Chapter 253 Encircling the Pigs
After Sheng Xiping explained it this way, everyone understood what they should do.
After resting for a while, Guo Yongping led ten men to circle around the western hillside from outside the forest, Sheng Xiping led his men to guard the southern side, and Li Zhenggang led his men to guard the eastern hillside.
Fifty minutes later, Sheng Xiping estimated that Guo Yongping had led his men to the designated location, so he inserted a dry branch into the middle of a roll of bark and attached it to the branch of the outermost tree in the forest.
This was a marker used by experienced hunters when they went into the mountains to hunt. It was to warn those who came later that someone was hunting in this forest and not to go in, otherwise they might get hurt.
In the past, most people used old-fashioned hunting rifles, the kind that you loaded with gunpowder and bullets yourself, and you would fire one shot at a time.
This type of gun is not powerful enough, cannot fire in bursts, and is difficult to reload, so it is rare for a person to go into the mountains alone; usually, several people go together to hunt.
Nowadays, many places no longer use those old-fashioned flintlock guns; at the very least, they use a No. 16 caliber gun or a sleeve-type gun.
Those like Sheng Xiping who use semi-automatic rifles are even more formidable, with longer range, more lethal bullets, and the ability to fire in rapid succession.
Therefore, it is no longer necessary to hunt together as in the past, with many people going to hunt together, some chasing the enemy and others intercepting them.
But today is different; Sheng Xiping has brought so many people to hunt wild boars in the forest.
To avoid accidental injury, he had just instructed Li Zhenggang and Guo Yongping to cut some bark, roll it up, and attach it to a tree branch before entering the woods.
If bystanders see this and still go in, no one will care if they get hurt.
After carefully removing the bark from the tree, Sheng Xiping led his men quietly into the woods.
It was past 10:30 a.m., and as the temperature slowly rose, the ground that had just frozen over the night before began to melt and soften.
The withered grass and branches on the ground, which had been covered by heavy snow all winter, were already soaked with snowmelt, so they wouldn't make a crisp sound when people stepped on them.
Even so, everyone remained very cautious, because wild boars not only have a keen sense of smell, but also very strong hearing.
Fortunately, this is a clear forest, and the bushes and grasses below are not too thick. Moreover, the wind is strong in spring, and the wind makes a whooshing sound when it blows through the treetops.
Even if someone makes a noise while walking in the woods, it's easily lost among the noise.
This mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forest is quite large. Sheng Xiping led the group forward slowly, while Zhang Zhijun and Pan Fusheng, who were younger and more agile, walked ahead, climbing trees every now and then to look down.
If they couldn't see any wild boar ahead, they would wave to signal everyone to keep going. If they spotted a wild boar, they would gesture for everyone to stop.
After walking into the woods for about twenty minutes, Zhang Zhijun climbed a tree again. When he looked ahead, the scene before him startled him.
On the mountainside, there was a huge herd of wild boars, too many to count.
"Brother Xiping, we've spotted a wild boar! It's only about 300 meters away from us," Zhang Zhijun hurriedly climbed down from the tree and told Sheng Xiping.
The hillside is relatively gentle, and you can see a certain distance by climbing the trees. Three hundred meters is probably the limit.
"Okay, I got it. Let's be careful and go about another hundred meters or so before climbing the tree."
Sheng Xiping nodded, turned around and told the people behind him to be careful and not to make too much noise.
When they get close, the wild boars, with their excellent hearing, will be frightened away if they hear anything unusual.
The group made a hand gesture and then continued walking forward.
When it seemed that it was about time, Sheng Xiping waved his hand, and everyone found a suitable tree and threw their bags and guns behind them.
Then, he grabbed the tree trunk with both hands, kicked his legs upwards, and in a few quick movements, he climbed to a height of four or five meters.
Sheng Xiping chose a spot at the very front, and when he climbed up the tree and took a look, he gasped in shock.
The entire hillside in front of me is covered with pigs; a quick glance would reveal at least seventy or eighty of them.
These wild boars were quite strange; they seemed to be arranged in some kind of formation, in circles and layers, with large boars on the outside and older sows on the inside.
Because it was far away and uphill, I couldn't see very far, but I guessed that what was inside were probably little pigs like Huangmaozi and Ge Nianchen.
The baskets running around outside are all quite large, some weighing three or four hundred pounds.
Perhaps due to the angle, Sheng Xiping did not find the pig that left the extra-large hoof print.
Sheng Xiping didn't know where the other two groups were. Based on the time and the terrain, he estimated that Li Zhenggang and Guo Yongping should also be in the vicinity with their men.
Sheng Xiping took a deep breath, waited five minutes, then aimed his gun and fired directly at the large baskets outside the pig herd.
The shot hit the front shoulder blade of a running basket, the bullet went in from one side and came out from the other, then went into the body of a sow and skewered it like a candied hawthorn.
The basket tipped over with a thud, and the pig twitched a few times with a grunt before going still. The sow, unharmed, squealed and turned to run away.
The sound of gunfire is a signal, telling the others that they can launch an attack.
Wang Jianshe and the others all held guns with their index fingers on the triggers. As soon as Sheng Xiping fired, the others immediately pulled the triggers as well.
Startled by the gunshot, the wild boars, realizing what was happening, immediately took off running, squealing and scattering in all directions.
Among the herd of pigs was a wild boar of enormous size. This creature was like a small mountain, covered in stiff hair, and its pair of yellowish tusks curved upwards like scimitars.
This guy must have suffered a lot of injuries, because the fur that has grown back in many places is a different color.
Moreover, one of the legs doesn't look quite right; it must have been broken before.
This pig was the biggest, and it reacted the fastest after the gunshot. Despite having a weak leg, it was surprisingly fast.
With such a large build, wouldn't it be like a locomotive when it runs?
The little yellow piglets couldn't dodge in time and were bumped into by the big running basket, which trampled over them.
The big runner led the way, rushing eastward, but at that very moment, gunshots rang out from the east.
Big Basket must have escaped death countless times; he's the kind of guy who's been through the wringer, the kind who's been through the wringer, and he's incredibly cunning.
Upon hearing gunfire from the east, he immediately turned and ran west.
This sudden turn to run away caused trouble, as the herd of pigs following behind couldn't stop in time, and it knocked down several more of them.
Just as the big runner turned around and ran a short distance west, gunshots rang out from the west.
Despite its large size, this guy reacted incredibly fast, immediately turning around and running north.
The herd of pigs followed the large running basket from east to west, and then from west to north. More wild boars were trampled to death by the herd than were shot or killed.
On this hillside, blood stained the ground, and more than a dozen wild boars of all sizes lay on the ground, howling and struggling.
Hunters were lying in ambush on the west, south, and east sides, so most wild boars could only follow the large basket in front and run north.
They saw the pigs rushing north like a black torrent, but when they reached the top of the mountain, they found that it was a shady slope with thick snow that had not yet melted.
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