Tiger Owl

Chapter 20: A soldier never tires of deceit
At dusk, a large group of soldiers suddenly arrived at the tavern at the entrance of Shanbei Village at the foot of Mount Lu, making a ruckus to buy wine. Naturally, some of the more carefree soldiers inadvertently revealed secrets when questioned by the tavern owner.

Their thousand-strong army is going up the mountain to suppress the bandits early tomorrow morning.

What was said in jest was taken seriously by the listener. Just after the dozens of soldiers left with their wine loads, a waiter from the tavern quickly left through the back door and hurriedly ran up the mountain.

Scouts immediately spotted the man, followed closely by Ding Feng and Wang Ping's troops.

This was the secret Gan Ning had given them: if there was a tavern in the village at the foot of the mountain, it must be a spy for the bandit Zhang Li, and they could be used to find the location of his lair.

The reason is simple: how could a respectable tavern dare to open a shop at the foot of bandits? It would have been robbed into bankruptcy long ago.

In the darkness, the men hurried ahead with torches, followed quietly by a few scouts a hundred paces behind, while five hundred paces behind, a thousand soldiers marched in the dark along the narrow mountain path.

After walking all night, just as dawn was breaking, the group suddenly saw a valley halfway up the mountain. The valley was flat and spacious, with hundreds of wooden houses scattered throughout, resembling a small village. Soldiers stood guard at the entrance of the valley, holding long spears.

The man greeted the soldier on guard and then entered the valley.

Everyone crouched down to avoid being spotted by the sentries.

This valley later became Guling. Like a cunning rabbit with three burrows, this was Zhang Li's most convenient lair from the foot of the mountain. If government troops came to besiege him, he would immediately lead hundreds of his men to hide in his lair deep in Lushan, and then they would be impossible to find.

So even though everyone had been walking all night and was exhausted, they all knew that if they didn't strike immediately, the bandits would escape.

Ding Feng took the crossbow from his back, drew the string, loaded an arrow, and aimed it at the sentry.

"Click!" The crossbow rang out, and the bolt shot out like lightning, "Thud!" hitting the sentry right in the throat.

The sentry couldn't shout and collapsed, clutching his throat.

"Excellent crossbow technique!"

Wang Ping gave a thumbs-up in praise and immediately charged forward with his steel spear in hand. His spear was the same one Gan Ning had used in Haihun County. Gan Ning still complained that the spearhead was too short and its armor-piercing power was insufficient, but Wang Ping liked it very much, so Gan Ning rewarded Wang Ping with the spear.

Behind them was Ding Feng, who wielded a large iron spear, much like Wang Ping's steel spear. The two were followed by a thousand soldiers, charging towards the hundreds of mountain bandits who were still asleep.

....
In Poyang County, Zuo Rong had already packed his bags, loaded all his grain and valuables onto ships, and was preparing to set off to conquer Chaisang County and move his stronghold there.

Just then, a soldier reported that they had captured a Jiangdong scout.

Ze Rong immediately ordered his men to torture the spy severely. The spy was beaten to the point of near death and had no choice but to confess in order to save his life. Han Dang led a thousand men to ambush at Changshenggang, while Sun Ben personally led a large army to attack by water.

Zuo Rong immediately sent several scouts to investigate the military situation. Before long, the scouts returned and reported, "Reporting to the lord, Sun Ben has led his navy to attack. There is indeed ambush of a thousand soldiers led by Han Dang at Changshenggang, ten miles south of our city."

Zuo Rong stroked his beard and sneered, "Sun Ben's idea is quite good. After I lead my army into battle, Han Dang will take the opportunity to capture my empty city. There's no such thing as a free lunch."

He immediately said to his general Chen Mu, "You lead two thousand rear guards onto the ship and wait for my news. I will lead the vanguard to take Han Dang's head!"

Ze Rong's army was divided into two parts. One part consisted of soldiers recruited locally, also known as the Poyang Army, which was organized into the rear army. His three thousand vanguard soldiers were his followers who had followed him for many years. This army was skilled in battle and was also known as the Buddha Army. It was Ze Rong's elite force.

Zuo Rong personally led three thousand elite troops to attack from ten miles away.

Changshenggang is a low hill about ten miles long and only a dozen feet high. The hill is covered with lush trees, making it a good place for an ambush.

Just as Ze Rong led his troops to the front of the post, before he could react, arrows rained down from both sides. Ze Rong's men were hit by arrows and screamed in pain. Ze Rong was also unable to dodge and was shot in the shoulder by an arrow.

Zuo Rong cried out in pain and fell from his horse. A dozen or so guards quickly helped him up. At that moment, shouts of battle arose from both sides, and countless ambushers charged in. There were no more than a thousand men; there were clearly six thousand. The general leading them was none other than Sun Ben.

Sun Ben used a ruse, causing a spy to be captured by Zuo Rong. After being severely tortured, the spy was forced to reveal information that Zuo Rong readily believed.

Sun Ben had laid a trap, waiting for Zuo Rong to come and meet his death.

Zuo Rong's greatest characteristic was his speed. When Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou, he saw that the situation was not good and fled to Guangling County. When Yuan Shu rose to power, he crossed the river to Moling and formed an alliance with Xue Li and Liu Yao. When Sun Ce defeated Liu Yao, Zuo Rong immediately fled again and ran all the way to Yuzhang County.

At this moment, the three thousand Buddha soldiers were surrounded, but Ze Rong disguised himself as a soldier and decisively abandoned the army. He took a dozen personal guards and, taking advantage of the fact that the Jiangdong army's encirclement had not yet closed, desperately broke out of the encirclement and headed straight for the riverbank more than ten miles away.

Zuo Rong escaped onto the large ship, collapsing on the deck from exhaustion. His thin, horse-like face turned deathly pale from blood loss, and his cunning, triangular eyes became somewhat muddled.

Chen Mu asked anxiously, "My lord, what happened?"

"Don't mention it!"

Zuo Rong gritted his teeth and said angrily, "I fell for Sun Ben's trick. I thought he would take the waterway, but I didn't expect him to take the land route. His army ambushed us at Changshenggang. If I hadn't run fast, I would have lost my life."

Chen Mu remained silent, which meant that their three thousand vanguard troops had been completely wiped out.

Zuo Rong waved his hand, "Hurry up and set sail for Chaisang. I will make a comeback in Chaisang. Sooner or later, I will seize Yuzhang County and tear Sun Ben to pieces!"

A fleet of two hundred large ships, each carrying a thousand bushels of grain, set sail, laden with provisions, goods, and two thousand soldiers, toward Chaisang.

...........
Ding Feng and Wang Ping disposed of more than 300 corpses, and then set fire to the hundred wooden houses in their lair, burning them to the ground.

Then the two men, carrying Zhang Li's head and the looted valuables, led a thousand soldiers and dozens of captured women down the mountain.

They caught Zhang Li off guard. More than 300 bandits were killed by the soldiers while they were still asleep. Zhang Li fled in panic, but ran into Wang Ping, who pierced his neck with a spear and killed him on the spot.

Zhang Li had been entrenched in Mount Lu for more than a decade, causing harm to all sides and committing numerous atrocities. Gan Ning refused to accept any surrendered soldiers and ordered two men to kill all the bandits and eradicate evil completely.

After descending the mountain, Wang Ping distributed the grain and cloth to the abducted women, allowing them to return home on their own.

The dozens of women thanked them profusely and then left.

Ding Feng then led a dozen or so men to raid the tavern in Shanbei Village, killing the owner and two waiters, all of whom were Zhang Li's men, so naturally they were not spared.

At this moment, a messenger soldier ran up and said, "General Wang, General Ding, the lord orders you two to return to Chaisang immediately!"

Wang Ping was startled. "What happened?"

"It seems the situation has changed!"

According to the original plan, Ding Feng and Wang Ping intended to station themselves at the foot of Mount Lu. Since the plan had changed, the two dared not delay and immediately led their troops back to Chaisang.

At the same time, Shen Mi and Lou Fa also led their troops back.

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(End of this chapter)