After the defeat in the battle with the Boku, the Dayi army was forced to retreat to the city of Fire and Thunder, and temporarily closed its doors to recuperate.

Throughout the morning, Leng Qingtang sat still in the tent, uniting the generals to discuss the best strategy for the next time to resist the enemy.

"Damn, the people of Boku are really hypocritical. In order to win against us, the poisonous smoke was released, and now a group of elephants has come out, and the cards are not played according to common sense at all, how to fight this battle! ”

Guo Wei, the hussar general of the Qinghu Army, complained angrily, and as soon as his body shook, his shoulder injury immediately attacked, and his facial features were disguised.

In the previous melee with the elephants, he was shot through the left shoulder by an arrow from the enemy in order to rescue the elephant's trunk thrown off his horse and almost trampled into mud by the horse.

Wei Cao, the general of the Northwest Army, frowned deeply at the moment, his eyes stared directly at the table, and nodded in agreement:

"yes. We have led the army for many years, and we have never seen the Boku people fight like this. Other families use chariots, but they use elephants.

Those guys are ugly, stupid and even more ferocious than tigers. Just call a few casually, our war horses will tremble on all fours when they hear it, how can we not suffer defeat? ”

Leng Qingtang's eyebrows were pale, and his lowered gaze was ethereal and profound, as if he was thinking deeply about something.

Qi Mu looked at everyone, and his face was slightly condensed:

"The sons and daughters have no fighting, and the army has suffered defeat, so I can't compensate you."

The Tujia people are simple-minded and simple-minded, and when they have any questions, they first think of reviewing themselves.

Leng Qingtang looked up and saw her head wrapped around the wounded belt, the corners of his lips were slightly hooked, and he said bluntly:

"You don't want to blame Mrs. Yi for this matter at all, you don't need to blame yourself. Since the enemy army is ingenious, we must also find another way.

The Governor believed that if the elephant herd could be used as a weapon on the battlefield, it would be like a unicorn smoke with a way to crack it. Now that our army has not grasped the essentials, there is no need to be anxious. ”

General Yanyi Xue Feng scratched his stubble chin, and turned his soliciting gaze to Leng Qingtang:

"Now that the army is retreating to Fire Thunder City, can you ask the people in the city? They have grown up in Bobei for generations, and they may know something. ”

Leng Qingtang slowly narrowed his eyes:

"The Governor has just sent soldiers out of the camp to look for someone who knows, and I believe that the clues will be received soon, and the time will be more urgent. At dawn, I received the news that the team of the ring had successfully laid an ambush in the dangerous valley of the Moro Mountains, Mrs. Yi, your son is really good! ”

He looked excited, his mouth was ajar, he took a deep breath, and finally got a trace of peace in his heart.

She saw Leng Qingtang on the other side calmly stretching his eyebrows and chuckling, looking at everyone present with shining eyes, and said:

"In this way, our side must hurry up, if we take a slow step, it will be difficult to cooperate with Lady Yaoguang's actions in Qingche City, which will make the whole big plan fail.

Before you find the people who know about it, you should first recover from your injuries, and at this time, you must not easily shake the morale of the army no matter what. ”

……

When it was dark, a small soldier led a lookout into the barracks, and Bingming Leng Qingtang said that this person took the initiative to come to the barracks and could provide useful clues to break through the elephant herd.

The comer is over the age of six, and his movements are slow, but his mental outlook should be strong. Tremblingly putting down the basket, he slowly bent down to salute the generals on the seat.

Leng Qingtang remembered that he was old, waved his hand and said:

"Don't be polite, give the old man a seat."

The old man grinned gratefully, and the wrinkles on his face that were stacked like dry bark suddenly stretched a lot.

Sitting down in a regular manner, the old man spoke incoherent Chinese, and saw that everyone at the table listened to the eyebrows and eyes tangled, and their expressions became a little anxious, and then they spoke with a gesture to the local dialect that the army could not understand.

Qi Mucha stood up, his eyebrows stirred and his face was delighted:

"This old man can only understand Chinese, but he doesn't speak much. I understand the Wa dialect, and I am here to be a consultant. ”

In this way, after the old man finished speaking, he began to translate a paragraph:

"I'm Dassault, and my family and I live in the east of Fire Thunder City. As early as the time when the Celestial Empire had not yet collected the four cities of Bobei and incorporated them into its territory, my grandfather was recruited by the Boku Army to be an elephant herd, responsible for raising and dispersing elephants.

According to my grandfather, most of the elephants in Boku were brown elephants, domesticated from wild elephants and could be driven by the army at will. In Boku, the white elephant species is the most scarce, and it is a noble royal beast.

In the army of Boku, the brown elephant herd is a team of twenty, and there are special trainers who control it through vocal music. The primitive nature of the brown elephant dictates that when they are stimulated and go berserk, they can destroy an army of a thousand people in an instant.

Don't look at their burly bodies, they are not without natural predators. The thing that can make elephants feel afraid is the most inconspicuous little ant in ordinary homes. ”

When Mu Cha finished translating this local language, the hussar general Wei Cao slapped his thigh angrily:

"Good boy, this is pure. The elephant is as strong as a mountain, and an ant falls on it like a louse, how can it pose a threat to it? ”

The old man instantly understood Wei Cao's words, and opened his mouth to laugh, revealing a mouth full of yellow teeth that were almost gone.

Next, he asked Migi to translate his words:

"Although the elephant is large, the most vulnerable part is its brain. Ants, even if just one gets into an elephant's brain from its long trunk, can destroy its central nervous system, causing the elephant to be paralyzed or die instantly.

Therefore, when an elephant uses its trunk to curl up on leaves, if it sees ants crawling on the trunk, it will immediately turn around and run away. ”

The old man's words were like timely rain in the dry season, which made everyone present suddenly open.

Leng Qingtang's eyes were overjoyed, and he immediately sent someone to take a few silver ingots to the old man.

The old man had never really seen the heavy silver ingots, and he was stunned for a moment at them, and knelt on the ground with a "poof".

He repeatedly recited words that the Han people could not understand, which were roughly translated into words of gratitude such as "the Bodhisattva descends to earth" and "God blesses".

When Mrs. Yi put him back in his chair, he went on to say something that would win the victory over the Poboku elephant herd:

Like a mountain.

This is a highly poisonous herb that grows on the cliffs in the southwest of Yunnan, and one plant is medicinal enough to poison an elephant.

Old man Dassault once heard his grandfather mention that the Boku tamers had failed to tam the elephants at that time, and they treated the wild and unruly brown elephants by throwing them far away with spears quenched with "mountain-like" grass juice. When the spearhead pierces the elephant's skin, within a moment, the elephant will fall to the ground and die.

The sound of the wood fell, Leng Qingtang's complexion was peaceful, and a faint light broke out from the bottom of his narrow eyes.

Turning his eyes to look at the bamboo basket at the old man's feet, Leng Qingtang was curious:

"Dare to ask the old man, what are you doing picking this basket of tender grass?"

The old man replied, and Umcha immediately translated:

"Go home and feed the cows, which love this sweet grass the most."

Leng Qingtang frowned suspiciously:

"In Fire Thunder City, are there many people raising cattle?"

The old man nodded, and said a few more words to Mimucha, who said to Leng Qingtang after listening:

"The old man said that each family here has at least two oxen."

Leng Qingtang pursed his lips and thought of something, got up and approached at one moment, and hugged his fist at the old man:

"Thank you for your advice, and the Governor will send you home. In the future, if there is any uncertainty, we will ask for advice. ”

A small soldier was called to carry the basket for the old man and sent the people out of the barracks, and Leng Qingtang continued to discuss with everyone.

Ask:

"The Overseer has a good idea?"

Leng Qingtang smiled lightly, his eyes swaying:

"At present, in order to seize the time, we can recruit local residents to pick 'like a mountain', and then clarify the price at two catties, and those who pick more will get more rewards. Collect the poisonous weeds, and let's also learn from the Boku tamers to quench the poison on spears and spears. When Mrs. Yaoguang has news in the city of light cars, our army can directly take Xuede, and then gather the ants in front of our army under the city, and the soldiers will stand on the chariots with spears.

Once the elephant herd fights with our army, the soldiers will shoot the elephants with spears, and another cart of people will specialize in tamers, so the Boku elephant array can be broken! ”

Wei Cao scratched his sweat-soaked scalp, his face puzzled:

"How easy is it to get the ants to listen to us and gather in one place?"

Leng Qingtang was confident, and at this moment, he had already thought of the incident of ants gathering words in the palace, and his jaw raised a beautiful arc, and he said in a loud voice:

"When the time comes, turn some caramel and sprinkle it in front of the battle."

Wei Cao was stunned for a moment, then slapped his hand on the door of his head and shouted:

"Wonderful!"

"Good!"

"The Overseer is a profound decision-maker."

Several generals applauded.

Xue Fengxing Chong Chong said:

"I immediately ordered my men to go down and ask my men to go door to door to collect people who can climb cliffs and collect medicine."

Yumucha Yueran agreed:

"I also led people to go, and the soldiers knew the language of looking at people, so it was easy to communicate with them. In addition, the guide only needs to inform the characteristics of the 'mountain', and the children can also help pick some back. ”

Guo Wei smiled:

"The overseer is wise, and our army will use this period to prepare for war on the one hand, and wait for news from Lady Yaoguang on the other. This time, we must take the last two cities in one go and defeat Boku completely! ”

Liu Wenlong, the general banner of Jinyi Wei, hugged his fist to Leng Qingtang:

"As long as the elephant array is broken, the army of the Celestial Empire can directly rush into Xuede City, and Jinyiwei is willing to be the vanguard to open a bloody road for the army."

Leng Qingtang shook his head with a smile:

"There is no need for manpower, and this time the Governor will govern others in the way of others. The enemy army has elephants, and Bendok has oxen. ”

PS:

Anguo: Annam, present-day Vietnam. Boku: present-day Burma. Tianjin: Tianjin. Qiongyang: Present-day Nanhai. Wanli Stone Pond: present-day Dongsha Islands. Consultant: Translation.