Chapter 46: White Wolf Mountain Water Interval (13)

  Zhong Silang's right arm suddenly stopped, paused for a moment, and then slowly fell.

  Nor did he know what the fat man said, and the Khitan people followed him to a mountain path on the left.

  "What are the Khitans going to do?" Zhong Si Lang had been following Li Chengzhong to survey the terrain of Bai Lang Mountain for several days, and he was also familiar with the mountain path that the Khitans had taken. The mountain path wound around a small hillside for several turns before finally returning to the main road.

  His younger brothers behind him also became suspicious and opened their mouths: "They took the wrong road!"

  "Can this road lead to the military camp? It seems unlikely."

  "Hah, that fatty is a good-for-nothing, can't even recognize the road, probably going to lose his head this time!"

  "Kill him! He's obviously a Han Chinese, but he insisted on guiding the Khitans. This guy deserves to be hacked to pieces!"

  In any case, the Khitans had taken the bait and were now walking into the mountain path, which would lead them on a long and winding road. As for Zhong Silang, he was still very pleased with this outcome, letting out a sigh of relief as he secretly hoped that the Khitans would wander around inside for a while longer.

  Letting his brothers relax for a moment, Zhong Si Lang waved his hand: "Let's go." He led the group to retreat to the second blocking point.

  This is a very sharp turn, and the mountain road is also relatively narrow. Zhong Si Lang chose this place, he was prepared to fight hard. This place is not conducive to the Khitan people's deployment of troops, and there is also the cover of the mountain wall on one side, which can avoid most of the incoming arrows. Zhong Si Lang planned to open up the gun array taught by Li Chengzhong, divided into two groups, each with five people, and hold out for half an hour here. He didn't know if he could hold out for so long, but since he had taken on this task, he must complete it, unless he died here!

  The brothers all knew they had to fight hard here, and their mood began to rise, but not one of them had the idea of retreating at the last minute. The atmosphere was a bit tense, and Zhong Si Lang didn't know what to say either, he just silently swept his eyes over the nine brothers in front of him, his eyes filled with apology.

  If Li Chengzhong were here, he would never have imagined that such a situation would arise. All along, what has been most worrying him is the courage of these soldiers under his command. He has always believed that apart from regular training, what these soldiers lack most is the bravery to engage in close combat with the enemy face-to-face. In his mind, every time he encounters an enemy, his first reaction is to take advantage of the favorable terrain and then adopt various methods to make up for this deficiency.

  Even his most elite subordinate, Zhong Si Lang, did not dare to have high hopes. He would never have thought that this short fellow he recruited from the pile of dead bodies at Yongji Canal half a year ago would actually dare to take on hundreds of Khitan people with just nine soldiers! Moreover, every single brother in this group was completely uncomplaining - no, not even a hint of hesitation. If Li Chengzhong knew about this matter, he wouldn't know whether to loudly praise Zhong Si Lang's courage and audacity or severely scold their foolishness and obstinacy.

  Zhong Si Lang stuck a branch into the ground, it was the one Li Cheng Zhong had handed to him at that time. He looked at the shadow of the branch as it changed from long to short, then appeared on the other side, and gradually lengthened again... He watched this change with great joy, forgetting everything else. Every time the shadow grew a little longer, it meant he needed to lead his brothers in holding out here for less time. With a nervous yet expectant heart, he watched as the shadow lengthened, and when it reached the position Li Cheng Zhong had required, he let out a long sigh of relief, then lifted his head, unable to help but laugh foolishly. The nine brothers around him formed a circle, all staring intently at the branch, then simultaneously lifted their heads, letting out that mouthful of stagnant air they had been holding in for who knows how long.

  Was the task really completed so easily? Zhong Si Lang couldn't help but feel puzzled. According to the distance of the mountain road, the Khitan people should have arrived here long ago, what were they doing? At this moment, he could already return to the White Wolf Mountain barracks, and he glanced at his brothers, who all looked expectant, waiting for him to give orders.

  Zhong Si Lang also wanted to go back, after all the task had been completed, and it was not worth staying here to fight hard with the Khitan people. However, he hesitated for a while and did not give the order to return, because he always felt uneasy in his heart, and he wanted to know where these Khitan people had gone.

  Zhong Si Lang turned around again, staring intently at the empty mountain path for a long time... Finally, reason overcame curiosity, and he decided to order his men to retreat.

  Just then, a man suddenly ran out from the mountain road and rushed towards the corner where Zhong Siliu and others were hiding, looking back while running.

  Zhong Si-lang made a hand gesture, signaling his brothers to get ready. When the man approached, Zhong Si-lang finally recognized him as the fat guy who had been acting as a guide for the Khitans.

  The fat man was so frightened when he saw Zhong Si Lang and others appear that he fell to the ground with a thud, stunned for a moment before shouting: "Are you the Lu Long army?" Seeing Zhong Si Lang nodding, the fat man got up with a joyful smile and quickly told Zhong Si Lang what had happened.

  "Are you saying that you led the Khitan people onto that gravel path?" Zhong Siliang looked at Pangzi with a strange expression.

  Fatty chuckled: "That's right, they took a few wrong turns and then entered the gravel path. They're probably still circling around in there now. Let's hurry into the camp, I have many military matters to report to your general..."

  "It's Commander-in-Chief, Deputy Lieutenant General." A younger brother corrected in a low voice.

  "Hey, it's all the same anyway, as long as he's in charge here, that's all that matters!" Fatso said indifferently.

  Unexpectedly, this fatty actually had such a trick up his sleeve, and Zhong Si Lang couldn't help but feel some admiration for him. He ordered the troops to return, chatting with the fatty as they walked, asking what he did for a living and how he ended up being forced by the Khitan people to lead the way. When they talked about the gravel path, he even burst out laughing - it wasn't easy to turn around in there, and now the Khitan people would be delayed again. Just then, he suddenly remembered something and asked the fatty: "I recall that warhorses can't enter or exit the gravel path..."

  Chubby replied: "They left the horse at the crossroads."

  Zhong Si Lang stopped in his tracks, slowly turned around and stared at the fatty, asking: "How many Khitan people are watching the horses?"

  The fatty thought for a moment and said: "There should be four, at most five..."

  ……

  Everything inside the White Wolf Mountain military camp had been arranged according to Li Chengzhong's orders, of course, this arrangement was very rough and simple, so crude that Li Chengzhong did not have the slightest confidence in being able to withstand the ferocious attack of the Khitan people with this defensive system. But although he had no confidence, he didn't dare show it at all, he was the commander-in-chief of the entire military camp after all, and he not only had to hide his thoughts but also had to appear more confident than anyone else.

  Li Chengzhong was most concerned about the trench inside the stone wall, which had just been completed under Jiang Miao's supervision. The fifty laborers led by Zhang Laojiang had already retreated to a distance to rest, and as soon as they looked at them, they knew how hard they had worked to dig this trench. As soon as Li Chengzhong finished the trench, he praised the laborers with various compliments, praising them until each person's face was filled with happy smiles. Zhang Laojiang, an old man who was usually calm and composed, also smiled all over his face, patted his chest and said that there was nothing they couldn't do if Li Doutou thought of it. Hearing this familiar phrase, Li Chengzhong almost grabbed Zhang Laojiang's hand and asked him which dynasty he had come from.

  Meng Xuxing and Jiao Chengqiao, the two brothers, each led a group of archers to climb up the stone houses on both sides of the cliff. On the ground in front of the stone wall, they drew six areas with stones. The two were leading their men in calibration exercises. Li Chengzhong didn't have time to climb up again to give more instructions, everything had been said, and now it was just a matter of waiting for the battle to begin.

  According to Li Chengzhong's request, Zhang Xingchong concentrated the gunners at the stone wall, with each pair forming a team and dividing into two groups. He made a detailed deployment. The defensive focus of the stone wall was at the breach, where Zhang Xingchong deployed four pairs of soldiers. These soldiers were not simply blocking the breach but allowing it to pass through, lining up on both sides inside the breach in two rows, so that when the Khitan people rushed in through the breach, they would face forty wooden guns on either side! At the same time, by forming teams in this way, they could effectively avoid the direct shooting of the Khitan archers and greatly reduce the casualty rate from arrow wounds.

  Apart from this, Li Chengzhong also gathered all the leather armor together, totaling twenty-three sets, and distributed them to the soldiers standing in the first row on both sides of the gate.

  The entire inner wall of the stone wall was lined with eight teams of riflemen arranged by Zhang Xingzhong, who would personally command these troops.

  Li Chengzhong concentrated all three hundred shield-bearing soldiers together, a total of six teams. He handed over five teams to Zhou Dangdao, who led fifty shield-bearing soldiers to take on the task of filling in gaps and covering weaknesses. Wherever there was a crisis, they would rush to that place to fight. In addition to defensive tasks, Zhou Dangdao was also required to undertake offensive tasks. Once an opportunity arose, he needed to lead the shield-bearing soldiers out of the gap and do his best to kill the Khitan people.

  "Especially those wounded Khitans, as long as they see that they can't retreat, order the brothers to take their lives! This battle, I don't want any captives!" Li Chengzhong instructed Zhou Kan with a somewhat ferocious expression.

  Don't worry, I understand now! This is the way to have fun! Haha!

  Another group of sword and shield soldiers was handed over to Jiang Miao, who would serve as the law enforcement team for the entire battlefield. Li Chengzhong publicly announced the battlefield discipline: anyone who dared to turn around and run away during battle would be immediately beheaded by the law enforcement team without mercy! Moreover, Li Chengzhong also announced that after this battle, anyone found with wounds on their back would be expelled from the Pingzhou army, and all grain rations and land allocations would be taken back. Of course, there must be rewards for achievements, so Li Chengzhong also made public the reward rules: in the military merit evaluation after the battle, individuals ranked among the top 20 would be promoted one level; units that achieved collective merits would receive a reward of 10,000 coins per person!

  Li Chengzhong didn't have that much money on hand, not even a single coin. Ten thousand coins was equivalent to ten guan, which could crush someone if pressed upon them. The reason he offered such a high reward was because according to the customs of this era, he wouldn't need to pay it out immediately; everything could wait until they returned to Pingzhou. At that time, whether it was seeking Zhou Zhiyong or going to find Zhang Zaigui, in short, there was no need to worry about this problem now.

  Li Chengzhong organized the people to reinforce and raise the original reviewing platform inside the General's Camp, with a height almost equal to the stone wall. Standing on the platform, he could see the situation on the entire battlefield relatively clearly, while also ensuring that his position was outside the range of the Khitan people's bows and arrows. The new recruits who had just been divided into two groups, except for the two teams of knife shield hands led by Zhou Kanjian, were arranged around the platform, these soldiers were the last batch of people in his hand, and also the only reserve team in his hand. However, at this moment, there was no time to train these new recruits, and he had no officers by his side, he planned that when a crisis arose, he would personally lead them to charge up.

  Everything was in place, and Zhao's logistics team brought up hot meals. Looking at the soldiers stuffing their mouths with pancakes and dried meat, Li Chengzhong was very satisfied. It seemed that his brothers' adaptability to battle was much stronger than he had imagined. Being able to eat meant they weren't too tense. Of course, the brothers who were eating and drinking were all veterans of the Yu Guan defense war. In comparison, the new soldiers looked a bit worse for wear. Many people's hands trembled as they held their pancakes, unable to get them to their mouths. Li Chengzhong furrowed his brow at the sight. He could understand the fear and tension of these new recruits on the eve of battle, but this was not the time for cowardice.

  Looking at the new recruits under the high platform, Li Chengzhong shouted loudly: "I've been through the Battle of Bei State, the Battle of Wei State, and the Battle of Yu Pass. Do you know why I'm still alive? Remember this, whoever is more afraid, the sword will be pointed at him! No matter how scared you are, finish your meal now! Whoever can't finish eating will face military law!"

  Li Chengzhong didn't know if his words had any effect, but at least these new recruits one by one stuffed the flatbread and dried meat into their mouths. He also didn't have time to care about these new recruits anymore, he was worried about the safety of Zhong Sihai's group. Now that he had gotten the timing he needed, and everything that needed to be prepared was ready, why hadn't Zhong Sihai returned yet?

  Heaven bless you, come back alive, you are the most elite soldiers under my command! Li Chengzhong kept praying silently in his heart.