The defending force of Guifanlou did not hold out for long and was almost vulnerable to the regular army.
The two sides fought for less than a quarter of an hour before Guifanlou was defeated.
What followed was a one-sided massacre.
"Run! The soldiers are coming and will kill anyone they see."
"Go inside and leave it alone."
"Take your valuables, run, and don't look back."
Everyone fled in panic.
The main force of the Imperial Guard continued to pursue, while the yamen runners in the rear rushed into the caves to rescue people.
In this battle, the Imperial City Guards and the Imperial Dragon Guards led by Di Qing were the main forces, totaling about four thousand people.
There were about 5,000 yamen runners in Kaifeng Prefecture to assist the troops.
Although in terms of total number of people, Wuyou Cave and Guifan Tower may have nearly 20,000 people in total, which is twice as many as the Imperial City Division and Kaifeng Prefecture.
But in terms of combat effectiveness, a group of rabble is far from comparable to the regular army, and they cannot even hold their own in a frontal fight.
Under this offensive, the two factions were quickly destroyed and a large number of criminals fled in all directions.
Zhao Jun guessed correctly. Because the attack was launched suddenly and the shortest road was chosen, the people below had no time to transfer the victims.
Many victims were rescued.
The person in charge of Guifan Tower was Fan Zhongyan. After learning about the situation below, he gave the same task to Zhao Jun.
First, rescue the victims.
2. Clear out the remaining bandits.
3. Seize enemy supplies.
4. Pursue the fleeing enemy.
These four items are in order, representing the importance of each.
Put saving people first and pursuing them last.
But before the list was issued, Di Qing had already led dozens of people to chase Ma Zhiwu.
At the same time, Jiang Dalang was also wandering around in the cave, and he met many people in his recklessness, but he did not take any action.
They were all small fry and there was no need to expose them immediately, so he had been looking for important figures in Guifanlou.
After wandering around for nearly half an hour, there were people coming and going everywhere, some of them were even soldiers. If they hadn't had red scarves tied around their bodies, the government would have known they were their own people and would have arrested them.
"Da Lang, this is no use. We've been underground for two months. We know the way, but we don't know where the left and right whips and the left and right poles have gone."
One of Jiang Dalang's brothers said, "Why don't we go after Fatty Huang first? Capturing him would be a great achievement."
"no."
Jiang Dalang shook his head and said, "Eradication of all evil is what the Chief Secretary said. This Ghost Fan Tower Master never reveals himself. Only a few trusted figures, such as the Left and Right Whip Handlers and the Palm Handlers, know about this. Only by catching them can we catch the Ghost Fan Tower Master."
"How do I find it?"
Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Guifan Tower was in chaos, with people fleeing in every passage. They had not yet found the location of Zuoyou Zhangbian and the others.
Jiang Dalang thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered something that happened a few days ago. He said happily, "Come with me."
"Dalang, what's wrong?"
The brother said, "Do you know where they are hiding?"
As Jiang Dalang walked, he said, "I used to follow Fatty Huang and occasionally heard him mention that since Guifan Tower's terrain is not as good as Wuyou Cave, there are many secret escape passages, one of which is under the main building."
"Da Lang means that the higher-ups of Guifan Tower didn't evacuate through the open path, but took the hidden path?"
"That's natural."
"That's right, even Fatty Huang escaped through the secret passage in the north, let alone others."
Everyone thought so too.
Jiang Dalang and others immediately headed towards the main building.
The main building had been breached, and Di Qing was still wondering at this time. He had just chased the right-hand whip Ma Zhiwu into the main building, but he disappeared after entering here, which made him very puzzled.
"There must be a secret passage."
Di Qing looked around. Although the Ghost Fanlou called itself Fanlou, it was far inferior to the Fanlou on the ground.
This underground cave was dug by humans, and pillars were built to support the ceiling to prevent collapse. However, since it was excavated, human power naturally couldn't dig too far, only about one square mile in radius.
The lower level is the ghost market of Guifanlou, which is used for human trafficking. Their internal personnel also often traffic in people. There are 54 regular brothels in Bianliang, and there are countless secret prostitutes and brothels below. Those with good conditions can be sold to regular brothels, and those with poor conditions will naturally be sold in these places.
The upper floor was the main building of Guifan Tower, essentially a two-story structure. Constructing a two-story structure underground was a significant undertaking, yet the interior was quite luxurious. The main room was spacious, while the upper floor, shaped like a circle, contained numerous rooms, filled with fragrant aromas.
The entire building was ablaze with candlelight, and the enemy even tried to burn down Guifan Building before leaving. However, since Guifan Building was made of bricks and tiles, only some silk curtains were burned, and the entire building was not damaged.
Di Qing searched everywhere in the main building. The front building was obviously where the high-ranking officials enjoyed themselves, while the back building was the guest room, kitchen, etc. There was no trace of the secret passage at all.
At this moment, Jiang Dalang and others also rushed into Guifan Tower. Because they had red scarves tied on their hands, they were able to enter unhindered.
The two sides met.
Di Qing knew them. When Jiang Dalang went to rescue the daughter of a friend of his, he took Di Qing deep into a branch of Wuyou Cave.
Seeing that it was Di Qing, Jiang Dalang hurriedly went up to him, bowed, and said, "Commander Di."
"Jiangdutou."
Di Qing saw Jiang Dalang and said happily, "You've come just in time! The bandit leader escaped inside and disappeared. Do you know if there's a secret passage here?"
Jiang Dalang thought for a moment and said, "I don't know the exact location of the secret passage, but I know the rooms they live in. As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. There must be a secret passage underground where they live."
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