bookrandom Chapter 105: Gaining the support of the people and encountering bandits again
Chapter 105: Gaining the support of the people and encountering bandits again
"Notice, Lei Jianqin, take the rest of the personnel, immediately rescue the injured civilians, put out the fire, clean up the battlefield, and do not pursue the bandits excessively." Du Chenyu saw that the bandits were already exhausted, so he prepared to return to the base and hide, and could no longer show up in public.
After watching from the watchtower that the bandits' machine gun fire on the main road was cleared from the side by the guards, Du Chenyu quietly returned to the stronghold without seeing any outsiders. External affairs were handled by Manager Huang and Peng Huiyu.
Although it was still very noisy outside, Du Chenyu was ready to take a nap. It was already 8 o'clock when he woke up again. The outside was basically calm, except that the rescue team members had not returned yet. "Mr. Chenyu, this is the battle summary sent by Captain Peng. Since you were not awake, I put it here." When Du Qian saw that he woke up, he turned on the water for him to wash up. Sister Xiaowan also went out to rescue the wounded. There were only a few guards at the stronghold. After sitting down by the fire, they handed him a piece of paper.
A brief introduction to the situation was given. This time the bandits were Ni Jiuhong and Li Chaoyang, who joined forces with two families of more than 700 people to attack. There were 100 people making a feint attack at the north gate, and the south gate was the main attack direction. Therefore, the security team of more than 800 people in the city did not dare to send out all of them. About hundreds of households were looted, at least 20 households were burned, 7 people in the guard team were injured, 3 people died, more than 30 bandits were killed, and more than 30 guns of various types and 1 machine gun were collected.
There will inevitably be casualties in any battle. The guards are all elites carefully trained by Du Chenyu. Three of their members are lying forever in this foreign province. Du Chenyu decided to transport them back to Liziba area for burial and not let them live in a foreign land.
During their trip to Ningqiang, they encountered a large group of bandits attacking the city and lost three team members, which made Du Chenyu lose interest in staying there. Moreover, the security was tight and it was inconvenient for them to move with guns, so they decided to return as soon as possible.
At around 11 o'clock, Peng Huiyu came back from the other end of the street with tired steps. His face was covered with black dust, his hair on the right side was burnt and curled up, and there was a big hole burned on the back of his quilt and military uniform. His whole body looked like he had just come out of a coal mine, with disheveled hair and dirty face. His rifle was still on his back, and it was still shiny and dust-free.
"Brother Peng, go wash up, and call Brother Lei and Manager Huang later to discuss the next step of work," Du Chenyu said.
"Okay, Master Chenyu," he turned and went into the house.
Half an hour later, everyone was present. Now everyone discussed their opinions on this bandit attack. Du Chenyu spoke first.
"This type of bandits has strong combat effectiveness, strict organization, orderly advance and retreat, and is extremely cruel. Although we are only assisting in the battle this time and only dispatched a small group of elite troops, we still suffered heavy losses. Their combat effectiveness is even stronger than the county joint defense brigade we fought before," said Peng Huiyu.
"Those are just beasts. I saw an entire family being killed. An old man was even hung on a tree, and his daughter was raped and killed. If I, Lei, were to encounter them again, I would grind their bones to dust," Lei Jianqin said viciously, pounding the bench with his hand.
"Almost all of those girls vomited. It was their first time on the battlefield to see such a scene, which was really difficult for them. However, they all insisted on helping to rescue the common people, bandage wounds, and put out fires. They were very brave," said Manager Huang.
"How is the logistics going now?" Du Chenyu asked.
"Reporting to Master Chenyu, the fire was basically under control this morning. The security team knocked down several houses connected to the residential buildings and established a fire barrier to control the spread of the fire. We have set up a porridge distribution point to rescue the people," added Shopkeeper Huang.
"Master Chenyu, and the security team thanked us and asked us where we came from. I just said that we are from the Sichuan caravan and will leave after purchasing supplies. This Changsheng warehouse is our shop," said Peng Huiyu.
"We should do our best to rescue the common people. Since we lost three team members, we need to return as soon as possible. Several brothers with serious injuries will stay to recuperate. After they recover, they will continue to stay and organize forces in the surrounding areas. We should also leave 10 rifles seized this time, so that the warehouse stronghold will have a certain self-protection ability. In addition, Manager Wang will take a few people to the city to purchase supplies in the afternoon. We will try to leave here the day after tomorrow." He no longer had the mood to play and now just wanted to go back.
After a day of preparation, they had enough goods. Since they seized 3 horses and bought 5 more horses from the horse market in the city, they had a total of 8 horses. The goods were no longer carried back by manpower, but all carried by horses. They went back through the Jinniu Ancient Road into Sichuan, then went east from Qipan Pass through the Bashan Gorge to Maocaoba. The journey was long, but the road was flat and there was no trouble along the way.
The next day they arrived at Guankouba in Bashan Canyon. This is also a flat valley in the mountains with many thatched houses. However, it seems that it is often attacked by bandits. It is dilapidated and depressed everywhere. There are few people outside and they are very vigilant. They are fully armed and probably scared away a lot of villains, but they still did not dare to take it lightly along the way. They set up camp at Guankouba at night and continued to move forward the next day. At noon, they arrived at Shiguanya. There are canyons on both sides ahead, and they have to cross a 200-300 meter high pass. The terrain is extremely dangerous. They sent people to investigate continuously, and the valley was quiet.
"Master Chenyu, we have already scouted the canyon ahead. There is a lot of dead grass in the canyon and few human traces. However, from the footprints and traces, we can tell that a horse team has been here. According to the local people, there is a group of bandits who occupy the mountain and rule as kings all year round in this area, and they often come down the mountain to rob," Peng Huiyu came to report.
"Send people to extend the reconnaissance, and send people to check the hillsides on both sides again. Be cautious in everything." Du Chenyu looked at the canyon covered with dead leaves and the steep cliffs on both sides, giving people a sense of danger.
"Master Chenyu, this area is vast and the canyon is at least 6-7 miles long, with steep cliffs on both sides. If we send a few people out, it would be like feeling for a needle in a haystack. The exploration is extremely difficult and we cannot complete the investigation in a short time," said Peng Huiyu, pointing to the canyon ahead.
"Look, should we continue moving forward or wait a moment?" Du Chenyu was also a little hesitant.
"Master Chenyu, why don't we burn it down? This way, bandits won't be able to hide on either side anymore, and the road will be accessible in the future," Du Qian, who was listening to their discussion, added.
"These mountains are so vast that the damage from setting fire to them would be huge," said Du Chenyu.
"The common people live in the Guankouba area behind. There is no one living here. I agree to burn it. We will often travel this road in the future, so we can't conduct reconnaissance every time," Peng Huiyu thought for a while and agreed.
"You guys?" The others around Du Chenyu.
"Master Chenyu, it was windy last night and there is no sun today. It is likely to rain, so the fire will not spread to too wide an area," said Lei Jianqin.
"Okay, then let's set fire to the mountain immediately." This is the method they often use to deal with bandits in the mountains, and it is also the best method when there is no other way.