AWB Chapter 411: Treat others with their own medicine.
Chapter 411: Treat others with their own medicine.
Li Chu was taken to An Lushan's secret residence by Feng Shengyi in advance. It would be best if they could find another exit. After all, it was impossible for all their troops to come out from that secret passage. This sounded and looked unrealistic.
When Li Chu just returned to the mansion, he had arranged for the secret guards to secretly search for other entrances and exits. Fortunately, the secret guards did not fail in their mission. In more than an hour, they really found another entrance and exit. However, there were people guarding the place. They were too few in number and did not dare to rush in for fear of being discovered.
They withdrew and sent a letter to Prince Guangping's Mansion by carrier pigeon. At that time, Li Chu was still accompanying Dugu Jingyao for a nap. Feng Shengyi's mouth curled up slightly after receiving the letter by carrier pigeon.
When he returned to Wangyuexuan, a smile unconsciously appeared on his face. Shi Jian saw how energetic he was and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Guard Feng, what's the matter? Why are you so happy?"
Feng Shengyi nodded and whispered, "There's some progress on what His Highness instructed us to do. That's something to be happy about. It will also be beneficial to our actions."
Shi Jian grasped the key word "action" and after a moment's thought, he asked, "Have you found An Lushan's location?"
Feng Shengyi was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. However, he didn't give a direct answer, but simply said, "Haha, you're as smart as ever. If you keep going like this, I'll have no secrets from you!"
Feng Shengyi's servant Jian looked at him with some concern and said, "Then you must be extra careful." He then took out something that looked like a sachet and handed it to Feng Shengyi, saying, "Take this. This is a protective amulet I got for you when I went out to burn incense a few days ago. Although it may not really work, it's at least a comfort to you. I'll feel more at ease if you have it with me."
It was the first time Feng Shengyi received a gift from a woman other than his mother, so he happily accepted the sachet and said, "Thank you, Shijian. Don't worry, we will be careful!"
Shi Jian hummed softly, and the two of them said nothing more.
Before it was completely dark, Guo Ziyi and Dugu Xin went to the camp outside the capital to mobilize 10,000 elite soldiers as agreed. Li Chu also left someone to guide Dugu Xin.
Because more people meant slower progress, they set out first. When night fell, Li Chu and Feng Shengyi set out together, rushing to An Lushan's secret residence.
When the two of them arrived, Dugu Xin and his men had also arrived shortly. Because the entrance discovered by the secret guards was larger, they temporarily changed their strategy. Dugu Xin and Guo Ziyi led their troops to attack from the other entrance, while Li Chu led a group of soldiers and secret guards to guard the outer perimeter of the courtyard to prevent any escapees. Thus, they split into two groups.
Dugu Xin and Guo Ziyi sent scouts to explore the route. Upon their return, they discovered that the entrance was being guarded by about six men. Looking inside, not far away, they saw teams of ten men patrolling the area. Furthermore, the passage was long and narrow, so too many people couldn't enter at once, which was a significant challenge.
Finally, Dugu Xin sent someone to find Li Chu and told him what he had found out. Li Chu couldn't help but frown when he heard it, because the passage on the other side of the house was also a long and narrow passage, and there were four people guarding the area slightly inside where it gradually widened.
Dugu Xin finally understood why An Lushan chose this place. This place is easy to defend but difficult to attack. As long as they have enough supplies, they can stay inside and not come out. They have an open terrain inside, and people from outside can only go in two or three at a time. Facing the numerous private soldiers inside, wouldn't that be tantamount to going in to die?
Just when everyone was at a loss, Li Chu suddenly had an idea and thought of a solution.
He then shared his idea with Dugu Xin and Guo Ziyi: "Father, Lord Guo, why don't we give them a taste of their own medicine? Didn't An Lushan once want to burn the camp outside the capital? Now we can do the same. We can burn the food instead of the people. As long as they run out of food, with so many people, they will definitely need to eat, and they will have no choice but to leave."
Dugu Xin thought this was a good idea, but he felt that burning only the grain wouldn't work, so he said, "I think we should just do what they did and burn the entire camp. If we just burn the grain, they might not come out in large numbers. But if we really burn everything, they certainly won't be willing to be burned alive. For An Lushan's unfinished business, he will save his own life and the few remaining men he has."
Upon hearing this, Guo Ziyi felt that Dugu Xin's method, while more ruthless, would also be more effective. He said, "I think the arson method is feasible. If we do it, it would be best to do as the King of Yunnan suggested and make it bigger, so as to force them out directly."
Li Chu also felt that his method could not achieve the effect of directly burning down the camps, so the few of them agreed on this. However, the problem arose again. There were people guarding the entrances on both sides. How could they get in?
The secret guard who led the way said, "Your Highness, Your Highness, and Lord Guo, we secret guards can knock out the guards guarding the door first, change into their clothes, and then take advantage of the shift change to set the fire."
Li Chu couldn't help but feel a little worried, frowning and saying, "Even if you change into their clothes, don't they recognize each other?"
The secret guard continued, "Your Highness, I've observed that they all have half their faces covered, so they should be able to get away with it. And based on yesterday's observations, they'll be changing shifts in less than half an hour."
There was no better way now. He trusted the secret guards he had trained, so he said, "Okay, then you should proceed with caution. If something goes wrong, retreat immediately and don't linger."
The secret guard saluted and said, "Yes, Your Highness." Then he brought the other three people back to the yard, opened the secret passage, and walked forward carefully.
Time passed by minute by minute, and the people outside were getting really anxious waiting. Dugu Xin said, "If they can't come out for a while, why don't we rest here first?"
Li Chu and Guo Ziyi both agreed with what he said, and notified their respective teams to rest and wait on the spot.
The progress inside was also relatively smooth. The secret guards took advantage of the guards' backs to them, knocked them unconscious, dragged them aside, changed into their clothes, tied up the original few people, stuffed cloth into their mouths, and then continued to guard the place where they were originally guarding.
After about a quarter of an hour, a team of people came to take over their shift, and they entered smoothly. From the outside, they could only see the general appearance of the inside, but when they really went in, they found that there was a different world inside.
When no one was around, they looked around and observed the terrain and location. It turned out that this place looked like a village. It was not like an ordinary military camp where people only lived in tents, but houses built of wood.
But now is not the time to envy them. The most urgent task is to complete the task, so several people dispersed and agreed to meet at the secret passage before.
Several people found a place in the back row where there were no people and started working. They took out the oil they carried with them and poured it on the wood, and then threw the tinder on the wood soaked with tung oil. Because wood is flammable, tung oil will make it burn faster.
After they succeeded, they did not act in a hurry. Instead, they waited until someone noticed the fire and ran nearby, and then they went against the flow of people and mixed in.
The other soldiers were busy putting out the fire, while a few of them went out separately, pretending to call for help and fetch water. They saw the people who had just relieved them were still standing there. One of them pretended to be in a hurry and ran over, saying, "Why are you still here? There's a fire ahead! Go put it out!"
The guards actually heard it, but they did not dare to leave their posts. If someone took advantage of the opportunity and broke in, they would be really finished.
Seeing that they were unmoved, the secret guard pretended to say, "Forget it, forget it. You guys just stay here and guard. It would be bad if someone comes!" He pretended to leave, then looked at his other companions and decided to charge.
He used a hidden weapon to knock one of them down. Seeing this, the other three guards realized something was wrong and said, "You are not one of us. Come quickly..."
Before they could finish, the other three secret guards knocked them down one by one. They didn't bother to disguise themselves, but just picked up the clothes they had hidden in the secret passage, returned to the room in the courtyard to change into them, and then left the courtyard to report.
Despite everyone's efforts to put out the fire, the fire inside showed no sign of dying down. An Lushan was just about to make love with his beloved concubine when he heard the loud noise outside and lost his mood.
Just when he was about to ask what happened, someone knocked on the door and said, "Master, something bad has happened! There's a fire!"
An Lushan immediately put on his clothes, opened the door and asked, "What? How did the fire happen? What's the situation now? Has it been put out?"
The man replied, "Well, I really don't know why the fire broke out. Everyone rushed to put out the fire, but it wasn't very effective because our house is made of wood, which is flammable. Now, the fire is almost out of control. I'm here to ask for your instructions. Let's evacuate!"
An Lushan rushed out and saw the flames rising to the sky outside. He knew that he could not stay here and immediately ordered: "Go and inform everyone, there is no need to put out the fire, let's evacuate!"
Just then Shi Siming came and said, "No, I'm afraid someone wants us to leave..."
An Lushan was slightly thoughtful after hearing this. He said, "Ashi, although what you said makes sense, we must leave. If we don't leave, we will all die here. Are you willing to do that? If we rush out now, we still have a chance to fight, but if we don't leave, then there will be no chance!"
Shi Siming thought for a moment and said, "He barely escaped death; he can't die here!" So he said, "Well, let's pack up and pack lightly, take some food and some banknotes, and set off!"
After they finished speaking, they each went about their own business. An Lushan's concubine in the room naturally heard their conversation and snuggled up to An Lushan in fear, saying, "Master, can we go out? I don't want to die..."
An Lushan said, "Pack up some things and let's go together."
Upon hearing this, the concubine was overjoyed. It seemed that it was right to please this man. She hurriedly took out some banknotes and jewelry.
When the army was almost ready, someone noticed that a few people were missing. An Lushan couldn't wait any longer and said, "Now is a matter of life and death. It seems someone deliberately set the fire to force us out. In that case, let's fight. If we escape, it will be a different world. Are you willing to come with me?"
The people below thought: "It has come to this, is there any choice?" So soon someone said: "We will follow the general to the death!" Soon everyone followed suit and the shouts echoed in the mountains.