Tibet

The workshop covers an area of ​​eighty acres. There are four to five hundred people coming and going, many of them are Taoist priests. Everyone is busy, and I don’t know what they are busy with.

Wu Shaocheng glanced coldly at everyone's face and hands. His eyes were very poisonous. He could tell who was a soldier at a glance.

"Excuse me, military advisor, where are the outsiders you recruited?"

Zhang Luanzi's heart moved. The other party didn't know how many people he had recruited?

It's right to think about it. If Wu Shaocheng knew that he had recruited a thousand people, he would have come to arrest them long ago.

"I told you that they are responsible for prospecting and mining. They went out to prospect for ore at dawn and will not come back until night."

"Why didn't the defenders see it?"

Zhang Luanzi sneered, "Your soldiers are sleeping in the morning, what can they see?"

The seven burning warehouses on the outside are all fodder warehouses. It doesn't matter whether they are saved or not. The key is to isolate the twenty grain warehouses inside from the burning fodder warehouses.

Zhang Luanzi suddenly realized, "That's it. How could it be such a coincidence? There happened to be a fire in the granary."

Wu Shaocheng was really anxious. He knew that his judgment was correct. There were already enemy spies in the city, but he didn't know where they were hiding?

It was already dusk, and it was no longer realistic to conduct a large-scale search of the city. Wu Shaocheng had no choice but to continue to issue a curfew. No one outside the army was allowed to take to the streets, and any offender would be shot.

Wu Shaocheng was immediately taken aback and cursed fiercely, "Asshole!"

Thousands of soldiers began to move quickly and wrapped the roof of the warehouse with quilts soaked in water. The walls of the warehouse were made of bricks, but the top was made of wood. As long as the roof of the warehouse was covered, it would basically not be ignited. .

Zhang Luanzi was dumbfounded, Zhang Dian smiled and said: "We are hiding in the warehouse, and the soldiers and armor have been brought back to the warehouse."

The strange thing is that there is no one in the room, and there are no beddings and the like. It seems to have returned to its original state. No wonder Wu Shaocheng didn't see the problem.

A group of soldiers were so scolded that they were trembling and did not dare to raise their heads.

At this time, the captain on duty came to report, "For the record, General, the arsonist lit the fire from outside."

"No leaks!"

Zhang Dian nodded silently, and then led his men out of the side door.

"This place has been abandoned. I plan to turn it into a firearms batching workshop."

The captain shook his head, and Wu Shaocheng was so angry that he yelled, "A bunch of useless cowards, raising pigs and dogs are more useful than you!"

But how could the fodder warehouse be set on fire? It was so heavily guarded and no one could come in. This puzzled Wu Shaocheng.

The Tang army mainly wore eagle-edge helmets, which were highly recognizable. Even at night, the difference could be seen at a glance.

Zhang Luanzi's heart was in his throat. A thousand people could be hiding here, and they would be over in one search.

Zhang Luanzi breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Fortunately, there was a fire in the granary just now and he left in a hurry, otherwise he would have searched carefully!"

At this time, Wu Shaocheng arrived. He looked at it for a moment and then ordered: "Don't save the warehouses on the outside. Isolate the warehouses inside!"

Wu Shaocheng left in a hurry with his men.

As soon as I came out, I encountered a patrol team of a hundred people.

The street was very quiet. They lined up on West Street. At the end of West Street was the West Gate.

The moat in Hefei is very wide, more than twenty feet wide. A stone bridge was built. There is no road at the end of the stone bridge. It is three feet away from the stone pier on the other side. You have to wait for the suspension bridge to be lowered.

Wu Shaocheng was about to let people go in to search, when a soldier came to report, "General, there is a fire in the granary!"

The grain warehouse located in the northwest corner of Hefei City was filled with thick smoke and raging flames. Thousands of soldiers were scooping water from the Cao River to put out the fire. Seven warehouses on the periphery burned into one piece.

Hearing that it was the ninth battalion, the captain stopped paying attention to them.

Outside the side gate is a short alley. The soldiers lined up in the short alley. Zhang Dian led a thousand soldiers towards the west gate.

"Ninth Battalion!"

It was past two o'clock. In the workshop, a thousand soldiers lined up neatly. They were all wearing the military uniforms of the Huaixi Army. In fact, the Huaixi Army's leather armor weapons were the same as those of the Tang Army, except for the slightly different helmet format. The Huaixi Army's soldiers There is an extra pair of horns on the helmet, which is a horned helmet.

Therefore, the importance of the suspension bridge is self-evident.

At this time, Zhang Luanzi hurriedly stepped forward and said to Zhang Dian: "The password tonight is watertight. If anyone asks, the general will say that he is from the ninth battalion."

Watching the other party's back go away, Zhang Luanzi breathed a long sigh of relief, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and then walked towards the house.

At this time, a group of people came to an abandoned compound. Wu Shaocheng looked around and asked, "Where is this?" "

"General, they were rockets. They were fired from at least a hundred steps away. More than a dozen rockets were shot on the roof of the No. 3 warehouse. They burned and fell into the warehouse. They didn't know what kind of incendiary agent it was. The firepower was particularly fierce."

"Who is it? Didn't you see it?"

"Is there anything special about the Ninth Battalion?"

But where are the people?

At this time, a pile of tattered tables and chairs against the wall were pushed away, revealing a large hole in the wall. Zhang Dian and a dozen of his men emerged from the hole.

As night fell, the city search operation that had been going on all afternoon finally calmed down. Although there was no longer a search, the atmosphere in Hefei City was still tense. Wu Shaocheng implemented the most severe curfew. Except for the troops on duty, anyone who took to the streets would be shot to death.

Ten thousand troops patrolled the streets and city walls, and patrol soldiers could be seen everywhere.

He didn't bother to search the room, and saluted Zhang Luanzi with his fists raised, "Excuse me!"

Wu Shaocheng fell silent. He only entered the wartime state at noon. He was really relaxed in the morning and he had nothing to say.

"The Ninth Battalion has just returned from Hezhou, and most people are not familiar with it."

So I heard it was the Ninth Battalion, and other patrol teams didn't want to pay attention to them.

Although these were dilapidated, Wu Shaocheng always felt that something was wrong, and his intuition told him that someone had stayed here.

Zhang Dian added: "Perhaps Wu Shaocheng will come again, so we will hide in the warehouse for the time being. Please ask the Taoist Master to prepare some dry food and water."

"Password!"

At this time, the 30,000 troops who came to Gui had arrived outside the west city, about one mile away from the moat, and were patiently waiting for the light of fire on the city top.

"It won't change before the fourth watch. When the guard changes during the fourth watch, the password will also change."

"Which battalion are you from?" the other captain asked again.

Zhang Dian said calmly, "What a coincidence. I sent two men to set fire to the granary and set fire to the fodder warehouse with gunpowder arrows." "

Wu Shaocheng walked in and took a look around, but did not enter the house. He just peeked inside the house through the broken window. There was a strong smell of mold and rot inside.

"Thank you very much!"

Zhang Luanzi nodded, "Don't worry! I will make arrangements."

The ninth battalion was originally the state soldiers of Hezhou, with a total of 3,000 people. It had a very low status in the army and was discriminated against by other armies. No one paid attention to them in peacetime.

This kind of internal and external coordination is easy to say and difficult to say. If the opponent has no defense and it is not a war, it will be very easy. There will only be a few people on duty at the city gate.

"General Zhang, be careful. I won't be able to help you next."

Zhang Dian nodded and asked, "Will the password be changed?"

Wu Shaocheng frowned, how could it be possible? Cangcheng has a moat and a city wall. The nearest warehouse is more than thirty steps away from the city wall. Even the outer perimeter is fifty steps away and cannot be reached by throwing a torch.

But if it is a wartime situation, and the number of city gate defenders has increased to hundreds, and they have not slept, closely observing the movements inside and outside the city, then it will be difficult to cooperate with the inside and outside to seize the city.

The time is getting closer to the third watch.