12dz Chapter 281 Be cautious
Chapter 281 Be cautious
We must never let our guard down again. We must defend every place with all our might and not give Hua Zu even the slightest chance.
Back at the central command tent, Chen Er summoned Palau and explained the perilous nature of the Chinese soldiers' river crossing operation. Palau was equally shaken. He had no idea the Chinese soldiers could build pontoon bridges; he assumed they would either cross the river on horseback or be transported by boat. He was surprised to learn that the Chinese soldiers possessed the ability to construct a simple rope-drawn pontoon bridge in just a few tens of minutes. He realized that they would need to strengthen patrols and defenses in the future.
In the following period, the Huazu troops openly attacked here and there along the 80-kilometer front of the Xichuan River, appearing anxious to find a safe place to cross the river. This made Chen Er even more convinced that the entire Huazu force was on the other side and that no troops had been sent to detour to other places to launch a sneak attack.
On March 3, Guan Yu's cavalry brigade, carrying some siege equipment and countless soldiers, painstakingly climbed to the top of the northern foot of Bisak Mountain, only to find that there were always small groups of Wuxi Flying Soldiers patrolling on the opposite side of the Great River Canyon, which greatly discouraged them.
Surprisingly, in less than a day, the patrolling soldiers of the Five Streams Flying Cavalry on the opposite bank were recalled by a messenger, much to the delight of the Third Brigade soldiers who had been diligently lying in wait. After the special forces devised a plan to fly across first, securing the ropes to build a suspension bridge, they replaced the ropes with stronger iron chains. Only then, carrying their weapons and horses on their shoulders, did they cross the river, carefully descend the mountain, and head straight for Xichuan Fort.
While the soldiers on both sides of the Xichuan River were facing off and exchanging arrows, Guan Yu's cavalry brigade successfully crossed the mountain after Chen Er recalled the patrol troops on Bisak Mountain and appeared in a forest 1000 meters away from Xichuan Fort.
After observing through the telescope for a while, Jian Yong said to Guan Yu, "There isn't even a moat, which saves us the trouble of building a bridge to cross the river. There aren't many soldiers on the city wall either, and they're all lazy and undisciplined. They probably didn't expect us to break through Chen Er's defenses and attack the castle."
"Even so, we don't have any heavy siege equipment. Advisor Jian, please tell me your plan, I'll listen to you!" Guan Yu now admired Jian Yong to the point of complete deference, and was completely obedient to his advice.
"Hehe, that's too simple. Didn't you notice any flaws?" Jian Yong asked with a smile.
Guan Yu looked around in confusion for a while, but found nothing. He then grabbed his Guan Dao and brandished it, saying, "I'll be responsible for attacking the city and killing the enemy. I'll need you to tell me the specific methods!"
Jian Yong gave a wry smile and had to say, "Although the enemy's castle is currently closed, look at that convoy to the south. It's probably transporting supplies from the Five Streams Flying Soldiers. Once the supply convoy arrives at the city, they'll surely open the gates wide to let it in. We can just do the same. We can build a few dozen wagons, load them with supplies, change into different clothes, and take a detour along the main road to the south, pretending to be a supply convoy to trick them into opening the city gates. We can easily break into the city!"
Under Jian Yong's design, the logistics troops modified the uniforms and weapons of 500 soldiers to resemble those of the Wuxi Flying Soldiers, and also built 20 Central Asian-style grain transport wagons, which were moved to the main road in the south.
After realizing that there were no real grain transport teams from the Five Streams Flying Soldiers on either side and that their plan would not be exposed, they began their deception operation.
A grain escort team of five hundred men, in twenty grain carts, carrying the rations of the Third Brigade's own soldiers, walked disheveled along the main road south of Xichuan Fort. When they arrived at the city walls, the guards on the walls shouted, "Throw up the pass tokens!" They then lowered a basket, meaning that the soldiers transporting the grain should hand over their pass tokens for inspection.
Jian Yong had anticipated this situation, so Guan Yu, who was pretending to be injured, was lying on a flatbed cart when a Wuxi Feizu soldier who had been captured on the Chahar grasslands and then served the Chinese people stepped forward and explained, "We encountered a band of mountain bandits in the south. Our leader fought bravely and was injured, and his token was also lost. Please, sir, make an exception and let our leader enter the city to heal his wounds!"
A guard on the city wall shouted: "No one is allowed to enter the city without a token!"
The Wuxi guerrillas ran to Guan Yu's side, pretended to listen to his instructions for a while, and then ran down to the city wall and shouted, "Our leader said that if you don't open the gate, we will transport the grain back. If it gets robbed by the mountain bandits, can you take responsibility?"
The garrison commander was about to insist, but two squad leaders beside him advised, "Sir, General Chen Er is as secure as Mount Tai in the north. Not a single Hua soldier has come to the south. This token is just a formality. You should relax! They were injured by the bandits, which is a meritorious service. If they turn around and bite you, you'll be in trouble! Just let them in!"
The garrison commander thought for a moment and realized that the two squad leaders made sense, so he ordered the city gates to be opened.
The heavy city gate slowly opened with a creaking sound. Guan Yu tightened his grip on his halberd under the sheet, his heart pounding. This was a crucial moment for success.
The grain escort team pushed the grain carts slowly forward, passing through the city gates one by one and transporting the grain into the city. As the fourth grain cart passed through the city gate, a soldier from the Wuxi Flying Army who had been standing to the side after the gate was opened looked at the grain escort team soldiers with a puzzled expression and said to his comrade next to him, "Why are these brothers all keeping their heads down? And their builds don't look like those of us from Xichuan?"
Just as the cart carrying Guan Yu entered the city gate, Guan Yu heard the soldier's question and suddenly sat up. He waved his hand and shouted, "Seize the city gate!" His Green Dragon Crescent Blade flashed white light, instantly killing two Xichuan soldiers standing by the gate.
Five hundred soldiers, including elite troops, immediately abandoned their supply wagons, drew their weapons, and instantly occupied the city gate. Seeing that the plan had succeeded, Jian Yong, hiding in the eastern mountains, waved his command flag, and 4 iron cavalry thundered out, shouting as they galloped towards Xichuan Fort.
Upon hearing Guan Yu's unintelligible shout in Chinese, the city gate commander's face changed drastically. Shouting "There's a spy!" he grabbed his broadsword and ran down from the city wall, intending to kill Guan Yu's soldiers who occupied the gate. Hearing the commander's cry of "spy!", the more than 200 guards on the city wall, along with over 1000 reserve soldiers from nearby areas, also grabbed their weapons and rushed towards the city gate.
Guan Yu mounted his horse, brandishing his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, and slashed down more than ten Xichuan soldiers guarding the city gate before charging into the city. He was met head-on by several hundred surrounding city guards. Guan Yu wielded his blade, hacking and slashing, killing the Xichuan soldiers as if they were avoiding a plague, scrambling around him and rushing towards the city gate. After all, once the city gates were closed, no matter how powerful Guan Yu was, the nearly ten thousand guards inside could drown him with their spittle.
Seeing someone trying to bypass him, Guan Yu turned his horse around and roared, slaying a Xichuan squad leader who attempted to intercept him. The body flew more than ten meters away into the crowd, knocking down four or five Wuxi Flying Soldiers. Guan Yu's greatsword was mighty; after a flash of light, he stood inside the city gate, guarding it against the enemy soldiers closing it.