The majestic Xigu Pass is magnificent and huge, stretching for dozens of miles, looking up from the pass, you can only see the dense figure at the pass, and looking down from the top of the pass, the passers-by under the city are as small as ants.

Xigu Pass is located at the throat of the North Ridge of 800 miles, and the 5,000 elite soldiers under the command of Da Xizhang are used to guard Xigu Pass.

The barracks of the Xigu Pass defenders are in the pass, less than ten miles away from the West Valley Pass, and five thousand soldiers and horses take turns to guard the pass, although many people often go back and forth from the West Valley Pass, but the structure of the West Valley Pass is not known to outsiders.

The deployment of troops in Xigu Pass is actually divided into three places.

One of them is naturally the copper gate of the pass, in fact, the copper door is not one, but two copper doors, this Xigu Pass not only stretches for dozens of miles, but also has a width of several miles, so when people pass through the pass, it is like passing through a tunnel, there is a section of road in the middle, torches will be lit, so that people can see the road through guò.

At the entrance and exit, there is a bronze door, which is controlled by a mechanism, and when the mechanism is activated, it must be activated by more than a dozen strong soldiers, and all along, the two bronze doors are also opened and closed at the same time according to the hour.

The trap is not actually in the passage.

Xigu Pass as a behemoth lying in the northwest and the pass, all dynasties have spent a lot of thought, on both sides of the passage, in fact, there are stone gates, enter the stone gate, climb the stone ladder, you can enter the belly of the pass, there is a large space in the middle of the West Valley Pass is an empty stomach, used to garrison the army, and on the wall, there are holes, not only can usually observe the outside situation through the holes, and once there is a war, these holes can instantly become arrow holes.

The defenders of Xigu Pass are equipped with a group of elite crossbow arrows of the empire, and these crossbow archers are stationed in the belly of the wall, and the mechanism of the copper gate of the pass is also located in the belly of this wall.

On the wall, it is the third troop deployment, and it is also the main force of Xigu Pass, on the wall of dozens of miles, the troops on both wings are slightly weaker, but above the copper gate of the pass, there are many elite soldiers densely deployed.

The three troops need at least 2,000 soldiers and horses to be fully equipped, so the garrison strength of Xigu Pass is never less than 2,000 soldiers and horses, and the garrison barracks less than ten miles away from the pass are far away and rotate with each other.

For Xigu Pass, the defenders have always felt that it is an iron wall, as long as the pass is a letter, everyone believes that even if there are 100,000 troops killed, it is powerless.

Da Xizhang, as the guard of Xigu Pass, has never taken it lightly, Xigu Pass has its own set of strict military regulations, but if someone violates military law, Da Xizhang has always been severely punished.

Although everyone knows that Xigu Pass is impregnable, but Da Xizhang has never neglected the training of the defenders, once the defenders are transferred to the barracks, it does not mean that they can rest, but they have to start harsh training, so for the defenders of Xigu Pass, it is much easier to be on duty day and night in the pass than to strictly drill in the barracks.

It is precisely because of this that the 5,000 soldiers and horses of Xigu Pass have always been an army with strong combat effectiveness, and the order is prohibited, and Da Xizhang also has absolute authority in Xigu Pass.

In the more than half a month since the closure of the pass, a large number of people have gathered in the pass, and from the juncture, it stretches for more than ten miles, and the people have not dispersed because the pass has been blocked, but new refugees have gathered every day.

Da Xizhang stood at the juncture, his hands on the wall, looking at the people in the gate who were as dense as ants, his brows were locked, and he was connected in a line.

"General, there are more and more people." A subordinate general beside him frowned and said: "Now there are more than 20,000 people gathered here, and people will rush over every day, and if this continues, it will definitely cause riots in the pass." ”

"Yes, general, the people in the city are mixed, and I'm afraid there are a lot of people with other intentions." Another general was also worried: "Do you give an order to disperse them?" ”

Da Xizhang's eyes moved to the defender barracks in the distance, the barracks were built on the mountain, and there was a fence with arrow towers, he was silent for a moment, shook his head and said: "If you send someone over to disperse at this time, I'm afraid that someone will take the opportunity to cause chaos, as long as you hold the pass, don't worry about them, it won't be long before they have no hope of getting out of the pass, and they will naturally retreat!" ”

"Yes!"

Da Xizhang glanced at a general beside him and asked, "Changqing, can the people who went to Xishan to urge grain come back?" ”

The military rations of the five thousand guards of Xiguguan have always been allocated from Chen Yangcang, the four major granaries of the empire, but now the four major granaries of the empire, except for the Jinling warehouse in Jinling, there is still a surplus, and the other major granaries are already empty, and it is not yet the time of the autumn harvest, and the people naturally have no grain to collect, so the granaries have not yet been filled with grain.

Jinling Dao Yuan Bu suspected of making a rebellion, controlling Jinling, first of all, he took Jinling Cang as his own, but the butt was not yet hot, and his generals rebelled, after Yuan Budo was killed, Jinling Dao was divided into three, and Jinling Cang, which was located in the north, was also occupied by Xu Chang, who claimed to be the king of benevolence.

As a key point of the empire, Xigu Pass is naturally indispensable for military rations, and Chen Yangcang has no grain supply, so the imperial court ordered the military rations of Xigu Pass to be raised by Qiao Mingtang of Xishan Road.

When the Xiliang people invaded the northwest, Chen Yangcang's already small amount of grain was transferred to the northwest, and Xishan and Anyi also bore a great burden, although the money and grain in the hands of Qiao Mingtang in Xishan were not rich, but they could barely be used to support the five thousand defenders of Xiguguan.

The main force of Xishan's soldiers and horses, originally under the leadership of Qiao Mingtang, entered the king of Jingqin, but unfortunately the soldiers and horses did not arrive, the capital was broken by the refugees, Qiao Mingtang led the army to retreat in a hurry, and then got the prince's order, the main force was concentrated on the south of Xishan Liangzhou line, and the anti-king who defended Jinling Road took advantage of the situation to attack north.

Although the three kings of Jinling Road are in turmoil, and now they are fighting from within, you fight for me to kill, but there is Da Xizhang in the west to lock the Xigu Pass and block the Northwest Army, and in the north is Yuan Chongshang, who also serves the Qin State, Qiao Mingtang has no worries, and only needs to gather the main force of Xishan in the Liangzhou area at the junction of Xishan and Jinling, not only can you defend the security of the southern line, but also as long as you find the opportunity, you can send troops from Liangzhou at any time, take Jinling Cang in one fell swoop, and even drive straight into Jinling Road.

The assistant Liangzhou's main force in Xishan naturally consumes a lot of money and grain, and for Qiao Mingtang, who is already very financially struggling, the pressure is extremely heavy, and the imperial court has no money and grain to transfer over, and now he has to bear the grain and grass of Xiguguan, so the grain and grass supplied to Xiguguan are naturally often delayed and cannot be delivered as scheduled.

"General Hui, I haven't come back yet." The subordinate general named Changqing said respectfully: "There are still three days, which is the day when the grain and grass will be delivered, but according to the current situation, Qiao Mingtang will not be able to deliver it as scheduled." ”

A grumpy general on the side couldn't help but say, "General, Qiao Mingtang is procrastinating every time, what does he want to do?" It is the will of the imperial court to supply us with grain and grass, is he Qiao Mingtang going to resist the decree? ”

Da Xizhang shook his head and said lightly: "Wait a little longer, since the day has not yet come, let's be restless." He glanced at a few generals around him and said, "We don't have to be impatient, Qiao Mingtang is not having a good time now, although it is late every time, but it is sent over every time, how long can our military rations last?" ”

"Back to the general, the military rations can still last for ten days and half a month, and there is no big problem." Changqing said: "And the rations for everyone can be reduced by one and last for twenty days, and there will be no problems." ”

Da Xizhang bowed his head slightly, and didn't say anything, but at this moment, he heard a shout in the distance: "General, general!" ”

A few people turned around, only to see a shout from the other end of the wall, a flag waving, this Xigu Pass is magnificent and vast, on the wall, the width is several miles, the two sides are separated by a long distance, sometimes it will be conveyed in the flag language, Da Xizhang saw the shaking flag, his brows tightened, and several generals who followed the side were slightly discolored.

"General, there are soldiers and horses coming to the pass." Changqing said in a deep voice.

Da Xizhang did not hesitate, walked over quickly, walked faster and faster at random, and even trotted all the way over, and when he reached the other side, someone had already raised his finger and said: "General, look!" ”

Without the need for that person to point out, Da Xizhang and the generals had already seen that on the wide avenue, a group of men and horses were galloping over, like a black cloud, floating in the wind.

Since the blockade of Xigu Pass, the news spread in the northwest, although many people gathered in the pass to cross the pass and enter the northwest, but in the northwest, people close to Xigu Pass are already rare, on the avenue, sometimes there is no one to see all day long.

At this time, a group of people suddenly appeared, which naturally attracted special attention.

Changqing snatched the flagpole from the hands of the flag-bearer on the side, waved it, and someone immediately raised the horn next to him, blew the horn, a horn sounded, and the horn immediately echoed at both ends, and soon, above the pass, more than a dozen horns made a whining sound at the same time, and the defenders above the pass immediately moved, and dozens of catapults placed above the pass were originally open in a row in the center of the pass, at this time in the sound of the flag horn, the well-trained soldiers immediately rushed over, five or six people as a team, and pushed the catapult over, The archer takes the bow in his hand and closes it to the edge of the battlement.

"Don't act rashly." Da Xizhang put one hand on the battlement, raised the other, signaled the soldiers not to act rashly, stared at the dark clouds rolling over with a pair of eyes, and said in a deep voice: "It's cavalry, there should be two or three hundred people!" ”

"Two or three hundred?" Changqing had already handed over the flagpole to the flagbearer on the side, and he also put his hands on the wall, looking down condescendingly, "General, is it the scout of the Northwest Army?" ”

A subordinate general suddenly geared up and said excitedly: "Okay, they finally can't help it, general, it seems that the Northwest Army is preparing to attack the pass hahaha, let's let them know what is called an iron wall!" ”