When the messenger ran up the hillside again, he saw Li Dan talking to Zhou Qin, who had just returned, in front of the Tianwang Palace. Xiao and Tan were also there.
"Defense, General Manager Ma asked me to tell you that that group of people is camping at the foot of the opposite mountain!" the messenger reported.
"Understood, Manager Ma and the front camp will continue to monitor where they are. As long as they don't come to attack, we won't move!"
"Ah? Understood!" The messenger was stunned, and he hurriedly agreed and handed over.
"So, does this river really exist?" Tan Zhongxiao asked Zhou Qin while rubbing his hands excitedly.
"Yes, the river is wide and the current is not fast, but it is not shallow!" Zhou Qin turned back to Li Dan and said:
"Some of the brothers I left behind swam to the other side to find the boat and asked for more details. Others followed Brother Zhu to check the southern river."
"Do you think the water can be diverted?" Xiao Wanhe interrupted him anxiously.
"It can lead!" Zhou Qin nodded affirmatively: "I looked carefully. It probably rained upstream. The water is a bit muddy and has an earthy smell, and the water level is about the same as offshore.
We find a suitable place not far from the shore to build a dam to divert the river water. When we need it, we can open the gate to release the water. "
"Why don't we just dig it out? Why bother?" Tan Zhongxiao waved his hand. Zhou Qin didn't answer, but looked at Li Dan with a slightly embarrassed look on his face.
"Although the valley is sparsely populated, there is no guarantee that there are still residents living there. It is easy to dig, but it is not good if the river floods and cannot be controlled." Li Dan said.
"That's what I said about defense." Zhou Qin nodded:
"I heard from the locals that there are five north-south valleys on the south bank of the river. The Dongtang under Lingyan Temple is the fourth valley, and the mountain on our right hand side is the fifth valley.
In previous years, the rivers flooded these valleys during the rainy season. Now the water is not so big. We dug it out and all the water poured into the fifth valley. Not only did it flood the inside, but it also caused water shortage in the lower reaches.
This is the season for water use, so we can’t let the people suffer. So I thought it would be easier to control it by lowering the gate at about the same time. "
"Your method doesn't work!"
Several people looked back and saw that it was the young novice monk Xingwu.
"Hey, little guy, why not?" Tan Zhongxiao caught him in one stride and came back holding his arm:
"Let me tell you something and let you go. Otherwise, it will be a crime of delaying the military plane. I will spread your ass!"
Xingwu curled his lips and broke away from him, squatted down and placed stones for a while, pointing and saying:
"Young master, you want to flood the Seventh Army, right? When the thieves enter the mountain, the water will rush from here to the valley and turn them into bastards. But..., you don't know there is a waterfall here, right?
Below is Xinghuatan, which was washed out by floods many years ago. The water has gathered here, and when it overflows again, the bandits will either run away or kill us all! "
Everyone was stunned. "Damn, why is there still a deep pool?" Zhou Qin quickly asked: "Is what the little master said true?"
"Monks don't lie."
"Do you know how far the waterfall is from the mouth of the river?"
"The young monk thinks it's seven or eight miles away. Anyway, it's quite a long walk from Xinghua Pond to the river mouth!"
"Did you pass by?"
"I went with my senior brother." Xing Wu suddenly panicked, looked around and then whispered:
"Senior Brother Mao uses the water in the pond to make fruit wine... I didn't say anything, so you just pretend you didn't hear me!"
Everyone laughed.
"Okay, okay, please ask your senior brother to come over and say I have something to ask."
"Oh." Xingwu agreed and ran away quickly.
"Oh, if it's really like what he said, that's going to be a bit tricky!" Zhou Qin squatted on the ground, frowned and stared at the stones placed by Xing Wu, and tsked:
"We have to release the water in advance. If we wait until the enemy approaches before releasing it, we're really afraid it won't be in time! Besides, the water volume is too small. Who knows how long it will take to fill the pool?
Oops, I didn’t expect such a thing to happen. It’s so bad! "He slapped his thigh hard in annoyance.
Li Dan also squatted down, and moved his fingers along the line dug out in the sand to represent the river channel.
Suddenly I heard a deep voice behind me saying: "I heard the message from my junior brother, but the defense is looking for me?"
Looking back, I saw a tall and thin young man, holding a clay pot in his left hand and another in his right hand, standing a few steps away with his head tilted to one side.
This man is the "half" of the three and a half people mentioned by the abbot earlier. His name is Shi Mao. He is practicing in this temple with his hair, so he does not tie his hair in a bun, but just ties his long hair with a strip of cloth at the back of his head. Tie it up like a horse's tail.
"Oh, Brother Shi, the defense is looking for you, come on, come on!" Zhou Qin liked him because he was busy collecting herbs and helping Master Ba treat the wounded, so she hurriedly stood up to greet him.
"This... everyone is having a military discussion. Isn't it appropriate for me to go over there?" Shi Mao pointed to the ground and said.
"Brother Shi, how can a cultivator pay so much attention to speed?" Li Dan smiled and waved:
"It's okay to come over, I just want to ask brother about something." When Shi Mao came closer, Li Dan asked: "Xingwu said that brother has been to Xinghua Pond?
We are planning a strategy to defeat the enemy and are about to launch a water attack. I would like to ask my brother about the geographical situation over there. "
Shi Mao looked back with some embarrassment and said, "This guy is the fastest and will sell me sooner or later!" Then he nodded and admitted:
"Yes, I have been there before and a few days ago. Xingwu knew how to get in and out of the back mountain from me.
However, there is very little water coming down from the waterfall now, just a trickle. You have to go on a rainy day or after a rain to see the waterfall. "
"Brother Shi, do you know how deep the pool is and how much water it will take to fill it up?"
"Wait a minute," Li Dan stopped Zhou Qin: "Slowly discuss the details with Shi Shi. Brother Shi, I just want to know, if the river channel is opened and flooded, can the entire valley be flooded?"
"It's difficult!" Shi Mao answered without thinking, then put down the earthen pot in his hand, squatted down and pointed: "The river rises every year, but it never floods the lower reaches. Do you know why it is defended?"
"But because the floodwaters are discharged to the valleys on the south coast, there is no obstruction downstream?"
"Yes, but why is there no water in the valley and why is the river course not changed?"
"The water cannot be stored, but because the water flows away from all outlets? The river course has not changed, but I don't know the reason for this."
Zhou Qin is the water hero who knows the river best, but others can't answer the questions that he shakes his head about.
"What Zhou Yingzheng said is partially correct, but you may not know that there are many caves in the mountain, and a lot of floodwater will flow into the caves and be drained away by underground rivers.
Therefore, if you want to flood the valley, it is absolutely impossible to use a small amount of water. "
"Ah? I missed it!" Zhou Qin was shocked. At this point, everyone already understood that the original plan would not work, and a huge flood would have to be created to flood all the valleys.
"There is no valley on the other side of the mountain. It is concave in the middle and high around it, just like a plate. It also has a common name of 'Shipan Valley'.
This name is related to my second question just now. Zhou Yingzheng, you can’t explain why the river course has not been changed, I’ll tell you. "
Shi Mao looked around, ran to the side and picked two long stones to place at the intersection of the river and the valley.
"Well, see the cutting? The mountains here mostly run east-west, and this river is formed in the middle of the mountain gorge.
The river embankment you see is not an ordinary embankment formed by accumulation of soil. In fact, if you peel off the topsoil for three feet, it is all rock underneath. The surrounding mountains are made of soil on top, gravel below, and finally rock.
It's low in the middle and surrounded by stones. Isn't it just a stone basin?
So the same is true for river banks. They are just lower than the ridges you see with your eyes. The seeds in the sediment accumulated on the surface germinate and grow into grass and shrubs.
This is why floods overflowed in previous years but the river banks never collapsed! "
He raised his head and looked at Zhou Qin: "It has indeed rained upstream in the past two days, but it was not heavy enough! Even if you remove the topsoil, you can't dig out the rocks, and the opening of the gap is limited, so there may not be much water released.
In some places, the water may reach the thighs, and a little further away, it may only be the ankles. "
"It's over, why bother digging the river embankment? If there are all stones down here, then... I don't know what to do." Zhou Qin's face was full of disappointment. He originally wanted to take this opportunity to make a great contribution!
"Don't be anxious. Actually, Leader Zhou, if you want to make meritorious deeds, there is still a way."
"Is there any way?" After hearing what he said, Zhou Qin immediately put her hand on Shi Mao's shoulder: "If you have a good idea, I will donate twenty taels to the temple after it is completed!"
"It's so good. I don't want to kill, nor do I want your sesame oil money." Shi Mao chuckled:
"I'm just trying to protect the ancient temple. After all, when bandits cross the border, our temple will suffer disaster even if it's not possible. If we can retreat the enemy and avoid disaster, I will naturally help."
Having said this, several people urged him to find a solution quickly.
Li Dan smiled and hugged his shoulders. Seeing that he had mastered the situation and everyone's appetite was whetted, he spoke leisurely and continued:
"The method of water attack has nothing to do with either. It can either drain the water or gather the water. Since there are rocks below that cannot drain the water, we naturally have to find a way to gather it."
Li Dan immediately joked: "But if you don't have the time, the gangsters will come at any time. How can you wait for another rain?"
"Rain? No, no!" Shi Mao shook his head: "In the past few days, the sky has been clear and there has been no heavy rain.
What I’m talking about below is not collecting rainwater, but using the existing water in the river to do it. "
"oh?"
"The river meanders south for more than two miles. When it reaches a place called Huyan, the terrain on both sides becomes higher. The river bed quickly narrows to less than one foot and five feet. The flow speed speeds up, and it rushes down a waterfall that is one foot and two feet high and turns to the southwest. .”
Shi Mao finished gesticulating with his hands and looked at Zhou Qin again.
"I understand, you mean to build a dam here in Huyan to make the river water rise. Then we open the river embankment in Yuantouling and release the water, so that the amount of water will be enough to pour into the valley?"
Zhou Qin patted her knees hard and became excited.
"Even if people can't be drowned, there will definitely be no problem if the valley is full of marshes and swamps. By then, Zhou Yingzheng only needs to prepare a few bamboo rafts and small boats, and it will be a big deal!"
After speaking, Shi Mao stood up, clasped his hands to Li Dan and said, "If there's nothing else, I'll go down and change the dressing for the wounded.
Oh, there are two jars of home-brewed wine here. After tasting it, please be gentle and don't tell the abbot master. "
The four of them were all amused by him, and they stood up and gave each other their hands.
"This is a lovely man. He left two jars of wine before leaving. It's interesting!" Xiao Wanhe shook his head and laughed. He picked up the wine jar with one hand and saw the paper on it with the words: Spring of Six Years and March of Apricot Blossom Stream. Get water from below. "Oh, it's still from the year before last." He said.
"According to what he said, the waterfall at Huyan is not high." Zhou Qin didn't care about this, and said to himself, scratching on the ground:
“The problem is to build a dam, when will the water be released at Yuantouling and how will it be released?
We don’t have that many manpower. To build the dam, we need at least 300 people, right? How can we take care of Yuantouling? "
"It doesn't matter," Li Dan said, "Just leave Brother Zhu here and take 200 people from the right camp. Please ask Brother Xiao to send 100 brothers to follow. These 300 people should be enough to build the dam." .
Brother Xiao will take 150 people from the left camp to join Brother Zhu. If it is not enough, he will send 100 people from the rear camp to assist.
These two hundred and fifty people were responsible for digging the river embankment, leaving a hundred people behind to block the backfill, while the rest searched along the river valley in the direction of Xinghua Pond.
Brother Tan, fifty of your remaining brothers will defend the west mountain, and the rest will build bamboo rafts and rafts. When the water rises, they will search for the remaining enemies in the valley and kill all those who try to resist. "
