Zhou Fu: "At your command!"
After that, he turned and hurriedly left, touching his waist knife all the while, never once looking at Wei Xin clad in leather armor in front of Yang Ge.
Wei Xin sighed in relief, whispering, "Second Master, how come there are so many soldiers now?"
Yang Ge: "Isn’t it good to have reinforcements?"
Before Wei Xin could speak again, Yang Ge waved his hand and said, "They’ll fight their battle, we’ll fight ours, everyone is here for the same purpose, in this place, there are only descendants of Yan and Huang, sons of the Han, there is no distinction between the court and the world of rivers and lakes!"
Wei Xin had no choice but to bow and say: "Everything is up to you, Second Master!"
Shortly after, Zhou Fu hurried over to Yang Ge with a dark-skinned old man clad in paper armor.
Yang Ge beckoned, and Gu Tong and others followed.
"Qin, have you fought the Bin Hai battle?"
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Yang Ge asked as he walked.
The dark-skinned old man, displaying his big teeth, said: "What are you saying, Second Master? In Jiangzhe, where it’s not mountains, it’s sea. If we don’t practice our domestic skills, how could I, Qin, have the face to take the royal salary!"
This old man was a cannon commander specifically requested by Yang Ge from Chen Du. According to Chen Du, this man was the best at gunnery in Jiangzhe. If it weren’t for his drinking habits, he would have been promoted long ago.
Yang Ge pulled out a map from his bosom and handed it to him: "I don’t understand artillery, so take this map, scout around. The map has the offensive deployments of friend and foe that I’ve marked. You should consider where to place the artillery. To maximize damage and intimidation to the enemy while avoiding friendly fire... pick several spots, and after you’re done, come back, and we’ll discuss further."
After a pause, he said, "Gu Tong, assign one of the small banner brothers to escort him. Let not wolves and tigers carry off this old man… and keep an eye on him, no drinking allowed!"
Upon hearing this, Qin instantly slapped his chest and swore, "Rest assured, Second Master! If I, Qin, touch a drop of alcohol before the task is done, may my guts rupture and I meet a terrible end!"
"I believe you!"
Yang Ge nodded and pointed to the old man for Gu Tong, "But I can’t joke with the lives and assets of so many brothers!"
Gu Tong turned and gestured toward the imperial guards behind him, and immediately a small flag guard stepped out, taking the old man away from the crowd without any discussion.
Wei Xin led Yang Ge and the others up the hill on the north side of Nansha Bay, finding Yang Tiansheng who was still organizing manpower to set traps.
Nansha Bay was a gourd-mouth shaped bay with rocky shores, its wide coastal terrain low-lying, and its landing mouth high and narrow, the narrowest part only able to accommodate three carriages side by side. If not taking the landing mouth, though the slopes were not entirely insurmountable, it would be very strenuous...
This area was chosen by Yang Ge from a variety of rough site survey maps drawn by Gu Tong and others for its strategic importance, easy to defend and difficult to attack.
"Very good, very good..."
Yang Tiansheng, who was busy sweating furiously while rolling up his sleeves upon seeing Yang Ge, complained: "Handing over all the tough and tiring tasks to your young master, you’re slacking off, right?"
Yang Ge laughed, ignoring his complaints, and instead, turned to Zhou Fu and introduced, "At noon, the Japanese pirates will land, around twenty thousand in number. Our side, including your two thousand brothers, totals seven thousand warriors. At that time, there will be collaborators among the Japanese pirates to confine these twenty thousand Japanese pirates to this beach. How do you think we should arrange it?"
Zhou Fu, taking advantage of the morning twilight, took a look around and hesitantly saluted with his fist, "This officer is inexperienced, and everything depends on your command, sir!"
Yang Ge frowned, "Just speak when I ask you to. If I knew how to deploy troops, would I be asking you?"
Zhou Fu had no choice but to speak, "How have you arranged the seven thousand soldiers, sir?"
Yang Ge: "One thousand on each of the two slopes, three thousand at the landing point to engage in phased combat, keeping two thousand as a reserve."
Zhou Fu hesitated and then spoke evasively, "Sir, unless I am mistaken... those Japanese pirate ships are all equipped with cannons, and their gunnery skills, compared to ours in Wei, are slightly better."
He deliberately intensified his tone on "slightly" and "a little," the implication being clear.
Yang Ge surveyed the bare rocky slopes around him, frowned in thought for a moment, then said: "No big problem, they have cannons, we also have cannons, and not only do we have them, our collaborators have them too. First, we’ll let off most of the Japanese pirates onto the coast, then prioritize bombarding and sinking their ships, cutting off their retreat route and sea-based firepower support."
Hearing this, Zhou Fu’s expression became slightly relieved.
He wasn’t worried about any problems with Yang Ge’s arrangements.
His fear was that Yang Ge wouldn’t listen to others’ suggestions.
He continued, "If I am not mistaken, sir, by positioning only three thousand troops at the landing point and engaging them in phased combat, you also intend to induce the Japanese pirates to land quickly, right?"
Yang Ge nodded in agreement.
Zhou Fu softened his tone, gesturing at the terrain and continued, "Since the goal is to attract the Japanese pirates to land, my brothers cannot engage too early, otherwise, seeing the armored officers, the Japanese pirates will surely be cautious, but if sir—you and your... friends, withstand the first wave of attacks, if too few, they won’t stop the Japanese pirates, and if too many, the effect would be no different from my brothers engaging. Furthermore, regardless of how skillful Qin and the Japanese collaborators are, the Japanese pirates first landing likely have artillery support, and at a landing point no wider than two zhang, just ten cannons firing at once could cripple even four or five hundred troops in a sweep... Once the Japanese pirates break through this strait, all of sir’s arrangements would be utterly lost."