Chapter 335: Take Action! (Thanks to the book friend Ye Yimei Dare Shui for the reward!)

Upon learning the news that Fan Ke's troops had been annihilated, Ji Qiwei, who had just relaxed, immediately tensed up again. At dawn the next day, Ji Qiwei could not wait to reorganize his troops and wanted to completely repel these bandits.

After yesterday's bloody battle, these bandits who were brought together by Zhen Sanshan with benefits had already lost their will to fight. The bandit leaders saw that Ji Qiwei had already captured half of the positions in Sumugou, and it was only a matter of time before they completely occupied Sumugou, so they all had their own ideas in mind...

Everyone from top to bottom had their own ideas and there was no dispute, so the Liaoyang Army, with the lives of all three armies, repelled all the remaining more than 10,000 bandits in Sumu Valley in just one hour.

Completely occupying Sumugou was equivalent to escaping from death, and the danger of annihilation was basically much smaller, so Ji Qiwei could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

However, before he had time to be happy, the casualty statistics were already handed to him.

With the fate of more than 2,000 people in the grain transport team uncertain, Ji Qiwei now only has more than 15,000 people left, which is only half of the 30,000 troops before the expedition to Posa Prefecture. Not only that, among these 15,000 people, nearly 40% are injured, and there are as many as 1,000 seriously injured.

After seeing the report, Ji Qiwei, who was complacent about his escape just a second ago, couldn't help but burst into tears. In shame and anger, he even wanted to draw his sword and commit suicide to apologize to Song Wenhui, but fortunately he was stopped by his men and did not die.

Just two hours after Ji Qiwei captured Sumugou, Lu Zhan'ao, who had annihilated Fan Ke's troops, arrived at Sumugou with more than 20,000 White Tiger Mountain bandits. Their movements were not slow, but unfortunately, after the previous battle, Ji Qiwei had become a frightened bird and dared not delay any longer, so he moved one step faster than them...

Perhaps he understood that it would be difficult for him to capture Sumugou since Ji Qiwei had occupied it, or perhaps he was already satisfied with the current results. In any case, after arriving at the foot of Sumugou and looking at the military flag flying over it, Lu Zhan'ao did not attack Sumugou in an attempt to annihilate Ji Qiwei's troops. Instead, he set up camp and prepared to fight a protracted war with Ji Qiwei.

Seeing that Lu Zhan'ao had given up fighting, Ji Qiwei led his troops to rest in Sumu Valley for a day, and quietly withdrew from Sumu Valley at night. Under the cover of the dark moonlight, Ji Qiwei, who had no intention of fighting, led his subordinates to retreat hastily towards the direction of Posuo City.

Early the next morning, the bandits discovered that the camp on Sumugou had become an empty camp. They drove away the government troops led by Ji Qiwei, and everyone immediately started to celebrate. The camp became a sea of ​​joy, and everyone was immersed in the joy of victory.

At the same time, Sun Dahai, Li Mang, Feng Erlangzi and others who were beaten back by Ji Qiwei also came to join Lu Zhan’ao. They had only received half of the benefits promised to them by Zhen Sanshan before. Now that Ji Qiwei has been beaten back, it is time for them to ask Zhen Sanshan for the rest of the benefits...
At night, the bandits who occupied Sumugou slaughtered chickens and sheep and happily started a celebratory dinner.

As the chief commander of Zhen Sanshan, and with 20,000 troops under his command, Lu Zhan'ao naturally became the protagonist of the dinner. At the meeting, he was the first to take up a bowl of wine and stood up, toasting to the other bandit leaders around him:

"We were able to repel the government troops this time, thanks to all the leaders for their great help. I, Lu Zhan'ao, would like to thank all the heroes on behalf of our Third Master!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Zhan'ao tilted his head back in a very heroic manner and drank a large bowl of white wine into his stomach. Lu Zhan'ao's action immediately attracted cheers from everyone present.

With Lu Zhan'ao's words as the basis, the dinner immediately entered the stage of toasting each other. Everyone ate meat and drank wine together, looking very happy, as if they were wearing the same pants...

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Li Mang, Sun Dahai, Feng Erlengzi and others exchanged glances. Li Mang then stood up and asked Lu Zhan'ao:
"Brother Zhan'ao, now that Ji Qiwei has escaped and the battle is over, when do you think the things that the Third Master promised us will arrive?"

Hearing this question, Lu Zhan'ao, who was originally smiling, suddenly froze, but he reacted quickly and said with a smile:

"Brother Li, you know the Third Master's credibility. He keeps his word. Since he has promised you, he will definitely not go back on his word. Please be patient, Brother Li!"

Seeing that Lu Zhan'ao was playing Tai Chi here and refused to give a specific deadline, Feng Erlengzi could no longer sit still and stood up and said:

"Brother, we are not in a hurry, but the brothers below are in a hurry!"

"Who among our three families didn't suffer thousands of casualties in this battle?"

"The dead brothers need to be given resettlement allowances, right? The injured brothers need money to buy medicine, right? The brothers who won the battle need rewards, right?"

"We spent all our family assets on this battle for Master San!"

"Third Master, you can't just ignore us!"

Looking at Li Mang and Feng Erlengzi who were responding to each other, Lu Zhan'ao's face immediately darkened. At this point, how could he not understand that these guys had teamed up to force the emperor to abdicate...

Lu Zhan'ao remained silent, but Han Song, who was sitting next to him and full of youthful vigor, could not help but retort:

"You two, it's true that you helped us in White Tiger Mountain to fight this battle, but you didn't think much about it. The reason why you can still dominate your territory is because our Third Master is leading the way."

"Without our Third Master, wouldn't Song Wenhui have wiped you out one by one? People should have some conscience!"

Han Song's words were like a flame, immediately igniting the tense atmosphere in the tent. The irritable Li Mang slammed the table and cursed:

"You little brat, you don't have the right to speak here."

"When I was rebelling and chopping off the heads of government troops, you were still nursing in your mother's arms!"

As soon as Li Mang finished speaking, Feng Erlangzi on the other side took over the conversation and said in a sarcastic tone:
"That's right, the old saying is true! Without Zhang the butcher, would we still eat hairy pigs?"

After being scolded by the two, Han Song's face turned red with anger. Just when he was about to start scolding, Lu Zhan'ao shouted, "That's enough. Everyone, give me some face and say less!"

After hearing what Lu Zhan'ao said, although he wanted to kill the other party with a knife, Han Song could only keep silent. After calming the situation down, Lu Zhan'ao swept his gaze over Li Mang and Feng Erlengzi one by one, and finally fell on Sun Dahai, who was eating silently at the table without saying a word.

Although Sun Dahai said nothing, Lu Zhan'ao knew it clearly. Li Mang and Feng Erlangzi definitely wanted benefits, but with the troops in their hands, they certainly wouldn't dare to challenge him like this now.

Now that these two people have done this, it means that they have someone backing them up!
As for who is backing them·············

Naturally, there is no doubt that it is the Sun Dahai in front of him!

As the second largest bandit leader in Liaoyang after Zhen Sanshan, Sun Dahai has always been ambitious and wanted to replace Zhen Sanshan. If San Ye had not spent a lot of money to lure him here this time, he would definitely be happy to sit on the mountain and watch the fight between tigers. Now that the war is over, he must be unable to sit still and want to get rid of his reputation.

Taking a deep breath, Lu Zhan'ao asked in a deep voice:

"Now that we have spoken, why don't you speak frankly? What do you want?"

Seeing that Lu Zhan'ao was no longer hiding, Sun Dahai, who had been silent, also stood up and said lightly:
"Brother Zhan'ao, you are wrong. What do we want? It's obvious that when does the Third Master plan to fulfill his promise?"

"Now we can't get anything after fighting? How can we, as the leaders, explain this to our brothers?"

As soon as Sun Dahai finished speaking, Lu Zhan'ao's sharp eyes were fixed on him. Sun Dahai was not afraid at all. He met Lu Zhan'ao's eyes, and their eyes fiercely confronted each other in the air.

Just as the atmosphere between the two sides was tense, a small minion ran into the tent in a panic and shouted anxiously:

"My dear bosses, this is bad. A lot of government troops are coming to attack us, and they also have cavalry!"

Hearing the words of this minion, both sides were shocked. Just when Lu Zhan'ao frowned and was about to ask something, he suddenly felt the ground shaking slightly. Feeling this and thinking about what the minion said, his face suddenly changed drastically...

At the same time, outside the bandits' camp, deafening shouts of killing were heard. Tens of thousands of Fengzhou soldiers, led by military officers at all levels, had launched a charge.

Just when these bandits who were celebrating their victory had not yet reacted, Guo Zhiping's cavalry battalion took the lead, rushed into the bandits' camp, and began to kill indiscriminately.

More than 7,000 infantrymen from the three battalions of Ye Tie, Xun Ke, and Yang Huai followed closely behind and charged into the enemy's camp from the other two directions. The bandits had never expected that they would be attacked now, and were unable to stop the resistance for a while.

All they could do was tremble in fear under the iron hooves and swords of the Fengzhou Army, expressing their fear by crying and running away. These bandits, who were as ferocious and cruel as wolves and tigers when facing the common people, were now like a group of sheep, waiting for the Fengzhou Army to reap their lives.

Ye Mingsheng, who was standing in the back and observing the battle situation with a telescope, nodded with satisfaction. Although he had been preparing for this battle for a long time, every detail had been made foolproof.

But before launching the attack, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but feel a little worried. After all, it's better to be safe than sorry. If this battle is not fought well, his plan to seize the Posuo Mansion will be completely in vain...
Judging from the current results, the war is progressing more smoothly than he had imagined. This group of bandits who had just repelled Ji Qiwei were already having a great time. They only realized it when the Fengzhou Army arrived right under their noses. Ye Mingsheng originally thought that they would be more or less vigilant, but now it seems that he really overestimated them.

Everyone should pay the price for their mistakes, and now is the time for these bandits to use their lives to buy a lesson from Ye Mingsheng!

"This is the Fengzhou Army! It's Ye Mingsheng's troops!"

When the camp was in chaos, Lu Zhan'ao and Sun Dahai finally realized who was attacking them. Seeing his men being slaughtered, Lu Zhan'ao was furious, but he still controlled his emotions and discussed with Sun Dahai:

"Brother Sun, Third Master will never break his promise to you. Let's stop these Fengzhou troops now, otherwise we will be doomed today!"

Sun Dahai, who also realized the urgency of the situation, nodded repeatedly:
"Okay! We have to kill these Fengzhou soldiers now!"

Under Ye Mingsheng's thundering attack, Sun Dahai and Lu Zhan'ao, who had been fighting for their interests not long ago, now have to cooperate sincerely, unite and help each other to fight the enemy together!
As the two men reached an agreement, the bandits finally recovered from the panic of the sudden attack and began to organize sporadic resistance under the organization of their respective leaders.

But it was already a little late. The tens of thousands of Fengzhou troops that rushed into the camp had already divided the entire camp into several parts, leaving these bandits no chance to cooperate in combat...
More than 10,000 Fengzhou soldiers rushed around in the camp for a whole incense stick of time, and no one knew how many people they killed. At this time, more bandits had no will to fight at all. They abandoned their weapons and armor, and even did not wear clothes. They tried to run out of the camp in a panic, hoping to get rid of these dark killers who seemed to have suddenly jumped out of the sky.

Lu Zhan'ao, who was still struggling to command the battle and trying to stop the attack of the Fengzhou army, soon received news from his subordinates.

"Second in command, Sun Dahai, Li Mang and the others have already run away with their men. Let's run as well! If we don't run now, we won't be able to escape!"

Upon hearing this news, Lu Zhan'ao's head suddenly buzzed. After a while, he recovered and cursed fiercely:
"Sun Dahai, you are such a cowardly beast, you are such an unreliable dog!"

Although he was unwilling, Lu Zhan'ao had no other choice at this moment, and painfully ordered his men:
"Tell everyone to retreat. Break out in different groups and reunite at Shenmen Ridge!"

Sun Dahai has already fled with his men. Without his men, the camp would certainly not be able to be defended. Insisting on defending it would only increase casualties in order to cover Sun Dahai's retreat. Lu Zhan'ao has no obligation to do so!
Now that failure is inevitable, we should try to minimize the losses...
(End of this chapter)