A shop on South Street was surrounded by hundreds of soldiers. The soldiers rushed in and soon escorted the shopkeeper and several clerks out. Several soldiers carried out a large cage with five or six pigeons in it.
The shopkeeper was pushed to the ground and tied up behind his back by the soldiers. He was so frightened that his face turned pale. He faced down and cried loudly: "I didn't let the pigeons go, I just fed them, and they accidentally ran away!"
At this time, Hu Yantong hurried over with his soldiers. Gritting his teeth with hatred, he rushed forward and kicked the shopkeeper twice.
"How did I tell you that all pigeons must be handed over for supervision? How dare you keep them privately?"
The shopkeeper howled like a slaughtered pig, "I don't dare anymore, you villain! I don't dare anymore! Please spare my life!"
Hu Yantong pointed at him and said sternly: "I suspect you are a Xixia spy, search thoroughly for me!"
Chen Qing walked over slowly. He looked at the shopkeeper and several waiters. Their faces were all pale with fear. There was only fear in their eyes, not panic. His intuition was that he was not a Xixia spy, but he did not interfere, but watched Hu Yantong's handling.
.
Not long after, the head of the capital came out and reported, "To General Huyan, we found nothing suspicious. It's just an ordinary grocery store."
At this time, Chen Qing saw that something was wrong. The profits of grocery stores were very low, and they were usually mom-and-pop stores. How could there be three clerks in this store? Also, what was the purpose of raising homing pigeons in a grocery store? And it was just for feeding, how could the pigeons run away?
Dropped? There is obviously a feeding port on the pigeon cage!
"General Huyan!" Chen Qing shouted.
Hu Yantong quickly stepped forward and saluted, "Please give me your orders!"
"Send someone to notify the internal guards to come over!"
There are also 100 people in the Internal Guard Battalion in Longxi County, led by deputy commander Cheng Deng.
Before Hu Yantong could send anyone, Cheng Deng led a hundred of his men and ran over. He knelt down on one knee and saluted, "For your humble position, please see the commander-in-chief!"
Chen Qing said slowly: "This store is a bit suspicious. The grocery store actually employs three clerks and keeps homing pigeons. You are the internal guards. You are responsible for searching. Every corner is not allowed to be spared!"
"I humbly obey orders!"
Cheng Deng waved his hand and led dozens of soldiers into the store, while the remaining soldiers were checking outside.
The shopkeeper was still howling, but a flash of panic flashed in his eyes, which Chen Qing keenly caught.
Chen Qing became even more suspicious. He looked at the shops on both sides. There was a cloth shop on the left and a snack bar on the right, but the doors were closed.
Generally speaking, there are many people coming and going on the front street. If there is a problem, it is easy to find. There will definitely be no problem with the shops on both sides. If there is a problem, it must be behind it.
Chen Qing said to one of the internal guards: "You lead a dozen brothers to check on the neighbors behind him."
"Obey the order!" Dutou rushed away with twenty soldiers.
The panic in the shopkeeper's eyes became more obvious, and even several of the waiters began to act abnormally, and the uneasiness in their eyes could clearly be seen.
Soon, Cheng Deng discovered that there was a tunnel in the woodshed in the backyard that led to the house next door. The house next door was an ordinary private house that had been uninhabited all year round.
Cheng Deng walked quickly with a stack of documents, and the soldiers behind him were holding bundles of weapons.
"To report to the capital, this was discovered next door. This grocery store turns out to be the intelligence point of the Puppet Qi in Longxi County."
It was really interesting that it was Pseudo Qi's intelligence point. Chen Qing looked at the shopkeeper, who was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground and did not dare to say a word.
The internal guards took away the shopkeeper and the waiters and sealed the shop.
Hu Yantong stepped forward with a face full of shame, "If everyone hadn't been vigilant, they would have almost slipped through the net again."
"This is because they have exposed themselves. Flying doves at this time is obviously to convey information!"
"But homing pigeons don't carry information!"
Chen Qing smiled lightly, "Sometimes you don't need to bring any information. The carrier pigeon itself is the intelligence. For example, this carrier pigeon has different messages from other pigeons. When the other party sees this carrier pigeon, they will know that Chen Qing is in Longxi County.
Another example is the ring on the pigeon's foot, which may be evidence of a pre-arranged appointment. When you see this ring, you know that Chen Qing is leading the main force in Longxi County. In short, this pigeon did not escape accidentally, but was released with a purpose."
"I understand. I will search the whole city again. I will never allow a homing pigeon or a homing eagle to slip through the net!"
Chen Qing nodded and said: "The information about my army in Longxi is very important. If Cao Baozong learns about it, he will probably lead the main force to attack Chengji County. At that time, we will be passive, so no matter what, we are not allowed to have any
The fish that slipped through the net include homing pigeons and Xixia people.”
Hu Yantong bowed and saluted, "I humbly obey my orders!"
There are many ways to convey information to the outside world, and it does not necessarily rely entirely on homing pigeons and eagles. For example, shooting three gunpowder arrows into the sky at night is also a way of transmitting information, which requires that all Xixia people be controlled.
This time, Hu Yantong adopted a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, he sent people to conduct house-to-house searches, and on the other hand, he offered a large reward: 'Those who report hiding homing pigeons or eagles will be rewarded 300 guan, and those who report Xixia people who have not been quarantined will be rewarded 500 guan.'
Cao Baozong didn't know the information that Chen Qing had led his army into Longxi County. He thought that Chen Qing's army set out on the fifth day of February. He had better capture Longxi County before Chen Qing's army arrived and recapture 100,000 jins of crude silver.
, and cut off the connection between the Song Army and Lintao and Hezhou.
Therefore, Cao Baozong was so anxious that he originally planned to rest his army in Tongxi County for two days, but he only rested for half a day before requesting to set off. The 50,000-strong army marched toward Longxi County, 130 miles away, with a baggage convoy.
The baggage mainly consists of siege weapons such as trebuchets and siege ladders. Food is not urgent. Xinqing City, eighty miles away to the south, has 50,000 shi of food, which is enough to support the army for two months.
Just as Xixia's 50,000-strong army marched south, Song Army scout Lin Tao, who was hiding near Tongxi City, immediately sent several of his men to rush eastward.
At this time, the 10,000 cavalry led by Yang Zaixing and Liu Qiong were forty miles east of Tongxi County. According to Chen Qing's deployment, they needed to capture Tongxi County after the enemy's main force moved south, but they could not act too hastily.
In a forest, Yang Zaixing and Liu Qiong were discussing how to capture Tongxi County.
Liu Qiong smiled and said: "One of my subordinates actually knows Tongxi County better!"
He turned back to his soldiers and said, "Go quickly and find the deputy commander Tang Qian!"
Not long after, Tang Qian hurried over. He had been promoted to deputy commander based on his merits and officially became an effective general under Liu Qiong.
"For humble positions, see Commander Liu, and see Commander Yang!"
Commanders are also divided into three levels, superior commanders, commanders and deputy commanders. Yang Zaixing, Zheng Ping and Yang Yuanqing are the superior commanders. Liu Cui, Liu Qiong and Niu Gao are known as the three Lius and are all commanders. Gaoding and Huyantong are deputy commanders. This
After the First World War, it was time for Yang Zaixing to be promoted to deputy commander.
Yang Zaixing smiled slightly and said: "General Liu said that you know the situation in Tongxi County very well. Can you briefly explain it?"
Tang Qian hesitated and said: "The Tongxi County that I know is different from the current Tongxi County. I heard that all the houses have been demolished and the city walls have been repaired. I can't say anything more."
Yang Zaixing shook his head, "To build the city wall, you need to use soil to burn bricks, but there are no trees near Tongxi County. How to burn them? They must use bricks from demolished houses. Do you think there are many bricks in the houses in the city?"
Tang Qian shook his head, "Most of them have mud walls, and there are very few brick houses!"
"That's right. Since there are not many bricks and stones, the Xixia people can only simply repair it and replace the damaged parts. The city wall itself will not change."
Tang Qian pondered for a moment and said: "The entire city wall is very decayed, especially the north wall. It has been eroded by wind and sand, and the city bricks are the most decayed. I say it is useless now. You can go and check it yourself to see the extent of the decay!
"
Yang Zaixing smiled happily and said: "If you can capture Tongxi County, I will give you a great credit!"
