This time, in the campaign against the bandits, Oliver Sheng utilized the Mandarin Duck Formation that he had drilled for a long time, and with his own prowess overseeing the battle, the army suffered no casualties, only a few soldiers were injured.
This number is astonishing. In an era of cold weapons, how could there be no casualties in war? Victory is usually built on the sacrifice of lives.
It can only be said that the Mandarin Duck Formation has demonstrated its power in this world.
This formation was originally created by General Qi in the previous life to resist the Japanese pirates.
For ordinary soldiers, this formation is extremely effective.
After witnessing the power of the Mandarin Duck Formation, Oliver Sheng decided to train the entire army in it. Whether for offense or defense, it was excellent.
“General, General, Oliver Sheng, Boss Sheng, come quickly, I can’t hold them back. Those women are trying to kill themselves, and I can’t persuade them,” Zane Wang hurriedly ran over to find Oliver Sheng.
Hearing that the women were trying to kill themselves, Oliver Sheng rushed over to see.
It was hard enough to rescue them, and now they were all crying and shouting to die. What was going on?
In this world, there were still many old bachelors who couldn’t find wives.
When Oliver Sheng arrived, he saw twenty or thirty women hanging themselves, the scene looked like a swing set, goodness, it was quite a spectacle.
“What are you all standing there for? Save them!” Oliver Sheng shouted.
The soldiers, who were standing there dumbfounded, finally rushed forward to save the women after hearing Oliver Sheng’s command.
Oliver Sheng felt a headache coming on. Were these soldiers really that dense?
Seeing people hanging and not saving them, he was exasperated. No wonder they couldn’t find wives back home, they deserved it.
“General, please let us die. Living has no meaning for us anymore,” one of the rescued women cried.
Many other women echoed her sentiments.
They had been taken by the bandits, and the news had spread through the villages and towns. Even though they were rescued now, they had been defiled by the bandits and couldn’t return home. In this vast world, where could they go?
Oliver Sheng looked at these women, their eyes devoid of hope for survival. In this ancient world, the most important thing for a virtuous woman was chastity. Under the feudal rule, they had almost no way to continue living.
It was truly a headache, and Oliver Sheng couldn’t really let these women kill themselves here.
“Everyone, listen to me. A good death is not as good as a bad life. Living requires more courage. If you are not afraid of death, why be afraid of living?” Oliver Sheng said loudly to the women.
“But how can we live? We can’t go home, our bodies have been defiled, how can we survive?” one woman cried.
They were weak women, relying on their families and husbands to survive.
Having been taken by the bandits, their chastity was lost, and their families would not take them back.
“Listen to me, I am the Cavalry General of River West County. If you have no home to return to, you can come with us back to River West County.
I will arrange for you, and you will live well. Only by living can you enjoy the beauty of this world.”
Oliver Sheng knew that these women were seeking death because they had no home to return to and thus no hope for survival.
Now, he needed to give them hope and a reason to live.
“Really, we can go with you?” a girl who looked about seventeen or eighteen asked timidly.
Many others, hearing Oliver Sheng say they could go with him, had a glimmer of hope in their eyes.
“I keep my word!” Oliver Sheng nodded.
With Oliver Sheng’s promise, the women who had been determined to die regained a bit of clarity in their eyes.
They had survived until now with a faint desire to live and hatred. Those who had no will to live had already committed suicide to avoid humiliation.
In the end, if they hadn’t been in utter despair, who would seek death?
They chose to end their lives because they thought that after Oliver Sheng and his men wiped out the bandits, they would be sent back home.
Rather than returning to face scorn and humiliation, it was better to die in the mountains.
Now, Oliver Sheng had given them a glimmer of hope to live.
“Thank you, General, for saving our lives,” one woman immediately knelt and kowtowed to Oliver Sheng.
“Thank you, General…”
The other women also knelt and kowtowed to Oliver Sheng.
Oliver Sheng was stunned. Why were they kneeling and kowtowing again?
“Get up, get up!” Oliver Sheng hurriedly went to help them up.
“Help them up, what are you standing there like wooden stakes for?” Oliver Sheng shouted at the soldiers.
A bunch of blockheads, with no sense at all.
After calming the women’s emotions, Oliver Sheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Keep an eye on them. If anyone seems emotionally unstable, comfort them immediately,” Oliver Sheng instructed Zane Wang.
These women were emotionally unstable at the moment, having just been rescued from a den of bandits. Without comfort, it would be easy for them to fall into despair and seek death.
“Are you really planning to take them back? So many women, how will you arrange for them?” Zane Wang asked in a low voice.
This was no small matter. Arranging for four or five hundred women was a big problem.
“What else? Let them all hang themselves here?” Oliver Sheng replied irritably.
“You need to think carefully. We are the garrison, and if we don’t arrange this properly, it could cause big trouble,” Zane Wang reminded.
“Don’t worry, I have a plan,” Oliver Sheng patted Zane Wang’s shoulder.
“General, these are the letters we found in the bandit leader’s room,” a soldier said, handing over some letters.
Oliver Sheng took the letters and read them, his brow furrowing deeply.
After a long time, he finally spoke, “Who is the Prefecture Commander of Ding Prefecture?”
“The Prefecture Commander of Ding Prefecture is the younger brother of the head of the Cui family, one of the major families in Ding Prefecture. Victor Cui holds the position of Prefecture Commander, at the level of Innate Great Perfection, commanding five thousand troops,” Zane Wang replied.
“Ha, quite a background, both white gloves and black gloves,” Oliver Sheng chuckled.
“It seems we’ve made a powerful enemy,” Zane Wang frowned.
Clearly, this bandit leader was raised by the Cui family to handle dirty work. By wiping out this bandit group, they had undoubtedly offended the Cui family.
“What are we afraid of? If they don’t provoke me, fine. But if they do, I’ll flatten the Cui family,” Oliver Sheng said with a hint of dominance in his eyes.
If provoked, they were enemies, and enemies meant Kill Points!
After collecting all the gold, silver, grain, weapons, and other supplies, they headed down the mountain. A thousand warhorses were barely enough to carry the loot.
Mainly, there was a lot of grain.
After cleaning up the battlefield, Oliver Sheng instructed Zane Wang, “In two days, set fire to this mountain stronghold and erase all traces, then return.”
“Yes, General,” Zane Wang nodded.
Leaving fifty men with Zane Wang, they would burn the stronghold in two days. Two days were enough for them to return to River West County.
With the cold weather, there was no worry about the bodies rotting. After two days, they would burn the stronghold, destroying all traces. By the time others came to investigate, it would be nearly impossible to find any clues.
With the loot, gold, silver, and the four or five hundred women, it took them two days to return to River West County.
They avoided main roads and populated areas, which delayed their return.
By the time they reached River West County, it was already evening. The garrison soldiers, seeing Oliver Sheng and his men return, quickly opened the gate and quietly let them in.
Oliver Sheng sent someone to call Magistrate Chen. So many women couldn’t be arranged in the military camp.
The camp was full of vigorous men, which could lead to problems.
When Magistrate Chen arrived and saw so many virtuous women, he was shocked.
“Oliver Sheng, where did you take your soldiers to capture so many virtuous women?”
“You are simply lawless!”
Seeing the suddenly enraged Magistrate Chen, Oliver Sheng was speechless. He didn’t even get a chance to explain before being accused.
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