With the loss of the first line of defense in the North Pass, the soldiers could only retreat into the fortress-like cities to hold on, facing the desolation outside the city every day, as well as small-scale battles that could be dealt with at any time. Along the Beiguan line, there are hundreds of large and small passes, all of which are made of earth and stone, the small one has only one city tower and watchtower, and the big one is just a city on the border.

For the northern soldiers, it is good to be able to survive, the garrison in each pass is different, the small fortress or only a few dozen people are stationed, while the large fortress is garrisoned with thousands or even thousands of people, every day when there is nothing to do, only need to stand guard and sentry by the way to transmit the news with beacon fire, to say that the fighting spirit of the soldiers in the past few months has long been worn out, if it is not outside the fortress is often assault and chaotic Xianbei cavalry, many soldiers have long been deserters. But even so, there are many deserters, but there are also many people who know that if there is still a way to live in the pass, don't be a deserter, first of all, the Xianbei people who may come at any time outside the city will die, and if they become deserters, they are likely to be killed by their own people as rogues, and the gains outweigh the losses.

More than 30 soldiers were stationed in a small pass in the east of Yancheng in the defense area of the western line of the North Guan, such a small pass is inconspicuous among all the passes, but because of the dangerous terrain, legend has it that someone built this pass in a battle with the Xianbei people a few decades ago, and there will always be people stationed in this pass after that. At the beginning of the war with the Xianbei people at the beginning of the year, there were more than 100 troops stationed in the pass, and not only a school field was opened in a small city the size of a palm, but even local people would come up to buy and sell firewood and even some daily necessities. The people all know that the soldiers here are generous, because they are all soldiers and horses of Jiangdu, and they belong to the children of the Dongwang Mansion, and the food and military salaries will never be deducted, and these soldiers are also easy to talk. The clear price will never oppress the local people. But after the Xianbei invasion in March, no people came again, and the soldiers knew that it was not the people who did not want to come, but the Xianbei people were menacing, and the local people either fled, or were taken captive or died in this war. And the first more than 100 troops were stationed in the pass. By April, more than 30 people were requisitioned to guard other passes, and after a fierce offensive and defensive battle, there were only more than 40 brothers left, and then more than 10 wounded and sick were transported to the big city for treatment, and the remaining 30 people were the masters of this small kingdom, and basically no one bothered.

The pass does not have a name, but the soldiers probably called it a pass, usually a lump of earth, a pimple on the north side or a pimple on the south side. There may be several names for a pass, depending on who is calling them. And their pass has no name, because it is also forty or fifty miles away from the nearest pass and the city, so this is also a forgotten corner, and it is a very dangerous place outside the pass, and the wolf howl can be heard every night, and even if it is not a wild beast, the cavalry of the Xianbei people will often whistle past. If the Xianbei people get closer to the next line, there will be soldiers shooting arrows at the pass to warn the Xianbei people that there are people guarding this place. The Xianbei cavalry usually did not approach, because it was difficult to break through such a pass with the strength of the cavalry alone, and even if it was captured, it would not be of much significance. After the end of the previous Battle of Connecticut, when the Xianbei people withdrew their troops and the war also entered the stage of relaxation, the Xianbei people gave up hundreds of such passes, and the Xianbei people were not good at garrisoning and fighting defensive battles. Even if they took down the pass and stationed it in, at most there would be an extra tent with four walls, and the soldiers and horses of the Wei Dynasty would basically never take the initiative to fight head-on with the Xianbei people, and even the pass that was taken away by the Xianbei people would not take the initiative to attack.

The last time someone came in Xiaoguan Pass was more than a month ago, and the imperial court brought a batch of grain or vegetables from Yancheng. There was even some meat, which was originally prepared for a hundred people, but after learning that there were only more than 30 people left in the city, the people and horses who transported the grain did not stay much, and everyone basically left about a month's ration, because the grain is easy to get damp in the summer for a long time, and it is difficult to prevent moisture on rainy days in this kind of pass, mainly because there is no formed warehouse. It was less than two hours after the men and horses carrying the grain left, and the Xianbei cavalry came over, and those Xianbei cavalry were chasing the grain transport team, and the soldiers stationed in the pass could not go out after all, and they were also very concerned about the situation of the grain transporting men and horses after that, but at least they could not know until the end of this war. They were even skeptical that they would survive the war.

“…… That soil baby, let me tell you, I don't think his life is long, you said that the random arrow shot over, everyone else is fine, but he was hit by an arrow in the head, hey, his life is quite big, the arrow in the brain can't even do those doctors, he still survived for seven or eight days, but then he can only hum there, a few old people watched from the side, and he couldn't even feed him some rice porridge to drink, until the eighth night when he swallowed his anger, the earth baby is also quite pitiful, it is said that there is a daughter-in-law in the family has not passed the door, are waiting for him to fight to earn some food and pay back, There are quite a few old ladies and siblings, alas! He also told me that he wanted to get military merit in exchange for some land, and the old man who had a field at home was too dark-hearted, and only his own land would not be pitted......

The veteran is sitting on the head of the city and will experience the past few wars, the veteran who tells the story was under the account of the North Wangfu, and then the soldiers and horses of the North Wangfu surrendered, and the soldiers and horses of the North Wangfu garrisoned in the North Pass were under the account of Lin Zhan, in fact, there are not many veterans of the North Wangfu, and there is only this one left in this small pass, and others call him Master Sun. Because his surname is Sun, he doesn't tell people his name, saying that he is afraid that he will be called by King Yama to summon spirits, and he always mentions "master" or something when he speaks, so others call him Master Sun directly, and he is not old, only in his thirties and less than forty years old, and there are very few veterans over thirty years old around Beiguan, because the new soldiers recruited under the account of Dongwangfu are all under the age of twenty, and there are very few soldiers over the age of twenty. The soldiers in the entire small pass know that although this old man Sun seems to be happy and doesn't seem to have any concerns, but in fact, the Tao is very deep, and there are many things that he has passed through, and some things can be explained in his heart as soon as he says it, after all, it is very boring to be stationed in the small pass for more than half a year and not be able to go out to meet people, which is even more boring than going to prison.

"Master Sun, what is your relationship with that soil baby?" Finally, someone next to him couldn't help but ask, but it was the sentry on the head of the city who turned around and asked.

Master Sun sneered: "Do your job, it's okay to talk nonsense, if there are those barbarian cubs who take advantage of the fact that it is just dark and we relax our vigilance." You know what a barbarian cub is, that's really hateful. Don't look at the age of that barbarian cub, but the strength is really big, and two or three can't hold it down. Once we caught one of the horses of the Xianbei barbarians, and there was a barbarian cub on it and he swung his sword, and we blocked him in the mountains. I didn't go up, just waited for the cub to do it by himself, but he just stayed all night, and when we couldn't stay up, he rode on the horse and wanted to run, and was left down by the earth baby I said with a stone, not to mention that the soil baby threw a stone is really accurate, saying that it was practiced by throwing a bird's nest when he was a child. Hey, you little babies. Is there a bird's nest in the south? ”

Several soldiers from the south glanced at each other, but in fact, they didn't need to say that there were bird's nests in the east and west, north and south. But it was a very childish soldier next to him who asked, "What is a bird's nest!" Immediately drew a burst of laughter from others.

Master Sun also smiled and asked, "Where did you come from?" ”

The young soldier said, "Jiangdu." ”

"Oh." Master Sun was relieved and said, "It turned out to be a soldier in the city." Don't you know, there are bird's nests on trees in the countryside, and there are small babies who dig up birds' eggs in trees all day long. Sometimes I cut my own balls with a fork, which is called some blood. The adults look pitiful, but there is no palace or anything in this small place, otherwise if you are sent to the palace as a eunuch, fortunately, you can also get a way out, right? You Jiang are all good, there is a palace, and there are eunuchs in the East Palace, right? ”

This question stopped the young soldiers of Jiangdu who were present. They don't know if there are eunuchs in the Dongwang Mansion at all. Although they are all from Jiangdu, the things in the Dongwang Mansion are still very mysterious, it is the most important place in Jiangdu, and no one leans there on weekdays, who cares if there are eunuchs inside?

Master Sun said: "I'll tell you." If you want to dig out the eggs, don't look for the forks of the tree, you are all old, and you are all wearing military uniforms, but if you want to have a child in the future, don't let him go up the tree! He provoked a burst of laughter from the soldiers next to him.

It is the time to bury the stove and make rice, and it is also the most relaxed time in the whole small pass, and after the sunset, the whole pass will be a dead silence, only the pass will come from a variety of sounds, sometimes the soldiers who have just come hear the wolf howl and even cry, although these soldiers are the "elite soldiers" sent by Jiangdu, but they have not fought too hard battles, and they will adapt to it after a period of training in the pass.

"Master Sun, you said so much, where are you?" Someone next to him asked.

"I'm from this place, from the north, and my home is not far from here, but my family fled when the Xianbei cub came two years ago, and I didn't know if I was alive or dead when I fled to the south, and I didn't have a place to stay, and I will definitely look for it when this battle is over, I still have a baby, and I was still in my mother's womb when I left, my aunt's first two children died, and there was no money to treat the disease, and the baby was sick and disaster all day long, if the baby was born in us, it would be good, you see that there are medicinal materials, and there are capable people like Dr. Liu to see a doctor, alas, If only my mother-in-law had been there. ”

Another soldier was laughing, but the slightly older soldier couldn't. Master Sun said it easily, but now Master Sun is also a wife and a lonely person, and he doesn't even have a way to live and still wants to find his wife and children, but he doesn't know that if there is no woman with a man by his side this year, he will either freeze to death or starve to death on the way to escape, maybe he doesn't know which mountain pimple the dry bones are in now, or maybe the Xianbei people went south and looted people away, and now people are in the northern grassland.

The sky gradually darkened, and the meal was ready, but it was the deputy commander in the pass who came up to give a lecture, in fact, he was also arranging the next task. Master Sun didn't dare to hold it up, although there were only 30 people in the pass, but the commanders and deputy commanders inside were all generals from Jiangdu, they had all studied for a few days and were educated, and the things arranged were also in order. When the people went down, a bunch of people at the head of the city sat down again, and Master Sun said: "I knew that there would be a drought in the summer and little rain, so I might have to venture out to the river in the east tomorrow to fetch water, if the water can't come in again, they will all die of thirst!" Who's going to go tomorrow? ”

No one wants to go out of the city, even if it is convenient to be a deserter on the road, no one wants to go, and those who go out of the city are only given one day's rations at most, and with this day's rations, they have to walk at least five or six hundred miles to the populated places south of Beiguan, and they are starving to death. But it was the young soldier of Jiangdu who spoke before and said, "I'll go!" ”

Master Sun looked at the young soldier with a smile and said with a smile: "You little baby is not afraid, I remember that when you first came, you cried the loudest." ”

The young man was also a little shy, he didn't expect Master Sun to say this in front of everyone, this matter was the last thing he wanted to mention in his heart, and it would be a little ridiculous when he thought about it now. Master Sun smiled: "Don't stare at me, tell you, everyone here has to cry for a while when they come, that's a bitterness, it's the same when I come, there's nothing to be ashamed of." Let's go together tomorrow, talk to the commander, use the wooden cart to go out to carry water, if you run into a Xianbei cub on the way, it will be unlucky, and the big scar on the head will be the big one. ”

"Bah, Bah, Master Sun, you don't say a good word." Someone next to him laughed and scolded.

When night fell, no one said anything. The soldiers in the city should take turns to defend the city, and the soldiers guarding the city should be in strict battle to prevent the Xianbei people from sneaking attack, and the night is usually safe, the Xianbei people usually like to come out at dusk or in the morning when the sun has not yet appeared, one dozen and one accurate, but recently the Xianbei people are basically gone, and the soldiers in the city are also rare, whether the Xianbei people have bypassed the North Pass and gone south, and some are even worried about the beauties in Jiangdu, and Master Sun is also laughing at them one by one. The Xianbei people killed the south of Jiangdu and had not happened for hundreds of years.

In the dead of night, the moonlight is very cunning, although the soldiers who have been replaced are resting at night, but after all, they can rest for six hours, and they don't have to sleep all these six hours, there will still be people lying on the head of the city to watch the scene under the city, and when the moonlight is bright, they usually see it more clearly, and the scenery of this night is usually not there.

"Master Sun, take a look, what's over there? It seems like a lot of shadows are shaking! A soldier suddenly pointed in the direction of the distant horizon.

Master Sun carefully identified it, and suddenly shouted: "It's not good, there are Xianbei barbarians here, hurry up, get ready to fight, there are still a lot of people coming!" (To be continued......)