Chapter 407

Kong Xiuzhi waited for Li Dang to finish laughing and asked:

"Is everything deployed?"

"Almost."

Kong Xiuzhi frowned:

"Almost?"

"Time is not enough, strength is not enough, so it can only be almost. As for you, I came all the way here, looking at this meaning, are you prepared to abandon the Luo city?"

"As you said, time is not enough, strength is not enough. The outer city (that is, Luo city) is twelve miles. I am not a general. When the outer city is broken, it may collapse, so it is better to guard the inner city (that is, the inner city) from the beginning." (*Wujing Zongyao* "Five Defeats" of defending the city, one of which is "the city is large and the people are few")

"That strange person's meaning?"

"Yes."

Li Dang was happy:

"He even knows you are not a general?"

Kong Xiuzhi's face sank:

"Who said I am not a general?"

Li Dang was stunned:

"Isn't it what you just said—"

"I can say it, he can say it, you can't say it."

Li Dang choked and waved his hand:

"Fine fine fine, you are a big official, you have the final say."

"Besides, he didn't say I wasn't a general, he just gave me a few sets of strategies and let me choose for myself."

Li Dang leaned over slyly, his smile silver:

"I met a wine-selling woman last month, she was very moist. If you are willing—"

Kong Xiuzhi was expressionless and interrupted directly:

"Impossible."

Li Dang put on an expression of "feeling very boring" and hummed:

"I originally thought that if you were willing to reveal some of the strategy to me, I would let you see it, but now there is no chance."

Kong Xiuzhi was indifferent:

"Why should I see it?"

Li Dang showed an unbelievable look:

"Didn't I say, she was very—"

"You let me touch her?"

Li Dang rolled his eyes:

"Think beautifully!"

Kong Xiuzhi knew it would be like this:

"Then why should I see it?"

Li Dang's eyes moved and he leaned over again:

"If you really want to—"

"Get out get out get out."

Li Dang asked for a boring time, found a place to sit down and rest:

"Seriously, if you don't reveal some bottom line to me, it's hard for me to believe that Yingzhou can be held."

"The few things I asked you to do are all part of the strategy. Didn't you see anything?"

Li Dang raised his eyebrows:

"I saw some, there is something, otherwise I would have run away long ago. But wanting to completely defeat the Jing army is not enough."

"You don't need to consider the problem of completely defeating them."

"Just need me to hold it?"

Kong Xiuzhi was a little surprised:

"How do you know you are asked to hold it?"

Li Dang used his signature lazy tone:

"It's not that only your 'strange person' understands military strategy. Lushan and Xiakou are horns, clamping the river to share the danger and acting as support. Even if you shrink your troops, you can't leave the geographical advantage of Lushan unoccupied. Since you, Lord Kong, are sitting in Xiakou, then it must be me guarding Lushan. The two places echo each other to deal with the enemy's large army."

"Guessed some, but it's not two places echoing each other, but three."

"Three places?"

"Yes, besides guarding Lushan, you also have to guard the Yanyue Rampart. Which one do you guard?"

Li Dang's eyes went up, thought for a while, suddenly sat upright, the usual dangling expression on his face disappeared, and he said seriously:

"I don't agree with guarding the Yanyue Rampart separately. The military strength is already insufficient, and guarding Lushan is already dividing the strength. Guarding Yanyue again will disperse the strength even more. The Prince of Badong uses a large army to bully us, and he will definitely attack three places at the same time. At that time, the three isolated cities will be isolated from each other and cannot save each other. If one place is broken, the others will lose their courage.

The more you guard, the more flaws you have, the more the momentum is divided, the thinner the strength, and the shorter the support time.

Moreover, the Yanyue Rampart is half in the water. If you don't set up a water fortress, you will be attacked by the enemy on both water and land. If you set up a water fortress, you have to face the enemy's navy directly. With Jingzhou's many ships, how can we be their opponents? Competing with the enemy on the river will definitely collapse in one battle! The city is not guarded and the navy is broken first, the morale will definitely be cut! This is exposing our weaknesses to the enemy!"

(Yanyue is a half-crescent moon, with two corners bent out and the middle bent in. This shape is generally used in the construction of cities near the water to take advantage of natural geographical advantages and add artificial ingenuity. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the inner bay can be used as a naval port and shipyard. So the Ruxu Dock built by Sun Quan to defend against Cao Cao also has another name called Yanyue Dock, which is not the same as the Yanyue Rampart in Yingzhou, but the meaning is the same)

"Water warfare has its own strategy, you don't need to worry."

"Is it that strange person again?"

"Yes."

Li Dang tilted his head and looked at Kong Xiuzhi:

"He also understands water warfare??"

"Yes. I will transfer the main force of the Yingzhou navy to the Yanyue Rampart at that time..."

"I don't agree! I haven't seen the strategy, and I won't say whether he really understands or not. Even if he really understands! But the enemy situation changes, and the momentum changes at any time. How can you be constrained by a fixed strategy when facing the enemy? Putting the main force of the navy in the Yanyue Rampart is to ruin the entire Yingzhou navy! Once defeated, even if you and I escape with our lives, we will definitely be held accountable by the court!"

Kong Xiuzhi was silent for a moment:

"I know, but given the current situation, if we are defeated and the city is broken, what are the chances of you and me escaping?"

Li Dang looked slightly angry, his voice full of energy:

"Then we can't—"

"I'll reveal some strategy to you—"

"Fine! Please speak, Lord Shen!"

Li Dang changed his face in a second, smiling like a dog's leg.

Kong Xiuzhi said slowly:

"The strategy he left has big and small, overall and partial, and it is not a fixed method that cannot be changed. Like the water warfare section of the Yanyue Rampart, he listed several situations and set strategies to respond to each. First, I will tell you the method of setting up water fences. Water fences are divided into inner and outer fences and middle ramparts, piles and locks and cloth barriers—"

"I know piles and locks! Iron chains across the river plus large wooden piles! That water fence means setting up wooden fences in the water..."

Li Dang saw Kong Xiuzhi looking obliquely, and his voice became smaller and smaller.

"You don't understand water warfare?" Kong Xiuzhi asked.

Li Dang smiled awkwardly:

"You know that when I was in Southern Yanzhou, I was mainly—"

"Fine, you guard Lushan."

"Lushan or not, we'll decide later, you continue to speak!"

"If you don't understand water warfare, what am I saying? Although the strategy is prepared for various changes, the battlefield is changing rapidly, and its use depends on people. It's like a doctor treating a disease. If it's a quack, no matter how good the prescription is, it's useless. The law lives because of people, and the strategy is carried out by wisdom. If you don't get the right person, no matter how many winning strategies are empty talk. This is what that person emphasized repeatedly."

Li Dang held his nose with his fist and said after a while:

"Even if I am not an expert in water warfare, I know the difference between strong and weak. I can guard Lushan, but I don't agree with guarding Yanyue. Instead of dividing troops and betting on the entire Yingzhou navy, it is better to save the military strength and distribute it to the two cities of Xia and Lu to thicken their momentum. As for the navy, the best way is to stay in Xiakou and wait for the opportunity to move. Anyway, this is my opinion."

"Your opinion was expected by him."

Li Dang was stunned:

"He even knows me?!!!"

"That's not it. It's just that he wrote in the strategy, 'If you divide the garrison to Yanyue, the generals will definitely have disputes, some say it is isolated and dangerous, some say the strength is scattered, some say water warfare cannot be defeated. If you encounter stubborn ones, you can tell them one sentence.'"

Li Dang was very surprised and asked immediately:

"What sentence?"

Kong Xiuzhi cleared his throat and said proudly:

"When a general plans, does he have to tell every camp? When Han Xin points out soldiers, Fan Kuai only listens to the orders!"

Li Dang was stunned, then laughed heartily, his brows flying!

He slapped his thigh, and the armor leaves rattled with the movement:

"Well said, well said! I am far inferior to Fan Kuai!

Who is this person? How can he be so heroic?!!!

If I have a chance, I must see him!!

I don't know if his strategy works, but based on his heroism, I am willing to follow him for a while!

I will leave Lushan to me, I will try my best to guard it, as long as I can guard it!

As for the Yanyue Rampart, I recommend someone to you. Jian'an Prince Friend (official position) Zhang Ji!"

Kong Xiuzhi felt that they hit it off!

"'Four Zhangs in Wu, talent and reputation are clear'! I also intend to use this person! This person is the son of the previous dynasty's general Zhang Yong, who has been a military advisor to the Prince of Linchuan, knows the situation in Jingzhou very well, and has resisted Tang Yuzhi in Shan County. However, he is valued by the Prince of Yuzhang, and his starting official position is the Prince of Yuzhang's Registrar. And the relationship between the Prince of Yuzhang and the Prince of Badong is..."

The Prince of Badong was once adopted by the Prince of Yuzhang as a son, and the two had a close relationship. Now the Prince of Badong is rebelling, and I don't know what the situation of the Prince of Yuzhang is. Lushan seems to be the first important place to protect Xiakou, but in that person's strategy, the position of Yanyue Rampart is more important than Lushan. Especially the commander of Yanyue Rampart will hold the main force of the entire Yingzhou navy at that time. If Zhang Ji has any other ideas, then...

This is also the reason why Kong Xiuzhi has been hesitating and dare not decide.

Li Dang waved his hand:

"I guarantee this person will not change."

Kong Xiuzhi stared at Li Dang:

"Why?"

"This person is extremely filial, but his biological mother was not favored and could not be buried in the ancestral tomb. He only privately set up a spirit tablet at home. He tells her when he goes out and faces her when he returns, as if his mother is still alive. What he wants is only to honor his deceased mother.

Now resisting the Prince of Badong, winning is merit, and losing is also mourning and glory. Only the future of following the rebellion is unknown, and the curse comes first. If he can be allowed to move his mother to be buried with him after winning, he will definitely do his best, how can there be a reason to surrender—"

Kong Xiuzhi was about to speak, but Li Dang smiled:

"Of course, the court cannot intervene in this kind of thing of your aristocratic family, and reporting merit is useless. But others can't handle it, but Lord Kong can."

Kong Xiuzhi didn't understand:

"How can I handle it?"

"You have someone above you!"

"Nonsense! Where do I have—"

"If this battle is won, you will definitely get the favor of the Marquis of Xichang. The most important and powerful person in Zhang Ji's branch is his cousin—Golden Purple Guanglu Grand Master (national level treatment, same level as Xiao Luan's Minister of the Secretariat and Xie Fei's Chief of the Secretariat, but ranked after the Minister and before the Chief), Nanjun Prince Teacher (teacher of the Crown Prince's son, the imperial eldest grandson), Yangzhou Grand Central Justice (Minister of the Central Organization Department), and National University Chancellor (President of the Central University) Zhang Xu. With the relationship between the Marquis of Xichang and the Crown Prince, asking Zhang Xu to come forward and praise loyalty and filial piety, moving the burial and offering sacrifices is just a small matter."

Kong Xiuzhi looked at Li Dang, his eyes surprised.

Li Dang's smile was smug:

"Didn't expect it!"

"I didn't expect it, you know quite a lot about these ways..."

"Of course!"

"Then why haven't you been promoted for more than ten years?"

Li Dang cut disdainfully:

"I don't have any family background. If I want to go up, I have to be a dog for others every day, doing dirty and tiring things; or flattering and running around, looking at people's faces; tired and suffocated for a lifetime, maybe one day some thunder will hit me! It's better for me to be a signature official, it's faster to carry the Prince! Anyway, I have a title, enough money to spend, just mix it up. Mixing below, I am the master, going up, I have to treat others as the master, you say where do I mix?"

Kong Xiuzhi:...

"By the way, it's okay to let me guard Lushan, I have one requirement, transfer the Wuling troops to me."

"Impossible."

"You have retreated to guard the inner city, what do you need so many people for!"

Kong Xiuzhi didn't speak, with an expression that there was absolutely no room for negotiation.

Li Dang said listlessly:

"Then give me three thousand strong crossbows—"

"Three hundred—"

"No! At least two thousand, otherwise I—"

"Eight hundred."

"Deal!"

Li Dang smiled and showed his teeth.

Kong Xiuzhi was calm.

——————

Note: ① *Book of Southern History, Biography of Zhang Ji*: "He was filial since he was young, but his biological mother Liu was not favored... He started as a Writing Assistant, but did not bow... In the Yongming period of Qi, he was the Registrar of the Prince of Yuzhang... From childhood to adulthood, for decades, he always set up Liu's spirit seat. He tells her when he goes out and faces her when he returns, as if serving the living."

② *Huguang Map Classic Records, Local Records*: "Sun Quan of Wu built the old rampart in the second year of Chiwu, called Xiakou City... It is twelve miles around, two feet and one foot high... Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen all followed it." (This is the outer city abandoned by Kong Xiuzhi)

③ *Commentary on the Water Classic, River Water 3*: "The left side of the mountain is the Mian River mouth. On the left of the Mian River is the Lady Xie Yue City, also known as the Yanyue Rampart."