhanded tactics they excelled in? That was inexcusable.
One captain muttered quietly, “At daybreak tomorrow, we’ll forget stealth. We’ll storm the Bai Family Fortress Militia head on.”
Big Honglang rolled her eyes. “Storm them? We’re only fifteen hundred strong. They’ve nearly a thousand men. It’s no sure victory. We must wait for Big Brother, Second Brother, and Third Brother to encircle them from other directions. Attack on all sides—that’s the only way to guarantee success.”
Hardly had she finished speaking when a whistling sound cut through the night woods. A dark object flew through the forest and landed among their group with a thump. It resembled a small club, complete with a smoldering fuse.
The captains nearby stared curiously. “What’s this?”
Big Honglang didn’t hesitate. She rolled instantly into the grass beside her.
BA-BOOM!
The hand grenade exploded!
Iron balls and shrapnel sprayed violently in all directions. The captains, minds still processing, took several hits and slumped limply to the ground.
Simultaneously, dozens of hand grenade explosions tore through the woods—boom-boom-BOOM!—blasts erupting everywhere at once.