Chapter 43: White Wolf Mountain Water Interval (10)

  After Feng Dao returned to White Wolf Mountain, Li Chengzhong finally felt at ease after being on edge for several days. Not to mention the support he received from the Pingzhou Governor's Office and the Military Commander's Mansion in terms of material resources and military strength, the power he had been craving was finally recognized, which was the greatest gain. His anxious heart finally settled down. Looking at the desolate mountains and rivers before him, he actually felt a sense of being home deep within his heart. Yes, this place, White Wolf Mountain, where there was nothing, would be his first home after crossing over to this era. No matter how poor or broken it was, it was still his home, the place where he could finally settle down after drifting for half a year.

  "I want a home, a place that doesn't need to be too big..." humming the familiar tune, Li Cheng's mood was great.

  "Has Li Yudan taken this place as his home?" Feng Dao suddenly appeared from behind Li Cheng's back, smiling.

  Looking at Feng Dao's smiling face, Li Chengzhong was extremely happy and couldn't help but chuckle: "Ah? Hmm... Brother Ke Dao is indeed, haha, that sneaky guy. Thanks to Brother Ke Dao this time, Old Li's wish has been fulfilled. From now on, if there's anything you need, just say it, Old Li will definitely try his best to help." Li Chengzhong was somewhat elated and couldn't help but reveal his fox tail in front of Feng Dao.

  Feng Dao seemed to have not heard the implication in Li Chengqian's words, and only grasped the last sentence: "Li Yu, your words must be followed by actions, don't go back on them when the time comes!"

  Li Chengzhong patted his chest and said, "Of course," but under Feng Dao's strange smile, he gradually became nervous: "Uh... Brother Dao, what is your wish? Do you need Li to help you with something? Whatever Li can help with, I'll definitely do my best!" Although the words were the same as before, Li Chengzhong deliberately emphasized the three words "help out".

  "What's your heart's desire?" Feng Dao was somewhat unfamiliar with this term.

  "It's ambition, or rather, aspirations!" Li Chengzhong hastily translated.

  "Hmm, my ambition is... to save the common people from suffering, support and protect the wise ruler in his rightful position, let officials return to their duties, laws return to their proper order, and have a harmonious society with everything in its place...". Feng Dao spoke non-stop, making Li Chengzhong's head ache.

  "Uh......this is going to be a bit tough......" Li Chengzhong said with some embarrassment.

  Feng Dao burst out laughing: "Don't take to heart the jokes we play on each other." Seeing Li Chengzhong's expression relaxed, he suddenly leaned in with a mysterious smile: "I'm thinking of becoming the governor of Yingzhou, I wonder if you'd be willing to help me, Your Honor?"

  Faced with such a blatant request, Li Chengzhong was unable to respond directly and could only smile awkwardly: "This... Brother Ke is joking again, I don't have this skill..."

  Feng Dao said faintly, "I still have confidence in Li Yu's insult. I heard Jiang Duotou say something, and Li Yu must not be self-deprecating." After finishing speaking, he hung that mysterious smile like a signboard and turned to leave, leaving only Li Chengzhong standing stupidly on the spot.

  Li Chengzhong didn't understand what Feng Dao was getting at, so he simply dropped the matter and carefully took stock of his own assets.

  Currently, Li Chengzhong has 180 soldiers from the Left Camp's Jia and Yi troops. Although these soldiers cannot be said to have truly formed a fighting force, except for more than a dozen new recruits who were replenished due to war losses, the vast majority of them have experienced the battle on the walls of Yu Guan City and have seen blood. In addition, Zhou Zhiyu sent him 90 more soldiers, who are newly recruited and have not undergone training, do not even know how to hold a knife correctly, and most of them cannot even tell left from right. Li Chengzhong had already anticipated the quality of these soldiers, so he was not disappointed. The fact that Zhou Zhiyu could send him these soldiers was already far beyond his imagination, let alone the fact that they were fully armed, so he was not only not disappointed but also very satisfied.

  Apart from these soldiers, Li Chengzhong could truly rely on the old brothers who were originally from the Jianzuoying camp. These were the real elite soldiers left over from the heyday of the Lulong Army, who had experienced many battles in Beizhou, Weizhou, and Yuguanguan, and not only had rich experience and skill in fighting, but also possessed the courage to fight bravely. At the same time, these brothers had followed Li Chengzhong for a considerable period of time and were extremely familiar with his style of doing things and his military tactics. Most importantly, they supported him and backed him up! Li Chengzhong planned to take these old brothers as the backbone, and in the White Wolf Mountain, he would thoroughly train the soldiers under his command.

  Along with Feng Dao, there were also 50 civilians sent by Zhang Zaiji to escort the carts, transporting ten carts of supplies. Transporting supplies to Bailang Mountain, fifty miles away from Yu Pass, was a very dangerous task. In order to recruit these civilians, the governor's office spent a considerable amount of money. Apart from the heavy reward of one guan per person, each household that participated in this transportation also received one dou of grain.

  Li Chengzhong was grateful for the generous treatment he received at the residence of Shi Fu, but he couldn't quite understand it. Feng Dao smiled and asked Li Chengzhong, "What does Your Honor think of these people?"

  Li Chengzhong was puzzled: "These civilians? Hmm, not bad, some of them are even stronger than those soldiers under his command. But... how did so many people come? With only ten carts, there's no need for so many people to escort them... In fact, it would be better to let the new recruits escort them, and when these civilians return to Yu Guan, I'll have to send troops to escort them again, which is really a bit of trouble..."

  Feng Dao couldn't help but smile: "Li Yu won't really let them go, will he?"

  Li Chengzhong was taken aback: "What does Brother Kedao mean?"

  Feng Dao said: "Li Yu, take a closer look at these people. They were handpicked by someone from the Yuyuan Pass, and most of them are from the first batch that stayed with us to guard the pass."

  Li Chengzhong carefully identified them and found many familiar faces, including a 50-year-old old man who was the master craftsman in charge of building the Yumen Pass gate. The old craftsman surnamed Zhang was directing the laborers to unload grain from the carts, and although he was advanced in age, his spirit was still very strong. Li Chengzhong also saw several young and strong laborers who had guarded the Yumen Pass with him, holding guns and standing on the city wall as a show of force. In order to train their posture, Li Chengzhong had spent a lot of effort at that time.

  Li Chengzhong was somewhat surprised and asked with doubt: "Could it be that Brother Dao is saying... to keep them here? That would of course be best, but... will they be willing? This place is far more treacherous than Yu Guan..."

  Feng Dao smiled mysteriously: "I have my own way, Li Yu can rest assured." As for this young Confucian who liked mysterious smiles, Li Chengzhong was still very confident in him. After hearing Feng Dao's guarantee, he was overjoyed and hurriedly went forward a few steps to help up the old craftsman Zhang, who was bowing and paying respects. He happily surrounded the civilian workers who were unloading goods, sizing them up one by one, just like sizing up treasures that had fallen into his hands. For Li Chengzhong, who was currently penniless and without any influence, these civilian workers were truly precious, and in a certain sense, they were even more valuable than the new soldiers under his command.

  The arrival of the ten horse-drawn carriages greatly alleviated Li Chengzhong's tense supply situation. Feng Dao's preparations were extremely sufficient, and apart from five carriages of grain, there was also a carriage of dried meat and salt, two carriages of cloth, and one carriage of iron ingots! The last carriage was loaded with various tools commonly used by Zhang Laojiang and his apprentices, including whetstones, iron hammers, iron wedges, chisels, axes, planes, and molds, which made Li Chengzhong so happy that he couldn't close his mouth.

  The military camp in the White Wolf Mountain has been established for many years, and it is said that it was set up by the Andong Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty as a granary. The larger caves on the mountain wall were used to store grain. The wooden boards on the floor of the granary had long since rotted away, and most of the ventilation holes had been blocked. However, the ten carts of supplies they brought did not last long, and the food could only be sustained for about a month. It was not necessary to worry too much about long-term storage, so Feng Dao found a larger cave, slightly cleared the ventilation holes, and simply put all the supplies inside.

  Since this place is about to become Li Chengzhong's new home, Li Chengzhong naturally wants to have a deeper understanding of Báiláng Mountain. During the few days he waited for Feng Dao, he didn't idle around and found three village elders to gain a detailed understanding of the terrain and geography of Báiláng Mountain. Some places were even personally inspected and verified on the spot.

  The White Wolf Mountain is divided into two parts, the West Mountain and the East Mountain, with the mysterious water separating them. The military camp is located at the southern foot of the East Mountain, just over a mile away from the mountain pass. Although the mountain road is difficult to walk, under the cover of weeds and bushes, Li Chengzhong also saw a partially damaged mountain path, which was neither wide nor narrow, but could accommodate carriages and horses. When Feng Dao led the team into the mountains, he did not discover these paths, otherwise it would have taken only an hour to reach the military camp from the mountain pass, instead of half a day's work. With just simple leveling and maintenance, this path can be reopened, which makes Li Chengzhong very satisfied.

  Li Chengzhong is most concerned about safety issues. To reach the military camp from outside the mountain, there are many roads to choose from, but this is only for hunters, because most of the channels require the help of ropes to climb, and it is worthless for the passage of troops. There are two mountain roads that need to be guarded against, one of which is from the south entrance into the mountain, which is the mountain road directly opposite the military camp, and this mountain road is the widest. The other is more hidden, and you need to enter from the north of the mountain, passing through two mountain streams and crossing three mountain ridges.

  Li Chengzhong and Feng Dao sat down for a detailed discussion, first defining their respective powers and responsibilities. Li Chengzhong planned to hand over the specific civil affairs of Bailu Mountain to Feng Dao, as these matters were quite trivial and complicated for him, and he was not very good at them either. He wanted to put more energy into military affairs. This is the division of labor between the civil governor and the military commander, and Feng Dao had no objection. However, Li Chengzhong raised a point that when it comes to the need for combat, even if it's civil affairs, they must first obey military orders. Based on the special situation of Bailu Mountain and the trend of the times with warriors in power, Feng Dao expressed complete agreement on this point.

  The next issue to be discussed made both of them feel very worried. One was the food problem. Although Feng Dao brought back several carts of grain, after simple calculations and assessments, these grains could only sustain the survival of nearly a thousand soldiers and civilians in White Wolf Mountain for less than a month, even if they were frugal. At this moment, it would take at least three more months to harvest the fields in the rear mountain, which means that the food gap in White Wolf Mountain was about two months. When Feng Dao led the convoy into the mountains, he also discovered Khitan cavalry patrols, so the risk of continuing to transport grain from Yu Pass to White Wolf Mountain would be even greater, especially after the war began, and this possibility was extremely small.

  Another headache is how to spend the winter. There are ready-made caves in the military camp that can accommodate people, but winter is approaching, and these caves need to be renovated again. The doors at the entrance of the cave need to be done well to block the cold wind. This project is not small and needs to start immediately. Another problem is the clothing and bedding for the winter. Feng Dao brought back two carts of cloth, which can be used to make winter clothes and quilts, but because Feng Dao stayed in Yu Guan for a short time, the cloth he brought back was only enough for the soldiers and civilians to make winter clothes and quilts, without more fabric to take care of those refugees who fled into the mountains. How should the problem of winter clothes and quilts for these refugees be solved?

  During the discussion of the third issue, Feng Dao and Li Chengzhong had a dispute over the allocation of labor. Among the more than 700 refugees who escaped to Baima Mountain, there were less than 200 young and strong men who could do physical work. There were many tasks that needed to be started immediately, including repairing the military camp, renovating the cave dwellings, perfecting the military camp's walls, reinforcing the mountain pass, making winter clothes and quilts, and even going hunting in the rear mountain or western mountain. Relying solely on these 200 people was clearly insufficient, so Feng Dao not only wanted to put all 50 civilian workers into action but also hoped that Li Chengzhong's soldiers would share some of the tasks. However, for Li Chengzhong, the war with the Khitan people could break out at any time, and he needed to intensify the training of these soldiers. At the same time, he also wanted those 200 young men to undergo military training as reserve soldiers. Both had their own proposals and reasons, and they both acknowledged each other's proposals and reasons. However, when it came to making concessions, they were both very hesitant.

  Just as the two were in a dilemma, Wang Dalang, who was arranged by Li Chengzhong to guard at the mountain pass, rushed back and shouted: "Commander, the Khitan people are going to enter the mountain!"