Chapter 1233: Stealing a Chicken, Losing the Rice

The army of the Le Dynasty was quietly gathering in the middle and lower reaches of the Dan River, and the docks in Juncheng were also busy.

In the past two days, the Le Dynasty specially sent two merchant ships to the Zhenhe Wharf on the opposite bank for trading.

However, the prices of the items they traded were much higher than before.

This also leads to their lower transaction success rate.

However, they did not care whether the transaction would be successful. Their main purpose was to monitor the movements of Zhenhe and attract Zhenhe's merchant ships to avoid unnecessary trouble for the army to cross the river.

In this attack, Li Xu was the main general, and the young general Song Wu who proposed this idea was promoted directly to become Li Xu's deputy general.

There were 10,000 troops in Juncheng, but only 1,000 were left to guard the city, and the remaining 9,000 went out to attack.

In Qiu Shanjun's opinion, if 9,000 people suddenly launched a surprise attack and could not defeat Beihuan's 2,000 cavalry, they would deserve to die!

May 15th, night, the moon is full.

The ten merchant ships worked all night long, making several trips back and forth, and finally managed to transport four thousand Le Dynasty soldiers to the other side of the Dan River.

Four thousand Le Dynasty soldiers carried seven days of dry food and quickly hid in the mountains near the Dan River.

Li Xu originally planned to have the following troops cross the Dan River at night to meet up with the troops in front, but the weather was bad and heavy fog arose the next day.

“Even God is on our side!”

Li Shu was overjoyed and immediately ordered his men to transport soldiers to the other side while the fog was heavy.

Before the fog cleared, they transported another two thousand soldiers over.

The remaining 3,000 soldiers can be transported there tonight.

The next morning, Li Xu and his men had already arrived in the mountains and joined the army in front.

In this way, their 9,000-strong army had successfully assembled on the other side of the Dan River, and had gone completely undetected.

The next step is to lead these 9,000 people to sneak into the rear of the gold mine defenders and launch a sneak attack on them.

Although it was infantry against cavalry, Li Shu and Song Wu were both very confident.

After a short rest, Li Xu planned to lead the army to set off.

At this time, a messenger came to report that more than ten soldiers had fallen ill, and judging from their condition, they would most likely be unable to continue the march.

"waste!"

Li Shu cursed angrily and ordered with a stern face: "Tell them to stay and hide their tracks! If they are discovered by the enemy, they will have to kill themselves!"

"General, don't be angry. It's just a loss of more than ten people. It won't affect our army." Song Wu laughed, "We didn't bring tents with us. It's inevitable that some soldiers will fall ill due to the cold..."

There is nothing we can do about it.

Even though it's already mid-May, it's still chilly at night.

Especially since they were still in the mountains.

They didn't bring any tents, so they had to huddle together at night. It was normal that some of them fell sick.

Li Shu suppressed his anger and said, "Alright, order the army to set out immediately and send more spies to make sure they are not discovered by the enemy!"

As he spoke, Li Xu stood up, but his eyes glanced at Song Wu again.

This time, Song Wu was rewarded heavily by Qiu Shanjun for his advice to Qiu Shanjun.

If the gold mine is successfully taken this time, this person will definitely be valued by Mr. Akiyama in the future.

It might even threaten one's own position!

In this battle, it would be best to let him die at the hands of the enemy to avoid threatening his position in the future!

I was in my forties before I climbed to this position. It would be such a shame if I was suppressed by a young man in his twenties!

While making plans, Li Shu started to set out with the army.

This place is probably about fifty or sixty miles away from the gold mine. Even though the mountain road is rugged, three or four days should be enough to get around to the back of the gold mine.

At that time, we will take a rest first, and then launch a surprise attack on the defenders of the gold mine at night. We should be able to defeat the defenders of the gold mine easily!

As long as we take the gold mine, it will be a great achievement!

The more Li Shu thought about it, the more excited he became, and he even felt more energetic.

……

In the blink of an eye, two days passed.

In the past two days, nearly a hundred people in the army led by Li Shu fell ill, which made Li Shu so angry that he called those people useless.

However, fortunately, they have an army of 9,000, so if one or two hundred people fall ill, it will not have much impact.

However, after this war is over, these trash should be kicked out of the army!

Li Shu was thinking all the way, his eyes fixed on the valley ahead.

This is a very wide valley.

The valley was covered with weeds and had a small stream running through it.

This valley should be the easiest road they have ever traveled.

But looking at the valley in front of him, Li Xu suddenly felt uneasy.

Li Shu frowned and ordered the army to stop advancing.

Song Wu frowned and looked at Li Xu in confusion, "General, why did you suddenly order my troops to stop?"

Li Xu raised his hand and pointed at the valley in front of him. "Look at this valley. The terrain is relatively flat, and the grass is lush and green. Logically, there should be people grazing here, but there is not even a ghost..."

Grazing is also one of the most important means of survival for the Zhenhe people.

How could there be no one grazing in a valley with such abundant grass and water?

Just thinking about it feels like something is wrong!

Song Wu observed carefully for a while, nodded and said: "General, what you said is very true! However, is it possible that the herdsmen of Zhenhe have gone to collect gold?"

Li Shu frowned and said, "Gold mining also needs to fill the stomach! Fishermen also go to mine gold, herdsmen also go to mine gold, how much food do they have? Can gold be eaten as meat?"

"That's true."

Song Wu nodded slightly, and then asked tentatively: "Is it possible that their herdsmen haven't grazed here yet? Are they still grazed somewhere else?"

Grazing does not mean grazing all over the ground!

There are also routes for grazing.

Li Shu thought about it and nodded, "It's only been spring for a short time now, and the herders haven't come here yet, so it's possible!"

"However, we should be careful. I always feel like something is not right!"

"Come here, order the army to rest on the spot, and order the spies to go into the mountains on both sides of the valley to conduct a thorough investigation!"

Li Shu is still relatively cautious.

He suddenly realized that everything had gone too smoothly for them from crossing the Dan River to marching here.

It went so smoothly, either the enemy was careless and didn't think they could sneak through here to launch a surprise attack; or the enemy was well prepared and had set a trap for them.

If it is the former, then everything will be fine.

But if it's the latter, then it's troublesome.

The valley was so open that it was perfect for a cavalry raid.

Once the enemy cavalry launched a surprise attack, their 9,000 infantrymen would most likely be killed and their weapons and armor would be abandoned.

This is not something they can afford.

He must be extra cautious!

Just when Li Shu was secretly worried, the sound of horse hooves suddenly came from behind them.

Li Shu's face suddenly changed and he stood up suddenly.

On the distant land, a black mass of cavalry was charging towards them from behind.

As the cavalry got closer, Li Xu felt the entire ground trembling, and despair filled his heart...