Chapter 52

"Clang, clang, clang!" The sound of the copper gong echoed repeatedly. Upon hearing this sound, the local militia from the Nine-Headed Bird cavalry, who were still chasing and fighting the roving soldiers, all shuddered involuntarily.

Drumming to advance, gonging to retreat.

This was the earliest flag and drum command knowledge that every Nine-Headed Bird militiaman learned upon joining the team. On the battlefield, the sound of the gong meant a retreat. Although this was just a brawl, upon hearing the gong, the Nine-Headed Bird militiamen still habitually stopped, reorganized their formation, and gathered back.

Standing on the tower of the fortress, Mei Zhihuan and the others looked down and clearly saw the Nine-Headed Bird militiamen gather like rivers flowing into the sea under the Nine-Headed Bird flag upon hearing the gong.

Their neat and swift formation was impressive. In contrast, the roving soldiers' militiamen, who had been scattered and fleeing, did not pay much attention to the gong. Many of them sat on the ground, rubbing their heads and feet, and continued to curse.

The difference was immediately apparent.

"Each team, form up in the parade ground and wait for Lord Mei's inspection!" A servant rode by and shouted loudly.

The drum sounds began, and each team started to form up according to the order.

Li Chunjiang, panting, leaned on his sword, while Liu Jun was not even out of breath.

"Causing such a big mess right from the start," Li Chunjiang said helplessly. Although he felt that Liu Jun leading the fight was wrong, he did not openly oppose it when Liu Jun took action and even joined in with his sleeves rolled up.

"Sometimes, it's necessary to show some muscle. Otherwise, if you're too nice, people will take advantage of you. When we arrived, some people accused us of killing innocent people and claiming credit. Facing such slander, arguing with them verbally is useless. It's better to punch them in the face. Just wait and see, Lord Mei and the others won't accuse us of killing innocent people anymore."

"But the roving soldiers will hate us to death."

"A bunch of fools, who cares about them."

A servant walked up to the two men, "Captain Li, Captain Liu, Lord Mei invites you to the fortress for a meeting."

Liu Jun and Li Chunjiang followed into the fortress, where Mei Zhihuan and a group of militia officers were waiting at the gate.

"Guoji, Jiyeh." Mei Zhihuan smiled and stepped forward.

"Your subordinate greets Lord Mei." Liu Jun and Li Chunjiang bowed.

Mei Zhihuan looked them over and then smiled, "Tell me, from beginning to end, in detail."

Liu Jun gestured to Li Chunjiang to speak. Li Chunjiang, indeed, found it hard to explain. As a scholar, he started from the Nine-Headed Bird's arrival in Queen City, then the local gentry's request for the Nine-Headed Bird team to help eliminate the bandits roving on the Guanghuang Road. He then described how he led the Night Watch and servants to search for the bandits' traces.

Finally, he talked about the brutal massacre at Lin Family Village, which revealed some clues, leading them to find the bandits' hideout. He then described how they, along with Liu Jun, led the Nine-Headed Bird to launch a night raid on the bandits and achieved a great victory.

The whole story was full of twists and turns.

"At the time, we were worried that the bandits might escape, so we acted on our own without reporting to Lord Mei. Fortunately, we did not fail our mission and eliminated these bandits, avenging the villagers of Lin Family Village."

"Although it was risky, the result was good." Mei Zhihuan was amazed by the Nine-Headed Bird's strong combat ability. After just a month of training, they achieved such results in their first battle, which was truly remarkable.

"Is the information about the bandits' hideout reliable?" Mei Zhihuan asked.

Liu Jun replied, "We captured fourteen prisoners. The information about the bandits' hideout was obtained through separate interrogations, so it should be accurate. We will hand over these prisoners to Lord Mei, and perhaps more useful information can be obtained from them." Liu Jun voluntarily handed over the prisoners, knowing that Mei Zhihuan would not believe them based solely on their words. But with living prisoners, they could conduct their own interrogations.

Once interrogated, they would know that their battle was genuine, and the details of the battle and the identities of the bandits would be as true as gold.

Of course, Mei Zhihuan could also obtain the information about the bandits' hideout from these prisoners.

"Send people to interrogate the prisoners immediately. Also, preserve the bandits' heads properly and take good care of the women." Mei Zhihuan instructed. Several servants responded and left. Then Liu Jun and Li Chunjiang sat down and answered many questions from Mei Zhihuan and the others.

The questions covered the training methods of the Nine-Headed Bird and the performance of the soldiers in battle.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a servant came in and whispered to Mei Zhihuan, "Lord Mei, the prisoners have been interrogated separately. As the Nine-Headed Bird said, they are indeed the bandits who massacred Lin Family Village. The bandit leader, Big Brother, was killed in the battle. They had fifty-three people involved in the massacre, thirty-nine were killed, fourteen were captured wounded, and none escaped. The information about the bandits' hideout has been verified, so it should be accurate."

Mei Zhihuan nodded, finally at ease. He laughed and stood up, "Alright, Guoji, Jiyeh, follow me to inspect our Baosheng Fortress militia. Many of the brothers haven't met you yet. Our Baosheng Fortress militia has the Regular Camp, Roving Camp, Cavalry, Artillery, and Night Watch, with several dozen teams, totaling over a thousand people. We not only protect Macheng County but also the surrounding counties. In fact, the entire Qihuang Eight Counties rely on us to defend against bandits and maintain peace."

"Now, our Baosheng Fortress militia has a rising star, an outstanding cavalry, the Nine-Headed Bird cavalry!"

Outside the fortress, several dozen teams stood together, except for the cavalry and Night Watch, which were on duty. Nearly a thousand people gathered there. However, it was clear that not all the teams were as elite as the Nine-Headed Bird. Liu Jun saw that although these militiamen were mostly young, most of them wore ragged clothes and carried only ordinary wooden spears, without even waist knives. Only a few had bows and arrows, and the rate of firearms was even lower.

However, after listening to Mei Zhihuan's introduction, Liu Jun gained a better understanding of the militia. In general, Mei Zhihuan's Baosheng Fortress militia was a joint armed force of local gentry.

The militia had over a dozen teams, including the Regular Camp, Roving Camp, Cavalry, Night Watch, and Artillery, all established by Mei Zhihuan and forming the core of the militia. Among them, the Regular Camp, Cavalry, Night Watch, and Artillery were the most elite. The Regular Camp had three hundred men, the Cavalry two hundred, the Night Watch fifty, and the Artillery three hundred.

The Roving Camp, recruited from the local population, served as an auxiliary force, with five hundred men but generally poor equipment. The entire camp had no firearms, no cannons, and only a few bows and arrows, mostly equipped with wooden spears. A standard cannon fodder force, Liu Jun saw it as just a number.

In the elite teams like the Regular Camp, they were actually formed by the joint efforts of many gentry from the Qihuang Eight Counties. Therefore, the basic unit of the militia was a company of about a hundred men, led by the sons of local gentry.

The Nine-Headed Bird cavalry was also formed in this way, fully supported by the Li family. However, there were some differences. The Nine-Headed Bird was supported by both the Li and Mei families, and the members were mainly recruited, with only Li Chunjiang and a few Li family servants in the team. The deputy captain, Liu Jun, had no connection to the Li family.

This joint nature allowed the Baosheng Fortress militia to have a large number of people, with over a thousand in the regular force and many more local gentry's servants who were closely associated with the militia and often joined in joint operations.

Each company belonged to the militia and was under the unified command of Mei Zhihuan, but was directly led by the sons of the major families. The militia's funding mainly came from donations from local gentry and merchants, which were centralized in Mei Zhihuan's hands and then distributed. Each team could also raise their own funds. The teams were under the dual command of Mei Zhihuan and the company captains.

Therefore, the equipment of each team varied. The Roving Camp, like an orphan, was only slightly better than beggars. In contrast, the Regular Camp and Cavalry had much better equipment.

However, compared to the Mei family's teams, even the Regular Camp and Cavalry were not as well-equipped as the Nine-Headed Bird.

Mei Zhihuan and the other team captains also noticed that the Nine-Headed Bird stood out in the crowd like a white crane among chickens.

Uniformly equipped with bright helmets and padded armor, all standing next to their horses, with dried blood on their bodies.

Liu Jun walked to the front of his team and shouted, "All stand at attention!"

Over a hundred men stomped their right feet on the ground simultaneously, making a loud sound, and then shouted in unison, "Tiger!"

The sound shook the sky, adding to the momentum of the cavalry.

Liu Jun turned and saluted Mei Zhihuan, "Deputy Captain Liu Jun of the Nine-Headed Bird cavalry from Queen City, leading my team as ordered, has arrived on time for Lord Mei's inspection."

The team captains looked at Liu Jun and the Nine-Headed Bird cavalry with shock. This Nine-Headed Bird cavalry, like their nine-headed phoenix flag, was truly impressive and even a bit intimidating.

Mei Zhihuan's gaze swept over the Nine-Headed Bird team members, and he finally nodded, "Well done, Nine-Headed Bird. I announce a reward of ten taels of silver for each of you!"

This one sentence was worth a thousand. The Nine-Headed Bird team members cheered excitedly, while the other militiamen looked at them with envy.

"Jiyeh, Guoji, I am about to personally lead the militia to raid the bandits' hideout in Qiting. Are you ready to fight?" Mei Zhihuan asked with a smile.

Liu Jun and Li Chunjiang both smiled and replied, "We are willing to follow Lord Mei to eliminate the bandits!"

"Good, take your men to rest and prepare. We will set out soon! This time, I will eliminate the bandits completely!"