"General!" The leading foreign cavalryman hurriedly reported. "There are many people hiding in this temple. They tried to escape when they saw us, but we blocked them."
"Your Majesty." The monk saw the person in charge coming and hurried forward to explain. "These are all civilians and merchants who escaped from the city last night. They are familiar with our temple, so they hid here last night. There are no spies... I hope Your Majesty will be lenient for the Buddha's sake. I am willing to take them back to the temple, and then ask Your Majesty to send soldiers to guard them. After the war is over, we will let them go."
Li Shifu frowned slightly, and looked at the refugees again. He saw that most of them were old, young, women and children. The few leaders were mostly fat and white "officials". He felt a little impatient, and the war was about to start, so he said immediately:
"Those of you who have come to Xingqing Prefecture with my father and seen Li Ganshun, please identify them. As long as they are not Li Ganshun and his son, don't make any more trouble... The overall situation will be settled now, and nothing can be done wrong."
Upon hearing this, several guards hurried forward to identify and inquire.
But as expected, these people were basically the so-called smart people in the city, including merchants, wizards, and some low-level officials. Most of them were keenly aware of something when the defeated army returned to the city last night, and then fled at night. However, they set off a little late. Although they left the city, they did not know how aggressive the Song army was. They actually chose to stay in a temple outside the city, which was why they were caught by Li Shifu's light cavalry. Asking these people about the situation of the garrison in the city and the loopholes in the city was almost useless. It was not that they were unwilling to talk, but because the Song army came too suddenly. It was not until three days ago that they were suddenly alarmed, and there were only confirmed rumors two days ago, and the city was suddenly closed last night.
In this situation, even gods cannot provide useful information.
So, after looking at many people, he saw that there was no one who looked like Li Ganshun, and the children were about the same age as the Prince of Western Xia... Although he estimated that there was a 99% chance that they were not... he still made a gentleman's agreement with the monks in the temple to temporarily keep these families in the temple's custody and release them after their identities were confirmed after the war.
As for the rest of the people, with the rumbling of drums in the east, the war seemed to have begun. Li Shifu's impatience became more obvious, so he simply raised his hand to signal that all the remaining people should be let go.
The leaders of the refugees were all smart people, and with the monks present, they naturally gathered together and kowtowed to Li Shifu in front of the temple to express their gratitude.
Li Shifu had already lost his patience, so he waved his hand and turned to mount his horse. However, just as he was mounting his horse, he suddenly had an idea and turned his head to look at another person:
"Wasn't the water gate blocked long ago? Why are there water stains on the clothes of your family? How did they get out?"
The middle-aged man, who was obviously dressed as a merchant, was slightly startled. He looked back at his wife and children, and did not dare to hide it: "Let the King of Song know that the Tang Canal has many branches and there is more than one water gate through the city. The water has only been cut off for two days, and the two large water gates in the north of the city are all exposed. Naturally, they were blocked early. However, because the other water gates are usually deep, there is still water inside. No one has cleaned them up, let alone blocked them... When my family left last night, the city had been sealed. Fortunately, my father and I are good at swimming, so we found a water gate and took over from inside, and then we slid out."
Li Shifu's heart was beating wildly, and he hurriedly asked again and again: "What is the condition of the water gate? How deep is the water? How wide is the gate? Where is it? How can I dive through it?"
The man was also frightened, but in the end he dared not keep silent.
A moment later, Li Shifu and this man rode their horses to the southernmost end of East City, but were stunned by the scene in front of them.
This sluice gate is neither too big nor too small, and is large enough for two rafts to pass through. It should have both transportation functions and the function of conveying canal water to irrigate the land to the east. It is a proper sluice gate. And it is located in the East City on the front line, slightly south of the position led by Zhang Xian’s troops... According to this person’s description, although this iron mesh gate has been completely lowered, there are stones stuck at the bottom and it cannot reach the bottom, so there is actually a half-zhang high gap at the bottom, which is enough for sneaking.
In the past, the Tangqu Channel had a lot of water and the water was deep here, so it would be difficult for ordinary people to sneak through. Only people with excellent swimming skills could pass through.
It can be said to be quite secretive.
As for the man beside me, he probably didn't tell the truth. Judging from his attire and the things he was carrying, he was probably a small businessman, probably a peddler who smuggled and evaded taxes on a daily basis. Now I know the depth of this place...
There are also Xixia people on the city wall. They have at most four days to arrange the city defense. By the time they made up their minds to defend the city and enter the city lockdown, it was probably started yesterday. In such a hurry, compared with the houses, palaces, Buddhist temples close to the city, and the two large water gates on the west side of the city, there is still enough water stored below this place, so they naturally feel that they can rely on it.
In fact, the Song army did not arrange for a siege here because there was water. It was only because Li Shifu led his troops here that a group of people rushed over from the city to spy.
"Go and report the intelligence that Yue Jiedu just got." Li Shifu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly turned back, without any hesitation. "Send out ten people who are good at swimming, wear leather armor, and follow this person to dive... The rest of you should shoot arrows at him first to suppress and cover him."
The Tangut merchant was completely helpless, as his family and all his property were restrained, so he could only respond.
There was nothing fancy about the process. A quarter of an hour later, hundreds of cavalrymen below the city suppressed the defenders on the city wall, and then ten death-defying warriors followed this man and calmly dived into the city.
Afterwards, one after another, groups of ten people sneaked in from here.
After the thirty people entered, they alarmed the defenders in other parts of the city, and the sneak attack turned into a violent attack. However, at this time, the water gate had been lifted up by the Song army that entered first, and several wooden beams were laid under the water gate to serve as a bridge. Naturally, Li Shifu's troops rushed forward, dismounted, and rushed in through the water gate... At this time, Yue Fei's response had not yet arrived, but Zhang Xian's troops had already noticed this.
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