Chapter 67: Preparations for War

  Pre-war preparations

  He saw his mother standing up in a wisp of green smoke, her whole body glowing with a green light, and she said she was going to take him away. He was so scared that he peed his pants. His mouth said he wanted to reveal the secrets of the fort's configuration, but his heart had other plans. Just then, something unthinkable happened - from behind the coffin, a wall emerged an eerie figure with a rotten smell, its face completely distorted, unable to distinguish which was the nose and which was the eye, just a blurry mass of flesh and blood. It walked shakily to the side of the coffin, making a strange sound like steel scraping: "Little Juanzi, don't waste your breath on him, this kid has never told the truth since he was young, let's just take him away directly. What's the point of all this nonsense?"

  Xiao Juanzi was a nickname that Fansheng's father used to call his mother, and not many people knew about it. Fansheng felt a chill run down his spine as he thought of his long-dead father.

  Vanston's mother said: "Let's hear him out first. If it doesn't work, we can go take a look again. If what he says is fake, we can still bring him back later. What do you think?"

  His father said, "You've spoiled him since he was a child. Every day, not a single true word is spoken, I'm afraid that his lies will lead to his downfall and he'll end up in the Tongue-Ripping Hell. By then, you'll regret it too late. I won't bother with this anymore, let's just listen to him, if not, we can go to the yamen to investigate further." After finishing speaking, a wisp of green smoke passed by and he vanished. Fan Shitou also fainted soon after.

  Fans Tong felt a severe pain in his body, opened his eyes, and the room was lit. He lay on the bed, two fake soldiers sat with their backs to him on stools, snoring loudly on the table. Just as he was about to speak, a refreshing fragrance blew over and he fell back onto the bed.

  "Dogzi, dogzi. Don't be stubborn anymore, follow your mother. If you really fell into the Avici hell, in the next life you can only be a beast to be slaughtered by others." Fang Shitong clearly heard that his mother was speaking. He opened his eyes and looked at his mother who was still lying in the coffin with a green glow.

  Fansheng felt that his mother was really talking to his soul. He was no longer afraid, and even felt the greatness of his mother, who still cared about his safety after death. With tears in his eyes, he said: "Mother, I'll tell you everything about the stronghold, so you can rest assured." He told her all about the firepower configuration, troop deployment, and defense layout. When he finished, he added: "Mother, I'm really safe at the stronghold with the protection of the Imperial Army. If you don't believe me, go take a look with Father. If I've lied even half a word, you and Father can take me away immediately."

  Vanstone saw his mother slowly lying down and said, "I hope what you said is true, otherwise... Ah." Vanstone suddenly felt a wave of drowsiness come over him, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

  The next day, Fansheng woke up and saw that his pillow was wet with tears. He wiped away the tears on his face and shouted for the two fake soldiers to hastily escape from the restaurant.

  Yun Xiang Tian and the others watched as Fans Tong left in disarray, a smile hanging from the corner of his mouth. Feng Tian Xiong said to Wang Qi: "This guy is just a pig, luckily you stayed behind, otherwise I really couldn't have moved it by myself."

  After listening to the whole story, Qi Guo shook his head and joked: "Ying Zuo, let's do it ourselves. Being with him makes me nervous. Who knows, one day he might lead old Qi to the underworld for a spin, just thinking about it gives me chills."

  The three of them chatted and laughed as they walked until they reached the edge of the cliff that Huang Min had mentioned. Huang Min pointed at the steep precipice and said, "I told you, Cloud, there's no road from here on out. Can you give each of us a pair of wings to fly across?"

  Yun Xiang said with a smile, "I may not be able to press the wings, but I can turn you all into pangolins and dig through the mountain." He pointed to a cave not far from the side of the small road and said, "Look over there, do you know what it means to have another sky? Go in and take a look."

  Huang Min looked at Yun Xiang Tian with a puzzled expression, then glanced at the cave. The entrance of the cave was very small and one had to crawl in on all fours. Moreover, the direction of the entrance was facing the direction they came from, and it couldn't be seen how this was related to their destination - the mountain peak opposite the cliff. Huang Min pointed at the entrance and asked: "This?"

  Yun Xiang Tian's affirmative reply was: "Just this." He opened his backpack, took out a military flashlight from inside, and crawled in first.

  The cave was extremely narrow, like the state of Qi would have such a large head, and some places could barely crawl through. However, after advancing more than ten zhang, the cave suddenly became larger and opened up. The direction turned sharply downward towards the opposite mountains.

  The significant change in the cave left Huang Min astonished, he gave a thumbs up to Yun Xiang Tian and said: "Brother Yun is indeed formidable, this place is truly a different world. Let's go down and take a look."

  Yun Xiang Tian led Huang Min and Qi Guo Jiang through the cave, climbing up and down, left and right, until they saw the light. Yun Xiang Tian signaled them not to speak, slowly crawling out of the cave entrance, which was just above the mountain top near the base point, only a few feet away from the cliff edge. They crawled to the edge of the cliff and could clearly see the situation inside the base point. Yun Xiang Tian and his team lay down at a distance of one arrow from the cliff edge, pointing out the deployment and firepower configuration of the base point, discussing their battle plan in low voices.

  Back at Lingfeng, Yunxiang Tian and Huang Min had completed most of their action plan, but they still hadn't thought of a way to deal with the hidden fort on the cliff wall. They practiced over and over again, only to overturn it every time. Annoyed, Huang Min turned around and accidentally knocked over the water cup on the table. Yunxiang Tian reached out to catch it, but missed, and instead hit the water cup under the table. Yunxiang Tian slapped the table and said: "I've got it."

  Huang Min, who was startled by Yun Xiang Tian's sudden slap on the table, heard him say "I've got it" and excitedly asked: "Have you thought of a way to deal with the Dark Fortress? How do we do it? Tell me quickly!"

  After three days of preparation, the time for the Ghost Legion to take down the Li Huagou stronghold had matured. Yun Xiang Tian issued combat orders in the command center of Ling Feng Huang Min. He commanded: The Ghost Legion's Zhen Shan Hu detachment would assist the Taohua Ridge militia and ambush the Japanese reinforcements sent from the Taohua Ridge stronghold. The Ba Tian Long detachment would assist the Resistance Army's First Company, stationed at Nan Shan Ao Qi Lin Mountain, to block the Japanese reinforcements coming from Linping. The Hong Shan Gu detachment, along with Huang Min's Second and Third Companies, would lie in ambush on both sides of the mountain valley three miles outside Li Huagou stronghold, eliminating the Japanese and puppet troops escaping towards Linping. Wang Furen and Huang Min's First Company would be the reserve force, acting as needed. Huang Min's reconnaissance company followed him to sneak into the back of the stronghold, where they selected expert marksmen Wang Qi and Feng Tianxiong to accompany Huang Min. He also ordered Shi Dian and Shang to find five 3-meter-long ropes to take with them.

  Cui Dongsheng, who had been waiting for a long time, stood up and said: "Captain, all the orders have been given. What is our new company going to do?"

  Yun Xiang Tian said with a smile: "Cui Lian Chang, I'm just a combat advisor. The Dragon Great of the Suspended Sword Cave is our great captain, Captain Long." He paused and continued: "Your mission is the most arduous, you must guard the gate of Lingfeng to prevent the devils from launching a surprise attack. You also need to respond to various troops."

  Huang Min moved his teacup and said in a low voice: "With a vast and intricate mind, he can plan and strategize from behind the scenes. He indeed has the demeanor of a great general, which is hard to come by!"

  Ba Tian Long stood up, coughed and said: "I have an important decision now: the captain of Lingshan Lishen's ghost team will be Yun Xiangtian, and Ba Tian Long will serve as deputy captain. This appointment takes effect immediately."

  "Huang Min clapped his hands and shouted loudly: 'Alright, the Huang Min Corps of the Lethal Ghosts will from now on be under the command of the Fengling Mountain Lethal Ghosts. Listen for further instructions. I hereby appoint you as the new commander of the First Battalion of the Fengling Mountain Lethal Ghosts.'"

  Yun Xiang Tian Ji declined with great force. Hong Shan Gu came over and patted him on the back, saying: "Among those present, except for Huang Ying Zhang leading troops to fight, the rest are just a group of bandits, killing the rich and helping the poor is okay, but when it comes to strategy and military deployment, no one is better than you. Moreover, since you came to Feng Ling Shan, the few deals you made, we all admire them. Don't decline anymore, if you decline again, you will disappoint Long Da's good intentions."

  Chui Dongsheng chimed in, "To be honest, I'm just following Commander Yun. This time we attacked Linping City, destroyed the Garrison Command and burned down the Imperial Japanese Army Command. We also blew up the little devils' ammunition depot. Not a single one of us was injured, it's too exhilarating!"

  "Everyone ignore his boasting, go back and gather your troops, mobilize before the battle, check your equipment, we will take action at midnight tonight."