I

Li Banghua was stunned, and then drew his sword and shouted: "Your gentlemen, follow me to kill the thief!"

……

Pang Chunlai has brought people into the mountain for more than 20 days, and the villagers are clamoring to go back to weed and top-dress the winter wheat planted before entering the mountain.

If you don't go back to work, you will delay the harvest!

Moreover, the weather is getting colder and colder, and if there is any delay, it may snow. At that time, people and animals will definitely be frozen to death and frostbite.

As the officers and soldiers had retreated for many days, Zuo Xiaoliang had brought the villagers back to Huangba Village, which was slightly downstream on the opposite bank.After making some arrangements, he crossed the river and entered the mountains, and ran to look for Pang Chunlai.

Together, the two believed that the officers and soldiers would not come again, so all the villagers in Wuxing Town also began to descend the mountain.

The spies sent by Li Banghua into the mountains happened to collide with the spies sent down by Pang Chunlai.

The spies on both sides were separated by more than ten steps, staring at each other, so frightened that they went back to report the enemy's situation.

"Don't panic!"

Although Pang Chunlai has poor eyesight, he knows the outline of the terrain.

He immediately ordered: "We will drag our families with us, as well as food and livestock. We will definitely not be able to outrun the officers and soldiers. Withdraw from the mountain ridge behind and block the food and supplies together as a barrier. Quickly collect stones. Go ahead, women go too, protect the old, the weak and the livestock!"

Li Banghua hurried to the mountain with more than 190 brave men, and he was greeted by simple fortifications.

The sacks and baskets were filled with food, as well as wheelbarrows and other supplies, all lined up as a barrier against the enemy.Regardless of men and women, as long as they are strong, they all picked up hoes and poles, and moved many stones to smash down.

A young man was drawn from each family to serve as a soldier, and Chen Maosheng's missionary team also took some away. There were very few young men left, and most of them belonged to the elderly, weak, women and children.

Pang Chunlai's eyes widened, trying to see the enemy's situation clearly, but only saw some shadows shaking.

Zuo Xiaoliang held up his hoe and shouted to boost morale: "Folks, the dog officer has brought troops here and wants to take away our land and food. Will you agree?"

"No promise, no promise!"

The old and the weak, women and children shouted in unison. Although they were afraid in their hearts, they were even more afraid of losing their land and food.

Moreover, the terrain is also in their favor, and the officers and soldiers can only attack from the front.

Zuo Xiaoliang shouted again: "Dog Killer!"

"Kill the dog officer, kill the dog officer!"

The villagers shouted louder and louder, and even children of a few years old shouted together, as if this was a very interesting thing.

Li Banghua's complexion was extremely complicated. He was loyal to the emperor and served the country, diligent in government and loved the people, but in the end he was dismissed by the emperor and returned to his hometown.

"Uncle, they are all old and weak, women and children, young and strong at most three or four hundred. They don't have any serious weapons. As long as we soldiers use our lives, we should be able to win a battle." Li Banghua's nephew suggested.

Li Banghua remained silent.

First, the opponent has a good location and high morale. Can they really win in a single battle?

Second, most of the opponents are old and weak, women and children, so it would be glorious to kill them all?

After thinking for a long time, Li Banghua said to his nephew: "Go and persuade them to surrender, saying that as long as they submit to the government, the past crimes will be forgotten."

The nephew immediately climbed up the slope, and before he could speak, several head-sized stones rolled down.

Chapter 114 [Winner wins]

There are three scholars in one school, two prime ministers across the river, three champions in five miles, two ministers in one hundred steps, nine ministers in ten miles, nine sons and ten governors.

The above few sentences are referring to Jishui County, where the number of Jinshi ranks first in the country.

For the Li family in Gucun, there is only one surname for each village.If counting posthumous gifts, there have been eleven ministers in the past few decades alone.

Of course, the current number of ministers remains at eight.He had to wait until no one was available in the imperial court, and Chongzhen had to restore Li Banghua, before his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather would be granted titles or posthumous titles.

In the morning he was Tian Shelang, and in the evening he ascended to the Hall of the Son of Heaven.

These words could not be more suitable for Li Banghua.He really had a poor family. When his grandmother passed away, there was no thin-skinned coffin, so he had to wrap it in straw and bury it secretly.

Seeing that his nephew was scared back by the rolling stone, Li Banghua immediately thought about how to defeat the enemy.

In order to repay the emperor's favor and eliminate thieves for the country, even the old and weak, women and children have to be killed!

Li Banghua didn't dare to attack by force. He led his troops to block the way down the mountain and sent soldiers to explore other ways up the mountain.

The enemy and the enemy began to confront each other.

One didn't dare to retreat, the other didn't dare to attack, they just looked at each other like that.

After a confrontation for a while, Xiang Yong came back and reported: "Uncle, two miles to the right, you can climb up the slope, but there are also rebels guarding the slope."

There is no way for a surprise attack, so the only way is to attack head-on.

"Boys, follow me to kill thieves!" Li Banghua drew his sword out of its sheath and led the crowd to charge in person.

Pang Chunlai immediately ordered: "Throw rolling stones!"

Head-sized stones continued to roll down the hillside, and more than a dozen Xiangyong were knocked down one after another.

It's a pity that the mountain is not steep, and the speed of the stone rolling is not fast.

Two unlucky ones had their tibias broken, and the others were only crushed on their feet, and those who were knocked down quickly got up.

"Sisters, dog killer!"

Xiaohong organized the women and children, picked up fist-sized clods and rocks, and threw them at Xiangyong who was charging.

This thing is actually more lethal than a rolling stone. It only hurts if it hits the body, but it will definitely bleed if it hits the head.

Even Li Banghua himself, the dignified former Minister of the Ministry of War, was hit on the head by some village woman, and a big green bump appeared on his forehead.

The mountain pass is narrow, and there are too many villagers to line up.

Seeing the effect of women and children throwing stones, the villagers who were unable to prepare for the battle in the rear picked up stones and clods and threw them down.

Xiangyong's first charge was thrown back by the villagers with stones.

3000 people smashed stones together, and countless small stones flew in the air. The scene was as spectacular as a hail of bullets.

"Pick up stones quickly, not big ones, just small ones!"

Xiaohong gave an order, and together with Xiaocui, she led the women and children to pick up stones. The nearby stones had been picked up, and some people simply took off their shoes and threw them down.

Li Banghua led his troops back down the slope, in a panic.

Not only did he have a big green bump on his forehead, but he was also hit in the back of the head when he was retreating, and blood was faintly leaking from his hair.

A few Xiangyongs were even directly knocked unconscious by small stones, and it took a lot of effort to be dragged back by their companions.

"We won, we won!"

The villagers cheered loudly, but the village braves were frowning.

Li Banghua held back his anger and felt a deep sense of frustration. He had never fought such a battle.

Under normal circumstances, the villagers should be defeated as soon as they charged, but now it was Xiangyong who was repelled.

Pang Chunlai couldn't help laughing and said: "The official below, those who gain the Tao will help more than those who have lost the way. You don't understand this kind of truth? Come down quickly, and look like you are helping the evildoers."

Seeing a scholar among the rebels, Li Banghua took a few steps forward and said in a loud voice: "My servant, Li Banghua, who is your Excellency?"

This name surprised Pang Chunlai. He cupped his hands and said, "It turned out to be Li Mengan. I was lucky enough to meet him in Tianjin back then. It's a pity that things are different now."

Have you seen Tianjin?

Li Banghua thought carefully, if he had seen him in Tianjin, it would be when he was the governor of Tianjin.

He has vigorously rectified the Tianjin New Army, which once made the Tianjin New Army the strongest army in the Northern Zhili area.

But the person in front of him doesn't seem to have any impression.

Pang Chunlai smiled and said: "Brother Li, don't think about it again. You were the governor of Tianjin back then, and I was just a small staff member. It is impossible for you to remember me!"

"Excuse me, which minister's staff are you?" Li Banghua asked curiously.

"Hey, I won't say it. If I say it, it will definitely drag the old master down." Pang Chunlai smiled happily.

At this moment, smoke suddenly rose from the south.

Li Banghua was startled and confused, not sure what the situation was.

Pang Chunlai smiled strangely. He was the sentinel, and the smoke should have risen when the officers and soldiers appeared.

There are six sentinels.

The two were on the mountain beside Lijiaguai, and were responsible for detecting the enemies from the east.

The two were on the high mountain to the west, responsible for scouting the enemies behind them.

The two stayed at the inn in Wuxing Town, and even if the smoke couldn't be let out, they could run into the mountains on foot to report the news.

However, the sentries were all disabled, and it was not known what went wrong.

Li Banghua looked back at the wolf smoke, his heart was full of worries, his food and grass were all on board.

For fear of insufficient troops, Li Banghua did not dare to divide his troops into the mountains. Only one soldier was left to guard each boat, and the rest were all Yongxin County boatmen.

Seeing that there was no hope of attacking the mountain, and there was smoke behind him again, Li Banghua suddenly ordered: "The whole army retreats to the river!"

"You're here and want to leave?"

Pang Chunlai suddenly drew his sword and shouted: "Even if half of the people died today, I will keep you, Li Mengan!"

"withdraw!"

Li Banghua ordered to retreat and personally led a hundred villages to the rear.

Pang Chunlai climbed out of the temporary barrier and shouted: "All young and strong over 15 years old, come forward and hold these bastards!"

将近六百青壮，手持农具出阵，都是赵瀚挑剩下的。多为15—18岁、45—50岁的男丁，仅有百余人在18—45岁之间。

A wounded man suddenly came over the mountain from behind, panting: "Mr. Pang, it rained in the middle of the night last night, and the firewood and cow dung were soaked, and the wolf smoke couldn't be ignited for a while. Huang Zhuang is still there Continue to light the fire, let me run back to report first!"

He looked back and forced a smile again: "It's burning, it's burning."

"I'll punish the two of you later," Pang Chunlai said with a smile, "but I made a mistake and caught a big fish this time."

Pang Chunlai led six hundred young men and walked slowly towards Li Banghua.But they didn't dare to get too close. These people were untrained, and most of them would collapse when they charged.

The more this happened, the more panicked Li Banghua became, and he simply ran towards the river.

Pang Chunlai was afraid of being killed and returned to his carbine, so he only dared to lead people to follow him from a distance. He really had no soldiers at hand.

……

But he said that of the two sentinels staying at the inn, one was sleeping and the other was on guard.

But Li Banghua went down the river, and he came too fast at that time, and there was no warning signal upstream, so the sentry at the inn found it too late.

To wake up the sleeping man, the two wanted to go into the mountain to pass the news that Li Banghua had already landed on the upstream river beach.Moreover, Xiangyong was quickly dispatched to investigate and block the nearest road into the mountain.

The two sentries panicked, one detoured into the mountain to notify Pang Chunlai, and the other ran towards Li's house downstream.

Those who took a detour into the mountain, because they didn't know that Pang Chunlai was going down the mountain, have not found the main force until now.

But when he ran to Li's house, he saw Huang Shunfu.

"Mayor Huang (deputy), quickly lead people into the mountain, officers and soldiers are coming!" said the messenger.

Huang Shunfu asked, "How many are here?"

The messenger replied: "I haven't had time to count, there may be hundreds of numbers, and many ships have come."

"Second son, go and inform the villagers to pack up your belongings and prepare to go into the mountains." Huang Shunfu thought for a while, and then said, "Let Liu Laosi and the others row a fishing boat to see what's going on."

Several fishing boats soon arrived in Wuxing Town, approaching the large and small boats on the shore, staring at the boatmen on board.

"The traitor is coming, run!"

The boatmen panicked and subconsciously wanted to sail away.

"Don't mess up!"

Li Banghua left a Xiangyong in each boat, all of them were soldiers he brought from Jishui.

Those brave men were enough to frighten the boatmen, and they stabilized quickly.

The fishermen rushed back to Lijiaguai to report that there were no officers and soldiers on board, and Huang Shunfu immediately took Qing Zhuang to snatch the boat.

Seeing that more than 200 rebels came, the boatmen finally couldn't hold on anymore.Regardless of Xiangyong's repression, they sailed downstream and fled downstream, escaping Li Jiaguai before stopping.

"The officers and soldiers are here!"