Chapter 327: Start of the Operation (2/2)

But despite the dangers and difficulties involved, the allure of immense wealth was simply too great. Even if the bandits were slain, more would just emerge to take their place very soon.

And if only that was all...

The situation on the Silk Road was extremely complicated. Initially, most of the bandits were Han, but very soon, some of the Hu, Persians, and Arabs who were proficient in martial arts also noticed the mountain of wealth traveling through the Road everyday, and thus, they decided to join in as well.

Many times, the Hu, Arabs, Persians, and Han would be found sharing an intelligence network and working with one another to raid the merchant caravans. Their ranks gradually buffed up as time went by, and their scope of targets also swiftly expanded.

Initially, the operations were mainly directed toward the Arabs and Persians, but eventually, they no longer differentiated among their targets. It made no difference to them whether one was a Hu or a Han.

And eventually, there was even one bandit group who dared to rob a party of officials of the royal court.

The entire royal court was enraged over the matter. It was then that they began viewing this matter seriously and organized periodic cleanups...

Back then, Wang Chong had met quite a few merchants who were robbed, and he could still remember how indignant and aggrieved they were when speaking of those bandits.

It seemed like Wang Chong had gotten himself involved in a periodic cleanup as well.

That explains why the officials of the Chamberlain of Dependencies are here, as well as the assigning of the platoons to us. Wang Chong fell into deep thoughts.

Based on what he remembered, the Silk Road was a path mainly used by foreign merchants, and so it fell under the jurisdiction of the Chamberlain of Dependencies.

As such, the periodic cleanups of the bandits on Silk Road were also managed by them, too.

Honestly speaking, clearing away the bandits wasn't too big of a problem. After all, no matter how strong the bandits were, how could they possibly match up against an organized army? Furthermore, most of the soldiers involved were veterans who had undergone numerous battles.

However, what was tricky were the requirements imposed on the mission. There mustn't be any escapees from the mission, and the casualties mustn't exceed six. These criteria made the mission trickier than usual.

Those who would dare to loiter around Silk Road despite the multiple cleanups in the past would naturally possess considerable ability, and a significant portion of them had clashed with the officials in the past, as well. They came from all walks of life, and each of them possessed unique capabilities.

Furthermore, some of them were even equipped with military-grade crossbows, and the members of a band could range from dozens to nearly a thousand.

Given such conditions, it was nigh impossible to prevent casualties.

The fact that these two conditions were imposed suggested that there was something deeper to the cleanup this time around.

”Lieutenant Zhang, I can understand the royal court's intention of minimizing casualties, but to not allow a single bandit to get away, how is that possible? After all, given how size and the complicated terrains of the mountain range, it's impossible to prevent any of them from escaping. Aren't the expectations too harsh?” Xu Gan said with an awful complexion.

”Lord, there's actually a reason behind this,” Zhang Lin replied.

”These bandits are no different from weeds. If we don't pluck them out by their roots, they would simply rally more people and rebuild their bases. This is how most of the bandit bands along the Silk Road came about.

”If we wish to instill fear into those bandits, we must pluck them off by their roots. We mustn't leave behind a single breathing soul in order to deter them effectively. Only then would those who intend to pursue such a path in the future think twice over their decisions. If we can't achieve this much, this operation can be considered to be completely meaningless. If anything, we are just increasing the number of bandits.”

Xu Gan, Huang Yongtu, and Bai Siling glanced at one another. The difficulty of the operation on Silk Road seemed to have exceeded their expectations.

On the other hand, having expected this, Wang Chong wasn't too surprised by the turn of events.

”Nevertheless, there's nothing to worry. Most of the bandits along this path are unaffiliated, and the strength they wield is insignificant, as well. They won't pose a threat to us. Thus, we only have to focus our effort on finding them and sealing their paths of escape,” Zhang Lin added.

Hu!

Hearing his words, Xu Gan and the others heaved a sigh of relief.

”That gave me a huge shock! So this is how it is. That's simple, we'll just move in the middle of the night. The bandits might be scattered in the day, but they'll surely return back to their nests at night. Furthermore, that's the timing that they'll likely to be resting, so we should be able to catch them off guard.”

Even though Xu Gan had never conducted such operation before, he was still one of the elites from the training camps. He swiftly came up with a plan.

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Translator’s Notes: I feel like I should emphasize once more that Hu doesn't refer to a specific race, it is basically a term used to address all foreigners outside of Han.