Chapter 412: The Grass Nest Bandits Are Here

Uncle and nephew Peng also nodded emphatically; they too had been badly frightened. Young Peng even muttered, "Coming into the Grass Nest carrying so much stuff — isn't that just inviting someone to make a move? Seeing how full of ideas those few are, I thought they had some kind of plan."

"Fewer words. If they can't touch the pole-arm men, you think they can't deal with you?" Peng Qi scolded his nephew in a low voice.

Before the words had even faded, Tao Gui, standing right in the middle, opened his mouth and shouted, "One rider skirted past along the edge, heading back — it's the same one from just now!"

Tao Gui could be considered to know the ways of the jianghu. After experiencing one thing after another, his temperament had grown steady and restrained. Training solidly and doing his work, he had already been selected for the Inner Guard, and he even held the rank of Battalion Soldier. He was perfectly suited for this assignment and had been transferred over as well.

It was said there was muddy ground and mires on both sides where carts and horses could easily get stuck, yet most of the ground along the sides of the road was hard and solid. Circling around from a distance wouldn't pose much risk. More crucially, the horses weren't tall; with a man lying flat on a horse's back, someone walking on the road would have a hard time spotting him.

Zhao Jin spat and cursed under his breath, "Still ran into bandits after all."

After muttering this, Zhao Jin raised his long spear and shouted, "Do as I said: circle the large carts into a ring and drive the horses forward."

The scene once again descended into a flurry of confusion. The road was narrow, both sides were snowy ground and withered grass, and the carts carried quite a lot of goods — driving them into position was extremely troublesome. Two carts were placed crosswise in the middle of the road, then the other three sides were arranged. After that, the horses each man rode and the draft horses pulling the large carts were linked together with ropes. A dozen or so men rode off, leading them forward.

"Isn't this just seeking death? We're already short on men, and now they've sent away over a dozen — those men are sure to run!" Yi Jinbao, his face ashen as death, helped with the bustle, muttering as he worked.

"Wouldn't it be better if they rode off? Now they've penned themselves in here to die!" Young Peng was also muttering.

Peng Qi impatiently lifted a leg and kicked him, cursing, "Hurry up and help with the work. You're not lifting a finger, just babbling on like a woman."

The large carts formed a rectangular enclosure. Everyone finished donning their armor. The archers all climbed directly onto the carts, laid out their arrows one by one, and then flexed their bowstrings.

In the past, the Zhao Character Battalion had no archers to speak of. To everyone's surprise, after the Zhao Character Battalion expanded and recruited, it showed no intention whatsoever of increasing its archers. Fortunately, their numbers were large enough. Many of those garrison scion and wealthy clan sons had trained in archery and horsemanship since childhood, and quite a few were skilled shots. Among the jianghu men recruited into the Inner Guard, there were also many who could shoot a bow. So this time, over twenty men could draw bows and nock arrows. As for those with archery skills matching Dong Bingfeng's, it was probably just Zhuang Liu and a few others.

The three guides were all in a panic, but to their surprise, this group of young "traveling merchants" all kept their composure. The few in charge were clearly chatting idly.

"These aren't government troops or bailiffs, are they?"

"Haven't you seen enough of the sorry state of official soldiers? How could they be like this? I'd guess they're probably from some powerful household. The Feng family household troops I saw that one time looked vaguely like this."

Whatever Young Peng said, his uncle would scold him. But Yi Jinbao beside them didn't stand on courtesy and said directly, "Old Peng, you're wrong there. If they really were men of the Feng family, who in this Grass Nest would dare offend them? That scout who passed by just now would probably have been shot dead on the spot!"

While those few were discussing animatedly over there, Zhao Jin and his companions were also chatting idly. No one was nervous about the battle that might be about to break out; they had truly experienced far too much.

"This method of yours isn't bad, just a bit clumsy." Chen Sheng looked around and said.

Dong Bingfeng, his face full of envy, said, "I've long heard my father say that Uncle Zhenxing has been to many places, has broad experience, and understands the military tactics of various regions. Big Brother, your use of large carts as a barrier — in a field battle on the plains, this could be of great use."

Ji Xiang and Liu Yong couldn't articulate any profound insights, but they too observed carefully, then recalled and verified, trying to learn as much as possible so that when Zhao Jin taught them, they could grasp it more deeply.

"Clumsy it may be, but this method is foolproof. Otherwise, with grassland all around, if we got drawn into a scattered fight, there'd be trouble if we weren't careful!" Zhao Jin said with a laugh.

Dong Bingfeng's words had saved him the need to explain. Zhao Jin naturally wouldn't say that this was experience from his memories of the Hussite Wars.

The Hussite Wars were fought between the Czech peasant armies and the armies of the German lords. In terms of era, it should have been over a hundred years ago. The peasants had received no professional training, and their equipment was far inferior to that of professional soldiers like knights. The reason they maintained the upper hand in battle was precisely because they relied on the wagon fort. Heavily armored knights could do nothing against the wagon fort position; their charges would be blocked by the wagon formation, and when they retreated, the mobility of the ox- and horse-drawn wagons was not poor at all.

Of course, the Czech peasant wagon armies during the Hussite Wars also had prior training and coordination, coupled with continuously accumulated combat experience. To thoroughly master this tactic would certainly require a great deal of time.

Zhao Jin didn't have that time; he had merely borrowed a few lines of thought. The military history articles his friend had read aloud back then — whatever he could remember, he had already written into that notebook, making it one of his most precious treasures.

"Big Brother, could it be they won't come?" Ji Xiang asked.

Zhao Jin shook his head and explained, "They won't not come. That scout came over and then turned back, which means the bandits' main force isn't far from us. Whether they want to chase or charge, they need their horses to have strength. If they were too far away, the horses would be too tired and couldn't handle the exertion. I'm just wondering: to swallow up a convoy like ours, who would dare make a move without several hundred riders? Is there a pole-arm gang this big in the Grass Nest?"

Before his words had even faded, every face inside the wagon enclosure changed. Everyone felt the ground tremble and heard the booming sound coming from the distance. At the same time, many birds in the surrounding withered grasslands shrieked and took flight, and a clamor arose all around.

"They're coming, they're coming, from the west!" Zhuang Liu shouted loudly.

The moment he shouted, the first to move were the three guides, each one diving under the carts, ceaselessly chanting Buddha's name.

"Everyone be careful," Zhao Jin said, then strode quickly onto the cart at the rear of the formation, the side facing west. Standing atop it and looking out, he could see a large mounted troop in the distance racing toward them at full speed. The numbers were truly considerable; even before climbing up, he had already faintly sensed the ground shaking.

Dong Bingfeng had already picked up his bow. Zhao Jin gazed into the distance. There had to be at least two hundred or more. Numerous as this mounted troop was, they rode with no discipline whatsoever, swarming forward like a hive of bees.

"We only entered this area yesterday, and every single village and stockade has been sending word ahead. There are just too many people; you can't tell if they're passing a message to the next village or if they're eyes for the Grass Nest bandits. Looking at it now, the Grass Nest bandits have quite a few under their command." Zhao Jin said with a laugh.

Dong Bingfeng's expression was somewhat cautious, yet tinged with confusion. Staring into the distance, he said in a deep voice, "Big Brother, no less than three hundred riders. A pole-arm gang that size would be a major power even in Xuzhou. Can there really be one this big in this desolate grassland?"

"Take some alive! See if someone has their eyes on us!" Zhao Jin said in a muffled voice, his expression extremely cautious.

Everyone had long heard the name of the Grass Nest bandits and knew they were a gang of desperate outlaws, but such large numbers were indeed a strange point.

Having run the Zhao Character Battalion for so long, everyone knew exactly what it meant to support three hundred riders. Kong Family Village had nearly five hundred riders, and that was roughly sustained by exploiting the vast territory at the junction of three provinces. The Grass Nest was poor and desolate; the Grass Nest bandits had no way here to support that many riders.

If a large force like this truly existed, there would be no room for any other power to survive in the Grass Nest. Given that the Grass Nest bandits primarily made a living by being hired for jobs, this force would have long been famous north of the Yangtze. Even if the jianghu men of Xuzhou didn't know of them, Qi San should have been well aware.

Since these several hundred riders couldn't possibly be an original force within the Grass Nest, that made things even more troublesome. Had someone long ago set their sights on Zhao Jin's party, waiting until they reached deep into the Grass Nest to make a move? Who exactly was behind this?

The archers who had climbed onto the carts were still busy. Zhao Jin and his few companions stood atop the goods, while the others piled goods in front of themselves to form a simple breastwork.

Zhao Jin and Dong Bingfeng were still staring into the distance. As the mounted troop drew closer, it appeared increasingly chaotic. Those riders all understood that the road was the only hard, safe place and convenient for galloping. The snow-covered ground on both sides, thick with withered grass, held many hidden dangers. Everyone desperately crowded toward the middle, but those in the middle refused to give way. They kicked and jostled one another. On the periphery, horses stepped into shallow pits and fell, throwing their riders.

"All just local bandits! Still, we can't be careless!" Zhao Jin gave his conclusion. Dong Bingfeng beside him nodded, turned, and withdrew into the breastwork built of grain sacks. Zhao Jin also climbed down from the cart.

If these were men who knew their business, they would now be advancing in a narrow, orderly column, only spreading out into formation once they reached Zhao Jin's position. But now, swarming forward in a chaotic mess, their speed hadn't increased; instead, the mutual jostling and scrambling had slowed them down. Clearly, they were no elite force. Yet they truly couldn't be careless, because the enemy's numbers were several times that of Zhao Jin's party.

Zhao Jin watched through the gaps between the carts. He could see the mounted troop drawing closer and closer, and could also see them growing more and more chaotic.

Perhaps this galloping mounted troop had wanted to catch Zhao Jin and his men off guard, but they hadn't expected the other side to simply circle their carts and stop moving.

The riders in front reined in their horses to a sudden halt. The road was narrow, and the withered grass on all sides was tall. How could the riders in the rear ranks react in time? Many couldn't brake, leading to another bout of jostling and collisions, cursing and chaos. Still, the troop finally managed to stop.

"... Those fools got scared and ran..." Faint shouts could be heard drifting over. Right now, everyone was concealed behind the breastworks and carts; from the outside, the place looked completely empty.

Yet these mounted men didn't investigate carefully, just casually declaring from a distance that they had been scared off. This was far too sloppy.

"... Careful, it might be a trick..." Someone finally shouted this cautious warning.

"... Scared my ass. We've got this many brothers, and we can't swallow a merchant convoy of less than a hundred men? If you're scared, we'll go. This fat piece of meat, everyone gets a share..."