xymnovel Chapter 9 Breaking Through the Bandit Stronghold
Chapter 9 Breaking Through the Bandit Stronghold
After some trouble, Rock and his men dodged more than a dozen random traps along the way, and then destroyed some crossbows made of animal sinews.
Upon seeing these things, Rock couldn't help but feel fortunate.
Thank goodness I asked that question earlier, otherwise he would have sent his soldiers all the way here, and at least ten of them would have been killed or wounded!
Thinking about this made Rock feel even worse.
Xu Mazi didn't notice Luo Ke's expression. He listened to the footsteps following him and felt his heart pounding.
Because these cavalrymen all wore high riding boots, the sound of their feet hitting the ground was quite distinctive.
Because of this, Xu Mazi knew very well that these cavalrymen were all armed with foreign guns. If he made the slightest move, these guys would kill him without mercy, just like they killed other bandits!
Upon reaching a certain place, he quickly pointed out the way to the cavalryman beside him, saying:
"Gentlemen, look at that tree over there. It's been hollowed out; it's actually a hidden sentry post!"
Upon hearing this, the two mounted hunters nodded, drew their sabers simultaneously, and cautiously approached.
Before long, the two cavalrymen returned. A smear of blood on their sabers showed that they had taken care of the sentries there.
Besides the sentries here, another sentry was also easily taken out by them under Xu Mazi's guidance. After walking for a short while, they arrived at the wall of the village on the hilltop.
"You three, try to trick them into opening the door. If not, just force your way in!"
"A cavalryman said in a cold voice. Hearing this, the three bandits secretly groaned, but could only lower their heads and walk away."
They didn't know if they could trick their way into opening the door, but they felt the chances were very slim.
After all, their leader and third leader were dead, and so many other people were also dead, and none of them came back.
If the second-in-command wasn't stupid, he should have realized something was wrong when he saw that only the three of them had returned.
Moreover, they had previously eliminated two hidden sentries, and the people inside those sentries did not go back to report, which made their direct approach to knocking on the door seem highly suspicious.
Sure enough, when the three of them shouted, the bandits who had climbed up the wall after hearing the noise glanced over and immediately realized that something was wrong.
"Xu Mazi, what's going on with you three? Why are only a few of you back? Where are the others?"
"Second Master, listen to us..."
Rock, hiding in the shadows, narrowed his eyes, slightly surprised.
Because he discovered that the second-in-command in charge of the accounts was not the kind of pale-faced scholar he had imagined.
On the contrary, this second-in-command was a short, dark-skinned, fat man. If it weren't for Xu Mazi shouting that, he might have even thought that guy was a cook. After all, these days, it's really not easy for someone who isn't a cook to get that fat.
Despite Xu Mazi's desperate attempts to explain, it was clear that he wasn't very good at making up lies.
After exchanging a few words, the second-in-command realized something was wrong.
"You damn bastard, you Xu Mazi, how dare you collude with outsiders to betray me, betray the boss!"
Upon hearing this, realizing that his lie had been completely exposed, Xu Mazi simply gave up.
"Second-in-command, stop being so stubborn. The First and Third Leaders are both dead!"
"Open the door quickly! Surrender now and you might escape with your life. They've only come up the mountain for the loot. If the fighting continues, none of us will survive!"
For money? Ha!
The second-in-command didn't believe such a thing!
If those people were really after money, why would they kill everyone else?
Besides, what family would come to rob bandits just for money? Even double-crossing doesn't have to be this ruthless!
Compared to attacking the mountain stronghold just to rob the bandits of their meager wealth, if they wanted to make money, they could become bandits themselves, find a place to rob or simply raid villages. Wouldn't that be much more profitable than robbing them?
Despite his disdain, the second-in-command pretended to be interested and continued arguing with Xu Mazi.
Xu Mazi didn't notice that the second-in-command was gesturing to the people behind him. He thought he was about to persuade the second-in-command to resolve the issue peacefully!
But the next moment, someone suddenly threw out a small wooden jar, which even had a flaming rope that was sizzling on it!
"Oh my god!"
Xu Mazi screamed in alarm. Before the three of them could even run away, the wooden jar exploded with a loud bang.
The violent explosion startled Rock, who was hiding in the shadows. He really didn't expect that these bandits would have homemade bombs!
It's no wonder that most people are unwilling to attack bandit strongholds. Besides the low returns, it's also because these bandit strongholds are indeed difficult to raid.
If Rock were caught off guard and ordered his soldiers to launch a forced attack, the enemy could suddenly throw out a few homemade bombs, instantly causing heavy losses to his troops.
Even if the cavalrymen around him were all elite French soldiers, veterans who had fought alongside Napoleon, they would be instantly killed by such a simple bomb, and several of them would die!
When the smoke cleared, Rock found that Xu Mazi and the other two had fallen to the ground, but they did not seem to be dead yet, because their bodies were still twitching and some of them were screaming.
However, seeing their charred bodies, blood everywhere, and some even having their hands blown off, Rock knew that they were unlikely to survive.
"Champions, launch a frontal assault! Use muskets to suppress them continuously and draw their attention!"
"Guerrillas, go around from the back and see if you can sneak over the wall and take control of all the bandits in the village!"
After saying this, Rock drew his saber, pointed it forward, and ordered the cavalry to attack.
The brightly colored uniforms of the cavalry, along with the powerful foreign rifles in their hands, were enough to attract the enemy's attention at this time.
If what Xu Mazi and the other two said earlier was indeed true, and there were only five bandits left in total, then at this moment, there should only be three of them left in the village.
With only three men, it was impossible for them to protect the entire village wall. After the cavalry drew fire from the front, the guerrillas should have a high probability of being able to climb over.
When a group of cavalrymen emerged from their hiding places and began firing at the top of the wall, the three bandits who had poked their heads out were also startled.
"My goodness, how did the foreigners get here?!"
Seeing these soldiers in neat uniforms, riding boots, and tall hats, some of the bandits quickly shrank back and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
They realized they had underestimated the enemy!
They initially thought the attackers were either bandits from other mountains or some kind of intruder, perhaps from somewhere else. But they never expected that foreigners would launch an attack against them!
Damn it, if they had known it was foreigners attacking, they might have surrendered earlier!
Of course, when they thought this way, they clearly forgot their previous distrust of Xu Mazi and his two companions.
Although the cavalry didn't fire at full power, but only fired a couple of shots every now and then, the gunfire was still continuous, like popping beans, when so many cavalrymen gathered together to fire.
It must be said that these French soldiers were of good quality.
Even though the cavalrymen dismounted and tied their horses at the foot of the mountain, their foot combat skills looked no worse than when they were mounted, and their movements clearly showed that they were well-trained.
Taking advantage of this time, the guerrillas quickly managed to get some ropes and silently climbed over the other side of the wall.
The walls of the bandit stronghold weren't high, only a little over three meters high in total. If a large number of bandits were stationed there on weekdays, the stronghold could be considered quite sturdy.
With only three people, the village's defenses were riddled with holes.
When ten guerrillas armed with foreign guns rushed in, the three bandits were completely taken aback.
Looking at these guerrillas dressed in ordinary civilian clothes and moving rather haphazardly, and then at the clearly well-trained cavalry outside, the bandits were utterly puzzled:
What happened?
You're both foreign teams, so why is there such a big wealth gap between you?
But before they could think any further, faced with ten muskets pointed directly at them, the three bandits had no choice but to obediently lower their weapons and dare not make any move.
When the gates of the stronghold opened, Rock waved his hand, and the cavalrymen filed in and rushed inside. He himself, escorted by two cavalrymen and Lu Xiong, strode in after them.
"Brothers, search the place! Find all the gold and silver treasures inside. Let's see what valuables these bandits have!"
Rock waved his hand and said with great enthusiasm, and Lu Xiong, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but glance at him slightly.
To be honest, although Rock kept emphasizing that he was not a bandit, and his team did indeed look quite different from bandits.
But at this moment, Lu Xiong felt that Rock's bandit-like aura was about to overflow. To be honest, he felt that Rock was more like a bandit than those few humiliated people squatting on the ground.
Even the bandits nearly fainted on the spot after hearing this.
They hunt geese all day long, but today they got pecked in the eye by a goose. They never expected to experience being robbed today!
Because of the information provided by Xu Mazi, Luo Ke and his men were extremely efficient in looting the wealth. In no time, they had found all the silver that the bandits had hidden in various places.
Rock frowned slightly as he glanced at the pile of copper coins and scattered silver pieces on the table, which looked like a lot but were actually not as many as he had imagined.
He always felt that these bandits were poorer than he had imagined!