The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 774 Pulling out the nails

In response to Jiang Wei's question, E Huan spoke first: "That's easy. We can sneak up to the mountaintop at night, quietly take care of the sentries, then use the rope ladders built by the Wei army to enter their camp and wipe them out."

They can't break in from the outside, but they don't have that problem if they attack from within the Wei army.

E Huan was most skilled at climbing to the top of the mountain and then into the enemy's lair, because in addition to his high combat prowess, he was also good at rock climbing. As long as there was a protrusion on the cliff that he could use for leverage, he could climb up it. A hundred-foot cliff was no problem for him.

Zhang Bao shook his head and said, "It's not that simple. Look at the map. The Wei army's camps seem to be independent entities, but in reality, they form a circle of three camps. If one camp is attacked, the other two camps can immediately come to its aid. The camps are also located in very small areas and cannot accommodate too many people. If we really launch a surprise attack, we will not use much more troops than the Wei army. If we cannot end the battle quickly and get bogged down in a bitter struggle, we will be the ones who die when the other two camps come to our aid."

"Furthermore, look at the very center of the seventy-two camps. This is the largest camp of the Wei army in the Dahong Mountains, and it is also a transit station for the various camps. It houses more than two thousand people and a large amount of grain and fodder, which can support any camp at any time."

It's clear that Xu Huang put a lot of effort into the defense of Dahong Mountain, making it completely impenetrable and impossible to breach.

Jiang Wei asked, "Could we take advantage of the fact that the Wei army is unaware of the arrival of the Wudang Flying Army, secretly bypass the outer camps, and first destroy this main camp to cut off the food supplies of the eastern camps?"

Zhang Bao shook his head and said, "Don't even think about it. How many people do you plan to use for a stronghold of more than two thousand? I dare not say more, but if it exceeds one thousand, you can't hide it from the sentries along the way. If it's less than one thousand, it's impossible to capture the main camp."

Jiang Wei stroked his beard and pondered, "So, the only way is to pull them out one by one from the outside, like pulling out nails. You just said that if one camp is attacked, the other two camps will immediately come to its aid, right?"

Seeing Zhang Bao nod, Jiang Wei couldn't help but laugh, "Isn't this the opportunity? Look, the three camps closest to us are at least seven or eight li apart. If we send men to find positions between the camps to ambush them while we're attacking them, wouldn't that be..."

Zhang Bao's eyes lit up, and he immediately asked with delight, "You mean to besiege the enemy's stronghold and attack their reinforcements?"

Jiang Wei nodded and said, "The Wei army has too many camps. Too many camps mean that the troops are scattered. There aren't many people in the three camps combined. But we are a whole unit. We have more troops in the area than the Wei army. If we take these three camps by surprise, it won't be difficult to give the Wudang Flying Army a good start. Come here, let's make a plan."

After discussing for a long time and finalizing the troop allocation, action route, and combat plan, the group began to rest and prepare.

After the army had eaten, drunk their fill, and slept, Jiang Wei led 1,500 men on their way into the mountains. They split into three teams and quietly made their way to the designated location, launching their operation at the end of the night.

Jiang Wei and Zhang Bao each led a blocking force, climbed up the mountain using ropes at the designated location, and then climbed down again to successfully reach the blocking position and set up defenses. After finishing, they returned along the same route using ropes.

Around 1:45 AM, Jiang Wei and Zhang Bao successfully returned and reunited with the main attacking force that was lying in ambush near the camp. The two informed each other of their respective situations and then began their operation. E Huan, carrying a rope, took the lead and climbed to the top of the mountain on the left side of the Wei army camp to secretly observe. Sure enough, he saw two Wei army sentries on the top of the mountain.

The two sentries were not resting or napping, but were sitting in the grass nearby chatting quietly.

The camp had been built for more than two months and had been attacked and raided by the Han army many times. However, the Han army's most recent raid was twenty days ago. Since the last raid failed, the Han army seemed to know that they could not take the camp and never came again. In other words, they had not encountered any battle for more than twenty days. After such a long time, even the most vigilant person would become lax. After all, if you have to be vigilant for twelve hours a day, even a god cannot withstand it.

So the two drowsy sentries stopped staring down the mountain as they had during the day and instead huddled together, whispering to each other to keep from falling asleep.

This gave E Huan an opportunity. He quietly circled around to their backs from the side, then crawled forward to their backs. Seizing the moment, he suddenly stood up and struck them on the head with both hands at the same time. Caught off guard, the two sentries' heads collided violently, leaving them dizzy on the spot. E Huan then raised his hand and delivered two heavy punches to the two men, knocking them completely unconscious. Only then did he tie the rope to a tree and throw them down the mountain.

Then E Huan tore off the clothes of two Wei soldiers and used them to gag their mouths and tie them together, completely depriving them of the ability to move and roar.

Compared to subduing the two, killing them directly seemed safer, but E Huan did not do so. It was not because he was soft-hearted, but because if he killed them, the other party might unleash extraordinary potential under the threat of death. They might shout or throw a stone down the mountain before they died, either of which could alert the Wei army down the mountain. Therefore, it was better to subdue them.

A moment later, Jiang Wei and Zhang Bao climbed to the top of the mountain. After a brief exchange with E Huan, they climbed to the other side to look for the Wei army's rope ladder. Sure enough, there was one, but only one, and only one person could go down at a time.

Zhang Bao asked, "When will we take action?"

Jiang Wei raised his head over the edge of the cliff and glanced around. He frowned and said, "It's already this late, and there are still people on guard in the watchtower. They're quite vigilant. Let's wait until the end of Yin hour before we make our move."

The mountaintop was too small and could only accommodate a limited number of troops. After only thirty men came up, there wasn't enough room for them to stand. The group squatted in the grass and waited patiently. Around 4:45 AM, Zhang Bao's legs went numb from squatting, and he couldn't wait any longer. He said, "Let's do it. If we drag this out any longer, the enemy won't be asleep before we fall asleep."

Jiang Wei nodded in agreement. Zhang Bao got up and quickly moved his hands and feet. At the same time, he tied one end of the rope to a tree and carefully lowered the other end of the rope down the cliff bit by bit.

They did not intend to use the Wei army's rope ladders. Firstly, the rope ladders were connected by ropes and bamboo poles, which would easily make noise when stepped on. Secondly, the rope ladders were slanted, and if climbing down the rope ladders alerted the Wei army, their arrows would be unable to provide support for fear of injuring their comrades on the rope ladders.

Once the rope was finally lowered, Zhang Bao glanced around to make sure the Wei soldiers were dozing off before carrying his shield and biting his short sword as he climbed down the rope. The shield was naturally for defending against Wei soldiers' arrows.

As Zhang Bao climbed down, Jiang Wei ordered the others to work in pairs. One person would lie on the ground with their head sticking out of the cliff, holding the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow for long-range support, while the other would hold down their teammate's feet to prevent them from falling off the cliff. After making these arrangements, Jiang Wei handed the area over to E Huan and then returned along the rope, preparing to lead the main force of the army to attack from the front.

Meanwhile, Zhang Bao carefully climbed up the rope and successfully reached the bottom of the cliff. However, he did not act immediately. Instead, he slightly shook the rope to let E Huan know that he was in position. E Huan grabbed the rope and continued to slide down, successfully meeting up with Zhang Bao at the bottom of the mountain.

The two exchanged a glance and continued to wait for their third teammate to come down. Unfortunately, their luck ran out this time. Before the third soldier even landed, he was spotted by the Wei army's sentry in the arrow tower who had suddenly become aware of his surroundings.

"Enemy attack..."

The Han soldiers on the mountaintop had been keeping a close eye on the Wei soldiers' sentries, so as soon as they heard the words "enemy attack," they pulled the trigger of the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow. Countless arrows flew towards the Wei soldiers' sentries, and the Wei soldiers' arrows were mercilessly shot down before they could even draw their bows.

After emptying their arrow quiver, the Han soldiers did not hesitate and immediately threw down dozens of ropes and quickly climbed down.

At the same time, Zhang Bao and E Huan at the foot of the mountain also charged towards the thatched huts where the Wei army was staying.