Chapter 68: Unveiling the Bandit Hideout
Chapter 68: Unveiling the Bandit Hideout
"Congratulations! Your Bull Power has reached Level 3, enhancing your strength and constitution. Your Strength Points have increased by 3, and your current Strength is now 47."
"Congratulations! Your Basic Axe Technique has reached Level 15, boosting your strength. Your Strength Points have increased by 3, and your current Strength is now 47."
With two consecutive increases in Strength Points, Lu Hai Kong's strength soared to 47 points. Although still inferior to Gao Shun's monstrous abilities, he was now significantly stronger than Cheng Dashan's 43 points. No wonder Lu Hai Kong was able to finish off Cheng Dashan with three consecutive axe strikes.
Axe techniques are indeed domineering; as long as one seizes the initiative, the opponent is almost certainly doomed if they cannot withstand the continuous onslaught of attacks. This was the case with Lu Hai Kong earlier; if it weren't for Wang Chao and Ma Han holding the line at the critical moment, his fate would not have been much better than Cheng Dashan's current situation.
Upon Cheng Dashan's death, several items were revealed: a Mountain Splitting Axe Technique manual, a Bull Power skill, a Rally Token, and several dozen gold coins. In addition, Lu Hai Kong received a system notification.
"Congratulations on defeating Cheng Dashan! As a Bandit Chief, you can choose to replace Cheng Dashan and become the leader of this bandit hideout!"
This is another advantage of the Bandit Outcasts; once they reach a certain level of strength, they can either use the Rally Token to establish their own bandit hideout or conquer an existing one by capturing it.
Without hesitation, Lu Hai Kong chose to accept.
Shanwu County
These past few days, the Zhang Family went all out, employing various methods to search for Lu Hai Kong's group. They even joined forces with the Dark Wind Fort, setting up a trap using a merchant caravan as bait, hoping to lure Lu Hai Kong's group. However, after waiting anxiously for two days, not a single trace of them was found.
By the third day, with still no news of Lu Hai Kong's group, the Zhang Family was about to give up and shift their focus to suppressing the bandits in Shanwu County. They figured that if they couldn't catch Lu Hai Kong, they might as well take out their frustration on some other bandits.
Just as the Zhang Family prepared to launch their bandit suppression campaign, Lu Hai Kong's group suddenly struck again. This time, their target was not a Zhang Family caravan but a small merchant caravan.
Initially, this news excited the Zhang Family, but they quickly calmed down. Over this period, they had come to understand Lu Hai Kong's group's exceptional ability to hide. They knew that once Lu Hai Kong's group struck, they would disappear swiftly, making it nearly impossible to find them.
Nevertheless, the Zhang Family decided to make an effort and sent a group of people to investigate. Surprisingly, this investigation led them to accidentally discover the hideout of Lu Hai Kong's group.
It was unclear whether Lu Hai Kong's group had become complacent after their previous successes or what, but this time, they didn't even bother to conceal their horse tracks and returned directly to their bandit hideout.
When this news reached the Zhang Family, Zhang Li, who had initially held little hope, was stunned. Was this sudden stroke of luck too good to be true?
Despite his skepticism, Zhang Li immediately passed the information to Zhang Ke. After all, it was more reliable to use official forces for bandit suppression, and this way, if there were any traps, the Zhang Family wouldn't be the only ones affected.
For decades, the Zhang Family had dominated Shanwu County, although the county magistrate was not one of their own. Even so, the county magistrate had to defer to the Zhang Family's wishes.
After receiving the news, Zhang Ke didn't even bother to inform the County Magistrate and directly led a thousand county soldiers to besiege the mountain fort where Lu HaiKong was located.
Shanwu County had a total of three battalions and six platoons, amounting to three thousand soldiers. On this occasion, Zhang Ke mobilized one battalion, a thousand-strong, solely to suppress Lu HaiKong.
Previously, Gao Shun had attacked several mountain forts with just one platoon, managing to conquer multiple forts in a single morning. However, when it came to Lu HaiKong, Zhang Ke not only took charge personally but also increased his forces tenfold.
However, Gao Shun and his platoon were not part of this expedition. The reason was that Gao Shun had once again clashed with the Zhang family.
Three days ago, after Gao Shun and his men had successfully conquered three mountain forts, he returned to request pensions for the fallen soldiers from the quartermaster.
This should have been a straightforward matter. After the quartermaster's office verified the deaths, they would provide the pensions. However, the problem arose with the quartermaster himself. Being a member of the Zhang family, and given Gao Shun's previous offense against them, the quartermaster refused to grant the pensions.
Gao Shun was at a loss and even humbled himself to plead, but the quartermaster remained unmoved. Eventually, Gao Shun had no choice but to use his savings to console the families of his fallen brothers-in-arms.
But how much money could Gao Shun have saved? His savings were insufficient, and his brothers-in-arms had fought and died for him. Yet, they couldn't even receive the pensions they deserved. Under such circumstances, how could Gao Shun have the heart to suppress mountain bandits or dare to engage in battle?
When Zhang Ke's order came, as it didn't specifically name Gao Shun, Gao Shun simply declined.
On the other hand, Zhang Ke led his troops to Lu HaiKong's mountain fort. After carefully studying the terrain, he couldn't help but frown. The mountain fort's terrain wasn't particularly steep or perilous, though it was advantageous for defense. However, with the right tactics, breaching it wouldn't be too challenging. The problem was the mountain path, which seemed to have four or five routes leading up and down the mountain, making it a maze-like network.
This seemed advantageous for Zhang Ke, allowing him to attack from multiple directions. But Zhang Ke knew this presented a significant challenge, as it also meant the mountain would be difficult to surround. While the mountain bandits might not be able to launch a large-scale attack, a small elite force could easily retreat, making it hard for Zhang Ke to intercept them.
Zhang Ke's primary target was Lu HaiKong. If Lu HaiKong escaped, capturing the mountain fort might not be very meaningful. But this mountain fort had this particular terrain.
It would be ideal to swiftly breach the fort without giving the bandits a chance to react. At this moment, Zhang Ke thought of Gao Shun.
Although Gao Shun was irritating and ungrateful, his capabilities were undeniable. Having Gao Shun lead the vanguard was the best choice. Thus, Zhang Ke issued an order for Gao Shun's platoon to take the front.
"What? Gao Shun isn't here?" Zhang Ke frowned but then relaxed, "Never mind, it's just a mountain fort. I have a thousand elite soldiers; I don't need Gao Shun."
"Divide into three platoons and block all the mountain paths! The rest of you, follow me in a frontal assault!"
(End of Chapter)
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