Book 51 Chapter 10 – The Battle at the Back of the River (1/2)
Book 51 Chapter 10 – The Battle at the Back of the River
Translator: Foxs' Wuxia
The newco forward to for a long tihan He was spurring the Takla on his back, his elegant bearing was even better than before
He was not surprised at all; his qi steady, his spirit leisurely, he and Kou Zhong hugged each other on horseback The two horses also you-sniffed-at- and wang Xuanshu along, Xu Ziling arrived and did the introduction all around
Ba Fenghan looked up at Wu the Tujue falcon in the air, I iift that Tuli presented to you, and I thought that you must be nearby, hence I deliberately used the sound of hoof beats to lead you to come and meet me”
“How did you know that you could find us here?” Xu Ziling asked in astonish the Pass, I asked around and found out that you guys are not in Luoyang but in Liangdu; I proain Luckily Changlin told , he even told , thereupon I liftedthings along the way, hence I put on a day’s work; otherwise, I would have been able to catch up with you last night”
Kou Zhong’s spirit greatly aroused, he asked, “Is it the Tang Arhed aloud and said, “Shaoshuai is indeed astute Let’s find a good place to talk; it will be best to recall your falcon”
Kou Zhong was slightly startled, but heto fly back to his shoulder Following Ba Fenghan, he galloped to a hilltop nearby
The five men dismounted from their horses at the foot of the hill, and then cliht shi+ning over all things, bursts of autumn wind still made people feel a nip in the air; on the open country, yellow, green and red, three colors intersected anda randohan pointed to a distant place in the west, he said, “About ten thousand Tang Ar behind that mountain over there, all are cavalry, under the leadershi+p of Li shi+de and Pang Yu, threeblurted out
Xu Ziling, Yang Gongqing and wang Xuanshu understood Kou Zhong’s shock If the pursuing troops were Li shi+ji, it would be proper and to be expected as athe fact that their secret ht; the scout flew back to report to Li shi+ji, and Li shi+ji personally led the cavalry to pursue and intercept However, Zhangsun Wuji, three enerals ere close to Li shi+min; they should have stayed by Li shi+ Yu to Li shi+; he was a specialist in intelligence gathering Since the pursuing troops were under their leadershi+p, it was clear that Li shi+ that they would transport provisions to Luoyang; hence he dispatched his elite troops to a teahan spoke heavily, “I arrived at Chenliu two sichen after you left Chenliu, so I should have been two sichen behind you on the road But I barely passed Kaifeng when I discovered a group ofabout thirty li behind you I took advantage of the time when they pitched caate, and discovered that they had eight fierce and tough vultures At that time I still did not knohat those birds are for, until I saw your falcon just now that it dawned on me that these are the assassins in the sky; they will be used to deal with your falcon Also, their scouts’ clothes were covered in tree leaves, obviously it is to deceive the falcon’s eyes”
Shaken, Yang Gongqing said, “There must be a traitor in our Shao Shuai Ar; wiping the cold sweat, he said, “A close call!”
Ba Fenghan said, “Yuchi Jingde, Zhangsun Wuji and Pang Yu are all old hands on the battlefield, they divided thetroops into several units; front and rear, left and right, they are corresponding to each other, unafraid of aion is where the plains and the rivers ically situated and easy to defend terrain that can be exploited Unless you guys abandon the grain and goods, nolosses will be us”
Everybody felt big headache The greatest disadvantage was that they no longer dared to send Wuhan co would not avoid ht ferocious vultures, these vicious vultures
Xu Ziling sighed and said, “Li shi+min really cannot be underestimated These vicious vultures ainst the Tujue people’s falcons”
Frowning, Kou Zhong said, “This traitor [lit inner ghost] knew that I will personally deliver the grains to Luoyang, his position in our Army can’t be too low, because the operation this time is a top secret, the lower-ranked officers and soldiers only found out that the grains are to be delivered to Luoyang, and that I personally escort it – e set off”
Ba Fenghan said, “Leave this ated at a later date, for now the top priority is hoith no alarer, to cross the Yi River At that tiht or ant to run aill have a very high chance of success”
“Why don’t we execute the repairing the plank road by day while secretly crossing the Wei River at Chencang [see footnote Book 18 Chapter 7] tactic?” Kou Zhong said
Xu Ziling was the first to understand; he nodded and said, “But the prerequisite is that the pontoon bridge installation that Yang Gong abandoned can still be used”
Ba Fenghan did not understand, “What pontoon bridge?” he asked
After giving hi said, “The oods, and substitute it with rocks of approxio about five li downstreae and use it to bluff And then if the enemy is lured and come to follow us, our e, and rapidly bring the grain and goods to the opposite bank After thatay! This method seems to be too cohan laughed and said, “What wind is blowing now?”
Kou Zhong replied, “The wind seehan raised his head to look at the sky, he said, “If I don’t ht, there will be heavy rain We will build the pontoon bridge when the rain is pouring Although it’s a bit , based on our skill, it should be still achievable Due to the water level is rising drae will be hidden under the surface of the water The eneht only see that we are still felling trees to build the bridge downstreauess that we have already built the pontoon bridge connecting the two banks By toe floor will be exposed, we can swiftly cross the river”
Yang Gongqing said, “However, with five hundredthe entire team in less than three sichen The enemy’s horses are fast, they could arrive in the blink of an eye, our situation will not be any better”
Ba Fenghan responded indifferently, “Therefore, water and fire, two tactics must be carried out sie to bluffWhen we are ready to cross the river, ill release fire to burn the forest according to the direction of the wind Although there is heavy rain, after a day of being exposed to strong sunlight, plus the wind is high and the material dry, the fire intensity will spread rapidly, thick smoke will cover the sky, even if the enemy dares to take risks to attack, they will olden opportunity”
And then he patted the Stealing the Heaven Sword on his back, his pair of eyes eht, he said, “The initiative is in our hands, we can surelyArmy, to make them powerless to cross the river to pursue us”
Kou Zhong slapped his thigh and cried out, ‘Marvelous!’ He said, “This stratage to each other to cross the river, even Sun Tzu’s The Art of War does not record it Yang Gong, please take us to look at the pontoon bridge first, and then we’ll discuss other details”
After Kou Zhong and the others detere installation was stilland the others hurriedly ion of the forest that should be dense enough They also set up disposition of troops on all four sides according to the School of Military’s usual practice
Too bad that ‘Heaven did not fabricate beauty’ After arranging everything, by nightfall, the Heavens indeed poured down rain, only it was not heavy rain like Ba Fenghan’s – this expert in observing the sky and distinguishi+ng cli the whole sky, enveloping the entire river and plain region of the forest in wet and cold fog like in a dream A bit farther into the distance, the opposite bank of the river already disappeared in boundless drizzle, visibility was greatly reduced, even without any threat fro still could not display her ability to watch for the enemy, it was favorable to attack, but unfavorable to defend, the rain carts were craet, and thus beca and the others felt big headache, they were unsure whether they ought to ie, or to find another way
Thisproposed, “Wethe trees, toto build the pontoon bridge, hence they won’t immediately send their troops to attack We only need to pick particularly big and tall trees to chop off, let theround, then they can beco, while the enee”
E Gongqing were greatly delighted; Ma Chang’s method was simple and easy to do, han previously proposed Moreover, it was surefire [lit ten thousand and not one failure]; they would be able to cross the river tonight, by cutting down several hundred big trees, it was equivalent to keeping the enemy on the other side of the cut trees It wasstockade, they could take their defensive position behind the cut trees with powerful bows, so that even if the eneth was several times above theirs, it would still be difficult for the ene his heartfelt co hisdispatched two thousand axe-wielders, along with arranging the grain carts in formation inside the area of the chopped down trees
Under the illuh torches, everybody worked hard, ‘Ding! Ding! Du! Du!’ in the river forest region – inside the vast and hazy fog
A tree after another, pulled by the ropes, collapsed and fell to the ground Just two or three logs already for to three to four zhang wide By the tie construction reached its halfway point, the chopped-tree troop disposition was completed, but the enemy still had not made their qing and Ma Chang conducted the bridge construction, wang Xuanshu was in charge to look after the grain carts, while Kou Zhong, Ba Fenghan and Xu Ziling aiting behind the chopped-tree forht-for down endlessly