After receiving the order, Altik's subordinates immediately began their preparations. Because the city was relatively large, if they really dug around the city, it would consume too much manpower and resources. Obviously, it was not realistic. However, they could not determine where the enemy was digging from outside the city, so they could not carry out a targeted counterattack.
Therefore, it was urgent to find out where the enemy was digging as soon as possible. This problem was actually very simple. They only needed to dig a few more deep pits under the city wall, then bury the empty vats and cover the top of the vats with a layer of cowhide. Then, they would send people to listen to the sounds 24 hours a day. As long as the enemy was digging near the city wall, they would be able to hear it very clearly. In this way, they would be able to determine the location of the enemy's tunnel very clearly.
This technique had been around for a long time. This was enough to show that the ancient people were very intelligent. They knew how to amplify the sounds underground and determine the location of the tunnel.
After discovering the location of the enemy's tunnel, they could use various methods such as digging, releasing water, smoke, fog, and so on to eliminate the enemy in the tunnel. This would thwart the enemy's attempt to attack the city and achieve the final victory.
After the expansion of Maia City, the city wall was relatively large. In order to not miss any direction, a large number of water vats had to be placed on each side. If the distance between the vats was too large, they might not be able to hear clearly.
The army had a large number of water vats, but it was still not enough to meet the needs. They had to borrow them from the commoners. After all, they were guarding the city, so the commoners naturally did not object.
Soon, more than a thousand deep pits were dug in the city. The average distance between the pits was only a few dozen meters, which was more than enough. The water vats covered with cowhide were quickly placed into the pits. Moreover, there were many people taking turns to listen to the sounds in each pit. In order to save manpower, many children in the city were mobilized. Their ears were better than adults and they could hear more subtle sounds.
In order to make it easier to manage, a junior officer was in charge of every hundred water vats. He had a hundred soldiers under his command and one to two hundred temporarily recruited children. They would not simply listen to the sounds in the water vats. As long as they discovered any strange sounds, they would immediately report it to their superiors.
With this arrangement, only a little more than a thousand soldiers were needed to listen to the sounds. This number of soldiers was very small compared to the number of soldiers guarding the city, so it would not affect the fighting strength of the soldiers guarding the city.
After the construction of the monitoring water vats, Altik and Ibrahim went to inspect them separately. This was to encourage the soldiers guarding the water vats and tell them not to be afraid of hardship and to listen continuously without any slack.
Because children could not stay up late and could not stay up late, during the day, more children were monitoring the water tanks. At night, the soldiers were in charge of monitoring the water tanks in batches. One batch was in the first half of the night, and another batch was in the second half of the night. Each of them was in charge of monitoring multiple water tanks, so they needed to walk back and forth. This way, they could avoid accidentally falling asleep.
Patrolling back and forth within a distance of a hundred meters while listening to the movements in the water tanks wasn't too stressful, and it didn't consume much physical strength. Moreover, if the soldiers on the attacking side wanted to dig a tunnel, they wouldn't stop digging for a while. They would dig continuously. Therefore, as long as they got close to the city wall, they would be discovered by the soldiers in the city.
. "Soldiers, you've worked hard. How is it? Is there still no movement?"
Altik, who came to inspect the situation, asked.
"My Lord, our soldiers are monitoring day and night. Indeed, there is no movement at all. It seems that the soldiers outside the city are digging very slowly. They are not close to the city walls yet."
The subordinate said.
Artek nodded. "I hope that's the case. You have to continue monitoring. Don't let your guard down. If the enemy comes in, we're all done for."
"Yes, My Lord. We understand."
The subordinate replied.
The soldiers inside the city were on active defense. At the site of the tunnel digging outside the city, Ziyad personally guided the soldiers digging the tunnel and solved all kinds of problems they raised.
In order not to be discovered by the soldiers inside the city, Ziyad chose to dig the tunnel at a place far from Maia City. Therefore, it was naturally more difficult to dig. Not only did they need to dig a lot of soil, but the deeper they dug, the thinner the air became. It was easy to suffocate.
In the era where there were no blowers, it was a big problem to solve the problem of ventilation in the tunnel. If this problem could not be solved, the tunnel could not be dug any further. Otherwise, the soldiers inside would suffocate to death.
During the years when Hua Xia resisted the Japanese pirates, there was no artillery. Therefore, in order to deal with the Japanese pirates' turrets, the majority of the working people thought of the underground method of digging tunnels. They buried explosives under the turrets. As long as they were lit, the turrets would be blown up.
However, when they were digging the tunnels, they encountered a big problem. The deeper they dug, the more polluted the air became. Some of the soldiers would unknowingly fall asleep in the tunnels. In order to solve this problem, a rope was tied to the bodies of all the soldiers digging the tunnels. As long as the situation was not right, they would immediately pull the rope and pull the unconscious soldiers out. This prevented the soldiers from dying.
This was enough to show that in the absence of blowers, digging the tunnels would encounter a real situation where there was a lack of air. In serious cases, it could even lead to death.
Right now, Seiyad's elite troops were also facing the same problem. Moreover, the tunnel that they had to dig was even longer than the tunnels that the Huaxia Army had dug in the future. Naturally, the problem that they were going to encounter was even more serious.
"General, it is getting harder and harder to dig. We can't breathe. What should we do?"
The junior officer in charge of digging the tunnel was distressed.
Ziyad frowned and said, "It's not like we haven't dug tunnels before. Why is the problem so big this time?"
"General, we used to dig tunnels close to the city wall. Now, we are digging too far away from the city wall. We have already dug 500 steps. The feeling of suffocation is getting stronger. If we don't widen the tunnel, it will be difficult to continue digging."
The subordinate said.
Ziyad shook his head and said, "The tunnel is already very big now. It can accommodate three people walking side by side. If we continue to widen the tunnel, it may cause the tunnel to collapse. If that is the case, it will be terrible. We have to think of other ways."
"General, other than widening the tunnel, another way is to make some ventilation holes at the top of the tunnel. With these ventilation holes, it won't be too stuffy inside."
The subordinate said.
Ziyad opened his mouth and said, "It's possible to make some ventilation holes along the way. However, the ventilation holes can't be too big. Otherwise, it will be easy to be discovered by the enemy. It shouldn't be difficult to use a spear to make a hole at the top of the tunnel!"
"This is not difficult. However, because there is a lot of sand above, we have to use a hollow bamboo pole to support it. Only in this way can the ventilation holes be truly ventilated."
The subordinate said.
Ziyad frowned and said worriedly, "If we use a bamboo pole to support it, it will be too obvious. The soldiers on the city wall will discover it."
"General, but without the support of a bamboo pole, the sand will block the small hole and it won't play the role of ventilation. If we follow a small bamboo pole from a distance, it shouldn't be discovered because the target is too small. From a distance, it will look like a needle."
The subordinate said.
Ziyad nodded and said, "Okay! Then let's try a few now. I will watch from a hundred steps away. "
"Yes, General."
After the subordinates received the order, they immediately brought all kinds of tools into the tunnel. At a hundred steps into the tunnel, they made a hole that led to the outside. But when the spears were removed, the hole was quickly blocked by sand. Then, they stuffed hollow bamboo poles into the hole that they had just made. In this way, it was easily done. They immediately breathed in the fresh air outside.
The subordinate who completed the task immediately left the tunnel and reported to Ziyad. Ziyad stood at a high place outside and already saw the bamboo pole sticking out of the ground. Although it wasn't very obvious, it could still be discovered. As long as one looked carefully, they would be able to discover it.
The main problem was that the open space outside the city was full of sand. There wasn't a single bit of vegetation. If a bamboo pole suddenly appeared in a large area of sand, it would be like a needle appearing on a piece of white paper. It was still very obvious. Although the color of the iron needle and the white paper were not very different, it was still very easy to discover.
"General, we've completed it. Can you see it?"
The subordinate asked.
Ziyad pointed to a small section of bamboo pole sticking out of the ground in the distance and said, "Can't you see it yourself?"
"It's so small. It shouldn't be noticed!"
The subordinate said.
"No matter how small it is, it can still be discovered. Go and pull the bamboo pole down a little. The less exposed it is, the harder it is to be discovered. It's best if it's level with the ground. This way, it can hide itself to the greatest extent."
Ziyad said.
"Yes, General."
His subordinates hurriedly went to prepare and pulled down the bamboo pole according to the request. However, whenever there was a sign of sand falling, they would move it up a little more to ensure that the height of the bamboo pole was exactly the same as the ground, so that a section of the bamboo pole would not be exposed abruptly. It was very good for concealing themselves.
"General, it's done. Can we still see it?"
The subordinate ran out of the tunnel and asked excitedly.
Ziyad happily pointed to the distance and said, "There's no trace left. Not bad. Well done. Let's go and take a look."
They walked to a hundred steps away and saw a small hole in the ground. The subordinate immediately shouted. The soldiers below immediately responded and reported the situation below.
"It seems that this method is feasible. As long as we place more ventilation holes along the way, we can solve the problem of the tunnel not being able to pass through. Every fifty steps, we can place a ventilation hole. This should be enough."
The subordinate said happily.
Ziyad said with a smile, "Then what are you waiting for? Go and prepare! As long as there is enough air, the soldiers working inside can dig the tunnel faster. "
Soon, Ziyad's subordinates began to drill holes in the ground along the tunnel. In order to prevent being discovered, the holes were very small. Moreover, the bamboo pole was level with the ground. It was very difficult to be discovered. At least, it would be difficult to discover it from fifty steps away. Beyond a hundred steps, it was impossible to see such a small hole.
Of course, Ziyad and the rest would never have dreamed that their actions, which they thought were careful, had already been exposed. The three cavalrymen who broke through the defense and entered the city had already reported the situation to Altik. The soldiers in the city had already started to guard against their tunnel attacks. Therefore, their attacks would not be effective and would cause heavy losses to themselves.
After the problem of the air in the tunnel was solved, the digging speed of Ziyad's troops increased significantly. It was several times faster than before. After all, when there was insufficient air, there could only be a few soldiers working inside. If there were more people, it would cause the air consumption to increase.
Now, by drilling holes above the tunnel, the air quality in the tunnel was greatly improved. In this way, more soldiers could enter the tunnel and work together. The soldiers at the front were responsible for digging the soil, and the soldiers at the back were responsible for transporting the excavated soil. This greatly improved the efficiency of labor, and greatly increased the speed of digging the tunnel.
As the digging speed increased, the tunnel became closer and closer to the city wall. This way, the soldiers in charge of eavesdropping in the city could hear some movements.
The vats closest to the enemy's tunnel were the first to hear a strange sound. Because they were far away, the sound was not very clear. However, they could still hear the sound.
After hearing the sound, the soldiers in charge of eavesdropping were very excited and immediately reported to Altik.
After knowing the situation, Altik personally went to the vats and listened carefully. There really was a sound. Even his old ears could hear the sound. It was clear that there really was movement.
"How many vats can hear the sound?"
Altik asked.
"City Lord, five or six vats nearby can hear the sound. However, this one sound is the clearest. The ones on the left and right are not as clear as this one."
The subordinate replied.
Altik nodded and said, "That's right. It seems that the enemy's tunnel is in this direction. Let's go to the city wall and take a look."
After saying that, he led a group of people up the city wall.
Standing on the city wall, Altik and the others could see the enemy's camp in the distance. They could also see the thousands of enemy cavalry patrolling around.
"City Lord, the siege weapon camp in front is the closest to us. It seems that the entrance to the tunnel is in the camp in front."
One of the subordinates said.
Altik smiled and said, "Ziyad is really patient. He actually started digging from so far away. Let's dig! Let them dig slowly. "
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