Volume 2 Clouds Chapter 14: Ambush at the Shallows
There is nothing hidden and nothing covered up.
After Gao Yanchou led five thousand soldiers down the Qingni Ridge, they headed straight for Fengzhou along the Chencang Road.
Li Tinggui led the remaining 10,000 soldiers and followed far behind.
Walking on the muddy mountain road, Gao Yanchou quickly passed through Guzhen and Malingzhai and went straight to the city of Fengzhou.
Looking at the heavily guarded Fengzhou City, Gao Yanchou just took a glance, bypassed Fengzhou City without looking back, and swaggered into Chencang Road in the direction of Huanghua Valley.
Walking on the narrow gravel road, Gao Yanchou couldn't help laughing: "Luo Youdu is really considerate. If he survives by chance, he can be spared..."
The road to Shu is difficult to travel on, and now it is the rainy season, the road is extremely muddy, with some deep and some shallow. Some mud even seeps into the boots, making it extremely uncomfortable.
Gao Yanchou felt happier walking on the newly built gravel road.
Gao Yanchou smiled and said to his deputy general Wang Luan: "This Luo Youdu is obviously worried that we will be too slow to intercept their grain train, so he specially built a road for us."
It was obvious from his words that he didn't take Luo Youdu seriously.
From letting an unknown general take over the defense of Fengzhou city, to dragging Zhang Jianxiong, Yang Yuan, and Zhao Yan to visit brothels, or suddenly arranging soldiers and laborers to collect gravel to pave the road a few days ago, there were always some unexpected events.
Although it is understandable that Luo Youdu wanted the grain transport team to have a good road, the Chencang Road is so narrow and long, what is the point of only repairing the section near Fengzhou?
You have to know that a road is one that is walked on by many people. The Chencang Road near Fengzhou has been repaired and traveled on by Fengzhou people for a long time, so the road environment is not bad.
The grain transport team has overcome the most difficult section, so why would they still care about the section in the northern part of Fengzhou?
It's just a waste of labor for no reason.
"Speed up the pace! Arrange You Yi to investigate the movements of the enemy's grain team!"
Gao Yanchou gave the order.
Several rangers rode on short war horses and headed north along the Chencang Road.
The guerrilla soldiers rode Shu horses, which were about the same size as donkeys and were unique to Shu. They were not fast, but could climb mountains and wade through water as if they were walking on flat ground.
When running in the mountains and forests, it is no less powerful than the Hequ horse.
About half an hour later, You Yibing brought back the news.
"We found the Zhou army's grain train on the shallows of the Jialing River two miles ahead!" You Yibing said in a panic, "It's just that we were discovered by them. Kang Yu was shot by an arrow and his life or death is unknown."
Gao Yanchou's eyes flashed with excitement, and he said, "It's okay. Quick, pass the order down, speed up the march, and prepare for battle."
The food and supplies for the 20,000-strong army were loaded in carts, like a long dragon, all over the Chencang Road, stretching for miles.
Even if we discovered their traces, it would be too late to retreat and turn around.
With this batch of food, they can completely fight against the Zhou army.
As for whether there would be reinforcements from Fengzhou, that was not considered for the time being. He had 5,000 men under his command, so he could completely collect the food team while resisting the reinforcements from Fengzhou behind.
As long as Li Tinggui's follow-up reinforcements arrive, the reinforcements from Fengzhou City will be nothing but steamed meat on the chopping board.
They hurried along the Chencang Road.
When they arrived at the place where the patrol soldiers discovered the grain transport team, they met Zhou Bing as expected.
What was waiting for them was not a grain transport team, but an elite force ready for battle at any time.
Zhang Jianxiong looked at the Shu soldiers in front of him with shock in his eyes, and a thought came to his mind: "Could Luo Dujian be a god?"
The situation before him did not allow him to think too much. Luo Youdu's brilliant plan had already been engraved in his mind at this moment. He was full of confidence in winning this battle and shouted, "Little guys, it's time to eat meat!"
As he shouted, drums and gongs sounded and arrows rained down from the mountain road on the left.
Zhang Jianxiong was the first to take the lead. The Chencang Road was not suitable for horse fighting, so he threw his horse lance aside, raised the thick-backed iron knife in his hand, and chopped off the head of a Shu soldier head-on.
He swung his sword left and right like a madman, slashing as if he were chopping melons and vegetables.
The heads and arms of the Shu soldiers were flying left and right under his sword. Under the swing of his iron sword, they were either dead or maimed.
The Chencang Road was wide and narrow, and they were located near the shallows of the Jialing River, providing ample space for an ambush and fight.
Zhang Jianxiong's sudden attack stunned the vanguard of the Shu army and forced them onto the shallows.
Gao Yanchou's face changed drastically when he saw how ferocious Zhang Jianxiong was. He had only one thought in his mind: he had fallen into a trap.
Although he didn't know Zhang Jianxiong, the team on the other side was definitely not a grain transport team.
If the Zhou army's grain transport team had such combat effectiveness, then why fight? They could just surrender directly.
"Quick, go and inform General Li!"
Gao Yanchou couldn't figure out what was going on, but one thing was clear: the war situation had gone beyond their plans and changes had to be made.
Naturally , all this was arranged in advance by Luo Youdu.
It turned out that Luo Youdu's initial plan was to lure Li Tinggui and Gao Yanchou to attack the city, pretending that he was a scholar who knew nothing about military affairs and could be easily deceived, in order to show weakness to the enemy.
He even took Zhang Jianxiong, Yang Yuan and Zhao Yan out for drinking and prostitution all day long.
But as time went by, Luo Youdu could not get any news from Li Tinggui and Gao Yanchou, and he couldn't help but feel suspicious.
"Am I really thinking too much?"
After several days of drinking and entertainment, the relationship between the four people was further improved.
Zhang Jianxiong and Yang Yuan took care of Luo Youdu's face and never mentioned the bet.
Luo Youdu found it hard to let it go. He had enough confidence in his judgment of Shu's economy. It was hard to imagine under such circumstances, Shu would have to fight a protracted war with them.
"Aren't you afraid of running out of food and money and running out of money to continue?"
Food and wages!
In an instant, Luo Youdu reacted.
The other party was more clever than he had imagined. Their target was not Fengzhou, but their food.
Why did Wang Jing arrange for himself to guard Fengzhou? It was because Fengzhou was about to become a transit station for grain and fodder, and someone was needed to be in charge.
With this in mind, Luo Youdu immediately found Zhang Jianxiong and asked him to lead two thousand soldiers to set up an ambush on the shallows of the Jialing River.
Zhang Jianxiong was somewhat resistant at first, and found an excuse, saying, "If the enemy really wants to attack our food supply route, they will definitely have spies. Once the two thousand soldiers leave Fengzhou City, they will be discovered immediately, and we can't hide it from them."
Luo Youdu felt that what Zhang Jianxiong said made sense, but he also knew that Zhang Jianxiong lacked confidence in himself and was unwilling to make any unnecessary efforts.
But Luo Youdu quickly thought of a solution.
He ordered the people in the city to collect gravel, and under the pretext of building a road, he sent soldiers and laborers out of the city to spread the gravel on the muddy Chencang Road.
He sent soldiers to transport gravel out of the city. Fifteen hundred people went out at a time, and thirteen returned. He repeated this ten times over two days, and managed to send Zhang Jianxiong's surprise army out without anyone noticing.
Seeing that Luo Youdu had thought about it to this extent, Zhang Jianxiong could not find any reason to refuse.
Hence, this ambush took place.
