Chapter 143: Intricate and Complex

He He Lingchuan looked at them, feeling quite pleased with himself. It wasn't easy to get on good terms with these man-eating monsters. His original plan was to use the Turtle Pearl, but then a sudden inspiration struck, and he threw out a promise of a formal title, securing the Crocodile God's help with nothing but empty words. Power, ah, power—this kind of strength was truly useful; no wonder his old man was so obsessed with it.

By the time He He Lingchuan finished the seven or eight large flatbreads in his hand, the mountain bandits had finished their discussion, and Wu Wu Shaoyi walked over with his men.

"Does this troop under Commander He have a name?"

"It does," He He Lingchuan said, taking a sip of water. "It's called the Support Army."

This was the result of deliberations between He He Chunhua and his advisors. He had originally intended to name this core unit he personally led to Xiazhou the Black Water Army, but He Yue and the advisors strongly opposed it, believing that naming it after the place of origin was too petty.

"We are willing to join, but I must at least have the rank of Deputy General, and the brothers under me must each have their own positions."

"That can be done," He He Lingchuan thought for a moment. "Given General Wu's seniority, serving as a Deputy General in the army is sufficient. But I must state beforehand that your men might be broken up and integrated into the main force when the time comes."

This was standard procedure to prevent them from forming cliques. Wu Wu Shaoyi did not object; on the contrary, he felt more at ease with He He Lingchuan's guarantee.

If this kid had agreed to everything with a full mouth, it would have been more like blowing hot air.

"Then let us discuss the plan ahead." Wu Wu Shaoyi found a tree stump and sat down.

He had just recovered from severe injuries; although he had used a forbidden technique to displace the damage, the massive blood loss was real, and he hadn't replenished it yet, so his face was still pale.

He had already swallowed several pills for replenishing blood and qi, and was still chewing on old ginseng, which was the only reason he hadn't fallen into the trap of dizziness and shortness of breath.

He knew himself that the best thing to do right now would be to get a large basin of ginseng-stewed old hen, eat the meat and drink the soup, and then lie down to sleep for a day and a night.

Sleep was the best way to replenish blood.

Unfortunately, objective conditions did not allow it. The eldest son of the Prefect before him was still waiting for him to achieve a major feat since his surrender.

So, Wu Wu Shaoyi picked up a branch and began to sketch on the beach:

"Speaking of the Xishan Road, the first few groups of troops have already run far ahead. It won't be easy for us to chase them on horseback, and I'm afraid we won't be able to rendezvous with Prefect He."

He He Lingchuan could see that what he was drawing on the ground was the topography of the nearby mountains.

"Because we planned to rendezvous at County Magistrate Village, I sent people to scout the nearby terrain beforehand. Here, the mountains follow the water; from Desheng Town to County Magistrate Village, the mountains basically hug the upper reaches of County Magistrate Lake," Wu Wu Shaoyi said. "The land route is difficult to travel; why don't we switch to the water route?"

"By boat?" He He Lingchuan turned to look at the wooden pier by the lake. "There aren't enough boats, are there?"

There were only seven or eight boats by the lake, one of which was quite large, but it could only hold a hundred or so people at most; otherwise, Lu Yao would have abandoned his horses and taken boats to block the government troops long ago.

"There aren't enough, but don't forget about them." Wu Wu Shaoyi pointed to the giant crocodiles on the shore. "People can stand on their backs, especially the Crocodile God; it alone can carry sixty or seventy people."

The Crocodile God was over five zhang (17 meters) long, longer and wider than some of the ferries on the Great River. If the men stood on its back, shoulder to shoulder and hand in hand, they could still squeeze several dozen people on.

Lu Yao hadn't dared to count on it at the time because his agreement with the Crocodile God had been fulfilled, and the other party had no obligation to help him anymore.

But He He Lingchuan was different; now the Crocodile God was a person of the government—no, a crocodile of the government.

"If the first batch of over two hundred people goes by water, whether for a sneak attack or support, it will be enough to solve our urgent need," Wu Wu Shaoyi continued. "The rest of the people will take the land route on horseback."

Seeing He He Lingchuan pondering in silence, he added, "The most pressing matter right now is to contact Pei Pei Xinyong."

"Contact Pei Pei Xinyong?"

"Correct. He has 1,600 troops and is the most important force on the Xishan Road right now. If he helps the government troops, their chances of victory will greatly increase; if he helps the rebel Lu, Prefect He will be in big trouble."

He He Lingchuan was suddenly moved: "You're right!"

At this moment, the Crocodile God, who had been left to the side, spoke up unhurriedly: "Where are you going?"

"The seven hundred men that the rebel Lu arranged at Shaozi Rock never appeared, which means Pei Pei Xinyong successfully completed his interception mission. Since these seven hundred men cannot advance eastward, they have no choice but to retreat westward." He He Lingchuan pointed at the topography on the ground and analyzed, "Then we must not only get ahead of the government troops, but ideally, we should also get ahead of Pei Pei Xinyong."

"It's still several miles from County Magistrate Village to Shaozi Rock, and considering that Lu Yao's signal arrow went up last night, Pei Pei Xinyong should have started six hours earlier than us."

It was still dark when Pei Pei Xinyong intercepted the ambush at Shaozi Rock, and now the sun was already high.

Hearing this, Wu Wu Shaoyi laughed instead: "The mountain roads are rugged, so they haven't gone far. If we take the water route, we can catch up very quickly."

The mountain roads here were not just nine turns and eighteen bends; they had ninety-nine and eighty-eight bends.

The wide lake surface that accompanied them, however, was free for one to roam. That was why the villagers of County Magistrate Village liked to take boats whenever they entered or left the mountainous area, whether delivering people or carrying cargo.

He poked a point on the map: "It's best to set the end of the water route at Desheng Town. It's along the river, so there should be a pier."

Where there is a pier, there is a road suitable for people and vehicles to travel.

"That place is occupied by the rebel Lu; it's said there are several hundred people guarding the town," He He Lingchuan questioned. "We're still going there?"

"Even if we can get there by water, we don't have horses, so how can we chase Pei Pei Xinyong?" Wu Wu Shaoyi laughed. "Lu Yao always keeps his elite troops with him; the ones left in the town are likely weak soldiers, and their purpose is just to guard the rear. Our two hundred men can catch them off guard."

This Young Master He was still young and lacked experience in warfare. As long as the coordination was good, it wasn't a rare thing for two or three hundred people to launch a surprise attack on a camp of two or three thousand.

He then added: "According to the division of labor I had with Pei Pei Xinyong last night, I would take the rebel Lu, and he would intercept the seven hundred ambushers at Shaozi Rock, and then come to rendezvous with me after finishing. So he won't chase them all the way to Desheng Town; at most, he will turn back at Horse-Stopping Slope. That place is easy to defend and hard to attack; as long as two hundred men are left behind, even if the remaining rebel troops of Lu launch a counterattack, they can hold it for a while."

He He Lingchuan nodded: "We also estimated that after the seven hundred ambushers Lu placed at Shaozi Rock were attacked, they would flee toward Desheng Town. People have an instinct to avoid harm, and they can attack or defend once they flee back to their base. Therefore, Pei Pei Xinyong will also chase them toward Desheng Town. To prevent him from turning back halfway, Prefect He's troops will turn into a side road in advance and head to Qianteng Town."

When He He Chunhua formulated this strategy, he had to anticipate the risk of Pei Pei Xinyong turning back. After all, he was a bandit leader holding over a thousand troops; once he bumped into the government troops head-on, wouldn't he get greedy? Fortunately, there was only one road into County Magistrate Village from the outside in the latter half, but there were several side roads leading out of the village, especially toward the west, which provided He He Chunhua's troops with more strategic buffer.

(End of chapter)