From land to the northwest, we walked through several dilapidated small towns and dozens of villages with crooked walls and beams; they were all sparsely populated, deserted fields and withered trees.

Han Mu looked at it again. He wanted to hurry to the Chaohu Lake quickly so that he could carefully observe the island in the middle of the lake where the bandit's nest was entrenched. It was already afternoon when everyone arrived on the shore. Everyone dismounted and stepped on the soft mudflats and tangled meadows, passing through the dense reeds and willow trees on the shore. The eyes suddenly became clear, and a vast blue lake appeared in front of everyone.

The lake is vast and boundless, calm and shimmering under the afternoon winter sun; the weather is sunny, and you can vaguely see an island standing in the center of the lake.

Li Yuan stepped forward to Han Mu and introduced: "This Chaohu Lake is the old site left by the ancient Juchao Kingdom. According to legend, there was a Juchao Kingdom here in ancient times. Later, somehow, this Juchao Kingdom fell into the ground, and the river water poured in to form such a large lake. In the early years, someone salvaged gold and silver at the bottom of the lake, which was the relics left by Juchao Kingdom at that time."

Han Mu nodded and said, "How can this lake be so big? How can you see the pattern of the island clearly?"

Li Yuandao: "This lake is 80 miles in a radius, long and narrow from east to west, and narrow from north to south; it curves southward in a crescent shape. Our location is the mouth of the Ruxu River connecting the Yangtze River and Chaohu Lake, which is the easternmost point, so it is not clear. If you want to see clearly, you need to look south along the coast, and there is a place called Qingping on the south bank to see it clearly."

Han Mu turned around and said, "Return to the willow forest, eat some dry food and water, and then go to Qingping quickly. If it is not early, you must be quick."

Everyone retreated to the willow forest, people ate dry food, horses ate weeds, and took a break.

After a stick of incense, everyone flew on their horses and headed straight for Qingping. Fearing that the bandits who were patrolling were discovered, everyone chose the path under the dike, and then walked forward with difficulty by covering the long dike. They arrived at Qingping when the sun set.

Qingping was originally a small fishing village. Since the bandits occupied the island in the middle of the lake, dozens of fishermen in the fishing village fled with their families, leaving only empty houses. This also left a front post for the bandits. The bandits built two post towers on the hills beside the village to observe the movements of the officials and set up several postcards in the village. The guards were decent and very tight.

Han Mu and others hid far away in the dense forest under the lake embankment as early as the reminder of the inspection in Nanchao Town. Han Mu ordered everyone to wait in place, and took Yuan Gang to quietly cover the reeds by the lake from the dense forest, and spread the reeds and looked out.

The island in the middle of the lake is clearly visible under the sunset. I saw more than ten small boats wandering back and forth around the lake. On the boat, the bandits tied their heads with black scarves and shining golden light in the sunset as the weapons in the hands of the bandits turned around.

Han Muyun tried his best to look into the distance. The Mushan Island was round. From this perspective, as Li Yuan said, there was only the shoal on the east side of the island. Other places you can see were all thousands of feet high, with high cliffs, almost no foothold, and no slopes to climb to the island.

What made Han Mu even more trouble was that the low part of the cliff was that it was stretched outward, and it was inverted mushroom-shaped, which was very steep.

Han Mu whispered to discuss the situation with Yuan Gang. Yuan Gang frowned and thought for a while, but couldn't come up with a solution. Han Mu turned his head and stared at Mushan Island and dazed for a while. Suddenly his brows stretched out, and a bold plan came to his heart. He whispered in Yuan Gang's ear. Yuan Gang said in confusion: "Can this work?"

Han Mu said confidently: "It is absolutely feasible, brother, don't worry, everything is up to my arrangement."

Yuan Gang said: "Okay, then as you said, I'll go back and arrange it quickly."

The two quietly retreated and took everyone back to Wuhu County overnight.

The next morning, Xie Xuan traveled around the city for more than an hour and mysteriously bought a bunch of wrapped things and took them to Han Mu's room. Then he hid in the room with Han Mu for most of the day, while Yuan Gang went to the sound camp to select two hundred soldiers to give secret lectures. Everyone gathered together until lunch;

In Li Yuan's gaze, Han Mu and the other three said nothing and silenced to eat and pick up food, which made Li Yuan feel very uncomfortable.

After dinner, Han Mu said to Li Yuan: "Mr. Li, we will send troops to wipe out Chaohu bandits immediately. Please do whatever you want."

Li Yuan hurriedly said, "General, let me gather the soldiers to help you. Wait for a moment, I will ask Qian Bingyin to gather all the troops." After that, he hurried out.

Han Mu smiled and grabbed him and said, "Didn't I say you don't need a soldier? Lord Li just sits in the county government and waits for our good news. Otherwise, you can help Liang Jinchun buy the grain from those big families, so that he can save him a scholar from grinding his mouth."

Li Yuan said with a worried look on his face: "This...what should be done? The bandits are rampant and fierce, if..."

Yuan Gang shouted, "Mr. Li, what do you mean? Before we set out, do you curse me for defeat?"

Li Yuan hurriedly knelt down and apologized: "The officials are so foolish, but the officials are also thinking about the big plan. This matter is not only the general's business, but also the responsibility of my Wuhu County."

Han Mu smiled and pulled him up and said, "Well, you can just bring two or three hundred soldiers to ambush five miles outside Qingping. Remember to get close to the ambush after it is dark. Do not disturb the bandits. Once we start on the island, you will lead your troops to attack Qingping Village, occupy there, bring more archers, block the fleeing bandits, and do not miss the net."

Li Yuan then bowed and said, "Sir, obey the order."

Han Mu asked Yuan Gang: "Are you all ready?"

Yuan Gang said: "The entire army is ready to go, and I'm waiting for you to speak."

Han Mu waved his hand and said, "Go away."

Forty Flying Tigers, two hundred soldiers, Han Mu and others took two official boats on time. Han Mu originally wanted to place Su Hongling and Zhang Tongyun in the county town, but the two women insisted on following him. Han Mu had no choice but to let them change into men's clothes and follow him, but only told Su Hongling to protect Zhang Tongyun and not make any mistakes.

The two official boats slowly sailed out and headed north along the Ruxu River. The large and wide river channel of the Ruxu River was unobstructed, but Han Mu ordered the speed to slow down. Except for the soldiers who were in charge of the boat, the rest of the people entered the warehouse to rest, sleep, and take care of the spirit, and do not make loud noises; he himself hid in the warehouse with the two girls playing the game of catching the eagle. The two little lambs quickly became hairless little aries, and let the eagle's claws grab and touch the little lamb's body, and could only tremble without any help.

The river channel, which is only a few dozen miles long, walked to Xu, and entered Chaohu Lake.

Han Mu ordered the two ships to stop in a deserted place in the riverside, stop the ship, look at the sky, and ask everyone to have a meal. It was already late at this time, and the entrance of Ruxu River was east of Chaohu Lake, and it was far away from the island of Wushan in the middle of the lake, but even so, Han Mu did not light the lights. The whole boat was fumbled in darkness and fumbled the beef jerky mixed with rice balls and poured it into the rice balls, silently waiting for Han Mu's orders.

It was dark, and it was almost the end of November, and the moonlight was dim. There was no strange sound around except for the howling night wind and the sound of waves slamming the shore.

Han Mu looked at these well-trained soldiers with satisfaction, and his heart was filled with confidence in victory. With a command, the two ships quietly started, detoured from the north, and headed for a big bend to the west of Wushan Island.

From a distance, the lights on the island were flashing, and laughter and scolding were heard far away in the quiet night. Two ships stopped five or six miles away from the island. After a while, one ship quietly approached the island in the darkness, while the other ship was quietly stopping in place and waiting.

The ship heading to the island was Han Mu, Yuan Gang, Zhang Su and forty Flying Tigers, plus more than fifty soldiers from the Shooting Camp. The ship quietly approached a cliff west of the island. The boat workers kept their hull firmly and stopped the ship steadily.

Han Mu took out a long package from the warehouse and opened it gently. A long black thing appeared in front of everyone, with a long feather arrow on it, but behind the arrow was a small copper ring. It turned out that Han Mu and Xie Xuan had tinkered with this thing for a long time.

Except for Yuan Gang and the two girls, everyone was puzzled. Han Mu smiled mysteriously and pulled a thin cowhide rope through the copper ring, pulling it all the way to form a double rope. He stepped on the lower part of the thing with his feet and pulled it hard. He heard a "squeaking" sound, followed by a "squeaking" sound, which was like the sound of the crossbow stumbled when it was squeaking the King of Machines when it was squeaking.

Han Mu let out a sigh and whispered: "Get out of the way, don't step on the rope."

Everyone made a clearing space, and Han Mu picked up the object, aimed at the black forest on the cliff and pulled the trigger. The feather arrow with a rope leaped over dozens of feet into the cliff wall.

Only then did everyone realize that this thing had such a wonderful use. Han Mu reached out and grabbed the two ropes and pulled them hard. He nodded with satisfaction, handed the "rope gun" preciously to a flying tiger team member, and asked him to put it in the cabin, and tied a slightly thicker rope with one of the thin cowhide ropes and pulled the other cowhide rope. After a while, the slightly thicker rope passed through the copper ring and returned to Han Mu's hand.

Han Mu held the rope with both hands and tried the strength, and was a little confused: I don’t know if the arrow above stuck in the correct position. In addition, the rope as thick as a thumb seemed to be too thin, so I was really unsure whether it could withstand his own weight.

But at this time there was no time to think about it, so I pulled the rope and rubbed my body. Suddenly I felt my arm being pulled. I turned my head and saw Su Hongling in black standing beside me and said softly: "Hanlang, let me get on, I'm in a good state."

Han Mu was about to refuse, Su Hongling had already jumped up gently, and her petite body quickly climbed up along the rope lightly. Han Mu caught him off guard and had to grab the top of the rope to reduce the shaking of the rope.

Everyone held their breath and focused, looked up at Su Hongling's tiny body gradually disappeared into the night, and they were sweating nervously; if they were dozens of feet high, their great abilities would be smashed to pieces, which would alarm the bandits and the sneak attack was still the next step.

The night wind was quite strong, and the rope was blowing left and right. Although Han Mu tried his best to stabilize the lower end, he did not dare to tighten the rope, for fear of pulling off the fixed arrow at the top. Time passed slowly and tormented, and the cold sweat on everyone's body suddenly became cold and cold wars continued after the night wind blew.

Finally, Han Mu felt the rope on his hand light, and he was happy, knowing that the task was done. He quickly ordered a thick boat cable to tie it to one end of the rope, and three violent shaking came from the rope. It was Su Hongling sending the signal. Han Mu shook the rope three times and sent the signal that had been prepared. Su Hongling pulled it vigorously, pulled the cable to the top of the cliff, and tied it firmly.
Chapter completed!