Chapter 2241 - Catching the Ringleader

"Six hundred men! What does he feed them?" Bi Da asked. She knew Yangshan was much like some of Hainan's poorer counties—thin soil, sparse population. Even bandits couldn't gather too many people: one or two hundred was considered a large gang. Men couldn't be supported in large numbers; most bandit underlings farmed in peacetime and assembled only when needed. For Sun Dabiao to suddenly gather six hundred—just feeding and housing them would be a major problem.

"He makes the villages pay tribute," Luo Yiming said bitterly. "Plenty of villages refuse to pay reasonable contributions to us—but when the bandits come for grain, they hand it over without a peep..."

"That's because bandits can kill and burn freely—we can't." A voice came from the doorway. "It all comes down to authority."

Bi Da started and looked up—it was You Ciren. His arm was still in a sling, but his color was much better than right after he was wounded.

"Old You, what are you doing here?" Luo Yiming frowned. "Your wound hasn't healed. Don't move around too much—if it doesn't mend properly, your arm will be affected."

"They've already put it in a splint. How much can I possibly move?" You Ciren was unconcerned. "The doctor said I could walk around."

"Alright, the more people the better. Join the meeting. Everyone pitch in." Bi Da didn't mind.

Zhen Huan spoke up. "Once we destroy Sun Dabiao, we'll naturally have authority in Yangshan. Local powers wavering is nothing strange. When we were in Taiwan recruiting the various tribal villages, it was the same—knock down the strongest and most defiant, and the rest fall in line."

Both Zhen Huan and Bi Da had extensive experience suppressing bandits and "pacifying" indigenous peoples. Their words carried weight. Neither Luo Yiming nor You Ciren objected in principle to "asserting authority"—but they had misgivings about doing so with such meager forces.

"I'm not against it—but perhaps we should pick a different target?" Luo Yiming said. "Sun Dabiao has six hundred men. We have barely over two hundred, and we still need to leave troops to guard the city..."

"Sun Dabiao's numbers are high, but it's a motley crew thrown together. Routing them wouldn't be hard—the difficult part is killing or capturing him." You Ciren scratched his chin. "As long as he and his core subordinates escape, it won't be long before he's raised another force."

"Exactly. Cutting down ordinary grunts by the dozen means nothing. The key is eliminating the ringleaders." Bi Da nodded in agreement. "Sun Dabiao and Zhang Tianbo are two of Yangshan's Three Tyrants—and the masterminds of this uprising. We need to take at least one to fully demonstrate our authority in Yangshan."

"To catch Sun Dabiao, we have to surprise him," Zhen Huan said.

After discussion, the meeting decided to strike Sun Dabiao first—both to assert authority and to seize Dalang Market and regain control of the Yao region.

"We're outnumbered. Right now, every faction in the county looks down on us. We can use that." You Ciren outlined a plan. "We should pretend to be even weaker, reinforcing their impression and lulling the bandits."

He proposed first withdrawing all grain-collection teams and halting "reasonable contribution" collection—making it look like the county had been cowed into submission.

"The new County Magistrate is a woman—that news will spread across the county in no time. In local thinking, a woman must be timid and weak; being sent here as magistrate is a sign the Elders have 'lost their minds.' So pulling back the work teams fits their expectations. It'll make them despise us even more."

Bi Da laughed. "Who knew I'd be useful in this way! Go on."

You Ciren smiled. "We pull back all the grain teams. In a few days, the field hospital is leaving—we make a big show of packing up luggage and loading wounded, as if we're preparing to flee."

"That'll stir up the whole county."

"Of course. These bandit gangs have eyes posted outside the county seat, watching our every move. There are probably spies inside too. Whatever we do, Sun Dabiao will know within a day or two."

"Lull him into complacency—then strike when he least expects it." Zhen Huan understood immediately. The Li-Miao Company specialized in mountain ambushes; rough terrain was their advantage.

"Exactly." You Ciren nodded. "We're short on men. The National Army isn't much use in a fight—they stay to hold the city. The Mountain Company handles the combat. We raid Dalang Market by night."

"What about the eyes outside the walls? The moment we move, they'll spot us. A large force moves slower than a lone runner—and they may have other signaling methods, smoke or fire."

"The Li-Miao Company can board boats first, as if redeploying—after all, Company Commander Zhen's men were only attached temporarily. Returning to their parent unit is perfectly normal, right?"

"Then disembark midway?"

"Exactly." You Ciren nodded. "No matter how many eyes the bandits have, they can't post watchers all along the river—especially at night."

"Good plan." Luo Yiming praised. "Company Commander Zhen, can your unit handle a night raid?"

"Night assaults, jungle warfare, close combat—those are the Mountain Company's specialties." Zhen Huan turned to Bi Da. "What do you think of this plan?"

"It's a good plan." Bi Da didn't know much about fighting, but this seemed viable—and all three men present had combat experience. "I'm no expert in military affairs. If everyone thinks it's sound, it probably is. Let's do it."

With the plan set, spirits rose. They discussed details and assigned tasks.

"What do we know about the interior of Dalang Market? Should we scout first?" Zhen Huan asked. "We've got continuous long-range observation, but we don't know what's happening inside. Sun Dabiao keeps tight security."

"Sending someone in would be difficult." Luo Yiming frowned. "Since the market reopened—once every five days—he's been checking closely. Strangers with outside accents get questioned repeatedly... He's not killing openly now, since he needs to attract merchants, but getting detained would cost time—and might tip him off. We've sent scouts several times—none got into Sun Dabiao's fortified core."

"If we knew exactly where Sun Dabiao sleeps, we could go straight for the heart when we strike—take him out directly." Zhen Huan's voice was tinged with regret.

After the fire, Dalang Market was a ruin; there was no way to pinpoint Sun Dabiao's location.

Bi Da thought it over. "Scouting still has to be done. Since we can't get in, we pull someone out."

"You mean...?"

"Where is Zhang Tianbo, one of Yangshan's Three Tyrants, now?"

"Unknown. After his attempt to be an inside agent failed, he fled. We assume he's hiding with Sun Dabiao or Feng Haijiao—no hard evidence."

"I've read the Yangshan files. Zhang Tianbo and Sun Dabiao and Feng Haijiao are sworn brothers and were deeply involved in the Dalang Market incident. He must know Sun Dabiao inside out. If we can catch him, we'll know everything about Sun Dabiao."

"But where do we look? The world is vast." Luo Yiming shrugged. "We've wanted to catch Zhang Tianbo too—but that slippery eel vanished without a trace after escaping the county seat."

"That's what we need to figure out." Bi Da leaned forward. "He's not Sun Wukong; he didn't pop out of a rock. He must have friends and relatives in the county. Yangshan isn't that big—if we look hard enough, we might find a lead."

This was no brilliant stratagem—but for days, they had been sunk in despair or scrambling to stabilize things; no one had thought about counterattacking. Bi Da's words suddenly opened their eyes.

"Right—Zhang Tianbo didn't spring from a rock. He has parents and children like anyone else. He can't have wiped his trail clean. Somewhere, his family is hidden!" Luo Yiming waved his hand excitedly. "Find his family, and we flush him out!"

"Once we grab him—even if he doesn't know Sun Dabiao's inner workings—at least we can parade him out and chop off his head. One of Yangshan's Three Tyrants, gone! That'll take the wind out of the bandits' sails."

"Zhang Tianbo has a master—used to be head constable here—named Li Shuangkuai." Luo Yiming said. "The old man retired years ago and lives on a manor outside the city. He's probably the closest outsider Zhang Tianbo has—Zhang visits him every year. In fact, back when County Magistrate Wang tried to recruit Zhang Tianbo, Li Shuangkuai was the go-between. Perhaps Zhang Tianbo's family is hiding on his estate."

"But would Li Shuangkuai still be home after Zhang Tianbo turned?" Bi Da asked.

That dampened their excitement slightly. You Ciren thought for a moment. "At least we can try. Li Shuangkuai is over sixty—he can't be running around with the bandits. He's sure he has no public connection to them, and he's living the good life as a wealthy man—there's no way he'd run off to become a bandit. Nine times out of ten, he's still holed up on his own manor."

"We can send someone to scout quietly first," Luo Yiming said. "I'll dispatch a few capable men to check. If we confirm he's on the estate, we 'invite' him over."

"Li Shuangkuai is no good man either." You Ciren's expression darkened. "According to our files, he spent over twenty years as a constable here, sheltering plenty of highwaymen who preyed on traveling merchants—made a tidy fortune in blood money. His hands are far from clean. It's just that he mostly victimized outsiders, so locals don't know his crimes and think of him as a 'decent' constable."

(End of Chapter)