“Sir is right. Since when do we talk about rules with bandits when suppressing them?”
Qing Muluan walked in with a smile. “Sir, count me in on this. I just recruited a few dozen new soldiers the other day. It’s perfect to use these bandits who only know how to bully the good to sharpen our blades!”
“That’s fine. Discuss it with Brother Liang. You can add some female soldiers to each team.”
Jin Feng nodded in agreement. “By the way, the female medics should also go out and see some blood. Notify Xiao Jin. Assign one medic to each team.”
There were too many idle women in Dakang. The pool for female soldiers was broader than for males. In the future, they would be a major fighting force too. Jin Feng was willing to train them.
“Got it. Sir, just wait. I guarantee to beat these bandits until they scatter like flowers in the wind!”
Qing Muluan rubbed her hands, her eyes brighter than usual.
Seeing her like this, Jin Feng quickly poured cold water on it. “Go back and tell the female soldiers. This operation will still focus on male soldiers. The female soldiers are responsible for suppressing with crossbows and finishing off enemies. Don’t charge in and fight the bandits head-on.”
In the cold weapon era, female soldiers were, after all, inferior to males in physical strength. The best way to fight was to keep distance and kill enemies with crossbows.
So crossbows were a mandatory daily training subject for female soldiers. Now, the overall shooting scores of the first and second batches of female soldiers had surpassed the male soldiers by a large margin.
The main training for male soldiers leaned towards coordinated frontal combat.
“Understood.”
Though Qing Muluan was somewhat dissatisfied with Jin Feng’s arrangement, she still agreed.
“Brother Liang, you also need to remind the male soldiers. Engage small groups of bandits, but flee from large ones. Ride back quickly to call for help. Don’t charge in stubbornly to die when you know you can’t win.”
Jin Feng turned to remind Zhang Liang. “If we suffer heavy losses just to kill a few bandits, it’s not worth it.”
“Understood!”
Zhang Liang had been a bit worried earlier that Jin Feng’s anger had clouded his judgement. Hearing this now, he was finally relieved.
At noon that day, suppression teams set out from Xihe Bay one after another, following mountain paths towards different directions.
Each suppression team consisted of twenty male soldiers, ten female soldiers, one female medic, and one cavalryman.
This cavalryman was not only responsible for scouting but also for communication. Once a large group of bandits was spotted, he would ride back to report.
Whether male soldiers, female soldiers, or the accompanying female medics, everyone carried a tactical pack with a folding tent, sleeping bag, and dry rations. This allowed them to survive outdoors for several days without pressure.
…
North of Jinchuan County, Dazhuang led a suppression team into Dengtai Mountain.
Dazhuang was one of the first batch of recruited veterans. Now that the veterans had grown in number, those from his batch had all become backbones, basically promoted to small team leaders.
Dazhuang was also the captain of this suppression team.
This time, their task was to patrol all mountain paths west of Erlang Town in the north of Jinchuan County.
Since there was no precise intelligence on the bandits, they could only follow the mountain paths and first head to the area near Yanghe Village where the massacre had occurred.
The county coroner had not arrived yet. The bodies were still on the ground, but the bandits had long fled. No valuable clues were found.
They had found a flat spot near Yanghe Village yesterday to sleep. At dawn, they continued, walking all morning to reach Dengtai Mountain.
Dazhuang asked the cavalry responsible for scouting, confirming no bandits nearby, then pointed to a small river ahead and said,
“There’s a small river up ahead. Everyone rest your feet there, eat lunch, then continue.”
Though veterans, female soldiers, and even female medics trained often and were not tired, they did not know where the bandits were. There was no need to march hurriedly. Rest when needed.
The team had already coordinated for a day yesterday. No need for Dazhuang to order. They disbanded consciously according to procedure.
Several veterans stood guard. The cavalryman dismounted to feed and water the horse.
The female soldiers some gathered firewood, others set up racks.
By the time the medic carried a small iron pot back with water from the river, the fire was lit.
Unless absolutely pressed for time, raw water from rivers or streams could not be drunk directly in the wild. This was a strict rule from Jin Feng that everyone had to follow.
Hanging the small pot over the fire, the female medic sat down and opened her small pack.
Around the medic, other male and female soldiers did the same, chatting and laughing as they opened their packs, taking out iron lunch boxes and flatbreads.
The flatbreads were fried in mutton fat, with enough salt added during kneading. Break them into the lunch box, pour in boiling water, and it became a bowl of fragrant mutton soup with bread.
If marching urgently with no time to eat, they could be eaten dry.
After walking all morning, everyone was hungry. The veterans held their lunch boxes, staring eagerly at the small pot, hoping the water would boil soon.
Some impatient ones had already started gnawing dry.
Finally, the water boiled. The veterans swarmed up.
“Don’t crowd. Didn’t Sir say men should have manners and know to let the female soldiers go first?”
The female medic said puffily.
“Xiao Wei, Sir also said on the battlefield, men and women are equal. The enemy won’t care if you’re male or female.”
The male soldiers joked back but still stepped aside.
Actually, they did it on purpose. The captain did not allow casual talk while marching. Now resting, they naturally teased the female soldiers to relieve boredom.
After laughing and dividing the boiling water, the mutton flatbreads were soaked. The veterans were about to eat when a guarding veteran suddenly shouted,
“Captain, a group of bandits is coming from that ravine!”
“Where?”
Dazhuang quickly dropped his bowl and ran over.
The scouting cavalryman followed immediately.
“Bad luck. They come neither early nor late, just as the bread is soaked!”
The veterans grumbled but all sprang into action.
Dazhuang and the cavalryman reached the guarding veteran. Following his finger, they indeed saw a group in the ravine. Messy hair, assorted weapons. Who else but bandits?
Dazhuang and the others hid behind rocks. The bandits had not spotted them. They were sneaking along the edge of the woods towards the camp.
“How did you scout? The enemy sneaked to the camp before we knew!”
Dazhuang turned to the cavalryman.
The cavalryman was puzzled too. He had checked carefully earlier. Where did these bandits come from?
But regardless, bandits near the camp was his fault. He dared not argue.
“Captain, it shouldn’t be Xiao Qingzi’s fault. They might have been hiding in the ravine and came out seeing our cooking smoke.”
The guarding veteran asked, “Captain, these bandits are probably coming for us. Fight or not?”
The cavalryman glanced gratefully at the veteran.
“Just over twenty bandits, fewer than us. If we don’t fight, how can we face people in the village later?”
Dazhuang said, “Not only fight, but fight beautifully. Not one can escape!”
…
Ten minutes later, the bandits emerged from the woods, looking towards the river.
Seeing only five or six women by the river, gathered around a small pot eating, the bandits all smirked sleazily.
