After losing the battle with Bo Ku, the army of Da Yi was forced to retreat to the Huolei City and temporarily closed the door to recuperate.

Throughout the morning, Leng Qingtang sat still in the camp, discussing with the generals about strategies to defend the enemy next time.

"D*mn it. The people of Bo Ku are really hypocritical. To win us, they released poisonous smoke before, and now they use the elephant herd. They always break the usual rules. How can we fight this battle?"

Guo Wei, the Hussar General of Qinghu Army, complained furiously. As soon as his body moved, his shoulder injury immediately broke out. The pain caused him to change his facial expression.

When fighting with the elephant herd, Lang Mucha was thrown off the horse by a trunk. To save her from being trampled into the mud by horses, Guo Wei’s left shoulder was pierced by an arrow from the enemy.

Wei Zhao, the general of the Northwest Army, furrowed his brows tightly at this moment. He stared straight at the table and nodded in agreement,

"Yes. We have been leading the army for many years in all kinds of places. But we have never seen a fight like this. Others use chariots while Bo Ku people use elephants."

"Those guys are ugly, seeming stupid but more ferocious than tigers. Even if they just roar a few times, our warhorses will shiver. How can we defeat them?"

Leng Qingtang's eyebrows were faint. His lowered gaze was indistinct and deep. He seemed to be deep in thought about something.

Lang Mucha looked around at everyone, her complexion slightly condensed, and then said,

"It was my men who lose the fight. I am here to say sorry to all of you."

The people of Tujia were simple and unadorned. When anything went wrong, they first thought of reviewing themselves.

Leng Qingtang looked up and saw her head wrapped in a wound band. His lips moved slightly, and he said bluntly,

"It wasn’t your fault, Madam Lang. You don't have to blame yourself. Since the enemy likes to play tricks, we also have to take an unusual path."

"I believe that things mutually reinforce while restraining each other. If the elephant herd can be used as a weapon on the battlefield, like the Kylin Smoke, there will always be a way to crack it. Now, our army just hasn't figured out a solution, so we don't have to worry about it. "

Xue Feng, the general of Yan Yi, scratched his chin, and looked at Leng Qingtang with soliciting eyes,

"Now that the army retreats to Huolei City, can we ask the residents? They have grown up in the northern line of Bo Ku for generations, and they might know something."

Leng Qingtang slowly narrowed his eyes,

"I have just sent soldiers to look for insiders. I believe that clues will be received soon, and the time is urgent. I received the news at dawn that Lang Huan's team had successfully laid an ambush in the dangerous valley of the Moro Mountains. Madam Lang, your son is really good!"

Lu Mucha looked excited, and her mouth was half-opened. She took a deep breath and finally felt a trace of peace in her heart.

She saw Leng Qingtang sit the opposite, calmly stretch his eyebrows, and smile lightly. He looked at everyone present with gleaming eyes and said,

"So, we must hurry up. If we take a slow step, it will be difficult to cooperate with Madam Yaoguang's action in Qingche City, which will fail the entire plan."

"Before we find someone who knows something, you should take care of your injuries. At this time, we must not easily shake the morale of our army "

...

It was getting dark. A soldier led an old man into the barracks. The soldier told Leng Qingtang that this man came to the barracks on his initiative, and he could provide useful clues for breaching the elephant herd.

The man was over sixty years old. He was slow to move but his spirit was hale and hearty. He put down the basket tremblingly and slowly bent over to salute the generals.

Leng Qingtang thought of his age, waved hands, and said,

"Forget about the formalities. Let the elderly sit."

The old man grinned in gratitude. The wrinkles on his face stacking like dry tree bark suddenly stretched a lot.

After sitting down, the old man spoke with incoherent Chinese. Hearing this, everyone at the table frowned tightly. Seeing this, the old man became a little anxious and began to talk with gestures in the native dialect that they could not understand.

At this time, Lang Mucha stood up. She raised her eyebrows, full of joy,

"This old man can only understand Chinese, but he can’t speak Chinese fluently. I understand the local dialect of the Wa Family, so let me be the interpreter."

Then, after the old man finished speaking a paragraph, Lang Mucha began to interpret it,

"My name is Da Suo. My family and I live in the east of Huolei City. As early as in the days before the four cities of the northern line of Bo Ku were brought into the territory of the imperial court, my grandfather was conscripted by the Bo Ku army to be an elephant trainer. He was responsible for feeding and dispersing the elephant herd."

"According to my grandfather, most of the elephants in Bo Ku are brown elephants, which are domesticated from wild elephants and can be driven by the army at will. In Bo Ku, all-white elephant species are the scarcest, and they belong to the nobles."

"In the Bo Ku army, there are twenty brown elephants in one group, which are controlled by special trainers through music. The primitive nature of the brown elephant determines that once they are exposed to certain irritations, they can instantly destroy an army of thousands of people."

"Regardless of their burly stature, they have natural enemies. The creature that can make elephants feel intimidated is the ant, the most inconspicuous animal in ordinary people's eyes. "

After Lang Mucha finished translating, Wei Zhao, the Hussar General, slapped his thigh with anxiety,

"Come on. It's total nonsense. The elephant is as strong as a mountain, and an ant is like a louse or flea to it. How can an ant be a threat to an elephant?"

The old man instantly understood Wei Zhao's words. He laughed, revealing his yellow teeth that almost fell out of his mouth.

Then, he asked Lang Mucha to continue interpreting,

"Even though the elephant is big, the most vulnerable part is its brain. An ant only needs to penetrate the elephant's long trunk into its brain and can destroy its central nervous system, causing the elephant to immediately paralyze or die."

"Therefore, when elephants use their trunks to eat leaves, they will immediately turn around and run away if they see ants crawling on the tree. "

The words of the old man seemed to be a timely rain in the dry season, suddenly enlightening everyone.

Leng Qingtang looked overjoyed. He immediately asked someone to take a few silvers and awarded them to the old man.

The old man had never seen the heavy silver ingots. He was stunned for a while before he knelt on the ground for gratitude.

He repeatedly chanted words that the Han people didn't understand. And the translation was roughly like "Bodhisattva descends to the earth" and "True God bless" and other words of gratitude.

After Madam Lang held him back on the chair, he went on to say something about the decisive victory over the Bo Ku elephant herd:

Rushandao, a kind of herb.

It was a highly poisonous herbal medicine that grew on the cliff in the southwest of Dian Yun. A plant of it was enough to poison an elephant.

The old man once heard his grandfather mention that. At that time, when the trainer failed to train elephants, they treated those wild brown elephants with spears tempered with the herb juice. After the spear pierced the elephant's skin, the elephant would fall to the ground and die within a short time.

When Lang Mucha finished interpreting, Leng Qingtang was calm, and a gleam of light broke through his narrow eyes.

He looked at the bamboo basket beside the old man's feet and asked curiously,

"Can I ask what do you do with this basket of tender grass?"

The old man replied, and Lang Mucha quickly interpreted,

"Go home and feed the cows. The cows love to eat this sweet grass."

Leng Qingtang frowned and doubted,

"Are there many people raising cows in Huolei City?"

The old man nodded and said to Lang Mucha. After hearing this, Lang Mucha said to Leng Qingtang,

"The old man said that every family here has at least two cows."

Leng Qingtang pursed his lips and thought of something. Then, he got up and walked closer to the old man, cupping his hands,

"Thank you for your advice. I will ask someone to send you home. If we have any questions next time, we'll ask you for advice."

Leng Qingtang called a soldier to carry the basket for the old man and sent the old man out of the barracks. Then, Leng Qingtang continued to discuss with everyone.

Lang Mucha asked,

"Master, have you got a good idea?"

Leng Qingtang smiled, his eyes swaying,

"We must hurry up in the face of powerful enemies. We can enlist the residents to pick up the herb, and then pay them a good price. The more they pick, the more they earn. Once we collect enough poisonous weeds, we can do the same as the Bo Ku trainers did to poison our spears. When we get the news from Madam Yaoguang in Qingche City, our army can directly go to Xuede City. We gather ants in front of our army queue and the soldiers will stand on the chariot with spears."

"Once the elephant herd fights with our army, the soldiers will use spears to shoot off the elephants. And, I’ll send a chariot of people who focus on the trainers. In this way, the elephant array can be broken! "

Wei Zhao scratched his sweat-soaked scalp and puzzled,

"How can we let ants listen to us and gather together?"

Leng Qingtang looked purposeful. At this moment, he had already thought of the incident of ants gathering in the palace. A beautiful arc appeared at his lower jaw, and then he said,

"When the time comes, we melt some caramel and sprinkle it in front of the team."

Wei Zhao was taken aback for a moment, and then he patted his forehead and shouted,

"Wonderful!"

"Okay!"

"You're really good at decision-making, Master."

The generals all applauded.

Xue Feng said excitedly,

"I'm going to tell them. And, let them gather people who can climb cliffs and pick the herb."

Liu Mucha echoed joyfully,

"I will also take soldiers there. My soldiers know how to communicate with them. Furthermore, we only need a guide to tell us the characteristics of the herb, and we can also help pick them back."

Guo Wei smiled brilliantly,

"Master, you're wise. Our army will take advantage of this period to prepare for the next war and wait for the news of Madam Yaoguang. This time, we must take the last two cities and defeat the Bo Ku army completely!"

Liu Wenlong, the platoon leader of Imperial Guards, cupped his hands to Leng Qingtang,

"As long as the elephant array is broken, our army can directly rush into Xuede City. Imperial Guards is willing to be a pioneer to open a bloody path for the army."

Leng Qingtang smiled and shook his head,

"We don't need manpower. This time I will give them a taste of their own medicine. They have elephants, but we have bulls."