Zhang Yanling's words caused a cold sweat to break out on Zhao Yongsheng's spine. He had some doubts in his heart, and he always felt that something was wrong. When Zhang Yanling reminded him, Zhao Yongsheng suddenly felt that it was possible.
For two months, the Tatars harassed them for a long time, and it seemed that they were harassing just for the sake of harassing them. They refused to retreat when they were discovered, which was abnormal. This approach was probably a feint as Zhang Yanling said.
In order to attract the attention of the defenders, trouble came from behind.
The act of digging tunnels to cross the Great Wall Pass sounds ridiculous, but it is indeed done by the Tatars. Wanquan Youwei at the northwest edge of Xuanfu Town reported several incidents of digging tunnels to cross the city wall. Fortunately, they were all done.
No success.
It is generally believed that the Yanshan Mountains on the east side are crisscrossed by mountains, and the Great Wall is built on the mountains. The bottom is covered with rocks, and there is no possibility of digging through underground passages. Therefore, the border troops at the North Guard Station of Xuanfu did not take this matter seriously.
What's going on? If the Tatars wanted to dig a passage under the mountain, it would probably take two or three years.
Therefore, after calming down, Zhao Yongsheng felt that this worry might be unnecessary. Although two months is not a short time, it is probably impossible to dig a passage under the mountain.
"Master Marquis, there are rocks underneath the Great Wall. How can we dig through it in two months? I'm afraid we are worrying too much." Zhao Yongsheng said.
Zhang Yanling said: "That's not necessarily the case. Not all of the Great Wall is built on mountains. The terrain is so undulating that there must be valleys where the city wall passes. And in the valleys, where rainwater has accumulated over the years and soil has accumulated, there is probably a lot of water below.
Accumulated sand and soil. There may not necessarily be a need to dig into the mountains and quarry. Maybe you just need to dig out the soil."
Zhao Yongsheng nodded when he heard this and said: "What Mr. Hou said makes sense. I have overlooked this point. But it seems that the terrain is not obvious. Do you have to search for all the thirty miles of city walls?"
Zhang Yanling shook his head and said: "Of course we can't do that. The mountains are high, the forests are dense, and the terrain is steep. It's not easy to find the exit of a cave. Even brothers who are exhausted may not be able to search for it. We only need to identify the soil accumulation area below.
Focus on searching the inside to see if there is an exit."
Zhao Yongsheng frowned and said: "How to identify? Is it possible to dig the ground one foot at a time to identify?"
"No, it can be seen from the vegetation. Where the vegetation is lush and lush, there must be deep soil with deep roots. For example, on mountains, the trees are sparse and thin, and the weeds are not that dense. Then
This is because it is difficult for rocks to take root and rainwater to accumulate. The more luxuriant the vegetation, the thicker the soil. This should seem obvious." Zhang Yanling said solemnly.
"What Mr. Hou said makes sense. That's the truth." Zhao Yongsheng was greatly impressed and praised.
Zhang Yanling said: "The search scope can be further narrowed."
Zhao Yongsheng said: "Can we still narrow the scope?"
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "In the past two months, the Tatars have been harassing from many places. If they are trying to cover up the fact of digging underground passages, then the location of the harassment should be..."
Zhao Yongsheng suddenly said: "It must be far away from the fighting, and move the tiger away from the mountain to avoid being discovered."
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "Exactly."
Zhao Yongsheng no longer thought about it. Even if all this was just speculation, this hidden danger must be eliminated before he could feel at ease. Zhao Yongsheng organized more than a hundred soldiers. He originally planned to divide them into groups to search, but considering that if the tunnel was really dug, there would be Tatars.
If you enter, you will encounter a battle, so we decided to search together.
Half an hour later, the five most likely locations were screened out. Everyone immediately began to search carefully one by one, and Zhang Yanling and others also joined the team. By noon, two locations located more than ten miles north of the fortress were found.
A major discovery was made in the ravines with dense vegetation between the mountains.
On the side of the mountain on the north side, a thorn bush dozens of steps away from the Great Wall has large traces of being pulled and trampled.
"It's not a wild beast, it's caused by humans. The thorns were cut off with a sharp weapon. Someone came here." Zhao Yongsheng quickly made a judgment.
Zhang Yanling agreed with his judgment. Everyone looked around quietly and found a line of tracks made of dripping mud, leading to a dense forest in the distance down the slope.
"Copy guys! Get ready." Zhao Yongsheng ordered in a low voice.
Everyone slowly drew out their weapons, hunched over and formed a fan-shaped formation without making a sound, following the footsteps toward the forest down the slope to outflank them. After approaching the forest, everyone rushed in, only to find that there was no one inside. But in the forest
Found inside were dirty clothes, a dozen shovels used for digging, and many leather boots filled with mud and water.
At this point, the guess has been confirmed. The boots are cowhide boots worn by Tatars. The shovel is a wedge-shaped shovel commonly used by Tatars, not the square shovel used in the Ming Dynasty. The clothes are also linen waistcoats, ordinary clothes often worn by Tatars.
All the marks were very new, and the mud and water on the clothes and shoes had not even dried. It was obvious that they had been left behind not long ago.
The Tatars really dug a hole and got in! There is no need to doubt it anymore.
Zhao Yongsheng cursed in a low voice and ordered the soldiers to look for traces and follow them. Zhang Yanling took Zhang Yin, Zhao Yuancheng and others out of the forest and returned to the trampled thorns to search for the tunnel exit. It was obvious that the Tatars emerged from the trampled thorns.
, went to the woods to rest for a while and left. So the tunnel entrance should be nearby.
It didn't take long for Zhang Yanling and others to find the exit of the tunnel, which was covered tightly with thatch and thorns. The tunnel exit could only accommodate one person, and it led straight to the ground. A cold wind blew out of the dark hole. Everyone listened for a while at the entrance of the tunnel.
There wasn't much movement inside.
Zhang Yin volunteered to go down and explore, and soon climbed up, covered in mud and water.
"Gou Tatar has spent a lot of effort. Not to mention that there is only one person in and out of this cave. The horizontal hole below is quite spacious, and I can walk with my waist up. The cave walls are also supported by wooden boards to prevent collapse. But the bottom is full of mud and water.
It’s very muddy,” Zhang Yin reported.
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "That's inevitable. There is a mud ravine here. Rainwater seeps into the soil. After it is dug out, it will naturally leak out. This can also explain why the boots left by the Tatars are full of mud."
Not long after, Zhao Yongsheng hurried back with a gloomy expression. Zhang Yanling guessed without asking that there must be no trace of the Tatars who had gotten in.
"I can't catch up. Damn it. There are not many people, at most thirty or forty people." Zhao Yongsheng cursed.
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "The Tatars probably came in before dawn. It has been several hours now and they have lost sight of them. The mountains are high and the forests are dense. If you just dig into the woods, it will be like finding a needle in a haystack."
Zhao Yongsheng sighed and nodded. Zhang Yanling told him about the discovery of the cave entrance. Zhao Yongsheng hurried to check, and went down again to have a look. After climbing up, he was even more disgraced.
"Come here, block it." Zhao Yongsheng ordered.
"No!" Zhang Yanling hurriedly stopped her.
"Why?" Zhao Yongsheng asked in confusion.
Zhang Yanling chuckled and said in a low voice: "After so much effort in digging the tunnel, is it possible that only such a small group of people came in? Wouldn't it be good to leave this hole entrance and wait for the rabbit to catch the turtle in the jar? I suggest General Zhao to ambush some brothers here.
, kill as many as you come out. Don’t you want the credit for bringing them to your doorstep?”
Zhao Yongsheng was stunned for a moment, held his forehead and smiled: "I was so angry that I actually forgot about this."