"Robbery?" Jiang Jiao stuttered, "What, what robbery?"

"We have already arrived here. The time, the place and the people are all right. If we don't rob, wouldn't that be a betrayal of God's will?" She called Wang Ba: "Brother Wang, this time you can do your old job. Do you remember the rules?"

Wang Ba was somewhat angry, yet somewhat complacent, and said, "Of course I know!"

"Then let's go step on the plate first."

"What does 'stepping on the plate' mean?" Jiang Jiao was confused.

"I know this," Huang Xiong explained for him, "It's the jargon of the outlaws. They're supposed to check the surroundings beforehand."

Wang Ba snorted and said to He Yan, "You also know the jargon."

"That's all I know." He Yan said, "If you all have no objection, how about I make the arrangements?"

Everyone was looking at her.

"This place is high, and we came early. I think by the time other groups arrive here, they must be tired and relaxed. We just need to ambush here and snatch their flags. There are five of us in total, and one person needs to climb the tree to survey the situation, while the rest of us will ambush around. This person is me," He Yan pointed at himself, "I'm on the tree."

"When the people come, Brother Wang will be in front and lead them into our circle. Brother Jiang Jiao and Shitou, one of you will hold a long stick and the other will hold a long spear, standing on the left and right. Uncle Huang will be in the rear, so we can surround them in the middle. At this time, I will come down from the tree and use my nine-section whip to sweep away their flags."

Everyone suddenly realized why He Yan chose the nine-section whip. If the fight really started, it would be a mess and there might not be a chance to get close, but the whip could just roll the flag over from a distance.

"Why should I be bait?" Wang Ba said unhappily, "I can suppress the enemy."

"Because you are the best," He Yan lied calmly, "If the rest of us were to take the flag to lead people over, others would definitely be suspicious. But it's different for you. You are the best among the new recruits, so it's reasonable for you to grab the flag. It's best if you take it."

Jiang Jiao wanted to laugh, but he held it back. Shitou and Huang Xiong lowered their heads silently. Only Wang Ba took it very seriously, and his dissatisfaction with He Yan's arrangement immediately disappeared.

"But will this arrangement really work?" Jiang Jiao was a little skeptical. "What if they are better than us?"

"Don't worry, we have arrived here before them, and we have rested longer than them, so we have more energy. Moreover, we are outflanking them from both sides, with both offense and defense, and they will only be thrown into disarray. Besides, our goal is not to fight them, but to fight for the flag."

"The military book says: Those who arrive at the battlefield first and wait for the enemy are relaxed, while those who arrive at the battlefield later and rush into battle are tired. Therefore, those who are good at fighting attack others instead of being attacked by others."

Among the five people here, only Jiang Jiao and He Yan had studied. Before the others could respond, Jiang Jiao looked at He Yan and asked with a complicated expression, "Have you read military books?"

"A little bit." He Yan replied.

Huang Xiong looked at Jiang Jiao, then at He Yan, and sighed, "I remember you once said that you had read the "Hand and Arm Record", and now you're saying that you've read a military book. With your ability, you'll be famous one day, and you won't be on the same level as us."

"I don't deserve it." He Yan said with a smile.

"Anyway, just don't forget about us when you become rich." Wang Ba whispered, and perhaps feeling embarrassed, he added, "But you don't look like you can become rich."

He Yan shrugged and said, "Then everyone should find a place to hide first. I will climb the tree first. You can eat something and take a rest. Brother Jiang, take a flag and give it to Brother Wang. Listen for my whistle later. I will use the partridge whistle as a signal. When the whistle arrives, Brother Wang will take the flag to lead people over."

Everyone had no objection and scattered to find a place to hide. He Yan found a tall camphor tree and climbed up with his head raised.

Her tree-climbing movements were quite agile. Wang Ba muttered to himself, "Like a four-legged snake."

He Yan climbed to the top of the tree in one breath, found a place with the most lush branches and leaves, and sat down. The breeze was blowing, making her face cool and indescribably comfortable. The position was high, and she could have a panoramic view of the surrounding area. Seeing that no other recruits had come up yet, she took out a small piece of dry biscuit from her pocket, ate a few bites, and drank some water.

After finishing the small piece of biscuit, I lay against the branch for a few minutes, and then I heard rustling noises coming from a small path a little way down. A group of new soldiers came up.

He Yan immediately sat up straight, hiding in the leaves without moving, and blew a partridge whistle three times. Her whistle sounded exactly like a partridge, and if Jiang Jiao and his group hadn't given them a heads-up in advance, they wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.

Huang Xiong, who was hiding in the dark, winked at Wang Ba. Wang Ba hung up the kettle, stood up with the flag in his hand and walked out.

I don't know if he is used to this kind of robbery, but he is so pretentious that no one can tell what he is doing. Wang Ba looks left and right every two steps, as if he is a newcomer exploring the way.

As he was walking, he ran into a group of new recruits coming up the mountain.

"You..." Before the new soldier could say anything, Wang Ba ran back, holding his waist. It would have been better if he didn't cover it, but once he did, people could see the red flag on his waist.

The recruit was stunned for a moment, then became excited and said to the people behind him: "He is alone, he has a red flag, brothers, grab it!"

Upon hearing this, the group of people immediately chased after him. Wang Ba seemed to be alone and did not want to fight. He just ran while cursing: "Bah, don't follow your grandpa! If you follow me again, I'll chop you into pieces!"

The group of people regarded the red flag in Wang Ba's hand as a sure thing, so they chased after him with laughter, saying, "Then you come and chop it off! Brother, surrender the flag and we won't kill you!"

"Fuck you! If you chase me again, I will not be polite!" Wang Ba warned.

"Who is rude to whom?" The group of people chased after him while laughing. When they ran to a dense forest, Wang Ba suddenly stopped.

"What? You can't run anymore?" The leading recruit laughed and imitated the bandit leader, "I opened this mountain and planted this tree. If you want to pass through here, you have to pay for the journey!"

Wang Ba wanted to show off his power, but he laughed out of anger after hearing that. He drew out two huge axes from his waist, turned around and shouted, "How can a pheasant with a head held high climb the mountain? You have managed to snatch the head of your grandfather, I think you are blinded by greed and have never been able to do anything!"

No one could understand his string of bandit Chinese. The other party did not want to continue to argue with him, so he raised his sword and stabbed at the flag at his waist.

At this moment, there was a sudden noise behind him. Two young men suddenly appeared from the bushes on both sides. One of them held a long spear and the other held an iron stick. They were Jiang Jiao and Shitou. Another loud noise was heard, and a bald strong man holding a golden-backed broadsword had already jumped in front of him.

Just now it was five to one, and Wang Ba was being chased to death, but now the situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse, like trying to catch a turtle in a jar. There were ambushes everywhere, but there were only four people, yet they created an ambush from all sides.

The men were stunned for a moment, their smiles gradually faded, and they said, "It's an ambush! They're cheating!"

Along the way, they either fought directly with real weapons or ambushed in the dark and rushed out to fight fiercely. It was the first time that there was a bait in front of them, just like a big drama. The leading recruit gritted his teeth and said, "What are you afraid of? There are so many people, you can't be afraid of them, just fight them!"

With a turn of their heads, several people rushed into the melee together.

To be honest, although these people have their own strengths, they are not the best among the best. After all, all the new recruits who came up the mountain today are outstanding talents of Liangzhou Guards. But the strange thing is that Jiang Jiao and his men had the upper hand as soon as they fought.

Firstly, they had been here for a long time and had already rested and eaten here, thus resting and recuperating for a long time, while the other group of new soldiers had just come from a long journey and had no time to sit down and drink before they were caught in the melee, so they were naturally in a passive position. Secondly, the location of their arrangement was quite tricky.

Jiang Jiao and Shitou were on the left and right sides, so that these people were surrounded in the middle from beginning to end. Huang Xiong's sword was powerful and matched perfectly with Wang Ba's axe. The two had strengths and weaknesses, and they were both good at offense and defense. Unexpectedly, the new soldier could not find any faults in the opponent, and was repeatedly suppressed.

Jiang Jiao used his spear to deflect the opponent's sword and knocked down all the opponent's weapons. One of the new recruits said, "No, we can't grab the flag. Let's retreat quickly!"

"How do we retreat?" The leading recruit said unhappily, "Just find a gap for me to get out and try!"

He tried to break through several times, but couldn't find a gap. If they continued to consume like this, they would be the first to collapse.

"That's not right," a new soldier dodged Huang Xiong's sword and turned to ask, "Why are there only four of them? Where is the other one?"

Yes, after fighting for a long time, it was only five to four, and there was still one man missing. However, because they were suppressed so hard, they did not notice it. Now they were reminded by someone and immediately understood. The leader of the new recruits said: "It's a scam! Pay attention to protecting the flag!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Ba shouted, "He Yan, you are watching a show! Why don't you come out!"

But from the leafy camphor tree came a young man's cheerful voice: "Here they come!"

A red figure suddenly appeared in the dense forest. The young man was talking and laughing, and he flew by like a swallow, with a light posture. In the eyes of the other party, he looked like a powerful enemy. Before the man at the edge could hide his bag, a long shadow suddenly rushed towards his face. He was startled and subconsciously let go of his hand. The long shadow was like a snake, winding and flexible, rolling up the bag and going away. The young man took back the nine-section whip, sat on the tree, and shook his hand with a smile. The bag skin fell off. He held a flag in his hand and smiled, "Thank you!" He turned around and disappeared into the jungle, leaving behind a voice: "We got the things, let's retreat!"

The remaining Jiang Jiao men acted as if they had received an order. They had no desire to fight and just put away their spears and ran away. They were already exhausted from climbing the mountain and were exhausted after the fierce battle. How could they catch up? They became exhausted after chasing for a few hundred steps and watched the group of people run away until they could no longer see them.

"What kind of bandits are these..." Someone collapsed on the ground, gritting his teeth and cursing: "They are so lawless!"

"There's nothing we can do. A thief won't leave empty-handed." On the other side, He Yan was asking Jiang Jiao to put away the red flag in his hand, and snapped his finger and said, "Go."

"Where are you going?" Wang Ba asked.

"Robber the next one."

…

The pigeon was pacing back and forth on the window. Someone sprinkled some rice grains into his palm, and the pigeon fell into his palm and obediently let the person take the copper tube from its legs.

After reading the note, Xiao Jue handed it to Shen Han, shaking his head and smiling.

The words on the note were very simple. It only said one thing: He Yan had set up ambushes all over the mountain, engaged in robbery, and had seized the flags of several teams of new recruits.

Fighting for the flag, the key is to "fight", but it is rare to fight so secretly and openly. They only thought about the flag from the beginning, and did not want to fight with other recruits at all. Even when they set up an ambush later, they still focused on the flag. Those without flags were not robbed, and they were allowed to pass by. Those with flags took advantage of the situation to rob and ran away.

In the end, the loss is minimal and the number of flags gained is maximum.

"He's quite good at trying to please others." After a long while, Shen Han managed to utter these words.

"Not only is he good at pleasing others, he is also good at using troops." Xiao Jue said.

"Use troops?"

"To serve those who are near is to serve those who are far away, to wait for those who are at ease when they are tired, and to wait for those who are full when they are hungry." He curled his lips and said slowly: "The new recruits of Liangzhou Guards have all been fooled by him."

Shen Han was speechless. This young man really made people at a loss for words. He suddenly remembered something: "Speaking of these five people, they all took him as their leader, and there was no objection."

In fact, the battle for the flag was not only with other recruits, but also within each team. Everyone had different habits and tactics, so they might not be harmonious. Some teams would even fight for command, and end up with nothing. The ability of a recruit can also be seen in knowing how to cooperate and make arrangements. From this point of view, He Yan already had the ability to mobilize troops.

Among these five people, except Shi Tou, the others had conflicts and disputes with He Yan before, but now no one was arguing with He Yan because of it.

This is also the outstanding feature of this young man.

"These guys are all good," Shen Han thought for a moment, "Jiang Jiao and his team are slightly better than other recruits. So far, they have never lost. Commander, do you think these guys are qualified to join the vanguard camp?"

Xiao Jue chuckled and said noncommittally, "It's not because they are more capable, it's because He Yan set up the formation. A small team that has set up a formation is not the same as a group of scattered soldiers."

"The governor is saying..." Shen Han seemed to understand.

"The two of them spread out like crane wings. After the general pressed into the formation, didn't you see it?" Xiao Jue said, "He used five people to deploy the crane wing formation."

Perhaps the news was too shocking, Shen Han was silent for a moment. If a new soldier could deploy a formation, it almost meant that there was something wrong with him. Shen Han hesitated for a moment: "Maybe... it's a coincidence?"

"Whether it's a coincidence or not, we'll know later." Xiao Jue said, "Fei Nu."

The black-clad guard appeared behind him silently: "Sir."

"Send a message to the other captains on Baiyue Mountain," he picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip, "Deploy the troops on the way down the mountain."

"Commander-in-chief!" Shen Han was anxious: "This will prevent the other recruits from getting off the mountain!"

"Don't worry," the young man put down the teacup in his hand, picked up the black piece in the chess box and put it down. In an instant, the situation changed dramatically, and he said, "Someone will break the formation."

…

On Baiyue Mountain, next to the stone cliff, several people were hiding in the bushes, counting things.

"One, two, three...six! We got six flags in total!" Jiang Jiao was quite happy.

"It's not even halfway done yet," Wang Ba said coldly, "Why are you so happy?"

"Six is ​​already pretty good," Huang Xiong said, "and three of them were stolen."

Of these six flags, three were found by He Yan and his team by taking a shortcut, and the other three were snatched by new recruits who were ambushed near the top of the mountain and already had flags.

"It's still not enough. Go grab some more." Wang Ba put his axe in place. "If we get more than half, we'll win."

He Yan shook his head: "It's impossible to snatch it now."

Shitou frowned and asked, "Why?"

"Right now, other recruits are going up the mountain one after another. Those recruits who were robbed before will definitely tell everyone that we robbed their flags. I think we are notorious in their mouths now. Those recruits with flags will only be more cautious of us. Besides, we have robbed three places continuously, and our physical strength is not as good as before."

"Who said that?" Wang Ba motioned for the others to look at his strong arms. "I have strength all over my body. I'm not tired at all! I can still rob a few more houses!"

He Yan said: "Oh? What if several families join forces?"

Wang Ba was stunned for a moment.

He Yan spread his hands and said, "We have six flags in our hands, which are like live targets. I think the smart recruits on the top of the mountain have probably already thought of joining forces to grab the flags in our hands and divide them up. Two fists are no match for four hands. The five of us are facing ten, twenty, thirty... or a hundred people. Do you think there is still any need to fight?"

Everyone was speechless.

"Then tell me what we should do." After a long while, Wang Ba spoke impatiently.

"No matter how easy it is to please others, there will always be another one. We have just shown them how to take advantage of others' misfortunes. I think the new recruits who come next will do the same. We don't have to compare ourselves with those new recruits one by one. We only need to compare ourselves with the strongest one among the remaining new recruits."

Jiang Jiao's eyes lit up: "You mean, when they fight each other, we will benefit?"

Let the remaining recruits stay on the mountain. No matter which team wins, one of them will win. All they have to do is rob the winning team and take away their flags. In this way, they should have half of the flags.

"So..." Huang Xiong looked at He Yan inquiringly.

"Go down the mountain."

"Go down the mountain now?" Jiang Jiao hesitated.

"It's still early to go down the mountain, and we can seize the initiative. We can hide on the road that must be taken down the mountain. No matter whether the new recruits have grabbed the flag or not, they will pass by us. The team that has the best intelligence is our Yanggu."

"You make it sound so simple," Wang Ba could not help but argue, "The opponent is not a sheep. Since he can get so many flags, he must be a tough guy. We may not be able to win."

"What you said makes sense." He Yan nodded, "So the battle down the mountain will definitely not be easy. But it doesn't matter, we will definitely win."

"Why?"

The young man smiled proudly: "Because of me."

——Digression——

Yanyan: Me, MVP, the gold medal jungler