The fog begins to dissipate from the mountains in the early morning, and soon the anomaly on the South Mountain will be spotted on the opposite side.

Li Dan, accompanied by Wu Mao, inspected the defense, and took advantage of this to understand the terrain of the entire Nanshan Mountain.

Then he transferred back Zhao Jingzi and Master Ba, and then invited Sheng Huai'en, set up a military tent on the flat ground halfway up the mountainside, and set up a shed in front of him, where the five of them discussed how to distribute defense and adjust the arrangement.

Originally, there was a plan, but after all, no one had surveyed the field in such detail, so after coming up and taking a look, I realized that some places needed to be adjusted.

To say that the terrain of this Nanshan is still good, there are three ways to go up and down the mountain:

Come out of Fengling Town and walk to the Mayan River, turn south into the mountain is the stone pedal trail in the east.

It is narrow and difficult to walk, and it is not easily spotted by those below.

The whole road zigzags through the crevices of the cliff wall, not only narrow, but also steep in places, and there are no trees on both sides to block it, and it is always monitored by the guard posts above.

As long as three or five crossbowmen are arranged, the men attacking from below will have to pay heavy casualties before they have a chance to succeed.

The northwest entrance comes from the official road in front of Fengqi Pass, crosses a wooden bridge, and there is a rare open land in front of you.

This is already at the foot of the mountain, and you can choose to go north (to Laifeng Pavilion) or south.

The entrance to the south (that is, the road that Li Dan and others walked last night, and now it has been given a new name to Desheng Road) runs through the entire salient and intersects with Xishan Road (the road from Nanqiu) and Laifengge Road (the road from Beiqiu).

The salient of Nanshan is composed of three mounds, one large and one small. The north mound is the smallest and lowest, with a wall height of only one zhang;

The second highest in the south hill is about one zhang and two feet;

Dongqiu is the largest - the mountain bag they are discussing now, so Li Dan named it "Da Dongqiu". The edge is one zhang three feet at the bottom, and one zhang and nine feet at the high place.

The entire Nanshan salient is a situation of high in the east and low in the west.

The protrusion is further east, that is, from the mirror stone, you can go to the top of the highest cloud peak, which is where the Fengge Pavilion is located. Not only can you overlook the surrounding area from here, but if you put two observation posts on the cliff wall in the northeast corner, you can even monitor the movement of Fengling Town.

Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to evaluate it as a commanding height.

After coming last night, Gu Da led the team to occupy the west entrance, and then began to build a fence (the first fence), and Yang Yi built another (second fence) behind him;

The fire guns occupied the North Hill and mainly controlled the Laifeng Road (the northern line), while the archers occupied the South Hill and controlled the Xishan Road (the southern line). Zhang's team is still guarding the stone pedal path on the top of Cloud Peak.

Looking at the diagram drawn on the white cloth, several people felt that the troops were a little scattered. "Lord Shan, how about handing over the peak of Yunfeng and the stone pedal path to the east to the officers and soldiers?"

"Okay!" Sheng Huaien nodded heavily: "It should be enough to let three hundred people go up, if you can't hold it, it's shameful!" Actually, I think the trail is very dangerous, and 200 people are enough. ”

"That's it," Li Dan turned around and called the herald: "Order Zhang Cymbals to go down the mountain immediately after the handover and stand by in Dadongqiu!" Song Jiuyi's team reinforced Yang Yi to defend the second fence together, and the archers team stepped forward to support the Gu team. ”

After speaking, he turned his face and asked Master Ba: "How is the defense of the rear camp at the north junction?" ”

"The fence and fence on the north side have been erected, and the part of the north intersection that is given priority will actually take some time." Master Ba replied, look at Li Dan:

"Defense, but want to use them? If you use it, you might as well stick to it on the spot. The fence they built themselves is more familiar and attentive to their own use. ”

"That's it, let the rear camp leave a team to stick to the north intersection on the spot, and at the same time further improve the camp gate!" Li Dan nodded.

At this time, a herald from Ma Jiu's side came to report: "Defense, the ninth master asked me to report to you: The left battalion is erecting a fence on the west mountain, and the vigilant brothers have found what looks like an enemy sentry peeping.

Jiu Ye said that it was possible that the enemy army was about to attack, and the barracks had to be built as soon as possible, and he and Xiao Yingzheng were discussing the need for more manpower.

Q: More than 100 captives have arrived, can you call these 100 people to chop bamboo, carry them, and so on? ”

"Yes!" Li Dan immediately agreed. After screening before the departure last night, he and Sheng had executed a total of 120 people on both sides, and there were more than 800 prisoners left.

Three hundred people from each team were selected from among them, and the rest were transferred from the right battalion one after another. Ma Jiu asked for the first group of people.

The terrain of Xishan is not as steep as Nanshan, and all the goods and baggage will be stored, so Li Dan agreed to this request without hesitation, and said:

"The rest of the captives were also given to the left battalion for use, and the shed that sheltered the carriages and horses must be covered as soon as possible.

Tell Xiao Yingzheng that it will rain on this gloomy day, and tell him to be careful! There is also someone to tell the right battalion to prevent rain and speed up the transfer! ”

"All the captives are left behind in Xishan? So ...... we here? Wu Mao asked remindedly.

Just now, everyone pointed out that the Nanshan camp fence was divided into several sections and was not encircled, and it was not very solid to build it in a hurry temporarily, so it was still necessary to take time to organize manpower to reinforce it.

He didn't want the captives to be used by Xishan, so he asked this.

"It doesn't matter, just wait for the migrant workers to arrive. Nanshan is bigger, and it won't help if three or five hundred people are transferred, so you have to prevent them from cooperating with the outside and the outside, so why bother? ”

Wu Mao was right to think about it, after all, the enemy would definitely give priority to attacking Nanshan after discovering it, and if Nanshan dragged on for a long time, Xishan would have more room to build the camp stronger.

"Where did you just go? In the rear battalion, one team was left at the northern junction, and the rest moved forward to take over the defense of Nanqiu from the archers.

In the part left behind at the foot of the mountain, two shes continued to guard Banqiao, and the remaining four shes came up to be the reserve of the Chinese army! ”

"San Lang is worried that the enemy army under the pass will attack Nanshan?" Sheng always asked.

"They won't pull out the camp obediently," Li Dan nodded: "Once we find that there are officers and soldiers behind us, they will definitely try to repel us first, and if not, then pull out the camp." ”

"So," Sheng Huaien held the hilt of his knife and looked at the enemy camp below the mountain and the gate on the opposite side:

"Last night, I saw the three bonfires lit in the opposite village, and it seems that the people led by Lin Baihu have gone up smoothly. There are these hundreds of people on the other side, but they can be safed for the time being.

The brothers who went to Fengling Town to investigate have not returned, and the enemy situation is still unknown. But they couldn't have known we were coming so quickly, so there wasn't so much danger on the stone stairway.

I will allocate another 100 people to come over to press the formation for backup, with 600 people from the militia group plus 300 officers and soldiers, and the advantage of the terrain, we should be able to keep Nanshan safe! ”

"With adults and three hundred officers and soldiers in charge, we are even more courageous!"

As soon as Li Dan's words fell, he heard a horn sounding in the enemy camp opposite. The two looked at each other and said, "It's coming!" ”

"Then my lord, I'll go to the front to command, and ask the adults to press the formation in the back." After Li Dan finished speaking, he took Master Ba and Wu Mao, followed by Song Xiaoniu, Hei Mu, Zhao Jing, and Su Bitou's and Han Si's two personal guards.

Sanqian Feng San also followed behind Mao Zai. He had no position, nor had he been assigned anything to do, so he had to be with Mao Zaidi.

They descended the East Hill and walked all the way along the riverbed between the South Hill and the North Hill, and when the regiments and regiments who were adjusting their battle positions saw them coming, they all pulled aside to give way.

Turning a small bend in front, the cliffs on both sides are suddenly gone, and the vision suddenly opens up, from here to the side of the Mayan River is a flat gentle slope.

Wu Mao paid attention to it, and could see the head gate erected by Gu Da and others near the river, in fact, the two ends did not have time to be sealed, and there were still three or four zhang away from the bushes at the left end, and there were still a few zhang away from the cliff at the right end.

Gu Da's squad stood in a column of twelve five-people and blocked the position directly opposite the bridgehead.

In contrast, the second fence is better, with the left and right sides connected to the cliffs, but the center is left empty, and the front and rear rows of horses are blocked.

On the inside of this fence stood Yang Yi's squad, also twelve small columns, each team of five people.

"Let's go there." Suddenly, someone shouted, Wu Mao retracted his gaze, and saw that Li Dan was walking up the high slope on the right hand of the second gate, and he hurriedly followed.

Stand still on a high slope, and the guards stand below to form a protective wall.

At this time, I heard someone shouting: "Song Jiuyi came to report, the whole team was transferred to the second gate according to the commander's instructions, and has now arrived at the designated position, please instruct!" ”

"Line up the whole team, guard the left side of the second gate, and enter the column." Li Dan's eyes were still looking at the queue of bandits lining up at the bridgehead, and he replied with his mouth.

Song Jiuyi answered loudly and ran to the left flank. "What are they doing?" Li Dan asked, pointing to the other side.

Everyone looked over from afar, and saw that each other was huddled together in a mess, and several leaders were gathering together, pointing with their fingers from time to time.

"Looking down, they disagree on what they're discussing." Master Ba said.

As he was talking, there was a loud sound, and he saw the archers rushing out, passing through the rejection horses and standing in two rows behind the queue of Gu Xiaoxiao's queue a little to the right.

Huang Qin shouted through the second barrier: "Report to the chief, the archery team has arrived at the adjustment position, please instruct!" ”

"Cross the Nine Peaks, if the thief brigade crosses the river, shoot them, especially the leader!"

"Yes!" After Huang Qin finished speaking, he put his horizontal fist in front of his left chest, bowed slightly, turned around and ran back to his queue.

At this time, Song Xiaoniu suddenly leaned over and called softly: "Defense." Then he pointed behind him.

Li Dan looked back and saw Liu Hongsheng's round face behind the Beiqiu fence, and smiled embarrassedly when he saw him.

"Huh? What is this for, hell around? "He's a little confused.

"Uh, Liu Er asked, do you want them to come down too?" Xiao Niu answered for Liu Hongsheng.

"Let him not trespass, and designate a platoon to stay behind. Even if there is an order to go down the mountain, this platoon cannot move, it must provide fire for the second fence, and if the enemy rushes to the north, it must watch the Fengge Road! ”

Li Dan looked back at it again and told the calf: "I don't want to let the enemy know that there are muskets here!"

Master Ba, after the battle, remind me: Hurry up and build a shelter on the north hill, in case the rain will get wet with firecrackers, gunpowder, and fire ropes. ”

Then he turned to Master Ba: "By the way, remember to open a slip for him, and lead the general to the north hill with twenty bullets per gun, and we will build it into a platform, which can directly block the wooden bridge and the intersection." ”

"Defense, the enemy is moving." Wu Mao suddenly reminded everyone that he had been paying attention to the other side.

The bandits began to cross the bridge, with forty sword and shield men in front of them, and an enemy general riding a flower horse on the bridge behind, and behind them someone was waving a large flag with a red edge and a goose and a yellow background, on which was written the word "Lou".

"This guy is presumptuous!" Zhao Jingzi was furious. The color of this dynasty is regulated, and the royal family can use goose yellow. Therefore, the other party waved such a flag, which was actually an open provocation to the imperial power.

"I thought it was just a rebellion, but now it seems that they actually have the intention of rebellion, huh?" Wu Mao also frowned. Rebellion is completely different from raiding homes and robbing houses, the latter can still be recruited, but the former is impossible.

"It's strange, he didn't play the goose yellow flag when we played against You Sanjiang?" Master Ba asked a question.

Wu Mao thought slightly: "There are two possibilities, either this uniform-colored flag is not available to everyone on the side of the thief army, you see that the word 'Lou' is written on this person's banner, it may be the third young marshal who came to Fengge last night to arrest and confess."

It's also possible that the thieves decided to use this flag only recently, don't you see that it's still in new colors? ”

"Is the three coins here?" Li Dan asked.

"The subordinates are here!"

"Do you know anything about this 'Three Young Marshals'?"

"Back to the defense, my subordinates were in the thief camp at the beginning, and they once traveled with Sanjiang to meet Lou Zi, so they know a little."

Feng San's eyes lit up when he heard the summons, and he hurriedly squeezed in from behind, standing in front of Li Dan and clasping his fists to answer.