That night, Guo Song led a thousand troops and set out secretly. All the thousand soldiers were on horseback, carrying ten days of supplies. They took the Shangluo Road, passed through Lantian County and went south to Shangzhou. They walked along the Danshui River and traveled towards the evening.
, Seven days later, everyone arrived at Wuguan. They carried out supplies at Wuguan, and continued along the Danshui River. Three days later, they arrived at Neixiang County and entered the boundary of Dengzhou.
The lair of Li Hanhui's bandits is located in Fangcheng Mountain at the junction of Dengzhou and Duji Road. To the north is Ye County, which belongs to Duji Road, and to the south is Fangcheng County of Dengzhou.
That afternoon, the team stopped to rest in a dense forest outside Ye County. Guo Song found Liang Wu and said to him: "The Wanmen Restaurant next to the south gate of Ye County is probably Li Hanhui's stronghold in Ye County.
Bring a few skilled brothers and bring the shopkeeper over to me. Remember, they usually have their pigeon signaling spot in the backyard. If a pigeon is found, destroy it first."
"I humbly obey orders!"
Liang Wu bowed and hurried away.
At this time, Xu Jingnan laughed and asked: "How do you know that Wanmen Restaurant is Li Hanhui's stronghold?"
"Of course His Highness the Crown Prince told me, but to be honest, I am a little confused as to why it has always existed and not been destroyed. I guess it is some kind of tacit understanding reached between Ye County and Li Hanhui. Li Hanhui has been wreaking havoc on Dengzhou over the years, but he has
It has never invaded the capital city, so I'm afraid there are some unknown secrets here."
"Your Majesty is right. This Li Hanhui is not an ordinary bandit. He was originally the guard general of Xiaoguan and had a close relationship with the local officials of Duji Province. There is a reason why he has not been wiped out to this day. The prince asked us
If we destroy it first, I'm afraid it will be helpful."
Half an hour later, Liang Wu came galloping with a team of cavalry. They brought a middle-aged man with them. Liang Wu dismounted and said to Guo Song: "There is indeed a carrier pigeon in their backyard, which was destroyed by a humble job. A dozen other bartenders
He was arrested and imprisoned by the county government, and I warned the county magistrate that if he dared to release people without authorization or tip off information, he would be arrested directly for conspiracy to commit a crime."
"Is this the restaurant manager?" Guo Song glanced at the middle-aged man and asked.
"Yes! This person is Li Hanhui's brother, named Li Hanzhang."
Guo Song nodded, "You go and interrogate him! I need all the information he knows."
Liang Wu nodded, and the man dragged the frightened restaurant owner into the woods. Soon there were screams and screams. A quarter of an hour later, Liang Wu came out with a detailed confession.
"He explained everything and even drew a map of the mountain. There should be no lies!"
"Is he still alive?" Guo Song asked.
"I cut off half of his ear because of my humble position. He was so frightened that he became incontinent. He is just a coward."
Guo Song nodded, "He should know the path. Let him take us up the mountain later!"
Guo Song read the confession carefully and then looked at the map of the mountain. He basically matched some of the information given to him by the prince. Li Hanhui's hometown is in Tiemen Mountain. The mountains are high and the forests are dense. It can be reached from Fangcheng County.
To go up the mountain, you can also go up from Ye County, but the main road is in Fangcheng County, and the back mountain is on the Ye County side.
The confession stated that Li Hanhui had more than 2,300 people on the mountain. They were basically wanted criminals who had fled from various parts of the Central Plains, or local rogues. They were well-equipped and built hundreds of wooden houses on an open space halfway up the mountain. They also used
Wooden fence built the wall.
Guo Song looked at the drawings for a while and then said to his subordinates: "Bring the shopkeeper up to me and I'll ask him again."
After a while, the shopkeeper was lifted up by the soldiers. Half of his left ear was cut off, his face was covered with blood, and his eyes were full of fear and title. When he came up, he knelt down and kowtowed, "I am just an ordinary farmer. I have no power."
If I have ever done anything evil, the most I can do is help Li Hanhui buy salt and grain, and beg the general to spare my life!"
"You can die if you don't want to, but you must perform meritorious deeds to pay for your sins."
"As long as I can do it, I will do it with all my strength."
Guo Song nodded, "Are you going to deliver goods to the mountain soon?"
"We have to send a batch of salt and cloth up the mountain in the past few days. The salt is in the store, and usually a few guys carry it up the mountain."
Guo Song asked again: "Looking at the picture you drew, it seems that the cottage is halfway up the mountain. What is behind the cottage?"
"General Qi, there are cliffs behind the stronghold, with a height of a hundred feet, like an iron gate, so it is called Iron Gate Mountain, also called Yuanjianchou, and no one can go up. Li Hanhui found several large caves at the foot of the cliff, and used
Come to store food supplies."
Guo Song spread out the map of the village, which the shopkeeper had just drawn. He pointed at the map and asked, "Which building is Li Hanhui's residence?"
The shopkeeper pointed to the middle building, "This is the largest wooden building. It's called Zhongyi Building. Below is the Shuai Hall. The second and third floors are Li Hanhui's residence."
Guo Song ordered the shopkeeper to be taken down, and then he found Liang Wu and Xu Jingnan, and said to them: "Liang Wu took the shopkeeper up the mountain and pretended to be delivering salt, and deceived him into opening the gate of the village and went in. Xu Canjun led fifty people to guard the horses at the foot of the mountain.
The time is set at two updates, you understand!"
Liang Wu knew Guo Song well, so he smiled and said: "The envoy is going to send out surprise troops again!"
Guo Song nodded, "The combination of good and evil is the way to win. If the salt delivery is discovered, it will cause unnecessary casualties to our army, so I have to take action!"
...........
Iron Gate Mountain is named after a single peak on the top of the mountain that looks like an iron gate. Under the single peak is Li Hanhui's old nest. Li Hanhui worked hard here for seven or eight years and gradually became the largest bandit in the Central Plains. In Wanbei
He was well-known in both the Central Plains and the Central Plains. He claimed to the outside world that he had tens of thousands of powerful troops, but in fact he only had more than 2,000 troops. Some of his food came from farming in the mountains, and the other part of his food came from plundering from various places.
In order to purchase salt, cloth and other items, and also to get information, Li Hanhui opened Wanmen Restaurant in Ye County, and his brother Li Hanzhang was in charge of running it.
At night, Li Hanzhang led a dozen men to the mountains carrying bamboo baskets filled with salt and cloth. The leader of these dozen men was Liang Wu. They hid their weapons in the cloth and followed Li Hanzhang to the mountains.
Climb up.
They took the back mountain road. The army of Duji Road never attacked them, and Dengzhou's army could not easily cross the border to attack the mountain. Therefore, the defense of the back mountain was slightly looser. There was only a post five hundred steps up the mountain.
There are five minions stationed there. If anything unusual is discovered, they will shoot rockets to notify the village.
Dozens of steps behind Liang Wu and the others, more than 900 Tang army soldiers followed them from a distance.
"Did you see that wooden house?"
The shopkeeper Li Hanzhang pointed to a wooden house not far away and said: "That's the outpost I'm talking about. There are five minions inside. Every time I go up the mountain, they ask for some salt and grain. But I usually go up the mountain during the day, and today I go there at night.
, I guess they are all asleep."
"Isn't there anyone standing guard?" Liang Wu asked.
Li Hanzhang shook his head, "They are just a group of bandits, not an army. They don't have any shifts. Besides, no officers and soldiers have ever attacked the mountain from the north, so they don't need to be so vigilant."
Liang Wu had become more cautious. He winked at a soldier who was very skilled in lightness skills. The soldier understood, and he put down the basket on his back and ran into the darkness.
Not long after, the soldier came back and reported, "There are indeed five men in the wooden house, but they are all sleeping and no one is on duty!"
Liang Wu immediately ordered: "Order Yao Jin to lead the brothers to kill them!"
In the night, dozens of soldiers surrounded the wooden house. Colonel Yao Jin kicked open the wooden door and led his brothers to fight in...
The first watch hour has passed, and Guo Song is climbing on the cliff like an ape. He is wearing black clothes, with a bow and arrow and a black sword on his back, and he is moving very fast on the cliff.
There were many thick vines on the cliff, which were very suitable for him to climb. In just a moment, Guo Song reached the back of the mountain village. He jumped down from the ten-foot-high cliff with a slight jump.
This is the innermost part of the village, and the surrounding area is very quiet. There are no patrolling soldiers, and there are only soldiers patrolling at the village gate.
The entire open space is about the size of a football field. It is very narrow and long. There are hundreds of wooden houses in three rows with thatched roofs. Because the place is so small, the wooden houses are very close to each other, even less than two feet apart. People have to turn sideways.
Before he could pass, Guo Song suddenly had a bold idea when he looked at the densely packed houses.
Guo Song found the three-story Zhongyi Building, where Li Hanhui was located. He was not in a hurry to enter, but found a warehouse with a door outside the warehouse and a lock on it. Guo Song cut off the iron lock and ducked into the warehouse.
Not long after, he found what he wanted in the warehouse, several gourds filled with lamp oil and hung on the wall.
He wrapped strips of cloth around a dozen short wooden sticks, soaked them in lamp oil, and made a dozen torches. He then left the warehouse with the torches and lamp oil...