diskusbooks Chapter 594: Building the plank road openly, secretly destroying Chencang
Chapter 594: Building the plank road openly, secretly destroying Chencang
"Sir, may I know your name?"
Li Shanyue didn't dare to sit down and asked respectfully.
"My name is Shen Changgong."
"Shen Changgong? Oh? You have the same name as the legendary Prince Lanling of Great Yan."
Shen Changgong looked at him as if he were an idiot.
Li Shanyue laughed twice, then suddenly froze and turned to look at Wei Bufan.
Wei Bufan nodded slightly at him.
Li Shanyue was horrified, fell to his knees with a thud, and kowtowed,
"This humble commoner pays homage to His Majesty, homage to His Majesty!"
Are you kidding? The legendary Shen Changgong was a devil who was known for killing people like crazy, leaving corpses piled up like mountains, and even eating three children for one meal.
Some time ago, a fire killed hundreds of thousands of Wei soldiers, making the entire Wei state terrified.
How could he not be afraid with this person sitting right in front of him?
"Master, please stand up and sit down. I am here to discuss business with you."
"Yes, yes, as you command."
Li Shanyue wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and then sat on the chair, with his butt just touching the edge.
"How many ships are there in your shipyard that are operational?"
"Reporting to the prince, there are not many large ships, only eight in total, each capable of carrying a hundred people and with cargo space available.
There are thirty-two medium-sized ships, which can carry more than fifty people.
There are many smaller boats, the kind that can carry about ten people and can be sailed away with a shed. There are more than 120 of them."
Shen Changgong nodded and said,
"So, I will rent all your ships and workers. It will take about ten days to half a month.
Just do the math and see how much it will cost."
"How dare I ask for your money? Your Majesty, please feel free to use these ships and men. I will absolutely cooperate and even command them myself.
Your Majesty can levy it at will, so don’t mention money.”
As Li Shanyue spoke, he secretly cursed Wei Bufan and the other two in his heart.
Damn it, I was so nice to you, but you two actually lured this butcher to my shipyard. You are such ungrateful people.
Shen Changgong shook his head and said,
“The price is what it should be. You rent it out on weekdays, so you should charge what you should pay.
Now do the math.
By the way, if any ships are lost during the battle, I will compensate you according to their price."
"Well, well, well, Your Highness is very understanding of justice. I admire you."
Li Shanyue also saw that this prince was indeed here to rent a boat and give money. He picked up the abacus on the table, calculated for a long time, and said,
"Your Highness, these more than one hundred boats, assuming they take ten days to build, will cost a total of 1,200 taels of silver. I'll round off the cost for you, so 1,000 taels will do."
He didn't dare to talk nonsense about the price. He would not dare to cheat anyone else's money, but this person's money.
"One thousand five hundred taels, prepare some materials, food, and tools, and then send the boat south to wait for us at the place where the Wei River merges into the Luo River.
I will leave behind a hundred men to assist you. Once you are ready, we will set off tomorrow.
Also, Captain Li, please come with us personally to see the area and figure out how to deploy ships to get our troops across the river."
"Yes, yes, I will go and tell them to prepare the things and the carriage."
After everyone left the main building, Li Shanyue called a manager and asked him to quickly prepare food, tools, materials, etc., and then set off south early tomorrow morning.
Shen Changgong also left behind a hundred cavalrymen to keep an eye on these people to prevent the news from leaking out.
Then, they rode horses, and Li Shanyue rode in a carriage, following the Wei River all the way south.
After traveling a hundred miles south, they finally arrived at the junction of Weishui and Luoshui in the evening.
Shen Changgong looked up and saw that it was just as Wei Bufan said. The Luo River turned here, leading the Wei River into the Luo River. On the opposite side, a shallow beach abruptly protruded into the Luo River. The water here was fast and the river channel was narrow.
After watching for a moment, he asked Li Shanyue,
"Master Li, I remember you said you still have over 120 small boats, right?"
"Yes, my lord."
"How wide is each ship?"
"Hmm... maybe five feet wide."
Shen Changgong calculated and estimated it, and said,
"From this triangular area to the shallows on the opposite side, it's only about 150 meters wide, which is the narrowest part.
One hundred and twenty small boats, placed side by side, are five feet wide, which is six hundred feet. Three feet is one meter, which is about two hundred meters, which is more than enough to spread out.
After spreading it out, anchor it and fix it, nail it together one by one, and connect it with wooden boards to form a bridge. The army can pass through this bridge continuously.
In addition, while other ships were nailing the wooden boats, they first transported some soldiers over to guard the opposite bank and kill the enemy scouts to avoid being discovered by the enemy, so as to buy time for the main army to pass.
As long as our troops reach the other side, the enemy will be vulnerable."
Tu Que Ling frowned and said,
"But transporting over 600,000 people, along with artillery, food, supplies, and other supplies, will probably take many days, right?"
Shen Changgong shook his head and said,
"The enemy's warships are cruising in the river, so we can only send two corps to annihilate the enemy on the shore.
Then, after the enemy is eliminated, artillery will be set up on both sides of the river to attack the enemy troops in the middle of the river.
After driving away the enemy's warships, our army can lay a floating log bridge and quickly cross the river. While the battle is going on here, don't be idle over there and cut down trees to build a bridge."
Tu Que Ling still felt a little uneasy and said,
"So are we just going to let those warships float on the water and bother us? We'll have to cross the river to deliver supplies later."
Shen Changgong smiled and said,
"Without support from land, how long can those ships hold out?
After we capture Luoyang and the State of Wei is destroyed, we can quickly take control of the surrounding areas and then recruit those people to surrender.
They can't just float on the water forever, right?"
"That's fine, Your Majesty is right."
Shen Changgong said to Li Shanyue,
"Master Li, do you have these wooden planks for paving the bridge and other things in your factory?"
"Yes, we have as many of these as you want. That's what we do."
"Then I'll trouble you to bring these with you tomorrow.
This king will rush back tonight and dispatch a large army tomorrow. It will take about three days to reach here. During these three days, you should try your best to hide on the Wei River and avoid being discovered by the Wei army."
"I understand, I understand."
This bridge cannot be built in advance, otherwise when the people of Wei see that a bridge is being built here, they will not know what to do.
Shen Changgong planned to send the main force to the riverside to attract the enemy's attention, which is called repairing the plank road in public.
We will secretly attack Chencang and build a bridge here, send at least tens of thousands of cavalry and 100,000 infantry over, and then wipe out the enemy on the other side of the river to gain space for the main force on the north bank.