It wasn't until he saw his brother disappearing at the entrance of the fishing village that Jiang Dalong finally felt relieved. After being hit hard one after another, he could no longer hold on. His legs softened and his body fell, leaning on Zhang Heng who was still struggling to get away. He was breathless and died, but even so, he still held onto the other person's arm with one of his hands, refusing to let him go.
Zhang Heng was also moved by his desperate attempt to protect his brother, and his movements couldn't help but slow down a bit. The other water bandits on the boat were completely stunned after seeing their leader killed. When they all recovered, the officers and soldiers had already surrounded them from the left and right sides, making it difficult for them to escape.
As for the other water bandits in the rear, they completely lost the opportunity to resist and escape under the siege of several times the official army and the desperate situation of their own ships sinking. They were either killed because they tried to resist, or they were captured alive by the officers and soldiers after falling into the water. . This ferocious water bandit that had been causing trouble to Jiangzhou for more than a year was finally completely destroyed with the death of their leader Fan Jiangjiang Dalong.
However, the army's pursuit of them did not stop. After learning that some people were taking advantage of the chaos to return to the fishing village, Lin Henian decisively ordered a search in the village. All relevant bandits must be captured and no one would slip through the net. Following this order, more than a hundred Xiang troops who arrived later rushed into the fishing village and conducted an all-round, carpet-like search of this small fishing village.
The Xiang army's debating power may not be worth mentioning, but it did show their dutiful side at this time. Even though the village was still in flames, they did not neglect at all. They went to every house that had not collapsed. Look for a hiding place in every corner. And their efforts really brought about a lot of gains. Soon there were two boats, and more than a dozen injured water bandits were tied up and brought out. They were the ones who had taken advantage of the chaos and fled into the village. However, there was no escape route for them in the village, so after hiding, they were unable to escape the search by the police.
The last person to be brought out was a middle-aged man who was dressed completely different from the water bandits here and looked like a scholar. However, because he was temporarily in a coma, the soldiers did not know his identity and had to take him out first. Moreover.
But when this man was brought to Lin Henian, and someone wiped the soot and dirt on his face with water, Lin Dujian's expression suddenly changed, and he couldn't help but exclaimed: "Why is he here?"
At this time, Sun Tu was also asking people to identify whether among the prisoners being brought out, there was Jiang Shihu, the second leader of the vicious dragons who had escaped from Zhang Heng's men. Hearing this exclamation, he also looked over and asked with concern. Said: "Du Jian, who is this?"
"This man's name is Cheng Jichang. He is a Confucian businessman in Jiangzhou City. He was once a guest of Yuan Zhoutui, and he is rich. How could he fall into the hands of these water bandits?" Lin Henian said with a look of surprise on his face. Identity of this person.
Sun Tu showed a thoughtful expression, and immediately waved over several water bandits who had already surrendered. He pointed at Cheng Jichang, who was still unconscious, and solemnly asked: "You recruited him from the truth, why is he here?" Here?"
After several water bandits looked at each other for a few times, one of them said tremblingly: "This is our leader's distinguished guest, and he was not kidnapped by us."
"What?" Lin Henian suddenly changed his face, his face full of disbelief. Sun Tu, on the other hand, thought of something at this time, and continued to ask calmly: "He is the one you met on Shazhou Island yesterday.
The leader? And then shortly after he arrived, you made this series of arrangements? "
"No... that's right. How could the general know so clearly?" The man looked at Sun Tu in surprise. The latter did not pay attention to his meaning at all, but looked at Lin Henian who had the same complicated expression: "Du Jian, it seems that the previous speculation of the official is correct. This person is the one who conveys the movements of our officers and soldiers. Give it to these thieves so that they can set traps for our culprits!"
As soon as Lin Henian said this, before he could react, the other officers and soldiers were already furious. The grumpy one was about to cut the unconscious Cheng Jichang with his knife, but Sun Tu quickly took it away. The knife was blocked: "Stop it, there is something else going on. Everything will fall on this person. No one is allowed to touch him at all!"
Now Sun Tu has not only established a certain prestige among the rural soldiers, but also among the Xiang army. As soon as he said this, the angry soldiers finally did not take action again, but just stared at Cheng Jichang angrily, and More people turned their attention to Lin Dujian, who was still a little confused. He had not yet recovered from this shocking statement.
"Prisoner Lin..." Sun Tu waited for a moment and saw no response, then called out again: "This person may be carrying extremely important truths. How should we deal with him?"
"This... Sun Tuanlian, what do you think?" Lin Henian's heart was completely confused. If Sun Tu said it was true, the problems involved behind Cheng Jichang would be huge. Cheng Jichang's status is not low. There are not many people in Jiangzhou City who can make him do such a thing. No one can afford to offend someone like Lin, a small sixth-grade military attaché. So subconsciously he pushed the question back.
Sun Tu sighed in his heart. The military attachés of the Song Dynasty had been suppressed by civil servants for many years and had lost their morale. Even though they might hold extremely critical witness, the top local military attachés like Lin Henian just wanted to take him out, but they couldn't. There is no sense of responsibility at all.
Since Lin Dujian doesn't want to wade into this muddy water, it's up to him, Sun Tulai, to lift the cover of this muddy and stench. Sun Tu wanted to get here, and immediately expressed his position: "The lower official thought that he should be taken back to Jiangzhou and handed over to the prefect for careful questioning. I think there were only a few people in the entire state who knew about the arrangements and movements of our officers and soldiers before yesterday. , as long as his mouth is pried open, it will no longer be difficult for the real culprit behind the water bandits in Jiangzhou to quibble."
"Then... then let's do what you want, Sun Tuanlian." After Lin Henian hesitated for a moment, he nodded in agreement. However, his face looked a little ugly because he had vaguely guessed something.
Not only him, Sun Tu has also deduced the truth behind the matter from what he said just now, but it is difficult to tell it in front of everyone, so now he just decided to take this key witness to Jiangzhou. cross-examination.
After Cheng Jichang's problem was solved, the last few soldiers who were searching around the fishing village also returned by boat. Apart from bringing out a large number of water bandits' belongings, they had nothing more valuable.
Seeing this, Sun Tu frowned even more deeply: "The water bandit leader named Jiang Shihu still can't be found?"
"When we returned to the group for training, the boys had already searched the entire village, even opening some nooks and crannies and closed boxes, but they still couldn't find the bandit leader."
"Sun Tuanlian and the younger ones also searched in the village, and there were no
There is no secret passage or any other place to escape..." Seeing Sun Tu's unkind expression, another person explained.
"Sun Tuanlian, you're just a fish that slipped through the net, why should you take it too seriously?" Lin Henian had calmed down at this time and said with a smile: "Today we have completely wiped out Fierce Jiao and his group of water bandits. How can he escape alone?" Will it cause another wave of trouble? If you are really worried, you can ask the Yamen to post pictures and pictures to arrest him. Even if he does get away this time, it will not take long before he will be arrested. Now the whole army is exhausted. , it’s not a problem to continue to be delayed here because of one person.”
Sun Tu glanced around, and sure enough, both the rural soldiers and the Xiang troops under his command were exhausted. After all, they had been running around fighting since they left the city last night, and all of them were at the end of their strength. He could only sigh softly: "That's all, in that case, let's return to the city and report the victory to the prefect and others."
As soon as this statement came out, he immediately won a burst of cheers from all the soldiers. Then under Lin Henian's order, everyone regrouped, escorted the hundreds of captured water bandits, happily turned the helm, and returned to the 20-meter river downstream. Jiangzhou City many miles away.
Even in this battle to suppress the bandits, the officers and soldiers paid a heavy price. The rural soldiers alone suffered nearly fifty casualties, and the Xiang army suffered nearly two hundred casualties due to ineffective fighting, and even lost an important officer. The whereabouts of the bandit leader Jiang Shihu are unknown, but this time they finally changed their previous losing streak and defeated the water bandits. Even their leader Jiang Dalong was beheaded, which was enough to make all the soldiers who participated in the battle feel proud.
So when the fleet returned to Jiangzhou Pier in victory and saw some people and colleagues waiting there, someone shouted loudly: "Our army has won a great victory and has wiped out all the water bandits and ferocious dragons." , the bandit leader Fan Jiangjiao was killed on the spot, and there is no more banditry in Xunyang River!"
These words reached the shore far away, and the people above were stunned at first, and then the crowd burst into cheers. The original worries and uneasiness completely dissipated at this moment. Those who reacted quickly turned around and ran back to the city. As they ran, they loudly announced the good news: "The official army has won a great victory, and the water bandits are gone." After being completely wiped out, the leader Fan Jiangjiao has been decapitated!"
When these people shouted and ran into the city, the entire Jiangzhou City, which had been suppressed for a long time, was completely boiling. Some people cheered, and some people pulled people around them and asked loudly about the authenticity of this statement. Everyone's faces were full of excitement. Everyone showed expressions of ecstasy, because this is undoubtedly a great happy event for all Jiangzhou people. The dark clouds that have been weighing on everyone's heads are finally about to disperse!
When an officer rushed to Cai Jiu with a face full of ecstasy and reported the victory to the prefect, his usually steady hand shook, and a full cup of tea soup was poured onto his official uniform. But he ignored all this and hurriedly walked out of the official hall: "I will go to the city gate to welcome the triumphant army!"
On the pier, when the ship finally docked, and the soldiers disembarked with excitement and pride and met the fellow citizens there, a figure carefully and slowly slipped from the back of the handsome ship into the river. It was exactly the same face. No one would have thought that the spiteful Jiang Shihu, who seemed to have fled into the fishing village before, would fight back from the water and then hide in the stern of the handsome ship that was closely guarded by the army. This is the reason why the officers and soldiers searched the entire small fishing village but still could not find any trace of it.
Youdao is the most dangerous place, but sometimes it is the safest!