"Raise shields." Ye Shikai personally held a shield, ca to the front, and together with a dozen shield soldiers, tightly blocked the entrance of the cave, preventing the robbers from throwing more fire sources inside. He also ordered the soldiers behind to extinguish the torches already thrown in with sand. Although there was no open fla, thick smoke still flooded the cave, suffocating everyone.
Ye Shikai looked outside through the gaps between the shields. The robbers, seeing they couldn’t throw torches inside, charged back, aiming to break through the shield formation.
"Break the shield formation, prepare spears."
When the robbers were five steps away, Ye Shikai shouted. The soldiers behind, eager to act, broke the formation, thrusting out a dozen long spears. The charging robbers were imdiately pierced, leaving multiple bloody holes on their bodies.
Ye Shikai took out a bronze sword, stabbing powerfully through a gap between shields, and ended a robber.
"Retreat, retreat." Seeing this, the robbers knew they couldn’t break Ye Shikai’s "Hedgehog Formation" and had to pull back.
"Shield formation, advance." Watching the robbers retreat, Ye Shikai imdiately ordered the shield soldiers to raise their shields, blocking the cave entrance tightly again. Luckily these robbers didn’t have battering rams or such weapons, otherwise just relying on the soldiers’ bodies to hold shields wouldn’t have been enough.
"Centurion, your thod is brilliant; they just can’t get in." After several rounds of combat, the soldiers’ confidence was greatly boosted. Apart from the initial losses when Chief Li clashed head-on with the robbers, none were injured so far. Ye Shikai was like a "hard nut," leaving the robbers without "pliers" helpless even after "breaking their teeth."
"Don’t let your guard down; I’m worried these robbers still have so tricks." Ye Shikai kept watching the robbers’ movents through the gaps. If it were him, he would certainly ignite oil to "break the formation," or use weapons like Molotov cocktails. But this was the Qin Dynasty, and moreover, they were just a bunch of robbers unlikely to have fuel.
Tap, tap, tap...
"Centurion, do you hear that? It sounds like hoofbeats." Chief Li suddenly exclaid, prompting everyone to listen carefully. Indeed, a rush of hoofbeats ca from a distance, growing clearer, signaling that the group was getting closer...
"Could it be reinforcents for the robbers?" a soldier said a bit fearfully, causing a wave of anxiety among the crowd.
"Do not panic, everyone. Listen, these hoofbeats are chaotic, with perhaps dozens of horses. If they were robbers, they wouldn’t have so many horses. This ans our reinforcents have arrived." Ye Shikai shouted loudly.
"It’s our reinforcents."
"Great."
"Quickly, surround them, don’t let a single one escape." Soon, Shangguan Jian’s voice was heard outside the cave. He had already led the cavalry to the grain warehouse at the cave.
"Great, everyone, let’s rush out and kill them." Seeing the reinforcents, the great weight in Ye Shikai’s heart finally lifted. These robbers were already cornered, unable to escape.
"Charge out."
"Attack."
The shield formation opened, and dozens of soldiers stord out, ripping the wet cloths off their faces and gasping deeply, nearly suffocating from the smoke. At last, reinforcents had arrived, boosting the morale of the troops who drove the robbers back again and again.
"The Qin Army is here. Lay down your weapons and surrender quickly, or it will be like smashing an egg against a rock." Shangguan Jian shouted loudly from his horse, full of montum. The robbers, already sowhat fearful, found themselves surrounded by the defense troops in front and cavalry and a large number of infantry behind. Even if they escaped, they couldn’t outrun the cavalry, naturally destroying any will to resist. They put down their broken weapons and knelt, surrendering, as the Qin infantry that ca from behind closed in.
"How are you, alright?" Shangguan Jian turned his horse and ca beside Ye Shikai, asking.
"Rest assured, I’m fine, and so is the grain warehouse." Ye Shikai nodded, feeling delighted. Having captured so many robbers, the public security in Shangshui Village should improve quite a bit after this.
"Haha, that’s excellent."
"Who goes there?" Suddenly, catching sight of sothing, Ye Shikai noticed a sneaky man trying to escape along the burned wooden wall. Ye Shikai, quick to react, nocked an arrow and shot instantly, piercing the man’s knee.
"Ah!"
"Capture him for ." Ye Shikai shouted, and several soldiers imdiately moved forward to seize the man.
"Who are you?" Ye Shikai looked at the man’s face, finding it sowhat familiar. Earlier, a robber who couldn’t handle the pressure tried to escape, and it was this man who killed him and incited the robbers to set fires.
Clearly, he must be a leader.
"My lord, I had no choice and took to banditry rely to make a living. Please have rcy and spare ." The man tremblingly knelt before Ye Shikai, begging.
"If you were truly just a bandit scrounging for food, how could you incite others to burn us? You seed as calm as a well-trained person." Ye Shikai finished speaking, and the man’s body trembled violently.
"Shangguan, it was he who incited the burning. Without him, these robbers would’ve long scattered." Ye Shikai walked behind the man, twisting the arrow in his knee vigorously, causing blood to flow. Watching it was painful.
"Ordinary people would be pale and sweating after such intense pain, crying for rcy. Yet you remain silent." Ye Shikai said coldly.
"L... Lord, I’m not lying. Please spare my life." The man pleaded fearfully.
Ye Shikai looked at the sabre at the man’s waist, crouched down, and took it.
"No wonder you could kill with one strike; this is a prairie saber, powerful in slashing, but typically, bandits in the central plains wouldn’t have such a weapon."
"I... I just found it and thought it was handy, so I used it. Please, my lord, see clearly."
"Shangguan, look at this man’s tall stature, slightly larger hips, powerful legs, clearly soone who rides often, and possesses a prairie saber. I reckon this person is a spy from the Wolf Clan. His goal was likely to incite and direct nearby robbers to burn the grain warehouse, hindering the army from advancing to the front line." Ye Shikai sneered, speaking to Shangguan Jian.
"I think so too. This person’s features are quite similar to those of the Wolf Clan cavalry, and the timing of the attack, just days before the higher-ups were to inspect the grain, can’t be a coincidence." Shangguan Jian nodded in agreent, stepping forward and kicking the man to the ground.
"Soone, take this man to the county, have the Prison Officer guard him well; I will personally interrogate him tomorrow."
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