No matter Hei Shui Gou or Hei Feng Ridge, nothing can go wrong.
The bandits were already approaching. Guan Xiao Rou, Zheng Fang, and the others did not dare delay. After making their decision, everyone immediately split up to act.
Guan Xiao Rou led people to the rear mountain warehouse to collect armour and hand grenades. Tang Dong Dong returned to the textile factory to gather the female workers and hold a mobilisation meeting.
Zheng Fang and Tie Chui went to find the two company commanders to arrange defence matters.
Xiao Yu quickly deployed personnel to scout the enemy’s movements and details. At the same time, she sent people to report to the county and prefectural offices, requesting the prefectural governor and county magistrate to dispatch government troops to suppress the bandits.
The prefectural governor and county magistrate had just suffered humiliation in Xi He Bay. They definitely would not send government troops.
But whether they came or not was their business. Reporting the matter was Xi He Bay’s business.
If they did not come, when Jin Feng returned, there would be grounds to hold them accountable.
Under Jin Feng’s influence, efficiency in Xi He Bay was very high.
At the textile factory, Tang Dong Dong stood on a high platform, holding a tin megaphone, and explained the situation.
Before she even finished, the female workers below the platform started cursing.
“These bandits really do not know how to die. They still dare to cause us trouble. If Mr were here, he would beat them to death!”
“This is only because Mr is not here. Otherwise, even if you gave them ten times the courage, they would not dare come!”
“What do we do now? Why is Factory Head Tang telling us this?”
“She is not asking us to go fight, is she?”
“Surely not. There are still many men on the construction sites, right?”
“Men only have strength. What else can they do? We have all trained with crossbows and learned catapults. Last month, my husband and I went hunting in the mountains. I shot two pheasants. He fired more than ten arrows and did not even hit a pheasant feather!”
“Exactly. If we have to fight, we fight. A Pei can kill bandits. So can I!”
“A Pei earns a month’s wages equal to your year’s pay. If she dies, there is still compensation. It is worth it. If you get killed by bandits, who will support your mother?”
“If I really get killed, Mr and Madam Xiao Rou definitely will not abandon my mother!”
“That is not certain. The agency’s injury compensation is different from ours in the factory.”
As the female workers were talking, they heard Tang Dong Dong have someone strike the gong. They immediately quieted down.
“I have already explained the current situation. The agency is seriously short of manpower. After discussing with Sister Xiao Rou, Brother Zheng from the agency, and Brother Tie Chui, we have decided to pull some escorts from fortress defence and recruit a batch of sisters from the factory to help the escorts guard the fortresses!”
Tang Dong Dong said, “Any sisters willing to participate can raise your hand now to sign up. Requirements are that you can operate heavy crossbows and catapults.
The job is to help the escorts guard the fortresses. During the guard period, wages and compensation will all follow the female escort standard. In addition, the factory will provide an extra fifteen wen per person per day!”
Benefits are always the best motivator.
Hearing Tang Dong Dong say this, all the female workers below the platform became excited.
“My heavens, fifteen wen extra per day. If we help guard the fortress for a month, plus the female escort wages, would not one month’s pay exceed five qian of silver?”
“Is this money that easy to earn? Fighting means people can die!”
“Factory Head Tang said it already. We are not being sent to fight bandits directly. We are just helping the escorts guard the fortresses.”
“But what if the bandits break through? Will you still go up?”
“The fortresses are all near the village. If the bandits reach the fortresses, will you be safe hiding in the village?”
“A Zhen, are you saying you are going to sign up?”
“Of course I am signing up. Without Mr opening the textile factory, my mother and I would have starved to death long ago. Now the bandits are coming all the way to Hei Feng Ridge. If no one steps up, the bandits will charge into the village. Then everyone dies!”
“You talk so nicely. Is it not just because Factory Head Tang is offering high extra pay and you want to earn more?”
“What is wrong with wanting to earn more? I am not stealing or robbing. Who is stopping you if you want to earn it?”
“Factory Head Tang will not let her go! A Zhen, have you forgotten? Last time on the training ground, she misadjusted the catapult and smashed a huge hole in the escort kitchen squad’s iron pot!”
“Oh dear, I forgot. You cannot operate the catapult properly!”
Some female workers were worried, some excited, some afraid.
But the number of female workers raising their hands to sign up kept increasing.
These female workers were then led away by Tang Dong Dong.
After all, the female workers had not received professional training. The one-legged company commander Old Fan did not dare let them stand guard. He feared they might doze off while on duty. So he divided the remaining single company of escorts into three shifts for rotation.
The female workers’ task was to sleep inside the fortresses. If the on-duty escorts spotted enemies approaching, they were to immediately operate the heavy crossbows and catapults.
Those female workers who had not dared to sign up heard that sleeping in the fortress earned such high pay. One by one, they regretted it to death.
But regret was useless. Time was too tight. The female workers had already been sent to various fortresses to replace the stationed escorts.
The relieved escorts immediately returned to the village to assemble and followed Zheng Fang and Tie Chui to depart.
Hei Feng Ridge was at the border between Jin Chuan and the neighbouring county. Previously, one had to detour through Jin Chuan to reach it. Later, to shorten the route to Guangyuan, Jin Feng built a bridge over Hei Feng Ridge, greatly reducing the travel time.
The Jin Chuan Chamber of Commerce had established warehouses and inns at Hei Feng Ridge. Normally, some escorts were stationed there, but not many.
When Tie Chui led his men across the suspension bridge, he instructed the escorts guarding the bridge, “If you see three red signal arrows from Hei Feng Ridge, immediately cut the bridge ropes. Understood?”
The suspension bridge was too close to the village. Once it fell, the bandits could charge straight in and rush directly into the village.
After Tie Chui left, the bridge-guarding escorts immediately sealed off the suspension bridge.
After arriving at Hei Feng Ridge, Tie Chui did not stop. Instead, he led his men to continue advancing.
Hei Feng Ridge was still too close to Xi He Bay. The battlefield had to be pushed far enough away. That way, even if they lost, the village would have some buffer time.
In the opposite direction, Zheng Fang was also marching at full speed.
Yet when they rushed through the night to Hei Shui Gou, the bandits had been scared off.
Zheng Fang let the escorts rest in Hei Shui Gou for the night. At dawn, as he prepared to lead them back to Xi He Bay, the scouts reported again that the bandits had gathered dozens of li away.
With the development of Xi He Bay, the iron smelting workshop had become increasingly important.
The factories had gradually adopted assembly-line operations. They needed more and more iron products. Soldiers’ armour and weapons, villagers’ farm tools and kitchen utensils, all required iron.
The reason the iron smelting workshop could continuously supply sufficient steel was inseparable from the coal mines in Hei Shui Gou.
Hei Shui Gou could be said to be the driving force behind Xi He Bay’s development, but it was also an extremely unstable place.
After thinking it over repeatedly, Zheng Fang finally decided to stay in Hei Shui Gou with his men.
On the other side, Tie Chui’s situation was the same as Zheng Fang’s.
Yesterday, he had led his men running until dark before finally reaching the target area.
That stretch of mountain road was easy to defend and hard to attack. With more than a hundred escorts, heavy crossbows, and catapults holding it, no matter how many bandits came, they could not break through.
Yet after Tie Chui finished setting everything up and waited for the bandits to arrive, the scouts reported that the bandits had stopped a dozen or so li away.
“They want to pin us down here!”
Tie Chui understood the opponent’s intention but had no solution.
When the bandits were a dozen li away, if they moved, the bandits fled. If they withdrew, the bandits came back.
Helpless, Tie Chui could only do the same as Zheng Fang and choose to stay put and defend.
Dozens of li away, Chen Shiye, upon receiving the news, could not help but clap his hands and laugh.
“Gentlemen, the good show is about to begin!”
