Chapter 515: Help Me Get a Boost
Something interesting happened!
It turned out that more than just one commoner ran to the river stronghold to warn them about the imperial forces' movements. After the carpenter left, several more groups arrived overnight, all having rushed from the county town, traveling thirty li just to alert the stronghold to prepare.
These commoners had either benefited from Gao Family Village's inexpensive grain, helped transport salt produced at Xiao Lake, or even worked at the river stronghold themselves, or had friends and family who did.
Xing Honglang, the great salt smuggler, stationed at Gudu Ferry, hadn't caused any trouble for the commoners of neighboring Puzhou. Instead, she had brought them a better life and a tangible future.
This meant not a single commoner wished for Xing Honglang's defeat.
From the depths of their hearts, this was the one time—the only time—the commoners truly hoped the rebels would defeat the imperial forces.
Inside Gao Family Village's meeting hall, several key figures sat together.
Xing Honglang began, "Wang Guozhong has suddenly transformed into an imperial officer, and he's even mimicking the government by using shield carts. Gentlemen, how do you propose we deal with this?"
"Cannons," Old Nanfeng chuckled, "Blast them to hell! The moment our gunboats open fire, his shield carts won't be worth a damn."
Old Nanfeng suggested, "Move the cannons into the stronghold, position them behind the wooden stockade walls, and just dig a row of gunports along the wall."
This was an excellent plan, and everyone present unanimously agreed.
Just then, Padi Tu, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up: "Has everyone forgotten something? Defeating Wang Guozhong is simple; there's no need for much discussion. The real challenge is how to prevent him from escaping."
Everyone looked surprised: "Huh?"
Padi Tu elaborated, "Wang Guozhong used to be a rebel leader under Wang Jiayin. What was he best at? Not fighting, but the art of escape! The imperial forces have launched so many encirclement campaigns against them, and they've lost time and again, yet they never truly fell. It just goes to show how fast they can run. The moment our cannons open fire, overturning his shield carts, and we follow up with flintlock rifles and hand grenades, Wang Guozhong will vanish without a trace in no time."
Zao Ying declared, "I'll lead the Cavalry Battalion to pursue him."
Padi Tu chuckled mischievously, "Didn't the Guanning Iron Cavalry have cavalry? Why couldn't they catch them either?"
Zao Ying was instantly speechless. Of course, the Guanning Iron Cavalry had cavalry, and their riders were clearly superior to Zao Ying's own. If even they couldn't run the rebels to ground, what chance did she have?
The others looked at Padi Tu as if a new world had opened to them. "Sir Rabbit," someone remarked, "your intelligence seems to have suddenly soared again!"
Padi Tu huffed, "This rabbit has always been clever, alright? You simply misunderstand me."
After this little commotion, everyone started to feel a slight headache coming on.
Indeed, defeating Wang Guozhong would be a simple matter, but killing him wouldn't be so easy. If that scoundrel managed to escape back to Puzhou City, they couldn't very well lay siege to it. If they failed to kill him, and Yang He arrived, they would all have to "accept pacification" and take imperial appointments, making it even more impossible to eliminate him then.
To later serve alongside Wang Guozhong in the same court, with their armies stationed thirty li apart, always eyeing each other—wouldn't that be utterly sickening?
"We have to get rid of him!" Old Nanfeng, who understood officialdom best, declared, "If we don't eliminate Wang Guozhong, after pacification, we'll most likely be appointed as 'Yongji Garrison Commander,' while Wang Guozhong continues as 'Puzhou Deputy Commander.' His position would be above ours, and that would be incredibly aggravating. But if there's no Wang Guozhong, Chief Xing would most likely take over his position and be appointed 'Puzhou Deputy Commander.' At that point, there wouldn't be any military official with a higher rank than us in the vicinity of Puzhou, and that city would effectively become ours."
The group, unfamiliar with the intricate workings of officialdom, hadn't realized that eliminating Wang Guozhong would make such a significant difference. Only now, having heard this, did they realize: "Huh? This fellow really must be eliminated." Whether from the perspective of the martial world's code of conduct or for the future development of Gao Family Village, this stumbling block had to be kicked away.
"Hahahaha, this rabbit is still the cleverest," Padi Tu said triumphantly. "I pinpointed the crux of the problem the moment I opened my mouth. Everyone, listen to this rabbit's brilliant plan: we'll secretly ambush an army behind Wang Guozhong and encircle him."
The others shook their heads. "As expected, Sir Rabbit's brilliance is but a fleeting moment."
Padi Tu: "???"
Old Nanfeng retorted, "Do you think their scouts are just sitting around doing nothing? You think you can just encircle them? Just flank them? And even set up an ambush beforehand? You've clearly read too many simple-minded novels like *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, haven't you?"
Padi Tu protested, "Hey? Even if not *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, historical records still offer many examples of encirclement."
Old Nanfeng explained, "But those weren't achieved by ambushing a small squad behind the enemy; they were accomplished through grand strategy. The distance between our Gudu Ferry and Puzhou City is only thirty li. Wang Guozhong's main forces wouldn't even need to leave the city for their scout perimeter to already be right in our faces. You still think you can stealthily send out a large detachment to encircle them?"
Padi Tu then suggested, "Hey? Then we'll use riflmen, snipe him from long range, and take him out directly."
This time, everyone shook their heads. "A fellow so skilled at escaping, how could he possibly stand at the front during a battle? His position would definitely be far back, essentially lurking far behind the battle lines. Our riflmen don't have such a long range."
Everyone began to feel a throbbing headache and conflicted feelings.
Li Daoxuan watched them seriously contemplate. He hadn't wanted to interject with playful remarks and disrupt their creativity, but upon reflection, he decided it would be better to directly instill some tactical principles in them early on. Humanity had only grasped these strategies after countless lives were sacrificed, by constantly piling up human lives through trial and error.
Li Daoxuan certainly didn't want his little people to trade soldiers' lives for tactical breakthroughs.
And so, the Puppet Heavenly Lord dropped with a "krak" from Gao Chuwu's shoulder, landing on the meeting hall table.
The circle of leaders seated around the table were startled simultaneously, and quickly bowed. "Heavenly Lord," they exclaimed, "it's almost the middle of the night, and you still haven't rested?"
Li Daoxuan chuckled inwardly. *The middle of the night? Modern people are still scrolling on their phones in bed at this hour. What's so strange about me playing with the box?*
After moving around with a "krak-krak" sound a few times, the Puppet Heavenly Lord declared, "Foxholes!"
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