Chapter 7: Night raid attack and defense, Part 2 of 5
Youshi (5-7 pm).
A tent five miles from the western suburbs.
Inside the tent, a map is spread out on a small stone table. Although it looked hastily drawn and may not be finely done, but it was very detailed such that one could clearly recognize the main structures.
Gu Yun stood in the middle, standing by her right side Ge Jing Yun pointed to the edge of the map, he said: “Less than a mile outside the camp is a clearing, a mile away the rest is a dense thicket of bushes and trees. My army can lurk in here after the night falls. This is the nearest to the camp. It would be difficult to be discovered here as the trees are very dense.”
Gu Yun nodded, Ge Jing Yun continued, pointing to the center of the map, he explained: “There are sixty-seven rooms inside the camp, most of which are located in its rear end, in front of the camp are the main headquarter’s hall, three adjacent halls, two study rooms, also far behind the gate there’s a small sleeping quarter for the soldiers. As to the distribution of the troops within the camp, it seems that an estimated three hundred soldiers are guarding on top of the gate. In several other directions of the high walls also around a hundred or more archers are stationed. In the entire camp, near to the courtyard of the soldiers’ sleeping quarter is the only area where security is a little bit lax, we can infiltrate from here. But I also found a room behind the camp where soldiers are relatively concentrated; it’s very closely guarded, almost every half a stick of incense there’s a team of guards patrolling, searching for the wooden case therein wouldn’t be easy.”
Drawing a circle on this room on the map, Ge Jing Yun quite confidently declared: “So I guess, the wooden case would be in this one.”
Glancing over again, the main structures of the camp has been etched in her mind, submitting to Ge Jing Yun’s hands the folded drawing, Gu Yun said: “Let your soldiers memorize this topographic map, they must be familiar of the terrain even without the map.”
“Yes.” Ge Jing Yun went out of the tent, Gu Yun glanced sideways to Leng Xiao and asked: “How’s your weapons preparation?”
Leng Xiao replied: “three hundred shields and five thousand arrows have been prepared, furthermore the things you want are also ready.”
Nodding with satisfaction, she looked at the sky which has turned dark gray, Gu Yun’s clear voice said: “everyone prepare to depart after a stick of incense!”
“Yes.” Once again their forceful reply displayed these young people’s high morale and confidence, but …
After lying on the underbrush and keeping watch for four hours (two shichen), the said high morale very easily turned to growing restlessness; on their first day as soon as it got dark they were already keeping watch, but no one thought of keeping watch this way for four hours. Gu Yun did not explain a word, and gave no other commands, they were just lying on their stomachs the whole time! If they hadn’t undergone endurance training, they would have found this position unbearable already a long while ago.
Noting the soldiers around him were getting more and more unsettled, Ge Jing Yun slowly crawled to Gu Yun’s side, whispering he asked: “Boss, what are we going to do now?”
Compared to their edginess, Gu Yun seemed very calm, her eyes sharply watching everything around, she coldly replied with one word: “wait.”
Wait? Waiting exactly for what? Ge Jing Yun was befuddled, slightly squinting Gu Yun was staring into the distance and replied: “waiting for Su Yu to come.”
Waiting for someone else he still can understand, but why wait for lieutenant general Su? A surprised Ge Jing Yun said: “The night raid battle has a three-day duration, how can you be certain he’ll come tonight, it’s already midnight now, even if he indeed comes, shouldn’t we strike first and gain the upper hand?”
“Didn’t you say that we only have five hundred men, how do we fight against a thousand men? I’m waiting for Su Yu’s five hundred men.” A slight shaking of the bushes very far away attracted Gu Yun’s attention, it seems that the people she was waiting for have just arrived. Leng Xiao also suddenly moved close and asked: “Do you want alliance with him?”
Alliance? Taking advantage is more like it! Gu Yun laughed awkwardly: “well, sort of.”
Ge Jing Yun scratched his head in puzzlement, “Aren’t we opponents? How can we join forces with them?” Isn’t this night raid battle taking place precisely in order to test whose art of training is the more superior one? How is a comparison possible in a coalition of forces?
Gu Yun’s cold eyes narrowed slightly, looking to Ge Jing Yun and Leng Xiao, her chilly voice dropped low and cold, “on the battlefield neither permanent enemies nor permanent friends exist, in everything we do, the goal is only one, accomplishment of the task means victory.”
The goal is exactly to accomplish the task! All else is a means to an end, is this its meaning? Leng Xiao and Ge Jing Yun glanced at each other, these words slowly settle in the minds of the two.
In the distance, shining fire has been lit, it has also successfully attracted the attention of the garrison guards, Gu Yun leisurely smiled, he came, the game has just begun.
Looking along Gu Yun’s line of sight, Ge Jing Yun and Leng Xiao also saw the distant fire, squinting their eyes they saw rows and rows of soldiers marching forward in an orderly and uniform manner, after every interval of three rows there’s a row of soldiers holding up a blazing torch. Seen from afar, the flame soars to the heavens, together dark blue figures were marching on neatly in rows, the momentum is awesome, the morale is high! The impact is quite a bit intimidating.
To distinguish the soldiers between the two opposing teams, Gu Yun suggested that her team will all be dressed in black, Su Yu’s team will all wear blue for easy identification, but unfortunately at this late at night, unless one is very close to or below the torch to distinguish the color of the outfit is difficult.
As the troops drifted near, the garrison guards atop the city gate tower also began to move up quickly, a division of archers with drawn back bows full of arrows were aimed straight towards the soldiers below, if they dare exceed a single step, they will be shot and turned into honeycombs.
Thirty feet away from the gate tower the troops stopped, not a step further forward, but also not a step backward, deadlocked in a stalemate with the guards above the tower.
Gu Yun suddenly whacked Ge Jing Yun who was watching enthralled, laughing and scolding she said: “still watching! Just a moment ago weren’t you itching for action?! You should get moving now! Take along with you men who have excellent nighttime vision, three people in a team, each team assigned to search a room, if you cannot find the wooden case immediately flee, if you find it bring it out at once if possible, come back with a report right away if it was not done.”
There are sixty rooms in the rear of the camp, a team each with three men, it meant almost two hundred people going in simultaneously? Leng Xiao’s brows creased a bit, he said: “So many people entering at once, wouldn’t it alert the enemy?”
Laughing Gu Yun shook her head, pointing to the tower and the troops arriving before in great fanfare, she countered: “speaking of alerting the enemy, Su Yu has achieved that already. His trick now is to pin down a majority of the guards, while dispatching men to sneak into the rear court to steal the wooden case, which is something everyone knows, and most likely Su Ren has long ago taken precautions against such move. So our priority task is to find the right location of the wooden case at the maximum speed, do not care about the number of people, what really counts is that our speed must be fast!”
“Yes.” Ge Jing Yun nodded firmly, confidently got up and left.
Watching Ge Jing Yun’s excited and exuberant departing figure, Leng Xiao could not help but feel also somewhat animated, after all, they are competing with the elite troops of the Su family army, this is absolutely a good opportunity one rarely encounters in a lifetime!
A delicate hand gently tapped on his shoulder, Leng Xiao recovered his wits, saw Gu Yun’s eyes gleaming, smiling faintly she said: “keep calm, don’t get excited, especially not when you’re going to play out there.”
Her words mean … Leng Xiao’s eyebrows lightly furrowed, pondering hard in rapt attention, Boss appeared so relaxed, could it be that she already has a card up her sleeve, what exactly is she planning to make him do?
Leng Xiao was still caught in his thoughts when the troops standing motionless before the city gate tower suddenly moved. Not only that they moved in a very quick manner, but at the same time they changed also their formation. All the soldiers holding up a torch retreated to the back of the troops, simultaneously the side surface of their bronze shields were uniformly and evenly lifted up high overhead, two men shared a shield, one holding the shield, another holding a bow, in concert they marched forward. Gu Yun couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, within a short period of time to convert into a matrix formation without any hitch, several hundreds of people deployed in such a smooth execution, it really was impressive. The combination of shields and bows and arrows acting mutually in concert, there’s both offensive and defensive elements, if Su Yu simply wants to divert the attention of part of the guards through this battle formation, not only it’s already enough, it also can sustain for a long time.
Gu Yun turned around, facing the soldiers behind her who were creeping in the underbrush and with looks of admiration on their faces, she said: “have a good look at how others besiege, no matter what and when you must not underestimate your opponents, find out their strengths in order to learn, but find out also their vulnerabilities in order to attack.”
At this moment the soldiers could not reply loud, so they can only quickly straighten their bodies, their eyes unblinking staring ahead, Gu Yun pleased finally turned around, and continued to watch attentively the situation in front.
In front a confrontation was imminent, in the rear court it also was not tranquil, Ge Jing Yun took the topographic map and tucked it inside his sleeve, facing the many soldiers behind him who were chosen, he explained: “According to instructions of Boss, three men in a team, in case you encounter guards, cover the person who came in to search the room, you must hasten, don’t dilly-dally, with or without the wooden case come out immediately. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Under cover of the night’s darkness, nimble figures rapidly sneaked into all directions of the rear of the camp.
Ge Jing Yun together with two soldiers advanced towards the nearest courtyard where the most dangerous room is, swiftly they moved and went, en route he felt and heard a few times light unusual sounds behind him, looking back, he saw several men dressed in blue also vigilantly watching them; both their commanding officers did not tell them what to do should they encounter the other troops, in the hallway several people separated and for a moment stood opposite one another, but ultimately Ge Jing Yun whispered: “let’s go.”
Their most important task now is to find the wooden case!