Ma Mu, the city guard of Metasequoia City, is currently standing on Tianquan Street, struggling to direct the baggage carriages going to and from the city.
At this moment, the entire Metasequoia City was completely mobilized. Every business seemed to be going to do some big business. Everything that could be used for fighting was poured out of the warehouses like flowing water, loaded into trucks, and shipped; ordinary people He went out to work and offered help, assisting the defenders in carrying supplies.
In the Ghost Desert of Western Xinjiang, horse bandits are undoubtedly the biggest public enemy.
And horse bandits like the Ghost League can destroy cities and villages at every turn, which is hated by everyone.
As long as they can resist the invasion of the Ghost Alliance and keep the peace of their homes, people will not hesitate to pay no matter how high the price is.
Ma Mu had been standing on the street busy for a long time and was already exhausted and sweating profusely. At this moment, he suddenly saw Li Jiangyao coming towards him with a few officers in a distance. He couldn't help but rush to meet him: "Colonel Sir Wei, are the horse bandits coming?"
Li Jiangyao waved his hand: "Not yet! I have just sent out horse scouts to guard all directions outside the city. If the ghost alliance horse bandits come, they will know in advance."
With that said, he stretched out his hand to pull Ma Mu to a secluded place on the roadside, and whispered: "Have any new faces come into the city recently?"
"Unfamiliar face?" Ma Mu was confused by his question: "Metasequoia City is an important trade town, stretching from China to the east and Persia to the west. It is estimated that there are tens of thousands of merchants coming and going here every day. You are talking about a strange face. …”
Li Jiangyao secretly cursed himself for being confused, and quickly changed his explanation: "Are there any caravans who speak with a Chechi accent and behave slightly suspiciously?"
Ma Mu was still a little embarrassed: "There are too many, so I didn't pay much attention."
Time was running out, Li Jiangyao grabbed Ma Mu's collar anxiously: "Are there people from the government office here? Will they pay attention?"
Ma Mu was frightened by his appearance and said, "Yes, yes, Qiao Xi, the trade officer of the Government Department, is responsible for registering caravan information and randomly checking prohibited goods. He may know something! Sir, please let go first, I will send someone immediately Someone call him here!”
In less than a meal, the defenders led a shrewd and capable Shengtang official who looked to be in his thirties and ran over. When the official was far away, he stepped in and saluted: "Master Xiaowei, my humble position is Qiao Xi, an official stationed in Metasequoia from the Government and Municipal Affairs Bureau."
Li Jiangyao nodded in return, and then asked Qiao Xi the question he just asked. Qiao Xi listened carefully and frowned slightly: "In the past few days... well, there seem to be two larger groups of Chechi caravans that have entered the city in the past few days, with the number of people being around forty or fifty. Among them One way is the silk merchants from Liangzhou, I recognize their handlers, they are old acquaintances. The other is from Persia, they mainly sell Persian carpets and silverware, but they are all new faces."
He pondered for a moment, then added: "Moreover, their actions are indeed somewhat unusual."
Li Jiangyao: "What an unusual method?"
Qiao Xi: "Well...if it were normal times, it wouldn't be a big problem. In the past, caravans from Persia usually stayed at the Hu Shang Inn next to the market. Be a little more particular. Well, just walk a few more steps and choose the Persian Guild Hall not far away. Because these two places are concentrated with business travelers traveling between Persia and China, it is convenient for everyone to make friends and travel together, so they all stay there. But the group of people I'm talking about, after placing their carriages and horses in the market, went straight to the Shahai Inn, which is three blocks away, and it's not too far."
Hearing this, Li Jiangyao smiled faintly: "If I guessed correctly, that Shahai Inn should be very close to a certain gate of Metasequoia City."
Ma Mu answered from the side: "That's right, next to Shahai Inn is the North Gate of Metasequoia."
Li Jiangyao's eyes showed a cold light: "I dare to conclude that these businessmen are probably spies of the Ghost Alliance. However, in order not to let a bad person go, nor to wrongly accuse a good person, I still need to go and investigate in person. Lin Feng , you go back and continue commanding the defense of the city, and be prepared for the possibility that the other side will use siege weapons; Lao Du, you lead two hundred brothers, wearing only light leather armor, and bring axes and hard crossbows for close combat. Arrive secretly at the Shahai Inn and wait for my order. Lord Mamu, please command the garrison of Metasequoia City and help us clear the streets near the north gate and keep a close eye on all intersections!"
Ma Mu was a little worried: "Sir, would it be too dangerous for you to go in person? Otherwise..."
Lin Feng tugged on Ma Mu's sleeve: "Don't say any more, we are Pegasus scouts. The captain is doing something wrong. No one can stop us."
When the sky was just getting dark, the scouts who were out exploring the enemy's situation reported that they had found traces of a large number of horse bandits ten miles outside the city. The bandits did not stop and were heading straight towards Metasequoia City. Their number was close to tens of thousands, and they also brought with them many large weapons used to attack the city.
Suddenly, the alarm bells blared in the city, and everyone in Metasequoia suddenly became nervous.
Lin Feng quickly ordered the soldiers of the Zhenjiang Protectorate and the local garrison to get everyone in their positions, ready to fight against the Ghost Alliance horse bandits.
At this moment, Li Jiangyao quietly came to the roof of Shahai Inn.
The location where he is located is an independent guest house. There is a circle of flat-roofed wing rooms built around it, and a relatively spacious courtyard is enclosed in the middle. There are grape trellises in the courtyard, which is a typical Western Xinjiang style.
In front of the door of the small courtyard, several sturdy men were guarding and looking around with alert expressions.
Li Jiangyao was sneaking around on the roof, sometimes lying down and listening to the various movements around him, sometimes suddenly jumping up on the spot and changing his position quickly, as agile as a civet cat.
Not long after, he came to the main room of the small courtyard silently.
Li Jiangyao looked around carefully and saw nothing unusual. Then he ducked to the side of the roof facing the outside of the courtyard, hooked his feet on the eaves, and slowly hung his body upside down.
Through the open window on the wall, Li Jiangyao peeked into the room.
At this time, the setting sun had completely set, and it was completely dark outside. Several oil lamps were lit in the main room of the small courtyard, and the indoor light flickered.
Seven or eight men were sitting together in a group, talking in low voices.
The leader, a strong man with a red scar on his face, said: "It seems that that bastard Mamu is going to resist. Fortunately, my elder brother had the foresight to send us into the city early."
Everyone around them nodded in agreement, and one of his subordinates joked: "Yes, as long as we wait until the third update tonight, we will definitely be able to give that reckless guy a big surprise, hahaha."
The scar-faced man raised his hand to silence everyone: "According to brother's arrangement, tonight, Chidun, you take a dozen brothers and set fires everywhere in the city to mess up their positions. The rest of you will follow me and take advantage of the situation." Go down to the north gate and welcome the main force outside to enter the city. If everything goes well, we can have a good time in the second half of the night."
After hearing what he said, the horse bandits immediately understood what he meant, and evil smiles appeared on their faces.
The horse bandit named Chidun asked: "Brother Hai, at noon, a team from the Protectorate Palace entered Metasequoia City. Is it something bad?"
The scar-faced man shook his head disdainfully: "It doesn't matter, it's just an extra dish for us. The small Zhenjiang Protector's Mansion can't get in my eyes when I come to the sea! Let's take Metasequoia City tonight, and tomorrow If I follow my eldest brother to retake Che Chi, it won’t be a problem to protect the governor’s mansion!”
A horse bandit next to him hurriedly boasted: "That's right, Brother Hai is one of the top masters in the Ghost Desert of Western Xinjiang. It's absolutely trivial to deal with a few Tang barbarians."
Hearing this, Chidun didn't say anything more. He and Lai Hai and other companions carefully discussed tonight's actions. He had no idea that there was someone outside the room who heard everything clearly.
Li Jiangyao, who put on an armored military uniform, calmly walked up to the east wall of Metasequoia City. Lin Feng saw him and quickly ran over to report to him the latest situation of the ghost alliance horse bandits outside the city.
Li Jiangyao looked calm: "How is it? There's nothing going on, right?"
Lin Feng nodded: "Boss, when the horse bandits arrived here just now, they just set up a formation outside the east gate, but there was no sign of the enemy at the other three gates. They ran over and started to fight with their teeth and claws, but I knocked them down from a distance with my bow and arrow. After a few attacks, he became angry and launched two attacks on the city. However, the scale was not too large, and it was mainly testing. Fortunately, you told us in advance that we should be prepared to deal with siege weapons. So I placed a large amount of stones and kerosene every fifty steps on the city wall. Boss, look over there, one of the city ramming vehicles that the horse bandits wanted to use to hit the city gate fell into the In the dug pit, it was hit by a jar of kerosene and burned."
At this time, Li Jiangyao had overheard the plan of the Ghost Alliance horse bandits from Laihai, and knew that the other party was deliberately feinting to show weakness in order to paralyze the defenders. They would wait until the third watch tonight, with the cooperation of spies in the city, to dispatch the main force to attack Metasequoia City launched a real onslaught.
Looking at the city rushing vehicle that was burned to black charcoal in the distance, an idea suddenly came to Li Jiangyao's head, and he turned to Ma Mu next to him: "When I came here just now, I saw a lot of people at the Beimen Stone Quarry. Big bluestone, right?”
Ma Mu said: "Yes, that's what the city is preparing to expand the Huashen Temple."
Li Jiangyao smiled: "Since there is no expansion yet, let me borrow it first."
"How to use it?" Ma Mu was stunned for a moment: "Isn't the captain planning to throw them all out to hit the horse bandits?"
Li Jiangyao: "Throw it out? Even if you are not afraid of waste, I am still tired. Find some helpers, pile the stones in the doorway of the city gate, and stuff them tightly."
Ma Mu couldn't help but be a little stunned: "You want to block all the city gates?!"
Li Jiangyao nodded slightly: "Don't worry, I only need you to block the east door, and don't worry about the other three sides."
Ma Mu thought about it and felt that it would not be a big deal if he just blocked the east gate. Just as he was about to turn around and arrange manpower, Li Jiangyao stopped him again: "Have you heard about this guy Lai Hai?"
Ma Mu said in a deep voice: "Of course I have heard of it. He is Geerhan's younger brother, nicknamed Scar Demon. This guy is cruel by nature, and his hands are stained with the blood of people of all races. A distant niece of mine was The destruction is in his hands. Alas, it’s just that Lai Hai’s martial arts skills are extremely high, and no one has been able to do anything to him... Sir, what do you ask him for?"
Li Jiangyao did not answer directly: "Have you ever seen Laihai?"
"I have dealt with Chechi's court before," Ma Mu shook his head: "This devil is not a good person, whether before or after his defection. He will definitely be indispensable when we attack Metasequoia this time. If he is captured by the Ma bandits, If you succeed, the people in the city will suffer."
Li Jiangyao paused slightly when he heard the words: "How about I catch a lively Laihai and give it to you later?"
