Chapter 222
Book 20 Chapter 5 – Luring The Enemy In
The next day Teng Yi went back, leaving Jing Jun to stand guard at the base to arrange matters for the ‘reinforcement troops’.
Xiang Shaolong patrolled the camp as usual and when he was high above surveying the enemy’s camp, he found their inactivity to be almost illogical and queried, "Have they always been like this?"
Cheng Jun replied respectfully, "They only stared becoming this quiet about 10 odd days ago, before that they were constantly sending troops to disrupt us day and night, but it’s usually a small scale attack of 20,000 to 30,000 men."
Xiang Shaolong felt that something is terribly wrong and suddenly had a thought, "If the enemy has reached the opposite bank, can they make a big detour upstream, and then cross the river again to surround us by the back?"
Cheng Jun replied, "General Meng has long thought of this point and deliberately placed fire beacons along the river. Once the enemy is sighted, the beacons will be lighted immediately. Besides, the River De is wide and its water rapid with tall cliffs on both sides of the bank. There’re no bridges as well so even if our enemy have such intentions, I’m afraid it’ll be extremely difficult to accomplish."
Xiang Shaolong is still worried and instructed Zhou Liang who was standing on his other side, "Send Eagle King to the opposite bank to have a look, it’ll be better if he can fly a little further."
Zhou Liang set off gladly to follow up on his order.
Ever since he got Eagle King, Zhou Liang seemed to have changed into another person.
Cheng Jun saw that Xiang Shaolong did not trust his a.s.sessment and his expression became a little unnatural.
On seeing that, Xiang Shaolong said with a smile, "General Cheng, please do not take this to heart. In war, anything can be changed and we’re never far from these four words ‘unexpected tactics brings victory’. For Pang Nuan to enjoy such reputation, he must be a capable person. That’s why I have to be on the alert against any surprise tactics he may have that we will not expect. If my guess is correct, Pang Nuan must have set up temporary floating bridges with thick ropes upstream of where our scouts will find difficulty in reaching. Once they have crossed the difficult river, they’ll keep the floating bridges and move up behind us and repeat the same thing with the floating bridges and let their army cross the river swiftly. Ha, no wonder they had to wait for our reinforcements to arrive before they attack!"
Cheng Jun was speechless on hearing this and secretly commented to himself that ‘you’re the Great General, of course you can say whatever you like.’
Xiang Shaolong pointed at a dense forest on the right near the hills and continued, "If I’m Pang Nuan, I’ll order men to hide the chariots and heavy machinery etc in the woods and camouflage them with branches and leaves so when the time comes for them to attack us, the distance needed to move these things will be shortened."
Cheng Jun replied, "I’ll take note of that."
Xiang Shaolong guffawed, "Is General Cheng thinking of setting fire to the whole thing?"
Cheng Jun was taken aback, "That dense forest is close to the enemy camp and with ditches and forts everywhere, how can we get near enough to set fire?"
Xiang Shaolong pointed at the tall hills on the left and said, "Climb up that hill and you can throw down the torches, but it is most important to time the use of this tactic correctly. If it’s used when the enemy is attacking, it will cause the greatest effect."
Cheng Jun was astounded and replied, "I understand now."
The both of them discussed the various ways they can block the enemy. Because they have to at least make a show of trying to fend off the attack for a few days before pretending to be defeated and retreat, otherwise no one would believe in their act.
Right at this time Zhou Liang returned with Eagle King and said excitedly, "Great General has indeed predicted correctly. From the area that Eagle King has covered while flying, we can know that our enemy have at least 10,000 men who have snuck up about 15 miles behind us on the opposite bank and getting ready to cross the river for a sneak attack."
Cheng Jun immediately broke out in sweat and said with shame, "I will immediately tighten defenses around that area."
Xiang Shaolong exclaimed, "Hold on! Won’t this be as good as telling them that we’ve seen through their secret plan?"
He reached out his hand, intending to touch Eagle King but on seeing it turn around with its beak open and ready to attack, Xiang Shaolong hurriedly retracted his hand in fright.
Zhou Liang said apologetically, "I deliberately trained it not to get close to anyone else, I seek Great General’s forgiveness and understanding."
Cheng Jun was more anxious about the enemy crossing the river and asked with utmost admiration, "So what should I do? If we allow the enemy to get behind us and cut off our paths, followed by a frontal a.s.sault, we’ll be in dire situation."
Xiang Shaolong did not reply him first but said to Zhou Liang instead, "Brother Zhou will be in charge of taking note of our enemy’s activities on the opposite bank. You can rest during the day but once it’s dark, you have to be extra vigilant."
Zhou Liang asked excitedly, "So should I go back to the tent with Eagle King now and nap?"
Xiang Shaolong chortled, "Exactly!"
After Zhou Liang left, Xiang Shaolong told Cheng Jun, "General Cheng, you don’t have to worry. Just leave it to me to burn the woods and deal with the enemy troops on the opposite bank. You’ll just have to take good care of our base camp and instruct everyone to take turns and rest during the day so that they will have the energy to deal with our enemy at night."
Drum beats can be heard from the enemy side.
A few hundred war chariots rushed out, followed by thousands of foot soldiers approached them steadily.
Xiang Shaolong sighed, "The enemy has found out that my reinforcements have arrived so now they’re starting their relentless attacks."
He turned towards Cheng Jun and added, "Now do you understand why I said they can only take turns to rest."
Cheng Jun replied with total admiration, "I am enlightened."
Xiang Shaolong was secretly finding it comical that he is winning because he has 2000 more years of military knowledge. He just have to randomly choose one or two beautiful tricks from famous ancient wars and he’ll be able to make use of them.
He immediately snuck out of camp with the 18 Warriors and rode along the bank upstream.
Just like what Cheng Jun has said, there were tall fire beacons every 10 miles along the way, each about 50 feet high and at the platform on top there was a wooden beam about 30 feet tall with a horizontal board which can be moved up and down the beam so that the soldiers can climb up to look far away. At the edge of every board there was a large cage stuffed with hay. If they see traces of the enemy, it will give out smoke during the day and fire during the night and with the appropriate signal, inform them of the enemy’s numbers and distance.
There’s also a huge drum at the top of the platform, made for long distance communication.
But in Xiang Shaolong’s perspective as a Special Task Force member, as long as the night is dark with no moon and making use of floating devices, it’s not impossible to cross the river and get rid of the signal men atop these beacons. Once he thought of this, he shuddered, already knowing what the enemy is waiting for.
They are waiting for a dark and moonless night, when dark clouds will cover the night sky.
Only under such a situation will they be able to carry out the sudden sneak attack by moving their troops across the river.
Xiang Shaolong came to the where Zhou Liang had pointed out, about 20 miles upstream and realized that the water is less rapid around this area