Chapter 285 This is What I Want
Late at night, in the Qi Wang army camp, Xiao Beiheng was questioning Song Zhen why he didn't let him send troops to attack Jia Valley.
"Why are you stopping me? Is your mind still confused?" Xiao Beiheng pointed his finger at Song Zhen's nose, as if he was going to poke it into Song Zhen's face.
Song Zhen waved his feather fan, looking embarrassed.
There is a reason why His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is so angry.
He had previously gone to Zhao Mu to negotiate, but ended up being drunk by Shen Yuexi with a bowl of wine. When he regained consciousness, he had already been sent back to the Qi Wang army camp. Furthermore, the aftereffects of the wine were quite severe, causing stomach pain and dizziness. He was in such a state for several days that he had to take several doses of medicine before recovering.
Fortunately, Xiao Beiheng was fighting fiercely with Xiao Zhuo during this period and had no time to pay attention to him.
After recovering, he learned that the King of Qi was planning to attack Xiao Zhuo's food supplies. According to the spies' reports, Xiao Zhuo's food supplies were in Jia Valley. Xiao Beiheng was about to arrange his troops to attack when he was persuaded by him.
"Your Highness, Xiao Zhuo is not a fool." Although Xiao Beiheng was unhappy, he still explained patiently, "We sent scouts disguised as villagers to investigate, but I'm afraid they can't hide it from Xiao Zhuo's eyes."
Xiao Beiheng didn't believe it and retorted, "Xiao Zhuo is also a human being. Does he know every villager within a hundred miles?"
King Xiao Ming of Qi said from the top, "Bei Heng, don't worry. What Song Zhen said is indeed reasonable. You have suffered losses twice. Don't you know that you should be cautious?"
Xiao Beiheng sat down helplessly, spread his hands and said, "So what should we do next?"
Song Zhen said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. I sent two more scouts to Jiagu yesterday and ordered them to observe the area all night long and not let down their guard..."
As they were talking, a soldier came into the tent and said, "Prince Qi, His Royal Highness, Military Advisor, the Jiagu scouts have returned to the camp with urgent military information to report."
Song Zhen was overjoyed and immediately raised his fan and said, "Order the scouts to come to the tent and report quickly."
A short while later, a scout disguised as a villager entered the camp. After meeting King Qi and Xiao Beiheng, he said to Song Zhen, "As the military advisor predicted, Xiao Zhuo secretly ordered the convoy to transport food and fodder to Xiayuan Valley without lighting any lights at night, while also setting up an ambush in Jia Valley."
Song Zhen waved his fan and said, "Well, this is a great achievement. Go down and rest." The scout thanked him and stood up to leave.
Xiao Beiheng stood up and said, "He really did notice the spies I sent out."
Song Zhen smiled and said, "Although His Royal Highness sent soldiers disguised as villagers to investigate, Xiao Zhuo is a very careful person and will definitely find the flaws. Now he is secretly transporting food and grass at night, and fortunately he was discovered by the scouts I stationed there. Otherwise, we would have been fooled."
King Xiao Ming of Qi clapped his hands and said, "If it weren't for Military Advisor Song's caution, my son would have fallen into Xiao Zhuo's trap. There must be traps and ambushes in Jia Valley now. How should we respond?"
Song Zhen said, "Prince Qi, Your Highness, the two scouts I sent are hiding on a secluded mountaintop. Xiao Zhuo certainly doesn't know about this. We can continue to pretend we don't know about this and let him make trouble at night. Once they have transported all the food and fodder to Xiayuan Valley, we will lead our army in a surprise attack. The outcome will be decided in one battle."
Xiao Beiheng finally understood and said to Song Zhen, "You mean we... play dumb and make Xiao Zhuo think his plan has succeeded."
"That's right," Song Zhen fanned himself. "Xiao Zhuo already knew we had sent out scouts, but he feigned ignorance. He secretly transported food and fodder out of Jiagu at night, then set a trap inside Jiagu, waiting for our army to fall into his trap. Haha, he didn't know I had sent scouts to monitor him at night, completely seeing through his plan. Our army will use his own trick against him and feign ignorance. Once he has transported all the food and fodder, we will come and capture them all in one fell swoop."
"The military advisor's strategy is indeed brilliant," Xiao Beiheng's anger turned into joy as he cupped his hands and said, "If we defeat Xiao Zhuo this time, the military advisor will be credited with the main achievement."
…
In the Lower Round Valley, Shen Yuexi was shocked after hearing Xiao Zhuo's statement.
"Husband, so this is the real ambush site?"
She had been wondering all the way why the alcohol was not brought back to the camp, but was instead transported to Xiayuangu along with the food. It was only when she arrived at Xiayuangu that she realized this was the trap set by Xiao Zhuo.
Xiao Zhuo said, "The Qi army sent spies here, clearly intending to spy on our army's food supplies. But Song Zhen is there, so even ordinary tactics wouldn't be hidden from him. I'll transport the food supplies out of Jia Valley at night and store them here. This is a foolproof countermeasure."
Shen Yuexi raised a finger and said, "Husband, don't tell me yet. Let me guess."
Xiao Zhuo stopped talking and looked at her with a smile.
Shen Yuexi flicked out another finger, shaking two of them, and said, "My husband used two strategies: The first strategy is that King Qi and Xiao Beiheng always believed that the food and grass were in Jia Valley. If they led their troops to attack, they would only fall into our ambush. This is the first one."
"Very good, the second one?" Xiao Zhuo nodded approvingly.
"The second reason is that Song Zhen is very capable. He guessed my husband's plan, or discovered that we were secretly transporting grain in the middle of the night. He told King Qi and Xiao Beiheng to attack Xiayuan Valley instead, but they didn't know we were ambushing there."
"That's right. If they attack Jiagu, it means they didn't adopt Song Zhen's plan. If they attack Xiayuangu, it means they were persuaded by Song Zhen. But I guess they will definitely attack Xiayuangu," Xiao Zhuo turned to look at the convoy of alcohol trucks outside the thatched house, "that's why the alcohol was brought here."
Shen Yuexi held up a small bamboo tube in her hand and said, "Husband, the fuse is ready. Let's go out and find an open place to try it out."
The two men went outside. It was noon, and thousands of soldiers in Xiayuan Valley were scrambling to build thatched huts to shelter their food supplies from the rain. They reached an open area. Shen Yuexi placed a bamboo tube filled with gunpowder and a jar of alcohol among a pile of fake food bags filled with firewood. A circle of secret guards surrounded them, carrying buckets of water as a precaution.
After Shen Yuexi pulled the fuse several meters away, she struck it with a flint.
According to her design, the fuse will detonate the gunpowder in the bamboo tube, shattering the can filled with alcohol and igniting the alcohol at the same time. The exploding alcohol will splash everywhere and ignite other places, which is equivalent to a incendiary bomb.
The fuse crackled, sending up a streak of sparks that quickly penetrated into the cracks in the grain bag, and then there was no movement.
Xiao Zhuo looked at Shen Yuexi. Shen Yuexi bit her lip awkwardly. "This wasn't made by Daxiong. I came up with it myself. That...maybe needs some adjustments."
This is so embarrassing. Am I so stupid that I can't do anything without Big Bear?
Just as he was about to go up to check what was going on, there was a loud bang and a huge fireball rose from the ground, with countless firewood and fireballs splashing in all directions.
"Be careful." Xiao Zhuo exclaimed, pulled her back, and turned around to block the flying firewood and fireballs for her.
The secret guards around had not expected that the power of the fireball explosion would spread so far. Fortunately, everyone had been prepared and hurriedly poured the buckets of water in their hands onto the blazing fires, and finally put them out.
The flames of the explosion covered almost a hundred square meters, which scared Shen Yuexi greatly.
There were nine hundred and ninety-nine more jars like this. If they were all set on fire, Lower Round Valley would be transformed into a fiery inferno. Even if someone inside wasn't set on fire, the intense heat alone would roast them to death.
This enormous power made her very worried. No wonder Big Bear couldn't make military weapons like napalm. The power of gasoline when burning was much greater than that of alcohol.
"Husband, the explosive power of this alcohol is too scary," she looked at Xiao Zhuo hesitantly, "Do you really want to arrange it?"
To her surprise, there was a fiery light in Xiao Zhuo's eyes.
"Of course, this is the flame I want."
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