Chapter 164

Outside Jiankang City, in the barracks in Shizigang, all the soldiers were filled with righteous indignation when they heard the news.

Gao Yin was even more furious.

Amei is now far away in Chang’an, and has nothing to do with the war here, but she was involved in this by Murong.

Not only that, but it was obvious that his words and deeds that were so outrageous and almost crazy were nothing more than a blatant insult and provocation to Li Mu.

Gao Yin was a little worried about Li Mu’s reaction, but when he saw that he arrived, it was already night, and he was so busy that he skipped the resettlement, and went straight to find himself to discuss matters. It seemed that Murong’s extraordinary behavior had nothing to do with him. After the slightest influence, he was relieved, and immediately gave up his military tent, and gathered the generals all night to discuss countermeasures.

The crowd soon arrived.

Siege is not the hardest thing. The most difficult thing is how to ensure that the hostages can be rescued before the other party is taken down.

What’s more, in addition to the people of the imperial court, there are countless people in the city.

With Murong’s madness and a group of mad and mercenary rebels, no one can guarantee what will happen if the fight really starts.

Everyone was excited, and just as you were talking about each other, suddenly listening to the direction of the city outside, there was a faint sound of clamoring again, and the soldiers soon came to the news that the rebels had arrested many people and boarded them. The head of the city, threatening to retreat outside the city, or else they will be killed.

The crowd was furious, and they drove their horses over. They saw that the city was blazing with flames, and the rebels danced like a group of demons. They were extremely arrogant. There was a scolding in the middle.

Gao Yin frowned.

He knew that many people in the army advocated a strong attack.

He also knows the truth that mercy does not command soldiers.

Although the opponent is a group of people who gather for profit, they are like scattered sand, but they are similar to beasts. Repeated concessions will not solve the problem, but will make the opponent more arrogant.

If there is a way to preserve the hostages as much as possible, but also to solve the rebellion’s cancer, he naturally can’t ask for it.

But obviously, such a method does not exist.

Before Li Mu arrived, he also had the heart to attack.

Even if the price is paid, the cost of a part of human life is always better than doing nothing, watching Jiankang sink in this way.

All he needs is an affirmation.

He couldn’t help looking at Li Mu and said, “In my opinion, the only solution for now is to attack. But I don’t know what the big Sima wants?”

In fact, with today’s situation, he should no longer call Li Mu the Great Sima, but it was difficult for him to change his words for a while, and he blurted out without realizing it.

The rest of the people also stopped talking and turned their eyes to Li Mu.

Li Mu nodded and looked at Gao Yin: “What you said is not bad, you must attack the city by force. But there is one thing, I want to ask you for confirmation. Have you ever heard that in Jiankang Palace, there is a road that leads directly outside the city. Secret way?”

“If there is really a secret way to borrow, the inside and the outside should be combined, and the result will be multiplied with half the effort. In addition to storming the city, it can also minimize the casualties in the city to a minimum.”

In the past dynasties, when the founders of the country built the palace for themselves, they often preset a secret escape route to the outside of the city in the palace. Especially in this troubled world, this practice is even more common.

When Gao Yin was young, he had indeed heard of such a secret passage in Jiankang Palace.

It is said that at the beginning of Xiao Shi’s southward crossing, Emperor Yuan, considering the weakness of the imperial power, secretly built a secret road leading directly to the outside of the city when he built the palace, so that he could leave a way out for himself in case of emergency. This matter is extremely secret, and only the emperor knows where the entrance and exit are. Now, except for a very small number of people, there are very few people who even know about it.

If the rumor is true, when it reached Emperor Xingping, he suddenly fell ill and could not speak, and the secret would also be buried in the ground. The emperor Taikang who succeeded him and the current Gao Yongrong naturally did not know it.

In fact, these days, Gao Yin has also thought about this. Out of the idea of ​​giving it a try, he sent a lot of soldiers out, and carried out a large-scale search outside the city where there was a possibility of repairing the exit, hoping to find what he was rumored to be. the secret exit.

If such a secret path exists, follow the exit to enter the city.

But I also know that the rumors may not be true. And even if it is true, this move is like looking for a needle in a haystack, and he has no hope. Unexpectedly, Li Mu would suddenly ask this question, and he was surprised and told the truth.

Li Mu was silent after hearing this, as if he was thinking about something.

Gao Yin didn’t dare to interrupt him and waited beside him. After a while, I heard him say slowly: “Didn’t the rebels force us to retreat? You might as well do what they asked, step back, and make preparations. Send more people and continue to look for the exit of the secret passage. After three days, if you still can’t find it. When it arrives, there is no other way but to attack. Quickly fight and take down Jiankang, so that the casualties of the hostages in the city are minimized.”

All the generals were waiting for his words, and they all responded.

Gao Yin slowly let out a breath in his chest.

In his opinion, it is impossible to find the secret passage within three days.

A strong attack is a sure thing. At that time, the people in the city, including those senior officials and nobles of the Southern Dynasty who have been planted in the pit for many days, will inevitably suffer casualties.

From his standpoint, this was by no means a scene he wanted to see.

But he knew that this was the only right choice he could make under the trade-off.

He was about to nod his head, but Li Mu seemed to sense what he was thinking and looked at him: “General Gao, if you were the original Yuan Emperor and wanted to create a secret escape route in Jiankang, you would choose the exit. By land, or by water?”

Gao Yin was stunned for a moment, pondered for a while, and said, “Since it is for escape, it is easier to escape by taking the water route.”

“Yes, I think so too. In addition, the palace is located in the north of the city. To build a secret road, naturally it should be short and straight.”

“Yes!” Gao Yin was reminded.

“There is Yuanwu Lake in the north of the city! After Emperor Yuan crossed to the south, when he built the palace, he deliberately mobilized the people to connect Yuanwu Lake with the river and widen the waterway!”

Li Mu nodded: “Therefore, I deduce that if there is a secret passage extending from the palace, in all likelihood, the exit should be in the Yuanwu Lake area. In the past few days, there is no need to look elsewhere. Just take a gamble and send someone there. Search around Yuanwu Lake. You can’t skip an inch!”

The generals of the Guangling Army in the tent had originally admired Li Mu, but when he arrived, Gao Yin, who was in command, gave up his central position. Gao Yin did it naturally, and when others saw it, they didn’t notice anything unusual, as if this was the right thing to do – as long as Li Mu was there, he would be the focus and soul of everyone, and everyone, whether consciously or subconsciously, was All are so.

After listening to his words at this moment, all of them showed a sudden color, and they all agreed.

As time was running out, Gao Yin immediately ordered that more people be dispatched to go to Yuanwu Lake to search carefully overnight. A few more generals were left behind, and together with Li Mu, they made plans for a storm attack overnight.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and the preparations for storming Zhancheng were ready. And the search at Yuanwu Lake has also come to an end.

According to the report of a lieutenant in charge of the matter, he has been ordered to lead people to search everywhere, and even dig three feet in some possible places, but found a few caves that were buried by earth and rocks, but when he went inside, the walls were full of It is a shallow cave in a stone cave, and there is no underground secret passage that can be extended.

This result was in Gao Yin’s expectation. Although he was disappointed, he could only give up. He summoned several important generals again to reconsider the siege of the city tomorrow, so as to ensure that everything would be done, and that Jiankang could be controlled at the fastest speed according to the plan.

In the past three days, the city has been in constant flames, and the rebels have looted almost the entire city. The sound of carnival has been heard all night long, and it can be heard from far away outside the city. But not slack, the rebels have been monitoring every move outside.

After all, if you have money, you have to spend your life, and it is yours. Everyone knows this truth.

Tomorrow’s battle will not be easy.

The whole city is the hostage. In all the wars Gao Yin has experienced in the past, there has never been such a difficult situation.

As long as the fight begins, there is no doubt that there will be bloodshed and casualties outside of the soldiers.

Of those people, although there are some people who don’t want to die, there are more innocent people who shouldn’t have been involved in such a tragedy.

His heart was very heavy. I also understand more and more why Li Mu disregarded his own persuasion and went to Yuanwu Lake in person tonight.

After the reconsideration, it was late at night. Seeing that Li Mu still hadn’t returned, Gao Yin thought about it and rushed over on horseback.

The brigade of soldiers originally sent here to search has withdrawn to prepare for tomorrow’s siege battle. Only a small group of people remained, and they stayed here with Li Mu.

When Gao Yin found Li Mu, he was standing on a barren hill, looking in the direction of Jiankang, his figure was motionless.

Gao Yin hesitated, and said at the foot of the hill, “Da Sima, it’s getting late! It’s time to go back to the camp to rest.”

Li Mu turned his head, glanced at him, and asked, “Are the soldiers ready?”

Gao Yin said: “Don’t worry, Da Sima, everything is in order, and soldiers have been specially arranged to save the people in the city as much as possible.”

Li Mu was silent for a moment, and then shouted at the dozens of soldiers who were still searching around the hill.

When everyone heard the call, they knew they were going to return to camp, and they all ran back. When a soldier was passing through a field overgrown with weeds, he suddenly tripped over something under his feet and fell to the ground. His chin just hit a sharp stone buried in the weeds, and a hole was knocked out on the spot. Seeing this, the partner hurriedly helped him.

Li Mu and Gao Yin walked over and asked the soldier how he was injured.

Soldiers are ashamed. While covering the wound, he said it was okay.

Li Mu asked someone to help him stop the bleeding. He glanced at the ground where the soldier had stumbled. Using the moonlight, he saw that there was a neatly carved stone on the ground. Pull it apart, and see a broken tombstone.

Li Mu squatted down and recognized the inscription on it, which seemed to be erected by a temple.

He stood up, looked around, and asked Gao Yin if he knew where this place used to be.

Gao Yin also looked at the stone tablet and said, “If this place used to be a temple, it should be Xingshan Temple.”

“It’s Xingshan Temple! It’s just been gone for decades!”

A local called in as a guide couldn’t help but chime in. After speaking, seeing Li Mu’s interest, he hurriedly said: “Xiaomin also listened to what his grandfather said when he was a child. It is unfortunate to say that this Xingshan Temple is full of incense, but it was unfortunate that the imperial court suffered a fire two years after the southward crossing, and the temple caught fire. It collapsed. At that time, the palace was being expanded. The people hoped that the imperial court could rebuild the temple together, but the imperial court did not. They also said that the place was overwhelmed by the faucet, and it was not suitable to break ground. Going down, I also ordered that no one is allowed to approach. Anyone who dares to trespass and is caught will be a serious crime. It is only these years that no one has mentioned this rule, but people from the surrounding fields and eight villages still do not dare to dare. Came here…”

The man also spit, Li Mu and Gao Yin glanced at each other, and immediately ordered the excavation in this area.

After half an hour, several soldiers joined forces to remove a rock buried by mud and grass, and suddenly shouted: “There is a hole here!” The voice was full of excitement.

Gao Yin’s heart jumped, and he rushed to the hole where the ground was exposed, and leaned down.

The entrance of the cave was very narrow and pitch-dark. As soon as he bent down, a cold wind with a strong smell of rotten mildew rushed towards his face, causing him to shiver.