Before the fall, all the hostages outside Weizhen Fort were brought up. For the sake of safety, all hostages were confined to the barn and were not allowed to move around. Food and water are given to them by special people. As for Dong Langzhong, he was also arranged here for the time being to treat the injured. These hostages, in the hands of the Tartars, are more or less disabled, and if they are not treated in time, I am afraid they will be crippled.

Of course, for the hostages, the most important material is food. The tartars who have traveled a long way need food the most. A large part of their purpose in destroying the city was to plunder the grain. Therefore, after the city is broken, it is natural that no food will be left for the hostages. Driving them to the front to be cannon fodder is also to save food. Whether they were killed or rescued by the people of the city, the food of the Tartars would not be consumed.

Fortunately, when it comes to food, Fort Willtown has never had to worry about it. Even if there were 3,000 more people at once, the food supply was still quite optimistic. Xu Xingxia can be said to have won the essence of building high walls, accumulating grain, and slowly becoming king. After he had money, he always kept buying food. As long as there is an opportunity, the grain merchants in Ningxia City are also willing to do business with Weizhenbao. It's refreshing to do business with Weizhenbao, give food with one hand, give money with the other, and there is absolutely no need to be in arrears.

In particular, Sun Dakun, who had a request for Xu Xingxia, sold Xu Xingxia's tens of thousands of stones of grain at a relatively low price through his own channels. He was going to pay Xu Xingxia 50,000 taels of silver, and Xu Xingxia also exchanged a considerable part of it for grain. Now the amount of grain in Fort Weizhen can last at least three months.

If another army besieges the city, three months may be a bit dangerous. For the Central Plains army, besieging the city for three months is not a problem. If Li Zicheng besieged Kaifeng, the siege would be more than half a year. But if it was the Tatars who besieged the city, three months would be enough. Can the Tatar cavalry last three months? The answer is absolutely no. Mo Yuegen was able to hold on for a month, which was already very powerful.

What nomads fear most is the clear wilderness. They came from afar, and it was impossible for them to carry too many supplies. The purpose of their arrival was to loot supplies. Basically, every time they go out, they carry only the minimum rations they need on the road. When they arrived at the land, they immediately scattered and plundered and took food from the spot. If the rations are exhausted, but there is not enough food and forage, then it will be miserable.

Why is it that every time the Tartars go south, there are not many of them? Could it be that the other Tartars have no interest in looting? Or are some other Tartars more merciful? Neither. The nomads want the whole tribe to go south. The most fundamental reason is that there are too many monks and too little porridge. The greater the number of tartars heading south, the greater the pressure on the demand for food. If there are too many troops going south, no matter how much food they grab, they will not be enough to consume.

The logistical pressure on nomads is actually very high. The consumption of war horses is more than ten times that of people. The Tatar cavalry movement of three thousand people, the daily consumption of grain and forage, is a huge number. If you don't make adequate preparations, you will have to go south, and the consequences will probably be unimaginable. As for killing horses to satisfy hunger and the like, it is only in strategic operations. If you even go south to loot and kill horses to satisfy hunger, the cost will be too high.

For example, a border place like Ningxia Town has been constantly harassed by the Tartars all year round, and the local people have also had the habit of clearing the wilderness. Food and other materials were all hidden in the castle. It was basically impossible for the Tatar cavalry to grab food in the field.

Even if it is rice ripening in a rice field, or wheat, the tartar can only be destroyed at best, and cannot be directly converted into grain. These are processed before they can be turned into food. The only ones that can be eaten directly are greens and sweet potatoes and the like. However, the Tartars who went south to loot will never degenerate into eating vegetables and sweet potatoes, right?

If you want to grab more food, it is an inevitable choice. Only by breaching the castle can you grab the food inside. However, there is a price to be paid for casualties. Weizhen Fort aside, even if it is a flat city, the tartar is not easy to gnaw. There's a question of the surname-to-price ratio. If the price paid is not as good as the seizure, such a business will never be done. Mo Yuegen lost a lot this time.

He worked hard to insert Tuoba Su over, and worked hard to plan to get rid of the beacon pier of Kalong Mountain, the purpose of which was to avoid paying too much price when attacking the fortification. In the case of being caught off guard, he still has a chance to take down Ningxia City at a relatively small price. However, the beacon of Kalong Mountain ignited the wolf smoke, and his plan was basically shattered. After the wolf smoke is lit, attacking Ningxia City again will be too cost-effective to be cost-effective.

The sun finally went down slowly, and everything in the sky and earth gradually dimmed in the twilight. Judging by what has been observed so far, the Tatars do not seem to be interesting, launching an offensive at night. The nomads' riding and archery skills have little chance to be used at night. Therefore, in addition to the white-clothed soldiers who were in charge of the vigilance, the military households of Weizhen Fort were all seizing the time to rest. The battle is still going on in the future, and it is necessary to recuperate.

The hostages who had been rescued were also in the barn, and when they had eaten their fill, they all fell asleep. The weather in July is still relatively hot, and there is no need for a quilt or anything like that. At most, light a few braziers next to it to create some smoke and smoke it to smoke mosquitoes. However, many of the hostages, after falling asleep, suddenly woke up in a cold sweat. There are also people who keep dreaming. Others are having nightmares, constantly screaming, like madness.

Yuan Chonghuan, who was responsible for taking care of the hostages, really had a headache. There are too many things about the hostages, and they are very messy, and there are all kinds of strange things. The hostages were crying again, which was upsetting. The hostages were pitiful and miserable, and even if he wanted to get angry, he couldn't get out. I had no choice but to hold on.

He kept telling himself, isn't it just a group of homeless refugees? Could it be that if you raise someone by yourself, you won't be able to handle them? He suddenly realized that the side matter was indeed too painful. At a shallow glance, I felt that I might still be able to do it. However, if he and Xu Xingxia change positions, I am afraid that now he will even have the heart to die.

Compared with the upset Yuan Chonghuan, Xu Xingxia's heart is much more stable. He carried the dragon bow on his back and walked slowly on the head of Weizhen Fort. Every now and then, he would look sideways at the outside. Actually, it's quiet outside. It is estimated that the Tartars are also recuperating and preparing to fight again. However, Xu Xingxia didn't dare to be too relieved.

Obviously, the Tartars won't retreat easily. Mo Yuegen will not be willing to accept his failure. They're going to fight back desperately. During the daytime battle, dozens of Tartars were killed and wounded at most, and basically had no impact on Mo Yuegen's troops. Tomorrow, what will happen to the Tartars? The means of driving hostages as cannon fodder have failed, what more vicious means will the Tartars have?

…… Late at night, Xu Xingxia continued to patrol the city head of Weizhen Fort. Behind him, he still carried the Dragon Xiang Bow and the Black Feather Arrow. Following him was Chi Hu, the officer on duty tonight. Originally, he was also very relieved of Chi Hu, he was definitely a responsible officer. However, Xu Xingxia subconsciously always felt a little uneasy. I don't know why, he has never been able to completely put his mind at ease. Not from Chi Hu, but from Mo Yuegen.

Mo Yuegen's reputation is too prominent, if something goes wrong, give him an opportunity to enter Weizhen Fort, it will be troublesome. A guy who even the Tatars themselves feel very terrible, without a little extraordinary means, is absolutely impossible. After suffering a loss during the day, Mo Yuegen will definitely find a way to get it back. Even, it is possible that he is looking for an opportunity to infiltrate Fort Willtown alone. It's not impossible. When Mo Yuegen was young, he once single-handedly destroyed the "great achievements" of an entire tribe.

Suddenly, Xu Xingxia felt something. It's a very mysterious feeling. It seemed that someone was quietly spying on him. The feeling was fleeting. But he did feel it. Without thinking, Xu Xingxia took off the Longxiang bow on his back, quickly buckled three black feather arrows, and shot out like lightning until the full moon.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

Three black-feathered arrows roared away.

In the dark night, you can't see where the Black Feather Arrow lands. The three black feather arrows seemed to have been swallowed up by the darkness. However, Xu Xingxia had a strange intuition, as if he had shot something. Faintly, there seemed to be the sound of something falling to the ground.

Chi Hu asked nervously in a low voice, "My lord, what's wrong?" ”

Xu Xingxia said in a deep voice: "Someone tried to get closer, but was shot by me. ”

Chi Hu subconsciously squatted down and looked around nervously through the gap in the battlements. The torches on the head of the castle illuminated the place within thirty feet of the castle. Chi Hu carefully observed for a while, but he didn't find anything. He whispered, "My lord, are the Tatar cavalry going to attack at night?" ”

Xu Xingxia shook his head and denied Chi Hu's speculation. He could feel that it was not an ordinary night attack of Tatar cavalry, and there were not many people who spied on Weizhen Fort, as if there was only one. However, he couldn't describe who the other party was. He was a little suspicious, the other party was Mo Yuegen. It's just a pity that there is not enough evidence.

"Order the troops, strengthen the alert, especially in the second half of the night." Xu Xingxia reminded.

"Understood." Chi Hu didn't dare to slack off, and immediately turned around and arranged.

Xu Xingxia stood silently at the head of the city, staring at the direction where the three black feather arrows disappeared. I don't know what it was that I was shot at? That person, is it really Mo Yuegen? Shaking his head slightly, Xu Xingxia slowly walked down the city wall.

……

(To be continued)