Chapter 348: 3 Enemy Troops

Chapter 348: 3 Enemy Troops

Chapter 348: Enemy Troops

On the east bank of the Lidu River, the dawn was just breaking, and the sky was turning pale.
A faint ray of sunlight gently shines on the winding river bank.

The endless camps were like a giant dragon crawling on the ground, almost swallowing up the entire river bank.

These camps are closely connected and well-arranged.
The towering watchtowers are spaced in an orderly manner, surrounded by tight, low and solid fortifications.

Through the telescope, you can also see people coming and going in the camp.

Most of them were civilians and ragged disaster victims.

They all looked pale and thin, and they seemed to be unsteady as they walked, with their bodies swaying back and forth.

After observing for a long time, Sun Sian, who was the first to scout, finally saw some sturdy soldiers.

They walked in the tent in armor, looking very leisurely.
It doesn't seem like a war, but more like a trip.

One day had passed since the vanguard scouts left Dingbian and arrived at the Lidu River bank in Jingdong.

At this moment, most of them are hiding in the mountains and forests behind.

After arriving, the exploration team immediately worked to collect all the information they could.

At this time, a group of more than ten people were lying on the ground, working in an orderly manner.

Five of them were looking through telescopes, while the other five were recording at high speed.

These records are not about right or wrong. They will be strictly compared and verified after they are returned, and the correct information will be summarized in the end.

"My Lord, it's done."

Hearing a voice beside him, Sun Sian took the telescope away from his eyes. His face was solemn, but he couldn't suppress the strangeness in his eyes.

He nodded slightly and looked at the time:
"Go to location 45."

Although he felt very strange, Sun Sian also followed the strict rules of investigation.
The time you stay in one place cannot exceed a quarter of an hour to avoid being discovered by the enemy.

In order to fully explore the entire Luchuan camp,
The front army scout department planned nearly 130 exploration sites based on the map provided by the commander-in-chief.

After arriving here, I found that there were only eighty exploration points that could be used.
Some of them were occupied by Luchuan's secret agents.
Some were abandoned because they were too obvious and would be detected by the Luchuan people.

This made Sun Sian look solemn and anxious.
The people of Luchuan before us are really not playing by the rules.

I don't know whether the technique is superb or clumsy.

He quietly stood up and looked towards the camp ahead.

Outside the camp, you can vaguely see the Lidu River flowing and sparkling.

There were several anchored warships and several pontoon bridges.

Although the camp should be built close to a water source,

But in enemy territory, there is no reason to build a camp by the river.
If a large army came to attack, once they were defeated, all the soldiers would be pushed into the river.

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty also had naval warships.

If we launch a surprise attack downstream along the river and attack from both inside and outside with cavalry, the people of Luchuan will be defeated in an instant.

In Sun Sian's opinion, the camp in front of him was poorly built.
This made it impossible for their exploration team to see the entire picture, and they could only see a part of the east side.

Taking a deep breath, Sun Sian took one last look at the Luchuan camp.
He waved silently and disappeared into the jungle.

Near noon, Sun Sian and other members of the exploration team returned to the camp surrounded by mountains.

This place is located to the east of Luchuan Camp, only ten miles away from the enemy.
Surrounded by mountains, there are only a few narrow paths leading to it.

Coming here, Sun Sian showed helplessness on his face.

Suddenly I understood why Luchuan built the camp by the river.
Compared with the dangers encountered, managing the current situation is the most important thing.

In order to hide themselves, the front army scouts took the initiative to enter the Jedi and set up camp.
Not to mention in the past, even now, it is an unimaginable thing.

But things are so absurd that the front army scouts were stationed in such a desperate place.

After Sun Sian received the exploration records of many exploration teams, he prepared to go to the central army tent to make a brief report.

But before he got close, he heard a fierce quarrel coming from the military tent.

The many personal soldiers outside the military tent could not help but bow their heads repeatedly, fearing that they could not avoid it.

When Feng Yunfang saw him coming, he whispered:
"Lord Sun, wish you the best."

Sun Sian raised his eyebrows, stood in front of the curtain of the military tent, took a deep breath, and then resolutely opened the curtain!

The curtain opened, and before he could even step in, the smell of gunpowder was about to engulf him.

A series of sharp eyes were cast at him, making Sun Sian's hair stand on end instantly.

He glanced around awkwardly and found that the adults who were usually amiable now had murderous looks on their faces, their eyes wide open, as if they had seen an enemy.

"Come in, what are you standing there for!"

Wu Fuliu was sitting on a chair, and seeing him standing there in a daze,

I felt annoyed for no reason and waved my hand to urge him on.

Sun Sian finally reacted and quickly walked over.
Entering the military tent, the adults were either sitting or standing.

You can see the chairs arranged around the huge sand table, crooked and twisted.

On the sand table, you can see flags representing the red and blue sides, densely packed everywhere.

General Lu, who has always been a modest gentleman,
At this moment, he put his hand on the side of the sand table, his brows were furrowed to the extreme, and there was anger on his face.

Lu Yunyi cast his eyes over and spoke quickly:
"Have you completed the investigation? What have you gained?"

Sun Sian hurriedly stepped forward and put the stack of documents in his hand aside.
Then he told everyone about today's preliminary investigation, and everyone in the room looked over at him.

"Reporting to the Lord, the Luchuan military camp is surrounded by forests and rivers, and the terrain is steep and easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Its main defense facilities include the wooden fence outside the city, the earthen wall at the floating bridge, and the intricate secret sentries and watchtowers inside.

In an area where the floating bridge covers less than 500 feet,
We found nearly ninety sentry towers and fifteen beacon towers.

Only thirty tents used as sentinels were found.

There are also some secret passages where you can only see the entrance but don’t know where they lead to.

In addition, there are about 20,000 military tents in the front and rear camps, some of which are vacant, stretching for nearly 20 miles.”

"The number of soldiers and civilians in the fortress is slightly different from the information we received earlier, and is approximately 130,000.

Among them, the number of soldiers was indeed about 50,000.
There were infantry, cavalry, archers, and even a troop of more than ten elephants.
It was not clear where exactly, but the sound of elephants was heard.

In addition, there are more civilians and disaster victims in the fortress than expected. According to the method taught by adults,
We did the calculations in five areas, and then expanded them.

It can be concluded that there are at least 70,000 civilians, or even more, far exceeding the number of soldiers."

"My exploration team did not find any food storage area in the Luchuan camp.
According to my subordinates' speculation, it should be near the Lidu River.
The Luchuan camp extended all the way southward and finally penetrated deep into the southern mountains and forests. The food and fodder should have been directly delivered to the military camp through the mountains and forests along the river.

Judging from the morning smoke and the state of the soldiers and civilians in the camp,
Luchuan Military Camp will give priority to supplying food to the soldiers, so there is no shortage of food for the time being."

Sun Sian spoke very quickly, and he kept talking for nearly two quarters of an hour before he finished.
By the end, his voice was a little hoarse.

While he was speaking, the group of people in Lu Yunyi's military tent were also busy.

One by one, the generals moved the flags on the sand table, and several clerks nearby wrote furiously, taking notes.

There was a tense atmosphere in the military tent.

"My Lord, this is all the preliminary information for now.
For more detailed information, I will have to go back and discuss it with Lord Wang, and the results may not be available until tomorrow."

Lu Yunyi moved the last blue flag to the bank of the Lidu River.

He looked around the sand table and nodded slightly.

He turned around and looked at the long table behind him.

When he saw the small teacup on the table, he frowned slightly, picked up the teapot beside him and handed it over.

"Feng Yunfang, from now on, all the tea cups in the general's tent should be replaced with larger ones. Who can drink from such a small cup?"

Feng Yunfang, who was standing at the door, shuddered and quickly poked his head in:
"Yes, my lord."

Looking at the teapot, Sun Sian wanted to politely decline.
But when he heard this, he hurriedly took it and started drinking it.

While he was drinking water, the quarrel broke out again in the military tent.

"Now that there are elephant soldiers in the Luchuan Army, we can fully utilize their desire to protect the elephant soldiers.
Focus on breaking through and attacking the reinforcements, instead of focusing on breaking through the camp."

Wu Fuliu's voice rose several tones. When Qian Hong heard this, his eyes stood up and he quickly waved his hand and shook his head:
"No, the elephant soldiers are not dead things.
They can move and run very fast.
Will he just stay there and wait for help? Will he not run away?
Besides, we have no experience in fighting elephant soldiers.
Whether to run or fight, when to run or fight, how to decide.

Also, where are the elephant soldiers?
As expected, it is located on the bank of the Lidu River, close to the water source.
Thinking of using elephant soldiers as bait to kill other reinforcements is just a fantasy!
It would be better to attack the camp, and do as I say.

Wait for an east wind, and then we will set fire to the camps and push them all into the river!"

"If the elephant soldiers don't come out, why not lure them out?
We didn't bring any infantry with us this time, only elite cavalry.
There are large stretches of riverside flat land nearby, and the enemy camps stretch for dozens of miles, so there will always be weak enemy lines.

As long as the elephant soldiers are mobilized, there will always be opportunities.

Even if you don't use the elephant soldiers to lure the enemy in the end, you can just kill the enemy cavalry directly!

No matter what happens in this battle, we must first eliminate the enemy's cavalry, otherwise there will be no chance of winning this battle!"

Wu Fuliu was not to be outdone. Liu Heiying, who was standing beside him, had a dark complexion, which seemed to be darker than before.
He waved his hands vigorously:
"Okay, okay, stop arguing.
The Luchuan camp was arranged in this way so that the enemy could be attacked only from the northeast and two sides.

We are going to attack, and it may be just what they want.

We shouldn't get entangled with them here.

We will cross the river from another place, go straight to Silunfa, and lure the people out of the camp.

After they cross the river to come to our rescue, we will use the complex terrain of Chuxiong to separate and defeat them!

It's better than having to get entangled with them in this sprawling camp."

As soon as these words came out, Zhang Yu, who was sitting next to him, started to speak:
"Sir, you can't take such a risk.

If we cross the river and enter Chuxiong, let alone whether we will be ambushed,
If Si Lunfa and the soldiers who stayed behind attack us from the front and back, we will be in danger. It is too dangerous.

Moreover, we are traveling light.
We didn’t bring any equipment for crossing the river, so it’s too late to rebuild a floating bridge.”

"Yes, yes, it's too dangerous.

We should just stay on one side of the camp and fight them. There are only about 100,000 soldiers and civilians.

Jingdong is so big, it's enough for us to move around." Wu Fuliu said.
A group of people were talking at once.

The atmosphere in the military tent was extremely lively.

Sun Sian, who was standing there quietly, felt a little more irritated.

Li Jinglong, who was not far away, had already slumped in his chair, holding his forehead with one hand, with a look of helplessness on his face.

At this moment, he felt that everyone's words made sense and could be implemented.
But there is no complete and feasible solution, and it is always accompanied by numerous dangers.

At this time, Lu Yunyi, who was frowning and looking at the sand table, turned his head to look at Sun Sian:

"How many enemy cavalry are there? Are they elite?"

Sun Sian thought for a moment and spoke in a deep voice:
"Sir, a total of eleven exploration teams have discovered traces of cavalry.

The number ranges from three thousand to eight thousand.

I guess the enemy's cavalry should be about the same as ours, around 5,000.
As for whether they are elite, we cannot see them up close and cannot confirm."

"so much?"

Lu Yunyi frowned to the extreme, his mind was a little confused.

In his mind, the battlefields of Dali, Chuxiong and Jingdong were all like a chess game.

It's just a little complicated, with both sides making moves against each other.

Now he has seen most of Si Lunfa's moves, and he is also familiar with Daming's moves.

The only thing that is unclear now is where so many soldiers from Luchuan came from!
Nearly 5,000 cavalry? If Si Lunfa took another 5,000, wouldn't Luchuan have 10,000 cavalry?
This is no longer just a small country in the southwest; it is clearly the overlord of the southwest.

The military tent gradually quieted down.
Everyone had a frown on their face, and it was obvious that they had the same question as Lu Yunyi.

"Sun Sian, are you sure they have so many cavalrymen?"

Liu Heiying stood there, his dark and heavy body seemed very oppressive.

Sun Sian thought about it carefully and began to analyze the collected data on the spot.
It is easy to calculate the number of war horses.
When setting up camp, it is usually done according to a certain organization.

By observing the size of the camp, the number of tents and their arrangement, you can roughly estimate the number of people.

It can also be estimated by the size and number of areas used to raise war horses, such as stables.

Soon, Sun Sian's eyes became firmer and he nodded heavily:

"My lord, at least five thousand!"

"Damn it, this is really weird, where do all these soldiers come from in Luchuan?"

Li Jinglong, who was originally slumped in the corner, was furious.
He stood up suddenly and uttered a loud curse.

As Duke Cao of the Ming Dynasty, he was very familiar with horse politics.

In a frontier province of the Ming Dynasty, where troops were stationed, there were only about 10,000 war horses.
As an inland province, having three thousand war horses is considered a fortune.

This was because the Ming Dynasty had won many wars against the grasslands and made a lot of money.

Why Luchuan?
In such a tiny place, there were nearly ten thousand war horses.

Lu Yunyi paced back and forth in the military tent, his face extremely solemn, and finally spoke in a resounding voice:
"There are many different ways to fight, and you can use them in any way you want.
After all, we still need to figure out why there are so many soldiers in Luchuan.
The remaining military camp and Silunfa's location always have one side that is cheating.

We can't go deep into the camp to investigate now.

Therefore, we can only infer how many people are inside and how many soldiers can fight!

So now,

Our primary military duty is not to defeat the enemy,

Instead, think carefully about how to find out the actual number of people in the enemy camp.

Fighting a war is not about committing suicide. Now that we are outnumbered, we must be more careful and not make any mistakes. "

"clatter"

Lu Yunyi stopped, his eyes sharp, and spoke in a deep voice:
"When it gets dark, I will lead 500 soldiers to go out and investigate.
Liu Heiying will be in charge of military affairs, and Zhang Yu will follow! "

Almost everyone present stood up, looking ridiculous.

"Sir, you are the commander of an army, how can you take risks yourself?" Wu Fuliu spoke first, his voice full of anxiety.

"Yes, sir, let us go." Qian Hong also spoke in a deep voice.

Seeing that they were about to start talking at once, Lu Yunyi quickly opened his hand to stop them:
"Okay, no need to persuade me anymore.

You don't have to worry about my safety. Back then, I led a hundred people to go to the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

The camp opposite is right there, what can possibly happen?"

Seeing that they wanted to say something else, Lu Yunyi continued:
"Our camp is in the west. I will head north after leaving the camp.

Then we went to Luchuan Camp from the north, giving them the illusion that we came from the north.

At that time, the camp must be extremely careful and not reveal any trace.
All fires and cooking were done with smokeless stoves, and the exploration team was dispersed, and the telescope was sent down.

We must not let the enemy find out that we are hiding here."

"Is Qin Yuanfang here?"

Lu Yunyi looked around and finally saw Qin Yuanfang standing up with documents in the corner of the military tent. He ordered:
"You lead a hundred soldiers across the river and make a detour to the west bank of the Lidu River. There is no need to conduct any investigation.
Just look at the reaction of the Luchuan camp when they found out that the enemy was approaching.
Did you tip off Si Lunfa? Did you panic? "

Lu Yunyi remembered something and added:
"Wait for Wang Shen to come back, take the topographic map he drew, and go together to mark and draw the enemy camps."

Qin Yuanfang straightened his back suddenly, his eyes sharp:

"Yes!"

Lu Yunyi looked at the others present and continued:
"As for you, be prepared for the subsequent battle.
Based on the information collected by the exploration team,
Complete the feasibility study of the battle plan and wait for me to come back tomorrow to take a look.

Remember, I'm here.
The purpose is not to destroy the stronghold, but to kill the enemy and tell Si Lunfa in Chuxiong that we are here! "

"have you understood?"

"Understood!" All the generals and clerks present stood up with sharp eyes and loud voices.

"Alright, everyone go about their business. I will be out of the camp in an hour!"

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)