Black Wolf still had doubts in his heart. After all, a series of recent events were somewhat abnormal. There were too many coincidences. It was impossible not to be suspicious, especially when the three groups of people he sent out didn't return. This was what he was most suspicious of.
Although Wolf One took out some items, which seemed to prove that the brothers he sent out had met with an accident, if Wolf One himself had a problem, then this accident couldn't be a storm, but someone had kidnapped his men. In this way, the situation was complicated.
When a person was at the bottom of the hierarchy, they could be carefree and not think too much about anything. They could just live their own lives. However, as a leader who controlled many subordinates, this was a fatal flaw. This was because carelessness could lead to the loss of many people's lives, and even more so, the loss of everything they had.
Therefore, once a person sat in a leader's position, they would become suspicious. Firstly, it was to be cautious. Secondly, it was because there were many specific things that they did not need to do personally. They had more energy to think. The more questions they thought about, the easier it would be to find flaws.
Although there was a famous saying, "Don't doubt the people you use, don't use the people you suspect." But that was only after knowing a subordinate well enough. In addition, those who used people also had a backup plan. Once a subordinate who was entrusted with a heavy responsibility betrayed him, he could deal with it very well, thus avoiding heavy losses.
Black Wolf, as a great pirate with twenty to thirty thousand subordinates, must have his own strengths. It was impossible for him not to have the most basic vigilance. Therefore, as long as there was something abnormal, he must make the necessary response.
Of course, his suspicions wouldn't be told to irrelevant people, let alone let Wolf One feel that he was suspected. Otherwise, if he overreached himself, it would destroy the relationship between brothers.
Black Wolf's subordinates followed the order and adopted a surveillance policy for Wolf One and his subordinates. But Wolf One and Wang Liu brought more than five hundred people twice. The number was very large. It was obviously more difficult to carry out comprehensive surveillance without being discovered by the other party. It was easy to do in a crowded place. No one could be sure that they were being watched. But once they entered a place with few people, even a dog behind them would become suspicious.
Therefore, in order to not be discovered by the other party, they could only use the method of monitoring some key points. In addition, they also had to track and monitor people who acted strangely.
Fortunately, the more than 500 people under Wolf One's command were not safely scattered. Most of them stayed on the ship or in the guest rooms. Only a small part of them went out. In this way, it was not too difficult to monitor them.
Black Wolf was quite relieved to have a group of capable and loyal subordinates monitoring Wolf One. In addition, he also made a lot of arrangements, such as strengthening the guards and sending ten large ships to the Dragon Tooth Gate to investigate the situation again.
In his opinion, the reason why the subordinates he sent out before did not return safely was that they only had one ship. Once they were raided by the Tang Army, they would not be able to escape. But this time, he sent out ten large ships, all of which weighed nearly a thousand tons. The possibility of all of them suffering an accident was relatively low. Once the situation in the east was not good, he could make preparations.
After making careful and reliable arrangements, Black Wolf returned to his residence with peace of mind and prepared to have a good rest. Tomorrow was his birthday, so he could not show a tired state.
Wolf One's mood had always been uneasy. He wasn't 100% sure that the plan he was carrying out would work. He had agreed to carry out the mission with the intention of gambling because he had no way out. If he didn't betray his brother, his little life would be over.
Tomorrow night was the time to carry out the task. He was so nervous that he did not feel sleepy at all. For more than two hours, he paced back and forth on the beach. He seemed to be elegant, but in fact, he was not in the mood to enjoy the sea view.
Because he was preoccupied, he did not feel the eyes around him at all. After all, there were quite a lot of people on the beach. Some were his own people, some were Black Wolf's people, and some were nearby people who wanted to curry favor with him. In short, there were all kinds of people, including many blue-eyed Westerners with high noses.
Among all the guests, Wolf One brought the largest number of soldiers with him, more than 500 people. The rest of the people brought at most a few 300 people and a few 100 to 200 people. The bottom line was 50 people. Otherwise, it would be too small. Ang Lee would not have enough people even if he changed shifts to row the boat.
"Your Majesty, I have taken a closer look. It seems that we are being watched."
A small leader came over from not far away and warned Wolf One.
Wolf One was startled and quickly glanced around the crowd, but he did not find anyone who was deliberately watching him.
"Who is it? Who is watching us?"
Wolf One asked nervously.
The small leader hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, don't look at the crowd at will. I tell you, the three people on the left in front and the fruit vendor on the right have been staring in this direction. It's very suspicious."
"Maybe they are looking at the scenery?"
Wolf One said.
The small leader said, "Your Majesty is right. This is also a possibility. In order to prove this point, Your Majesty can walk 300 steps to the east and get out of their sight. See if they will change their position and continue to follow Your Majesty. I will first send people to their vicinity and observe their movements at close range. Then, we will be able to make a judgment."
Wolf One nodded and said, "Okay, you go and arrange it!"
Soon, Wolf One and his subordinates walked 300 steps to the east and got out of the sight of those people. They continued to enjoy the scenery at another location.
"Look back and see if they have moved."
Wolf One looked at the sea and calmly asked.
The small leader looked back and said, "Your Majesty, they have moved. It seems that they have followed us. Even the fruit vendor has moved."
"Someone is actually watching me? Is Black Wolf beginning to suspect me?"
Wolf One suddenly became nervous.
Soon, several small pirates came over and reported what they saw. These people were indeed shooting arrows at Wolf One. They seemed to be careless and not very eye-catching. However, as long as one looked carefully, one could still see it.
"Your Majesty, it seems that this Black King is very suspicious! He doesn't trust Your Majesty at all. Is there a flaw in our plan? "
The small leader frowned and said.
Wolf One scratched his ears and cheeks and said, "How would I know? There are so many places where we can be exposed. Who knows which part of the plan went wrong? However, Black Wolf has begun to watch us. This is troublesome. This will bring a great obstacle to our operation tomorrow night. We may not be able to successfully complete the task given by Assistant Minister Li."
"Your Majesty, this is a good opportunity for us to perform meritorious deeds! We can't miss it. "
The small leader was also very anxious.
Once people were being watched, they would feel very irritated and helpless. After all, this would make their actions more effective and have a great chance of leaking information.
"No, we can't stay at the beach for too long. Let's go to the guest room! Otherwise, we will make Black Wolf more suspicious. "
Wolf One pretended not to know anything and led many of his subordinates to the guest room prepared by Black Wolf.
After entering the guest room, Wolf One first asked his subordinates to check the surroundings to make sure that no one would eavesdrop on them. He also left some brothers outside to guard so that no outsiders could get close. In the era of the Tang dynasty, when the technology of eavesdropping was not very developed, doing this could completely prevent his words from being overheard.
Of course, acting as if he was facing a great enemy would inevitably arouse suspicion, but it was better than having his secret conversation overheard by others. In addition, it could also be explained as style. People with status had to have a large group of people around them to protect them.
The brothers who were sent out to scout returned to the courtyard of the guest room one by one and reported the situation they had found.
"Your Majesty, the situation is not very good! In Hei Lang's tent and residence, the number of soldiers has been increased by more than two times. There are even a few arrow towers that have been temporarily built. Those arrow towers are heavily fortified and can hold more than ten people. It is an impenetrable fortress! "
A young pirate said worriedly.
"Your Majesty, the situation on my side is also very bad. I don't know what's going on, but there are always people watching me from behind. I'm afraid it will be the same tomorrow. In this way, I won't have a chance to put drugs in the food."
Another subordinate said.
"Your Majesty, I found that ten big ships have left the port and are sailing in the southeast direction. I don't know what they are going to do."
Another subordinate reported.
Now a lot of situations were reported. After hearing it, Wolf One's face looked very bad. After all, it was all bad news. No one would be in a good mood after hearing it.
"Your Majesty, it seems that Black Wolf is completely suspicious of us. If it doesn't work, we should run away quickly! Staying here may be a dead end! "
A subordinate was anxious and blurted out.
"Run? Where can we run to? The troops we brought with us are not our old brothers. They won't run with us. There are only a dozen of us. We can't even drive a boat. How can we escape?"
Another person objected.
"But now, Black Wolf has increased the defense measures. In addition, there are people watching the kitchen. We have no chance of winning."
One of the subordinates said.
Wolf One thought for a long time and said: "Since we have been suspected, then don't do anything. Let nature take its course. Tomorrow night, Assistant Minister Li's elite troops will kill their way here. After Assistant Minister Li launches the attack, we can take advantage of the chaos and gather all the troops to capture Black Wolf. Although some people will escape, as long as we can capture Black Wolf, our mission will be half completed. The predicament we are facing now is much more serious than Assistant Minister Li expected. Naturally, we can't follow the original plan."
"Your Majesty is wise. This subordinate thinks it is feasible."
"Your Majesty, this subordinate also agrees."
"Your Majesty, this suggestion must be told to the Vanguard Battalion officer. As long as he agrees, there won't be any problems."
Wolf One nodded: "You go and persuade the Vanguard Battalion officer. This King is tired. Go! "
"Your Majesty, rest early. We will take our leave."
The group of small leaders took their leave one by one. One of them went to find the Vanguard Battalion officer in the cabin and told him the plan that Wolf One and the others had discussed.
At the beginning, the Vanguard Battalion officer was dead set on not agreeing. He insisted on carrying out Ang Lee's plan and taking the initiative to control Black Wolf and the guests. But after listening to the small leader's careful and rigorous analysis, he also felt that the original plan was no longer feasible. Slowly, he accepted the mission and said that he would obey.
The next morning, Wolf One acted as if nothing had happened. As usual, he went to see Black Wolf and had breakfast with Black Wolf. They drank a few cups of wine while they were at it.
Pirates like Wolf One and Black Wolf almost drank three times a day. They drank a little in the morning, a lot at noon, and a lot at night. Throughout the year, they had never stopped drinking. They were lucky that they didn't get alcoholic liver.
Of course, this was also because the alcohol content of the wine in the Tang dynasty was too low. The normal alcohol content was only a dozen or so. There were also a few light wines. Drinking this kind of wine was naturally not easy to get drunk. The harm to the body was not as great as the high alcohol content wine. The most important thing was that there was no industrial alcohol, which was fake wine. All the wine for people to drink was brewed with grains. Jiankang was still very safe.
Dozens of miles south of the Dragon Tooth Gate, Ang Lee and his huge fleet stayed there. Few ships passed through this area. After all, the commercial routes were close to the Dragon Tooth Gate. Fishing boats were more willing to choose the location of the archipelago where there were a lot of fish. They would not go to unfamiliar waters where there were few fish.
Ang Lee was eating breakfast. There was soy milk with sugar, poached eggs, cooked mutton slices, a plate of stir-fried mung bean sprouts, and a small dish of raw garlic.
This kind of breakfast was not only nutritious enough, but also very delicious. It was a very refreshing feeling in the mouth.
The only regret was that after eating the raw garlic, the taste in the mouth was quite strong, which would make the people around feel very uncomfortable. However, Ang Lee was the highest commander, so he didn't care about this.
"Assistant Minister Li, pirate ships have been found in the northwest."
A subordinate reported.
On the wide sea, under normal circumstances, the big ships were first discovered by the other party. However, each ship of Ang Lee's fleet was equipped with advanced observation equipment, which could shorten the distance by dozens of times. Therefore, they were always the first to discover the other party, rather than the other party discovering them first.
"Pirate ships? How many? How far are they? What's their direction of travel?"
Ang Lee asked very professionally.
"There are a total of ten ships, all of which are thousands of tons. They are 50 miles away and are heading in our direction."
The subordinate reported accurately.
Ang Lee smiled faintly and said, "They must be the pirate ships heading to the Rising Island. Could it be that Black Wolf is suspicious? Pass down the order. Retreat to the Rising Island. Leave five gunboats to go around the south and get ready to go behind the pirate ships to cut off their retreat. These pirate ships must be destroyed."
"Yes, your subordinate understands."
The subordinate replied seriously.
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