Empire

In a hidden valley in the northern mountainous area of Qinghe Province, a bonfire was burning, and the barbecued wild boar was sizzling with fragrance.

Zhou Ba and his brothers sat around the bonfire in groups of three or five, cutting pieces of meat with sharp knives and chewing them with big mouthfuls, their mouths full of oil.

Zhou Ba and his men were born as mountain bandits. Although they have now joined Chen Ziang's army and become a member of the Qinghe Army, they still find it difficult to get rid of their banditry. There is a sense of rebellion in their bones.

The mountain bandits under Zhou Ba are also very powerful. They have performed well in several battles, which greatly made Zhou Ba proud.

Now Zhou Ba and his men are living a comfortable life in the Qinghe Army. Li Qiye has become a powerful chief of staff, and Zhou Ba has also become a battalion commander commanding thousands of people.

This time, Chen Ziang asked him to cut off the food supply of the Dynasty Army troops, and he had promised him in advance that he would be promoted to a lieutenant general after completing the task.

Chen Ziang not only did not despise Zhou Ba and his bandits, but also valued them very much, which moved Zhou Ba and his people and made them swear to be loyal to him until death.

Now Zhou Ba and his people have attacked two grain transport convoys of the Dynasty Army, and all the grain has been burned to ashes.

When they attacked the grain transport convoy of the Dynasty Army, they did not use the banner of the Qinghe Army, but deliberately left some traces of bandits to mislead the patrol team of the Dynasty Army.

The grain transport team was attacked, and the grain and grass could not be transported to the front line, which greatly affected the battle of the Dynasty Army in Qingyang Prefecture.

The fourth prince also attached great importance to it and sent a black cavalry battalion commander to lead a cavalry unit to encircle and suppress the people who attacked the grain team in order to clear the safety of the grain road.

When Zhou Ba and his people were resting in this hidden valley, the various bandit strongholds in the surrounding mountains were already in chaos.

Because Zhou Ba and his people deliberately framed them, the black cavalry thought that the culprit was the surrounding bandits.

In order to ensure the safety of the grain road and complete the task assigned by the fourth prince, the Black Cavalry launched a fierce attack on various bandit strongholds.

Although these bandit strongholds were bold and reckless, they did not dare to attack the grain transport team of the Dynasty Army.

Facing the encirclement and suppression of the Dynasty Black Cavalry, they also had their grievances, but the Black Cavalry did not listen to their explanations at all.

Seeing that the hard-earned strongholds were burned to ruins under the attack of the Black Cavalry, and their men were also killed and wounded, the bandits in these strongholds were also full of anger but helpless.

However, facing the brave and combative Black Cavalry, these bandits were just a group of rabble, and they had no power to resist at all, so they could only flee.

The Black Cavalry attacked everywhere, and the bandits gathered in the bandit strongholds within a hundred miles of the official road, and suffered one after another. They were defeated and suffered heavy casualties. The

Far East Dynasty was rampant with corruption and heavy taxes, which led to the gathering of most refugees who could not survive, and then became bandits.

Although they had become bandits who gathered in the mountains, they were still honest farmers at heart. They usually just robbed the rich to help the poor and looted houses. They never thought of fighting the regular army of the dynasty.

But even so, the Black Cavalry still did not let them go. They burned their villages and chased them to the point where they had no way out.

In these chaotic years, especially in the northern mountainous areas of Qinghe Province, it can be said that bandits are innumerable.

Now they are being chased by the Black Cavalry and they are in a mess. They can't beat them and can only flee all over the mountains. They feel very aggrieved.

As the culprit of this encirclement and suppression incident, the troops led by Zhou Ba hid in the dark and watched the show.

However, Zhou Ba and his men did not really stand idly by. When these bandits were in desperate situations, they unexpectedly helped them and immediately won the favor of the bandits.

"All of you brothers are heroes. It would be a waste of your talents to stay in the mountains. Why don't you join us and overthrow the Far East Dynasty? Then you will be granted titles and generals, and you will have everything you want."

Zhou Ba rescued the bandits who were being hunted, and then began to persuade them to join us.

"The Dynasty Army is very powerful, and our number is not enough to fill their teeth......."

These bandits are not fools. They know their own strengths and weaknesses very well and are unwilling to take risks easily.

If they remain bandits, they may be recruited, but if they rebel, there will be no way out. This is a completely different problem.

"Fortunes are sought in danger, there is no such thing as a pie falling from the sky. Anyway, we have nowhere to go now, so we might as well give it a try and fight for fame and fortune!"

Zhou Ba scratched his bald head and said with a smile:"I won't hide it from you. I used to be the boss of Erlongshan, and later joined the Qinghe Army. Now I am the commander of a battalion of 5,000 people."

Seeing that the unprepossessing bald man in front of him was actually the commander of a battalion of 5,000 people, the bandits took a deep breath

"I can tell you, if you join now, you can still get a position, but if you join too late, you will lose your position and can only be a soldier."

The Qinghe Army has turned Qinghe Province upside down, and these bandits are very clear about it.

The main reason why they did not join the Qinghe Army is that no one recommended them.

They are also very smart. If they rashly join without anyone's recommendation, they can only be cannon fodder.

Now Zhou Ba is willing to recommend them to the Qinghe Army. The strongholds of these bandits have been burned down, and they have suffered heavy losses in the crackdown of the Black Cavalry Army. Now they have nowhere to go.

More importantly, they are not willing to stay in the poor mountain valley for the rest of their lives. If they can really fight for fame and wealth, it will be worth their life in the world.

Zhou Ba made promises and inducements. Under his persuasion, many homeless bandits finally nodded and were willing to join the Qinghe Army. River Army.

In order to conceal their tracks, Zhou Ba and his men only had over a thousand troops to attack the grain road. Although they were elite troops, they were still short of manpower.

However, as he recruited a large number of bandits, their troops grew rapidly like a snowball.

In a short period of time, their strength exceeded 3,000 people, becoming a force that could not be ignored.

Although these bandits are currently just a group of rabble, they would definitely be defeated by the Hard Steel Dynasty army head-on.

But fortunately, these bandits are all ruthless and brave, and their individual combat capabilities are not weak. With more troops under his command, Zhou Ba's mind became more active. He set his sights on the light cavalry unit of the Black Cavalry that came to encircle them, and decided to do something big.