My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 72: Chen Dao, Chen Dao

The Zhuge brothers were in Chaisang City and had just sorted out the work of taking over the finances of the civilian households.

At the same time, on the afternoon of the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, at the eastern foot of Mount Lu, 30 miles south of Chaisang City.

Early in the morning, Chen Dao was ordered to march south to block enemy reinforcements that might appear at any time.

He attached great importance to Zhuge Jin's orders and also trusted Zhuge Liang's calculation of the enemy's reinforcement speed, so he marched very quickly all the way.

They were afraid that enemies from Haihun and Nanchang would appear at any time and threaten Chaisang.

He brought all the 2,000 Danyang soldiers, who were good at mountain warfare, and 300 elite Baiqi cavalry. The troops that Zhuge Jin left in Chaisang were Gan Ning's old subordinates and new troops.

The troops were out of breath, but fortunately they did not delay anything. They arrived at Mount Lushan before noon and set up ambushes in some strategic positions.

Chen Dao ordered the Danyang soldiers to set up an ambush on the hillside, while the Bai Li elite cavalry moved away slightly and hid at the forks in the mountain roads on both sides, ready to wait for the main force to kill the enemy troops, and then rush out to block the road and kill or cut off the enemy troops.

After deploying all this, Chen Dao asked the scouts to go to a high place to look out and confirm that there was no enemy within a radius of 20 to 30 miles.

"It seems that I was too impatient. The Second Young Master said that the enemy will arrive tonight or tomorrow morning, and it turned out to be correct." Chen Dao breathed a sigh of relief and allowed the troops to rest and eat dry food.

The time that Zhuge Liang requested was not that urgent to begin with, but he increased it because he was afraid that the execution might not be successful.

If the enemy appeared at this time, Chen Dao's troops would be exhausted and might really be caught in a tough battle.

Fortunately, the enemy did not arrive for a long time, so Chen Dao rested for most of the afternoon. The soldiers also took an hour-long nap to recover from the fatigue of last night's favorable battle.

Because it was a short-distance battle, the troops did not bring any baggage or even marching pots, so they had no way of cooking and could only eat the dry food they carried with them.

The soldiers were choking and had drunk all the water in the bamboo tubes they brought with them. It was impossible for them to boil water, so the officers suggested that Chen Dao allow all the soldiers to drink the mountain water.

Chen Dao agreed and reminded, "Try to drink the cleaner water from upstream. Captain Zhuge has repeatedly stressed that drinking water should be boiled if possible to avoid gastrointestinal diseases. Today is a special occasion."

Since Zhuge Jin took command of the army, other details of military management may not be comparable to those of famous generals, but the army's sanitary conditions have always been strictly enforced and not mind the trouble.

One big advantage modern people have over ancient people is that they have common sense about medical care. Drinking boiled water and eating thoroughly cooked fish can reduce the risk of digestive tract infections. Why not?

But the situation today is special. Although Chen Dao is visiting Lushan for the first time, he sees that the place is picturesque with many mountains and springs, so it should be very clean.

After getting his permission, his subordinates ordered the soldiers to fetch water from the nearby waterfall.

During the Han Dynasty, the famous Sandiequan had not yet been discovered, but the Xianglufeng Waterfall about which Li Bai wrote poems had already been discovered.

The mountain spring where Chendao's soldiers fetched water was not Xianglu Peak or Sandiequan, but these waterfalls were generally not far from the main road.

From the maps of later times, a few miles east of Xianglu Peak and Sandiequan is the surface of Poyang Lake, which shows how steep and rugged the eastern foot of Mount Lu is.

By setting up an ambush in such a scenic spot and steep and dangerous terrain, Chen Dao's confidence in defeating the enemy reinforcements was greatly enhanced.

If he had already had 60% to 70% confidence in winning before coming here today, now that he saw the superior terrain, his confidence had risen to 90%.

While waiting for the enemy, he couldn't help but think repeatedly in his heart:
"My lord, I have lent you to Captain Zhuge to pacify Yuzhang. Now, ten days have passed since I entered the country. I have conquered two cities, but Gan Ning took the first credit. My troops are still two or three times as many as his. If I don't win another great victory, how can I explain to my lord in the future?
Captain Zhuge comforted me, saying that I was as immovable as a mountain and was good at defense, blocking and ambushing. Gan Ning was as fast as the wind and was good at surprise attacks and quick attacks. Today's battle was an ambush and a blockade, and I must prove myself!"

As Chen Dao thought about it, he recalled the last hard battle and great battle he had experienced, which was a few months ago on the battlefield in Huaiyin County.

At that time, the lord also let General Guan take the role of fiercely attacking the camp, saying that General Guan's offensive was quite in line with Sun Tzu's Art of War, "the invasion is like fire, and its speed is like wind." He and Tian Yu were arranged to ambush and intercept Ji Ling halfway when he was reinforcing Liu Xun. He performed well that time and fought to the death to force Ji Ling to retreat.

Thinking of this, Chen Dao tightly clenched the steel spear in his hand and comforted himself: Although Zuo Rong's bandit army is large, can it be that the generals under his command still have the command ability of Ji Ling?
I have even delayed and forced Ji Ling to retreat. In today's battle, there is still the danger of Mount Lushan. I can throw wood and rocks down from the cliff to contain the enemy. There will be absolutely no problem!
After an unknown amount of time, a scout officer nearby finally came over and gently pushed him: "Look, a large group of soldiers are coming from the south!"

Chen Dao was full of energy and immediately got into the state.

……

At the same time, on the mountain road of Lushan.

A team of the Zuo family army of astonishing size, like a long winding dragon, marched from south to north through the narrow valleys surrounded by mountains and lakes, regardless of fatigue.

A fairly knowledgeable county soldier military commander looked at the situation of the troops and couldn't help but worry. He couldn't help but ride his horse back and ask the commander to slow down or consider setting up camp.

"General, even if we cross Mount Lu, we still have more than thirty miles to go to Chaisang. It is already the end of the Wei hour, and it gets dark early in the middle of winter. The rear troops may have to go down the mountain in the dark, and it is easy to fall and get injured.

It would be better to let the front army retreat and the central army camp here, rest for one night, and then rush to Chaisang tomorrow. It would also be a good idea to send out scouts to investigate the current situation in Chaisang."

The commander was called Zuo Tong, the cousin of Zuo Rong and the fourth in the clan. He rode on a tall horse and led seven or eight thousand troops, all of whom were reinforcements brought from Haihun County, to Chaisang to reinforce his second cousin.

After hearing the military commander's suggestion, Zuo Tong immediately frowned and said angrily:

"You are the one wasting manpower! I told you that it's still more than 30 miles to Chaisang, why don't you hurry up? As long as we can get into the city, why bother setting up camp? Why not just sleep in the city? You always say that you should cherish your soldiers, is this how you do it?"

Zuo Rong himself had betrayed and murdered his master three times, and fearing that his subordinates would follow suit, he was extremely nepotistic in his management of the army, and the commanders of all armies were his brothers or cousins. In his eyes, the loyalty of the generals was the most important, and the former county soldiers who really had some talent were instead controlled by Zuo's family and could not be fully utilized.

The military commander was ashamed when Zuo Tong interrupted him, but he still couldn't help but defend himself:
“But now it has been four days since the last water reinforcements were defeated. Mount Lu is steep and there is no news from the north and south. I don’t know the latest situation of Chaisang and whether there are more soldiers besieging the city.

If we climb over the mountain but cannot break into the city, wouldn't it be a hassle to set up camp overnight?"

Zuo Tong cursed, "Nonsense! The last time the reinforcements from the water were defeated, it was just because you were incompetent and unaccustomed to fighting on water! I asked the defeated soldiers, and they said that the government army only had 3,000 to 5,000 people at most! How can such a small number of people completely besiege Chaisang? As long as we get to the city, we will definitely get support from my second brother!"

These words were the final word, finally silencing the cautious faction.

Because what Zuo Tong said was true. The government troops encountered by the water reinforcements a few days ago were indeed very small in scale, and the navy among them had less than a thousand people.

The problem was that the thousand men were led by Gan Ning, so the Zao family navy was defeated despite having a several times advantage in size.

Zhuge Liang's later bluffing tricks of "quietly sailing away at night and coming back during the day" were performed for the defenders in Chaisang City, and the reinforcements from Haihun had no time to know about it.

It is only natural that they underestimate the enemy.

Mount Lushan is steep and the communication between the north and the south is cut off. Until now, they have not even received the news that Chaisang had been lost this morning.

Relying on the whip of a horsewhip and strict military orders, Zuo Tong forced his troops to continue their forced march towards the depths of Mount Lushan, hoping to have a good night's sleep in Chaisang City at night.

……

"Don't be impatient, don't make any noise! Let these people go!"

"Do you see those people on horseback in the distance? The enemy army has almost no cavalry. That small group must be generals. Wait until they are within range before firing crossbow arrows!"

On the cliff of Mount Lushan, Chen Dao ordered his troops not to expose themselves in advance, and they must wait until the small group of enemy cavalry approached before they could attack.

Although there was some noise during the troop transmission, God blessed the Han army. The sound of the Lushan Waterfall nearby covered up the sound of the ambush.

"Shoot!" With Chen Dao's order, three hundred foot-operated crossbows shot towards the central army of the Zuo family at the bottom of the slope almost at the same time.

The other Danyang soldiers who were ambushing in the distance, seeing that the crossbows beside Chen Dao were firing at full strength, also followed suit, with the firepower of seven or eight hundred bows.

With a buzzing sound, hundreds of crossbow arrows directly shot the central army of the Zuo family army into a daze.

"Ah--" Before Zuo Tong could react, because the horse he was riding was the tallest, he was targeted by the hidden crossbows and was instantly hit by five or six arrows. He and more than a dozen guards around him were shot down one after another, and screams were heard everywhere.

At the same time, from the high slopes and cliffs on the west side, countless small stones weighing several kilograms each were thrown down by the Danyang soldiers, smashing the heads of the Zuo family soldiers below and causing them to bleed and their brains to burst.

"Kill!" After throwing the stones, the Danyang soldiers who were good at mountain warfare brandished swords and shields, or hammers and shields, and leaped down with great speed, as powerful as tigers, fiercely stabbing at the flanks of the Zuo family army.

The enemy army, which was already stretched into a long snake formation due to the mountainous terrain, was beaten so hard that it was unable to take care of both the front and rear ends.

What was even more terrible was that these Danyang soldiers had been instructed by Chen Dao before the battle, and at this moment, as they charged forward, they shouted slogans: "Chaisang has been broken! Zuo Yuan is dead! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

"What? Chaisang has been breached?" Upon hearing this bad news, the morale of the Zuo family army plummeted. The target they wanted to rescue had already fallen, so what was there to fight for?
The number of troops of the Zuo family was obviously three or four times that of Chen Dao's army, but they were quickly defeated.

"Bai Li soldiers, follow me and charge!" Chen Dao saw that the situation was settled, and finally ordered the Bai Li soldiers to charge out from the forked valley on the flank.

He was very courageous. When the enemy army was in chaos and collapse, he simply cut off the enemy army in the middle.

This move is actually very risky. If the enemy wants to escape, the combat power they unleash in desperation will be extremely exaggerated.

But what Chen Dao was betting on was that the enemy no longer had the courage to make desperate moves, and when they saw that their breakout was unsuccessful, they might kneel down and surrender in an organized manner!

Sure enough, seeing Chen Dao's cavalry charging out and blocking the retreat route, the desperate monks in the Zuo family army launched a counterattack against Chen Dao like a tide, just wanting to tear open a gap and break out.

They relied on their blind faith and fanaticism and were completely fearless of death.

However, those county soldiers with relatively better military qualities were not so determined.

When surrounded, some county soldiers gathered in a circle in confusion and defended themselves together.

Some others fled eastward, ignoring the fact that the Poyang Lake was to the east, and threw away their weapons and armor and jumped into the lake, trying to swim away from the battlefield.

Chen Dao looked at the monks with fanatical eyes and felt a surge of hatred for evil for no reason. He wielded his weapon vigorously and charged back and forth. In a moment, he killed dozens of monks with his own hands.

The Bai Li cavalry behind him were equally ruthless, killing the monks until the blood flowed like a river.

　The third update will be around 11pm. Book friends who go to bed early don’t have to wait. We can read it together tomorrow morning.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)