"Untie all the ropes from them." A group of Chinese workers arrived at the place where Sun Qisheng and others were staying, Sun Qisheng said,

A dozen soldiers went up and quickly untied the ropes from their bodies.

"Didn't you buy us to work?" After the rope on his body was untied, Chen Donkey was puzzled.

"We are all Chinese, and we will not push you into the fire pit."

"I see, you're a Chinese army in rebellion, right?" Seeing that Sun Qisheng and their faces were ruddy, not as yellow and thin as them, Cai Jiu suddenly said.

"This is not the place to talk, I'll send you out of the city first, and when you get out of the city, you keep going south, and you'll meet our people soon."

Sun Qi Shengdao.

"Thank you heroes for your help." Although Sun Qisheng did not respond positively to their identities, from the fact that they secretly entered the city disguised as Indians, Cai Jiu guessed that they were trying to find out the news for the Chinese rebel army.

At that moment, Cai Jiu said bluntly: "Heroes, we have just come down from the fortresses of the Peruvians, and we know a little about their army layout, and I am willing to stay and lead the way for the Chinese heroes of the uprising to check the intelligence of the Peruvians." ”

"Do you know the military deployment of the Peruvians?" Sun Qisheng did not believe.

"Don't dare to deceive you, the villain tried to escape when he was building fortifications at the city gate, so pay attention to the number of Peruvian soldiers while working,"

Cai Jiu watched everyone listening to him, and then said, "The Peruvian military camp is heavily guarded and does not allow Chinese workers to approach, but because they have to go out to train and eat every day, I have been observing the construction site for five or six days, and I have roughly calculated the deployment of Peruvian troops at each city gate. ”

Cai Jiu said and picked up a small stone on the ground and drew on the ground: Everyone, please see, there are four gates of Arequipa, and the south gate is the most likely to face the attack of the rebels, so the Peruvians have arranged 2,000 people here, about 1,000 people at the east and west gates, 800 people at the north gate, and the other armies are under the jurisdiction of Ikidok, the military governor of Arequipa, and the specific number should be 2,000 people.

Cai Jiu drew Arequipa's approximate troop deployment on the ground, and then waited for Sun Qisheng's reaction.

Sun Qisheng took a closer look at the distribution map and asked, "This brother, I'm curious how you know so much about the situation in Arequipa. ”

Sun Qisheng looked at him vigilantly after speaking, once he showed a weak heart, he would immediately take them down.

Sun Qisheng can't be blamed for his many hearts, reconnaissance and investigation of the enemy's situation have a bearing on the success or failure of the Chinese army, and every detail must be carefully analyzed, and there must be no omission.

Although the Chinese Independence Army has won two small victories in succession, the Chinese army surrounded on all sides is still in a disadvantageous position, once the Chinese army suffers a defeat, the Peruvians may think that the Chinese are vulnerable and launch an attack on the Chinese.

Moreover, the territory occupied by the Chinese Independence Army already borders the Bolivians, and if the Chinese do not show strength, the Bolivians who are interested in saltpeter production areas may also treat the areas occupied by the Chinese as fat and pounce on them to get a piece of the pie.

Cai Jiu didn't expect Sun Qisheng to suspect him, and explained, "These brothers and I are working on a plantation in Arequipali, and the last time we escaped, the army that captured us was sent out by Iquidok, the commander of the garrison in Arequipa. ”

"Don't be surprised by this brother, the investigation and intelligence are related to the life and death of the 80,000 rebellious brothers outside the city, so I can't be cautious."

After carefully observing Cai Jiu's group of people, he found that the scars on their bodies were for a month or two, not like the new ones left in order to lure them into the bait, and combined with what Cai Jiu said, there were no loopholes, so Sun Qisheng believed his words.

"Captain Sun thinks highly of the Peruvians, they haven't read the thirty-six strategies, where would they think of using bitter meat to deal with us." Wang Chenglin said.

"You have a lot of responsibility, so you should be careful." Cai Jiu echoed.

"According to your intelligence, there are about 7,000 Peruvians in Arequipari, and if you inform Division Commander Li and Division Commander Luo who are sweeping outside, that they will raid the south gate with the least number of people in the middle of the night, they should have a good chance of winning both inside and outside." Sun Qisheng pondered.

"Captain Sun, Arequipa is an important town in Peru, and there will definitely be other armies to support it in a few days, if you don't take advantage of the good opportunity now, it will be even more difficult to take it in the future."

Wang Chenglin persuaded.

"Captain Sun, although we have injuries on our bodies, but let's fight the Peruvians, all the brothers will be like strong guys." Hearing that Wang Chenglin wanted to fight Arequipa, Cai Jiu felt that revenge was hopeful, and spoke.

"It's not up to us to consider whether to attack Arequipa or not, let's pass the news on to the nearby sweep army first, and let them report to the prince."

Sun Qi Shengdao.

"Yes,"

"Wang Chenglin, you take five brothers to deliver the news to the two division commanders, Brother Cai Jiu, you pick a few brothers who are in good health as guides, and the rest will go out of the city later."

"Captain Sun, it's okay to pass on the news and change to a brother, my marksmanship is good, maybe staying in the city will be of greater help."

"Yes, then change a brother to replace you."

Sun Qisheng thought about it for a while and agreed to Wang Chenglin's request.

Among the one hundred and four Chinese laborers, Cai Jiu chose six who were not seriously injured to stay, and the others left under the cover of Anthony after the messenger had left for half an hour.

"You're saying that you've got the military deployment of Arequipa City." In the temporary residence of Li Sandou in Luolin Mountain, Li Sandou asked the soldiers who reported the news.

"Yes, Master Li." The soldier repeated the information to the two men.

"This brother, you have worked hard, go down and rest first, as for the matter of intelligence, Master Luo and I will seriously consider it."

After reporting that the soldiers went out, Li Sandou opened the map, pointed to Arequipa and said, "Division Commander Luo, Arequipa is fifty miles away from us, and if we run a long way, we can reach it tonight." ”

Li Sandou and Luo Linshan's two divisions had already finished the sweep and assembled, and when they were about to go back, they heard the information from Sun Qisheng, and they had the idea of Arequipa in their hearts.

"Captain Sun's information shouldn't be fake, I don't want to let go of such a good opportunity." Li Sandou saw Luo Linshan bow his head and think, and continued.

"This is indeed a good opportunity, but our mission is to sweep the surrounding towns and attack Arequipa without the order of the prince, and I am afraid that it will cause the prince's displeasure. Moreover, this time we came out without heavy siege equipment, and it was not easy to capture Arequipa with a dozen field guns. Luo Linshan pondered.

"It's really a problem to have no siege artillery," Li Sandou frowned.

After the capture of the two cities, the Chinese Independence Army gradually became rich, and there were 20 heavy artillery pieces used to siege the city, (the heavy artillery here is only a relatively portable small mountain artillery,) Li Mingyuan organized them into a heavy artillery battalion, which was under the command of Luo Zhongguo's artillery regiment.

Because Li Sandou and Luo Linshan were sweeping small towns and mines, they only carried a dozen small mountain guns, and did not carry heavy guns that were not easy to transport.

"Division Commander Luo, let's be flexible, first send someone to inform the prince, and at the same time, the two divisions will rush overnight, surround the city of Arequipa first, and wait until the prince sends heavy artillery troops, and then we will attack the city."

"It's a pity to waste such a good opportunity, I agree with Senior Li's suggestion to reply to the prince in the name of the two of us, even if the prince wants to blame, we will bear it together."

Although the two of them wrote a letter to Li Mingyuan to introduce Arequipa's situation, their behavior was already a prelude, so Luo Linshan would hesitate just now.

"Division Commander Luo, don't worry, Shizi advocates that front-line generals should have their own judgment ability, know how to fight flexibly, and don't need to ask the headquarters for instructions on everything."

Li Sandou said with a smile.

"Then I'll be relieved." Luo Linshan later joined the Chinese Independence Army, so he acted cautiously.

After the decision of the two commanders-in-chief, the soldiers of the two divisions quickly assembled and marched towards Arequipa overnight.