Water Margin people

"Where's the leak?"

Zhang Qing looked at the dam that was full of holes.

"Then do it!"

Zhang Qing was silent for a moment and then made a decision. Baghdad and the Persian Gulf should be ready, and all that was left was to pass on the message.

"Send a telegram back and tell General Qiongying that the flood will break out tonight and let him handle it!"

Zhang Qing looked at the radio operator and said.

"Tonight?"

The radio operator was stunned and looked at Zhang Qing for confirmation.

"Yes, tonight. We should do this sooner rather than later. We are not safe here to begin with. If we stay one more day, we will be more exposed."

"Besides, we don't know when Saladin will take action. We can't wait!"

Zhang Qing said that they could not take the risk of catching a tongue-in-cheek person because he was too low-level and knew nothing. If they took action against the high-level officials, they would be discovered.

The operator nodded and began to send a telegram towards the Persian Gulf.

"General, look! Those people are moving towards the river!"

A soldier pointed at the slaves who had gathered and were heading toward the low riverbed.

"What is this for?"

Zhang Qing was very puzzled. There were dams upstream and those low places were very dangerous.

As more and more people came, the slaves actually set up camp by the water.

"Are you going to kill people to silence them?"

A terrible thought came to Zhang Qing's mind. Saladin might execute these slaves.

"Isn't that a bit too cruel? Kill after using it?"

The soldiers looked at Zhang Qing and asked, "It's not so cruel to cross a river and then destroy the bridge."

"Saladin calls himself the Sultan of Egypt. You should also know that there is a system of burying the king alive with his dead. The slaves who built the king's tomb will be killed to protect the secret of the tomb! Saladin will definitely not let outsiders know the secret of this flood."

Zhang Qing said that as long as Saladin killed these slaves, he could attribute the flood to a natural disaster.

Or it could be said that it was a divine manifestation and a divine punishment, which could also enhance the reputation of the Arab religion in the local area.

"That's 30,000 to 40,000 slaves!"

The soldiers were still a little frightened at that time, because the number of soldiers in the seven armies that were flooded was only 30,000.

Zhang Qing didn't care about the life or death of these slaves. He was now thinking about how to lure Saladin's guards into the river.

"Split into two teams tonight. One team will follow me down into the river, and the other team will blow up the dam. Follow my actions!"

Zhang Qing looked at the soldiers and gave orders.

"General, let's go to the river!"

The soldiers quickly said that the river was very dangerous and that a flood would cause the world to collapse. If they were a little slow in evacuating, they would be doomed.

"I have to go, otherwise the enemy won't fall for it!"

Zhang Qing shook his head.

"General, we can go in your name. If we die in battle, you can still help us win military merit! If something happens to you, we will be in big trouble!"

"Besides, General Qiongying is still waiting for you to come back!"

Several bodyguards immediately stepped forward and held Zhang Qing down, and then they started talking to each other.

"Inverted!"

Zhang Qing was furious and tried to break free, but the other soldiers came up and held him down, saying the same thing.

"Bullshit, military merit will be determined, no one dares to give you less. As for your family, don't you have any?"

Zhang Qing looked at the soldiers and yelled. Although he was strong, he had no way to break free with dozens of people holding him down.

"General, of course we know it's not less, but wouldn't it be better if you were here with us?"

The soldiers tied up Zhang Qing. They couldn't let Zhang Qing take risks. They were the only ones sent out this time. Zhang Qing was the governor of the Persian Gulf. If he died, they would be blamed.

"Let me go!"

Zhang Qing shouted at the soldiers. "General, please stop shouting. It would be bad if we attract the enemy! We will be back soon!"

The soldiers immediately divided themselves into teams. Those who knew how to blast went to blow up the dam, and the rest went to the river.

"General, I'm sorry!"

An old soldier took Zhang Qing's flag and saluted him.

"you……"

Zhang Qing looked at the soldiers going away, feeling both angry and moved.

"let me go!"

Zhang Qing shouted at the telegraph operator and several soldiers who remained behind.

"General, it's not that we don't obey orders. Please wait for an hour. After an hour, we will untie the ropes. Then you can beat or scold us."

Several soldiers spoke up.

"You kidnapped the commander-in-chief, and this is a capital crime!"

Zhang Qing looked at the soldiers and said.

"General, you are the governor of the Persian Gulf. The entire Persian Gulf is on your shoulders. If there is a problem in the Persian Gulf and His Majesty blames you, these brothers in the Persian Gulf will be punished."

The soldiers said helplessly.

Zhang Qing looked at the soldiers and understood their concerns. The Persian Gulf is located between the Central Plains and the West and is an important supply base. If there is a problem here, there will be problems in the Red Sea and Venice.

"Untie the rope! I won't go!"

Zhang Qing's voice became steady and he had calmed down.

The soldiers looked at each other, some not knowing what to do.

"Untie!"

Zhang Qing's voice turned cold, and an air of majesty emanated from him.

The soldiers had no choice but to help Zhang Qing untie it.

"Follow me down there. Even if we don't go into the river, we'll have to help you!"

Zhang Qing looked at the few remaining soldiers around him and spoke.

The sky gradually darkened.

The slaves by the river were filled with fear. They were the ones who built the dam, and the flood could break out at any time. They would surely die if they stayed here.

These slaves began to fight for access to the higher ground, or to where they cut wood, and they were willing to work all night.

But the defenders stopped them directly, and they were ordered not to let anyone leave.

The slaves realized something was wrong. They usually rested on the high ground, but now they were assigned here. The smarter ones had already thought of killing them to silence them.

Some slaves began to move downstream along the river, wondering where to leave.

But they were soon blocked and there were troops guarding downstream and preventing them from leaving.

There was only one way left for these slaves, and that was to force their way through the post.

The slaves were unarmed and did not even have axes to work with, so they were no match for the fully armed army.

Saladin was watching everything in the river from a high ground. He had anticipated the resistance of the slaves.

"The rest of the slaves must be brought over as soon as possible."

Saladin said to the guards around him that the number of slaves they had captured was as many as 70,000 to 80,000, and he needed to deal with them all at once.

"Sir, the other slaves are quite far away and will be here tomorrow."

A general looked at Saladin and said.

"Tomorrow, I always feel a little uneasy!"

Saladin felt his eyelids twitching, which was not a good sign. He remembered that a book from Qi State he had read had a record that eyelid twitching meant disaster.

"Sir, we have checked the dam and it should last for a few days without any problems."

Someone said that the biggest problem now is the dam. (End of this chapter)