Chapter 1137 The dust has settled
Takahashi Nan looked at the sky, still hesitant about whether to launch an offensive immediately. The group of men he led have been busy since this morning. Just marching for dozens of miles has consumed a lot of energy. In the meantime, they have fought twice with Gan Qiang and his group. At this time, it would be unavoidable to attack Dongshan Village by force. Some are too hard for these soldiers. Although it may not be impossible to capture the Dongshan stronghold before dark, if unnecessary battle losses are caused due to excessive fatigue, it will be too much to gain. After all, even a figure like the bandit leader Pu Xueguang, in the eyes of Takahashi Nan, his personal The value is far less than that of an ordinary soldier in a special operations battalion.
Smoke has already risen in Dongshan Village. It seems that the bandits in the village still know nothing about the outcome of the battle in Cishan. This makes Gao Qiaonan relax a little. At least they will not rush over in this hurry. Empty.
If he rested overnight and waited until tomorrow, it would of course be possible that Dongshan Village would receive a warning at night and Pu Xueguang would run away with his men overnight. It would take a lot of effort to hunt him down again. Takahashi Nan thought for a while and decided to rest for a night first and let the troops recover a little bit. However, he did not just leave Dongshan Village alone. He sent two platoons of troops to go around and lurk in the forest behind Dongshan Village. If the bandits in the village wanted to escape overnight, they would most likely retreat to the mountains, and maybe they would be able to do just that. Block Pu Xueguang.
Gao Qiaonan led his troops to set up camp in a forest about two miles away from Dongshan Village. However, in order to prevent their whereabouts from being leaked, the soldiers could not cook in pots and eat hot food this time. Originally, the special operations battalion, as the ace field force, was equipped with self-heating rations, but before entering the mountains, Takahashi Minami considered that he might need to march quickly to pursue the enemy during the battle, so he gave up the heavier self-heating rations and cooking utensils in order to reduce the burden. , the soldiers entered the mountains with only combat rations such as fried noodles.
However, that night was uneventful. Perhaps the few bandits who escaped from Cishan also felt that it was too difficult to escape for dozens of miles in one breath. It would be safer to hide in the mountains and wait for the Han army to withdraw. The situation that Gao Qiaonan was worried about was also Just didn't show up. But he was still worried about the long nights and many dreams, so he ordered the siege of Dongshan Village to start as soon as it got light.
Dongshan Village is surrounded by trenches and wooden walls. There is a village gate in the south and north. The south leads to the mountainous area, and the north is the intermountain plain area where the special operations battalion came from. The people of Dongshan Village are cultivating the plains. There was a lot of cultivated land, and there was no place to hide in it. After the people from the special operations battalion appeared, they quickly attracted the attention of the sentries in the stockade and blew the horn to warn them.
Gao Qiaonan is not worried about what other tricks the people in the village can do. The intelligence he has clearly pointed out that there are not many people in Dongshan Village. If the bandits dare to come out of the village to fight, they will play into Gao Qiaonan's arms. If he wants to abandon the village After escaping into the mountains, there were still two platoons of troops waiting for them on the southern hillside, enough to catch them off guard. Of course, the most likely possibility is that the bandits in the village cannot hold on and rely on the walls and ditches to resist the Haihan army's offensive.
Sure enough, soon more and more heads appeared on the wall, and someone could vaguely see a bow and arrow, aiming at the open space outside the village gate. Pu Xueguang had experience fighting against the Haihan Army in Fushan County. Although he did not go into battle personally, he also recognized the uniforms of the Haihan Army. In front of him, the Haihan Army appeared outside Dongshan Village like a godly soldier descended from heaven. Pu Xueguang could only curse Gan Qiang for being a loser. The Haihan Army could suddenly appear outside Dongshan Village without any warning. It was obviously because of someone's accusation. The road was directed at him, and Gan Qiang had just left Dongshan Village a few days ago, so he was definitely the most suspected of betraying him.
Pu Xueguang felt a little relieved when he saw that the opponent's formation was all infantry, with neither cavalry nor artillery. However, after weighing the strength of the enemy and ourselves, he gave up the idea of taking the initiative to fight. When they fought against the Haihan Army outside Fushan County, the Wanjia Army took the initiative to attack twice. In the end, they were beaten to the point where they were unable to fight back. Thousands of them were either killed or captured. Only those who escaped with Pu Xueguang and Gan Qiang returned. Hundreds of people. With such a painful lesson in front of him, he would never dare to let his subordinates engage in a head-on battle with the Haihan Army in an open area again. What's more, maybe the Haihan people ambush their cavalry somewhere outside the narrow area, waiting for a wave of surprise attacks.
Takahashi Nan did not rush to launch an offensive. Instead, he asked someone to hold up a shield and cover a soldier with a loud voice who came forward and shouted loudly, shouting the amount of Haihan's bounty on Pu Xueguang.
Pu Xueguang originally thought that the other party was going to use traditional methods of persuading them to surrender. He had already planned to scold the other party to boost morale. However, he never expected that the Haihan people were so philistine and resorted to throwing money at people. Crude means.
"Shoot him quickly! Shoot him to death!" Pu Xueguang knew that if he continued to let the other side talk, his own military morale would definitely be shaken even more, so he even let a few bows and arrows on the wall take action in order to interrupt the other side's attack outside the stronghold. shout.
However, almost all those who could fight in the Wanjia army were lost in the battle of Fushan County. The people currently following Pu Xueguang are all ordinary bandits with mediocre qualifications. They only use ordinary hunting bows made by the people and a few archers. After two rounds of shooting, he couldn't even create any real threat.
However, at this time, everyone in the village had heard clearly what Hai Hanjun was saying, and many people's expressions had begun to change. Pu Xueguang is a superior military advisor to them, but now Pu Xueguang's actual value seems to have been quantified. The 500 taels of silver rewarded by Haihan is already a huge sum of money to these bandits, and some of them will even pay for 500 taels of silver. Silver kills people, and this reward is enough to make them give up their position and camp.
Pu Xueguang suddenly felt a chill on his back. When he turned around, he saw almost everyone staring at him with strange expressions, as if they were looking at a pile of gold ingots. If it weren't for his past authority among the Wanjia Army, some of them might have been unable to hold back and take action.
Pu Xueguang naturally understood why this subtle atmosphere was generated, and he said calmly: "Don't believe the lies of the Haihan people. If they attack Dongshan Village, everyone here will die! Don't think that the Haihan people will really Using money to reward those who surrendered, they just wanted to use this method to cause civil strife in us, and then took advantage of it! ”
Someone in the crowd responded sadly: "Why don't the military advisor tie himself up and surrender? In this way, everyone may be able to save their lives, and there is no need to hurt the harmony of the brothers!"
Pu Xueguang said angrily: "If I open the city and ask for surrender, the Haihan people will definitely kill you all! You must think clearly!"
At this moment, the shouts of the Han soldiers outside the city came: "Surrender and avoid death! Surrender and not kill! Those who capture the bandit leader Pu Xueguang will be pardoned!"
The air in the village suddenly solidified, and Pu Xueguang realized that the minds of these people had begun to waver. He was about to persuade him a few more words, but someone shouted: "Get the guy named Pu, and the brothers will share the reward." ! ”
The person who shouted was a small leader in the village. Immediately, seven or eight people followed him, drew their weapons and rushed forward to take Pu Xueguang. However, Pu Xueguang was not without resistance. There were several loyal subordinates around him who rushed to take over the offensive. But once someone takes the initiative, imitators follow. The reason is simple. Dealing with Pu Xueguang is definitely much easier and less risky than dealing with the notorious Haihan soldiers outside the stronghold. Capturing Pu Xueguang can not only divide the money, but also gain freedom. He will not be punished as a prisoner of war of the Haihan people. This is a tangible life-saving straw for the bandits who are on the verge of despair. No one has any reason. Don't fight for such an opportunity to escape.
Almost at the same time as the first internal strife began, a larger scale of internal strife broke out. Pu Xueguang was not a military commander, nor had he learned any fighting skills. He was quickly restrained and pinned to the ground. However, the few small groups that took the lead all had their own ideas and did not want the victory to be monopolized by others. They started fighting each other again, and the scene suddenly became chaotic. These people did not have the courage to fight the Haihan army outside the stronghold, but they were not afraid to fight against their own people.
The few Haihan soldiers who were shouting outside were originally forced back by the bows and arrows fired from the wall, but when they saw the people on the wall shooting a few arrows, they retreated. These soldiers slowly and reluctantly moved closer to shout. . There was already a melee inside the stronghold wall, and no one could care about dealing with the Haihan soldiers outside. The sound of announcing the reward order kept echoing in the air, making the bandits who had already seen blood go even more crazy.
Takahashi Nan did not expect that such a simple method could suddenly cause internal strife among the bandits who were already on the verge of collapse. This is of course not only due to the amount of the reward. During this period, the Wanjia Army suffered repeated defeats and its strength was greatly reduced. The internal changes in power and personnel also created a situation of panic. No one knows who will be killed by Pu Xueguang next. Could it be that he was the one to deal with Gan Qiang? Coupled with the increasingly vicious reputation of the Haihan people and their increasingly embarrassing living conditions, the arrival of the Haihan Army was just the straw that broke the camel's back.
Seeing that there was no movement at all on the wall, Takahashi Minami was also a little confused. Logically speaking, even if the other party did not stand up and scold him, he would use bows and arrows to drive back the caller. How could the Haihan Army be allowed to act so wantonly? Could it be that he is holding back some big move in Dongshan Village?
Thinking of this level, Takahashi Nan did not dare to neglect and let the troops slowly press closer. The only two snipers had already aimed at the wall. If anyone showed up again, they would shoot and kill them first.
Gao Qiaonan saw that he was only about twenty feet away from the wall of the village, but the opponent still didn't react at all. The troops surrounding the gate of the village in the south did not send a warning signal. At the moment, he couldn't figure out what tricks his opponent was playing. He could only let him Carrying several ladders made overnight, the small team quickly approached the wall of the village to see what was going on inside.
The soldiers quickly put the ladder on the top of the wall and climbed up, then carefully poked their heads out to look inside, and soon sent out a signal to indicate that the troops could advance. This time Takahashi Nan no longer hesitated and immediately ordered an attack.
At this time, the bandits in the stronghold were already furious. Even if someone saw the Haihan soldiers coming over the wall, they had no time to stop them from opening the stronghold door. The Dongshan Village had already been declared lost before the formal confrontation with the Haihan Army.
When Gao Qiaonan entered Dongshan Village, he was also shocked by the situation inside. He never expected that the bandits would have such a serious internal strife at this juncture. Although he did ask the soldiers to come forward and shout in the hope of alienating the bandits in the village, he did not really hope that this method could completely destroy the opponent's will to fight. However, judging from the current situation, the effect is obviously Even better than I imagined.
"It seems like we can just throw money at these bandits in the future!" A joking thought flashed through Takahashi Nan's mind. Of course, he would not simply think that this was all due to the reward order. There were many problems that could not be solved with money.
The soldiers stepped forward and separately controlled some of the bandits who refused to give up. Then they went to the south and opened the gate of the stronghold, allowing the two platoons deployed there to enter the stronghold. In addition to the houses where the bandits lived, there were only some stables, warehouses, firewood sheds and other facilities in the village. The small open space in the corner was reclaimed and planted with vegetables, which was irrigated by a well in the village. If you didn't know that the people occupying this place were a group of bandits, it actually wouldn't look much different from a local farm.
Through the identification of the bandits, the soldiers quickly found the trembling Pu Xueguang from the pool of blood, locked him up and brought him to Gao Qiaonan. Seeing this man's blood-stained face, Gao Qiaonan also frowned and ordered Gan Qiang to be brought in to confirm Pu Xueguang's identity.
Gan Qiang glanced at it twice, and then said to Gao Qiaonan dejectedly: "This person is military advisor Pu Xueguang!"
When Pu Xueguang saw Gan Qiang, he was furious and tried to break away from the control of the two soldiers next to him, pretending to knock Gan Qiang down: "You traitor actually led a wolf into the house! If I had known this, I shouldn't have let you come back alive!" ”
When the two of them were defeated and retreated from Fushan County that day, Gan Qiang was still injured. At that time, Pu Xueguang still had a chance to deal with him. But Pu Xueguang believed that he could control Gan Qiang and use him to integrate the remnants of the Wanjia Army, so he did not take action against him. Unexpectedly, raising tigers was a disaster, and he was eventually killed by Gan Qiang.
Gan Qiang also said angrily: "If you hadn't encouraged Wanmeng to fight the Haihan Army, how could things have ended up like this! Everyone, Wanjiajun and Haihan are at odds, and the culprit is this thief!"< br>
Gan Qiang was so angry that he wanted to lift Pu Xueguang up and beat him up. He seemed to have completely forgotten that he was also a "thief". Seeing that these two people had no sense of shame, Gao Qiaonan felt disgusted in his heart and complained to each other, adding insult to injury. He immediately asked the soldiers to take them into custody separately.
(End of chapter)