At this time, the crossbowmen are useless. If the battle formation dares to move forward, what awaits them is burning with kerosene.
A few hundred meters away, Zhang Liang sneered and nodded to the female soldier next to the trebuchet.
The female soldiers were well prepared, and a few seconds later, the three catapults were activated at the same time, and the burning jars accurately landed on the group of bandits in front of the battle formation.
The kerosene in the jar splashed everywhere, and many bandits were covered in it.
For a while, miserable howls came and went.
The front of the battle formation immediately turned into a sea of fire.
All the bandits were attracted by the battle formation, and no one noticed at all. Lieutenant Xiao led hundreds of people, led by hunter Da Qiang, through the forest on the east side of Wulang Mountain.
There is a small path in the mountains and forests, which is very secretive. If Daqiang hadn't led the way, Captain Xiao and the others would never have found it.
There are three relatively easy roads to go down the mountain in Wulang Mountain, which are on the south, east and north sides of the mountain.
The battle formation is currently attacking the road to the south, and Captain Xiao's goal is to attack and occupy the mountain road to the east.
After all, bandits have little discipline. When they heard the fighting going on in the south, most of the bandits who were responsible for guarding the mountain road on the east side turned to the south to watch the fun.
Although the rest did not go, their minds were not on defense.
Captain Xiao led his men all the way to the foot of the mountain, but the bandits were not discovered.
The soldiers who usually only bully the common people and merchants are now full of fighting spirit.
Because before setting off, Zhang Liang promised them that if they capture or kill a bandit, the soldiers will get a piece of soap with any scent.
The first person to capture the mountainside pass will receive a black knife equipped by the escort.
Interest is always the fastest and best way to unite people's hearts.
Nowadays, the soap market has been completely opened up by female shopkeepers, especially in Beijing, where the demand for soap is very high. Tieguanshan has not only expanded its production workshop, but also implemented two shifts to produce non-stop day and night.
However, demand still exceeds supply.
Due to the large-scale purchase of oils and fats, the prices of various oils and fats have been rising recently in several counties around Jinchuan and Guangyuan County.
If Qing Mulan's sudden accident hadn't happened, Jin Feng would have gone to Iron Can Mountain in the past few days to see if he could improve the production process and improve work efficiency.
Nowadays, if brothels and wealthy families in the county want to buy soap, they have to pay money first to make an appointment. Even so, they may not be able to get the goods normally.
Several relatively rare fragrances are sold for as high as fifteen taels on the black market.
Fifteen taels of silver is definitely not a small amount of money for ordinary soldiers.
Not to mention the black knife.
Since ancient times, there have been few men who don't like weapons. Although the reputation of the black sword in Guangyuan is not as great as that in the capital city, as the escorts spread the word, the reputation has gradually spread.
Many young men from rich families are extremely greedy.
However, after the black knives became popular in the capital, Zhang Liang also realized the preciousness of the black knives. He took back all the black knives of the bodyguards and reissued them with ordinary swords.
Black knives will only be reissued when certain tasks are performed.
It's not because they are stingy, but because bodyguards often escort goods to and from various places. A black knife can be sold for thousands of taels of silver. If you let the bodyguards carry it, you are harming them.
These days, people are killing people just to make pancakes. Not to mention the combined value of all the black knives in a team of escorts, just one black knife is enough for bandits to take risks.
Zhang Liang's decision made black knives even rarer.
If you can get one, you won't have to worry about it in this life.
In addition to soap and black knives, Zhang Liang also personally promised that the soldiers participating in the war would be treated the same as the escorts, and the Zhenyuan Escort Bureau would compensate their casualties.
In fact, the soldiers of the government are all young and strong. It's not that they can't fight, but they lack systematic training and proper morale.
In terms of training, Zhang Liang had no choice for the time being, but through these two conditions, the morale of the soldiers was suddenly boosted.
Following Captain Xiao's order, the soldiers immediately rushed towards the mountain.
The bandits on the mountainside were still watching the fun, when they suddenly discovered a group of government soldiers pouring out of the woods at the foot of the mountain. They were caught off guard. Some hurriedly accepted the fight, while others turned around and ran away.
Qing Mulan, who was watching the battle on the top of the mountain, saw this situation and reacted quickly, immediately leading Chang Xin's army to break out.
Driven by the survival instinct, Chang Xinjun did not dare to be lazy and slippery, and fought much more bravely than usual.
By the time the bandit leaders got the news and realized that they had been fooled by Zhang Liang, it was already too late.
The bandits guarding the mountain on the east side were attacked from above and below by the soldiers and Qing Mulan, and were beaten to the point where they were unable to fight back.
The mountainside was littered with the corpses of bandits.
The road down the mountain was also occupied by government soldiers.
"Miss Mu Lan, my husband asked me to pick you up. Come with me."
A Jin Feng bodyguard stepped forward to greet Qing Mulan.
"But my people..."
Qing Mulan glanced hesitantly at Chang Xinjun behind him.
Although the performance of the Chang Xin Army this time disappointed her, after all, it was an army that the Qing family spent a lot of resources to cultivate, and she couldn't just throw it away here.
Moreover, doing this seems to mean abandoning the teacher and running away. Qing Mulan usually looks down on such people the most.
"Don't worry, Miss Mu Lan. When I came, my husband asked me to bring water and dry food, and I will arrange the bandit suppression team."
Captain Xiao stepped forward and said, "Go quickly. Sir has been worried about Miss."
After saying that, he pointed to the bottom of the mountain.
At this time, Chang Xin's army had already rushed to the foot of the mountain, and a group of soldiers were seen walking out of the woods carrying buckets and pancakes.
Changxin's army, who had been thirsty and hungry for several days, immediately surrounded him.
Qing Mulan finally felt relieved after seeing this scene, nodded, and left with Amei and others following Jin Feng's personal guards.
Ten minutes later, in the Fubing camp, Qing Mulan saw Jin Feng standing with his hands behind his back.
"gentlemen……"
Qing Mulan, who had always been carefree, now acted like the little daughter-in-law who met her husband for the first time. She walked up to Jin Feng and held it in for a long time before lowering her head and saying with guilt on her face:
"Sir, I'm sorry, Aqin and the others..."
Jin Feng equipped each bandit suppression team with twenty veterans and forty female soldiers, who controlled heavy crossbows and catapults to provide long-range weapon strikes for the bandit suppression team.
This can not only prevent heavy crossbows and catapults from leaking out, but also play a role in training troops.
After this suppression of bandits, those female soldiers also have large-scale combat experience. If they go to the battlefield in the future, they can be used if they are pulled out.
However, due to Qing Mulan's command error, during this operation, the veterans and female soldiers had just set up their heavy crossbows and catapults when they were attacked by hundreds of bandits.
The veterans and female soldiers were caught off guard and all died.
Jin Feng was also very disappointed with Qing Mulan.
But seeing Qing Mulan back safely, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let's talk about your matters when we get back."
Jin Feng glanced at Qing Mulan, then looked at Da Liu: "Go tell Brother Liang that Mulan was rescued."
