5

Later in the evening, Zhong Li's military order was transmitted to all departments with the palm lamp, and three shifts were distributed among the troops, taking turns to be on duty at night, one shift and one and a half hours, and one and a half hours. First, there is a shift changer to hand over the old password, and then there is a fast horse patrol, and the password is exchanged for the new, which can be described as the highest security state of the city defense.

Because he expected the enemy to attack at the fifth watch, Zhong Li put himself in the last shift, and Xia Mao was the first to take charge. Although he was on duty at the beginning of the year, he came to the main building of the East Gate early. This place can overlook most of the city, and the tower is also located not far from it, if there is a situation, you can watch the whole picture at any time.

Although the attack was expected today and tomorrow, the silence after dark made one wonder if such vigilance was superfluous. Xia Mao walked out of the city tower from time to time and looked around on the city wall, but all that caught his eye was the orderly city defense, the torches that left almost no dead ends, and the occasional question and answer, without panic of the sound of passwords. The ink-colored dragon flag hung on the tower out of the city, and if the wind was not strong, it seemed to be pulling it still. As far as the eye can see, there is a slight fire in the easternmost col, and if it were not for the daytime sentry confirming that it was the camp of the "North Front", people would have mistakenly thought that it was the lights of the village.

There was the sound of running water from time to time, and it seemed that the room had not yet finished cleaning up the cooking utensils; There are war horses whispering, and some spiritual horses probably know that there will be a great war; The sporadic grinding of knives had completely ceased, and the soldiers should know how to cherish the last time of rest; The brazier whirred from time to time, and the autumn wind outside the plug tightened in the night.

When it was obviously cold, Xia Mao returned to the main building, sat in the main hall and guarded the brazier and wiped his sword. This sword has a pair of blue and black spikes with red brocade edges, which reflects his identity as a member of the army more than self-defense. After Yuan Qizhi gave him the sword four years ago, although he had seen the enemy in person, he had never drunk blood. Although the blade of the sword is open, there are few new forks that are polished, and the white silk cloth is wiped up and down, and it is still white when the hand is opened. The whole body is clean, and only the four characters of "gentleman righteousness" on the sword are neat and neat, as the only "mark" of this sword.

"Password?"

"Guard!"

The answer "guard" was a familiar rough voice. Xia Mao came back to his senses and saw that he was even more leaky, but when he was not in time, the time for his shift change was Zizheng. But when the door of the main hall rang, it was indeed Hu Yang of the next class who walked in.

Xia Mao put his "gentleman's righteousness" into the sword box. "Didn't you remember the wrong time? Half an hour to go! ”

Hu Yang sat on the side hand, and the armor on his body fell with a loud sound. "Remembering correctly is not mistaken, but how can people sleep?" Or because of the firelight, his face looked extremely black and red, and the tendons on his forehead were still clearly visible through the rough flesh.

"If you're so restless, don't make a mistake for a while." Xia Mao pretended to be calm and replied seemingly kindly.

Hu Yang heard that this was ridiculing his temperament, so he waved his big hand angrily and replied: "You don't need to worry about it, let's go!" ”

"No, it's still my scope of responsibility at this time, how can I explain it if I have a business trip?"

"Look at the thirty miles east of the city, there is no movement at all, and you have to wait for a while."

Xia Mao replied with a sneer, a goatee curled up, and still sat in the main seat. For a while, there was no word in the hall, only the sound of the autumn wind pulling the flag.

The main building of the east city is the same as the stone fortress wall, which is made of stones, except for the four corner pillars, the rest are gray-white stones. In addition to being sturdy, the effect of keeping out the cold is much better than that of a wooden room. However, the night was unusually cold, and the north wind that had risen at night tore away the dark clouds of the past few days, as if a quilt had been removed, and the little remaining temperature of late autumn was carried away by the cold moonlight. When he came in, Hu Yang's head was sweating, and after a while, he and Xia Mao gathered next to the brazier, and his previous impatient breath was also frozen.

"Why is it so cold?" Xia Mao ignored him, so Hu Yang muttered again: "If Old Yuan Tou comes a few days late, we will have to prepare cotton clothes for the winter." ”

"Who's going to spend the winter with you?"

"What's the matter, you're able to make sure our reinforcements arrive? How long has it been since this moved? What's more, the Beifeng family is not a vegetarian. I don't think I can count on the battle of this stone fort at least. ”

"If you say this, aren't you afraid that I will say that you are a cholera soldier?"

Xia Mao was so threatening, but in exchange for Hu Yang's big head fluttering a smile, "Come on, you don't have any points in your heart when you join the army?" I know that very well. Although there is less Ningyuan Jinzhou in Liaodong, there are more muddy tidal flats earlier. But as long as Beifeng thinks of fighting a guerrilla, he can drag Lao Yuantou's reinforcements outside. Huh! Now I can only look at our General Zhong, although there are more enemy troops, but our 8,000 people are also a lot, enough to kill for a while. ”

Xia Mao was pondering what to do, and the sound of password questions and answers came from outside, and the two of them looked at each other in unison, for three moments, and then turned to the door at the same time, and saw a young man in black armor holding a short sword, and a young man with a handsome appearance and a heroic spirit walked in.

"Xiao Qin?" The two spoke in unison.

"Captain Hu, Xia joins the army." Qin Lang was saluting, and a gust of cold wind came in from the open door, blowing the scalps of the two sitting people tight.

"Why are you here?" Xia Mao asked with a frowning brow.

Qin Lang turned around and closed the door, took a stool and put it in front of the brazier, took off his armor and baked his hands before returning: "This class is my password." ”

"Earlier, huh?"

"Didn't Captain Hu also arrive first?"

"You can't sleep either? I haven't seen you in a hurry on weekdays! ”

"I fell asleep first, but I woke up earlier, and when I saw that General Zhong hadn't rested, I asked for the password first."

Hearing Zhong Li's situation, both of them frowned.

"What did you two just say?" Seeing that there was still some time left before the herald's time, Qin Lang wanted to join the topic, "I just heard that the two of you are having a lively discussion. ”

Hu Yang, who had just been talking eloquently, didn't know what to say for a while, but Xia Mao pondered something, so he asked: "Xiao Qin, you are the closest to the general on weekdays, and now it seems that the general is somewhat sure of this battle?" ”

"Ten points."

"Ten points?" Because Qin Lang didn't think about it, the two of them were suspicious for a while.

"How?"

"If you're sure, why can't you sleep peacefully?" Xia Mao wondered.

Qin Lang couldn't help laughing, "I said that I am very sure that the two of you don't believe it, so how credible is it?" ”

"If we say six or seven points, we can be trusted." Hu Yang said. When Xia Mao saw his gaze, he also followed six or seven points. So Qin Lang laughed again.

"Say less?"

"That's a lot."

"More?"

Looking at the situation of the two of them's doubts, Qin Lang's face gradually became serious. "If you are honest, three points."

"Three points, this?"

"Three points." Qin Lang affirmed the charcoal fire in front of him again. "If the two of you subdivide the things in front of you, and then distinguish them one by one, it may not be difficult to come up with results like my humble opinion. First of all, the enemy forces outside the city are several times larger than ours, and the exact number is not known when the attack will be, and two of these three points are divided; Although there were reinforcements, the enemy had already expected it, and took advantage of the heavy rain to hinder its progress, but now they did not know where they were, and they were divided into two; Although it has been improvised to the situation, the army is outside, and the time and place are all the strengths of the enemy's army, and three points are removed from the other. ”

"And what about one point?"

"This point lies in the fact that the fate of your and my actions now comes from a girl we have never met. Although it seems that there is nothing unusual now, after all, I don't know the roots, and this is a bit doubtful. ”

Another gust of north wind blew the doors and windows creaking, and after the wind stopped, the hall was silent for a while, and only the sound of leaky water and ticking and splashing could be heard. Xia Mao and Hu Yang looked at each other, not knowing what to say for a while, but obviously agreed with Qin Lang's statement.

"Xiao Qin,"

"The ......"

After a long silence, the two spoke at the same time, and then stopped at the same time, and the eyes of each other seemed to let the other speak first.

"What's wrong, two?" Qin Lang had no choice but to ask.

After humbling it, Hu Yang opened his mouth first, "This, this is a battle with only three points, but it is not easy to fight." As he spoke, he used his big hand to help himself express himself.

"Yes, but the two of you have been following General Zhong for a long time, have you seen a few good battles? Not to mention the distance, but also the battle of Xuzhou in the near distance, how sure did the two of them feel at that time? ”

"This ......"

"But what is often said," after Hu Yang was speechless for a while, Xia Mao seemed to have to take the responsibility of replying, "Those who are good at fighting have no outstanding achievements, and General Zhong has put himself in danger this time, so it is really difficult to reassure people to lead troops like this." ”

"Although it is dangerous, isn't the reputation of our Black Dragon Army also made out like this?" Qin Langyan thought of something again, so he continued: "Because of his reputation, the most dangerous work basically can't run away from us, how can he complain about General Zhong." ”

"yes, yes!" Xia Mao agreed, got up, took a few pieces of charcoal from the box on the side, and added them to the brazier. The black charcoal melted into the fire, gradually drawing a bright red to itself, and after a while the red was covered with a light gray. Or because of the weather tide, the charcoal seems to burn unevenly, and from time to time there are hollow places bursting out of the air, making a crackling sound, and the red sparks also fly into the air, and then instantly annihilate.

6

"Zizheng!"

With the sound of the city tower announcing the time, the sound of iron armor moving from the east of the city gradually resounded throughout the city. Zhong Li opened his eyes from the couch, looked at the sky outside the window, and knew that Shizi was changing the guard, and he still had a rest time. The footsteps gradually died down in the west of the city, and a broken candle was left on the desk in all directions, and the tears that flowed down were no longer the candle's feet. The black armor on his side reflected the dark red candle flame, standing motionless to the side, slightly facing Zhong Li, but when he caught a glimpse, he seemed to be staring at each other, as if he was asking for battle.

Zhong Li let out a long breath and fell to the side of the couch, determined to sleep for a while. However, although the eyes are lacking, the brain seems to be unable to stop turning.

"One thousand of the three thousand crossbowmen are now on the wall, and if the enemy army does not attack before dawn, you can mark the place of origin with fire arrows...... No, the stagnant water should not have dried up, and the fire may not burn. If the cannon oil can is poured to illuminate the part...... The key is still the trench ......"

Thinking about it like this, the more I felt that I should rest for a while, the more difficult it was to stop thinking, so entangled, suddenly there was a sentence "Who sleeps next to the beacon fire outside the plug" asked in my heart, I couldn't sleep anyway, so I simply calmed down and continued to think: "Who sleeps next to the beacon fire outside the plug?" The general's armor is thin and windy. In the middle of the night, the bow is short, and the white-headed beacon is long. ”

A few sentences were quite smooth, so Zhong Li got up and borrowed the ink left in the inkstone, thought about a rag and wrote the above, and then thought about the following. But when I started writing again, my thinking was stuck for a while.

"Defend the city...... Reinforcements have not arrived...... I don't know where you ......" Thinking about it, Zhong Li thought of Yuan Xian. In the past, it was to divide the troops to fight, and Xue'er could deliver letters, even if they were thousands of miles apart, they could also communicate with each other in a short time. Now that he is fighting behind enemy lines, he has neither a familiar location nor a fixed outpost, so he can only rely on speculation to think about Yuan Xian's situation at this time.

"Even if you slow down, don't be anxious, when I think of when you came to pick me up in Xuzhou, I was still able to keep a little time, and now the situation is much better than then. At this time, Dai Ying and the others will observe in the dark, waiting for us to mess with ourselves......" Zhong Li's thoughts carried a little prayer, because he knew Yuan Xian's temper. is usually quiet and peaceful, and she can stay calm in the event of a dispute, but if she has accumulated resentment and touched on what she cares about, it will be the consequence of the collapse of the sky, and she will have to vent it out of her temperament.

The candle flame flickered, Zhong Li turned his gaze, and saw a new drop of candle tears flowing down, as if it was dripping on Yuan Xian's thoughts. For a while, I suddenly felt that such a situation could be included in the poem, but I suddenly heard the bell ringing in the direction of Dongcheng.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! ”

The bell was ringing, and the shouts of the officers pulling the soldiers back to their homes rang out in all directions. All the torches in the city were lit, and for a time it was like a sunset. In a moment, the cold light and iron complemented each other, and the neat ranks stepped through the bluestone road.

"Report!" The sound of calls and the sound of horses' hooves approached, and when he raised his eyes, he saw a black-armored man galloping in with the Molong flag on his back.

"General Zhong, come out of the city to report that an enemy brigade has appeared in the east of the city, and the number is not yet known."

After listening to the news, Zhong Li took away his thoughts about Yuan Xian, and then looked at it even more leaky, not as early as Chouchu. "Let's teach Hu Yang to stick to Dongcheng according to the plan first, and I'll be there later."

"Order!"

"It's a lot earlier than I expected." Zhong Li saw the scout running out and looked back at the poem, and for a while the pen and ink flew and connected the last two, and then he didn't look at it, and threw away the pen and knife to take the armor and go out.

"Who sleeps outside the beacon fire? The general's armor is thin and windy. In the middle of the night, the bow is short, and the white-headed beacon is long. Meet to drink wine every day, and wait for me to throw liver sausages. The remnant candle is not crying for reinforcements, and he complains that the blue bird knows the king's clothes. ”