Surrounded by mountains, the setting sun gradually sinks through the gaps in the leaves, slowly sinking into the distant mist.

When the sky darkened, torches were lit in the barracks, and countless flames illuminated the tents and barracks, bringing some warmth to the soldiers in the barracks.

The cauldron was churning wild vegetables from the nearby mountains, and the delicate leaves stained with some dew were rolling up and down in the boiling water, and a tempting smell of meat bloomed in it, making the sergeants who had been waiting for a long time with their bowls on the side lick their lips.

"Hey, old stick! When are you going to cook this, it's almost enough, we're all hungry, we've been climbing the mountain for a day, just waiting for your pot of broth, you can pour it, just take a spoon and stir it for almost half an hour! If this goes on, won't we all have to starve to death here?" someone couldn't bear it anymore and shouted.

The leader of the gang, who is called "the old stick" by everyone, is 53 years old this year, and has been with the army for more than 30 years, from the small stick of the year to the old stick of today, and after a long time, he is about to forget his original name.

In the firelight, he stared at the boiling water in the pot with blazing eyes, held the pine branch that had cut off the bark in his hand, continued to stir in the pot a few times, poked the largest piece of meat in the pot and glanced at the color, and scolded back: "What's the hurry, your daughter-in-law has given birth to a child? ”

He reached out and took a few clicks in the drawer beside him, took out a dry cake, and stuffed it into the sergeant's arms vigorously: "Hungry? ”

The sergeant looked at the dry biscuit in his arms, the stick noodles, not that this thing was not delicious, strictly speaking, this was already a good dry food on the march, but at this moment the broth was rolling, how could he be willing to fill his stomach with this cake in advance? The other people who were with him were all pot-bellied men, and if he ate a little more slowly, maybe those people would be able to swallow the whole pot together.

He said angrily: "After marching for so many days, I caught so much game today, so don't prevaricate me with this dry thing!"

"Then shut your beak and wait!" The old stick glared at him, stirring the soup in the pot while reaching out and throwing a piece of salt into it, "It's good to have to eat, and a lot of nonsense, just like you, put it more than ten years ago......"

"I starved to death more than ten years ago, didn't I?" The sergeant was tired of hearing this, and waved his hand like a fly: "You don't know how many times you have said these words, are you annoyed? Yes, you have been with the army for more than 30 years, and you were short of food and grass at the beginning, and you survived by eating roots and bark for five days in a row, but what do you mean by talking about this thing, you have to talk about what it was like when you won battles in the past? I heard that you have been under the command of the general's black cavalry for 20 years, otherwise you can talk about the general? We came late, we didn't catch up with the big war that year, and I have been hearing from everyone about how powerful the general is, and I am really curious......"

At the mention of this, the old stick had a smile on his face, and couldn't help but straighten his waist, obviously very proud of this history: "Of course, who is the general? He is the head of the Guigu faction, and the art of war is unique in the world, how can you say that literati saying? Oh yes...... Use soldiers like ghosts, rush like fire, you listen, these scholars are level, if I put it in my mouth, I can only spit out one or two 'good' words, no matter how much, there is really no ......"

"Stop, stop!" the sergeant was looking forward to it, but when he heard this, he was immediately a little dissatisfied, "The more you talk, the more you deviate, let you tell the general, what are you doing to yourself." We've heard about your more than ten or twenty times, from the age of fifty to fifteen, going up the mountain to dig birds' nests and going into the water to touch live fish...... You're almost telling the story of when you wore open crotch pants, get to the point!"

"Lao Tzu is willing to say, hey, when this battle is over, Lao Tzu will go home to farm, and when the time comes, you don't have to listen to it. The old stick raised his eyebrows and glanced at the sergeant.

However, he probably realized that he was indeed a little off-topic, coughed dryly, cleared his throat, and continued, "Hmm...... That's the point. ”

He suddenly lowered his head a little embarrassed, "Then I won't say it, I'm just a pawn, and I'm not one of those partial generals, where can I see the general on the battlefield......"

"Hey?" Hearing him say this, not only the sergeant who spoke, but even the sergeant in a circle couldn't help but shush, "I don't know if you are here for a long time, and we will wait for half a day." ”

A fat sergeant shouted and interjected: "Then tell me about the battles you have seen, how they were fought, from where they were fought, and whether those little minions in the Tang Kingdom were all beaten to the ground?"

Several people responded at the same time.

"Well. The old stick pondered for a moment, glanced at the color of the meat in the pot, slowly began to make soup cakes, and laughed at the same time, "Actually, I don't remember much, I only remember that I was hungry and panicked at that time, although the general is really powerful in battle, but the military order is also very strict, and it is not uncommon to run dozens of miles in a day." But we fought all the way, what Chen State, Chu State, Yan State, Ping State...... It's almost all sweeps, and I really haven't lost a single game. ”

He stirred the soup cake for a while: "It was really happy at that time, it seems that the black horsemen on our side only need to rush forward with their weapons, and besides, we will fight more with less, and somehow, when people see us, they are frightened, and they can't take a few hits and run faster than rabbits." ”

"It's all about fighting more with less?" the sergeant looked at him strangely, "How is this possible? At the beginning, the general only had 100,000 soldiers and horses in his hands, but the allied forces of those countries exceeded 300,000 soldiers and horses, no matter how we fought, the number of people there, what good can we get? You can't brag?"

"Bah!" The pine branch in the old stick's hand knocked hard on the edge of the pot, "I'm not bragging, that's how it was at the beginning, we have 100,000, beating people 300,000, we have been pulling people's butts, they have been running...... But then a young general who knew a little bit of the art of war explained something to me, saying that the reason why we were able to chase after others and make people frightened was precisely because we had been running happily day and night before, and other people's soldiers and horses were scattered in order to chase us, so scattered, people's soldiers and horses were naturally not as many as us, at this time, I saw the right time to turn my head and stab ...... fiercely."

The old stick watched the soup cake slowly float on the upper layer of the soup pot, nodded with satisfaction, and began to hold the bowl of soup, and handed it to the sergeants bowl by bowl: "Later, the young general also said a lot, what is the reason for the preparation of the front is the back, the preparation of the back is the front, the preparation of the left is the right widow, what is the preparation of the widow, everything is prepared, there is everything...... Oh, I don't understand it anyway, what else is false and real, the young general said and said, his eyes were stunned. In short, just listen to General Wang's words, he will go wherever he tells us to go, and he will fight wherever we are told. ”

The sergeants were confused when they heard this, and they were holding fragrant soup cakes one by one, but they were not in a hurry to eat and drink, and someone asked: "The general is so powerful, why didn't he let him take us to this battle?"

Hearing this question, the old stick felt that his breathing had stopped, how could he dare to discuss such a military matter? Seeing that he was getting older, he had said that he should go home to farm after this battle was over, and this was indeed the truth.

He scratched his head and said curtly: "Then I can't say it, I heard that this General Zhao Kuan is also very powerful." The ancestors have been generals for several generations, and the giant named him a general, thinking that it would also give young people a chance to get ahead. ”

"Oh......" The sergeants listened and felt that there was some reason, and each nodded his head and began to gulp the soup cake in the bowl.

One person sighed with satisfaction, and said: "I also think that this General Zhao Kuan is very good, after coming out for so many days, the red seal letters in Jinzhou are burning with fire paint one after another, but I didn't see panic on the general's face...... This little day is very beautiful, where have you ever heard that it can be so comfortable when marching before?"

"That's right. The old stick gave himself some of the rest of the bowl at the bottom of the bowl, and the salt that had not melted was all sunk underneath, and he only ate a few bites, and he did not know if it was too salty, but he could not taste the fragrant broth at all.

He held the chopsticks, looked at the crackling bonfire, and muttered in a low voice: "Why do I always feel unsure?"