The topography of Zhangtai is complex, the overall topography is inclined from west to east, the west pillows Fujian Zhongshan, separated from Wulingyi, the terrain of Fujian Zhongshan is high and steep, the highest peak can reach 300 zhang, this west to east, from the middle mountain and the low mountain, and the high hill, and the low hill, and the platform plain, until the coast, the terrain is descending in layers, but there are several steep peaks uplift in the near sea.

The north and south ends of Zhangtai are more than 240 miles apart, but the coastline is long and tortuous, which cannot be measured, and the predecessors estimated that it is more than 1,000 miles away.

Xu Ruyu stood on the top of the mountain, looking north absentmindedly.

Compared with the sea surface of Jinghai County, the sea is clear here, and the uplifted and green mountains in the north pierce into the sea, and the coast south of the mountain is concave inward, forming a huge bay.

The sparkling water reflected in the light, and a low hill covered half of a large stream, but looking at the turbulent water flowing at the mouth of the sea, a huge arc-shaped watershed broke out, and the blue and green were divided into two parts.

In the distance, several dark gray islands float on the blue sea.

Xu Ruyu recalled the topography of Zhangtai described in the "Geographical Chronicles of Southern Fujian", and compared with the topography here, he could not think of where this hill less than 100 zhang high was located in Zhangtai. The "Geographical Chronicles of Southern Fujian" records that the Qishan Mountain in the south of Zhangtai near the sea is as high as 230 zhang, but it is not in sight. The high hill to the north seemed to be about that height.

More than 20 people were turning the foot of the mountain, and a dozen or so led by Zheng Cangsheng converged together, not far from the three Puji pirate boats carrying more than 100 pirates were approaching the shore, the gray sails fell halfway, and each sea boat had more than a dozen shirtless sailors jumped into the icy water, took the rope thrown from the boat, and pulled the boat to the soft sand with a knotted back.

The three sea ships seemed to come from a large island in the northeast, and Xu Ruyu was secretly frightened: The Puji pirates had established a stronghold on the island near the coast? Zongzheng Xunda actually connived at the bandits so much?

Looking sideways at the young man wrapped in a turban, seeing that his red thin little face was tense, and his eyes looked down the mountain without blinking, Xu Ruyu gently patted him on the shoulder, pointed to the river bay that was half hidden by the low hills, and asked, "Why don't the bandits go up from that river bay?" ”

Zheng Cangzi looked up at the young man who suddenly appeared on the coast, frowned slightly, lowered his eyes and looked down the mountain, and said: "There is a sharp turn in the upper part of Dazhang River, and there is a cliff in the inner corner, these bandits are very familiar with the terrain in this area, how dare the three ships cross that sharp turn?" ”

Xu Ruyu saw that he looked serious, and he didn't smile slightly, how could he care about the disdainful tone in his mouth.

But it was the middle-aged man next to him who swept away his eyes, and there was suspicion in his eyes. Seeing that his face was purple red by the sea breeze was covered with dense wrinkles, and his two thick eyebrows were cut open from the eyebrow bone of his left eye to the corner of his eye due to a scar that was pulled down diagonally, and it looked like three eyebrows. Xu Ruyu thought about it again, but he had never heard anyone mention this person, seeing that his arms were knotted and full of blasting power, and his cultivation should reach the fourth grade.

Baiyi occupies Wuling Mountain, Puji bandits blockade the sea area, Southern Fujian and the hinterland of the Central Plains rarely collude, and what characters in Southern Fujian rarely convey to the ears of the mainlanders.

Xu Ruyu also arranged for manpower to infiltrate into southern Fujian after the Battle of Fuzhou ended, but the Zhangtai area was the most difficult to penetrate, a fourth-grade good player, only equivalent to the left lieutenant and battalion captain level masters in the army, not known to Xu Ruyu, nor strange.

As soon as the boats landed on the beach, the pirates jumped down one after another, formed three horizontal formations on the sand, and advanced to the shore.

There was a huge gap in the seawall, and ten people stood on the broken embankment with bows and arrows, and looked down at the bandits moving into the gap, while the remaining twenty or so formed a formation on the front of the gap.

Xu Ruyu was secretly surprised that Zhai Ding had put on such a strong formation, although Zhai Ding occupied a favorable terrain, it didn't take too much time for the bandits to break through the gap.

Xu Ruyu had long seen that in that group of villagers, except for the young man who was talking to him just now, there were no other good players in the ranks, if the archers on the broken embankment did not have surprising archery skills, it was impossible to win more with less.

At this time, more than 50 sailors from the three sea boats also gathered and pressed towards the broken embankment where the archers were, and thought of forcibly climbing the broken embankment.

Xu Ruyu raised his eyebrows and said secretly: It's not appropriate. was about to exert his strength to run down, but he saw nearly 30 villagers in front of the gap slowly retreating, and the archers on the broken embankment shot arrow feathers indiscriminately at the pirate sailors who were approaching, so they went down the broken embankment one after another and retreated to the mountains on Xu Ruyu's side.

Xu Ruyu smiled slightly, thinking: Empty city plan.

When the archers entered the dense forest at the foot of the mountain, Zheng Cangsheng also quickly retreated with the remaining thirty villagers, walked halfway up the mountain, but followed another path to the back mountain.

Fifty sailors climbed the broken embankment and formed a formation to guard there, and more than 100 pirate warriors looked for the trail of the archers up the mountain and cautiously marched up the mountain.

Xu Ruyu withdrew his gaze and said to the two people beside him: "Let the thirty people who retreated to the back mountain go around to the seaside." Then he pointed to the pirates who were climbing towards the mountainside, and said, "When they have crossed this pass and let more than a dozen archers appear here, they will be able to divert the pirates who are guarding the embankment." Lure away the pirates on the embankment, take the three pirates, and let the bandits swim back to the stronghold. ”

Zheng Cangzi raised his head and asked, "Who wants you to talk more?" ”

Mo Nian thought for a moment and asked hesitantly, "You can see that we are doing a plan to delay the army in the empty city. ”

Xu Ruyu said: "If there are other reinforcements, seize the sea boats, and catch these bandits." ”

Mo Nian said: "If you divide your troops to capture the sea boat, if the pirates want to storm here, the defensive force will be insufficient. ”

Xu Ru smiled foolishly: "I'm afraid there are no other troops." ”

Zheng Cangzi was surprised: "How did you guess? But seeing that Uncle Mo Nian's eyes were full of reproach, he was able to save the person in front of him.

"Why do I need to lie to you? What you did just now was to make the pirates more cautious, but you set up suspicious soldiers to scare the pirates away. If you have a hundred warriors to defend this mountain pass, if the bandits are looking for a path up the mountain, it is much safer to take them by surprise than to take them by air. ”

Mo Nian made the person in front of him speechless, muttered for a while, and said: "As expected, there are only forty-three unsuitable warriors in the col. It's just that if you follow your arrangement, the bandits will not be fooled, and there will be no defensive strength in the col. ”

Xu Ru smiled foolishly: "I traveled to many places with my ancestor when I was a child, and I have heard that the bandits on Puji Island are not so easy to deceive. The implication is that this empty city plan is too coarse. Mo Nian's face turned slightly red, and he listened to the young man in front of him continue: "If the pirates are allowed to see through the empty city plan, it is not optimistic to rely on only the forty soldiers just now and the three or four hundred unarmed villagers who are mostly unarmed women and children to resist the pirates. ”

Xu Ruyu said this, paused for a moment, saw his face hesitant, and then said: "If you can capture those three ships, you can really deepen the doubts in his sea bandits' hearts, and if they lose their ground, they are very likely to retreat along the coast, or bypass here and flow inland to seek supplies." ”

Seeing that he was so sure, Mo Nian asked, "If the pirates break through the cauldron and attack the mountain pass, and the common people are beyond their reach, the villagers will have no chance to escape." ”

"The pirates came ashore to rob property, not to find villagers near the sea to fight offshore. We merchants attach the most importance to our own net worth and surname, and we are not 100% sure how to say it, if you don't believe it, I will stand with you on the grain field in the col behind, and never run away before the villagers. ”

"But the little brother is not like those fat-headed and red-faced businessmen."

Xu Ruyu said this to him, his face turned slightly red, and he said: "The kid's surname is Xu, and he is here to find the Zheng family." ”

Zheng Cangzi asked excitedly, "Sent from Wuling Mountain?" You're looking for the Zheng family's ancestry, right? In the whole village, most of the people are surnamed Zheng, my name is Zheng Cangzi, just now that is my brother, called Zheng Cangsheng, who entered the side line of the sect the year before last, but Uncle Mo Nian is a foreign surname, but he is the boxer of the Zheng family, and this time he came to help us guard the village. ”

Xu Ruyu nodded and said, "It's great to meet Master Mo." ”

Mo Nian smiled lightly and said, "If your plan is feasible, find a captive at random, and I can take you to Jian'an Fort." He turned his head to Zheng Cangzi and said, "You go to find your brother, let him lead people to the beach, and when the pirates on the embankment are led into the mountains, they will start to grab the boat." ”

Xu Ruyu suddenly realized that he was a lame secret in his eyes, and secretly smiled bitterly, seeing that the more than ten archers who had withdrawn first had climbed up.

Mo Nian said to a young man in the lead: "Zheng Yong, you lead people to hide near the left, and when the pirates who catch up cross the mountain pass, you will lead the people to appear and make the appearance of blocking the mountain pass, you must attract the attention of the sea wall bandits, but don't go too far." Why didn't you shoot your usual accuracy when you shot arrows just now? ”

Zheng Yong's stature was a little shorter, which made Mo Nian's face flush when he said the last sentence, and he said angrily: "Got it, Master." ”

Seeing more than a dozen archers hiding in the dense forest, Mo Nian covered up the obvious traces left behind after they left, shook his head and said, "I heard that the martial arts hall set up on the side of Wuling Mountain allows civilian children to enter? ”

Xu Ruyu nodded and said, "There is indeed no distinction between commoners and families among the children of Qingjiang, as long as they get the approval of the Yanwutang to practice, they can enter the Yanwutang to practice. ”

Yanwutang has cultivated a group of outstanding middle and low-level generals, which makes Xu Ruyu very satisfied. The combat strength of the army and the guarantee that it will not be defeated in the inferior situation mainly depends on the quality of middle and low-level generals.

When Xu Ruyu left Yongyang, although he did not formally establish the Yanwutang in Yongyang, he set up a temporary institution similar to the Yanwutang in the five schools and armies, and transferred three teachers such as Ao Fang to train middle and low-level generals together with Xiao Wuye, Mei Liting and others.

Xu Ruyu saw that among the people, only Zheng Cangsheng knew a little about military affairs and led the troops in an orderly manner, while Zheng Yong and the others were obviously apprentices after Mo Nian came here.

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