Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 136: An ambush has been set here once, why can’t we set one again?
Sanyuan Mountain, the lobby of the village.

The sheepskin map, which was half a meter in radius, marked the surrounding monk and soldier camps, as well as temples, villages, towns, mountains, and rivers.

Zhang Yuan, Peng Zheng, Mr. Guo, Xu Changzhi and others gathered around the map.

Zhang Yuan had led everyone to break through Dongyuan Temple first, then turned back and stepped into the territory of Xiaotianlong Temple, breaking through three temples in a row, and then fled thousands of miles away, putting distance between him and the pursuers and gaining a safe space.

For Peng Zheng, this kind of method had only been seen in military books.

It turns out that this is how a war can be fought.

After training the soldiers for a few days on Sanyuan Mountain, he was confident that in just half a month, he would be able to make those recruited bandits into a fighting force.

Unfortunately, given the current situation, there may not be enough time to reorganize the troops.

"It's all our fault. We were too careless and let these monks target us."

"Wealth should not be revealed. We were careless."

Young Master Guo showed a look of shame on his face, looked at the densely packed enemy obstacles on the map, and spoke in a low voice.

Peng Zheng glanced at Zhang Yuan and said, "Since the monks have already come to investigate, we estimate that the main force will arrive soon."

"If we pack up now, we can leave Sanyuan Mountain before they arrive."

Just as he finished speaking, Zhang Yuan turned around and asked calmly, "Why should we leave?"

Why leave?

Zhang Yuan's words stunned both Peng Zheng and Mr. Guo.

There is a powerful enemy ahead, and it is about to arrive. If you don't leave, are you going to stay and fight like an egg against a rock?

Peng Zheng took another look at the map, shook his head, and whispered, "It's really my fault for not organizing my troops well. If those two hundred recruited soldiers had half the combat power of the Pingyun Army, I wouldn't dare to fight these monks."

"If we can defend the mountain according to its terrain, enforce discipline, and organize a military formation, it won't be difficult to resist an enemy ten times our size."

Generally speaking, with fortifications, the Qin army can deal with enemies three to five times its number.

Peng Zheng dared to say that the enemy was ten times his size, which shows his confidence.

As the son of the Earl of Xiaoyuan, he is considered to be the best among his peers in both martial arts and military leadership.

"Where are the enemies ten times stronger than us?" Zhang Yuan pointed his finger forward from the direction of the mountain stronghold, a smile on his face. "The monks from Tongyuan Temple and Xiaotianlong Temple are facing off. How many people can they possibly have?"

His hand pressed on the location of the Tongyuan Temple monk camp on the map.

Peng Zheng and Mr. Guo's eyes fell on the map.

"Second Master, what you mean is that merchants like us, although we have a lot of shops and properties, actually don't have much surplus food?" Young Master Guo said with a smile.

"Right, right!" Peng Zheng clapped his hands and exclaimed, "They are evenly matched. Even if they wanted to, they couldn't send many people."

"If there are really three to five hundred people coming, we can handle them."

Zhang Yuan placed his hand on the map and said, "We can't wait for them to attack Sanyuan Mountain."

Peng Zheng's face was confused at first, then slowly turned into horror and excitement.

"You, you mean to take the initiative and attack the camp directly?"

Zhang Yuan shook his head and tapped the map: "We'll wait here."

Young Master Guo followed Zhang Yuan's finger and saw three words on it.

Eagle Cliff.

……

Yingchou Cliff is more than thirty miles away from Sanyuan Mountain Stronghold.

This place faces the territory of Yuantong Temple, with steep terrain and towering cliffs on both sides.

On the cliff, seven or eight young men from Yuanjiao were carrying stones with sweat on their foreheads.

Not far away, several recruited soldiers in cloth robes piled up large and small stones, then sat down on the cliff and gasped for breath.

"Damn it, being a soldier and getting paid is so tiring."

"Exactly. I thought being a soldier in the Qin army was so impressive, but it turns out not only do I have to endure days of training, but I don't even have a set of armor."

"Brothers, this day—"

"Cough cough."

Several Pingyun Army soldiers walked towards the cliff.

The new recruits quickly got up.

The seven or eight young men from Yuanjiao also stopped what they were doing and turned around to look.

The Pingyun soldiers placed a handful of golden beads in front of the new army, and then put down more than ten short swords and daggers.

"Our Great Qin Army will reward those who have made contributions and punish those who have committed mistakes."

"These gold beads are a reward for setting traps. Once you win this battle and take the enemy's head, you can not only exchange it for money, but also get a promotion in military rank."

The leader Ping Yunjun said this and turned and left.

The new recruits rushed forward, snatched the gold beads, and then grabbed a short knife and put it in their arms.

"Don't say it, these Qin people are really willing to give money."

"Haha, as long as you give me money, I will work hard for you." The new recruits became excited again and started looking for stones everywhere.

The young men from Yuanjiaao showed envy on their faces.

The Pingyun Army soldier walking in front suddenly stopped, turned around, took off his sword, and threw it to the young men from Yuanjiaao.

"You are the same, exchanging military merit for reward money."

The young men who took the long swords nodded in surprise.

……

A moment later, a few bird calls were heard from a hill not far away.

Everyone quickly took cover at the edge of the cliff.

On the mountain path below the cliff, a group of armored monks, some on horseback and some dragging weapons, followed closely. The group dragged for more than a mile and moved forward in a noisy manner.

"Bam—"

When the first stone fell on the mountain, all the hidden recruits pushed the prepared stones down.

"Enemy attack——"

"Escape quickly——"

"The road is blocked—"

The monk soldiers who headed to Sanyuan Mountain never thought that there would be an ambush there.

They never imagined that a mere bandit would dare to stop them halfway.

Screams and wails came from the bottom of the cliff, making many recruits look excited.

They were bandits around Sanyuan Mountain, and no one knew how many times they had been conquered by these monk soldiers.

After all the stones were thrown away, the roaring and wailing from the bottom of the mountain slowly stopped.

A group of new recruits walked down the steep mountain path and when they reached the small path at the foot of the cliff, they saw monk soldiers lying all over the place.

Some were crushed to death, while others were only seriously injured but still had a breath left.

Such a tragic scene left many people stunned.

Some of the people who had seen less blood had already turned pale.

Those young men from Yuanjiaao were almost unable to hold on.

"What are you still standing there for?"

"You don't want military merit anymore?"

There were shouts from not far away.

Several Luyang Prefecture guards held knives in their hands, beheading and stripping armor in one go.

The knife came down with great speed.

Such a scene made the new recruits afraid to utter a word, and they rushed forward to cut off the heads and strip off the clothes and armor.

The young man leading the group in Yuanjiaao gritted his teeth, drew out his sword, walked up to a body, raised the sword, closed his eyes, and chopped it down heavily.

"Five taels."

"Five taels."

"Five taels..."

In just half an hour, more than a hundred sets of armor and various weapons were sorted out.

Many of the new recruits looked unhappy at this time.

The young man leading the Yuanjiaao group already needed help from people around him to walk.

"First level, five taels of silver. This is the rule of our Great Qin for military merit. Rewards are based on merit. Write it down first and I'll give it to you after the battle."

"Take the spoils and return to the cliff."

With loud shouts, the Luyang Prefecture's armed guards led the new recruits back up the cliff to continue searching for rocks.

"Captain Zhang, the monks of Tongyuan Temple suffered such a great loss at Yingchou Cliff, can they suffer another loss?" Looking at the soldiers moving stones, Peng Zheng frowned and spoke in a low voice.

Originally, he wanted to lead his Pingyun Army to charge and hunt down the fleeing monks.

Zhang Yuan did not agree, but instead ordered his soldiers to gather their gains and then set up another ambush on Yingchou Cliff.

"We've already set an ambush here once, why can't we set one again?"

Zhang Yuan chuckled and spoke.

Peng Zheng was stunned.

When he was in the eastern border, the Qin army had always been powerful and invincible, and had never encountered such a battle where the enemy was much larger than ours.

He felt that his mind was suddenly opened up.

When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy retreats, we harass them, and we defeat the enemy with fewer forces...

(End of this chapter)