The Ming Dynasty: Starting with bandits, it swept across the land.

The government cavalry made a great show of searching from four directions, searching for an area of ​​fifty miles outside the city all day long.

According to them, they "searched even the fox dens," but still found no trace of the bandits, so they had to return to the city to report.

In reality, Li Chengye's large force was hidden in Liushi Village, which is only one mile west of Yanchang County.

Liushi Village is located next to Houyu Mountain and is only one kilometer away from Gaonu Mountain, north of Yanchang County.

Houyu Mountain got its name from the fog that rises before rain, which people often use to predict the weather.

At this time, Houyu Mountain was bathed in clear blue skies, free of fog, but its terrain was crisscrossed with ravines. Liushi Village was situated on a slope at the foot of Houyu Mountain.

Government cavalry also reached this place.

They went into the village to investigate and found that there were no other roads outside the village.

Two daring cavalrymen attempted to continue exploring along the faintly visible mountain path, but both horses stumbled and broke their legs after stepping into potholes, so they refused to venture any further.

They merely glanced at the area to see if there were any signs of a large group of people passing by before withdrawing.

Little did they know that Li Chengye's large force was hiding in a desolate valley on the hillside behind Liushi Village.

This place was extremely secluded, and would have been impossible to find without a local guide. It was the village head who took the initiative to lead them in.

Liushi Village was originally poor and had no wealthy households. The only brick building was the village ancestral hall.

When Li Chengye passed by last time, he distributed some grain to the villagers. Although the villagers thanked him to his face, they were not particularly enthusiastic behind his back.

However, when the government troops arrived, they claimed that "the villagers had received grain from the thieves and must pay back the grain tax," which immediately enraged the villagers. But they were helpless against the government troops' weapons and let them take away the grain.

In comparison, the villagers felt that although Li Chengye and his men were bandits, they were much better than the government officials, so when they came again, they took the initiative to welcome them to hide in the village.

However, the villagers of Liushi Village also made a small request.

"Master Li, could you please get back the grain that the government troops looted?"

Upon hearing the villagers' request, Li Chengye gave a wry smile.

He initially thought that his group was welcomed by the villagers because they had won the hearts of the people. Now it seemed that the villagers simply wanted to get their grain back, but dared not fight the government troops, so they came to them for help.

But then I thought about it again, isn't what ordinary people just want a peaceful meal?

Whoever can give them food, whoever can feed them, will win their hearts. Thinking about it this way, my original idea wasn't entirely wrong.

However, considering his arrangements for today, Li Chengye felt that it was highly unlikely he would get the villagers' grain back.

But looking at the villagers' eager and expectant eyes, he felt he couldn't just say "no".

So he nodded and replied, "I will do my best."

He then instructed Xu Youlu to take fifteen shi of grain from the military rations and bring over two donkeys as a reward to the villagers.

The villagers accepted Li Chengye's gift with a touch of joy.

After the government cavalry returned to the city and reported that they had found nothing, Wang Lian was furious and reprimanded them for their poor scouting.

That very night, the government granary where the army stored grain suddenly caught fire.

In recent days, Wang Lian's troops had collected 1,500 shi of grain, enough to feed the entire army for half a month, but now it has been completely destroyed by a fire.

Wang Lian clenched his fists in anger as he looked at the burning granary.

Ba Shangfeng and Li Huaiguang, who were standing to the side, dared not utter a sound.

After a while, seeing that the fire was ultimately beyond saving, Wang Lian gave the order.

"Drag all the officers guarding the granary out and execute them!"

Li Huaiguang opened his mouth, but ultimately did not dare to plead for mercy.

The granary guard was one of his subordinates, but seeing Wang Lian's furious and ruthless manner, he remained silent.

Soon, two severed heads were presented. Wang Lian glanced at them with disgust and turned to return to the camp.

At this moment, Su He was in his own courtyard, looking at Li Luo and the people around him with trepidation.

There were five or six people around Li Luo, and Su He recognized them all; they were the same group of people who had previously impersonated county yamen runners.

At this moment, many of these people, including Li Luo, had faces that were somewhat smoky and blackened.

"Brother Luo, why are you here again? Didn't we agree not to look for me for a while?"

Li Luo waved his hand, indicating that he was also helpless.

"Who told the government troops to arrive so quickly?" he continued. "We originally planned to burn the granaries and leave the city, but who knew the government troops would impose martial law on the whole city, so we had no choice but to hide at Lord Su's house for the time being."

Suhe listened helplessly, but still arranged for them to change clothes and pretend to be his servants.

It is obvious that the fire at the official granary was caused by Li Luo and his men.

In recent days, in order to announce the recapture of the city, the government troops did not strictly restrict the entry and exit of pedestrians. Li Luo took the opportunity to sneak into the city with his brothers who had been to Yanchang County before.

He had spent a considerable amount of time in Yanchang County and was very familiar with the city. That very night, he seized the opportunity and led his men to burn down the granary.

When Wang Lian returned to the camp, he realized that he was in a predicament.

Now, food supplies are scarce, and the enemy is hiding in the shadows, their whereabouts unknown.

He had come here to gain military merit, but now, if he was not careful, he might even lose his life, which made him feel a lot of pressure.

Upon returning to the camp, he immediately wrote a letter and sent a messenger out of the city at night to Suizhou to request that a batch of grain be sent from there.

An Guo, the deputy commander guarding the eastern route of Yansui in Suizhou, was an old friend of his, and he believed that the other party would give him face.

Just in case, he sent another letter to Xi'an Prefecture, reporting the current situation: the bandits here are numerous and powerful, and it is difficult to distinguish between officials and civilians. Although our side is well-trained, we do not have enough troops to carry out a sweep. We earnestly request Governor Hu to send more troops to support us.

However, after thinking about it for half the night, he still felt that he could deal with the bandits in northern Shaanxi.

The next day, as the drums sounded, Wang Lian held a meeting in the main camp.

Once everyone had arrived, he gave the order directly: "Li Huaiguang, listen to my command!"

"You will lead 500 men to stay and guard Yanchang County. You must be vigilant and ensure that the key areas are well defended and that no one is lost."

Although Li Huaiguang did not take a seat, he still responded loudly, "Yes, sir!"

Wang Lian then announced: "The rest of the troops, follow me to Yan'an Prefecture."

Seeing that his commander-in-chief had made up his mind, Ba Shangfeng, though unwilling to offend his superior's authority, still spoke up: "General, our army only has enough provisions for three days, and the enemy situation in Yan'an Prefecture is unclear. If we rashly advance now, and the prefecture falls, we will have no way to procure provisions, and we risk total annihilation!"

Wang Lian waved his hand to stop him: "Just follow my military orders."

Seeing Wang Lian's arbitrary decision, Ba Shangfeng stopped trying to persuade him.

He has fulfilled his duties as a subordinate, and if anything changes in the future, it will be difficult to hold him accountable.

Subsequently, the entire battalion began to reorganize its troops. Wang Lian then ordered Zhao Huan to find several guides familiar with the roads in the city and appoint them as the vanguard.

Upon hearing the news, Yu Shideng, the magistrate of Yanchang County, rushed to the camp and stopped Wang Lian, advising him:

"Why doesn't Commander Wang wait until he has ascertained the true situation before sending troops?"

Wang Lian refused sternly: "Yan'an Prefecture is in imminent danger. How can we sit idly by? Li Huaiguang and five hundred soldiers have been left in the city, which is enough to deal with any unforeseen circumstances. Please rest assured, Magistrate."

Seeing that the arrangements were already made, Shi Deng could no longer persuade him.

After all, it was Wang Lian who released him from prison. If Wang Lian wrote a few more words in the report to Governor Hu, he would be in deep trouble. So he had no choice but to stop interfering.

Subsequently, Wang Lian led more than 1,300 soldiers out of Yanchang County and headed towards Yan'an Prefecture along the Yan River.

At this moment, Li Chengye and his men were lying prone on the loess hills on the side of Yanchang County, watching Wang Lian's army depart into the distance.