Chapter 326: Chasing the Bandits
Chapter 326: Chasing the Bandits
A raging fire broke out on Etou Island. A thousand soldiers swept across Etou Island without any need for a butcher knife to kill a chicken. They found more than two hundred people. Except for the fifty remaining bandits, the rest were young women they had captured.
Except for a few wooden warehouses, all other houses were engulfed by fire. The wooden warehouses were filled with property looted by the bandits. No gold or silver was found, basically copper coins, cloth and silk. These three items accounted for more than 90% of the loot, which was probably more than 10,000 strings of money and tens of thousands of pieces of cloth and silk.
In another room, several thousand stones of grain were piled up, and the air was filled with a musty smell. River water seeped up through the cracks in the floor, and most of the grain began to mold, but these bandits did not take it seriously.
Xiao Xia shook his head. This was the shabbiest trophy he had ever seen. He didn't want the food at all, and as for the money, there were only more than 10,000 copper coins, not even enough to fill his teeth.
Xiao Xia turned around and saw more than a hundred women standing in the open space. Each of them had disheveled hair, disheveled clothes, and their eyes were red from crying, but there was still fear in their eyes.
"Give them five pieces of cloth and a bag of rice each, and let them go home on their own."
The soldiers placed cloth and food at their feet. The women finally realized that they were saved. They knelt on the ground and cried.
After the soldiers persuaded them for a while, the women left, each carrying rice and cloth.
At this time, Sun Lei came running over and said urgently: "Manager, the situation is not good!"
Xiao Xia waved her hand and smiled, "Don't worry, tell me slowly, what happened?"
"I kept asking the soldiers about the whereabouts of the bandits, but the soldiers didn't know. Later, their leader was reported by the soldiers. We tortured him and he finally told us where the bandits were. They actually went to rob the General Manager's Mansion of money and property."
"What do you mean?"
"Our General Administration was migrating south, and there were ships carrying money and treasures heading south. They discovered it, and they ran to rob the fleet."
Xiao Xia was immediately furious and asked, "When did they leave?"
"They set out early this morning and headed west."
Xiao Xia immediately divided his troops into two groups. One group of infantrymen took the spoils back to the barracks. After the bandit suppression was over, the spoils would be rewarded to the soldiers. The other group of 3,000 cavalrymen followed Xiao Xia to chase the bandits.
Three thousand cavalrymen bypassed Wangjiapo from the south and soon got on the official road. The cavalrymen sped up and rushed to the west like lightning, stirring up billowing yellow dust.
It was about 150 li from Chuqiu County to Suishui. The cavalry ran for more than 30 li in one breath, rested for half an hour, and then continued to run.
At noon the next day, they were getting closer and closer to Suishui, but there was still no sign of the bandits. This made Xiao Xia worried. Judging from the distance and speed, the hundreds of bandits should still be on the way, while they were only a dozen miles away from Suishui.
Don’t worry about it for now, let’s talk about it after we get to Sui Shui!
The Sui River in the Sui Dynasty was no longer the Sui River in later generations. Historically, the Central Plains section of the Grand Canal dug by Yang Guang was based on the Sui River. The Sui River was widened and deepened, renamed the Tongji Canal, and later called the Grand Canal.
In all dynasties, when digging canals, there must be a base river, that is, the original river channel was dredged and widened. This is also true for our current South-to-North Water Diversion Project. It is not possible to dig a new river channel on flat ground as written in the Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties. That kind of writing was purely for the purpose of writing about the debauchery and tyranny of Emperor Yang of Sui, which is completely contrary to common sense.
Three thousand cavalrymen stopped at the east bank of Suishui River. The water on both sides of the river was very calm, with no chaos caused by bandits passing through.
"Rest here for half an hour!"
Xiao Xia ordered the soldiers to rest where they were, and sent Sun Lei with two teams of soldiers to the surrounding villages to gather information.
Soon, the first group of soldiers who went to gather information came back, and the leading captain bowed and reported: "Your Excellency the Commander, people in the surrounding villages said that they didn't see any trace of the bandits!" Xiao Xia nodded. Sure enough, they hadn't arrived yet, and they had arrived first. However, they had observed both sides along the way and found no trace of the bandits. Could it be that they took other paths?
Soon, Sun Lei also brought the village head. The village head was similar to the village head, a skinny old man in his fifties. He bowed and saluted, "Master General Manager, there is an abandoned official road twenty miles to the south, which leads all the way to Chuqiu County. It is easy to be discovered from the main road, but few people take the abandoned official road."
That's right, the bandits must have taken this abandoned official road. Xiao Xia looked at the sky. The sun had already set and the sky was dyed red by the sunset.
"Order the entire army to march out!"
The three thousand cavalrymen turned around and marched in formation to the south, gradually disappearing.
At three o'clock in the morning, a team of more than 600 people was running in formation under the moonlight. The leading general rode on a war horse and shouted loudly to the soldiers to speed up.
This general was Shan Xiongxin's nephew Shan Mao. Fortunately, they were filial to the government. When the government troops were dispatched to suppress them, Shan Mao got the news in time. His uncle Shan Xiongxin had gone to Dongping County and was not in Shanjiazhuang. Shan Mao decisively led five hundred bandits to flee westward and escaped into Liang County.
Even if he escaped to Liang County, he was not at peace. On the one hand, he raped and looted everywhere, and on the other hand, he was looking for opportunities. He heard news from a merchant that the General Administration's Office was moving south, and a large amount of money would be transported to Songcheng via Sui River. If they could rob a fleet full of property or weapons, they would make a fortune.
After two days of preparation, more than 600 bandits followed Shan Mao and rushed to Suishui, 150 miles away. They did not take the official road for fear of being discovered, but chose the almost abandoned old official road. More than 600 people ran for a day and a night, and even though they were all strong, they were exhausted.
It was still fifty miles to Suishui. Shan Mao waved his hand and said, "Everyone, take a break!"
The gangsters immediately lay down in a mess, with their backs facing the sky and breathing heavily.
Shan Mao also dismounted and sat on a big rock to drink water. At this time, Shan Mao suddenly heard a strange sound, like a swarm of bees flying over his head.
When he looked up, he saw countless small black dots appearing in the sky. Before he could react, the small black dots fell like raindrops. He was suddenly shocked. They were arrows!
Three thousand crossbow arrows shot from all directions, hitting the crowd lying on the ground like raindrops. Only screams were heard, and countless bandits were nailed to the ground by the arrows. The remaining bandits turned over, got up, and stumbled in all directions to escape.
But they were surrounded and had no way to escape. The cavalry rushed at them from all directions, stabbing them with spears without giving any explanation, and there were screams everywhere.
Xiao Xia also issued a killing order, killing everyone without leaving any alive. The Sui army soldiers were extremely excited, and everyone rushed to kill each other. This was their first actual combat, and also the first time they let go and killed the enemy.
Xiao Xia never found the enemy's main general Shan Mao, and his horse was shot to death by arrows in the first round. Shan Mao also mixed in with the bandits and finally died in the chaos.
It was not until the spoils were cleared and the corpses were burned that Xiao Xia saw the main general Shan Mao. He was covered in blood and had been pierced by at least seven or eight spears. He was the only one wearing armor, but it was useless as the spear pierced his neck and he died on the spot.
The Sui army soldiers found a large amount of money from the bandits, mostly gold and silver, as well as a large number of gold and silver jewelry. No wonder no gold and silver were found in their lair, it turned out that they were all on them.
The soldiers piled the corpses together, put wood and straw on them, lit a fire, and burned it until noon. When the corpses were basically burned to bones, they dug deep pits and buried the bodies.
The three thousand cavalrymen immediately returned to the military camp. Xiao Xia distributed them according to the rules. Two thousand four hundred taels of gold went to him, the silver went to the generals, and the copper coins, cloth and silk were distributed to the soldiers. All the six thousand soldiers received rewards and there was a cheer.
Xiao Xia also did not forget the civil servants, and he also had a pile of gold and silver jewelry.
(End of this chapter)