Water Margin people

Chapter 1699: The Sneak Attack of the Arabs (Part )

Saladin led his army very slowly, constantly absorbing the Arabs around him. He wanted to win this battle by using his numerical advantage.

Saladin knew very well that the main force of Qi had retreated, and now there were only 20,000 troops on the other side of the Red Sea. Although the Qi army was strong, as long as they could crush them with their numerical advantage, victory was not impossible.

"How's the situation over at the Red Sea?"

Saladin asked, looking at the generals around him.

"Sir, the scouts reported that the Qi army has not made any movement and is still driving the slaves to dig the canal."

A general replied.

"No movement?"

Saladin's face was livid. His purpose was to create momentum so that Yue Fei would not be able to resist leading his troops to attack. As long as Yue Fei stayed away from the sea, he could let the army rush forward and protect the 20,000 people. Even if there were tens of thousands of casualties, they would take on these 20,000 people and destroy the arrogance of Qi.

"Yes, they have dug the canal very wide and deep..."

The scout continued, describing the initial outline of the canal that had been dug.

"This isn't a canal... It's just a river. If it's built, no one will be able to cross it!"

All the generals' faces turned pale. This river was almost half the length of the Nile River. Once it was built, the two continents would be completely separated.

"Humph, such a large project will not be completed in decades!"

Saladin suddenly sneered and said to everyone, someone had dug this canal before, but it was just a series of small rivers connected to the Nile River.

Now the State of Qi has made it clear that it wants to dig a straight line, and its width and depth will exceed that of an ordinary river. This project will require no small effort.

"They have tens of thousands of slaves. I heard that slaves are being shipped in from all over the place. With more people, maybe it will work."

Someone said that Qi State now occupied a vast territory and controlled a terrifying population. Digging a canal was ultimately a human endeavor, and success was inevitable as long as there were enough people.

"We must stop them, starting with the population!"

“Relocate all people living near the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea away from the coast.”

"What's the use? If we can't catch them here, they can go to Persia or India!"

"They control the sea, and we don't even have a ship, how can we stop them?"

……

The crowd started arguing again.

Saladin did not say anything. If Yue Fei did not bring his troops out, then he would be defeated. But he had also heard from scouts that the fortress Yue Fei built on the seashore was a meat grinder, and any large army would be minced into minced meat.

"Where have they dug the canal to now?"

Saladin asked.

“There are construction works on both sides of the Red Sea and the Great Bitter Lake!”

Scout reports.

"The Great Bitter Lake is nearly a hundred miles away from the Red Sea. Let's go directly to the Great Bitter Lake!"

Saladin looked at the crowd and said, if Yue Fei didn't come out, he didn't want to get too close, so he could only attack the construction site. Yue Fei only had 20,000 troops, how could he guarantee the safety of hundreds of miles? Even if he harassed Yue Fei, he would not let him succeed.

A cavalry unit quickly broke away from the team and headed towards the Great Bitter Lake.

Great Bitter Lake.

"I'm afraid this method of excavation won't be successful every seven or eight years!"

Han Shizhong looked at the huge pit in front of him and said, "This is just a pit. Their goal is a canal that is hundreds of miles long."

"The Seventh Marshal of the Navy said that His Majesty will send someone to deliver machinery, so it should be faster by then!"

Several engineers spoke up and said that they had also seen steam engines when they were studying at Liangshan School. Although the steam engines looked bulky, their power far exceeded that of human power.

“How many years can the construction period be shortened?”

Han Shizhong asked.

"About two years?" Several engineers did not dare to say too much. After all, it was not certain whether the machine would be easy to use.

"Two years? Not enough. We still need to get more slaves!"

Han Shizhong said, since the mechanical capabilities are limited, we can only use the human wave tactic.

"Deputy Governor! The enemy is attacking!"

A cavalryman came to Han Shizhong on a fast horse to report.

"Enemy? Coming towards us? How many people?"

There was no worry on Han Shizhong's face, instead he was smiling.

"Cavalry, about five thousand!"

Soldiers report.

"Five thousand cavalrymen, well, well, well, what you want is what you get!"

Han Shizhong laughed and said that he was thinking of getting more slaves to dig the canal, and then the enemy sent 5,000 young and strong men and 5,000 horses, which solved his urgent problem.

"Deputy Governor, five thousand cavalrymen, I'm afraid we don't have enough manpower here. Why don't we ask Governor Yue for some troops?"

A general said that they only had two thousand people responsible for maintaining order, which was not enough to deal with five thousand cavalry.

"Mobilize troops? If you mobilize troops, the enemy will not come. Don't you see clearly what these people are? They are bullies who only bully the weak and fear the strong. If they really had the ability, they would not come to the Great Bitter Lake, but go directly to the Red Sea Bay!"

Han Shizhong shook his head.

"Change the excavation progress and dig a trap for me!"

Han Shizhong looked at the engineers and said, since the canal had to be dug anyway, why not use it as a trap first.

"Yes, General!"

Several engineers immediately took orders.

Under the command, the slaves began to change the direction of digging. The enemy was charging in as cavalry, so the trap did not need to be very deep. It only needed to make the enemy fall.

The Arab cavalry slowed down when they approached the Great Bitter Lake. They sent out a large number of scouts to monitor the fortresses on the seashore, and they would turn around and leave as soon as the enemy sent reinforcements.

But the scouts reported that the enemy had not made any movement and the army was still in the fortress by the sea.

"What should we do? Should we fight?"

Several bearded generals who were leading the troops hesitated. The invincible Arab cavalry were full of fear when facing the State of Qi. The terrifying combat power of the Qi army made them feel uneasy and they didn't know whether they could win.

If Saladin saw his cavalry in such a state, he would probably be so angry that he would vomit blood. If a large army does not even have the courage to face the enemy, how can it win the war?

"Besides the slaves, how many troops does the enemy have?"

A general asked.

"The enemy only has 2,000 soldiers, the rest are all slaves."

Scout reports.

"Twenty thousand slaves guarded by two thousand soldiers, these people from Qi are too bold!"

Those people had another idea. They knew that slaves would not be loyal to Qi. As long as there was any problem with Qi’s army, those slaves would rise up in rebellion.

"Why don't we launch a surprise attack? As long as we make a splash, those slaves will flock to us!"

Someone immediately suggested that the rebellion of 20,000 slaves would be enough to deal a heavy blow to the Qi army.

"Then do it. Let's fight tonight. By then, the slaves won't know what's going on and will definitely follow us!"

The others also spoke up. These slaves were all believers of the Arab religion and shared the same roots with them, so they would definitely get close to them first.

"Don't be impulsive, find out where the enemy is first!"

There are still calmer people who can help analyze it.