Traveling through the mountains and farming

Chapter 122 Sharpening the Knife

After Li Chongwu and Fang Yu's groups left, the people living in seclusion in the cave learned that the bandits were planning to harm them, and they all looked solemn and prepared for battle.

They spontaneously prepared for battle.

A few little kids took their bamboo knives and begged the adults to help them sharpen them. They also asked for help to sharpen the arrows made of bamboo strips.

Due to the shortage of iron arrows, they have been using tough bamboo to make bamboo arrows instead.

Several ladies took out the whetstones from their homes and started sharpening their knives vigorously.

For a moment, the sound of sharpening knives echoed in the secluded cave.

These families living in seclusion in the caves all came to Shanquan Village to escape famine. They were able to survive numerous hardships and dangers, and they all had bloodiness and a certain amount of survival wisdom.

Especially the uncles and aunts, who protected their children through numerous hardships and dangers. The experiences of several uncles and aunts fleeing famine when they were young made them tough.

Therefore, facing the current crisis, they have no intention of retreating, but are full of fighting spirit.

Seeing this, Li Chongle brought out a whetstone from home, and Li Ke followed behind with a kitchen knife and a hatchet.

He walked up to Lin Wan and said seriously, "Sister-in-law, let's sharpen the knife too."

"Yes, and our bamboo swords and bamboo arrows are all sharpened." Li Ke responded.

Lin Jing turned around and ran back. After a while, he came back with a few pottery bottles and said in a baby voice:

"Take all of these. The larger bottle is the itching powder, and the smaller bottle is the ecstasy drug. Unfortunately, my master hasn't taught me how to make poison yet. You can use these first, and I'll make poison for you later."

Lin Wan was confused by the actions of these three kids. These old people were not afraid because they were experienced, but these little ones were not afraid at all and were full of fighting spirit.

Is this what it means to be a newborn calf that is not afraid of a tiger?

While she was distracted, two small ceramic bottles had been stuffed into her hands, and Li Chongle had already started sharpening the knife in a serious manner.

Li Ke was practicing with a bamboo sword next to him. Xiaobai thought it was just like his usual morning exercises, so he ran around excitedly and cried loudly.

Everyone living in the secluded cave is preparing for the coming battle. Men, women, young and old are working together to fight to protect their homeland.

When Fang Xuewen was brought in by Li Chongwu and others, he was shocked when he saw this scene.

He originally thought that everyone would be at a loss in fear and panic, but he didn't expect that they would be so united.

Moreover, this cave is well constructed. It doesn't look like a shelter but more like a secluded retreat.

When everyone saw Li Chongwu and his men coming back, they gathered around and asked about the bandits.

Li Chongwu described in detail the number of bandits, their weapons and equipment.

"Since they are not truly fierce bandits, we don't have to be afraid!"

"Those bandits are actually villagers? This is a bit unexpected. They should not be very strong in combat."

"Don't forget, they robbed all the way here, they must have a certain strength, and they are ruthless."

"It's possible that they rely on their numbers to rob the weak. Li Chongwu just said that they are all young and strong men."

For a while, everyone started discussing it.

Uncle Li raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet: "No matter who they are, we can't take it lightly. We have to plan carefully and use our advantage of being familiar with the terrain to catch them off guard."

"Yes, let's set traps on the road so that they can't come back." Someone agreed.

"We may not have enough time to dig a trap, and how can we get them to walk into the trap we set?"

Lin Wan was analyzing the situation of the bandits based on what Li Chongwu had found out.

She felt that the two sides might be equally strong and it was not suitable for a head-on confrontation. It would be best to take the initiative and adopt an ambush strategy to maximize one's own advantages.

Seeing that no one had given a definite battle plan, she asked:

"Uncle Dashan, you guys are familiar with this mountain. Is there any valley or place suitable for an ambush?"

"I know a valley. If they pass through there, we can launch a surprise attack on the slopes on both sides." Luo Dashan said quickly.

"Uncle Dashan, is the valley you are talking about the one we just happened to mark this morning? Isn't this too much of a coincidence?" Li Chongwu said in surprise.

"Yes, I didn't think too much about it at the time. I just thought that the terrain over there was complicated, so I lured them over there and created some difficulties. I didn't expect that it would be a good idea."

"That's a good idea."

"Then I'll go over quickly and set it up before they get here."

He Lizheng made a prompt decision: "I suggest that we take the tools and people and go there immediately to deploy directly there."

"Okay, He Lizheng ask those of you who are living in seclusion in the valley to go directly to meet up, and we in the cave will go there now. Li Chongwu, you lead the way for He Lizheng and the others." Uncle Li ordered decisively.

Everyone took action immediately, and He Li was hurriedly gathering people in the valley.

Seeing their grandfather, father and brothers going home to get tools and weapons, the children could not sit still and all asked to be taken with them.

They had just eavesdropped on the entire discussion of their elders and knew that they were going to ambush the bandits, so they privately agreed to only be responsible for shooting arrows on the hillside and not to participate in close combat, so there would be no danger.

The parents disagreed at first, but the children were determined and repeatedly assured that they would obey orders.

Finally, Uncle Li decided to take away the boys over the age of seven and use this opportunity to train their courage and bravery.

At this time, Lin Wan suggested reserving people to defend and patrol the cave entrance in case of other emergencies.

She felt that if they were more thoughtful, everyone would have more protection.

Lin Wan calculated that there were more than 30 people including children who were going to set up an ambush in the valley, and the other side also had nearly 30 people, all of whom were young and strong. It seemed that they really had to rely on an ambush to win.

Seeing that Li Chongle was also going to go, Lin Wan specifically told him not to engage in close combat, but to just shoot arrows from a distance on the hillside and protect himself.

Lin Jing ran over to check whether Li Chongle had brought the medicine he gave him, and reminded him to remember to sprinkle the ecstasy on the bandits at the critical moment.

Seeing that everyone was on high alert, Doctor Zhong also wanted to contribute, so he volunteered to go along so that if anyone was injured they could provide timely treatment.

As time was running out, they ran and shortened the journey from more than an hour to about half an hour.

After the two groups met in the valley, they immediately began to make arrangements as they had previously agreed.

Find suitable shooting positions on the slopes on both sides, arrange the archers, especially the young archers, and tell them to stay in the designated positions.

Quickly transport stones from the surrounding area and find a convenient position for the attack.

Everything was ready and everyone was quietly waiting for the bandits to arrive.

Li Chongwu, who was looking for information ahead, came running over in a hurry:

"They stopped at the fork in the road that leads here and to the cave. I don't think they want to go to the cave."

Everyone felt nervous when they heard this.