A daily intelligence report; in chaotic times and famine years, grain is plentiful.

The air in Qingfeng Village was thick with the stench of blood.

Xiao Yunling, dressed in armor, entered the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness.

At this moment, the entire bandit camp was in a state of chaos, and not a single bandit could be seen alive.

After counting, the government troops killed a total of 270 bandits in this battle. In addition to the more than 200 killed in the ambush at the foot of the mountain, the main force of Qingfeng Village was basically wiped out.

Moreover, the casualties among the Zhenbei Army were no more than a hundred.

The banditry in the northern part of the city seems to have been largely eliminated.

Lingtou Village was destroyed, and Qingfeng Village has now been wiped out.

But at this moment, Xiao Yunling felt no relief whatsoever.

The root cause of these banditry problems has never been the elimination of the main force of the bandits, but rather the bandit leaders.

Chen Mo of Lingtou Village is now missing, and the leaders of Qingfeng Village have also fled with their remaining troops, leaving no trace.

These victories displeased Xiao Yunling.

Especially Chen Mo, who was able to lead an entire village to Black Wind Ridge intact, must still have a considerable number of troops at his disposal. As long as he is alive, the banditry in Lingtou Village will surely resurface.

If Chen Mo is not eliminated, he will always be a hidden danger.

"Pass down the order to clean up the battlefield, search for the whereabouts of the remnants of Qingfeng Village, collect all military equipment and supplies, and return to Beicheng to rest and reorganize."

Xiao Yunling turned and left, mounting his horse.

"yes!"

The soldiers behind him responded in unison, and then began to arrange the follow-up matters.

In less than half a month, Xiao Yunling led his troops to conquer Lingtou Village and Qingfeng Village one after another. No government army in the Beicheng area could achieve such a speed.

By this time, the area in front of the north city gate was already teeming with people.

Upon hearing of General Xiao's triumphant return, Huang Chengyue, along with a group of local gentry, waited here early in the morning.

With respectful smiles on their faces, and seeing the approaching sound of horses' hooves, they immediately took out many more gifts, preparing to flatter Xiao Yunling once again.

Many of the people in the team responsible for suppressing Qingfeng Mountain were also sent by the government, so Huang Chengyue and others received the news of the successful suppression of the bandits early on.

As Xiao Yunling slowly approached on horseback, the gentry's eyes were filled with awe.

When General Zhao came to the north of the city to suppress bandits, he spent more than a year trying, but still didn't achieve much. Instead, he fostered the bandits and made them even more rampant.

Huang Chengyue and other local gentry even had a lot of grain and supplies stolen by bandits.

Now that Xiao Yunling's Zhenbei Army has arrived, they have eliminated these two major threats in just ten days. This ability is something that these aristocratic families cannot help but admire.

Although this female general was aloof and showed no respect to the gentry, she was truly capable of protecting the safety of the northern city.

No matter how arrogant Xiao Yunling was, they could only endure it.

"Congratulations to General Xiao on your great victory! On behalf of the people of Beicheng, I, Huang, respectfully welcome your triumphant return."

Upon seeing Xiao Yunling arrive, Huang Chengyue was the first to step forward and flatter her.

The local gentry behind him also followed suit, bowing and uttering various flattering words, making the area under the city gate quite lively.

Xiao Yunling reined in the horses, looking down at Huang Chengyue and the others with a cold and arrogant expression.

"Any leads on Chen Mo over at Black Wind Ridge? Have you found their hideout?"

She asked again in a cold voice.

Xiao Yunling had only the matter of suppressing bandits on her mind; she had no interest in engaging in hypocritical pleasantries with these local gentry.

Huang Chengyue's smile remained unchanged as he quickly stepped forward and said, "General, rest assured, I received news yesterday that the Black Wind Ridge bandits are hiding in Xiling Peak. I have already sent men to surround them and am waiting for you to send troops to wipe them out in one fell swoop."

Upon receiving the intelligence yesterday, he considered it a treasure and immediately dispatched most of the government's troops to besiege Xiling Peak.

Are you sure?

Xiao Yunling frowned slightly, her gaze falling coldly on Huang Chengyue.

"Absolutely true! Xiling Peak is a treacherous place, clearly a hiding place for bandits. Moreover, my men have searched the entire Black Wind Ridge, but Xiling Peak was left unsearched. There's no mistake about it."

Huang Chengyue nodded quickly.

In his view, the clue was discovered by his men, so he deserved some credit.

Xiao Yunling remained silent for a moment, pondering slightly.

The Zhenbei Army had been fighting for days, and the soldiers were exhausted. The lost troops also needed to be replenished, so they had to rest.

Since Xiling Peak has been besieged, Chen Mo will not be able to escape in the short term.

"Give the order to dispatch one hundred troops to assist in the defense of Xiling Peak. Do not attack without authorization. The rest of the main force should rest for three days."

Xiao Yunling turned her head and gave the order.

"clear."

The lieutenant nodded and immediately went to take stock of the troops.

Huang Chengyue was quite satisfied with Xiao Yunling's swift actions.

"General, your subordinates have prepared a victory celebration banquet at Fu Lai Restaurant. Please come in..."

Huang Chengyue replied respectfully.

"No need."

Xiao Yunling said coldly again.

"The entire army enters the city."

The sound of horses' hooves rang out again, and the soldiers of the Zhenbei Army followed Xiao Yunling into the northern city, leaving Huang Chengyue and a group of local gentry standing there dumbfounded.

Looking at this proud female general, Huang Chengyue couldn't help but smile.

"This female general doesn't seem to understand social etiquette very well..."

As the army walked away, some people couldn't help but mutter a few complaints under their breath.

"Who cares? Since she's determined to suppress the bandits and has succeeded time and time again, we'll just do our best to help her."

Huang Chengyue didn't care.

He was secretly relieved. Since this female general did not seek wealth and stood on the side of the imperial court, it was undoubtedly a good thing for the local gentry of Beicheng.

"I've heard that the Zhenbei Army still failed to kill the bandit leader this time. Can this really be considered a success?"

"That's what others say."

"Don't worry, the main force of that bandit gang has been wiped out. Those few remnants can't cause any trouble. Besides, this woman is so capable, are you still worried about not being able to deal with those remaining bandits?"

Huang Chengyue smiled faintly.

……

Black Wind Ridge, Tiankeng Campsite.

After several days of searching down the mountain and spreading false information, the number of government troops in the vicinity has decreased significantly.

Chen Mo also took this opportunity to arrange a lot of things for Sun Dazhu and the others.

Chen Mo now has a large amount of supplies waiting to be collected, and the potato field that has been recovered is also waiting to be managed.

However, before that, Chen Mo needed to do one more thing to completely lure the soldiers away and buy time for the villagers.

Early this morning, Chen Mo packed his bags, gathered more than thirty people, and prepared to go down the mountain again.

"Bring plenty of dry food and water, and also extra arrows. We might be staying for several days after we come down the mountain."

Chen Mo came to the front of the crowd.

Everyone nodded and began packing their things, ready to descend the mountain at any moment.

Where are we going this time?

Liang Ming inquired.

Chen Mo raised his head and replied, "Xiling Peak."

"Xiling Peak? Isn't that the fake news you spread before? We're going there again?"

Liang Ming was utterly puzzled.