Chapter 187 Ambush from the Cliff
After dismissing his two troublesome subordinates, Lin Changning continued reviewing the intelligence he had gathered.
Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any banditry around Taiyuan, but unfortunately, many bandits are hiding in Longquan Mountain, which is nearby.
Based on testimonies from local officials and caravans, Lin Changning roughly estimated that there were no more than a thousand bandits in the mountain stronghold.
The number is roughly between 500 and 900. The stronghold is located in the village at the top of Longquan Mountain. People are sent down the mountain to purchase food, salt, and other supplies around the end of each month.
The county government closest to Longquan Mountain is Yangqu County, and they were the ones who sent the message. They have now organized the villagers into teams of 10 households each, supervise each other, and implemented a system of joint liability.
Therefore, the space for bandits to operate is certainly not large now.
There are probably more than a dozen wild paths around this mountain, but the bandits in the mountain stronghold are probably unaware of them. Taiyuan has already sent troops to suppress the bandits.
It's almost the end of the month. If they can get there early and set up an ambush around Longquan Mountain, taking down a small village won't be difficult.
However, since it is located on a mountaintop, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. We still need to find a way to sneak into the village and open the gate from the inside, so as to minimize casualties.
After finalizing the specific tactics, Lin Changning refined some details, reviewed them several times, and after confirming there were no major errors, handed his battle plan to Lao Zhou.
"Old Zhou, take a look and help me fill in the gaps."
After reviewing Lin Changning's detailed and well-organized battle plan, Lao Zhou couldn't help but admire it: "It looks pretty good to me. I don't think there are any mistakes or omissions. There's just one thing: climbing up the cliff from their village might be a bit difficult."
Lin Changning nodded: "Our people haven't been training in rock climbing for long, so it's bound to be quite difficult. So I'm planning to take Wan Jin, Lu Shan, and a few of the better-skilled people in the team to climb up from their cliff, sneak in, open the house from the inside, and wait for my Cloud Piercing Arrow. Then you can lead the people to ambush us from the outside and we can coordinate an attack from the inside."
Old Zhou frowned, looking somewhat troubled: "You want to lead a group up yourself? No, no, that's too risky."
Nowadays, everyone knows that Lin Changning is the commander's precious darling. If he were to accidentally fall into trouble here, no one knows how he would go back to face the commander's stern face.
Old Zhou waved his hand: "No, I'll go up. I'll bring some men in and sneak in to open the door."
Lin Changning leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs: "Old Zhou, it's not that I look down on you, but let's not even talk about whether you can climb that hundred-meter cliff. Even if you do get in, are you confident you can open the door among a hundred people?"
After saying that, Lin Changning added, "You're not like me. I'm not bragging, but you're just a bandit village. Do you think they can stop me?"
Old Zhou scratched his head. Although he knew that Lin Changning was telling the truth, he couldn't help but feel annoyed.
After thinking it over, Old Zhou still felt that Lin Changning was right. After all, this kid was skilled in martial arts and possessed superhuman strength. The people in the village might not be able to stop this brat.
Old Zhou clicked his tongue twice: "Alright, then I'll bring some men to guard outside and coordinate with you from the inside."
After discussing it, the two went back to sleep early.
We should be able to reach Longquan Mountain by noon tomorrow at the latest. We'll send two more people up the mountain to scout it out, and then we can launch a surprise attack that night.
If we're lucky, we'll be able to finish the battle and head down the mountain back to the command post early the day after tomorrow.
The next morning, Lin Changning and Lao Zhou got up early, called the centurion into the tent, explained the detailed battle plan to everyone, and then began the forced march again.
Around noon, they arrived at the vicinity of Longquan. Lin Changning did not order them to set up camp. After the soldiers ate some dry rations, he and Lao Zhou began to explore the surrounding area.
The information provided by the county government was largely accurate: the bandits' stronghold was located in the very center of the mountaintop, and there were people constantly changing shifts on the tower.
Lin Changning then had someone inquire about how much supplies the villagers bought each time they came down, estimating that the number of people was approximately between seven hundred and eight hundred.
There appears to be farmland in the village, and there seem to be women and children there as well.
It was different from what Lin Changning had imagined, but she wouldn't soften her heart because of it. After all, bandits are bandits. People's lives are indeed difficult nowadays, but once they become outlaws, robbing others for money and murdering them, these people are unforgivable.
It seemed as if even the heavens were helping Lin Changning today. The night was as thick as ink, enveloping the village tightly. Apart from the occasional bursts of laughter and the sounds of shift changes, the only other sounds were the courtship calls of various unknown birds in the forest.
Old Zhou had already led a large group of men to ambush the area around the village. There wasn't even a moon in the sky tonight, and looking down from the torches below the village, it was pitch black a hundred meters away.
Old Zhou quietly led his men to wait for Lin Changning to sneak into the village and open the gate. As soon as the gate opened, he would lead his men to rush in.
This was the first real battle for the Right Guard of the King of Chu. Many people were on tenterhooks, holding their breath and staring intently at the gate of the village.
They gripped their weapons tightly, their hearts pounding as if about to burst from their chests, and their palms were slowly sweating. But no one dared to move, for fear of startling the people on the tower.
Everyone was on edge. If the people on these towers could come down and take a few more steps forward, they would be able to see clearly the people who were lurking in the darkness around their village.
While the people waiting in front of the village gate were anxious and tense, Lin Changning led a dozen or so people to the cliff behind the village.
The road was quite difficult to walk on, and the night was really dark. The thorns and gravel almost caused them to slip and fall many times.
A slight misstep could result in a fall off the cliff. Lin Changning wasn't actually afraid of heights, but taking advantage of the darkness and the thin layer of mist, he looked down.
They couldn't help but feel a little scared. The dozen or so people supported each other and, led by Lin Changning, slowly made their way to the cliff. After walking for about an hour, they finally reached the bottom of the cliff.
The middle of this area seemed to be a cross-section, just big enough for these dozen or so people to stand on. Lu Shan patted his chest.
"Good heavens, that scared me to death."
Wan Jin's face was also a little pale; they had almost fallen several times along the way.
If it falls, it'll probably be smashed into a pile of mangled flesh.
Lin Changning looked up at the cliff. The steep cliff face looked even more sinister and terrifying in the night. After estimating the distance, Lin Changning felt that it shouldn't be a problem for him to lead the people up.
He took the rope from Wan Jin and prepared to throw it to the top of the cliff.
It's fortunate that it was him who came this time; if it were someone else, they definitely wouldn't have been able to climb up, and it would have been difficult to even throw up the rope with the grappling hook.
"I'll go first. Once I'm up there and secure the rope, you can climb up."
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