Chapter 64: Infiltration

  On May 4th, at dawn, Di Lie entered Luan City with Ah Shi, Gao Liang and a guide from Tianping Stockade.

  Although Luan City is a county town, it has a long history. In the Spring and Autumn period, Jin Guozhong Junyuanyuanshuai, Zhengqing Luan Shu (posthumous title Wuzi) was enfeoffed here, built as Luan Yi, West Han set up Guanxian County, to East Han changed set up Luan Chengxian. After that, it has been abolished and re-established many times, until the Song Dynasty, it can be considered fixed.

  When the Jin army invaded the south, the county magistrate of Wan City did not resist much and abandoned the city to escape. The city was later occupied by the Jin army. Due to the small number of soldiers and horses in the Jin army's southern invasion, it was difficult to capture a city and occupy it at the same time. Moreover, the intention of the Jin country's southern expedition was only to plunder wealth, without the intention of occupying the entire territory of the Song Dynasty. Therefore, every time the Jin army captured a city, the most common thing they did was to dismantle the city walls and destroy the defenses. In this way, even if it was later occupied by the Song army again, it could not be defended. In the eyes of the Jin army, the Song army without city wall protection was no different from a group of ducks.

  However, the situation in this city is different. This county is only a few dozen miles away from Zhending Prefecture and is the southern gate of this large Song Dynasty's western Henan stronghold, with a strategically important location. Therefore, the Jin army did not tear down the city walls like other towns, but instead dispatched a new auxiliary army to garrison it.

  Therefore, Ah Lang chose this place to stop and wait for reinforcements.

  The reinforcements did not arrive in Luan City until April 26, which was the entire Eastern Route Army of the Jin army. The banners and flags were fluttering, covering the sun and sky, with tens of thousands of people stretching endlessly. The vanguard had already arrived at Luan City, while the rear team was still more than 100 miles away in Gaoyi. Of course, at this time, Ah Lan no longer needed reinforcements.

  However, the Jin army did not enter Luan City to rest, because the city of Zhending was already in sight. Moreover, these hundreds of thousands of people and horses were not something that a small county town could accommodate.

  The army merely glanced at the nearly hundred bloody heads hanging on the city gate, then bypassed the city. Ah Lang's 3,000 troops and their escorted personnel and supplies remained in Luan City as a rearguard. Only after the main army had rested and left the north of Zhending would Ah Lang's army be able to move.

  This Jin army general, who had just been praised by Zong Wang for his great victory in the four directions, did not know that this stay would mean he could never leave again...

  When Di Lie and the other three entered the city, they also saw those swollen and deformed heads. Gao Liang and the others from Tianping Village were all filled with grief and indignation, as many of these severed heads belonged to people they knew. Fortunately, Liu Tieshuan's head was not among them, but it was said that his death was even more tragic - his corpse had been trampled by horses into a pulp.

  Since Di Lie arrived in this era, he had seen many corpses along the way, and even turned many living people into corpses with his own hands. However, that was on the battlefield, where life and death were inevitable. But now, hanging over a hundred human heads at the city gate for all to see, the cruel and nauseating visual impact made Di Lie, who was used to seeing bloodshed, unable to hold back a wave of nausea. A sense of resentment arose in his heart, and now he had an even more compelling reason to pull the trigger!

  Although the Taixing Righteous Army was defeated ten days ago and no longer posed a threat to the Jin army in Luan City, the inspection upon entering the city was still very strict. Fortunately, before departure, the guide from Pingzhai had mentioned it, so except for A Shi carrying a small knife for cutting meat on his body, basically nothing suspicious was found, except... the sniper rifle in the gun box.

  Di Lie calmly opened the gun box, revealing the exquisite components inside. He smiled at the city gate guards and said, "This is a clever device passed down in my family, quite interesting, what do you gentlemen think?"

  Those city gate guards each took a part in their hands, turning it over and examining it for half a day. Apart from thinking that this iron device was exquisite, they couldn't figure out its purpose (they wouldn't be able to unless they also traveled through time and went to the future). Although these guards didn't understand what this thing was, this beautiful steel device with smooth lines and dazzling colors was something everyone liked when they saw it.

  Di Lie saw the greedy look in the eyes of the guards at the city gate, so he quickly took out a string of copper coins and handed them over, which dispelled the guards' greed. They returned the sniper rifle parts to him and waved their hands to let him go.

  Arts had seen Diligent assemble the gun, of course he knew what it was. Before that, his expression had been very tense, tightly grasping the knife. Until Diligent calmly put the parts back in the box and re-shouldered it, Arts secretly let out a breath of relief.

  It was the first time he had seen this thing highlighted, although he was also very curious, but at this time he was being stimulated by the beheaded in front of the city gate, his mood was bad, and he didn't have the thought to ask.

  Di Lie chose these three people to act together for a reason. The guide from Tianping Village was from Shiyuan Town, more than ten miles northwest of Lancheng City, and was very familiar with Lancheng City. This local snake was indispensable for Di Lie's upcoming action. Gao Liang was the liaison between Tianping Village and the crowd, playing a coordinating role. As for A Shi... he could serve as a scout during the operation, and more importantly, A Shi was the only one who knew the target of this operation - Ah Lan.

  Ashu was originally another high-ranking general of the Golden Army, Genghis Khan's personal bodyguard, and Genghis Khan had a good private relationship with Ashu, so Ashu had met Aladdin several times and recognized his appearance, which is especially important. If you want to assassinate someone, but don't know what they look like, how can you kill them? So Ashu's role was the most crucial.

  After the four entered the city, the guide arranged for Di Lie and others to stay in a civilian house in the north of the city. This place was the residence of the guide's uncle, who was a widower with a lame leg. The house was old and simple, and usually only had his uncle living there. Now, with four more people added, it was inevitable that it would be a bit crowded. However, for Di Lie, this really wasn't anything. He had been in this era for almost a month now, and at least half of that time had been spent camping outdoors. No matter how poor the conditions were, they were still much better than sleeping under the stars outside.

  Di Lie observed the surrounding terrain and understood the patrol situation nearby, and was quite satisfied with this temporary hiding place.

  After repeated confirmation, Ah Lang usually stays in the military camp in the south of the city and rarely appears in public view. This means that if action is to be taken, it can only be done at the military camp.

  Half an hour later, Di Lie and his three men appeared in front of the military camp at the south city school grounds.

  This campus was originally the training ground for the garrison troops of Luan City during the Song Dynasty. The site is not small, roughly equivalent to one and a half modern football fields. In the southwest, there is also an old military campsite, mostly earth houses, which have been damaged beyond recognition.

  The national policy of the Great Song has always been to strengthen the strong and weaken the weak. The best equipment, the best weapons, and the best troops are all concentrated in the Imperial Guard in Bianjing. As for the local troops and militia, they are all stepmothers... no, second wives who don't even let you hold a hoe, let alone go into battle.

  Under such a national policy, the combat effectiveness of local troops can be imagined. This school field basically became a decoration, only when superiors came to inspect, they would pull out these third-rate troops to make a show, and it was enough to respond to their superiors.

  Before the Jin army entered, the south campus was a desolate and overgrown with weeds. After the Jin army of 3,000 soldiers and nearly 10,000 captured people and livestock arrived, every day you could see the Jin soldiers running horses, shooting targets, and wielding swords on the campus. As a result, the campus was trampled, the grass was flattened, and the mud was compacted, restoring its original appearance.

  It was originally a training ground for the Song army, but it was abandoned and unused by the Song people. Now that the Jin army has taken up residence, it has truly restored its original function. This is nothing short of a huge irony for the Song people.

  Jin Jun's defense of the military camp was very strict. Within a radius of two miles outside the camp, no idle person was allowed to approach. Outside the camp, another circle of moat with a width of one zhang and a depth of six feet was dug, and there were also deer thorns and anti-cavalry barriers set up on the outer side. These military facilities left behind for defense against the possible attack of Taihang Righteous Army made those who dared to sneak into the camp sigh and retreat in disarray.

  Gao Liang and the guide looked at each other with a helpless expression, then glanced at Di Lie's emotionless face. After a moment of thought, Gao Liang stepped forward and said, "The defense of this military camp is extremely strict, and Ah Lang is also extremely cautious. I'm afraid we'll have to wait until he leaves the camp to inspect the city defenses before making our move."

  At this time, the guide poured a basin of cold water: "Gao Touling has something to know, there is a special soldier's corridor in the south school field of the city, which leads directly to the south gate tower. If you need to patrol, you don't have to go through the streets at all. And within a few hundred feet on both sides of this corridor, it's all open fields, without any shelter or cover. I'm afraid that people will be discovered by the Jin army's sentry outside the corridor even if they are still hundreds of steps away, let alone getting close. If not, Fu Dazhai could have chosen to take action when Ah Lang was on patrol, and didn't need to send out elite troops to forcefully break into the Jinwu military camp."

  Gao Liang was stunned for half a day, and sighed: "So to speak, Guan Da Ge's plan really won't work? I borrowed a Ma Huang crossbow from Meng Wei Da Ge before I came, and had my men think of a way to send it into the city tomorrow..."

  Di Lie hesitated for a moment before saying resolutely: "Let's go take a look at that tunnel."

  The guide said that the Yongdao was not far away, and the four of them walked around the outer wall of the military camp for less than half an hour, hiding behind the trees and bushes. As they approached slowly, they vaguely saw that the wall had many cracks and gaps, and the surface was covered with various green plants.

  Di Lie took a rough measurement, comparing the nearby stockade with the distant earth wall, and estimated that the wall was about one zhang high, plus the foundation of the wall was higher than the surrounding terrain. It can be said that hiding in this place is basically unable to see the situation behind the wall.

  Di Lie carefully observed the surrounding terrain, and indeed as the guide had said, within a range of about one kilometer on both sides of the path, it was all flat fields and ridges, with an extremely open view. It was just after Qingming Festival, when the wheat should have been waving like waves in the fields, but instead there were only sparse and scattered wheat seedlings, looking like this year would likely be a barren year.

  Seeing such a terrain, even Ah Shi, who knew Di Lie's killer move, was discouraged and shook his head: "At such a distance, with the embankment blocking the way, you can't even see people, let alone assassinate? Master, no one can do this job, we'd better..."

  Di Lie's gaze swept around and suddenly pointed to the side rear, saying: "Is that... a stone pagoda?"

  The guide pointed in the direction, took a look and nodded: "That is a Buddhist pagoda built by the Wei people during the Northern Dynasty. Originally, the tower was five stories high and four feet off the ground. The stone wall outside the tower also carved more than ten Buddhist classics. Unfortunately, later, the city of Luan was at war, surrounded by foreign enemies for several months, arrows were exhausted, only to throw stones to defend against the enemy. In the situation where all the stones were thrown out, they dismantled the pagoda to take the stone... but the pagoda was only dismantled halfway, and the city fell. The old people all said that it was because of the arbitrary movement of the pagoda, offending the gods, which made the city fall..."

  The guide, being a local, started talking about the past dynasty's anecdotes and couldn't stop. Di Lie Sheng was afraid he would go on forever and had to interrupt him, saying: "I just want to know, can that broken tower hide people?"

  The guide was stunned for a moment, gazing at the distant broken tower and then looking back at Di Lie. He swallowed his saliva and chuckled: "This brother wants... to hide in the tower and wait for an opportunity to strike? I'm afraid that won't work."

  Di Lie frowned and said: "Why? Can't a person hide in that stone tower?"

  "That's not it." The guide looked at Di Lie with an incredulous gaze, almost unable to speak, "The remaining tower is still over two stories high, 2.6 meters above the ground, and hiding there can barely see the situation behind the corridor. Only... that broken tower is a full three miles away from the corridor, what can you do hiding there?"

  Di Lie seemed to have not heard the guide's words and continued to ask: "I just want to know, can that tower hide people inside?"

  "Of course! I used to crawl in and play when I was a kid. Although there are many broken walls and rocks piled up inside the tower, it's still no problem hiding five or six people." The guide said with certainty.

  "That's settled then." Di Lie made a swift decision, "From now on, I'll be staying in the tower with Ah Shu. Gao Liang, you go back and prepare five days' worth of rations and water for us, plus two fur blankets - hopefully before our supplies run out, we'll have the good fortune to meet this noble gentleman."