Chapter 55 0052 [The bandits come on a moonlit night]
The moonlight is bright and clear, and the river is far away.
Zhenfu County has high mountains and deep valleys, and the current of the Han River is extremely fast. There are 24 dangerous shoals in the Golden Gorge alone. Without an experienced helmsman, the boat will be destroyed and people will die. If you go upstream, you need to hire trackers.
The river flows into Xixiang County and merges with the tributaries to go north, and the water speed immediately slows down.
Shangbai Village is located at the slowest point of the river, and small boats are coming quickly under the moonlight.
The shape of the ship is similar to the "three tiles" of the Han River in later generations. It is five or six meters long and about two meters wide. This is the main warship of the Heifeng Village bandits.
There are also some small fishing boats, two or three meters long and about one meter wide.
The five Byford brothers were divided into five squads.
Because they all came from Shangbai Village and were familiar with the terrain here, they were all called in to serve as guides.
I specifically chose to take action on the 15th day of the lunar calendar, of course because of this big moon.
The moon is bright and the visibility is very high, so boating can be done at night.
The main fighting force of the bandits was only 26 people, but the half-thieves, half-farmers dispatched a full 71 people. It's not that they didn't want to bring more, but the ship was not enough. After all, they had to grab things back, so there must be enough space on the ship.
Store your belongings.
Night blindness was actually not that common in ancient times.
Rice, mung beans, pears, and apricots are rich in vitamin A, not to mention that they can’t be eaten by the bottom bandits. But eggplants, cucumbers, and spinach also have vitamin A. Even worse, wild vegetables such as purslane and shepherd’s purse,
It can also effectively prevent night blindness.
"Ahead is Shangbaicun!" Baiford pointed.
"Get ready to dock!"
Several small boats where the five brothers were on quickly docked on the shore, and the pirate boats followed them one after another.
The bandits carried several pottery pots and placed them separately on the river bank.
The pottery pot has a lid with holes. Open the lid, throw in some straw and sawdust, and fan it with a cattail leaf fan. The half-extinguished charcoal turns bright red and quickly ignites the straw and sawdust.
One torch after another was stretched out, and in a blink of an eye a large area ignited.
Those torches are very simple to make. Mugwort, reed flowers and other materials are crushed and dried, then the same dried vines are used to wrap them tightly around the wooden sticks, and then wrapped with a layer of oil-soaked linen cloth.
The main force of the bandits is armed with a torch.
The bandits each carry two torches. Their task is not to fight, but to shout and cheer to build momentum. They also carry bamboo baskets on their backs to carry their belongings. When they really fight, they are more ferocious than ordinary farmers.
Some.
"Brother, are you trying to capture Bai Village?" a leader exclaimed.
Although Yang Jun was unscrupulous and indecisive, he was extremely professional when he went down the mountain to rob. Every time he did something, he only told a few confidants, and the others followed, without knowing in advance what he was going to rob.
Yang Jun scolded in a low voice: "What are you afraid of? I have already contacted the government and asked the county magistrate to attack Lao Bai Yuanwai!"
Then he assigned tasks: "Third brother, you take people to the threshing floor and light the wheat straw stacked there. Fourth brother, you take people to burn a few houses, especially thatched houses, because they will burn faster. I
Take the rest of the people and go to besiege the Bai family's mansion. After setting the fire, you brought people over and ransacked the Bai family's house with me. Everyone shouted, the louder the better!"
More than 160 torches were lit by the river, but the villagers were completely unaware.
Everyone is exhausted from doing farm work during the day, and they are all fast asleep at the moment. And although the private armed forces outside the old white officer are patrolling day and night, they are actually resting at night.
"Kill!"
97 bandits shouted in unison, instantly breaking the silence of the night. Their number was too small, and they had to create a momentum, otherwise they might be besieged by the villagers.
Many villagers were awakened by the shouting. Through the cracks in their doors or windows, they saw torches "everywhere" outside. They immediately shouted in fright: "Run away, the thief is coming!"
The villagers who were nearby didn't care about anything. They supported the elderly, picked up the children, and ran up the mountain in a hurry.
The villagers who were farther away were still thinking about their belongings. Some were holding iron coins, some were holding chickens and ducks, and some were even holding cattle, and they were also fleeing towards the tea mountains.
In the threshing floor, there were threshed wheat straw, which were quickly set on fire by bandits.
Several other villagers' thatched houses were also set on fire by torches.
With the fire dragon-like torch team, it seems that thousands of bandits are coming to kill them. How can the villagers still have the slightest courage to resist?
"what's the situation?"
Ju Ming suddenly sat up on the bed and took out the sword from under his pillow. He didn't bother to put on shoes and clothes, so he went out to check on his bare feet.
Zhu Guoxiang also came over and said in surprise: "There are bandits attacking at night!"
"I'll go get the horse, and you can take the child and leave. I don't want the family's money," Zhu Ming said. "Run towards Chashan to find Zhang Guangdao and Bai Sheng!"
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were hurriedly dressing when Zhu Guoxiang pushed open the door and broke in. He picked up Bai Qi and said, "If a thief enters the village, run away to the mountains."
Grandma Yan still wanted to take the box where the money was stored, but Zhu Guoxiang urged: "Don't bring money, it's too heavy. Human life is more important than money!"
Seeing that Mrs. Yan was still hesitating, Zhu Guoxiang kicked the box over and the iron coins inside spilled to the floor.
Grandma Yan still couldn't bear to part with it, as it was all money for her grandson's education. But she knew it was good, so she only bent down to pick up one, and followed Zhu Guoxiang out of the house in a hurry.
Villagers have fled here. When passing outside the courtyard, they ran and shouted: "Grandma Yan, run away, the thief is coming!"
Zhu Guoxiang's family, caught among the villagers, ran up the mountain in a panic.
Ju Ming led the horse and deliberately walked at the back. When he reached a slightly higher place, he turned around to observe the situation below.
Only a few fires were seen, which must have been deliberately set on fire by the thieves. Then all the torches rushed towards the Bai family mansion, and the real target of the robbery was obvious at a glance.
"Everyone stop, there aren't many thieves!"
"Most of the torches are very close to each other, and the distance never changes. It should be one person lighting two torches!"
"Everyone pick up your sticks and follow me to fight back!"
Ju Ming shouted at the top of his lungs, but the villagers were already frightened and hurriedly fled up the mountain.
For the first time in his life, Zhu Ming experienced firsthand what "escape" means.
Obviously as long as they work together to fight back, the villagers are likely to win. But they can't combine their efforts, and they can't stop their escape. In desperation, Ju Ming can only escape with them.
"Dang-dang-dang!"
In the Bai family mansion, the gong was being beaten crazily.
Some relatives of the Bai family who lived in tile-roofed houses fled hurriedly to the mountains, while some ran towards the Bai family mansion.
Bai Chongwen, the eldest son of the Bai family, showed his ability at a critical moment. He didn't even put on his clothes, so he came out with a stick, ignoring the panicked servants and family members, and went straight to the courtyard of the guards.
.
"Yuan Da, Gu San, are you here?" Bai Chongwen shouted.
"Here it is, there it is!"
Two people responded immediately.
Yuan Da was the leader of the guards, but Gu San came down from Tea Mountain.
They were also in a mess, but Bai Chongwen's appearance calmed people's hearts a little.
Six nursing home servants and twenty mountain tea farmers quickly picked up weapons and gathered around Bai Chongwen.
Bai Chongwen ordered: "Gu San, your people are divided into two teams and go to close the two side doors. Yuan Da, you take people to guard the main door. You must block the door and don't allow anyone to come in, even me."
Relatives are not allowed to come in anymore, and anyone who disobeys will be beaten to death!"
These nursing homes and tea households are not part-time armed forces.
They also have to work in normal times, but because they are stronger, they can get more wages by training together during the off-season. The actual force value is only slightly stronger than that of the bandits, and they will definitely not be able to defeat those 20 or so bandits.
Main force.
Gu San has just turned seventeen this year. He has practiced martial arts with his father since he was a child. He is very good with guns and sticks. He usually lives in the tea garden.
This guy led people to a side door and shouted: "Close the door!"
The door was only half closed when it was grabbed by two hands. Someone outside the door shouted: "I am Bai Dalang's uncle, let me in quickly!"
Gu San ignored it, smashed it out with a stick, and opened the hand holding the door.
The bandits had already arrived here, and they could only vent their anger on Bai Dalang's uncle as they watched the courtyard door close, and stabbed him to death with a single dart.
The inner court.
Old Bai was carried out by the butler on his back and yelled at the top of his lungs: "Don't panic, don't run, come here!"
The servants and family members were so frightened that they did not dare to escape from the mansion, nor did they dare to stay in the courtyard. They were running around screaming like headless flies.
As for Mrs. Bai, she held a string of rosary beads in her hand, knelt in front of the Buddhist niche and chanted sutras in a low voice, asking the Bodhisattva to bless the Bai family.
Sanlang Jun Bai Chongyan took his wife and children out of the house in panic. He carried a stool as a weapon and trembled at his father's side. He was extremely frightened, but he could still suppress his fear. It was just that his brain was not working well and he had temporarily lost his thinking.
ability.
Li Hanzhang was neatly dressed, carrying a scribe's sword in his hand, and was accompanied by a boy holding a stick.
Grabbing Bai Chongyan's lapel, Li Hanzhang scolded: "What are you doing standing there? Hurry up and gather all the servants, male and female, to defend the house. Women move things to block the door, and men use sticks to guard the walls. Hurry, hurry up!"
"Oh...good, good!"
Li Hanzhang's calmness gave Bai Chongyan a backbone, and he took the servant boy to gather those guys who were running around.
Member Lao Bai also shouted at the right time: "Don't mess around. If you wait for a few more minutes, the strong men from Chashan will come down to help kill the thieves!"
Li Hanzhang saw that the place was in a mess and that Old Bai had difficulty moving around, so he simply picked up his sword and went to look for Bai Chongwen.
"Bai Dalang, the house is too big and there are too few people capable of fighting," Li Hanzhang suggested, "abandon the outer courtyard and gather all the people in the inner courtyard."
There were already bandits building ladders to attack the wall. Bai Chongwen immediately agreed without thinking: "Okay!"
After Bai Chongwen issued the order, Li Hanzhang asked again: "Where has the shortest courtyard wall?"
Bai Chongwen said: "The north wall of the inner courtyard."
Li Hanzhang turned around and left. When he returned to the inner courtyard, Bai Chongyan had gathered more than ten people, including men and women, all looking frightened and uneasy.
Li Hanzhang said: "Pick up anything that can hit people and follow me!"
Outside the north wall of the inner courtyard.
A group of bandits led by Yang Jun himself were sneaking around. He actually knew the art of feint attack, and the rest were bluffing, planning to deliver a fatal blow on the north wall.
Byford, who was in charge of being the guide, turned his head and looked into the distance from time to time.
He wanted to snatch Shen Yourong back to the mountain stronghold, but the bandits wanted to attack the Bai family mansion with all their strength. It was too late to rob someone now. The pretty widow he had longed for had probably fled into the mountains.
Alas, what a pity.
"Build a ladder!"
Yang Jun gave the order, Bai Fude and another gangster immediately rushed towards the courtyard wall with the ladder.
Soon, there were more than ten pairs of short ladders set up on the wall one after another.
(Old friends, please give me a guaranteed monthly ticket for next month. This book will be released on March 10th.)
