amaotonovel Chapter 721 Robbery Success
Chapter 721 Robbery Success
At the same time that the ambush set up against Sun Lang was being formed, Sun Lang also led his men to Wuyang County.
On the way, Sun Yuan said regretfully, "It's such a pity to let Lin Ma Hu go like this. I still have a grudge against that bastard!"
No matter how badly a person does in life, they will always have a few friends; no matter how well they do, they will always have a few enemies. People like Sun Yuan, who make a living through shady dealings, have especially many enemies, and Lin Mahu is one of them.
Moreover, Sun Yuan was just a small-time bandit. He could only be bullied by Lin Mahu, who had the backing of the Chen family of Yingchuan and was both well-connected and held an official position. After being bullied so many times, he naturally harbored a grudge against Lin Mahu. He thought that this robbery would finally allow him to take revenge, but unexpectedly, the plan was changed, which made Sun Yuan very unwilling.
Sun Lang put his arm around his neck and comforted him, "What's the rush? A gentleman takes his revenge even after ten years. If you miss this chance, there will be another one. On the contrary, if you go there knowing there is an ambush, you will die there and there will be no next time."
Sun Yuan nodded and said, "Don't worry, brother, I understand the reasoning."
Sun Lang patted him on the shoulder to comfort him, then ran into the crowd to boost morale and commanded the troops to head towards Wuyang as quickly as possible.
At the hour of Chou (1-3 AM) in the dead of night, Sun Lang led his troops to Wuyang City and successfully arrived. He then ordered the main army to wait in place while he and Sun Yuan went to scout the vicinity of the city wall.
Wuyang is just an ordinary small county town with city walls only about ten feet high, a population of just over 30,000, and a garrison of no more than 300 troops.
Now the county magistrate has taken the garrison to Kunyang, and Wuyang has become a completely deserted city. The guards on the city walls are scattered, with at least fifty meters between each other.
More importantly, the county town didn't have a high-end feature like a moat. After determining their location, the Sun brothers, Sun Lang and Sun Yuan, exchanged a glance, took off the ropes from their backs, and swung the three-pronged hooks at the ends of the ropes. The iron hooks successfully hooked onto the battlements. The brothers grabbed the ropes and tested them, skillfully climbing up the city wall. After standing firm, they waved to the distance, beckoning the army to come over.
The army in the distance kept a close eye on the shadows of Sun Lang and his brother. When they saw them heading up the city wall, they immediately got up, carried three simple ladders made in the mountains—the kind of dilapidated things that would collapse with a push, as seen in later TV dramas—and rushed to the bottom of the city wall to quickly climb up.
Such a commotion naturally alerted the dozing sentries on the city wall. Opening their eyes, the sentries saw hundreds of enemy soldiers charging towards them and, startled, instinctively shouted, "Enemy attack...enemy attack..."
Sun Lang, standing on the city wall, was still some distance from the sentry and could not rush over to stop him from calling for help. He could only shout sternly, "Get out of the way! The magistrate has already run away. What are you, a mere soldier, holding on for? Don't you even know how many of you there are?"
There are currently fewer than twenty sentries on all four city walls combined, and only four or five on the city wall where Sun Lang is located. Do you really think that all Wei soldiers are like Lü Bu?
The sentry on alert was awakened by Sun Lang's roar. He looked around and tragically found himself all alone. He promptly threw down his weapon and turned to run away.
He's not stupid; why would he go up and fight head-on under these circumstances?
With the sentries gone, the bandits below the city had no more scruples and rushed to the city wall, setting up ladders and quickly scaling the walls.
However, the three ladders were too slow to climb the city wall. After only twenty men had made it up, Sun Lang couldn't wait to lead them down the wall and open the city gate. The remaining army quickly poured in through the gate.
Sun Lang roared at the crowd, "Follow me! First, we'll attack the county government and rob the government granary, then we'll attack the gentry in the city, and finally we'll open the prison and release the prisoners. Let's move out!"
He was a local and familiar with the area. After returning, he spent two months disguised as a beggar and a merchant, so he knew the situation in Wuyang County very well and wasn't afraid of getting lost.
Sun Lang led his team straight to the county government office. At the same time, the county magistrate, who had already received the warning, also rushed to the county government office.
The county government office is the residence of the county magistrate, but the magistrate and the county constable went to Kunyang, leaving the county government office particularly empty. The only person who can currently take charge of the situation is the county assistant, who lives several miles away from the county government office. It will take time to get up, gather people, and rush over.
So when Sun Lang arrived at the county government office, he ran into the county magistrate who was coming from another direction. Seeing that there were only twenty or thirty people on the other side, Sun Lang decisively rushed over, shouting as he charged: "Robbery! Get out of my way! The money belongs to the government, but your lives are your own. You'd better think it over."
The county magistrate was already intimidated by the enemy who outnumbered him several times over, and upon hearing this, he immediately had second thoughts.
While courage is important in warfare, the ability to assess the situation is equally crucial. Charging forward knowing that you are outmatched is not bravery but recklessness.
So the county magistrate was dismissed, and he planned to find several gentry families in the city to gather troops and concentrate their forces to settle accounts with Sun Lang again.
Seeing this, Sun Lang decisively ordered, "Sun Yuan, it seems the county government has no resistance. You take twenty men to the county government to search it first. I will take the others to chase after the troops ahead and prevent them from joining up with the other three major families."
Even in the poorest places there are rich people, and even in the richest places there are poor people. Although Wuyang is a barren little county town, it has three minor clans whose strength far exceeds that of ordinary people. These three clans together can easily gather three to five hundred people, which is a considerable threat to Sun Lang. Therefore, Sun Lang decided to first break up the three major clans and then slowly plunder them.
Like a tiger that had been imprisoned for a long time and finally broke free of its cage, Sun Lang chased the county magistrate for two streets, scattering all the soldiers led by the magistrate. He then turned and entered the mansion of the Wuyang Lin family, one of the three major families next door.
The Lin family also received news of the enemy's attack on the city. The clansmen were all shocked and got up, running around the courtyard like headless flies.
Even the most composed person will experience a moment of shock and panic when faced with a sudden change. In other words, panic is a necessary stage in such situations. Only after processing the bad news through panic can one calmly plan and respond.
Therefore, this period of chaos is the most dangerous time. If you can get through it, everything will be fine; if you can't, you'll be in deep trouble.
The Lin family didn't survive; they were still in a state of panic when Sun Lang arrived.
Sun Lang stormed into the mansion, brandishing his machete and killing indiscriminately. The Lin family members were terrified and scattered. After driving the Lin family away, he quickly rushed to the next house.
Wuyang was not large; it only took a quarter of an hour to run from the east to the west of the city. Sun Lang quickly dispersed all the members of the three major families, drove all the leaders out of the city, and prevented them from having unified command and concentrating their forces against him in a short period of time. Only then did he send people to guard the city gates and return to the county government to carefully search and plunder.
When Sun Yuan arrived at the county government office, he had already gathered all the wealth that could be looted from the county government office in the front yard. Seeing Sun Lang rushing over, he quickly stepped forward, stretched out his hands and handed Sun Lang a jar the size of a head, and laughed: "Brother, look what this is, it's fine salt! I've never seen such good salt in my life."
Salt was a hard currency comparable to gold in this era, and high-quality refined salt was a rare luxury. If this jar of salt were sold, it would be enough for Sun Yuan to live a carefree life for half a year.
Sun Lang scoffed, "It's just a bit of salt. Look at your pathetic self, how much grain did you manage to find?"
Sun Yuan replied, "Not much, less than two thousand shi. This wretched county town is really damn poor."
Sun Lang retorted, "Stop with the nonsense. Luoyang isn't poor, but do you have the guts to rob it?"
"We can't take this grain with us, but we can't burn it either. Keep enough for ourselves, and distribute the rest to the people. Remember to tell them when you distribute the grain that it is a benefit given to them by His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty, so that they know who has shown them kindness!"