Altik was a little surprised to hear that. The Tang dynasty's army had been stationed at the port of Aden for the past few days, and no one had dared to visit Ang Lee alone, except for him, who had brought all kinds of influential people in the city to visit Ang Lee, in order to avoid being accused of colluding with the Tang dynasty. Only Osman and his men went to meet Ang Lee alone, and they stayed for a long time. Therefore, Altik was very concerned about this group of people, but unexpectedly, they suddenly left without leaving a trace behind.
Fortunately, his men were good at what they did, and they had already followed them secretly. As long as they followed them, they might be able to discover the secret of this group of people, and then it would be easy to deal with them.
However, Altik was disappointed again. None of the people who went to follow Osman returned. It had been half a day, and these people had disappeared without a trace, as if they had evaporated into thin air.
After that, he sent out several groups of people, but they couldn't find the people who had gone out to follow them. In the end, he could only give up.
These people were naturally captured alive by Osman's soldiers, and they were all brought back. With Osman's experience, it was not easy to be followed.
Soon after leaving Aden, Osman noticed that there seemed to be people following him, so he arranged for six of his men to ride ahead and set up an ambush not far ahead. Osman moved forward at a moderate pace, and when he walked past the ambush place, he didn't notice his men, so he continued forward with satisfaction. The few soldiers under Altik's command who were following him didn't know that there was an ambush on both sides, and they were surrounded by six soldiers. Osman, who was in the front, heard the shout and returned with six soldiers, so he had an even greater advantage. It was almost effortless for him to capture the three people who were following him alive, and he tied them to horses and brought them back.
Osman didn't kill the three people because he knew that they were very likely to be of great use to him. No matter who ordered them to follow him, he would bring them back and interrogate them, and he would get a lot of useful information. Perhaps he could even get a lot of useful information about Aden through them.
In the Khorasan area, many senior officials of Abdullah's group were moving their families and assets. Although they were moving in batches, there were more or less traces left behind. Mansur's men found out about it, and they immediately reported it to Mansur.
When Mansur heard the news, he analyzed it with his strategists for a long time, but the conclusion they came to made Mansur very unhappy.
These fellows all believed that Apo's actions had made these high-ranking officials who followed Abdullah nervous, so they were forced to evacuate their families and property so that they could flee Khorasan when necessary and preserve everything they had.
However, Mansur had already decided to strike first to gain the upper hand. Thus, he really did not want to hear these words. He wanted to hear his subordinates say that Abdullah was planning to rebel. That way, he would have enough reason to lead his troops to attack Abdullah.
Most of his subordinates couldn't tell what Mansur was thinking, but a few of his confidants could. They advised Mansur to use this opportunity of both sides dispatching troops to get rid of all the upper echelons of the Abdullah Group in one fell swoop. Then, he would be able to succeed to the position of Abdullah Group's leader.
In order to prevent this secret from being leaked, they didn't tell anyone else about this. Even Abu Muslim and Ziyad didn't know about Mansur's plan.
Abdullah's soldiers were ready. According to the agreement he had with Apos, his soldiers should be heading north to quell the rebellion.
A small-scale rebellion truly did exist in the north, but it wasn't as serious as Abdullah had said. However, since the army was ready, it was imperative to move out.
General Nasser personally led the army out, while Abdullah and the other senior officials disguised themselves as logistical soldiers and quietly mixed in with the army as they left the Khorasan region.
In this way, Abdullah only had a few thousand soldiers left in Khorasan, as well as the guards in the residences of the various high-ranking officials. He really didn't have any other decent strength.
"Sir, Nasser personally led the main force out of Khorasan. Our men followed them for thirty li, but there were no signs of them returning."
A trusted aide stood behind Mansur and reported in a low voice.
Mansur was elated. He stroked his beard and said, "I truly didn't expect this! Abdullah actually wants to transfer his main force out of Khorasan. Isn't he afraid that I'll do something to him? Continue to keep an eye on Nasser, in case his army suddenly turns back. "
"This subordinate has already made the arrangements. Someone will report back every half an hour."
The subordinate said proudly.
Mansur patted his subordinate's shoulder with satisfaction and said, "Success or failure will be decided tomorrow. By the way, is Abdullah still at his residence?"
"Our men saw him send Nasser off with their own eyes, then return to his residence. Our men have been keeping an eye on his residence, but they didn't see him go out. Only a few cooks in the kitchen drove to the street to buy groceries."
The subordinate said.
"Cooks? Did you send anyone to follow them? "
Mansur asked cautiously.
"Sir, if we have to keep an eye on such a small character, even if we double our men, it won't be enough! There are a total of three of them who went out to buy groceries and came back after buying groceries. It's still three people, so there won't be any problems. "
The subordinate said.
Mansur nodded and said, "That's good. Continue to keep an eye on them, and don't let anything go wrong."
"Sir, don't worry. I definitely won't let you down."
The subordinate replied.
While Mansur's side was fully prepared, Abdullah's side was not idle either. After leaving Khorasan for 50 li, the army was stationed.
In order to prevent being discovered, Abdullah was still wearing the clothes of an ordinary logistics soldier, and the commander of the army was still Nasser. He only used the opportunity of delivering food to Nasser to sneak into the main tent.
"Sir."
When Nasser saw Abdullah, he immediately bowed. No matter what kind of clothes Abdullah was wearing, he could immediately recognize him.
"Today is a daunting experience, but I don't know the situation in the city, and whether the preparations are sufficient."
Abdullah said.
"Sir, don't worry. Our men are ready. No matter what happens in the city, we will set off smoke during the day and fire at night. There are also troops along the way who can pass on the news, so we can know what happened in the city immediately."
The subordinate said.
Abdullah said with satisfaction, "Everything will depend on tomorrow. After tomorrow, the overall situation will be decided."
This overall situation referred to who would inherit the position of Caliph of the Apus dynasty. At present, he was not completely confident because he did not know the other side's deployment. If Mansur's troops left Khorasan and went south, then he could turn around and kill them. But if Mansur's troops stayed in Khorasan and did not leave, or wanted to harm him, then he could only continue to go north and use his control of the land and population in the north and east to establish an independent country and compete with Mansur.
Mansur's strength was originally slightly stronger than Abdullah's, and coupled with the fact that Mansur favored Mansur and used various reasonable reasons to deal with many of Abdullah's supporters, this caused the gap between the two to widen.
Therefore, Abdullah's strength was on the weaker side. However, the two had been competing for a long time. They were like fire and water, and each other's confidants and supporters had become enemies. It was obviously impossible for him to obediently admit defeat and be an obedient subordinate. The only result of doing so was death, or being imprisoned until he died of depression.
If he could not defeat Mansur in Khorasan, Abdullah could only choose to leave and go to his headquarters in the north, where he had his foundation. With the land and population, it was completely feasible to compete with Mansur as an equal.
Of course, this was a path of retreat. The best and most effective method was still to kill Mansur and his supporters. Only in this way would he be able to settle the matter once and for all.
Thus, Abdullah could only pray that Mansur really would move his army to the south. This way, he could lead his army to assault the royal capital and achieve his goal of seizing the throne.
But the situation did not develop as Abdullah had imagined. Mansur had already raised his butcher's knife and was prepared to kill his only opponent.
That evening, Mansur suddenly issued an order for Abu Muslim to deploy his main force to the northern part of the city and prepare to defend it.
Meanwhile, Mansur personally commanded his ten thousand soldiers to assault the residences of Abdullah and his supporters so that they could be dealt with in one fell swoop.
Abu Muslim was in the middle of a game of chess with Ziyad when he received the order. He was so confused that he even wondered if the messenger had misheard.
"The northern part of the city? How could it be the northern part of the city? Our soldiers are in the southern part of the city, and they're supposed to set out for Aden tomorrow morning. Why are they suddenly being deployed to the northern part of the city? Did you mishear? "
Abu Muslim asked in confusion.
"General, this is an order from your superior. It can't be wrong. Your Majesty only needs to carry it out."
The messenger was Mansur's trusted aide, and his words were very straightforward. It was as if he was not afraid of angering Abu Muslim.
Ziyad pulled on Abu Muslim's sleeve and said, "General, obey the order!"
Abu Muslim frowned at the messenger and nodded. "Go back and tell the superior that I will promptly deploy the army to the northern part of the city."
Once the messenger was gone, Abu Muslim turned to Ziyad and said, "Ziyad, what do you think is going on with the superior? Why is he suddenly ordering us to defend the northern part of the city? What is he planning? Could it be that Nasser's soldiers have returned?"
Ziyad thought for a few moments before replying, "How can we possibly guess at the superior's intentions? But the superior is vicious and merciless. If we don't obey, he will hold a grudge against us. All we need to do is obey."
"Okay, pass on the order. Have the army immediately move out."
Abu Muslim ordered.
In truth, Abu Muslim had already guessed at a few things. With the army deployed to the northern part of the city, who else could they defend against besides Nasser's soldiers? What angered him the most was that Mansur had not given him any advance notice. As a result, his soldiers were bound to be in disarray, and it would probably take them an entire night to get into position. Sleep was out of the question.
The ten thousand soldiers in the city were also being mobilized, heading straight for the residences of Abdullah and his confidants. One group of soldiers was even heading for the royal palace.
Such a large disturbance naturally attracted the attention of many people. The common people holed up in their homes, not daring to go out, and the officials were also so frightened that they did not dare to leave their homes.
Mansur personally led a group of soldiers to Abdullah's residence and completely surrounded it. Not even a fly could get out.
Abdullah's residence only had around one hundred guards, and after a few moments of resistance, they were all wiped out. Several hundred soldiers broke into Abdullah's residence and began a slaughter and capture.
Anyone who obediently allowed themselves to be captured was captured, and anyone who resisted or tried to escape was killed without mercy. In just a few moments, corpses of various shapes and sizes were strewn across the city.
Mansur didn't show the slightest discomfort as he watched this bloody scene. In fact, he even seemed a little excited.
"Sir, we haven't found Abdullah."
A confidant walked over and reported.
"How is that possible? Didn't you say that Abdullah didn't leave his residence? How can we not find him? Secret room, there must be a secret room. Even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, we must find him. "
Mansur fiercely ordered.
Soon, more soldiers rushed in and carried out a stricter search, not letting go of any suspicious places.
The secret room was finally found, but there was no one in the room, not even a shadow of Abdullah.
"Interrogate these people properly and ask them where Abdullah ran off to."
Mansur angrily said.
His subordinates interrogated them one by one and gave them certain benefits, asking them to betray their master.
"Sir, the kitchen said that Abdullah disguised himself as the kitchen staff and has already left. He should be in Nasser's army now."
His subordinate reported.
"What, how could this be?"
Mansur was furious. He originally thought that he could solve the problem once and for all, but he didn't expect Abdullah to run away. As such, the difficulty of getting rid of his old rival increased by a lot.
"Sir, the situation isn't good. The rest of the troops are also missing. All of Abdullah's confidants have run away, and none of them are in the city."
His subordinate said.
"No wonder we found out that they moved their families. It turns out that they had already planned everything. How hateful."
Mansur was very angry, but soon, more bad news came.
"Sir, a large number of lanterns rose in the city, followed by flames outside the city. They seem to be used to send messages to Nasser."
A confidant said.
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