Chapter 52: Wu Ze's Plot

Dig caves here and plant explosives?
Hearing this, Sun Desheng looked bewildered once again.
Previously, Wu Ze had caused quite a commotion over at the Great Canyon, and Sun Desheng had let it go since he didn't understand it.
Now, Wu Ze was going to stir up trouble here as well?
Judging by Wu Ze's intentions, was he planning to blow up the riverbank here?
Sun Desheng asked Wu Ze, "Wu Ze, are you trying to blast a breach in the riverbank here?"
"Yes, I intend to divert the river from this point," Wu Ze nodded.
"Wu Ze, you can't just act so recklessly," Sun Desheng said with a solemn expression immediately. "Don't forget that to stall the Japanese advance southward, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the Yellow River dike at Yuankou to be breached. The raging Yellow River flooded and caused disaster across three provinces, bringing suffering to countless people, and Chiang Kai-shek consequently bore eternal infamy."
Although the river before them could not be compared to the Yellow River, its water level had risen significantly due to the rain.
Once the riverbank here was blasted open, the torrential river water would surge violently through the breach; this was no laughing matter.
"Brother Sun, come and look at the rough sketch I drew." Of course, Wu Ze was well aware of the incident where Chiang Kai-shek ordered the breaching of the Yuankou Yellow River dike to delay the southward advance of the Japanese forces.
Although it did stall the Japanese advance to a certain extent, it undeniably caused the Yellow River waters to flood and wreak havoc.
The inspiration for his current idea stemmed precisely from this event, but Wu Ze would not allow the breached waters to become a natural disaster.
Wu Ze knew that unless he convinced roughnecks like Sun Desheng, it would be difficult to get them to cooperate with him.
At this moment, it was time to share some details with them.
"Brother Sun, look here at where we are now. If the riverbank is blasted open from this spot, the torrential river water will rush down ceaselessly and flow directly into the Great Canyon we have sealed off..." Wu Ze pointed out to Sun Desheng, and the others also crowded around to look.
Someone could not help interrupting, "Wu Ze, even if you've sealed off the Great Canyon, its capacity is limited. It can't possibly hold all this river water."
"I never intended to hold all the river water in the Great Canyon. I am simply using the canyon to store water—or to put it more accurately, to build up momentum," Wu Ze explained.
"Build up what momentum?" Sun Desheng and the others could not make head or tail of it.
"It means letting the river water fill the Great Canyon to the brim, and then we blast open the canyon..." Before Wu Ze could finish his sentence, Sun Desheng stared in astonishment: "Are you trying to artificially create a flash flood?"
That canyon was by no means small; once it was filled to capacity and blasted open, the immense volume of water would surge and roar—it would be a terrifying flash flood!
"Yes, I am artificially creating a flash flood. After the Great Canyon is blasted open, the pent-up water will rush downward. You see that solitary mountain below, don't you?" Wu Ze said. "The roaring flash flood will rush all the way to the solitary mountain, bypass it, and then continue downward, ultimately converging into the Yellow River. The lower reaches of this river already connect to the Yellow River anyway; I am simply helping it take a new course so that the floods will not cause widespread disaster. Furthermore, we have inspected the entire route along the way. Due to the ravages of war, there are no households settled along the path this flash flood will take, so no innocent lives will be endangered."
Hearing Wu Ze put it this way, Sun Desheng felt as though his mind had grasped something, yet he could not form a concrete idea.
He and the others blinked as they looked at Wu Ze: "Wu Ze, are you going to use this flash flood to help our regimental commander deal with those three thousand Japanese troops and traitors?"
"No," Wu Ze shook his head. "I've already said that those three thousand Japanese troops and traitors are nothing to the commander. With the New First Regiment joining forces with the Independent Regiment, sorting them out will be no problem at all."
"Since you aren't creating a flash flood to help the commander eliminate the enemy, what on earth are you making it for?" someone asked.
"Just think about it: if the commander annihilates Hirata Ichiro and his three thousand-plus Japanese troops and traitors, or beats them so badly that they have to beg for reinforcements, what do you think Hirata Ichiro will do?" Wu Ze countered.
"Needless to say, that Hirata Ichiro will certainly not let the matter rest. He will definitely dispatch troops again immediately to provide reinforcements or launch a encirclement and suppression campaign," Sun Desheng said without hesitation.
"Since Hirata Ichiro dispatches troops again to reinforce or encircle us, how many fresh troops do you think he can send?" Wu Ze asked Sun Desheng once more.
"That's hard to say." Sun Desheng paused for a moment before saying, "If more than three thousand Japanese troops and traitors can't defeat our commander, Hirata Ichiro will definitely apply to his superiors to send two to three times as many reinforcements. Who knows, it might even reach tens of thousands of men."
"Yes, exactly," Wu Ze nodded, looking at Sun Desheng again. "By then, Hirata Ichiro will have applied to send tens of thousands of men to encircle and suppress the commander. Do you think the commander will still be a match for them then?"
"Definitely not. The commander isn't made of iron either; he can't possibly defeat tens of thousands of enemies all at once." Sun Desheng grew pensive. "Wu Ze, are you creating this flash flood to help the commander fight the next battle, to lure the enemy right beneath the flash flood?"
"Yes, exactly," Wu Ze nodded.
"The Japanese troops and traitors aren't fools. To lure them over, we'll need sufficient bait." By this point, the atmosphere had grown stirringly intense. Although the brains of Sun Desheng and the others had not yet fully digested the information Wu Ze had imparted to them, their eyes were already filled with awe.
By then, no matter how many Japanese troops and traitors came, they would be merely a drop in the ocean in the face of the roaring flash flood.
However, to trick the enemy into taking the bait, the entire New First Regiment might have to serve as bait.
Should the slightest thing go wrong, the New First Regiment might well be swept away by the flash flood.
Sensing the doubts on the faces of Sun Desheng and the others, Wu Ze smiled and pointed to the solitary mountain, saying, "When the flash flood arrives, the solitary mountain will be the safe haven for the New First Regiment."
The solitary mountain?
The gazes of Sun Desheng and the others landed on the solitary mountain, and in an instant, understanding dawned on them.
Their expressions instantly grew even more excited.
Without needing Wu Ze to explain the details any further, they figured it out themselves in a flash.
When the time came, the New First Regiment could fight while retreating, ultimately feigning being surrounded by multiple enemy forces upon the solitary mountain—acting just like Ma Su losing the street pavilion in *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*.
On the surface, the New First Regiment would be an isolated army planted by Ma Su atop the solitary mountain, representing a dead end.
There was no water source on the mountain, and if the enemy below surrounded the mountain without attacking, they could win without a fight.
But in reality? When the flash flood came roaring down, the solitary mountain would be the safest place of all.
As for the enemy stationed beneath the solitary mountain, they would either be swept away by the flash flood or swallowed up by it. There was simply no third option, unless they could sprout wings and take off right where they stood.
Seeing that Sun Desheng and the others had figured it out, Wu Ze said, "Since you all understand my strategy, what are you standing around for? Hurry up and dig the caves and plant the explosives! Once the work is done, I have to go back and report to the commander."
"Yes, sir! Yes, sir!" Sun Desheng and the others snapped back to reality, their expressions practically as gleeful as celebrating the Chinese New Year.
The engineering soldiers dug the caves at lightning speed, happily as if they were digging graves for tens of thousands of enemies.
Sun Desheng looked Wu Ze up and down several times, as if looking at a beautiful maiden: "Wu Ze, you can wipe out vast numbers of enemies with just a wave of your hand. You are truly Zhuge Liang brought back to life! Your worth easily surpasses ten—no, fifty Italian cannons!"
"Squad leader, you're wrong," a soldier refuted Sun Desheng's words. "I dare say that once the commander learns of Wu Ze's strategy, even if someone offered a hundred Italian cannons to trade for him, the commander wouldn't agree."
"Haha, true, true! Our commander never does a losing business; it was just my vision that was short-sighted," Sun Desheng laughed heartily.
Indeed, with wisdom like Wu Ze's, let alone a hundred cannons, the commander wouldn't agree to two hundred, damn it!
The caves were dug, the explosives were planted, and the detonation setup was complete.
Wu Ze inspected everything and confirmed there were no issues.
"Brother Sun, leave two men here to keep watch and make sure no one discovers that something has been buried here," Wu Ze instructed Sun Desheng.
Although there were no signs of enemy activity here, vigilance still had to be maintained.
"You two, stay behind," Sun Desheng immediately designated two soldiers.
Leaving the two men behind to keep watch, Sun Desheng escorted Wu Ze as they hurried back to the New First Regiment.
The plot of the previous chapter has been heavily revised. Readers who checked it out before 3:00 PM today can go back and re-read it.
Wu Ze's identity has special arrangements.
(End of this chapter)