novelAbuy Chapter 38 Lu Yong is too steady, practically as steady as an old dog.
Chapter 38 Lu Yong is too steady, practically as steady as an old dog.
Zhou Yu led his soldiers downstream and arrived at Qingshan Road.
He dismounted and walked about a hundred paces along the mountain path.
Looking around,
Qingshan Road is nestled between two hills.
The hillside was covered with withered grass and trees, and the ground was piled with a thick layer of dead grass and fallen leaves.
If you set fire to this place, Liu Bei's soldiers and civilians would probably all be roasted.
Zhou Yu squatted down, grabbed a handful of dry grass, and rubbed it between his fingers.
The grass was withered and yellow, crumbling at the slightest touch, falling softly through my fingers.
He was satisfied with the ambush location and asked his adjutant, "Have the scouts found any information about Liu Bei's vanguard?"
"Liu Bei's vanguard has about five thousand men. Judging by the distance, they should arrive here in another day!" the lieutenant replied.
"What's the banner they're raising?"
"It looks like Lu!"
"Lu?" Zhou Yu immediately perked up, muttering, "Liu Bei doesn't have a general surnamed Lu under his command, but he does have a new army under that man... Heh, Lu Yong, I didn't expect it to be you who came in person!"
Zhou Yu threw down the grass clippings in his hand, dusted off his hands, stood up, and said:
"Send someone to pour kerosene on the withered grass on both sides of the mountain road, and then cover it with loose soil so as not to reveal any flaws."
The archers were lying in ambush in the pine forests on both sides of the mountain, awaiting my command.
"Your subordinate obeys!" The lieutenant clasped his hands in acceptance and departed.
Zhou Yu stood alone on the mountain path, gazing north towards Ruxukou, and thought to himself:
Lu Yong,
Whether you have real talent or just a hollow reputation doesn't really matter...
Because after today,
You are the stepping stone for my rise to fame and fortune, Zhou Yu!
According to Zhou Yu's thinking, Lu Yong would never have expected that someone would ambush him.
After all, there were no forces hostile to Liu Bei within Danyang Commandery, nor were there any decent armies.
Moreover, Lu Yong was just a poor scholar; he knew nothing about leading troops and fighting battles.
If Lu Yong's five thousand new soldiers were ambushed, it would be a miracle if half of them survived.
However, to his utter surprise, Lu Yong was actually a cheat code.
As a modern person who has traveled through time and immersed in various novels for over a decade,
What kind of underhanded tricks and dirty tricks hasn't he seen?
His bone marrow is probably completely black.
When it comes to caution, even Zhuge Liang would have to address him as "Big Brother".
As soon as they reached the shore, Lu Yong said to Xu Sheng, "Wenxiang, send out the scouts."
The cavalry was divided into eight squads, each with three riders. One squad was deployed in each of the eight directions, with the three riders in each squad spaced one li apart.
When the lead rider encounters the enemy, he raises a flag during the day as a signal and a drum at night as a signal.
The next rider, upon seeing the flag or hearing the drum, will act as if they were the lead rider.
Upon receiving the message, the last rider immediately rode swiftly to report back to the central army.
"You can do that?" Xu Sheng's eyes lit up, thinking to himself, "I've learned another trick." He then immediately clasped his hands in greeting and left to receive the order.
The scouting method used by Lu Yong is called "Eight Trigrams Scouting," which he borrowed from Zhuge Liang...
Watching Xu Sheng leave,
Lu Yong silently prayed, "Kongming, please don't be offended. Once I've established myself in Danyang, I'll immediately go to Yuzhang to find you!"
The first group of twenty-four cavalry scouts dispersed along the official road.
Lu Yong summoned the new army,
Five hundred men were left behind to protect and help the people.
The remaining 4,500 people began to move forward at a steady pace.
To be honest, Lu Yong hadn't personally trained this new army yet; most of the time, it was Xu Sheng who was doing the training.
However, although this team's actual combat strength is not yet strong, it is already able to obey orders without question.
After marching for about an hour, Lu Yong began to adjust the troop formation.
The five hundred men who were originally at the back were moved to the front by him, creating a three-mile distance between them and the main team.
Then the central army was divided into two, with the front and rear ranks separated by two miles.
Xu Sheng rode alongside Lu Yong.
As Lu Yong issued one order after another, he kept memorizing and learning them in his mind.
Xu Sheng discovered that
Lu Yong paid attention to the surrounding terrain and wind direction throughout the journey, and then constantly adjusted the formation.
Whenever they were about to pass through a mountain pass or dense forest, they would send out extra scouts to search the area first.
The team continued their advance only after confirming that it was safe to do so.
Xu Sheng did not think that Lu Yong was making a mountain out of a molehill; on the contrary, he felt that military expeditions should be conducted with such caution.
Lu Yong's caution finally paid off.
After traveling for a day and a night,
Lu Yong's team arrived at a point fifteen li outside Qingshan Road.
A fast horse galloped from the official road to the south, heading straight for the central army where Lu Yong was located.
The cavalryman was a member of the Wuhuan cavalry, short and strong, with extremely excellent horsemanship.
"military adviser!"
The cavalryman dismounted and knelt on one knee to report:
"Fifteen miles ahead, suspicious traces have been discovered on the mountainside on both sides of Qingshan Road. My subordinates have also spotted birds circling in the mountains, seemingly lying in ambush!"
Lu Yong's gaze sharpened, then the corners of his mouth turned up slightly:
"Since someone has come all the way to greet us, we cannot be impolite."
"Wenxiang!" Lu Yong called out to Xu Sheng.
"Your subordinate is here!"
"After traveling five miles, we will set up camp and wait until late at night to scout the situation on the path ahead."
"Yes, sir!" Xu Sheng accepted the order and left.
……
Zhou Yu glanced at the sky.
I estimate there are still about two hours until dark.
Just then, a scout trotted up to Zhou Yu, knelt on one knee, and said:
"My lord, Liu Jun's vanguard has stopped ten miles outside Qingshan Road. They seem to be planning to set up camp there."
"Hmm?" Zhou Yu frowned slightly.
"It's not too late now, and at a normal marching pace, we can definitely go a little further."
But why did Lu Yong stop right there?
After a moment's thought, Zhou Yu asked, "Have you encountered any of their scouts?"
"We saw their scouts, but we were all very careful to hide and were not discovered," the scout replied.
"Did you see where they're camping?"
"I saw it. Behind a low hill, trenches were dug on three sides..."
"Backed by low hills and surrounded by moats on three sides... it looks like we're going to spend the night there." Zhou Yu was somewhat speechless.
He meticulously planned a grand "welcome ceremony," only to find that the "guest" suddenly decided to spend the night somewhere else.
I don't know what the other party is thinking.
Zhou Yu could only say, "Continue to explore."
Send out more groups of people to find out the true situation in their camp.
Report back immediately if there's even the slightest sign of trouble!
"Yes, sir!" The scout acknowledged the order and left.
He always felt that something was not right.
However, Lu Yong's choice to set up camp at this time was not particularly unusual.
After all, he didn't come to fight a war; he was just clearing roads and protecting the people.
Setting up camp at this time and distance, waiting for the rest of the population to arrive, makes perfect sense.
But Zhou Yu always felt a vague unease.
In this state of conflicting emotions,
Night fell.
Zhou Yu leaned against an old pine tree, his eyes closed as if he were dozing.
The scouts reported back and forth several times, but the reports were all very similar.
All that could be heard was the brightly lit campfire in Lu Yong's camp, and the shouts of soldiers during their drills.
In Lu Yong's camp, the soldiers were indeed training.
Moreover, Lu Yong himself was the one training them.
As the commander of the new army, it was time for him to personally train them.
However, Xu Sheng was not in the army at this time.
He led twenty cavalrymen and, under the cover of night, went to Qingshan Road to investigate the situation.
They traveled by moonlight without torches.
Not long after entering the mountain pass,
A strange smell immediately entered my nostrils.
If a large group of people passes by, it may not be obvious.
But now there are only a few of them, and they are focused on their investigation, so the smell of kerosene cannot be masked at all!
Xu Sheng also squatted down.
He reached down and rubbed his fingers into the soil.
Then he brought it to his nose and smelled it, his face instantly changing color: "Damn it! It's kerosene!"