It was a pity, however, that the underworld currently lacked night, and every move in Wusan City was under the rebels' watchful eyes, so they could not employ the tactic of "using the cover of night to do XX."
With no solution to this problem, they had no choice but to cheat again.
Zheng Baobao arranged an inn for Bingbing and me. I reluctantly contacted Zhang Xiaomiao, asking her to find Shen Xingyue again.
When Yaoyao heard that I was going to defend another city and needed weapons and ammunition, she refused, worried that my vital energy would be depleted and I would die in the underworld.
"If I die, I die; I'll be resurrected," I said with a laugh.
"Not necessarily! You are a living underworld envoy. If you die in the mortal realm, you can be resurrected by the underworld. But if you die in the underworld, how will that be handled? Logically, as a living person, your activities in the underworld already violate the 'rules.' Are you still hoping that the Underworld Envoy Office will further break the rules to save your life?"
Logically, it seemed sound, but I couldn't figure out the reasoning myself.
"In any case, don't help them defend the city anymore. Come back quickly. If anything happens, it won't be worth the gain," Yaoyao cautioned.
Since Yaoyao disagreed, Zhang Xiaomiao certainly wouldn't dare to find Shen Xingyue on her own. Even if she did find her, without Yaoyao's permission, Shabiya would likely be hesitant to mail weapons to me. It seemed that the living couldn't be trusted, and that path was blocked.
"Isn't there any other way?" Bingbing prompted. "Didn't you read a lot of history books? Are there any similar combat examples that could defeat the enemy?"
"Yes," I affirmed. "The Battle of Kunyang. Liu Xiu, the Son of Heaven, defended the city with twenty thousand men and defeated the forty-two thousand besieging troops."
"Wow, that's amazing! How did he win?" Bingbing exclaimed in surprise.
"If you think about it conventionally, it's hard to understand how he won," I said with a wry smile. "At that time, he was fighting for his life. He led three thousand daredevils and charged out. Unexpectedly, they really scattered the enemy's main forces. Coincidentally, there was a strong wind and a heavy thunderstorm. Roof tiles were blown away by the wind, rain poured down, the river water surged, and thunder and lightning raged. The fierce beasts accompanying the enemy were terrified, and more than ten thousand soldiers drowned in the water. The river was almost choked with corpses. Liu Xiu seized the opportune moment, the favorable terrain, and the popular support, and only then did he luckily achieve that victory."
"Then we can imitate that!" Bingbing said excitedly.
"How can we imitate it?" I looked at the sky outside the window. "There's no sign of rain."
"Not rain, brother. Didn't you just say that over ten thousand enemies drowned? Isn't there a big river next to us? Can you try to use a water attack?"
"...A water attack?" I pondered. "But how would that work? They are on land, and it seems we are by the water."
"Oh, didn't Zheng Baobao say that this city was originally on a sandbar? Because of the drought this year, the southern part of the city became land. This means that the place where the enemy is currently stationed is actually the former riverbed. Since it's an old riverbed, the terrain certainly wouldn't be too high. As long as we build a dike upstream and release water, it will simulate the flood of previous years, and it will definitely wash the enemy into the old riverbed and drown them!"
I blinked. I hadn't expected Bingbing to have such a deep understanding of hydrology and geography!
"However... building a dike, how long would that take?" I frowned again. The problem was that the river was deep, swift, and wide. Building a dam on the Yangtze River using modern machinery took two years from the initial concrete pouring to the final closure. The underworld clearly lacked proper machinery, and the enemy wouldn't give us two years to control the water!
"No, no..." I still shook my head.
"Can you stop pondering here by yourself? Shouldn't you ask Zheng Baobao and the others? What if a dike can be built upstream, or even if there's an existing dam? Look at this mighty river, the water levels vary greatly between drought and flood. Perhaps someone in the underworld, with abilities like Yu the Great, has already built dams upstream!" Bingbing persisted.
I nodded. "You have a point. Let's go and ask!"
Since this matter might involve core military secrets, I didn't go directly to Zheng Baobao on the city gate tower. Instead, I sent the cavalry captain to invite her to the inn for a detailed discussion.
When I asked the question, Zheng Baobao visibly froze. "Oh, this strategy is brilliant! How did I not think of it?"
"So, is there a dam or not?" Bingbing asked.