As soon as the nervous mood subsided and the mood relaxed, Sun Zhongshan felt that his stomach was clear and hungry. Only then did he remember that he had hardly tasted the yellow sheep roasted in the evening, and after the army warned the grain team to move, he beckoned the team to straighten out the soldiers, and did not care about eating and drinking. He explained to the two sentries on duty at night, then sat down cross-legged in an open space a little further away from the line, took the bag of dry food tied around his waist and put it on his lap, and reached out and pulled out a piece of dry and hard bread.

The cake was a military ration received in a military village six or seven days ago, and because of the hot weather, it already smelled a little, and when he took it out, he smelled a faint mildew. He stared at the black bread in his hand, swallowed his saliva, broke off a piece and stuffed it in his mouth, and chewed it slowly.

He looked around as he ate the bread. The position he had chosen was directly opposite several official tents in the baggage camp, and he would be able to go there immediately to support the slightest movement, and it was not far from his own team, and the soldiers would be able to find him immediately if they had anything to report at night. Moreover, from this position, he could also see the situation at the back gate of the camp under the grassy slope, and if the army made any moves, he would be able to find out immediately......

However, the army is obviously not making any moves now. The entire camp was immersed in darkness, and not even a single cough could be heard, as if there was no one here. Except for the occasional snort of the cattle, only the small insects crouching in the barley were chirping incessantly. Swarms of mosquitoes hummed and circled around his ears, unable to get rid of them. There was a terrible cry of a nighthawk in the night sky, like a ripple caused by a pebble thrown into a backwater pool, which made the death-like silence even more terrifying and desolate.

Suddenly, someone asked nearby, "This is Sun Whistle, right?" ”

Sun Zhongshan was so shocked by this sudden question that he trembled, forced himself to calm Bu Bu's beating heart, raised his head and squinted his eyes for a long time, before he recognized that this seemed to be a leading officer of another grain team. He nodded and said, "It's me." Who are you? Is there something wrong? ”

In the dark, the man didn't notice Sun Zhongshan's panic, walked over and sat down with a knife on his waist, and said with a smile: "We met when you spoke for Lord Shang just now. You were in a hurry, and you didn't have time to speak. One by one, I wish Dai Chun, the deputy lieutenant of the C Battalion of the Guangliang Border Army. He waved his hand. You eat yours, you don't have to stand up. It's not about business, so there's no need for so much etiquette, let's sit and talk. ”

Sun Zhongshan saw that this Zhu Daichun was a kind person, so he smiled and didn't get up to salute. However, he still didn't continue to gnaw on his rancid dry food, holding the cake and waiting for Zhu Daichun to open his mouth first.

Zhu Daichun didn't seem to know what to say. His brows furrowed, and he stared at the southeast direction without squeaking for a long time. Sun Zhongshan had already caught a glimpse of his right hand holding the hilt of the knife and loosened it tightly, knowing that he was nervous, he lowered his eyes and continued to eat dry food. After a long time, Zhu Daichun let out a long breath, turned his face and shook his head with a bitter smile, and said, "...... Sun Whistle smiled. ”

Sun Zhongshan smacked his lips and spit out a ball of cake crumbs, poured his throat vigorously and pretended not to hear Zhu Daichun's words, stretched out a hand without raising his head, and asked, "Is there water?" Zhu Daichun hurriedly picked up his water bladder and handed it to him. Sun Zhongshan took a big mouthful of water and rinsed his mouth with a sigh, gargled a few times and didn't turn around and spit it out, and then said to Zhu Daichun: "See my mother's ghost!" This dry food is spoiled! I took a bite of the rancid ......"

Zhu Daichun picked up his own bag of dry food again and handed it over, asking, "What's the matter?" You haven't received your rations yet? ”

Sun Zhongshan was not polite, opened the grain bag and took a closer look, his eyes lit up, he took out a rice cake, and said in his mouth: "Good thing!" I haven't eaten this in four or five months! I did it myself last time when I was at home. He took a bite of the yellow rice cake, and his mouth was full of fried rice mixed with rapeseed oil. He chewed vigorously with a mouthful of fried rice grains, and said inarticulately, "But it's not this authentic." ”

Zhu Daichun saw that he was gobbling up and eating sweetly, and said with a reluctant smile: "I didn't expect you to be good for this thing." There are still a few pieces in the bag, you take them all. He looked at the southeast direction again, except for the "fire earthworm" that was getting closer and closer on the black earth, he couldn't see anything else, endured the irritability and worry in his heart, and asked Sun Zhongshan without words, "Your mother-in-law won't do this?" ”

Sun Zhongshan took out another piece of rice cake, and while returning the grain bag to Zhu Daichun, he shook his head and said, "The daughter-in-law I just begged sent out before she had time to teach her this thing." ”

Zhu Daichun didn't answer his pocket, and said, "You just eat, I'll go back and ask someone for it after eating." Master Hao of this baggage camp is my fellow countryman, and he also eats this food, which I have drawn from him. He stopped, looked at Sun Zhongshan and asked suspiciously, "Old Sun, are you over thirty?" How do you ask for a daughter-in-law? "He knows that Mazhi Dazhai has not been in war for twenty or thirty years, and it is the easiest border army defense area for Yanshan Guard's military affairs, not to mention officers, some outstanding soldiers have become families, why would Sun Zhongshan, the sentry commander, marry so late?

Sun Zhongshan smiled: "Then I won't be polite to adults." He grabbed the rice cake with one hand and handed it to his mouth, and stopped under his chin with the other hand to catch the broken rice grains, and said while eating, "I was sent to join the army, and I have been a small soldier in Ruqizhai, and I only mentioned Zhongyonglang in the spring of the year before last." The second post that was promoted in the Yandong War last year was transferred to West Malaysia and became the sentry commander after the Shang Lord......"

Zhu Daichun heard that it was a flurry. Officers above the sentry level in the border army are almost all from the guards. Ordinary border sergeants, almost from the day they put on their military uniforms to the day they take off their uniforms, can only be a small soldier for the rest of their lives; Only those who have made great achievements can become captains. But this captain is the end of the soldier's military career, and it is simply wishful thinking to go further. He never expected that Sun Zhongshan would also be a prisoner who was sent to the border, and he was stunned on the spot for a while, not knowing how to continue his words.

However, Sun Zhongshan saw his embarrassment, so he asked with a smile: "Lord Zhu is from Dingjin Weiping, right?" ”

"Huh? …… Yes, I'm from Weiping. How do you know? ”

Sun Zhongshan smiled: "I am also from Dingjin Weiping." I heard the adults speak with a Weiping accent. ”

The corners of Zhu Daichun's mouth grinned, and he hesitated for a moment before asking, "What did you do to be sent over?" How many years have you been in Yanshan? ”

"It's been more than ten years." Sun Zhongshan put down the rice cake handed to his mouth, lowered his eyelids, hid his painful eyes behind his eyelids, and said, "At that time, I was young and ignorant, I didn't know how thick the sky was, and I didn't know how important things to do, so I ...... the result" Before he could speak, he suddenly saw a little red light rising in the darkness far away in the southeast. As he stared, the flame had grown to half a finger's length, and then stretched left and right into a palm-wide red line. I saw that after this red line was still a red line, after the red line was still a red line, the red line was connected to the red line, and the red line was connected to the red line, and in the blink of an eye, the red line had become a small piece of red cloth. The "cloth" in the back is still popping up, as if a huge friendless loom is hidden in the darkness at the end of the world, working tirelessly...... Sun Zhongshan and Zhu Daichun had long been stunned by this sudden strange situation, where could they still care about talking, and hurriedly walked to the slope edge to look at the unobstructed sight, but they saw it as far away as the dense turn of fire on the edge of the sky, tumbling and rolling out of the darkness like a tide, and in a blink of an eye, they formed a fire dragon with teeth and claws, winding towards the direction of the camp.

Shocked and suspicious, the two men glanced at each other, and a thought came to their minds at the same time: the cavalry of the Turrets!

By this time, the troops that had gone to support the Alegu grain depot had already rushed back to the front of the village, and the hoarse warnings of the remnants of the defeated generals were torn apart by the night wind on the grassland, echoing over the deathly silent camp.

"Sudden ...... Exhaust people! …… The cavalry is coming! ”

As they shouted and warned, the hooves of the horses suddenly swept to the ground, and the "fire dragon" gradually became louder and louder, and gradually became dense and compact, and outflanked the left army from all directions, as if God had suddenly cast a large net and tightly encircled the camp located on the great meadow. The sound of the horse's hooves exploded like thunder, and the horns of the painting rang one after another, implicating the heavens and the earth, and the two of them felt that the ground under their feet seemed to be disturbed by the sound, and the sampan in the wild waves trembled and trembled......

The soldiers, officers, and civilians at the assembly point had long been awakened by such a large battle, and the soldiers who remained in the tents and stood by also poked their heads out to look. At this time, who cared about any military discipline, whether it was the sergeant guarding the grain or the officers and soldiers preparing for war, they all rushed over and stood on the edge of the slope one by one. The black pressure was crowded, but there was not even a single one to speak, and everyone was staring at the "fire dragon" that bumped into it without hesitation.

Zhu Daichun took a few breaths in succession before he could barely calm down, and asked Sun Zhongshan softly: "Look, how many enemies are coming?" Although he was an adjutant in a battalion, he had never really led troops, had hardly experienced any battles, and he was dazzled by the light of the torches in front of him, and he couldn't estimate the approximate number of the enemy at all.

Sun Zhongshan gritted his teeth and said, "There are at least tens of thousands of cavalry. Someone behind him laughed and said, "Tens of thousands? More than! The enemy from the west and from the north came up, at least forty thousand. Sun Zhongshan didn't look back and knew that it was Bao Kan who was back, and was about to speak, when he heard Qian Laosan snort: "Old Bao, don't talk nonsense with your mouth open!" Disturbing the hearts of the army is a sin of killing the head! Sun Zhongshan interjected and asked, "There are also enemies in the west and north?" Have you been there? ”

Bao Kan said: "Where do I have that idle time? Besides, martial law is already in the camp, how can I go to the front camp to see? It's what the adults said, one by one, it took so much effort to arrange a trap for the left army to drill, and it was over if it couldn't burn a grain depot, and the back road of the army was cut off after pinching the army, and the next thing was to encircle. You have to earn some interest when you get out of the capital! He stared at the approaching enemy for a few moments, and said with a sneer, "That's what the Turks are capable of?" This time, it's probably going to make him right again! ”

Qian Laosan looked around and asked, "What about the adults?" Why don't you see adults? ”

Bao Kan said: "He is mostly asleep. He suddenly smiled evilly at Qian Laosan and said, "You go and wake up the adults, so that he can also come to see today's battle of the Tuqi people." Tsk, this is much more pompous than when I was in Yi County. ”

Qian Laosan was about to go to Shang Cheng, but Sun Zhongshan grabbed him and said, "My lord said, don't wake him up before dawn!" ”

"What?" Qian Laosan hurriedly didn't understand what was going on, but Sun Zhongshan tightened his arm before he reacted, glared at Bao Kan viciously, and asked, "What else did the adults say?" ”

Bao Kan saw that the trick did not succeed, so he did not continue to joke, and said: "My lord said, it's okay tonight, it depends on whether the left army dares to take advantage of the enemy's unstable foothold to go out and fight." He pointed to the two small camps on the left and right, and said, "Those two places will probably not be able to hold on tonight." This is the old trick of the Turks, killing the chickens one by one and showing them to the monkeys. ”

At this time, the people who had already gathered around him all looked at him with an inexplicable look and "babbling nonsense". Bao Kan didn't care, he looked around with a cold face, and said sharply with round eyes: "What are you doing here?" Don't you know the military order not to move around at will? Don't go back yet?! Beware of the Shang Lord's marching method! But his shout only frightened the two West Malaysian soldiers who had sneaked over and retreated, and most of them still stood in place, and some of them were also a little frightened when they heard about the "marching method", but seeing that others did not move, they took two steps back and stood down again. Sun Zhongshan was also persuading everyone to return to their respective camps and tents, but his little border army sentry commander didn't work at all, and a guard commander even sneered at him: "Sesame dares to take care of pears?" ”

Someone behind the chief suddenly said: "He's a sesame can't manage you, so what about me?" Can I care about your pear? ”

He was about to reply, but his companion pulled him hard, staggered two steps and almost didn't fall to the ground, and the people next to him just laughed. He was anxious, angry, embarrassed and annoyed, and was about to have a seizure as soon as he jumped up on the ground, but he saw a big officer standing in front of him, staring at him coldly in one left eye, his heart was sudden, and he couldn't spit out a word when his tongue was rolled.

"Drag it down and whip it five times! Dare to snort and cut it on the spot. ”

Two wolf-like soldiers from the West Horse came up and dragged Nashi Chang to the ground, lifted his robe and pants, and crackled like five leather whips.

The border army carried out the punishment of the guards in public, which was an unprecedented and rare thing, but the surrounding people stood and watched the lively black pressure on a group of brave soldiers, all silently watching the guard officer being tortured, not to mention whispering and discussing, even the gasping and coughing could not be heard, even the Tutu cavalry that was getting closer and closer under the meadow could not arouse people's attention. Everyone was staring at the two executioners.

In the blink of an eye, five whips were drawn. Shang Cheng had a cold face, didn't even look at the guy, nodded and shouted, "Sun Zhongshan!" ”

"Here!" Sun Zhongshan stepped forward in response.

"Count! Those who do not return to the camp within thirty times, behead! Officers and soldiers are treated equally! ”

"Yes!" Sun Zhongshan roared and received the order, turned around and began to count loudly and rhythmically, "One." Two. Three ......"

When everyone was still in a trance and surprised, Bao Kan and Qian Laosan had already cleared the crowd and went back. The people of the various grain teams are not blind, they have long seen the soldiers who ran out of the team led by Shang Cheng can be counted with a slap, and the others are curious, at most they stand up and poke their heads down to look at a few times. At this time, I saw two officers rushing back in a hurry as if their house was on fire, where could I still not understand that a blind man would really kill someone! They didn't need to be greeted at all, and they rumbled towards their camping places. A large number of people were suddenly scattered. Sun Zhongshan had just counted to "thirteen", and there was only a large group of guards officers and soldiers looking at each other on the edge of the slope.

Shang Cheng looked coldly at the battalion captain standing in front of the team. Tian Xiaowu and Su Zha, carrying leather whips in their hands, stood behind him expressionlessly.

Sun Zhongshan is still meticulously counting: "...... Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen ......"

Eventually, the battalion captain gave a military salute with his arms flat, and turned away with his soldiers.

“…… Twenty-three. Twenty-four. Twenty-five ......"