Chapter 581 Dark Night Fire Bull Formation
"I will gather all the generals here later. You will tell them about the situation and all the news in the Baima Town area, and then we can discuss and make a conclusion!"
By the time Hou Jing had finished his fifth cup of tea and Lu Feng started rolling his eyes at him, all the generals who had received the news finally rushed over.
After paying their respects to Jia Cong, the generals sat down in turn. Then, Hou Jing stood up and began to talk about the situation in Baima Town.
"A few miles south of Baima Town, the Minjiang River's tributary, the Siwang River, runs east-west. To the west, Qingshen Mountain marks the border with Meizhou. The enemy's main camp is located approximately ten miles north of Shima Town, with the joint camp extending over twenty miles."
"General Meng Hua's troops are currently trapped in Shima Town. Shima Town is just a small town, and due to the war, the people have already fled. The so-called city of Shima Town is just made of adobe and cannot withstand an attack. During this period, although the enemy troops have not been attacking in shifts, they have been constantly mobilizing troops, and General Meng Hua has mostly been on the defensive."
"The enemy general's name is Shen Tumou. He is an elder of the Xuhen tribe, and he has gathered over 50,000 soldiers from various tribes."
"This man is cautious in employing his troops, and he has over ten thousand elite troops from the Xuhen tribe..."
After Hou Jing finished his story, Jia Cong pondered and said, "The enemy is now united, making it difficult to attack. If we can break their momentum or create a gap, it will prevent them from encircling Meng Hua. Then, they will have only two options: one is to fight us, and the other is to retreat."
"According to Hou Jing, each enemy camp is only about three to five miles apart, and each camp is heavily fortified. A direct attack would be difficult."
"General, can we use some of our troops to attack one of the camps, and the rest of our troops to ambush outside, so that when the other camps come to rescue, we can intercept them halfway."
Lu Feng spoke.
Hou Jing shook his head. "That's also not easy. First, even with a large army surrounding the camp, it's extremely difficult to completely capture it. Second, Shen Tumou is extremely cautious and a seasoned strategist. If we abandon this camp and instead attack our other troops from behind, we might even be pinned down by him."
"The Marshal currently has fewer than 30,000 troops under his command, not . Adding my own 5,000, we're outnumbered by the enemy. If they cut off our retreat, the rest of our forces will be in danger. And, most importantly, if a stalemate forms, it will be impossible to resolve General Meng Hua's crisis in a short period of time."
"Unless we can quickly capture a certain camp and eliminate the crisis under General Meng Hua's command, then the difference in troop numbers between the two sides will be bridged. At that time, both sides can engage in a head-on battle. With sufficient troops and food, there will be little point for the enemy to avoid fighting..."
"Teng Wu, did we seize thousands of cattle and sheep in the two camps in Longtai Town?" Jia Cong asked suddenly.
Teng Wu chuckled and said, "Exactly. Those cattle and sheep were probably the other party's stored meat, but they ended up in our hands. These days, our soldiers have all had some meat."
“How many are there now?”
"There are nearly 2,000 buffaloes and yaks, and more than 1,500 sheep."
Jia Cong looked at the survey map for a long time, and then his palm fell on an unknown place, "Attack this camp at night tomorrow!"
Everyone looked and saw that this was the easternmost of the allied camps, the only way from Jingyan to Shima Town. Furthermore, it was flanked by barren mountains on either side, with a narrow path in the middle. The enemy's main camp was located at the western mountain pass, completely blocking the passage.
Hou Jing grinned, "General, their camp has at least 8,000 soldiers and horses, and the tents are heavily guarded. Even a surprise attack wouldn't be enough to stop them from detecting us. I didn't come here before, but took a detour from the north. Furthermore, the army can't be deployed in this valley, so attacking this camp will be difficult."
"Also, although I haven't explored this direction, I'm afraid there are small groups of enemy troops stationed in the barren mountains on both sides of the valley. If our troops enter the valley, they might fall prey to their tricks."
"As long as the front camp can hold back our army for a few hours, they can cut off our retreat and completely block our army in the valley..."
Jia Cong laughed and said, "What if we directly break through this camp? As long as we break through this camp, we can reach Baima Town directly. Then this passage will be in our hands. Whether to fight or retreat is all up to us."
"Meng Hua didn't retreat south before, it's just that the east and west passages are blocked. To the south, Jiading Prefecture is directly in the enemy's hinterland. If our tens of thousands of troops directly block Baima Town, then it will be the enemy who will be anxious."
"I understand what you said, Marshal, but how do we break into the camp?"
Jia Cong laughed and said, "I usually ask you to read more books, but have you never heard of the Fire Bull Formation?"
…
On the second night, outside the mountain pass on the east side of the valley, Jia Cong's army was ready to go, and at the forefront were nearly two thousand calves. Today, they were Jia Cong's main force.
"This valley is only three or five miles long. After the Fire Bull rushes out, Lu Feng will lead three thousand soldiers and horses to follow!"
"Jiang Fei, Qiu Liang, each of you will lead a thousand soldiers and sneak in along the mountain ranges on both sides. Their ambush troops will not be large, and they will definitely be attracted by the situation in the valley. At that time, they will definitely move towards the mountain pass to block the retreat. Find a suitable location to set up an ambush."
"Dusi, Lu Zuo, the two of you will lead 5,000 soldiers and follow Lu Feng!"
"When the enemy camp is breached by the fire bulls, Lu Feng, just charge in and set fire to it, harassing them. Don't worry about the rear. As long as you disrupt the enemy camp, you'll have achieved a great feat! Du Xi and the other two, you will guard the mountain pass in front and support the army from the rear. We must not let the mountain pass be recaptured by the enemy."
"The rest of the tribes will lead their troops to..."
The generals obeyed the order, and then, two thousand calves had sharp knives tied to their horns and oil-soaked reeds tied to their tails! Some soldiers stepped forward to set the tails on fire, and then drove the calves into the valley.
After walking for a while, the calf was in pain when it was on fire from behind. It then started running forward angrily.
Under the intense pain, the calf, which had originally seemed a bit clumsy, actually sped up even faster. Even Lu Feng, who led the cavalry in the rear, could hardly keep up. Two thousand fire bulls swept towards the enemy camp with an unstoppable momentum.
Naturally, there were soldiers patrolling the mountain pass on the other side in secret at night. When they noticed the movement coming from the valley, someone immediately reported to the commander of the central army that there was a cavalry attack on the camp.
The commander ordered his men to close the rear gate and deployed troops to prepare to defend against the enemy outside.
However, despite the dark night attack, the commander wasn't worried. His camp was built to block the mountain pass, so how could it be easy to attack? Not only would any incoming troops be discovered, but this position was also easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even if the enemy attacked with three to five times their strength, he could hold out for a day or two.
