Chapter 243 - Taking Down Zhennan Pass Part 2
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Jun
Mu Guiying nodded. "I also think that it's not practical."
When one didn't have good advisors, the detriments were already there to see.
Not only did they have to take over Zhennan Pass in this battle, but they also had to save the lives of Li Anbai and his daughter. After all, he already had the intention to surrender, which meant he was an ally, so they had to save him.
"General, what plan do you have?" Ouyang Shuo asked.
Mu Guiying confidently and resolutely said, "I don't have a plan; just attack."
Ouyang Shuo was shocked, he looked at Mu Guiying in awe and amazement. Since they had already riled up the enemy, they should just destroy them outright, as it was the righteous thing to do.
"Good!" Ouyang Shuo got up. "Let's stick to what the general has said. Lest there be changes as time passes, let's go!"
"Yes!" The many men echoed.
The big army rolled out of Mulan County and toward Zhennan Pass.
At 1 PM, without any attempts to hide, they arrived in front of Zhennan Pass.
The canyon was only 50 meters wide, so they could spread out their forces.
At the front of the formation, the 10 scaling ladders were put in place; closely behind were the 5 three-bow arcuballistas which were being aimed and zeroed.
The bottom of the scaling ladder had a base of wood with 6 wheels underneath; the main ladder was fixed to the base at a certain degree. At the sides, there was protection and was strengthened using leather. Soldiers could effectively defend against arrows while pushing the scaling ladder.
The main ladder was split into two parts, making use of a folding structure where the middle joined up the two parts with a shaft.
When sieging, as long as one placed the main ladder under the wall, and then make use of the secondary ladder, they could easily climb up the wall and reduce the danger and difficulty.
Additionally, as the scaling ladder was placed on the wall, soldiers could prevent the enemy from sabotage only when they were ready to climb.
Standing in front of the forces was the 1st Guards unit that Ouyang Shuo had brought. Their duty would be to made use of the step arrows that the arcuballistas shot along with the 2 sword-shield soldier units from Mulan County to take down the city wall.
Following closely behind the sword-shield soldier units were the two archer units, who were in charge of cover fire. Further behind was the heavy armored infantry. They were in charge of using the wooden ram to take down the city gates.
The wooden ram had a wheelbarrow attached such that it could be pushed forward. The wooden ram was covered with two layers of iron skin. Many shiny spikes were welded on it.
At the back of the force was the cavalry unit from the city protection regiment who acted as a reserve.
The huge army didn't bother about the mountain bandits on the Zhennan Pass, and slowly made their preparations for the war ahead.
Such a huge commotion naturally alerted and shocked the mountain bandits.
The mountain bandit leader who had successfully staged the coup had received the report and brought a bunch of people to the city wall. Upon seeing the huge army outside he muttered, "Who can tell me where in the world this army appeared from?"
The mountain bandits on his right and left looked at each other, but they all didn't know what to say.
"Leader, was, was it, was it the old head of the stronghold?" One mountain bandit stammered as he said. Although Li Anbai was locked up, he still had high prestige in the mountain stronghold and was still regarded the head of the stronghold.
The leader froze and scolded, "There’s an 80% chance that it is that old fogey. He's going to die but still wants to go against me. I'll go and kill him now."
The mountain bandit beside him immediately stopped him and persuaded, "Leader, what's most important is to stop their advance. We can settle the old fogey at any time."
For him to be able to successfully stage the coup, he naturally wasn't stupid. He knew that killing Li Anbai at this time would not only not help the situation, but it would make those who liked him not listen to him.
The reason why he was so emotional was because of the sudden situation. It wasn't easy for him to become the leader, and he hadn't enjoyed it long before facing such a thing. As such, he felt frustrated.
After calming himself down, he started giving orders and organizing the defense. He ordered all the mountain bandits up the city wall to fend off the enemy invasion.
Zhennan Pass, which was an old ancient pass, not only did it have high city walls, but the city protection resources in its storage were also in sufficient amounts. They had large amounts of rolling wood and stone pieces, which was where the confidence from the leader came from.
After the mountain bandits went off to prepare, the mountain bandit called a confidant and ordered, "Dao Ba, quickly go down and find 20 dependable brothers, prepare horses and food. Take out the jewels from the storeroom and rush to the back gate and wait for my orders. If things go wrong, we leave immediately."
Dao Ba was shocked and asked, "Big brother, don't tell me we might not be able to defend the pass?"
The leader stared at him furiously. "What do you know! I took a brief look and they actually had scaling ladders and arcuballistas, they are obviously prepared. Whether we can defend or not is a mystery. This time, we must prepare for a way out."
"Big brother, I understand."
"Go quickly!" The mountain bandit leader waved him off.
After Dao Ba left, the leader regained his calm demeanour and stood on the city wall.
Just as he was planning their backup plan, a tune sounded out in the courtyard in which Li Anbai and his daughter were kept in.
A young mountain bandit was holding a food box and sneakily rushed to the courtyard.
Two of the leader's trusted men were guarding the courtyard outside. Upon seeing him, they warned, "What are you doing here? Don't you know that this is a restricted place?"
The young mountain bandit looked around and upon seeing that there was no one around, walked beside the guard and said softly, "Brother did you hear? The lord that the old stronghold head contacted has brought their troops to attack the pass."
The guard impatiently said, "Who doesn't know that? Speak the truth, what exactly are you doing here?"
The young bandit didn't get riled up and continued, "Hey, Brother don't you know that the leader is very angry and wants to rush here to kill the old head. Unfortunately, some brothers stopped him.. He didn't want to go against everyone so he agreed to let him off, but in truth he is still furious. Hence, he secretly arranged me to come here to send them on their way."
The young bandit pointed at the food box he was holding, not saying a thing but doing the hand signal for killing.
The guard was astonished, with his understanding of the leader, this was something that he definitely would do. He instantly believed it and nodded. "Since that's so, I'll follow you in."
"No, you definitely cannot." The young bandit immediately shook his head and said softly, "Think about it. Such a secretive thing, how can everyone see it? Both of you better just guard outside so people wouldn't suspect anything. If this is revealed, and the leader blames us, we will probably all be in big trouble."
Thinking of how the leader handled things, both Guards felt cold inside and said thankfully, "Brother has thought about it carefully, quickly go in!"
Under the thankful eyes of the Guards, the young mountain bandit entered the courtyard.
This courtyard was where Li Feixue lived and where the father and daughter were locked up. Li Anfei was really sick and struggled to get off the bed.
"Who?" The arrival of the young bandit was spotted by Li Feixue.
Her reaction was quick as she grabbed the treasure sword at the side and charged forward.
He walked into the room and upon seeing such a situation gave a bitter smile. "Miss don't be afraid. I'm a spy from Mulan County, and I've some important news."
Li Feixue was astonished. Her father had told her about the thing with Mulan County, and she also knew that there was a Mulan County spy in Zhennan Pass. It was only that she didn't know whether the person in front of her was trustworthy or not.
The young mountain bandit, upon seeing the doubts in her face, took out a token and passed it to her. "This is my identity token, you can check it."
Upon receiving it, the token looked very basic without any symbols. Only at one corner were 3 crooked lines.
Li Feixue calmed down and heaved a sigh of relief. She knew that he was a spy from Mulan County.
"Are there any changes outside?" Li Feixue thought about why he entered.
He didn't dare to waste time and said directly, "That's right, my lord and the Lianzhou lord has brought their troops to attack the pass."
Li Feixue was delighted and muttered, "That's great, my father no longer needs to suffer."
The young mountain bandit shook his head, as he wasn't as innocent as her. He said solemnly, "Missus doesn't know that the old stronghold head survived an incident. The leader wanted to kill him, but his men stopped him. I'm afraid that once the situation gets out of hand, he would use you two as hostages."
"Then what should we do?" Li Feixue was a young girl, so she didn't know what to do.
"Cough, cough." At that moment, Li Anbai woke up.
"Dad, you are awake!" Li Feixue was delighted and leaped toward the bed. She was on the verge of crying.
A leader of a generation opened up his hazy eyes and looked at his daughter with pity. He wanted to reach out, but he couldn't. He struggled to look toward the young mountain bandit and struggled out, "I've heard your words. I'm ashamed that I'm unable to fulfil my promise. Your lord is righteous and immediately sent people to save my daughter and I. For that, I'm grateful."
"Your words are too serious. As for how to escape, do you have an idea?" The young mountain bandit was so nervous and worried that the leader would take them as hostages. Hence, as a good spy, he had to take the risk to meet with them to try and solve this problem.
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