Chapter 2645

Speaking of this, He Lingchuan asked everyone: "Before I returned, what were you arguing about?"

"Old Hu and Sha Wei thought we should rush to aid Xu Zhiyu." Zhuang Yinan immediately said, "But I think it would be better to be more cautious."

Sha Wei rolled his eyes: "Although Xu Zhiyu is annoying, I also don't want to be a bystander when he's fighting."

After all, we're all on the same front.

Hu Min also said: "Deputy Commander Zhuang's meaning is that there might still be other Bekka troops operating secretly in the south. Panlong's attention has all been drawn by Hu Yezhan, so they're taking the opportunity to secretly occupy other places. But the problem is, we haven't received nor found any related clues."

"Oh?" He Lingchuan looked toward Zhuang Yinan, "From what signs do you judge this?"

The tactic of secretly crossing Chen Cang is also commonly used by military strategists. The problem is, there needs to be substantial evidence to support it.

"Hu Yezhan's army boarded ships at Bai Sha Bay on the Mao River Plain, then landed at Shan Da Port in Chongguo." Zhuang Yinan said, "Bekka should have long known that Shan Da Port is full of our spies. Once they land, they can't hide from Panlong. This differs somewhat from Hu Yezhan's plan to prepare a surprise attack on talisman Gou."

Here's the background: After Bekka seized the Mao River Plain, they followed the Mao River trade route southward, swallowing Bai Sha Bay in a thunderous sweep.

Bai Sha Bay is the seaport of the Mao River Plain, and was formerly Panlong's most important commercial port for opening to the outside world and welcoming wealth from all directions.

It was originally a free port, secretly under the jurisdiction of Lingshan, and for years had ignored Bekka's hard and soft approaches.

This time, Bekka swallowing it was not only a fierce vent of anger, but also because after capturing this important seaport, Bekka could dispatch troops by sea from here, sailing to the southern part of Panlong's wilderness!

Yes, the many states south of Panlong's wilderness are separated from Bai Sha Bay by a stretch of sea, with no land bridge for passage. Bekka wanting to invade Panlong's wilderness, besides Long Hou Pass, could only attempt to go south by sea route.

Therefore, once the Mao River Plain and Bai Sha Bay were lost, Zhong Shengguang knew Panlong's wilderness was in danger.

The southern wilderness has many small states and forces, and if Bekka's troops came by sea, they would certainly land in Chongguo along the coast. This country may be small, but it has two ports, and Panlong has placed spies there, reporting immediately at the slightest sign of disturbance.

Therefore, Hu Yezhan's army landing in Chongguo could not escape Panlong's surveillance.

Sha Wei glared: "How do you know they know? We didn't erect a signboard or make a big fuss at Shan Da Port."

He Lingchuan waved his hand, and Sha Wei immediately fell silent.

Then He Lingchuan pointed at Zhuang Yinan: "Continue."

"Yes." Zhuang Yinan gave Sha Wei a white-eye when he had a moment, then immediately continued: "In our intelligence outpost at Shan Da, we actually received a minor piece of information. On the west side of Shan Da Port, a fisherman's child got up in the middle of the night to relieve himself and accidentally discovered bright lights on the wild beach at the foot of the mountain, as if many torches had gathered. The coastline also seemed to have the outlines of some large ships, but that night there were no stars or moon, it was very dark, and he couldn't see clearly how many people had landed, so he went back to sleep. The next morning, upon waking, the beach was empty of both people and boats, but there were indeed traces of heavy objects being dragged across the sand."

He Lingchuan asked: "Is that wild beach relatively flat, suitable for landing?"

"Yes. In the past, some fleets would secretly land there to unload cargo, to avoid the high port taxes and landing fees at Shan Da Port. So the fisherman's child thought that this time, it was again a smuggling fleet that had arrived."

Sha Wei crossed his arms in front: "Maybe it really was a smuggling fleet?"

"Shan Da Port also has personnel stationed there for patrol, but that night there seemed to be no alarm." Zhuang Yinan countered, "Those few patrolmen were most likely dealt with."

"If the southern front campaign plan was devised by Fu Shanlie." He Lingchuan stroked his chin, falling into thought, "This guy indeed likes ambushes and cannot be underestimated."

He and Fu Shanlie's last decisive battle, when he brought people to encircle and suppress the Liangchuan water bandits, while Fu Shanlie, seeing the water bandits' momentum already gone, turned and went to ambush Yuheng City, playing a game of mutual home-raiding with He Lingchuan.

Fu Shanlie's methods and mind are as agile as each other, so it's indeed not his style for Hu Yezhan to attack Fulou Gou under Panlong's very eyes.

Receiving the general's sideways affirmation, Zhuang Yinan's spirits lifted: "There are many roads entering the wilderness from the south, and Bekka's troops' target may not be only Fulou Gou."

He pointed out several locations on the sand table, connecting them into a route:

"You see, if landing on the wild beach west of Shan Da Port, that would avoid possible Panlong surveillance, and this second Bekka troop could entirely take a rarely traveled route, remaining largely unnoticed throughout, and then reach Luo Yuan. This place is also very close to Panlong's border, only ten li away."

He Lingchuan listened attentively, his eyes slightly moving.

Along this route, he also repeatedly pondered with the map in hand. On one hand, he was making up for the lessons neglected over these five years; on the other, he was also speculating about Fu Shanlie's strategic intentions.

The Panlong high command inferred Hu Yezhan's target was Fulou Gou based on his marching direction.

If there truly were a second, third Bekka troop operating secretly, they would have other routes to choose.

Zhuang Yinan's outlined route basically lies along the borders of several countries, belonging to a no-man's-land, and moreover mostly consists of forests and mountains, with good concealment.

"Panlong's southern wilderness has few natural defenses to rely on, and although Bekka's troops seem to have many route options, they are after all not Fu Shanlie's main force, with insufficient manpower, unable to open multiple fronts simultaneously, but must first seize key positions to facilitate the main force's subsequent actions. These key positions must either be easy to defend but hard to attack, or have commanding heights, or be transportation hubs. After careful calculation, the places in Panlong's southern wilderness meeting such standards are actually not many."

Zhuang Yinan said in one breath: "I believe Luo Yuan is, besides Fulou Gou, the second most suitable location."

Sha Wei twitched his mouth: "According to your words, Fu Shanlie could dispatch a second troop, then a third, fourth troop. Unpredictable, impossible to defend against."

Zhuang Yinan had not yet responded when He Lingchuan spoke first:

"If Bekka's troops want to take the southern route, they must ship across the sea. Therefore, how many Bekka troops Chongguo's coast can land in a short time depends on the number of transport ships. Although the Bai Sha Bay route has many ships, the autumn harvest season has already ended, now is not the regular busy period, and large merchant ships docking are few. Just Hu Yezhan's army alone landed four thousand people—how long did it take before and after?"

Hu Min answered: "I heard they used up most of a day."

"They openly landed at Shan Da Port, still using most of a day. Other troops wanting to sneak into Chongguo, to land they must be more covert, so they cannot make round trips transporting people."

(End of chapter)