Chapter 49

By the fire, Liu Jun and Li Chunjiang, along with the leaders of each team, were gathered together, summarizing the aftermath of the battle.

"We have beheaded thirty-nine bandits, and there are fourteen more who are half-dead captives," the scribe reported to everyone. "We also found the body of a monk and seven women's corpses. Additionally, there are sixteen women who survived but are injured. Five of them are severely injured and won't make it to tomorrow morning, while three can survive but will be disabled—one with a severed hand and two with severed legs."

Battles are always brutal, even a small-scale anti-bandit operation can result in heavy casualties.

Especially when it involves over twenty innocent civilians. The bandits, in a desperate situation, tried to use the civilians as hostages to force the local militia to let them escape. At that moment, Liu Jun did not hesitate at all and immediately ordered an attack.

There was no need to compromise with those bandits who had massacred entire villages. Even if they were given a chance to escape, they would never truly release the hostages. Liu Jun was not the type to show mercy, but he noticed Li Chunjiang's hesitation and immediately made the decision for him.

Now, seeing that eight civilians had died in the battle, five more were unlikely to survive, and three were disabled, with only eight women sustaining minor injuries, Liu Jun felt a heavy heart. But if it happened again, he would still choose to attack.

Li Chunjiang, at this moment, understood Liu Jun's decision. He said to Liu Jun, "Jiye, you didn't make a mistake then. It was I who shouldn't have hesitated. There are no conditions to be made with such vicious bandits. Hesitation only increases the difficulty of the battle and leads to more sacrifices among our militia. I must thank you for making the right decision at that time."

Liu Jun sighed and shook his head. He didn't want to dwell on this matter and instead asked, "How are our brothers' casualties?"

"Three are seriously injured but can be cured and won't be disabled. They will need to rest for two to three months. The rest have minor injuries, and no one died in battle."

Hearing this news, Liu Jun and Li Chunjiang, among others, breathed a sigh of relief. Although today's battle involved over a hundred men ambushing about fifty bandits, and their Nine-Headed Bird Militia had superior equipment and numbers, it was still their first real battle.

To have zero casualties was quite remarkable.

Liu Jun remembered that Qi Jiguang, in his campaigns against the Japanese pirates in the southeast, had once achieved the feat of killing over three thousand and eight thousand pirates without a single casualty. But at that time, Qi's army was already well-formed and very powerful.

"The injured brothers must be treated with the best medicine, and there's no need to worry about the cost. Let them rest and recover, and they will still receive full pay and rations during their recovery. They will also receive a recovery allowance. They are all brave, and we will not treat them unfairly for being injured in battle." Li Chunjiang spoke first, and Liu Jun also supported this.

"Write down what Gongji said, and have the team leaders pass the message to all the militia members." Liu Jun instructed.

"Have we inventoried the spoils of war?"

The scribe, upon being asked about the spoils, immediately became excited. He flipped through his records and reported, "It's quite good, a small fortune. First, we seized fifty-three horses, not a single one missing. They are all good horses, and some even have the mark of the Guan Ning army. I wonder where these bandits got such good horses."

"They must have stolen them," Liu Jun said without surprise. Those who could go out to plunder were definitely his trusted and elite men. This group was said to have once joined Li Zicheng's forces and later fled back to Huangzhou after being defeated by Sun Chuanting. It was not surprising that they had Guan Ning army horses in their ranks.

This was indeed a small fortune. In the north, horses might not be so precious, but in the south, horses from the border regions were scarce and valuable. To seize fifty-three at once was a small fortune.

"Besides the fifty-three horses, we also seized a considerable amount of other spoils. This includes thirty-seven taels of gold, 856 taels of silver, and several strings of copper coins. There are also some gold, silver, and jade jewelry, as well as dozens of bolts of silk and cloth."

Liu Jun nodded. These bandits had massacred the Lin family village and plundered several other villages, so it was no surprise that they had accumulated over a thousand taels of silver.

"Did any of our brothers hide any spoils of war?" Liu Jun asked specifically. The Nine-Headed Bird Militia had a rule that no one could hide spoils of war. All spoils must be turned over to the public, although the militia members would still receive a share. The rule was to prevent them from thinking about and hiding spoils during the battle, so they could focus on fighting.

However, Liu Jun knew that such a rule would be hard to maintain, and some would inevitably violate it. If it was just a small item, Liu Jun wouldn't be too strict, but if it was a significant amount, it would not be allowed. This was their first real battle, and Liu Jun wanted to enforce this rule from the beginning.

"Don't take my words lightly; I am serious. The military guards and servants will check everyone. Have them turn in any hidden spoils and inform them that part of the spoils will be distributed as rewards. If anyone is found to have hidden spoils, they will be punished—light penalties will be fines, and severe penalties will be confinement and flogging. If the offense is particularly serious, they will be expelled from the militia."

The military guards responsible for discipline nodded and took notes.

The scribe continued, "We also seized several dozen knives, spears, and arrows. They are of various types, some are damaged, but most can still be used."

"Collect them and store them in the armory."

After the scribe finished his report, the military guards began to report.

"In this battle, no militia members tried to flee, and they all performed bravely. However, after the battle, some fought over the bandits' heads, even leading to verbal and physical altercations. We recorded five arguments over heads and two team fights over heads, which were fortunately stopped in time."

Liu Jun just smiled. This was inevitable. Although they had been trained to avoid fighting over heads and to work as a team, with the head of a bandit worth several dozen taels of silver, it was natural for them to fight over them. "Record those who fought and later have them punished by carrying water and cleaning the latrines, so they have something to do with their energy."

Li Chunjiang also smiled. This was not worth dwelling on, as there were clear rules in place. They just needed to follow the rules.

Everyone was silent for a moment, their eyes on Li Chunjiang and Liu Jun.

Liu Jun knew what they were thinking. The battle tonight was a success, but they had only eliminated one group of bandits. The main nest still existed. The interrogation of the captives had revealed the location of the bandits' main nest, the number of remaining bandits, and the detailed situation.

The bandits' main nest was in Qiting, located in the mountains between Macheng and Huanggang. The nest was built in a valley, appearing to be a group of refugees settling and farming, but in reality, it was a hideout for bandits and their families. There were about three hundred people there, including the elderly and children, with about a hundred able-bodied men, armed with spears, bows, and arrows.

Of course, what most excited the Nine-Headed Bird Militia was the large amount of money and grain the bandits had accumulated from their raids over the past year.

If they could raid this nest, they would gain a significant amount of money and grain, a real windfall.

This was like raiding a groundhog's den in winter. Raiding one den could not only catch several fat groundhogs but also find a stash of grain.

However, raiding this nest would not be easy. First, it was not like Xing'an Temple, which was just a temporary hideout. Qiting was a real bandit nest, with hundreds of people entrenched in the mountains, a fortified stronghold, and over a hundred able-bodied bandits armed with weapons.

Moreover, it was their home turf, and attacking it would not be as easy as this time.

It was a tempting target, but not easy to take.

Finally, Liu Jun broke the silence, "I think that killing fifty-three bandits this time is a significant achievement, and we have avenged the Lin family village. However, we cannot let the bandits off the hook. I believe we should not go alone to raid the nest. First, Qiting is far from here, and second, the bandits are numerous and well-fortified. Attacking them alone would result in significant casualties."

Liu Jun continued slowly, "Therefore, I suggest we return to the Queen City camp at dawn. We will inform the villagers and officials like Mr. Mei and County Magistrate Lu about our achievements and the location of the bandits' nest. We can join Mr. Mei and County Magistrate Lu in raiding the nest in Qiting."

Li Chunjiang was hesitant. The battle tonight was a great success, and he wanted to follow up by raiding the bandits' nest and wiping them out. This would not only avenge the Lin family village but also greatly enhance the reputation of the Nine-Headed Bird Cavalry.

If they returned and reported the information to the higher authorities, they would likely not play a significant role in the subsequent operations.

"Public Ji, we can't keep all the spoils to ourselves," Liu Jun said softly to Li Chunjiang. "This time, the bandits caused a lot of trouble, and the situation is very serious. Mr. Mei and County Magistrate Lu, and even the Huangzhou Garrison and Prefecture, are likely to be embarrassed. We have done enough with this battle. The task of raiding the nest should be left to them. Besides, attacking the nest with just our team would result in significant casualties, which is not worth it."

Li Chunjiang suddenly understood Liu Jun's point. Doing too much was not always good, and sometimes it was better to stop at the right moment.

"Alright, I'll follow your advice."

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