After Dugu Shao left first, Shen Ye and the others also slowly marched towards the camp under the leadership of the cavalry of the East Battalion.

The periphery of the camp was the same as the rest of the camp, and some of the traps were deep pits for horses to fall into, some were antlers and spikes placed on them, and in addition, the people of the East Camp also dug some trenches outside to drain water and hinder the enemy's attack.

The crowd entered the camp along the central horse road, and on each side of the camp were built two huge watchtowers five or six zhang high, each of which was hung with several fire lamps, and war drums and trumpets were placed next to it to warn the enemy and spread orders. Next to the watchtower stood rows of arrow towers, on which the soldiers kept their bows in their hands, vigilantly observing the four directions. Below the arrow tower are earthen and brick walls built in imitation of the city wall, and there are battlements every other zhang for surveying the enemy and archery.

Shen Ye noticed that whether it was a fence or a watchtower and arrow tower, their surfaces were smeared with a thick layer of soil, which should be to prevent fire or fire attack by the other party.

Behind the wall, rows of longbows and spears were set up, and quivers were placed in places, so that when the enemy attacked, the soldiers of the eastern battalion could immediately rush up to fight.

Shen Ye and the others continued to move forward through the walled gate, facing an open space, which was used to display and assemble the army, and behind the open space, there were rows of orderly camp tents, and people kept coming in and out of the tents, Shen Ye noticed through the tent curtain that the soldiers inside seemed to be wearing armor and lying on the ground.

"Your Highness, these should be the soldiers on duty who are responsible for patrolling and guarding tonight, once the enemy has the movement to attack the camp, these people will immediately go out of the camp to participate in the defense, so as to buy time for the soldiers who will come later." Su Xi explained.

Shen Ye nodded, he looked at both sides, the road between the two camps was very open, countless braziers illuminated the road, and next to each brazier were placed mud buckets, which stored water for fighting fires.

On the other side of the tent is a row of unseen stables, by which the horses of the East Battalion rest, and the soldiers who take care of the horses are laying hay and drinking water in the mroughs.

After passing through a dozen large tents, several huge trenches and several wooden bridges came into view, and next to the trenches there were several huge deep pits that were clearly dug by man.

At this time, Xiang Hao also came to Shen Ye's side, and he let out a sigh of admiration: "It is worthy of the Eastern Battalion, and the defense measures are so complete." ”

Shen Ye was puzzled: "What are they doing digging a trench in the middle of the camp?" ”

Xiang Hao smiled: "Your Highness, you have misunderstood, these are not trenches, these are dry rivers. ”

"The river?" Shen Ye looked at both sides of the trench, this trench ran through the east and west, and he couldn't see the edge at a glance, it was obviously the river, Shen Ye suddenly said: "Could it be that the Gongshan clan cut off the water source of Dongdaying?" ”

Xiang Hao nodded and said: "It depends on the situation, yes, the place where the army is encamped is inseparable from the water source, and the Dongda camp is no exception, they set up a camp along the river, and dug some deep pits next to the river, one is afraid that the enemy will release water to flood the village after storing water, and the other is to prevent the water level of the river from rising during the tidal season. ”

Shen Ye was worried: "But now that they have been cut off from the water source, where does the water come from?" ”

"Your Highness, please see." Xiang Hao pointed to the back of a tent.

"Wells?" Shen Ye was surprised.

Xiang Hao said: "The Gongshan clan did a stupid thing, they were clever and spent a lot of manpower and material resources to divert the river, but they forgot that in this Yizhou Plain, the underground water flow is so abundant, and you can find the water ......source by digging a few zhang casually."

"Everyone! Please dismount the warhorse. ”

The soldiers of the East Battalion in front shouted.

"Looks like we've reached a resting place." Su Yan looked at the three empty villages in front of him.

The empty village here was usually a large camp for prisoners, and it could also be used as a resting place for reinforcements.

The soldiers of Beifu turned over and dismounted, and handed over the horses around them to the soldiers of the Eastern Battalion, as for where the horses would be placed, the Beifu cavalry did not care at all, these horses were originally obtained from the horse bandits, and the two sides had no feelings at all.

Shen Ye quietly looked at the soldiers of the Eastern Battalion who were busy going back and forth, was silent for a moment, and finally asked the question that had been pressed in his heart.

"Is Dongdaying really 'in danger'? Why do I see that there is no nervousness on the faces of these soldiers, even the soldiers on duty at the gate of the camp are also very calm. ”

Su Yan continued: "And not only the soldiers who greeted us were neatly dressed, but even the soldiers inside couldn't see a trace of embarrassment from their clothes, this is what it looks like to have fought?" ”

Xiang Hao was stunned for a moment, he also reacted at this time, he looked at the quiet camp in the distance, and suddenly a thought arose in his heart that he didn't believe in: "Your Highness, do you think this big village is already full of people?" ”

"Impossible!" Su Yan shouted loudly, and after saying yes, he lowered his voice and asked, "What are you talking nonsense?" Don't you know that several of the front battalions of the Dongda Battalion have long since left Dazhai? They are now either in Yangzhou, or in Youzhou, or in the mountains and forests of Yizhou, plus General Shi Yi has led people to defect from here, how can this place be full of people? On the contrary, I think it's at least half empty. ”

Xiang Hao looked at Su Xian: "That's true, but have you heard of some rumors about King Jing's bad before, and some rumors that King Jing wants to rebel?" ”

Su Yan's expression changed, and he reacted: "You mean the incident when the General's Mansion ordered the four major battalions to cut troops?" ”

Xiang Hao looked at Shen Ye's face: "Back then, His Royal Highness's father and the emperor implemented a new military policy, requiring the four major battalions to reduce 50,000 troops, King Jing reacted fiercely after hearing the news, and shouted in front of the court officials to refuse to cut troops, this matter made even the people of Dongzhili know, after a while, there were even people in the military camp secretly spread the news that King Jing not only did not cut troops, but also secretly expanded the size of a front battalion. After this incident, it slapped the face of the imperial court and made the prestige of the General's Mansion in Dongzhili completely lost. It is said that since then, the city lords of the four prefectures of Dongzhili have leaned towards King Jing, ignoring the orders of the imperial capital and the general's mansion. ”

Su Yan shook his head and said: "These things are all folk rumors, I have heard many versions, and I can't believe it." ”

"I didn't believe it at all before, but now you tell me, if it wasn't for King Jing's previous expansion of the army, how could Dongdaying be like this now?"

Su Yan retorted: "Then it's too unrealistic to be full of people here, you have to know that there have been four or five front camps left here before, how many people are in each front camp?" ”

"Whew!" Xiang Hao waved his hand: "Of course, it is an exaggeration to say that it is full of people." ”

Shen Ye and Su Yan glanced at each other, and the two of them suddenly remembered Xiang Hao's seemingly impossible guesses during this time, and their expressions were a little unnatural.