Chapter Eleven: Night Escape (Part Two)

  Yang Yingqi pointed to a point in the northwest of the sand table: "Xiao Tienuo, in order to prevent us from seizing the water source, must have set up traps here, so his men should also be distributed in this direction. As for the people he sent out to gather information, they may also be distributed in a semicircular or fan shape around this northwest water source, monitoring our earthen city."

  He drew two lines, making an arc to encircle the outer perimeter of the earthen city: "But in the southeast - especially this block just south of due east, I estimate that he would not have a high possibility of dispatching troops to ambush here. Because at this time, sending out scouts is a very troublesome thing. If we go southeast, even if his scouts discover us, it will be difficult for them to circle back northwest to report the news. And as Mr. Di said, going in the southeast direction may encounter the Khitan army's garrison troops. So he won't worry about us escaping from this direction either. But we just happen to want to run in this direction. But there is no need to run so far, quietly walking out a section of the road, turning south, bypassing the vanguard of the Imperial Army, and coming to the water source near here..."

  "Heavens!" Ouyang Shi said: "You wouldn't think of going to attack the main force of the Imperial Army, would you? Hmm... no... Haha! I get it! Brilliant!"

  Yang Yingqi smiled slightly and said, "You've guessed my idea, right? Not bad. When we arrive, maybe we won't even need to fight, the main force of the Gongzhu Army may have already withdrawn northward. And we'll take advantage of the emptiness to occupy this place they left behind, replenish our water and rest our troops. This place is the Gongzhu Army's 'route', and also a blind spot in Xiao Tienu's mind: for the time being, he won't even guess that we'll be there! If everything goes smoothly, it will form a completely new situation: the Khitan people don't know where we are, Xiao Tienu doesn't know where we are, but we roughly know Xiao Tienu's position. The situation will be very favorable for us! If we can capture one or two Khitan soldiers without being detected, we may also get to know the true situation of the Gongzhu Army - at that time, we can determine our strategy."

  Yang Kai said: "How did you know that the main force of the Imperial Army would break camp and advance, rather than staying by that water source and not moving?"

  "I'm guessing from Xiao Tienu's motive." Yang Yingqi said: "Xiao Tienu wants to guide the Gongzhu army to deal with us, but more than a hundred Gongzhu soldiers are obviously not enough to achieve the goal of eliminating us. Therefore, I guess that the main force of the Gongzhu army occupying the water source in the south is also going north. Even if they didn't want to go north originally, Xiao Tienu will think of ways to guide them north! Since Mr. Di knows the terrain around here, the Khitan people are the masters of this land - they are even more unlikely to be unaware. So they should only be resting and replenishing at that water source in the south, not staying for long."

  Cao Guangyi nodded and said, "It's possible that things may turn out unexpectedly, but based on what we know now, Ying Qi's decision is the most feasible! Taking a detour to the south is our only way out!"

  Zhe Yan Chong raised his head and looked up at the sky: Tonight, there isn't even a single star or moon!

  Ouyang Yi also looked up and said: "It's so dark, just right for a night escape! However, without the stars to guide us, how can we ensure that we won't get lost?"

  Yang Yingqi said, "Wait a minute." He walked away for a while and came back with a small box. Inside the box was a plate with several black magnets on it, as well as an iron needle. Yang Yingqi said, "Even when we were still in the Taihang Mountains, I had already thought about the various difficulties we would encounter after entering the Gobi Desert. Ouyang, can you guess what this thing is?" As he spoke, he shook the iron box.

  Ouyang Jian didn't care how the box turned, the iron needle always pointed in one direction. He clapped his hands and said: "I know! This is a compass! How did you get it?"

  Yang Yingqi smiled and said: "You really recognize it! This is what I and Zhang Lao Yu discussed and made, it's quite rough, but it should be fine for indicating the direction."

  Ouyang Shidao said: "With this thing, as long as we calculate the distance accurately, we shouldn't get lost."

  Zhe Yan Chong said: "Does everyone have any opinions on this decision to detour south?"

  Ouyang Shidao said: "I have no opinion, now I just want to think of a way to shift the blame for the Palace Account Army's troubles onto Xiao Tienu!"

  Cao Guangyi said, "No need to guide them. The imperial army's large troops will come here to replenish water as well. The water source in the northwest is only a few hours away from here, and the imperial army will definitely go there! If Xiao Tienu stays there to resist, it would be a good show to watch. However, I think the possibility of Xiao Tienu doing so is not great. Otherwise - what do you think he will do?"

  Ouyang Yi and Cao Guangyi looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  When Yang Kaiyuan passed down the order, they packed up their belongings and prepared to set off. Zhao Yanzheng said: "Don't bring anything else! Only bring good food, water, and weapons! Don't bring all the horses either! Let Jing Qi select some things that will be useful in case of emergency. Bring only 800 horses, tie up their mouths, and wrap soft materials around their hooves. Put out the fire, quietly exit from the east gate, walk for a distance before mounting the horses.

  During this time, Yang Yingqi and Zhang Lao Yu and several other skilled craftsmen used some coal ash they had brought with them to make fuses of varying lengths. One end of the fuse was a torch. Alu asked what this was for, and Yang Yingqi said: "After we leave, we'll light these fuses. The coal burns very slowly, burning gradually until it ignites the torch after a while. When Xiaotienulü's people see the fire on the earth wall flickering on and off in the distance, they won't dare to come over and investigate rashly, so we can deceive them for a little while longer."

  Arumandao said: "You can think of this method too, you Hans have a lot of tricks up your sleeves!"

  The five hundred troops marched out for dozens of miles overnight, and only then did they stop to rest their horses. On the second day, Di Yu and Cao Guangyi led a group of scouts, quietly approaching the southern line under cover of darkness; the Chinese were in the shadows, while the Khitans were in plain sight, yet somehow they failed to detect them!

  Di Yu sighed, "Is this group of palace accountants here to sightsee?" They walked for a day and gradually approached the water source in the south. The scouts came to report that they saw the Khitan people breaking camp and heading north. When Zhe Yan Chong and others heard about it, they all let out a sigh of relief. On the third day, they arrived near the water source and saw more than a dozen Khitan cavalrymen left there.

  Zhe Yan Chong said: "I, Alu Man and Ouyang Dai will lead twenty of the strongest riders disguised as herdsmen to launch a surprise attack. Mr. Di, Guang Bi and Kai Yuan will each lead their men to guard the four sides, not letting any of them escape."

  Twenty or so men approached, and the leader of the Khitan soldiers saw them and asked: "What kind of people are you?"

  Ouyang Yi walked in the front and replied in Khitan language: "We are herders from the Zubu tribe, we took a wrong turn, our horses are tired, and we came here to drink some water."

  "Really? I don't think so!"

  Ouyang Shi took another step closer, and suddenly his sleeve shook, dropping two gold beans. He hastily cried out: "Ah! My gold!"

  Under the sunlight, those two golden objects were dazzling. The twelve Khitan soldiers, five on horseback and seven not, all walked closer after hearing and seeing them, looking down at the ground.

  Zhe Yan Chong hid his bow behind his back, and more than 20 people attacked at the same time. Five Khitan men fell to the ground, four were seriously injured and could not move, but three escaped and fled on horseback. Zhe Yan Chong and Alu Man chased after them separately, shooting arrows that did not miss their mark, each killing one person.

  The last Khitan soldier saw the distant escape, and suddenly a horse rushed out from the slanting side. It was Cao Guangyi. He didn't draw his bow or pull out his sword. When the two horses intersected, he stretched out his long arm and lifted up the Khitan soldier, slamming him to the ground!