"If you wanted information about Liangshan, you could have interrogated them separately and talked more. Why did you have to kill them like this?"
The night wind blew under the eaves, and the smell of blood wafted from afar. Zhu Chaofeng and the others who had seen what had happened did not look very enthusiastic. Previously, Ning Yi had expressed his identity to Zhu Chaofeng and asked for his cooperation. It was one thing for Zhu Chaofeng to agree. After all, the Zhu Clan had no way to retreat, and it was always better to have more helpers.
However, now that there was a beginning, many things could be calmed down and discussed. Zhu Long's question was not without reason. Speaking of which, although the Liangshan bandits could be called tough men, it was impossible to say that they did not care about their lives. If they really wanted information now, as long as they interrogated them separately, they would say whatever they wanted. Even the leaders might not choose to resist. Ning Yi gathered them in the square and interrogated them one by one. This was the reason why these people were so stubborn. The Liangshan rebellion was based on the word "righteousness". Everyone was afraid of being seen by their companions if they rebelled on the spot.
However, his question was direct, and Ning Yi's answer was simple.
"Information … Who wants their information? Brother Zhu, you misunderstood. " Ning Yi smiled and then cupped his hands to Zhu Chaofeng. "The night is still long. Boss Zhu, please gather all the gentlemen in the village who can write and see blood. Come and have a look. Learn from them how to interrogate, organize and file information. It will be useful in the future."
He was covered in blood, and his face was still cold when he killed people. Although his smile was gentle, no one dared to look down on him. Zhu Chaofeng nodded. After a while, he finally raised his head and looked at Ning Yi.
"Young Master Lei, I admire you for using this method to make more than two hundred people disloyal. But even so, what can you do to the war of the Zhu Clan? Since you are a government official, you only revealed your identity now. It is obvious that you want to use the Lone Dragon Gang as a tool. Am I wrong about this? "
This was a real question.
As officials of the government, they had hidden here for so long before revealing themselves. It was obvious that they wanted to wait until the war was in full swing. They wanted the Lone Dragon Gang to deplete Liangshan's military strength, and then the government would reap the benefits without doing anything. However, under the man's questioning gaze, Ning Yi, who was still drenched in blood, smiled and wrapped his fist in his palm.
"Boss, I hope you understand. That's the best!"
Zhu Chaofeng suddenly waved his hand and said, "If you and the rest of the officials really want to exterminate the thief, why don't you send your army here? If he attacks my Lone Dragon Hill, you can attack him from the front and the back with the army. You can definitely inflict heavy losses on these Liangshan bandits! Where are the troops of the Wu Rui Battalion now? "
While Zhu Chaofeng was questioning him, Zhu Long was staring at Ning Yi with a murderous look. Ning Yi looked at him and smiled. "Boss Zhu, are you kidding? Didn't you just say that you were clear in your heart? How could you say such things now? You should know better than me what kind of combat power Wu Ruiying has. A pincer attack? If we are defeated one by one, I think it's possible … Or, let's take a step back and really retreat. Boss Zhu, do you think that he won't come again after three months or half a year? "
"If we are defeated one by one even when we join forces, how long can our Zhu Village hold out? Even if you want my Lone Dragon Hill to help, you have to at least help me get rid of this disaster first. Otherwise, in a few days, when my Zhu Village is attacked, what can you do? Use the lives of my three villages to deplete some of Liangshan's strength!? "
As the two conversed, Zhu Long seemed to have thought of something. He suddenly raised his head and said, "Could it be that you used my Lone Dragon Hill and Wan Jia Ridge as bait to let the Wu Rui Battalion launch a sneak attack on Liangshan? Plunder their assets? If this is really a plan to besiege Wei to rescue the besieged, this news should have reached them by now. Or are you really using the Zhu Village as a sacrificial pawn? "
The Zhu Village would not be able to hold out for too long. Although this feeling had not spread on a large scale, at least everyone in the Zhu Family already knew in their hearts. Right now, they were trying their best to protect themselves. If the army took the opportunity to run to Liangshan to take advantage of the situation and use them as sacrificial pawns, one could imagine their feelings. But honestly, it was not that the Wu Rui Battalion could not do such a thing. However, after he asked this, Ning Yi could not help but laugh.
"It's not that they don't want to die fast enough. Who would do such a thing …" He reached out and pinched his forehead. "Hehe … they can't even defeat them head-on, so they run to their base and force them into mourning soldiers. Even if they rebel, they still have their families. Once something like this happens, even if these twenty thousand people outside can't compare to the group of true women in the north, they can at least charge into the Wu Rui Battalion head-on. Within half a year, he might be able to sweep through half of Shandong. At that time, Song Jiang will be the emperor. These will be his most capable subordinates. He will hold our hands and thank us … "
He lowered his head and smiled. After saying this, when he raised his head again, his expression was completely cold.
"I won't beat around the bush. Boss Zhu, I'll tell you with all my sincerity. I can mobilize the Wu Rui Battalion, but we can only fight one battle at most. You know their battle strength. Whether it's to go to Liangshan to raid the base or to attack from both sides to break the siege of the Zhu Village, the problem cannot be solved. If Liangshan comes again, you're dead. "
"But if the army doesn't come, the Zhu Village may die right now!" Zhu Chaofeng looked at him.
"At least I'll die with you." Ning Yi replied indifferently. "If they don't die, we die. Then there's only one way. This time, we'll let all the people of Liangshan die here. We'll break them up and wipe them out in one go."
Zhu Long shouted, "What nonsense are you talking about!"
"It's indeed nonsense!" Ning Yi waved one hand. Zhu Long took half a step back almost reflexively, thinking that the madman in the yard was going to attack again. "The Wu Rui Battalion is greedy for life and afraid of death. Aren't you the same! If you want to say that attacking Liangshan is the responsibility of the government, that's right. You can scold them! What's the use! But now … Boss Zhu, you should understand that if Liangshan doesn't die, you'll be the ones to die. I want to ask you now, if the siege of Dulonggang is solved and Liangshan can really be killed, are you willing to send your troops and fight for real … "
Ning Yi looked at him and said, "I can't deal with the soldiers of the Wu Rui Battalion. I can only rely on you."
Zhu Chaofeng said, "Don't tell me … you really have a way?"
"It's just a possibility. I'm already doing it." Ning Yi gestured to the yard over there. "Boss Zhu, you can see for yourself whether it's possible or not. It won't work within three days … I'm going to die here with you anyway. If I kill them, they won't let me go. It's the same for the Zhu family. Even if you treat them well, they'll definitely kill the Zhu family … Think about it yourself. I'll go back and wash up. "
As Ning Yi spoke, he walked past the father and son of the Zhu family. Zhu Long thought for a moment, then turned around and said, "Do you really think this will work? Even if you get all the information out of them, even if you can get all of them to come to our side, so what? At most, there'll only be about a hundred people! Do you think Liangshan won't be able to do anything? Let me tell you, if they're lying, you won't be able to find out in two or three days! "
In the light, Ning Yi turned around and smiled.
"To be honest, Brother Zhu, you're wrong. Whether they'll tell the truth or not, whether they'll come to our side or not, heh …" He spread out his hands, his eyes cold, and said word by word, "I know everything. It doesn't matter. "
*****
It was getting late at night. The battlefield was filled with the smell of blood, corpses, and burning.
The summer temperature was high. The smell left by the continuous battles had become very unpleasant in this steam-like weather. On the small path near the Zhu and Hu Family Village, groups of people advanced silently. As far as their eyes could see, they could see the celebratory fires of Liangshan's military camp.
Occasionally, cries could be heard from the group.
The battles during the day were not as disastrous as the large-scale positional battles, but there would be corpses left behind when they came and went. At night, when Liangshan's people stopped attacking, the people in the village would come out and transport the corpses back as much as possible. At the same time, they would take advantage of the darkness to continue laying bamboo sticks, traps, and caltrops, so that they would have more space to maneuver in tomorrow's battle.
Of course, this kind of thing did not necessarily go unhindered at night. Liangshan's side had enough manpower. Occasionally, a general would lead three to five hundred people to attack at night. Even if they did not have the geographical advantage, with their high morale, they could still kill the soldiers in the village. In the early nights and at night, there were many women who came out to collect the corpses. However, after a few attacks, some were killed, and some were captured on the spot and brought back to Liangshan's military camp. If they went closer at night, they could sometimes vaguely hear the women crying. A few men in the village could not bear such humiliation and rushed to Liangshan's military camp at night. Before they reached, they were all shot dead.
In the past few nights, Luan Tingyu and the others made a rule that even if the villagers went out to set traps, they were not allowed to run around in the middle of the night. Those who went out to collect the corpses were also men or old women. However, in the past few days, there were no more cries. It was said that when Guan Sheng, Li Kui, and other leaders of Liangshan inspected the military camp, they thought that these women brought trouble to the military camp, bullied women and children, and also ruined the reputation of the heroes of Liangshan. So they killed all the women and women they caught and threw the corpses out of the military camp, so that they would not be humiliated again.
The war had been going on for several days. Even some of the villagers who came out at night were injured. They looked at the scene of Liangshan's military camp from afar. Among the crowd, there were still some who would crack a few jokes, but most of them had already fallen silent. They clenched their teeth and set up tripping ropes on the road and inserted bamboo sticks, hoping that they would be of use in the future. The place was big, but there was not enough manpower. These things were better than nothing. They could only do so much.
In the desolate wind, sometimes the women's cries echoed. They were women whose family members had all died. When they came out, they could not even find the corpses. Most of them had broken down mentally and were half-crazy. If such women had to come out, even the villagers could not stop them. Their lonely figures swayed in the fields and forests. The villagers tried their best to keep an eye on them, hoping that they would give up when they could not find the corpses. If there was money left after setting up the traps, they would be brought back to the village. If they ran away, they could only hope that they would die a good death.
Living in such a world, even if one wanted to sympathize with such things, it was not enough. A crazy person without a family was equivalent to a dead person. In the Liangshan Military Camp, not many people would be moved by this or even slightly moved. But after seeing it many times, their hearts became normal. Drinking big bowls of wine and eating big pieces of meat, robbing the rich to help the poor, being loyal to one's brothers, and enforcing justice on behalf of heaven. Could it be that those who did this still not be considered as good men?
Some people were ambitious, some enjoyed the moment, some enjoyed the pleasure of killing people and the glory of power, and some enjoyed the moment of forcing the enemy to the cliff little by little. After days of fighting, even though there were casualties, the momentum and morale of Liangshan were already like the sun at high noon. Taking advantage of the darkness of the night, another general led his subordinates out, laughing loudly, to give those ants who had set up the traps a little surprise.
The scattered villagers fled back to the Zhu Village in chaos. Zhu Long led some people out to meet the others who had not returned. In the darkness, there was laughter and the chorus of Liangshan soldiers' shouts. In such chaos and darkness, in the small square of the courtyard, more than two hundred people in Liangshan had been reduced by half. Occasionally, some corpses were dragged out of the huts and thrown away, but the proportion had been greatly reduced. Only eight or nine people were killed out of the one hundred people who were interrogated.
This kind of interrogation took a long time. After the interrogation, the captives were taken away from the back door and randomly locked into small rooms. Each room had at most three to five people. They were given food and were not allowed to speak. This was not the only interrogation that targeted more than two hundred people that night.
Wang Shanyue walked through the room and listened to the questions and answers coming from inside. At this time, he had already understood the general outline of the whole thing. The first questions were basically names, places of origin, how did they come to Liangshan, which leader of Liangshan they belonged to, who they knew, and then many basic questions about Liangshan intelligence, as well as what secrets they wanted them to confess.
Among these questions, some were willing to answer, some lied, and some were diehard Liangshan and chose not to say anything. Even so, after entering the hut of the interrogation, they did not force them to answer. Time slowly passed, and then they were taken to the small cells in the back where three to five people gathered. Among such people, only a few were casually killed and their corpses were tossed out.
One by one, the "answer sheets" were handed in and sent to a small room on the second floor of the courtyard. Since he changed into new clothes and came here, Ning Yi had been staying in this room, filing the answers one after another, thinking, comparing, and sorting out new questions for a certain person. This was a very heavy workload. Originally, Wang Shanyue, Qi Xinhan, and the others had asked if they needed help, but all they got was a shake of the head.
"I'm afraid it's a little troublesome to do this for the first time. I'll finish this time first, and I'll need your help in the future …"
In fact, Wang Shanyue had already seen some of these questions and answers. For example, there might be some fictitious questions among the questions, such as whether there was a small path at the east gate of Liangshan, and whether it could be used for a sneak attack. The question itself did not exist, but according to the answers of the other party, he could see their thoughts. Some frankly said they did not know, some said they did not, and some said they did, and they made up stories vividly.
In this way, more than two hundred answers were read one by one and cross-compared back and forth. Next was the second interrogation and the second comparison of the answer sheets. Some people's lies were pointed out, and some were not. After the interrogation, it was already early in the morning when most people had fallen asleep. Ning Yi began to gather the captives in groups of three to five and talked to them in the small room.
This time, the words were almost the same.
I'm the vanguard this time, and the Wu Rui Battalion has been dispatched … It's up to you whether you believe it or not, but you can see for yourself what will happen next … I'm giving you a way out because I want you to do something for me. If you do it, you'll be pardoned … Your information is all here. I'm here on the order of the Right Chief Minister. These are the rewards for your work … Of course, it's okay if you don't do it, but I can't tell what will happen when you're defeated like a mountain … "
In Wang Shanyue's view, these words were mostly empty threats, but Ning Yi's expression was as if it was a matter of course. After he finished speaking, he issued tasks to each person in private. Even those who were diehard and did not say anything were locked up for a while by him, and then pulled back.
In fact, Zhu Chaofeng was also watching the situation here.
During the whole night's development, the Childe called Luo Hu stayed up all night. In fact, since the end of the second interrogation, almost everything was done by this young man alone. Zhu Chaofeng seemed to have understood something about the whole process, but he could not fully understand it. However, when they met in groups of three to five, what surprised him was that this callous young man remembered almost everyone's information. As long as it was on the answer they gave, he would be able to say it at will.
He did not know what use it would be to torment more than two hundred people like this. But the whole night's process was closely linked and did not stop at all. It was like a strange and huge hydraulic workshop. In the darkness, the courtyards were like a crouching giant beast. It was swallowing something, chewing, digesting, and then … about to spit something strange out.
The next morning, when the morning fog rose and the war started again outside, the matters in these courtyards finally came to an end. Ning Yi walked out of his room and applied cold water to his face. He was constantly summarizing, thinking, and writing throughout the night, and in the end, he talked non-stop. But at this time, his face did not show much fatigue, and the slight haggardness made his eyes look sharper and deeper.
He went out to meet Zhu Chaofeng, Luan Tingyu, Zhu Long, Zhu Hu, and Zhu Biao. After saying what needed to be said, the Liangshan soldiers who were locked in the small cells were called out and ordered to wear the Liangshan soldiers' uniforms. Some were put into sacks, and some were escorted to the gate of Zhu Village.
On the morning of the fifth day of the sixth month, the Liangshan soldiers came to challenge again. Then, the sounds of killing rose everywhere. On this day, the Zhu Village people, who were already powerless to reverse the situation, made strange movements. It was not until noon that they attracted the attention of Wu Yong and the others. At that time, they were already discussing how to attack Yunzhou and how to celebrate after conquering Dulonggang.
On the road to the side of Zhu Village, in the morning fog, three people were poured out of sacks and thrown into the fields.
At the east gate of Zhu Village, Liu Fu and two Liangshan soldiers who they did not know were pushed over. Someone threw mud at them. In front of them, someone opened the gate.
"Get lost!"
Someone kicked their butts a few times, and they walked forward. When the three of them turned around, the gate of Zhu Village was slammed shut behind them. Three weapons were thrown down from the gate. When they raised their heads, the fog in front of them thinned. Freedom was right in front of them.
"You … want to drive a wedge between us …" Someone was cursing somewhere, but the sounds of killing could be heard from the battle formation. In the end, they could only move toward Liangshan.
On the outer wall of the village, Zhu Chaofeng and the others watched the battle outside. Beside them, the young man named Liu Fu rubbed his face in the morning breeze.
"Phew … the seeds of evil have been released. Just wait for them to germinate … Boss Zhu, I'm going to take a nap …"
The crowd watched as his figure staggered away. A strange, low voice came from the wind.
"There … on the right side of the left leg … on the left side of the right leg … in the big black forest … They are mischievous and smart, they are lively and quick-witted, they live freely in the big black forest … Da da da da, I forgot how to sing …"
The battle in the wind did not stop. Killing was everywhere, and smoke and blood were still rising.
"… Motherf * cker … Who are these people …"
*****
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