After cleaning up the battlefield, Lin Mo summoned a local soldier from Xichuan and asked, "You are a soldier from Shu, do you know any places nearby where the army can rest and recuperate?"
This man was Zhao Zhen's trusted confidant and could be relied upon. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Your Highness, there is a village fifteen miles to the west of here where our army can rest and recuperate."
“Villages? No way!” Lin immediately refused. “The people living in the villages are all from our Great Xia. If bandits attack, they might be implicated.”
"Ten miles to the north, there is a mountain peak with a flat area on its summit where the army can rest. At the same time, this mountain peak is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there is also a water source nearby to keep out bandits."
"Then let's set off immediately!" Lin Mo nodded and said, "Xu Chu, you go ahead and clear the way!"
"Yes, sir!"
After the last ambush, Lin Mo lost more than 100 soldiers. The remaining 600-plus men rested briefly before heading towards the mountain peak.
That evening, Lin Mo and the others arrived at the mountain peak.
Unlike other places, this mountain stands tall between the land and the forest, unconnected on all sides, with its bare, brown slopes covered with scattered rocks.
The road up the mountain is steep and rugged, but the summit is flat, offering a panoramic view of everything below.
"This is a good location, my lord," Xu Chu announced after reaching the summit. "We can't find a better place than this, so let's set up camp here."
Lin Mo dismounted. "Indeed, this high ground is easy to defend," he said as he surveyed the area. "Let's set up camp here!"
This mountain is about 30 feet high, with a flat and wide summit, large enough to accommodate a force of over a thousand people.
The southeast direction is a difficult-to-climb rock face, and the northwest direction has many loose rocks, which is not conducive to cycling sprints.
As Cao Cao's trusted confidant, Xu Chu was experienced and could tell at a glance that the earthen slope was easy to defend but difficult to attack.
At this moment, one of Qiao Shan's personal guards, Xiong Biyong, raised a question: "Your Highness, this place is absolutely not suitable!"
Why?
"Your Highness, this place is indeed easy to defend and difficult to attack, but it has a fatal flaw!" Xiong Biyong said, "Water! How do we solve the water problem?"
“At the foot of the mountain, didn’t we just cross a stream?” Xu Chu replied.
“But the stream is a long climb between the two places,” Xiong Biyong pointed out, “and the stream is outside this mountain peak and cannot be seen from the top.”
Xu Chu spoke again, "What, don't you want to climb the mountain a little more?"
Lin Mo chimed in, "We can fetch the water up first to ensure we have enough supplies!"
Xiong Biyong was shocked when he heard this. "You two can fight?" he thought to himself.
"Your Highness, what if the bandits besiege our army on this mountain peak?"
Lin Mo grinned, "The art of war says: 'From a high vantage point, one's momentum is unstoppable.' If these bandits arrive, I will surely slaughter them all!"
"The bandit leader was once a general of our Great Xia Dynasty, and he understands military strategy," Xiong Biyong said bitterly. "This mountain peak occupies a natural stronghold. If he cuts off our water supply and surrounds us without attacking, what should we do?"
"We must fight to the death. If the bandits cut off our water supply, won't our army fight to the death? One soldier can be worth a hundred," Lin Mo told him. "My mind is made up, no further words are needed!"
Knowing that further discussion was pointless, Xiong Biyong remained silent.
"My lord, this method of yours sounds familiar...it's very much like that of that person from Shu Han..."
"Holy crap, you can't believe it? You actually know about Ma Su?" Lin Mo exclaimed in surprise.
"Don't worry, we'll definitely win!" Lin Mo assured him.
The order was given, and the Xia soldiers quickly set up tents on the mountain peak.
Tents sprang up like mushrooms after rain, blankets and bedding rolls covering the bare land.
The forest rangers, taking advantage of the last rays of the setting sun, picked up their axes and went into the woods to cut down timber for the night.
Following Lin Mo's orders, the Great Xia soldiers occupied high ground to observe the surrounding enemy situation and prevent a sudden attack by bandits...
~~~
"What? Fourth Brother is dead?" The leader jumped up, his face filled with disbelief.
The second-in-command, exhausted, was dazed when he fled back to the mountain stronghold. On his tattered leather armor, bloodstains were still wet on his chest, and the wounds were clearly visible.
"Didn't that kid only bring eight hundred soldiers?" the third leader demanded. "How could the fourth leader possibly be no match for him?"
“Third brother, that kid really only brought a hundred or eighty soldiers,” the wounded second leader said. “At first, we had the upper hand, and I almost killed that damned King of Shu with my own hands!”
Unexpectedly, that kid had a fierce general in his army. Wielding two axes alone, he broke through our defenses and killed the fourth brother in the chaos!
It turns out that the bandit who fought Lin Mo back then was the second-in-command.
The two men were ordered to lead two thousand cavalrymen to the vanguard, thinking they could easily wipe out the eight hundred Xia soldiers, but they were unexpectedly defeated.
"Wielding two axes? Killed the fourth brother amidst the chaos of battle?" The chieftain was even more dumbfounded. "When did Great Xia produce such a fierce general?"
Could it be Li Hu?
No, impossible!
Li Hu's weapon was not a double axe, and although Li Hu was skilled in martial arts, he was not that ridiculously strong.
At the same time, the entire Great Xia Dynasty knew that Li Hu was at odds with the Lin family.
How could he possibly come to Sichuan to help Lin Mo fight bandits?
"Boss, what should we do?" the Sixth Boss asked. "How about we lay low for a while?"
These words immediately provoked public outrage.
"Sixth Brother, what nonsense are you spouting!" Fifth Leader Zhu Meng roared. "We have seven thousand brothers in our stronghold, and we're scared off by a mere eight hundred soldiers? If word gets out, how will we save face?"
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