SFS Chapter 287 finally came in handy.
Chapter 287 finally came in handy.
Watching Li Gousheng's retreating figure, Wu Yue felt an unprecedented sense of relief, thankful that the sudden downpour had blocked his path.
He had just parted ways with Shen Yi when a torrential rainstorm forced him to seek shelter in a cave. Although the rain shelter took up a lot of time, it also allowed the soldiers to get a short rest.
If his soldiers hadn't been sleeping so soundly and so difficult to wake, how could he still not have made it back to the position, which was only twenty miles away?
I thought I would miss the opportunity because I was sleeping, but I ended up getting lucky.
He is currently less than 20 li away from Shen Yi, but more than 30 li away from Yushan County. The roads are muddy after the rain, and even if Xu Sheng sets off early, he will not be able to cover these 30 li in a short time.
In other words, if I turn around and head south into the corridor now, I am very likely to intercept Xu Sheng or run into him.
Even if Xu Sheng had already crossed the 30-mile area and gotten ahead of him, he could still lead his troops to pursue and entangle Xu Sheng while waiting for Guan Xing.
In short, Xu Sheng must be made to leave something behind; he must not be allowed to escape so easily.
Thinking this, Wu Yue shouted loudly, "Brothers, let's not go back. Let's turn around and head south to intercept Xu Sheng. Follow me."
After speaking, he returned the way he came, walked through the crowd and headed south, and the soldiers all turned around and followed.
He couldn't walk in a straight line in the mountains; he had to take a detour along the valley. Fortunately, Han Dang had led them around for several days, familiarizing them with the surrounding terrain, and they knew where the nearest exit was.
Wu Yue led his army to the gap between the two mountains with ease. Just as they were about to step into the corridor through the gap, they were stunned when they saw the scene in the corridor. After a moment of astonishment, they couldn't help but laugh loudly, "Hahahaha, this is Heaven's will to destroy Xu Sheng!"
Following Wu Yue's gaze, one could see that the narrow corridor was filled with small pits washed out by the rain. The pits were filled with water and had many bamboo sticks stuck in them, which were bent over by the water. This was obviously a trap set by Shen Yi, but where did the trap come from?
After a moment's thought, Wu Yue understood what was going on. He remembered that Shen Yi had said that when he learned that Han Dang was heading to Yushan to support Xu Sheng, Shen Yi took the initiative to retreat twenty miles and set up a trap. He originally planned to trap Han Dang in a safe area of twenty miles and annihilate him, but that old bastard Han Dang ran around all over the mountain and refused to enter the corridor, which made the trap that Shen Yi dug later useless.
But now it seems like a good idea to dig them. Although these traps didn't trap Han Dang, they did block Xu Sheng, so they made the best use of them.
More importantly, there were no footprints in the trap area, which means Xu Sheng hasn't arrived yet.
If he came, the corridor would definitely be covered in footprints. You know, footprints are especially noticeable and difficult to clean in the rain. There's no way Xu Sheng could restore the road to its original state after passing by.
Thinking of this, Wu Yue's spirits lifted, and he excitedly shouted, "There's a trap here, let's go further!"
Half an hour later, Wu Yue stepped into the corridor through another gap and entered the twenty-mile safe zone that Shen Yi had prepared for Han Dang. After observing for a while, he turned around and shouted, "Steward Qu, go into the mountains immediately to cut down trees and bring all the felled trees to the front of the trap in the center of the corridor. Cut down more of the easily flammable pine and cypress trees."
For some reason, Guan Xing equipped each army with an engineering battalion. The engineers were not armed with swords, spears, or halberds, but with household tools such as hoes, shovels, axes, and saw blades.
Although Wu Yue did not bring an engineering battalion with him this time, he did bring an engineering corps, nearly three hundred men.
Upon hearing this, Engineer Qu immediately sprang into action, entering the mountain and hacking and sawing away at the dense forest with all his might. The others were not idle either; they put down their weapons and followed Engineer Qu into the mountain, dragging the things they had cut down into the corridor and piling them up, frantically setting up obstacles for the approaching Xu Sheng with tree branches.
Wu Yue led his personal guards to stand guard in place, so that if Xu Sheng suddenly attacked, he could buy time for the soldiers who were moving the trees to return to their positions.
Watching the branches being pulled in and quickly piled up in the middle of the road, Wu Yue couldn't help but sigh, "General Guan was truly prescient. The engineer's zither is so useful. It's a pity that he didn't bring the entire engineer battalion. Otherwise, the speed would definitely be even faster. Perhaps before Xu Sheng arrived, he would have already set up the antlers and built the defensive positions."
Wu Yue, both excited and regretful, directed his army to arrange the branches in formation, hoping that once the flames were lit, they would quickly spread throughout the corridor and block Xu Sheng.
While giving instructions, he also tried his hand at it. As a result, he grabbed a handful of water and couldn't help but frown and say, "No, the branches are too wet and the tinderbox won't light at all. You guys go over there and build a fire. The bigger the fire, the better. When you see Xu Sheng, just throw the fire directly into the pile of branches with a shovel."
Wu Yue didn't know when Xu Sheng would arrive, so he couldn't determine how many branches he could pile up. To avoid the pile of branches overlapping with the fire, he decisively ordered his soldiers to move the fire a mile away.
Xu Sheng still had to cross a trap area to get to the pile of trees, so even if the fire was placed two miles away, he could still catch up.
Wait, there seems to be a gap in the mountain leading into the trap area. I came from that side before. What if Xu Sheng turns right into the mountain when he sees that the road ahead is blocked?
The mountains contain both Shen Yi's exhausted troops and newly surrendered Wu soldiers. If Xu Sheng were to enter the mountains and join forces with the surrendered troops, it's hard to guarantee that things wouldn't go wrong...
Thinking of this, Wu Yue became anxious and hurriedly handed over the corridor to Captain Sun Gang. He then personally led men into the mountains to block the gap. Xu Sheng had to be trapped in the corridor and not given the chance to enter the mountains.
While Wu Yue was setting up a trap for Xu Sheng, Li Gousheng returned to the place where he had surrounded and annihilated Han Dang, and successfully met Shen Yi's army.
Upon arriving at the battlefield and seeing Shen Yi's army in the distance, Li Gousheng's mouth dropped open in astonishment.
The army before them was in a much worse state than the Wu-Yue army they had seen before; they were all huddled around a fire drying their clothes.
Li Gousheng crossed the fire, inquired around, and came to Shen Yi, who was sleeping in front of the fire, and asked in surprise, "Could you wake General Shen up? General Guan has new military orders for him."
Hao Yu, who was standing nearby, sighed, "Let General Shen get some sleep. He just fell asleep a quarter of an hour ago."
"You have no idea how terrible that rainstorm was. Before the rainstorm came, there were soldiers lying down and sleeping all around. General Shen used the sole of his shoe to wake them up one by one, and then searched for caves to transfer the wounded. He was so busy that his feet barely touched the ground."
Sleeping in the rain with a wound, it's impossible not to get sick after waking up.
To drag these soldiers, who were sleeping like logs, out of their slumber, Shen Yi really used every ounce of his strength.
Li Gousheng said in astonishment, "No wonder you have a shoe print on your face. General Shen is quite ruthless."
Hao Yu subconsciously touched his face, which Shen Yi had slapped with the sole of his shoe, and asked in surprise, "Is it that obvious?"
Seeing Li Gousheng nod, he quickly changed the subject, saying, "If General Guan has any orders, can I carry them out? If so, then don't bother General Shen."
Li Gousheng repeated what he had said to Wu Yue to Hao Yu, saying, "General Wu Yue has already gone to block the road. Can you go with him?"
"We absolutely must!" Hao Yu stood up and shouted, "Brothers who can move, come with me to fight Xu Sheng. We absolutely cannot let Xu Sheng escape from under our noses."
The soldiers who were warming themselves by the fire stood up in a flash, and those who were sleeping against their comrades were also woken up. They quickly dressed and followed Hao Yu away.
Hao Yu frowned when he saw that there were only two or three thousand people. He called out, "I'll go and meet up with General Wu Yue first. Those who are interested can follow me."
After saying that, he led his still exhausted army toward the corridor.
Li Gousheng lay down on the leaves that Hao Yu had previously lain on and warmed up, ready to sleep. His mission was complete, and he could finally get a good night's rest.
The moment he closed his eyes, Li Gousheng secretly vowed that this time, even if it rained knives, he would sleep until he naturally woke up, let alone a downpour.