An hour ago...

At dawn, it is the lowest temperature and darkest time of the day.

I don’t know when the night sky has cleared up. Although there is no bright moon hanging in the sky, I can see the vast sea of ​​stars.

The wind is still blowing. The good thing is that it has blown away the dust, mist and dew, and I feel that the humidity is no longer so heavy. The bad thing is that there is still a cold spring in the sky in early March. When the wind blows, I feel more and more

It's cold.

Li Liang tightened his thin fur, mounted his war horse, and began to patrol the camp.

This is the new rule set by Li Chengzhi: one commander, two assistants, and three commanders, that is, he, Li Song, Hu Baozong, etc., who take turns on duty at night, and are nicknamed "night commanders". This means that as long as they are not enemy troops

Night raids, sudden troop movements, and any emergencies in the camp will all be dealt with by the Night Commander.

You can sleep, but if a situation arises, you must get up and deal with it as soon as possible.

Then there are the second-level "night patrol officers" like Li Liang, consisting of the ten military commanders, Li Shi, the brigade commander of the Tangqi Camp, Song Lishen, the brigade commander of the transport camp, and twelve others. Each group is composed of three people, and each group takes turns.

On duty, each person in the group is on duty for two hours, responsible for patrolling the camp, checking sentries, and handling various minor incidents.

In the following brigades and teams, we also use this as an example, each has a battalion officer who keeps watch at night.

In the first half of the night, it was Li Feng and Huangfu, and now it's Li Liang's turn. In two hours, he will be handed over to Li Shi.

It was already the beginning of Chenshi (7 o'clock in the morning), the sky was already bright, and it was time for Tang Qi, who was sent to patrol the field at night, to report the news to Li Shi. It was just right to give it to him...

After a round of patrol, more than two quarters of an hour had passed. Seeing that everything was normal, Li Liang thought of going to the meeting tent to lean in for a while. After another two quarters, he would do another round of patrol, and the weather would be early.

It's on, and it's almost time to hand over.

He was breathing heavily and was about to go to the Chinese army camp when he suddenly heard the sound of being tied up at the entrance of the camp.

The sound was quiet, but crisp, and could be heard far away. It must have been the whistle on the ladder that discovered something strange.

However, this only represents the lowest level of warning. It does not mean that there is an enemy attack, nor does something happen around the camp.

The next higher level is a whistle, and the next higher level is a gong. Once the gong is sounded, the entire army will be on alert immediately.

Just as Li Liang hadn't returned his account yet, he didn't wait for the night whistle to come to him. Instead, he turned his horse's head and walked towards the entrance of the camp. He grabbed the copper whistle from his neck and blew it twice.

Indicate that you have received the warning and will be there soon.

In just two or three minutes, Li Liang left the camp. The commander of the ladder at the entrance of the camp was waiting for him below.

"What happened?" Li Liang asked as he dismounted.

"The enemy seems to have changed!" Shi Chang replied respectfully, "About a moment ago, about five or six miles away in the northeast, a fire suddenly broke out. After a while, it grew bigger and bigger, covering the area of ​​a journey...

”

Northeast, five or six miles away?

That should be the location of the rebels' northern camp, and it's almost next to the northern wall of the city...

Li Liang's expression tightened.

Could it be that the two brothers Li Rui and Li Cong set the fire?

The fact that these two brothers were able to sneak into the thief camp was all arranged by him. He naturally knew Li Chengzhi's purpose and their agreement. Whether it was a fire in the thief camp or a fire in the city, it was probably related to these two brothers.

Inseparable from the relationship...

"Get out of the way!" Li Liang shouted coldly and quickly climbed up the ladder.

The so-called cloud ladder is the cloud cart used in ancient sieges.

The name of this thing seems very simple, but it is very exquisitely made. In the shape of an isosceles triangle, three long ladders more than three feet high are erected on a wheeled cart, and another one is erected in the middle.

, and there is a small wooden tower sitting on the top for two to three soldiers to look out.

The reason why this thing is easy to use is that it can be hitched to a horse or pushed by people, and the ladder can be moved at any time.

Second, the watchtower on the top can be removed at any time and replaced with a flat ladder, that is, several ladders are erected in an inverted triangle, similar to the tower cranes used to build buildings in later generations, with a wide top and a pointed bottom.

Put the upper ladder up to the top of the city, and the soldiers below can climb up the ladder through the straight ladder, and then rush into the city along the ladder.

The third is that if you are marching or not using it, you can remove the mortise and tenon joints of each joint at any time and dismantle it into several long ladders and a small wooden building. You can throw it into the carriage and pull it away, and then put it back up when it is needed. It is very convenient.

Convenient.

As long as there are enough helpers, a few nimble carpenters can build or dismantle a three-foot-tall cloud car in just two-quarters of an hour...

Li Liang climbed up to the wooden building and looked up, and sure enough he found a flickering fire about five or six miles northeast. But it didn't look like a city head, but an enemy camp.

Moreover, the fire was not too big. At most, it only burned down a brigade camp. Combined with what the commander said about the sudden fire, it really looked like someone suddenly lit it, rather than the traitor accidentally getting into the water.

.

Just be careful and you won’t make a big mistake...

After pondering for a moment, Li Liang made a decision in his heart: Since he can't make a 100% judgment, he should report it to Lang Jun and let him make a decision.

In addition, there were Tangqi who sent out night detectives at night, and they must have seen the fire. If nothing unexpected happened, they should have reported it immediately.

Then we'll see if Tang Qi can get closer and find out some useful information.

With thoughts swirling in his mind, Li Liang quickly got out of the cloud carriage, and while getting on the horse, he told the chief: "If Tang Qi comes back, ask him to come to Shuai Zhang as soon as possible..."

Without waiting for a response, he urged his horse and ran towards Li Chengzhi's camp.

The person on duty tonight happens to be Li Chengzhi...

Li Chengzhi had already told him that if the military commanders of each battalion and the night officer came to report, he would not be delayed and could wake him up directly.

So when he saw a fast horse entering the commander's camp and recognized it was Li Liang, Li Zhang didn't even wait for him to inform him. He entered the camp and directly woke up Li Chengzhi.

When Li Liang entered, Li Chengzhi was already sitting on the couch, wiping his face with a silk towel.

When you look closely, you can see that the stomach bra is neatly worn, and you don’t even take off your boots?

This is obviously a matter of lying naked all night in order to respond to and deal with emergencies at any time.

Li Liang couldn't help but admire him.

When it comes to leading by example, among the hundreds of officers in the entire battalion, no one can compare to Li Chengzhi.

It’s not like Li Liang didn’t spend the night with Hu Baozong, Li Song and others.

Hu Baozong can't be lifted at all. Let alone armor piercing, he probably only has a calf-nosed crotch all over his body.

That is to say, Li Chengzhi did not allow female prostitutes (camp prostitutes) in the camp, otherwise Hu Baozong would definitely sleep with a woman in his arms.

Even my fourth uncle (Li Song) has never seen him wearing armor during vigil.

Of course, firstly, the husband has no specific request, and secondly, the fourth uncle is getting old after all, and his body and bones are no longer as strong as he was in his early years...

"Speak!" Li Chengzhi spat out one word concisely, then took the water from Li Zhang and rinsed his mouth.

"A fire suddenly broke out in the rebel north camp. Looking at the range, at least one brigade was burned down. And looking at the distance, it seems to have almost reached the base of the city wall... So my subordinates judge that it may be related to Li Rui and Li Cong..."

Li Chengzhi stood up immediately.

More than possible, he was more than 80% certain that the fire was started by the two brothers.

Although Tang Qi didn't dare to get too close, he still dared to get closer within a mile or two. Although he didn't go deep in the past two days, he mostly took a look from a distance, but he also caught a lot of things.

At least I know that monks and monks are rare in the northern camp, but almost 80% of the southern camp are monks.

Doesn’t this mean that Li Wenxiao’s troops are stationed north of the city?

Li Rui and Li Cong, who followed the fat man into the enemy camp, were almost in the North Camp.

Furthermore, I dare not say that Li Wenxiao has been fighting for a long time, but he has definitely read military books intensively. It is impossible that he does not even understand the principles of fire prevention in the camp. How could he start a fire for no reason and keep it burning for such a long time?
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Moreover, most of the thieves and thieves live in the open air, and there are not that many camps at all. If someone hadn't deliberately set fire to it and ignited it in many places, it would not have burned so big...

Thinking about it this way, Li Chengzhi became even more confident.

"Has the Tangqi who visited North Road at night arrived?" Li Chengzhi asked anxiously again.

"It should be coming soon..."

Before Li Liang finished speaking, there was another noise outside the tent, and a bodyguard came in with a pond owner.

When I looked again, I saw that not only was my armor complete, but I was also covered with a leather robe. My body was stained with a lot of mud, and even my face was covered with a thick layer of dust.

This was obviously a night of hiding in the wild.

The pond master did not dare to be wordy, and replied in a loud voice: "Commander Bing, my subordinates are responsible for exploring the North Road tonight... About two moments ago, a fire suddenly broke out in the bandit camp, and my subordinates immediately abandoned their horses and sneaked away...

After sneaking into the northern camp of the thieves about thirty feet away, the subordinates hid. Not only did the fire get bigger and bigger, but shouts of killing came from the camp, and they headed straight for the north wall... and then they

I saw someone who seemed to be hung up on the wall by the guards, while the thieves who chased under the wall were shooting arrows non-stop for a long time..."

"Haha... This is definitely because Li Rui and Li Cong set the fire and fled to the top of the city. The thieves shot for so long just to vent their anger..."

Li Chengzhi said ecstatically, "There is also a fire on top of the city, or are there lanterns hung up?"

Where is the fire on the city wall?

Li Liang's heart sank.
To be continued...