Snow has almost become a common practice in the Xuanfu area, and on the night of the twentieth day of the lunar month, the north wind howls, the sky becomes dark and dreary, and the dark clouds in the distance are pressed down, as if you can reach out and reach it.

The next morning, the snowflakes fell in large flakes, and soon the heaven and earth were wrapped in a layer of silver, and it fell again, but it still fell bigger and bigger, and there was no intention of stopping.

In this way, for two days, by the night of the 22nd, the snow on the road was knee-deep, and the eyes were full of white, and it was difficult to distinguish between east and west, north and south.

But in such a harsh environment, there was a long procession, and those people were wearing thick leather jackets, and their entire faces were wrapped in thick turbans, leaving only one eye exposed, and it was enough to see the person in front of them. He... Each of them led a low war horse, and in the burden on the horse's back, their bow and arrow were tightly wrapped. The wind was too strong to ride, and the snow was so heavy that it would seriously damage their hard bows. So I had to lead the horse, wrap the bow and arrow in a blanket, and trek through the snow with difficulty.

Even if you can't see the faces of these people. But it is also certain that the Mongols, because only the Mongols who were born in the bitter cold land and have never eaten hard work. to be able to march in such bad weather. If the soldiers of the Han people had been subjected to this crime, I am afraid that they would have mutinied a long time ago.

On the first day of snowfall, the Mongols motivated themselves in this way. But on the second day, it was still very windy, snowy, and the weather was extremely cold, and if you pee on the ground, you can freeze immediately, even if you can endure hardship, you can't stand it" During the procession, you can hear the sound of falling down from time to time, and each stroke means that a person or a horse is frozen to death.

This was the team led by Huang Taiji and his three younger brothers, who set out from Ma Lung Mountain on the 18th to avoid the sentry posts and beacon towers in front of them. First walked eighty miles to the east, then climbed over the Great Wall, and killed Xuanfu City from the north.

If everything went well, they should have gone to Xuanfu City yesterday and launched a fierce feint, but let this ghost weather make a fuss, and they haven't seen Xuanfu City yet. They block the wind, but it's better than nothing.

"Big brother, will we freeze to death?" Wrapped his body in a fur coat, lay on the horse's back, and asked in a trembling voice. His feet were frostbitten, and Mao Jing couldn't walk the aisle, so the whole person also seemed to want to watch.

Seeing that the other two younger brothers were also depressed. Huang Taiji had no choice but to comfort loudly: "How could it be? We are the darlings of the Immortal Heaven. "The wind was too strong, and when the voice was quiet, the words were blown away, and I couldn't hear it clearly.

"I don't believe it anymore." Bingtu Taiji shrunk his neck and said loudly: "If Changshengtian were to favor us, would he welcome us with such bad weather?" I see that without the prairie, the immortal heaven is useless. ”

"Don't talk nonsense!" Huang Taiji reprimanded: "This heavy snow is the meaning of immortality, you don't just look at how many people are frozen to death, but also think that with its cover, we can avoid the Ming army's outpost, and we don't have to sacrifice the lives of the warriors anymore, pretending to attack the city!" He was very proud of his theory, and he said to his younger brothers: "If you want to get gold, you have to pay silver, this is the immortal heaven testing us, are we worthy of this great victory!" ”

"This is the eighth time he's repeated, right?" Bingtu Taiji asked the relatively silent Buyan Taiji.

"Not so much," replied Buyantaiji, "only the seventh time." ”

Huang Taiji was not embarrassed, if he continued like this, his prestige would be lost, so he asked loudly, "Where have you been?" ”

After a while, a scout came running over and said, "It's time to Wang Village." ”

"How far is it from Xuanfu?" Huang Taiji asked loudly.

The twenty-mile scout said: "Further on is the outpost of the Xuanfu!" ”

This sentence is more effective than any panacea, which makes the Taiji people feel energetic all of a sudden, and their subordinates are also full of strength, and they all feel that it is about to make history.

Huang Taiji excitedly raised his hands and said to the people around him: "My warriors, the city will be broken tonight!" The glory of Genghis Khan's descendants is tonight! As long as we rush to the city of Xuanfu, there will be an inner response to open the city gate for us, and this heavy snowstorm will be our best cover! Let's kill the Ming army in bed! ”

At this moment, everyone's emotions were mobilized, even Lin Taiji, who was lying on horseback, was also screaming there, like a group of wolves!

Seeing this exciting scene, Huang Taiji felt that the golden blood in his body was burning, as if he was possessed by Genghis Khan, he waved his horsewhip, pointed to the front and said, "Who cleared the last obstacle for me!" ”

"I'll go!" Bingtu Taiji was infected by his courage and said excitedly: "Please eldest brother agree."

"Go for it". Huang Taiji nodded and said in a deep voice: Be careful! "Cleared so quickly?"

"There is no generation at all; nbsp;。 Bingtu Taiji snorted: "There is no fire in the stove, okay."

Huang Taiji said disappreciatively: "The Han people are most afraid of hardship, they must be looking at the snow and the cold, and they feel that we will not go out in this kind of weather." So he hid in the city and enjoyed his blessings. ”

Everyone also felt that this was the truth. He continued on his way, and walked for another hour, until he finally saw the outline of the city wall in the distance. Looming in the wind and snow, Xuanfu City has finally arrived! It's finally time for you to be excited!

Although the wind and snow are loud enough. But for the sake of prudence, all horses were to be caged to prevent barking, and even people were required to put a piece of cloth in their mouths to prevent accidental violence. Everything was done in silence, and more than 13,000 brave Mongolian cavalry quietly touched a mile outside the city.

Huang Taiji looked at the city, it was still dark, and he couldn't help but secretly say: "The Ming army is really paralyzed and careless, it seems that God has called me to do something" and ordered his number one general, the most famous commander of the Eastern Mongolian steppe, Zheleri, to lead a thousand elite cavalry in the headquarters and serve as the vanguard. His task is to connect with the inner part of the north gate, and then control the city gate, so that the army can go straight in, and this battle will be won! History will remember this moment!

Looking at the vanguard that was gradually moving away, Huang Taiji asked Xiao Qin, who came out early from somewhere, and said, "Xiao Guoshi, is there no problem with you over there?" ”

Xiao Qin shook her head and said: "There will be no problem, the guard of the North City Gate is the most fanatical believer, if I hadn't pressed it, I would have led people to Bansheng a long time ago." Now, he will have the opportunity to become the coveted Dharma Protector, and he will definitely do it. He said lightly: "Not only is he an insider, but there are also many of my people in the city." When the war is going on, they will set fires everywhere. Let the Ming army fall into chaos! ”

"That's great! That's great! Huang Taiji took a deep breath and said, "Keep up!" The army slowly followed the shadow of the vanguard and marched towards the north gate. When," was tapped three times. This is the code that Xiao Qin and Nei Ying have agreed with earlier, and the same three sounds should have been heard in the city below, but Zhe Lezhi was stunned for a long time, and he didn't hear any response.

"Isn't it too windy? Didn't anyone inside hear it? The White Lotus Sect Protector who was cooperating with him on the side whispered.

"Hmm" Zheleri went forward a little, and then struck the bang with some force, making three louder sounds. This time I was lucky, and there was a response immediately, "just listen to the city". Three tones.

"I heard it, I heard it!" The Dharma Protector whispered excitedly.

Zhelège nodded, waved his hand to the men behind him, and led the way down to the city gate, but as he got closer and closer to the city gate, he disappeared into thin air.

Then the cavalry that followed him disappeared one after another, and only a dull thrashing was heard!

The White Lotus Sect Protector, who was lagging behind, widened his eyes, looked at the earth and opened his mouth, devouring the Mongolian cavalry one by one, and it took a long time for him to let out a terrible scream: "There is an ambush!" ”

This sound seemed to wake up the sleeping Xuanfu City, one torch after another was lit at the head of the city, and countless Ming soldiers shouted loudly! At the same time, bows, crossbows, spears, rolling stones and trees rained down on the Mongol soldiers crowded under the city gates.

Huang Taiji and the others looked at the scene of the protrusion of this strange peak in a daze, and saw that a thousand sharp soldiers were tightly covered by the arrow rain stone curtain. There are less than 200 people who can escape and come back!

"What's going on?!" After being sluggish, Huang Taiji suddenly roared at Xiao Xue: "Didn't you say that it had been arranged?!" ”

Xiao Qin was also stunned, and said dumbly: nbsp; nbsp; "What the hell is going on?" What he didn't know was that it was just yesterday. Sometimes, the same question was asked. Rewind the clock to three and a half days. At that time, the Mongols had not yet crossed the Great Wall, and it was still a clear day, and there was no sign of snow at all. But it's still a thief who is cold.

On this kind of day, people can't get up if they can rely on the bed, let alone open the door, only the errand has no way to do it, and they still have to get up on time. Qiu Qianhu is one of these hard-working people, he is the guard of the north gate of Xuanfu, and this errand is fat. But it is very bitter, three hundred and sixty days a year, there is no idle every day, and every day has to be stared there.

As usual, eat a bowl of boiled egg noodles and hang the sword around your waist. Put on a thick cotton coat again and say, "I'll go!" And he went outside.

In winter, he does not ride a horse, but commutes to work on foot. As soon as he rode on the horse, his body was inactive, and he was about to freeze, and secondly, he was happy to wander around the streets and alleys for a while, looking east and west before going to work, and his family was used to it. I just thought that he was a middle-aged quirk, and it was up to him.

Today he turned to an alley behind the Chenglong Temple, and his eyes inadvertently patrolled the walls on both sides, and he was about to go out of the alley. He stood abruptly, took a deep look at the pattern on the left wall, and walked away quickly.

On the wall behind him, a string of children's graffiti-like symbols are drawn, a total of five, in order, the moon, a bird, a sun, a dog, and a human face.

On the way to the North City Gate. His mind was full of these five, Mo, and he didn't listen to others when they greeted him: back in the duty room, Guan Bu Wei drew down the five patterns in his heart, and then took out a palm-sized booklet from his arms and compared them one by one.

Oh no, it's twenty-one. Qiu Qianhu secretly said in his heart: "The sun is the north, and the dog is the time." The one who opens his mouth means to open the door. Then he silently said: "Twenty-one, open the door in the north and the new year, and open the north gate in the twenty-first day of the lunar month!" ”

He finally breathed a sigh of relief, knelt down towards the northwest Yixiang, kowtowed respectfully, and said in a low voice: "Master, the apprentice understands what you mean, please rest assured, I will not let you down!" ”

Then he got up casually, put his things away, sat behind the big case, and said loudly: "Call Chen Shuban!" ”

After a while, a cloth-clothed scribe came out and bowed his hand to him, "Qianhu, what do you command?" ”

"Is the duty table for the end of the month out?" The city head and the city walls were patrolled in two shifts day and night. As for who is in what class, it has always been arranged by this Chen Shuban. Qiu Qianhu never asked.

His question made Chen Shuban stunned for a moment, and said, "It's already been discharged, and I'm about to show it to thousands of households." As he spoke, he placed a watch on Qiu Qianhu's desk. Usually he just signed it directly, and never looked at it.

But today Qiu Qianhu is destined to be abnormal, he not only looked through it carefully, but also put forward his own opinions. What do you say, how does so-and-so never work the night shift? If there is something at home, don't let him come to Yunyun at night, Chen Shuban naturally doesn't care, he says to change it as he wants, and the result is changed back and forth. Those who usually don't deal with Qiu Qianhu are all on the day shift. And those who have a good relationship with Qiu Qianhu are all assigned to the night shift.

Chen Shuban didn't know what he thought, but the boss in his heart was reluctant to whisper: "If I arrange shifts like this, I will definitely be blamed to death by them." "Of course" they refer to those cronies of Qiu Qianhu.

"It's okay" Qiu Qianhu smiled with a rare smile: "Just tell them that I am also there at night to see who dares to have an opinion." ”

"That's it." Chen Shuban nodded and said. The officers and soldiers patrolling the city complained bitterly, but the Lord Qianhu was on duty tonight, who would dare to sneak back? I had to scold and scold while holding on to the city, and said in my heart, the braincase surnamed Qiu is broken, isn't this forcing people to death?

But their resentment soon disappeared, because Qiu Qianhu ordered all the troops to be collected and returned to the barracks to keep warm.

There is a responsible Baihu said: "Is there two sentry posts?" ”

"I don't need to!" Qiu Qianhu said with a grin: "On this snowy day, there is a layer of ice on the outer city wall. Unless the Mongols have wings, they will not want to fight us. "What else do you want to say? But he was pulled in by his subordinates and said, "Lord Qiu invited you to drink, don't you want to appreciate it?" ”

It turned out that Qiu Qianhu had already bought a large amount of wine and meat, and wanted to reward his close subordinates, and everyone suddenly realized that it was no wonder that adults were on the night shift, if it was daytime. Who dares to drink and eat meat unscrupulously?

Since it was Qiu Qianhu's treat, everyone was completely relieved, drinking in a big bowl, eating meat, feasting, shouting, and suddenly feeling that this snowy night had become extremely cute and hazy......

In fact, not long after drinking, one, two, three, the officers and soldiers got drunk one after another, and after a while. Except for Qiu Qianhu and a few of his henchmen, none of them were sober.

Qiu Qianhu wiped his hands, put on a big hat, and said solemnly: "Success or failure is here!" So he took some of his henchmen out of the barracks and went into the cave in the city gate.

As soon as I entered the city gate cave, the wind suddenly became quiet. There was no need to speak loudly, so he listened to a confidant: "Qianhu, do you want to open the door now?" ”

Qiu Qianhu shook his head and said, "Wait, when will the signal come." After a pause, he said, "You should raise the latch first, and then you can shake the winch up." ”

"What are you doing with the latch?" A voice came from the other end of the city gate, bluffing Qiu Qianhu and the others. When I turned around with difficulty, I saw that the torches were transparent, and the soldiers of the Jinyi Guards and the Xuanfu blocked the city gate hole tightly.

Qiu Qianhu knew that it was exposed, but he was unwilling, and said urgently: "Open the city gate quickly!" "A few of his subordinates are also wooden, let them do whatever they want, and two of them will shake the winch. The two went to the door latch, and they were very busy.

But how can the gate of the city, which weighs 8,000 pounds, be opened when it is said to be opened?

Until the brocade guards pounced on them and knocked them to the ground, they didn't raise the city gate even an inch.

Qiu Qianhu didn't want to be a prisoner, and he was about to commit suicide with a horizontal knife, but he was knocked on the back of the head with a stick, and fainted directly, before losing consciousness, he only had one thought: "I'm sorry master, the apprentice didn't open the door after all, your protector should choose another meritocracy",

Although I was sleepy to death, I finally had two shifts. Encourage me to continue fighting with myself tomorrow!