Liu Mang didn't need to lecture them, nor did he need to boost the morale of the City Guard. Those who could enter the City Guard were not cowards. Since the formation of the City Guard, many batches of people had changed. Very few retired. In this era, retiring was not popular. None of them were captured. All of them died in battle. Some were so seriously injured that they chose to commit suicide in order not to drag their teammates down.
"Brothers, let's go!" Liu Mang waved his hand. Everyone brought three days' worth of rations and set off.
Outside of Guangzhou City was an endless plain. Liu Mang and his army hid all the ballistae within the army. They didn't want to be discovered by others. They even covered the ballistae with some white cloth to hide their tracks.
After walking for a while, Liu Mang saw a hill slope. This hill was not big at all, but it could hide 50 ballistae. Moreover, from the top of the hill, one could see the other parts of the plain at a glance. It was a good place to set up an ambush.
"Ziyang, let's set up an ambush here!" Liu Mang was very satisfied with this hill. To be able to find such a small hill at the border of Yuzhou and Yangzhou was really not easy. This showed that Liu Mang's luck was not bad.
Liu Mang thought that Liu Ye would agree to his choice of location. However, Liu Ye shook his head and stopped him. "My lord, we can't set up an ambush here!"
"Isn't this place good?" Liu Mang felt that it was strange. To be able to find this hill in such a plain, they were really lucky.
"It's not that it's not good. If it's just an ambush, of course it's good. However, you have to know that we are here to be bait. If you put it on top of the hill, who do you think will eat the bait?" Liu Ye explained to Liu Mang. This was a hill that could be used for an ambush. It would be difficult to find a better hill than this one. However, do not forget that if you can see it, how could the enemy not be able to see it?! When the Xiliang Cavalry arrived at the border of Yuzhou and Yangzhou, they did not immediately escort the provisions. Instead, they came to Guangzhou to show off their strength. From this action, Liu Ye knew that the commander was not a brainless trash. He was someone who knew the art of war. He knew when to show off his strength and when to retract his edge. For example, when he came to Guangzhou, he did not shout or send a letter. Instead, he marched outside Guangzhou. This was to tell Liu Mang not to act rashly. They were invited by Liu Bei to escort the provisions and were not Liu Bei's army. They would not go head to head with you and would not excessively provoke Liu Mang's main forces in Guangzhou. However, if you don't want to give face, then don't blame the Xiliang Cavalry.
Such a general, how could you say that he was a simple person? This was a good place for an ambush. Once he saw through it, he would be suspicious! For the sake of safety, he might not even take the bait. He might even strengthen his defenses and cause more damage in the ambush.
"Then where should we go to ambush?" Liu Mang did not know as much as Liu Mang. Naturally, he did not understand. Naturally, he would let Liu Mang do the work. He knew that the top strategists of this era were not simple people.
"My lord, look, there!" Liu Mang and Liu Ye climbed up the hill together. They looked into the distance. Liu Ye pointed to a plain and said to Liu Mang, "That's the place. That's where we will succeed or fail this time!"
"There? How is that possible? " Liu Mang looked at the place Liu Ye was pointing at and immediately felt that it was impossible. The place Liu Ye was pointing at was not some random place. It was a place with the widest field of vision and no danger to defend. If the army was to set up a defense there, then even if they could stand in formation, their strength would not be comparable to the Xiliang Cavalry. This was because the wider the field, the greater the impact of the Xiliang Cavalry's heavy cavalry. Moreover, that place was right next to a small hill. If Liu Mang was the main general of the Xiliang Cavalry, he would definitely use the slope of the hill to maximize the horse's impact. This way, the Xiliang Cavalry's fighting strength would increase exponentially.
This was not the key point. The key point was that there was a place where one could see everything from the top of the hill. How could one set up an ambush in such a place? Where would the fifty ballistae be placed? If they were stationed below, then their every move would be under the watchful eyes of the people on the hill. How would they be able to ambush them? How would they be able to catch the Xiliang Cavalry off guard? Not to mention 50 ballistae, even if there were 50 people there, it would be very conspicuous.
"Hehe, Milord, we can't plant 50 ballistae on the ground, but why must we plant the ballistae on the ground?" Liu Mang's rhetorical question really made Liu Mang confused. If the ballistae were not set up on the ground, could it be placed in the sky and sent underground? Underground? Liu Mang's eyes suddenly lit up. He quickly asked Liu Ye, "Ziyang, what do you mean?"
When Liu Ye saw Liu Mang's urgency, he naturally knew that his Lord had already guessed the mystery. "That's right. We don't have to place the ballistae on the ground. There is nowhere to hide them. If we place the 50 ballistae there, it will be a clear message to the enemy that we are ambushing them. The Xiliang Cavalry will be able to see it at a glance. But once the ballistae are placed on the ground, it will be different! Of course, it wasn't as simple as digging a hole to put all 50 ballistae in. They needed to dig a good foundation and a slope to push the ballistae out. The turf on the plains couldn't be thrown away as it could be used as a perfect camouflage. In this way, even from the top of the hill, one wouldn't be able to see the ambush. Once the Xiliang Cavalry used the medicinal bait, they could directly lift the turf from the ground and push the 50 ballistae to the ground. This way, the ambush would be perfect and the Xiliang Cavalry would be caught off guard.
Think about it! " From the top of the hill, they could see the camp below. Therefore, they could see the soldiers and horses at a glance. Since they could not ambush from the surroundings, they would naturally have a card up their sleeve. Once they let their guard down, it would be the end of the Xiliang Cavalry.
"Haha, good. Let's do it!" Liu Mang was very straightforward. He did whatever Liu Ye said. The 2,500 soldiers started to work. Although they did not have professional digging tools, they had war swords. Some even found a piece of wood and used it to dig the ground.
This was the border between Yangzhou and Yuzhou. There was a lot of rain here. Therefore, the ground was wet and easier to dig. The only problem was that they needed wood to stabilize it. Otherwise, the newly dug tunnel would be filled with mud. The 2,500 soldiers worked very quickly. In less than half a day, they had already dug out a rough outline.
"Like this, like this. You only need to place 10 ballistae in the middle. As for the remaining 40, place 20 ballistae on each side!" Liu Mang said to the soldiers digging the hole. While he was directing the soldiers, Liu Mang was not idling around.
"Milord, why not place the ballistae in the middle?" Liu Ye's plan was to hide the ballistae underground. The ballistae needed to be gathered in a large area in order to display their true strength. Therefore, Liu Ye's plan was to place the 50 ballistae together. This way, the 50 ballistae would form a group. This was not only a display of fighting strength, but also a form of deterrence. Now that the ballistae were separated, their deterrence would be greatly reduced. Moreover, Liu Ye did not think that their fighting strength would be stronger if they were separated.
"Haha, Ziyang, I am not as good as you when it comes to planning and strategizing. However, your Lord has some unorthodox methods that you do not understand!" Liu Mang said to Liu Ye with a smile. He could not explain to Liu Ye what crossfire was and what firepower blockade. Although 50 ballistae together would be a deterrent, their fighting strength would be greatly reduced. This was because such an attack would be depressing. One enemy might be pierced by two giant bolts and it might even be a waste of giant bolts for a dead person. The ballistae that Liu Mang brought with him were not many and it was impossible for each person to be hit by a giant bolt. The opposing side had a total of 8,000 soldiers. Placing 10 ballistae in the middle would ensure that the middle would not be broken through by the heavy cavalry. It would also introduce pressure to the City Guard blocking the front. As for the 40 ballistae on both sides, they would be the true gods of death. Not only would the crossfire cover a wide area, it would also cause little damage. This way, no matter where the Xiliang Cavalry attacked from, the ballistae would be able to block them.
"Oh? Is that so?! " Liu Ye still did not understand. Fortunately, Liu Mang continued, "Hao Shao, Hao Botong, relied on this arrangement in Guangzhou to kill thousands of Liu Bei's troops!" Hao Shao's journey to Guangzhou was indeed praised by Liu Mang. Liu Ye had even privately told Liu Mang that such a person was a talent and that they should pay more attention to Hao Shao. Hao Shao only had 2,000 soldiers under his command. He relied on a small town that did not have any danger to defend and forcefully stopped Liu Bei's 20,000 soldiers, killing nearly 5,000 of them. Such a battle record, no matter which army it was placed in, would be glorious. Liu Mang himself did not even have 1,000 casualties. Who wouldn't like such a 1: 5 ratio?
"Yes, this is the best!" Liu Ye did not ask Liu Mang to prove anything to him because Liu Mang had many things that he had never heard of before.
"Alright, now that the arrangements are done, the next step is to let the cat, the Xiliang Cavalry, smell the fishy smell!" Liu Mang even came to the top of the hill to test and see if the ambush camp was really well hidden. Liu Mang was only able to see through the binoculars in his hand. After all, the new soil was dug up and there were some differences between the old soil and the surrounding soil. Don't forget that Liu Mang subconsciously knew that there was an ambush here. If the Xiliang Cavalry did not have binoculars and did not know that there was an ambush here, what would the result be like?!
"Don't worry! My Lord, Liu Ye has already done everything! " Liu Ye nodded to Liu Mang and said. When Liu Mang was busy digging and leading his troops out of Guangzhou, Liu Mang had already released the scouts and the fishy smell of bait. Now, all that was left was to wait for the Xiliang Cavalry to take the bait!
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