Chapter 340: The Bandit Lair — Smoking and Roasting the

Jier swung his Long Sword out, and the blade, released from his hand, spun and pierced the last Bandit who was attempting to run into the Shandong.

Carefully raising his Shield, Jier tentatively approached the pitch-black entrance of the Shandong.

Sure enough, just as he had expected, after he neared the entrance of the Shandong, several spinning Flying Knives flew out from within.

However, Jier had anticipated this; he turned his body sideways while lowering his overall height, so that the side he actually presented to the Bandits was minimal. And of this small area, the vast majority was hidden behind his Metal Shield.

Clang, clang, clang.

Three sounds rang out in succession as the Flying Knives struck the front of his Shield.

Being able to hit him meant these Bandits had likely been aiming for a long time, but unfortunately, their intentions had long since been calculated by Jier.

Approaching the Bandit still struggling on the ground, Jier carefully reached out a hand, grabbed one of the Bandit's hairy feet, and ignoring the Bandit's miserable cries, dragged him to the side of the Shandong entrance.

The side was filled with Militia with their Crossbows drawn, and on the ground to one side lay piles of corpses of Bandits who had been shot.

Knight Kela rode his warhorse over at a leisurely trot.

"Sir Knight, the entrance to the Bandit lair has been taken! However, the Bandits have set up a defensive position in the entrance passage of the Shandong; because the terrain is narrow, they throw weapons the moment they see anyone," Jier said to the Knight, reporting the latest situation he had observed.

"Very good, let's stop here for today. Heh, give those Bandits a night of fear; starting tomorrow morning, we will take the Bandit lair in one day." The Knight jumped off his horse, landing with a thud, his body not even swaying. He patted the warhorse to let it go play on its own, then said to Jier.

Jier walked up to the Knight and explained the worries in his heart: "The interior of the Bandit lair is spacious and has plenty of supplies, but the Shandong passage is very narrow, which is very disadvantageous for the Militia's archers and Crossbowmen to perform."

Waving his hand, Knight Kela indicated that he knew of Jier's concerns: "Ha, I already have a way. Like this kind of turtle defense, you have no way to deal with it, right?"

Jier nodded.

"Think about it: you are very hungry and find a turtle that has retreated into its shell; how would you have a full meal?" While talking to Jier, Knight Kela directed the subsequent Militia to carry the large Mudu from afar to the Bandit cave entrance, but not too close, to prevent the Bandits from throwing Torches to burn the large Mudu.

Jier was stumped by the Knight's strange metaphor.

He removed his Helmet, took a deep breath of the cold air, and lowered his head to ponder. After a long while, he gave the Knight an answer: "Lure it to stick its head out, then cut it off with a blade?"

"I plan to take the Bandit lair in one day tomorrow; there is no extra time to lure them out." The Knight did not approve of Jier's method.

Jier gestured with the Dagger at his waist: "Then stab the Dagger into the turtle's limbs and the place where it retracted; stab it a few more times, and you will definitely be able to kill the turtle."

The Knight drew Jier's Dagger from his waist and threw it into the air. The Dagger spun straight up and down, and when it fell to the height of a person, it was caught by the Knight's suddenly extended fingers.

"Are you not afraid that the Bandits will eliminate and kill the men you send in to assault? In close combat, the narrow Shandong passage makes it difficult for the Militia to deploy their numerical advantage. They are all good lads from various Farmer households, and so are you. I do not wish for you all to die in this remote place. Even if it is a one-for-one trade with the Bandits, I feel it is a loss."

Jier scratched his hair and laughed. The Militia nearby who heard them talking also laughed.

Returning the Dagger to Jier, Knight Kela finally gave his answer: "By the sea, when people catch a turtle, they usually wash it clean and then just flip it over and roast it on a fire." He made a flipping gesture with his hand: "Don't worry about whether the turtle comes out of its shell or not, and don't worry about whether it is alive; just roast it, and it will be cooked and ready to eat very soon."

Jier added: "The turtle's shell can just be used as its pot?"

The Knight's muffled laughter came from beneath his thick Steel Helmet. He reached out and pointed at the tall mountain ridge that looked dark and gloomy under the illumination of the Torches behind him: "Look, does this mountain look like a turtle's shell? Tomorrow, no matter what the Bandits think, we will smoke and roast them and let them be buried inside."

"Oh!"

"It's great not to have to kill people with my own hands."

"Can it be done in one day?"

"It definitely can; if Sir Knight says it can be done, then it must be possible."

The large group of Militia moved the large Mudu over. At the same time, under the Knight's command, the Militia moved the wooden crates and obstacles left behind by the Bandits as they lost their positions one by one to the Shandong entrance. With these things as obstacles, even if the Bandits really thought it through at night and suddenly launched an attack with all their men, they would not be able to break through the layers of obstacles set by the Militia and would be killed on the open ground at the Shandong entrance by the continuous Crossbow fire.

Knight Kela divided the Militia into two parts. One part was sent back to the main Yingdi to take advantage of the situation being under control to safely spend half the night collecting dead branches and leaves in the nearby woods, and even cutting down some small trees, all waiting to be delivered as soon as the sun rose tomorrow.

The other half of the Militia remained at the Shandong entrance, prepared for the possibility of the Bandits being driven to desperation and making a final, fatal strike.

To keep warm, the Militia lit many bonfires, ensuring that all the Militia had fires to warm themselves. At the same time, the scribe's assistants brought food over to cook dinner on the spot, and then used carts to haul away the stripped corpses of the Bandits.

The corpses all had to be processed uniformly. Knight Kela specifically arranged for a few people to burn the corpses at the leeward side behind the Militia Yingdi. They did not need to fight; they only needed to cut trees during the day, chop them into firewood, and then burn the headless corpses of the Bandits killed that day with the firewood at night.

The Bandits' heads were naturally piled in a snowdrift; these things were items used to calculate merit. Moreover, after returning to Bingxun Pass, they would also be used as evidence to show the merit of the Militia to the people and Merchants at the pass.

As for the Bandits' respective weapons, equipment, or property carried on their persons, generally speaking, if they were not particularly valuable items or good things, they belonged to the Militia who killed the Bandits.

Therefore, the kills of these two days not only filled Jier's own tent with spoils of war, but even the few Militia who carried out the Spear assault with him also had quite a few spoils.

The Militia kept the iron products tightly secured, because these metal weapons could be taken to a blacksmith to be forged into light and sturdy farm tools, completely saving the cost of purchasing iron materials; they only needed to pay the village blacksmith a forging fee and fuel cost.

Jier had originally wanted to spend money to acquire some cheap Bandit weapons with good raw materials, but the Militia were basically unwilling to part with their respective spoils.

Jier felt helpless about this.

Knight Kela had not forgotten that the Bandit lair had another exit. Or rather, that exit was one he had specifically left for the Bandits to escape.

With a way out or a choice, people would not be so united, and disagreements would certainly arise. This result was exactly what he wanted.

Just as Knight Kela had expected, ever since the Bandit lair was officially attacked by the Militia, every night, there would be Bandits who felt that holding on was hopeless and there was no way to survive. Taking advantage of the darkness and the intentional slackness of the Bandit leaders, they would climb out of the Vertical Shaft using ropes and turn to run until they disappeared.

But the top of the mountain ridge in winter at night was not easy to descend; Jier and the others had all slowly felt their way down during the day, and these Bandits who had never walked this path before, nearly half of them lost their footing, fell off the cliff, and died.

But this kind of death due to their own reasons could not scare these Bandits who only wanted to survive.

However, after these Bandits tremblingly descended the mountain, they did not know that waiting for them would be the Militia blockade that Knight Kela had arranged early on.

Except for the direction of the Militia Yingdi, all other paths that could lead out were blocked by Melee Militia with the best combat experience and good training performance, as arranged by Knight Kela.

These fleeing Bandits would receive the most cordial and fatal greetings from these Militia who had been waiting for a long time.

Besides this, Knight Kela looked rough and careless, but in fact, his battlefield experience was very rich; ever since he joined the army as an adult, he had participated in many wars, both large and small.

Therefore, he had defensive arrangements for every tiny fatal point.

Jier did not return to the Yingdi; he was also ordered by the Knight to stay at the front line at the Shandong entrance. He sat by the bonfire, watching Knight Kela direct people to move a long, simple ladder that the Bandits had abandoned beside the Shandong entrance.

To defend against the possibility of the Bandits climbing out of the Vertical Shaft in large numbers and then attacking the undefended Militia from the mountain body above the Shandong, he specifically arranged a team of Militia to use the captured wooden ladder to climb to the top of another rock wall on one side of the Shandong entrance.

He let these Militia each light a fire to keep warm, and if they saw Bandit activity on the mountain body above the Shandong, they were to shoot the emerging Bandits directly with arrows, ensuring the safety of the Militia below.

For this kind of cautious defensive measure, Jier had to admire it; if he were to command these Militia, he estimated he would have adopted other means to eliminate these Bandits.

But no matter how it was done, it certainly would not have the meticulous arrangements of Knight Kela.

Jier, having nothing to do, guessed what had caused Knight Kela's command style. After all, the Knight himself was a very formidable Warrior; by his estimate, just by relying on the thick armor on him and his warhorse, Knight Kela could kill their hundreds of people in open terrain without injury using only a Spear.

It wouldn't even take as long as an afternoon.

But what was the reason?

Knight Kela had never mentioned much about his previous career in the Kingdom Army, and Jier naturally did not dare to ask.

Just like that, except for the occasional miserable screams of bandits falling from the back mountain cliffs, the entire night passed very peacefully.

At daybreak the next day, those Militia who had returned to the Yingdi to rest the night before each dragged large amounts of dead branches, fallen leaves, and firewood to the front line located at the entrance of the Bandit Shandong.

Once the Militia had eaten and were full of strength, Knight Kela began to direct the final day's assault.

Bundles of firewood smeared with Grease were thrown by Jier and the Militia from behind the large Mudu not far into the entrance of the Bandit Shandong, followed immediately by a large batch of lit Torches.

Those first bundles of firewood thrown in quickly caught fire, giving the bandits no time or opportunity to move the firewood away.

Next, balls made of dead branches and fallen leaves wrapped in the dirty animal skins the bandits wore on their bodies were also thrown inside.

The previous items could only be said to have astonishing heat, but for the bandits who had retreated slightly further back, it was not exactly unbearable. But once these things were thrown in, it was different.

These miscellaneous items immediately erupted with a great deal of foul-smelling smoke upon meeting the flames; this smoke was thick and would not dissipate, and following the wind flowing from the entrance into the interior of the Shandong, it surged into the heart of the bandits' lair all at once.

Of the original four Bandit Leaders, only three actually came out at this time. That Bandit Leader who had always been more timid and resembled a Merchant more than a bandit had actually snuck away the previous night with a few trusted subordinates.

This made the others, who already lacked morale, feel even more that they were finished. But relying on the fact that their Shandong was easy to defend and hard to attack, and the reinforcements Tie Gebo had arranged at Bingxun Pass, they had originally intended to keep resisting like this, defending until the Militia ran out of supplies and retreated on their own.

By then, they would naturally have achieved a great victory, even if they themselves had suffered heavy losses.

It was only when they could smell a plume of smoke in the room where they were holding their meeting, and their subordinates came running to report, that they finally realized what means the Militia were using to deal with them.

The Militia were going to smoke them all to death inside the Shandong!

The leaders hurried to the Shandong passage, endured the choking smoke, crawled on the ground to take a look, and discovered that at the entrance, the Militia were continuously throwing urine-soaked wood into the burning flames, along with other miscellaneous things, producing a great deal of foul-smelling, thick smoke that entered the interior of the Shandong along the direction of the airflow.

"Can it be extinguished? *Cough, cough. *" Duan Tou Zhe Delang shouted loudly; the three of them also could not stand the thick smoke, and after one look, they returned inside the Shandong.

Only the Bandit Leader who looked steady remained, patting his chest, then wiping his smoke-blackened face, and gritting his teeth as he said: "Regardless of whether we can or not, we must quickly find water to extinguish the flames."

After speaking, he directed his subordinate bandits to push over the large stone vats used for storing water and pour them directly into the passage entrance. At the same time, he had Tie Gebo organize men, regardless of age or gender, to go to the water source inside the Shandong to fetch water and transport it quickly.

As for Duan Tou Zhe Delang, he had to take a group of people out through the Vertical Shaft to occupy it, so the Militia could not also drop smoke-producing items down from there.

Duan Tou Zhe Delang took his men and immediately hurried over, and on the way, he discovered that the smoke surging into the lair was following the same path he was taking.

When he arrived at the Vertical Shaft, he discovered in despair that this smoke was actually being vented out of the Shandong from here. If they wanted to climb up, they would have to endure the constant assault of the smoke.

His subordinates were all unwilling to do something that would likely cost them their lives, and even when Duan Tou Zhe Delang punched each of them, it was no use.

With no other choice, Duan Tou Zhe Delang had to take out his Double-edged Axe and tell his subordinates that whoever he pointed to next, if they dared not climb, they would be hacked to death immediately.

Immediately after, the chosen bandit looked desperate and had to strap on the Rope, rubbing his hands on the ground to wipe away the sweat from his palms. While coughing from the smoke, the bandit cautiously searched for crevices to climb up.

After climbing halfway, because of the cover of the smoke, the bandits looking up from below could no longer see the bandit's figure; they could only know the guy was still climbing by the sound of his constant coughing.

However, very soon, the bandit above suddenly lost his grip amidst a series of coughs and fell down.

After hitting the ground, he was carried away, twitching and vomiting blood from his mouth and nose.

Although he wasn't dead, he looked like he would only live for a few more days.

Duan Tou Zhe Delang did not speak; he simply raised his heavy Double-edged Axe with one hand, shook it threateningly at the subordinate bandits, and then casually pointed at a bandit with his other hand.

The pointed-at bandit was so scared he collapsed to the ground, waving his hands continuously, begging Boss Duan Tou Zhe Delang for mercy, saying his son had just been born and he didn't want to die yet.

"If you don't want to die, then your child will also die later because of your cowardice!" After speaking, Duan Tou Zhe Delang strode over, and with one drop of his arm, he hacked the bandit into two halves.

"His child will drown! And the woman will be rewarded to the next guy who dares to go up! So, it's you!" Duan Tou Zhe Delang stated the punishment, then pointed at another bandit.

Although this bandit was full of reluctance—if you asked him to go out and fight someone, he wouldn't even frown—asking this bandit to climb up along the cracks on the side of the Vertical Shaft was usually not difficult.

But now, all the smoke surging into the Shandong was pouring out from here, just like climbing a chimney—a chimney that was currently on fire.

This bandit found a piece of fine cloth to cover his mouth and nose, but feeling it wasn't safe enough, he asked a companion for some water, soaked it slightly, wrapped it around his face, and climbed up with the Rope on his back.

This time, the bandit's coughing was much less, and Duan Tou Zhe Delang below was very satisfied, loudly declaring that he would reward this guy with a few Gold Coins later.

Seeing that it wasn't very difficult, the other bandits also found fine cloth, soaked it, and wrapped it around their faces.

After waiting a while, a Rope indeed hung down from above, and the bandits began to grab the Rope one by one and climb up.

With the Rope above as an aid for climbing, the rest was not such a troublesome matter for these bandits; they wrapped the Rope around their waists, grabbed the Rope with both hands, and kicked the rock wall with their legs. Using the strength of their arms, the bandits climbed up rapidly.

The smoke constantly choked them, but they were fine since their mouths and noses were wrapped in wet cloth; although breathing was difficult, it was still bearable. Their eyes, of course, could not stand it and had to be kept tightly shut.

They really didn't know how the previous guy had endured this smoke; they even felt their eyes ache the moment they opened them, and had to keep them tightly shut.

And the previous guy had still had to climb the rock wall and find the path while going all the way up.

Duan Tou Zhe Delang below watched his subordinates climb up one by one; he also put his Double-edged Axe to the side, preparing to tie the Double-edged Axe to the bottom of the Rope when it was his turn, climb up first, and then pull the weapon up.

Watching a bandit swaying in the air, Duan Tou Zhe Delang couldn't help but curse: "@#￥#! Hold on tight with your hands, be careful not to fall and crush me!"

That bandit barely managed to answer, then climbed up.

But not long after, a bandit fell from above.

The unexpected fall of a person gave the bandits below a fright; one unlucky bandit was even hit, but fortunately, it was only a slight graze, and he suffered a minor injury, which was no big deal.

"I told you, this guy was always messing around in the room, his body was weak as could be, he couldn't have made it up at all," commented a bandit who lived in the same room as that bandit.

"Then why didn't you tell me sooner! How unlucky! Who fell down?" Duan Tou Zhe Delang had originally wanted to point at another bandit, but when he looked down at the soft-legged bandit who had fallen to his death on the ground, he suddenly discovered a wound on the bandit's arm.

It wasn't a bruise from the fall, but a knife wound.

He suddenly raised his head to look at the top of the Vertical Shaft shrouded in smoke, his expression changing again and again, his teeth nearly breaking from clenching them. The bandit next to him found it strange and was about to ask the leader what was going on and why he was so angry.

As a result, Duan Tou Zhe Delang cursed at the top of the shaft: "You bunch of Militia! I thought you were all just honest farmers, I didn't expect your hearts to be so vicious! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Die, die, die! If you have the guts, come down and fight me one-on-one! See if I don't hack you to death with one axe. Come as many as you want, and you'll all die!!"

Amidst his curses, the top of the shaft shrouded in smoke seemed to go silent for a moment, and immediately after, one headless bandit corpse after another fell down from above.

Many bandits staying below were hit and injured.

Duan Tou Zhe Delang was so angry he raised his axe and swung it from bottom to top, hacking apart a headless corpse that had landed on his head.

Now, the bandits all knew what had happened above. It turned out that the bandits who had gone up just now had all been killed by the Militia lying in ambush above, who had even insidiously lowered the Rope to let the bandits below climb up one by one.

At the top, Jier and a few Militia tossed down the last bandit corpse they had beheaded, hoping it would be best if it crushed one or two unlucky bandits who hadn't dodged in time.

"*Cough, cough! * Alright, alright, everyone hurry away from here, remember to take their rope, this rope is quite sturdy, it might be useful later." Jier finally couldn't stand the choking smoke and hurried away to take deep breaths of fresh, cold air.

The few Militia nearby were all beaming with joy; one bandit head was worth one Silver Coin, and a family might only be able to harvest one Gold Coin's worth of grain in a year of farming—where could farming possibly make money as fast as killing bandits?

And it was such a convenient and quick method, too.

"Are these bandits stupid?"

"Sigh, Brother Jier is still the clever one, knowing to trick them into coming up."

Jier smoothed his hair and smiled smugly: "Well, of course."