knife

Chapter 803 Fishing
The military manuals of the Northeast contain many methods of setting up camp. Among them, the "mountain-shaped" camp is a purely defensive method of setting up camp, which is generally used when one's own side is at a disadvantage and unable to effectively organize a counterattack.

This method of setting up camp is a double-edged sword; it can effectively block the enemy, but it also indirectly traps oneself, and it is quite time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Since its establishment, the army of the Beiting Protectorate has been virtually invincible. Everyone knows about the "mountain-shaped" camping method, but no one has actually implemented it in practice. When exchanging experiences, no one has ever mentioned it.

He Jiaxi had attended military school, so of course he knew what the Mountain Battalion was.

Although he didn't quite agree, Lü You was his superior and a general with extremely rich practical experience. So, although he wanted to object, he swallowed his words when he saw Lü You's firm eyes.

With his current qualifications, he really doesn't have much right to speak in front of someone like Lü You; he can only obey.

He Jiaxi quickly selected a place to set up camp.

The slightly raised hill was much higher than the surrounding hills, and it was more than enough to accommodate their group. All the grain and livestock from the more than one hundred carts were unloaded and placed in the very center of the camp. The carts were then locked together, and the more than one thousand men, except for the scouts, picked up shovels and hoes to start digging trenches and setting up various defensive measures.

This busy work lasted until dusk before the camp was finally set up. Because Lü You judged that there must be enemy cavalry in the vicinity, it was obviously impossible to start a fire and cook a meal. They could only make do with dry rations.

The soldiers' dinner consisted of hard flatbread, icy water, and dried meat that was as hard as a rock.

The veterans had clearly experienced too many of these things before. They ate their food indifferently, and those without missions went straight to sleep. The new recruits, on the other hand, seemed to be a mix of excitement and apprehension, but they just couldn't fall asleep.

The night passed peacefully, and when the bright red sun rose above the eastern horizon at dawn, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Everyone started preparing breakfast, and everyone began checking their luggage, ready to set off.

However, Lü You did not issue the order.

Instead, he sent out scouts once again, not just in front, but in all directions: forward, backward, left, and right.

The level of meticulousness is outrageous.

This made He Jiaxi somewhat dissatisfied. He thought to himself that Commandant Lü was completely paranoid, and following such an officer would really be a hard time in the future.

"Aren't you leaving yet? If there really was an attack, last night would have been the best opportunity!" He Jiaxi said.

Lu You shook his head: "Cavalry won't attack heavily fortified camps. They prefer to attack marching troops, especially those like ours that are carrying a lot of supplies!"

"Are we really going to wait for reinforcements here?"

“That’s right!” Lü You affirmed. “The 200,000 jin of grain we have here is the food supply for the Shapingba and surrounding guerrilla forces for the next month. If we run out, the soldiers will go hungry. Even worse, if the enemy finds out that Shapingba is short of food, they will definitely launch a small-scale attack on Shapingba. Once we lose here, control of the surrounding area will change hands, and our battle line will be pushed inward by a large chunk, affecting the entire battle line! So, we must be careful!”

As time slowly passed, He Jiaxi's patience gradually wore off, just as the sun rose higher into the sky.

He felt that Lü You was throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

We can't just back down because there are enemies. As long as we are prepared, even if there are real enemies, they are not without the power to fight back.

Just as he was about to offer his advice to Lü You again, he saw the spot they had just passed yesterday, and a rider was galloping madly toward them.

He Jiaxi's expression immediately changed. Because behind the scout, a vast swarm of cavalry was in hot pursuit, and judging by their size, there were probably no fewer than a thousand riders.

Lu You, who had been sitting cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed, leaped up as the enemy cavalry appeared on the horizon, brandishing his broadsword and shouting, "Everyone, prepare for battle!"

The warning horn suddenly sounded, and the veterans kicked and punched the somewhat flustered new recruits into their positions. The crossbows, their felt coats torn off, raised their heads, and bolts were loaded onto them. Boxes of arrows were placed in front of them, and the soldiers began to load arrows into the crossbow boxes.

Long spears, over ten feet long, were mounted on carts, and the interlocked carts were then covered with a thick layer of retaining stones made of burlap sacks. Combined with the original height of the hill, it was almost as tall as a city wall.

He Jiaxi took a deep breath, turned to look at Lü You, and a smile that looked more like a grimace appeared on his face.

Thankfully, the old man had a keen sense of smell and his intuition was correct.

Judging by the way they're charging towards us, we're in big trouble if we run into them on our march.

Lu You looked at him with a smile. Before he saw the enemy, he seemed more nervous than anyone else, but now that the enemy had shown himself, he felt relieved.

"Jiaxi, let me tell you, the carrier pigeons I released yesterday, I made arrangements with our cavalry patrolling the surrounding area. We'll be responsible for fishing, and they'll be responsible for annihilating the enemy. Damn it, they want to treat me like a piece of fat meat to take a bite out of? I'll be the bone to break their teeth!"

Lu You spoke loudly, and not only He Jiaxi heard it, but the surrounding soldiers also heard it. In an instant, everyone visibly relaxed.

No wonder the captain set up the "Mountain" formation, no wonder he's been staying here so long—he's been fishing! This isn't an attack; he's trying to find a way to annihilate the enemy. Looks like he's about to make a name for himself this time!

Sure enough, ginger is still spicy.

He Jiaxi looked at Lü Youchong and winked at him.

The ordinary soldiers thought that everything was under Lü You's control and that he was sure he could win the battle. However, He Jiaxi knew that Lü You was just deceiving his brothers. But when he saw the soldiers whispering among themselves and becoming more energetic and confident, he felt that he had learned a trick from the old man.

He picked up his bow and arrow, easily drew it to its full extent, and with a whoosh, shot an arrow. An enemy rushing towards him fell headfirst off his horse, immediately drawing thunderous cheers from the crowd on the battlefield.

"You're something else!" Lu You also gave him a thumbs up.

Lu You's greatest skill was hand-to-hand combat; he was completely unskilled in archery.

"I'm a heavy infantryman who faced the Northern Yuan cavalry's onslaught under General Xia Zhi's command. These caterpillars from within the pass are nothing!" Lü You laughed loudly.

On the opposite side, Liu Chang looked at the Northern Army on the small hill, his teeth itching with hatred. He had spotted this army two days ago, but he didn't expect that the enemy had seen through his weakness and that they would stay here and refuse to leave.

If it were just an ordinary Northern Army infantry unit, Liu Chang wouldn't necessarily have to fight them. But this unit was escorting hundreds of carts of grain all the way to Shapingba, which was too tempting. Taking them down would affect the defense of the surrounding hundred-mile war zone, which would be a great achievement. With such an opportunity in front of him, it would be unreasonable not to fight.

Even if it's a tough battle, it's worth paying a price if we can win.

"It doesn't matter if we can't break through, as long as we destroy their food supplies. Prepare more rockets!" Liu Chang instructed his men.

(End of this chapter)