The next morning, Bailey hurried into Wu Lai's tent and said, "Master, according to the report from the observation post, there are people spying on us on both sides, and they are very close."
"It's okay. They are scouts from the Woye Army. Let them go." Wu Lai responded while continuing to draw the map. In such an era, military maps were as capricious as abstract paintings, with no legends and no scales. If the directions were not marked, Wu Lai was not sure he could understand them.
To march and fight, one naturally needs an accurate map, so Wu Lai had to do it himself.
"Young Master, everyone is whispering that you are indeed the one favored by the god Amon. After you light a few fires and stand there, the enemies will not dare to come over. Others say that the way you light the fires is very particular and has the mystery of divine power." Bailey said with a smile.
"Nonsense! If I knew magic, why would I be worrying about this?" Wu Lai smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"Worried? Master, are you worried about something?" Bailey asked.
"Look at the sky outside. The clouds are so low. The situation is not good." Wu Lai stopped writing and looked at the map that was mostly completed for a while, then sat down at his desk again.
"Master, are you worried about the rain?" Bailey asked in surprise.
"I'm not too worried about the rain. If it rains harder and the river rises, I can have a few days of peace. Even if the river doesn't rise, it's good for us to make it slippery. I'm worried that if it stays cloudy without raining and there's no moonlight, it will be very convenient for the enemy to launch a sneak attack at night." Wu Lai suddenly sighed, "And I haven't completed my deployment yet. If the sky is cloudy for a few days, I'm afraid I can only bear the stigma of 'despicable'."
Bailey thought for a while, blushed, and said, "Master, I don't understand the meaning of your last sentence."
"Really?" Wu Lai glanced at Bailey. "Don't bother thinking about it. I'm just guessing, and I may not be right."
Bailey nodded and thought to himself, "So that's how it is."
But what Bailey didn't expect was that Wu Lai actually guessed it right.
It had been cloudy for two days in a row, without a drop of rain. The clouds were low in the sky, dark and eerie, and the air was filled with a solemn and murderous atmosphere no matter how you looked at it.
At noon, Howell listened to the scout's report in the big tent as usual.
"More than half of the people in the Salt Marsh Town Defense Zone are digging soil every day, and then transporting the soil to the edge of the gap and piling it up, as if they are preparing to build a wall..." As the scout was speaking, another scout's request for instructions suddenly came from outside the tent.
"Dear General Howell, there is an emergency."
"Come in!"
The curtain was lifted, and a scout walked in with a bow. After saluting, he reported in a loud voice: "Ten Salt Marsh Town Defense Forces have entered the cliff edge at the front of our defense zone and are now setting up tents. General, please tell me what to do with them."
"Setting up a tent? What on earth is this Wulagrindo doing? Is he setting up an upstream observation post?" Howell frowned and thought for a moment, then waved his hand, "Ignore them for now, and wait and see."
Of course Howell could ignore it. The area where he was stationed was deep in the dense forest, just like the left wing, and five or six miles away from the cliff. Not to mention that Wu Lai only sent a few people to set up tents, even if all his men were brought here, it would not have any impact on him.
But Howell soon understood why Woolley had done this - as soon as it got dark, the men sent by Woolley lit six large bonfires, and then, on the wooden crosses that had been made and inserted in the afternoon, they hung one wooden lump after another soaked in pine oil. After a while, the area within a mile of the top of the cliff was bright...
"Lord Wu Lai said that we can take turns to rest, as long as we make sure the fire lasts until dawn." Ole said to the other nine people with a smile, "Lord Wu Lai also said that we don't have to be afraid of anything, because there are soldiers from the Woye Army standing guard for us nearby."
Ole's words immediately caused everyone to laugh.
"Yes, Second Platoon Leader!" one of the guys shouted, "But this place is seven or eight miles away from our defense zone. I'm a little shy. Second Platoon Leader, hum a song for us. That way, I can fall asleep quickly."
"Get lost." Ole smiled and punched the guy...
Before midnight, more than thirty boats "drifted" down from upstream again, and Teller was sitting on the largest one.
"Is the water speed so fast today?" When Teller caught a glimpse of the fire on the top of the cliff, he couldn't help but ask Wei Dun beside him.
"It seems... right." Wei Dun was a little unsure, thinking that it shouldn't be that fast, but the fire in the distance was real.
Teller raised his telescope.
Hum, six more bonfires, it's definitely here. Teller breathed a sigh of relief, he had been waiting for such good weather for several days, he was really getting impatient.
"Give the order and prepare to dock." Teller waved his hand and said to Weidun.
At the same time, the defense zone of Salt Marsh Town was completely silent, without even a single spark of fire.
Wu Lai and Meng Bao were sitting on a large rock beside the gap in the defense zone. He was standing guard. It was starless and moonless tonight. Although it was not pitch dark, even with good eyesight, he could not see five steps ahead. So he simply asked all the front-line observation posts to rest and brought Meng Bao with him. You know, Meng Bao's vision and hearing are not comparable to humans.
When the faint sound of pine waves reached Wu Lai's ears again, Mengbao suddenly turned his head to take a look. A light green light flashed in his eyes, and then he turned his head back and continued to stare at the river bank below the gap, although it was pitch black and unusually quiet there.
After a while, there was a slight sound of footsteps behind Wu Lai: "Master, it's me."
"Bailey, didn't you hear me ordering you to rest just now? Or did you hear it and want to try disobeying orders?" Wu Lai said with a smile.
"Master, I dare not disobey you." Bailey knew that Wu Lai was joking. "But before I came here, Madam Loli and Madam Iris both told me to follow you and protect you at all times."
Hearing Bailey's words, Wu Lai's heart warmed. He sighed softly and said, "Bailey, I know you are an outstanding gladiator and a loyal guard, but in my eyes, you are still a rare talent. I always value talents and am willing to cultivate them. This is why I arranged for you to study with Marlon most of the time when we were in Salt Marsh Town."
Bailey's nose suddenly felt a little sour. Although he had gained great glory in the Mondo Plain, he was just a slave at that time. In order to constantly seize glory in exchange for the slim freedom, he paid too much - the scars on his body were the best proof of this.
When Wu Lai took him away from Wei Huo, Bailey thought for a moment that there was no hope for his life. However, he did not expect that Wu Lai not only gave him freedom, but also gave him trust and hope...
"Bailey, you should have lived a more exciting life." Wu Lai said with a smile, "Do you know why I gave you the last name 'Sariu'?"
"I don't know, sir." Bailey shook his head.
"Because a long, long time ago, there was a famous general who was invincible and unstoppable. His name was Belisarius. I hope you can become a person like him," said Wu Lai.
Bailey was shocked and blurted out, "Master, please allow me to learn from you, learn how to march and fight, so that I can serve you better."
Wu Lai laughed and said, "Aren't those things I told you these days teaching you? Or do you think I like to be long-winded and explain and show off every thing and every arrangement to you? Bailey, you don't really think so, do you?"
Bailey suddenly realized.
…
When Teller's furious roar was faintly heard from the bottom of the cliff, Ole on the top of the cliff unzipped his pants with a smile and peed beautifully: "Damn Hulet people, and damn Kimo people, taste what your grandfather Ole's urine tastes like."
At the foot of the cliff, Teller was standing on a narrow rocky beach, surrounded by people - this rocky beach was no more than two hundred cubits long and just over thirty cubits wide. How could it not be crowded if Teller and the thousand or so people stood on it?
"Bastard!" Teller hit a soldier on the head with the scepter in his hand.
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"Bastard!" Teller turned around and swept the scepter, and two more soldiers howled in pain.
"Bastard bastard bastard..." Teller waved his scepter repeatedly, and more soldiers were hit once or twice, but no one dared to retreat.
"Humph! What's the point of a night attack? What's the point of a night attack?" Teller simply aimed at a hapless guy and started beating him up, "You can't even find where the enemy is. I'll make sure you can't find them. I'll make sure you can't find them..."
The unlucky guy was so frustrated, thinking, "What does it have to do with me if you can't find the enemy? If you want to beat someone up, just beat them in circles, why did you hit me alone?"
The wailing of the unfortunate man was very piercing. Wei Dun could not bear it any longer after a short while. He smiled bitterly and shook his head, then consoled him: "Young Marshal, they just fell into the enemy's trap because they were not careful for a moment. Calm down, we will continue to search downstream, and we will definitely find it."
"How do we find it?" Teller retorted, "It's pitch dark now, are we just going to crash into the cliff? Idiot!"
Wei Dun was speechless. What Teller said was true. In the past, they always used the enemy's fire as a reference when launching a charge. Otherwise, they would not have been fooled tonight. Going down the river seemed to be no problem on the surface, but it was actually not realistic - the vision of the surrounding black boats was severely limited. With dozens of boats rubbing against each other all the way down, it was hard to say whether they could find the enemy's defense zone. It was very likely that they would run into the jagged cliffs. If they were unlucky, it would not be surprising if they were caught in a whirlpool and thrown into a dark river.
"Retreat! Retreat the hell!" Teller yelled cursing.
"Retreat! Get on board!" Wei Dun was called an idiot, and naturally he was very angry.
After getting on the boat, Teller kept a straight face and pondered all the way until he was about to enter the port, then he frowned and said, "Weidun, arrange a small boat tomorrow, bring enough food, go downstream along our bank, and wait on the shore opposite to the landing point in the enemy's defense zone. Tomorrow night, I must send people up!"
"Okay." Wei Dun nodded, thinking that this was a reasonable idea.
Just as Teller was about to say something else, big drops of rain began to fall, and the words that were about to slip out of his mouth immediately turned into a curse: "Fuck you."
At the same time, Wu Lai raised his head and smiled slightly, enjoying the slight pain and coolness of the raindrops hitting his face.
"Master, the rain is getting heavier. I'll watch over here. You can go back to the tent and have a rest." Bailey said quickly.
"What a good rain! We've finally got it." Wu Lai said.
The next morning, a small boat quickly sailed out of the harbor, gently pushed the bow, parted the continuous drizzle, and rowed downstream...
At this moment, the Wulai defense zone was bustling with activity. Although the rain showed no sign of stopping and their clothes were soaked, the three rows of civilians were busy. The first and second rows shoveled soil from two miles away from the gap and loaded it onto trucks. They then transported the soil back to the vicinity of the gap, while the third row kept throwing the soil down into the gap.
On a newly built small wooden platform beside the gap, Wu Lai stood with his hands behind his back, accompanied by Bailey. Neither of them held an umbrella, but Mengbao was not there - after breakfast, he had taken the kitchen staff into the woods to hunt.
"Master, if you don't hold an umbrella, everyone will be more motivated. At this rate, we can finish the task by noon." Bailey said with a smile.
"It's a matter of interests. If the situation is not urgent, I don't want everyone to get wet in the rain." Wu Lai said, "The enemy was very angry last night. If they don't come today, they will come tomorrow. We have to hurry up and set up defenses."
Bailey nodded: "Master, when we were in Salt Marsh Town, Malone told me many stories about you, which made me yearn for it."
"Deeds? What Ma Long said was nothing more than fighting bandits. It looks exciting, but it's actually nothing." Wu Lai smiled slightly, "I am looking forward to having a few good fights with the coalition forces on the opposite side. If I didn't have no soldiers and could only choose to defend first, I would be too lazy to deal with these things."
"Master, I am looking forward to fighting alongside you," Bailey said.
"It's almost there. My hands have been itching for a few days." Woolley laughed, "Plansey is not the only warmongerer in Salt Marsh."
…
Teller is domineering, but that doesn't mean he is brainless. In fact, he is the smartest among his brothers, otherwise it would not be his turn to be the young marshal. However, being a young marshal requires many things besides intelligence, such as being familiar with military affairs and being ruthless.
Teller was a cruel and ruthless person, otherwise he would not have come up with the idea of poisoning, and he would not have used nearly a thousand lives in exchange for these five people to successfully sneak into the city of Kayiked.
It was already past midnight, but Teller was still not sleepy. Wei Dun had set out at nightfall, so he should be back by now...
The candlelight on the table suddenly jumped, and Teller's heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself, is there anything wrong? Otherwise, why would the candlelight jump up for no reason? Just as he was thinking this, he heard the sound of footsteps outside the tent. Just as he frowned, Wei Dun, who looked like a clay man, had already lifted the curtain and rushed in. After entering the tent, he knelt on the ground with a plop, and said in a crying voice: "Young Marshal! I didn't do it! You can punish me!"
Teller's heart suddenly sank. He was stunned for a long while before he gritted his teeth and said word by word: "Weidun, what's going on? Don't hide anything from me!"