By the time Colonel Sun chased him to the foot of the Qilian Mountains, it was almost dark.
Sun Xiaowei secretly regretted that camping in the wild was uncomfortable, let alone camping in a place like the foot of the Qilian Mountains where there was the danger of wild animals.
But Lieutenant Sun looked at the night and saw that bandits were still out and about, and it would be even more dangerous to rush back at night. He found a mound near the water at the foot of the Qilian Mountains and set up camp by the river.
This was the first time for Zhang Hun to follow the cavalry out of the city. He curiously watched the soldiers setting up camp.
Although Captain Sun was born into a gangster, the previous Captain came from a family of generals, and Captain Sun also learned some things about the art of war from him.
Zhang Hun asked curiously: "Captain Sun, why do you want to camp here?"
Lieutenant Sun said rather show off: "This is the best place to set up camp. It is surrounded by water to the west. If there is a fire accidentally, you can get water nearby to put out the fire."
"With the river to the west, we don't have to worry about threats from the west."
Zhang Hun curiously pointed to the front and asked: "The river bend over there is surrounded by water on three sides, why don't you camp there?"
Lieutenant Sun said proudly: "This is what you laymen would say. This is a tributary of the Zhangye River that flows from the Qilian Mountains. It is surrounded by water on three sides and is very cold. Moreover, the water will rise at night. If the camp is flooded,
That’s bad.”
Zhang Hun said with admiration: "I didn't expect that there are so many ways to set up a camp!"
Colonel Sun smiled and said: "Of course!"
However, Sun Xiaowei obviously did not learn all the art of war. There was a forest to the east of the camp. Sun Xiaowei did not send out scouts to investigate, nor did he set up more security personnel. He only arranged for a few soldiers to take turns on duty.
In the middle of the night, even the soldiers on duty were tired. They hid on the edge of the camp and took a nap. A group of villagers dressed in black emerged from the forest.
The leader, Zhang Duanyang, held a Molotov cocktail in his hand, which he simply made using high-strength liquor from Zhou Shi Liquor. It was naturally not as powerful as the one made by the Bafu Ordnance Supervisor, but it could still create a small fire.
A group of people reached the edge of the camp. Zhang Duanyang took the lead, lit a large bottle, and threw it towards the army tent.
Zhang Duanyang put all his emphasis on the strength attribute. When he was young, he practiced shot put throwing in the school sports team, only to see the Molotov cocktail streak across the sky and land on the important hay pile in the camp.
When the cavalry camped, they needed to build temporary stables. Captain Sun asked the soldiers to build a simple stable in the center of the camp and surround the horses in the middle.
Some fodder was piled in the stable, and the alcohol in the incendiary bottle spilled out, igniting the fodder in the stable.
Immediately afterwards, the remaining "hemp bandits" also threw out the Molotov cocktails in their hands. Some Molotov cocktails fell on the tents, some fell on the baggage, and the whole camp was on fire.
"Retreat!" Zhang Duanyang was not willing to fight. He lit the stables on fire and called for people to retreat.
They took advantage of the darkness to hide in the forest again, and warning bells rang in the army camp.
"It's gone! It's gone!"
The soldiers escaped from the burning tents, all covered with black smoke and gray faces.
More soldiers rushed to rescue the horses, but the flames frightened the horses, and the horses were all tied together by the reins. In the chaos, several people rushed in to rescue the horses, but were kicked by the horses instead.
Lieutenant Sun was also awakened by the soldiers. He walked out of the camp and saw the messy scene, and immediately said: "What's the mess! Why don't you go to the river to get water to put out the fire!"
Zhang Hun's tent was almost caught in the flames. He crawled out of the tent in a state of pee and hid beside Colonel Sun, looking at the burning military camp in shock.
After struggling for almost an hour, the fire in the general camp was put out.
The soldiers were so tired that they collapsed on the ground. There were not many direct casualties from the fire, but many horses and soldiers were injured in the chaos.
Lieutenant Sun looked ugly. He was clearly camping by the river, but he was still in such a mess.
When he was a soldier, although his former captain was also greedy, he was quite strict in running the army and often took them out of the city for training.
It was his turn to be the captain. Captain Sun rarely went to the daily school drills. Military discipline became more and more lax. Unexpectedly, he even spent an hour putting out a fire.
Zhang Duanyang, who was lying in ambush in the woods, did not expect that these officers and soldiers would stretch their hips to such an extent.
Originally, a few Molotov cocktails were thrown in the night attack to harass the officers and soldiers, but they did not expect that the officers and soldiers struggled for an hour before putting out the fire.
After all this trouble, Captain Sun listened to his subordinates report last night's losses with thick dark circles under his eyes when dawn came.
"Bring all the soldiers who were on guard yesterday to our captain and escort them in. Each one of them will be whipped ten times in public!"
"Trash! We can't even defend the camp, but let bandits come in and set fire to it!"
Lieutenant Sun personally carried out the execution and beat the two soldiers guarding the temporary camp to pieces. After that, he said to the deputy general: "Take your men and go to the mountains to search for traces of the bandits!"
Zhang Hun also didn't sleep well all night. He yawned and said: "Captain Sun, why don't we go back to the city? These bandits have already gone to the mountains, how can we suppress the bandits?"
Lieutenant Sun said impatiently: "We have already come out, how can we return without success? There are not many places to hide people in the Qilian Mountains. This group of bandits relied on the convenience of being familiar with the terrain to get to the front of the Zhenhe army."
Fighting is definitely out of the question."
Zhang Hun nodded and listened to what the kidnapped civil servants also said. The bandits had some farm tools and kitchen utensils as weapons, and they had no armor and stomach to defend themselves. They were definitely no match for the army.
In this case, it would be safe to follow the army. Zhang Hun followed Captain Sun with peace of mind.
When it was three o'clock in the morning, the deputy general hurriedly returned and reported: "Captain! We have discovered the bandit's stronghold!"
"Okay! Quickly gather the front troops and go up the mountain!"
The army gathered in a hurry, and the yawning soldiers took their weapons and reluctantly went up the mountain at the urging of their commanders.
Li Daoyuan, who was ambushing on the hillside, said: "This group of Tang soldiers really have no experience in mountain combat. They have not even explored such a mountain sliding zone, so they just rush into the mountain."
Looking at the messy teams on the mountain road, Zhang Duanyang also sighed and said: "These cavalry are not trained enough in basic terms, let alone trained in mountain warfare."
Li Daoyuan nodded and said: "In that case, let them have a taste of landslides."
The gunpowder buried in the fault layer was carefully calculated by Li Daoyuan.
But this time he was dealing with government troops, so Li Daoyuan was just preparing to scare them.
Just before the government troops entered the mountain, Li Daoyuan lit the fuse.
Captain Sun first heard a loud noise, and then saw the apocalyptic scene of landslides and ground cracking. Large rocks fell from the mountain, blocking the way of the army.
Just when Sun Xiaowei was still in shock, a big flag was raised on the mountain. A dozen bandits wearing black clothes and masks stood together and waved the big flag. Zhang Hun saw on the big flag "Practice for Heaven"
"Four words, I was so scared that I sat down on the ground."
One day later.
Wu Chudao, the governor of Ganzhou, received a report from his brother-in-law that the bandits were able to invite the power of the mountain gods and almost buried alive the officers and soldiers who went into the mountains to suppress the bandits.
Lieutenant Sun led his troops back to the military camp, refusing to go out of the city to suppress the bandits.
When Wu Chudao gritted his teeth and was about to ask for help from the Hexi governor's office in Wuwei, news came from Jiuquan City.
Bandits are serious in the land of Hexi. King Jianning has sent the Yumen Army to march into the fortress to suppress the bandits!