On the wall of Yanmen Pass, more than twenty soldiers on guard had knelt on the ground, all of them with fear on their faces, but they did not dare to ask for mercy. Beside them, Laoguan had fallen to the ground, with black blood oozing out of his mouth and nose. He was actually poisoned to death. This made Sun Tutian and Boyuan in front also tighten their eyebrows and look solemn.
When they led the people to capture this Liao spy, they seemed to be relieved, but they never thought that in just a blink of an eye, Laoguan, who was under control, would twitch and his face would be distorted, and he would be gone in a moment. There was no sound, and even Sun Tu and the others didn't even have a chance to ask. Obviously, this guy had hidden a poison bag in his mouth early in the morning. Once his identity was revealed and he was caught, he would commit suicide without hesitation.
The movement here also quickly alerted the night watch soldiers who were still warming themselves in the archery tower. When they heard the sound and rushed out, they naturally felt guilty when they saw that it was Tian Boyuan who brought people there. After all, they were staying in the archery tower to warm themselves up. There is a suspicion of laziness. And when they saw the dead Laoguan and then roughly learned his identity as a Liao man, they were so frightened that they almost lost their minds. If this makes people suspect that he is also a Liao spy or has some collusion with him, not only will his head be saved, but his family will also be implicated.
In such a situation, they can only kneel down and admit their mistake, and then repeatedly say that they are innocent. However, Sun Tu really didn't suspect them. He just looked at Lao Guan's body, then looked at them and asked: "Which of you will be keeping vigil here on the fourth day of this month, the twenty-first day of last month, and the sixteenth day of the first month?"
After hearing this, several people quickly thought about it carefully, and then several people said in succession: "Little one, I will be keeping vigil on Guancheng that day."
"What about him?" Sun Tu pointed at Lao Guan's corpse on the ground: "Is he present? And, like tonight, has he ever left you for an excuse?"
Now Tian Boyuan and the others quickly understood Sun Tu's intention. The former only recalled it for a while, and then nodded: "Back to the general, he was indeed present in those days, just like today. He said he was away for a while because he wanted to go to convenience."
"Also, it was Xiao Qu who came to watch the night today, but he caught the cold, so he came instead."
Sun Tu glanced at Tian Boyuan, who nodded in agreement. The three days mentioned by Sun Tu just now were exactly when the soldiers and horses were sent out to suppress the Liao cavalry. This can confirm that the reason why the Song army was defeated one after another was because this guy passed on such important news.
This made Tian Boyuan even more angry, wishing he could step forward and kick the corpse a few times to vent his anger. On the other hand, Sun Tu seemed quite calm and suddenly ordered: "Come here, go and see if there is anything else on him. In addition, send someone to his residence to search carefully to see if there are any clues."
The soldiers on the side were all defenders in the pass. They were still a little hesitant to hear Sun Tu's order, but after Tian Boyuan nodded, they quickly responded with cupped fists. At the same time, he added: "Take these people down and guard them carefully." He was referring to the soldiers who were with Laoguan. Although he also believed that these people were innocent, the procedures that needed to be followed still had to be followed. Let's go, at least these people will not be able to go to Guancheng for this period of time.
"How could it be so? Is this guy so decisive? As soon as he was captured, he took poison and committed suicide." After a while, Tian Boyuan was a little surprised.
He sighed, the scene just now had a big impact on him.
"It seems that this person should be a real Liao man, rather than a small person who was bribed by them just to deliver news." Sun Tu was much calmer and said thoughtfully. In fact, this is understandable. Although Lao Guan is just the most inconspicuous pawn in Yanmen Pass, his role is really not small. At least every key message should be delivered by him. And if he had been replaced by a general or official with a higher status, it would really be impossible for him to easily climb the city wall without attracting attention.
At this time, the soldiers who searched him had stood up and reported: "Two generals, there is nothing else on him except a wooden belt." But found nothing.
But this was within Sun Tu's expectation, and it was nothing to regret, so he nodded. However, Tian Boyuan was a little confused and said: "If it is true that he is a Liao craftsman as General Sun said, the price will be high. As far as I know, this guy has been in our Yanmen Pass for five or six years, and he has never behaved strangely in the past. , is it just for this matter?"
"It was just a trap at the beginning, wouldn't it be of great use now?" Sun Tu glanced at the corpse: "If it weren't for him, we at Yanmen Pass wouldn't be in the predicament we are in today. But there is one thing I I still feel there is a problem, he shouldn’t be the key target we want to dig out, but now that he’s dead, we can’t ask anything more from him.”
Tian Boyuan nodded: "Yes, he is just an ordinary soldier. It is impossible for him to know the specific situation of the mobilization of troops and horses in our pass, let alone the route of the grain team and inform the Liao people outside."
"And it's impossible for ordinary soldiers, even spies, to be literate, so if you want to know the identity of the person behind it, you have to fall on this thing." Sun Tu said, shaking the cloth full of writing on his hand, and It was written in Chinese characters, not Khitan characters.
"Yes, maybe through this handwriting, I can find out the identity of the person behind the scenes." Tian Boyuan perked up when he heard this. He quickly took the piece of cloth from Sun Tu's hand and moved it to the fire to read. . However, he was just a rough old man who didn't know a few words at all, let alone recognize any handwriting. He only looked at it for a long time and couldn't figure out the reason, so he could only hand it to Sun Tu again: "General Sun, you Can you see any clues?"
Sun Tu also smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I can't do this, let alone if you really want to, it is not difficult to cover up your handwriting. So the only thing that can be known from this word is that the person behind it must be literate. of."
"This is too unlikely. Although there are mostly illiterate Qiu Ba in Guanzhong, there are also many people who can write and calculate..."
"What if we add someone who can accurately grasp the important tasks of military aircraft such as the mobilization of troops and horses and the transportation of military supplies?" Sun Tu hurriedly said what he meant, which made Tian Boyuan somewhat suspicious: "In that case, generally The minor officials in charge of logistics affairs can all be excluded. Only the three or five counselors are the most suspicious, and there is... "
Seeing that he looked embarrassed, Sun Tu helped him and said: "There is also Du Changguo, the supervisor. You must not hide any decisions Guanzhong makes from him, right? Moreover, the one who put Yanmen Pass in this predicament is... It’s also thanks to his suggestions and persistence.”
"That's right..." Tian Boyuan took a deep breath, then nodded and said: "It's just that we have no other evidence." That was a sixth-grade civil servant, but it was not something that he, a mere Yanmen Pass guard, could handle at will.
Sun Tu, on the other hand, did not have so many worries. He just said with a cold face: "This is a serious matter. In order to prevent the Liao people from taking advantage of it, we must arrest him as soon as possible. As for evidence and clues, we will wait until we see him , it’s not too late to search his room.” He dared to kill a big shot like Gao Qiu, so how could he care about a mere supervisor
Seeing that Tian Boyuan was still hesitating, Sun Tu said solemnly: "General Tian, the military situation is so fierce that we cannot allow us to look forward and backward. Now that there is such a commotion in the city, it will soon be known to many interested people. Even the evidence may not be found. And I am responsible for everything, and it was my idea to capture Supervisor Du... "
"What General Sun said is that it is related to the safety of our Yanmen. Even if there are consequences, we can't care about it. You are the guest and I am the host. I will shoulder all the freedoms here." Tian Boyuan was also a little timid. He made a decision immediately, and while rushing down the wall with Sun Tu, he quickly ordered his bodyguard to follow him to capture the person.
Seeing this, Sun Tu, who was lagging behind, showed a little appreciation in his eyes. It was said that the border army was much stronger than the armies in other parts of the Song Dynasty. He might have been a little skeptical before, but now he believed it. Just from Tian Boyuan, we can see that their confidence is indeed much stronger than that of other generals. At least they still dare to fight with those superior civil servants.
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Hundreds of miles away, the Song army camped.
Two to three hundred thousand people and horses were spread out, and it really stretched across the ground and the sky, boundless. Even the bonfires at night were enough to complement the stars in the sky.
Different from the laxity of the night patrol soldiers in Yanmen Pass, the patrol soldiers and horses here are constantly coming and going, never letting go of any gaps. Only those who come tell the password for tonight and show their belts can pass through the layers of defense. After changing the password several times, he was able to reach the largest military tent located in the middle of the military camp.
Qin Gan, who was stocky and shrewd in appearance, hurried to the tent. He looked at the light still shining through the tent, and immediately whispered: "General Qin Gan has something to report to the handsome boy." There was also a team of hundreds in front of the tent. The incoming visitors are guarded by guards. Anyone who dares to approach without the permission of the people inside will be killed without mercy.
Tong Guan's slightly hoarse voice soon came from inside: "It's Zizhong here, come in and talk." With this sound, the two guards in front of the tent took a step back and made a gesture to Qin Gan. With a gesture of invitation, one of them even helped him lift the curtains a little, so that he could enter without bending down.
Qin Gan nodded to them and then stepped into the warm Chinese army tent. Tong Guan was reading a military report at this time. He didn't dare to disturb him in a hurry and could only stand quietly with his hands tied. After a while, I saw the other party put down the document in his hand, raised his eyes and glanced over: "How is it, but has the outcome of the rear affairs been resolved?"
There was something wrong with the army's food supply. Even if the people sent by Yanmen Pass were like nothing, the front line had already realized it. Tong Guan had also sent people to investigate carefully. The person responsible for the matter was Qin Gan who came in late at night.