Volume 1 Little Yuanba Chapter 59 The key is in Nanshan
"You're so beautiful!" Li Dan put down the bowl and wiped his mouth: "You come here so late, you must not be here to brag, right?"
As soon as he said this, Mr. Sheng was immediately discouraged. "Damn, these gangsters just don't want us to have any relief.
As soon as I pressed this end, the other side came up again!
No, Fengqi Pass sent someone to report to me, saying that four thousand bandits suddenly appeared under the pass, and there are only about 300 brothers guarding the pass. He told us to hurry up and join him."
"There are only 300 people behind closed doors?" Li Dan was surprised.
"That's right!" Sheng Huai'en also felt that this matter made people scratch their heads.
"Fengqi Pass was originally designed to collect taxes and had no intention of fighting a big war.
After Shangrao was in a tight situation, two teams of reinforcements were transferred from Guangxin Guards Station to have 300 men.
Fortunately, the Guanzhai was located on the North Mountain and the terrain was steep, making it difficult to attack. However, the top of the mountain was only a small area of 200 steps, and it was impossible to release more people even if we wanted to.
Lin Baihu had been to Fengqiguan, and he said that the village had only a two-foot earth wall with a wooden fence on top.
Even if its terrain is good, it will definitely not be able to hold it for a long time!"
"If you put it this way, how are we going to rescue him? Send ten people or twenty people? It's not going to work." Li Dan spread his hands in embarrassment.
Sheng Huaien sighed, turned his wine bowl upside down, and then took the rice bowl in front of Li Dan and turned it over as well. He said:
"Xiao Lin and I have discussed it, and this is the only way we can handle this matter.
You see, this is Beishan, where Guanzhai is located, and that is Nanshan. This is Fengling Town. I put a few chopsticks on it and pretended it was the Mayan River.
The river turns into a bay along Nanshan Mountain on the west side of Fengling Town, you see? If you don’t go through Fengqi Pass, you will have to go over Nanshan Mountain to cross the river at least twice."
"Well, so if you just want to collect taxes, erecting a fence on the narrow side of Beishan Road is indeed enough, but it may not be able to withstand the attack of a strong enemy, right?"
"Yes!" Sheng Huaien was very happy to see that he understood so quickly. He patted the edge of the table and pointed:
"So, our key is in Nanshan!
The terrain of Nanshan is higher than that of Beishan. There is Laifeng Pavilion on the top of the mountain. Take it to control and overlook the entire battlefield.
If Nanshan is lost, they can send a small number of people below to surround Guanzhai and not ask the higher-ups to come down to harass them. Then the team will spend more effort to cross the river twice and carry the baggage on their backs over Nanshan. He can also come over.
If we are unlucky, we will be walking halfway, if we are lucky, we will be huddled in this temple. No matter what, we will have to face a strong enemy, and the terrain advantage will match their numerical advantage, at least the two sides will be even."
"I understand. So your opinion is to strike first, seize Laifeng Pavilion, and seize the initiative.
And in this way, the south and north are aligned, and it will be difficult for the enemy to continue to besiege Guanzhai when they are attacked from both sides. As long as they retreat, the crisis will be resolved. Right?"
"That's right, if they don't want to be beaten passively, they have to retreat, even to Fengling Town!"
"But..." Li Dan looked up at Sheng Huaien: "In this case, the enemy must attack Nanshan, otherwise they will not be able to take Beishan!"
"That's the truth." Sheng Huai'en slapped his big hand on the table: "How about it, it's quite risky, do you want to do it?"
Li Dan slowly raised his hand to touch the back of his head, and suddenly asked: "By the way, where are the 1,200 civilians who are building the road hidden now? The bandit's attack on Beishan will not affect them, right?"
"Don't worry. They are all gathered in Sanjialong at the foot of the Western Mountain for rest. Why do you want to use them?"
"I'm thinking about three things," Li Dan said, crossing his arms:
"First, how can we not alert the enemy to attack Nanshan and occupy Laifeng Pavilion?
Second, build a fortress in Nanshan as quickly as possible so that the enemy can’t do anything here?
Third, how to transfer grain, grass and baggage to the hands of Shangrao defenders?"
After he finished speaking, he pointed with his hand: "The most important thing here is to seize Laifeng Pavilion.
Now that the enemy has just arrived at Guanxia, and they find that there are not many defenders at Guanxia, they may not pay too much attention to Nanshan for the time being.
But if they discover that reinforcements are coming and realize that Nanshan has an important first step, then everything will be over!
So whether they are faster or we are faster determines the survival of Fengqiguan and the three hundred officers and soldiers!"
"Sanlang is absolutely right!" Sheng Huaien clapped his hands:
"That's why I came here to see you tonight. If we delay setting off tomorrow morning, I'm afraid it will be in trouble!"
"But marching at night...?" Li Dan looked at Commander Sheng: "Can the officers and soldiers under you do it?"
"That's the trouble." Sheng Huai'en sighed and leaned back in his chair with a wry smile: "We walked up and down, and we can see clearly that there are only a hundred people who can travel at night. What can we do with this little manpower?"
"So you came to me to discuss?" Li Dan nodded: "Old Sheng, stop hesitating, what are your plans?"
"Me?" Sheng Huaien chuckled: "I just want to come and borrow troops from you. I heard that your people can walk at night?"
Li Dan shook his head: "The dozens of people who followed me at first were definitely fine. Later, if you handed over Zhao Cheng's people to me, those people should not have much of a problem after eating meat for many days.
It's hard to say for others, as they neither know nor have tried it.
There are watermen and hunters in the right camp and the rear camp. I estimate that it is possible to gather thirty or fifty people. But this number is not enough to fight four thousand enemies, right?"
"Oh, this is really annoying! What should we do?" Sheng Huai'en scratched his head and scratched his head.
"Don't worry, I'll call some brothers to discuss it. It's better if we all think about it together than just two heads."
After speaking, Li Dan called Mao Zaidi in and asked him to invite the three battalion commanders, Ma Jiu, and several team commanders from the front camp, as well as Zhao Jingzi, Huang Qin, and Master Ba to discuss the matter.
Just as Mao Zaidi was about to turn around and go out, he was stopped again. Li Dan added:
"Go and ask Mr. Maozhi if he knows the terrain at Fengqiguan. If he is familiar with it, please tell him too!"
After a short while, several groups of people came in one after another into the hall.
When everyone heard that there was going to be another war, everyone suddenly became excited, like a cat that had tasted fresh fish. But when they heard that there were 4,000 people on the other side, they suddenly became quiet again.
"Defense, let's kill You Sanjiang one-on-one. We may not be able to fight against 4,000 people, but we're still not sure." Xiao Wanhe shook his head and considered the words.
Although he is still not satisfied with what he has gained this time, it does not mean that he will use his brothers in the camp to fight for the lives of the army. These are two different things!
"Old Xiao, don't be afraid of this or that. Isn't it just another fight?" Tan Zhongxiao disagreed:
"I think we should listen to what Shanda wants first. At any rate, we now have two thousand victorious troops, and our morale can be used!"
"You think you are invincible after just one battle? There were not many casualties in this battle, but the whole army lost two hundred people together. If we had to fight against four thousand bandits, then..." Xiao Wanhe looked at it.
No one said any more.
"Well, what Xiao Yingzheng said is not unreasonable. We formed the army late, so it was a fluke that we could win this battle.
This is the result of designing and trapping You Sanjiang one by one.
He, the leader of the navy, insists on coming to fight on land, so he deserves to be unlucky!" Li Dan's words caused everyone to laugh.
The atmosphere became more lively, and he continued: "But the casualties were not small, especially in the middle, they fought well and were very tenacious!
In the end, Lao Xiao suddenly came from the east and killed me. Even I didn't expect it. It was a stroke of genius.
You Sanjiang panicked, and it was at this moment that he was hit by a firearm!"
The conversation changed. Li Dan nodded at the upside-down bowl on the table and said, "But think about it, what will be the consequences if we don't save the officers and soldiers behind the gate?"
Needless to say? Everyone looked at each other. Master Ba said: "Four thousand bandits will go directly down the mountain. We can either stay here and fight with them, or we can abandon the baggage and run back to Geyang!"
"If you can't run, where can you run?" Xiao Wanhe smiled bitterly:
"There is still water on the road further east. We all came here on rafts, but you can't deal with the livestock and the big cars, so you can't just leave them all to others!"
In one sentence, the possibility of retreat was eliminated, leaving only one way.
"Since we have no choice but to face them in the end, why don't we take the initiative?" Li Dan said:
"The Shanda people's opinion is to attack Nanshan Mountain opposite Guanzhai, occupy the commanding heights of Laifeng Pavilion, threaten the bandits' flanks, and force them to loosen their grip on Fengqiguan and retreat to the opposite side of us.
It would be best if the two sides face each other across the Mayan River, or they should retreat to Fengling Town."
"Hey, this is a good strategy!" Several people nodded after hearing this, and Sheng Huai'en stroked the tiger's beard with a smile on his face.
Although he was not familiar with the local situation, he proposed this direction based on years of combat experience after listening to Lin Baihu's introduction. It should be said that he responded quickly and decisively.
"Is this Nanshan easy to defend?"
"Why not go directly to Beishan to join the defenders?"
"Well, what if we capture Nanshan? Can't the bandits still attack us directly?"
Several voices asked.
"Defense, can I say a few words to you?"
Li Dan heard the sound and looked over, and saw Wu Mao had arrived at some point and was leaning against the door frame with his hands folded. "Brother Maocai, please come in and come to the table to talk!" He immediately greeted loudly.
Some people stood up to give way, and Wu Mao thanked them one by one and came to the front.
To facilitate the discussion, Heimu specially lit two torches and fixed them on the pillars on both sides. The room was suddenly much brighter than the original oil lamps.
"What does this smell like?" Zhao Jingzi sniffed.
"Horse oil." Heimu pointed at the torch and grinned. It turned out that what the migrant workers were eating tonight was meat from mules and horses killed in battle.
The black wood was wrapped in rags outside the branches, stained with boiled grease. Although it was brighter, the smell was so strong that Zhao Huangyi had to move to the door.
"Everyone, please listen to me," Wu Mao pointed, "I passed Fengqiguan many times on my way to Shangrao and Guangxin.
The northern mountain there is lower than the southern mountain, so Li Fengfeng said that occupying the southern mountain means seizing the commanding heights.
Although the North Mountain is low, it is surrounded by steep straight walls on all sides. It is similar to the situation of the Western Mountain here. It is nearly four feet high and is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
However, the table above is actually not big, only enough to accommodate a few hundred people.
It’s useless for us to go up, because there is no place to stand with so many people. I guess that’s why Shanda people proposed to occupy Nanshan.”
After he finished speaking, he looked back and nodded, stroking his belly.
Wu Mao continued: "The Mayan River winds along the mountain. In fact, there is a western mountain here, but it is only a few feet higher than the stream, so it is not dangerous.
There are three or two families on it, and they have several vegetable plots where they grow taro by the river.
There is a small road at Liantang behind Xishan Mountain, which branches off from the official road. Then it follows the river and passes under Xishan Mountain to the northeast. There is a wooden plank bridge across the river. After crossing the bridge, you will reach the sunny slope of Nanshan Mountain.
Your Majesty and Defense want to occupy Nanshan, and it is easy to be discovered if you take the official road. I suggest you take this path behind the west mountain to catch surprise!"
"How far is it from Banqiao to the top of the mountain?" Zhou Qin asked.
"It's less than a mile!" Wu Mao added: "After reaching the north slope, there is a large stone on your right hand, with a surface as smooth as a mirror, and the four characters 'Lai Fengtian Peak' are engraved on it.
Three hundred steps up the stone path next to it is Laifeng Pavilion." After hearing this, everyone started talking quietly.
"Brother Maocai said it very clearly. But I have a worry. Since Nanshan is an important place for guarding, it is not stupid to be afraid of the enemy.
He may have sent a few men to Lai Feng Pavilion, and I advise you to be careful with your defenses!" Master Ba said.
"It makes sense." Mr. Sheng nodded to Li Dan: "So you must be careful during your actions. Don't let the enemy spy on the truth. It would be bad if you find out the clues!"
"If this is the case, the team can only go so far." Wu Mao took another bowl and held it down:
"Suppose this is the West Mountain. Its south side protrudes slightly, and above it is the Dragon King Temple built in Dongyan Village.
The brigade must stop when it reaches this point, because if it goes further it will go around the foot of the mountain without any cover. If there is a lookout post on Laifeng Pavilion, he will find it."
"Okay, let's make a plan!" Li Dan stood up, and everyone stood up when they saw it.
"Gentlemen, the Yousanjiang tribe has been wiped out this morning. They were originally going to cooperate in the attack on Fengqiguan.
If the enemy troops wait for Yu Sanjiang to arrive, they will become suspicious, so we should take action sooner rather than later!
I am assigning tasks now. If you have any questions, please come to me after the meeting. Brother Maocai, Mr. Master Ba, please pay attention carefully to see if there are any omissions in what I said.
We will mobilize our entire army tonight according to Sheng Sheng's strategy and pounce on us with lightning speed!
First, we asked our brothers who have good eyesight at night to pull the animals. We used horse-drawn carriages and animals to pull the team to the lotus pond, where we put down Lin Baihu first.
Shanda people, since there are not many places to stand on the mountain, I suggest that Lin Baihu take the hundreds of officers and soldiers who can travel at night to reinforce Beishan.
The rest of us turned up the path to the southern foot of the Western Mountain. We first occupied the Western Mountain as our base and stored the food at the Dragon King Temple;
Send two teams to attack Nanshan. One team will be responsible for searching to ensure that everything is safe and then quickly send a warning to the direction of the enemy camp. The other team will go up the mountain to capture Feng Pavilion."
"Zhang Bo, Xianfu (Zhao Jingzi), you two take our team to Laifeng Pavilion!" Li Dan ordered, and the two of them were overjoyed.
"After capturing Feng Pavilion, immediately use lights to send back signals, two short and one long."
"Gu Da and Yang Yi led their troops to search the entire mountain to confirm whether it was safe, and then went west to alert the enemy. The firecrackers team and the archery team followed them to occupy a favorable position and provide cover at any time.
A team of Lao Song followed up and came up to Fengge to strengthen the defense on the top of the mountain.
If everything goes well and it starts to get light, Shanda people will lead the army forward to defend on the north slope.
Two hundred people from the fourth team of the rear camp followed up and sealed the road up the north slope with bamboo fences, pits and bamboo sticks. Be careful to bring digging tools and don't make too much noise."
Then Li Dan thought about it and pointed with his finger between Nanshan Mountain and Xishan Mountain and asked: "I wonder if this bridge can withstand large vehicles?"
"Usually a pallet truck can carry two or three stones, but it's hard to say if it's more." Wu Mao replied.
Li Dan nodded and continued: "Okay, the remaining 100 people from the rear camp will guard Banqiao and wait for instructions and make preparations to send reinforcements to the mountain at any time.
Xishan is the backup for Fengqiguan and must be defended.
Ma Jiuye led the escort team to occupy the west mountain and set up a warning. The left camp set up a large camp with the Dragon King Temple as the core, and planned to build facilities to shelter from the wind and rain to accommodate baggage, livestock and the wounded.
The Right Camp is responsible for transporting prisoners and other supplies to the Xishan Camp. Does anyone have questions?"
"I have a question." Xiao Wanhe raised his hand: "How big will Zuoying need to build Xishan Camp? I'm afraid we won't have enough manpower."