On the empty prairie, a convoy of dozens of carriages was moving forward slowly.
Jiang Long rode on the snow field, took the lead, and walked at the forefront of the team.
I was resting in the wild all night yesterday. Fortunately, there was coal to keep warm, otherwise this cold innocence might have frozen to death.
Early in the morning, although the weather did not change, the north wind became stronger.
Not long after riding on the horse, the frozen people became numb.
"Young master, you'd better sit in the carriage." At the end of the convoy, a manned carriage followed. Although the decoration was not luxurious, it was covered with thick blankets and a few more were prepared.
There is a thick cotton quilt, and a warmer is hung in a corner of the carriage.
The stove is small and exquisite in shape. It was brought from Jingfu, with burning coal inside, emitting heat.
The person who spoke was Qin Yu. The weather was too cold and he couldn't stand it, so he advised Jiang Long to ride a carriage.
Tudu and Gantibaker also echoed the persuasion.
Jiang Long tightened his belt, took off his gloves, put his hands that were frozen red and red in his mouth, and then he said, "What is this bitterness counting? And the sergeant guarding the barrier of the fortress in the front
Compared to this, this is just a pediatric department. Well, you don’t have to persuade me anymore, I won’t get into the carriage.”
Qin Yu, Ganti Buck and others were all helpless.
However, the soldiers sent by He Huan looked at Jiang Long at this time, but they all admired them.
They had heard of Jiang Long's origin. They were originally just because he was a descendant of General Jingxian, the man was respectful and respectful. Now, Jiang Long has a strong personality and is not afraid of suffering. Like the soldiers, he rode his horse.
In the cold wind, sharing joys and sorrows is the real affection for Jiang Long.
Throughout history, all the famous generals who have truly been respected and admired by soldiers and who can completely control the morale of the army are all fed, worn and lived with ordinary soldiers and formed a group of people.
If you are just aloof, then the soldiers will at most be respectful to you.
"How far is it from the Wolf Smoke Castle?"
Hearing the inquiry, the centurion sent by He Huan to lead the way replied: "There is still four or five days left."
Riding a horse is different from a convoy. It takes five or six times the time to reach a place that can be reached by riding alone for a day.
Although there are hills on the prairie, you can easily turn over by riding a horse, just identify the direction.
The convoy must have a road to drive. The cargo is filled with coal and the cargo is heavy. If the ground is not hard enough, the wheels will hide in the mud and sand, and the horse will not be able to pull it. Many roads are not straight lines, so you have to go far.
road.
Four or five days?
Jiang Long looked up and looked at the sky. Although the wind was a little stronger, fortunately there was no sign of changing the sky.
If the convoy is snowing halfway through, it will be a disaster.
It will be very heavy when it snows in the northern border. When it falls, the road will be covered immediately. At that time, the convoy will probably be trapped in the same place. After a few days, the snow water will melt and soak in the ground.
The carriage could not be pulled at all.
So you must not make it snowy, otherwise you must stay there for at least seven or eight days.
If it really doesn't work, I can't say that I have to throw the goods and ride a horse and turn them back.
This is also one of the main reasons why the forts and barriers located in the forefront are often unable to receive daily necessities on time in winter.
Five days later, at the Wolf Smoke Castle, more than a dozen soldiers were in a group and staying in a house.
"Miss third son, it's your turn to stand guard today." Captain Wang Bo said.
Zhang San stood up after hearing this, wrapped his cotton coat tightly, and tied his belt tightly, "Boss, then I'll go."
"The wind is getting stronger, be careful not to be frozen into ice," Wang Bo reminded.
Without waiting for Zhang San to answer, a jokey voice shouted: "If you really get frozen into ice, I won't carry you back."
"It just so happened to put him on the wall and stand guard."
"We don't have to go out and get frozen."
Many people laughed and joking.
"Get out!" Zhang San laughed and scolded with anger, "I'll deal with you when I come back!"
Pushing open the door, a cold wind blows towards him. Zhang San shivered involuntarily, walked out quickly, and brought the door with him. There were not many things in the castle that could keep warm, so they all went tonight.
Crowd into a room to sleep.
Even during the day, I will not leave that room.
There is also not enough food in the turret. Everyone slept together to reduce consumption. They could eat less for each meal and persist for a few more days. In the original military law, there should be no less than three people standing guard every time, but in these
Among the castle, only one person was sent out to take turns to stand guard.
Not only is the weather cold, but I can’t eat enough, so I’m very likely to be unable to come back after going out.
People who come back, because they are cold, have to roast more fire and increase their appetite when eating.
When the three of them come back, they all need to eat more food.
Of course, it is no more than going out alone.
However, there are disadvantages to going out alone, which is that you freeze to death outside, and no one knows it.
After winter begins this year, it has not snowed yet, so no one has frozen to death.
However, in previous years, people were frozen into ice.
By the time everyone discovered it, the people were as hard as rocks. The soldiers were naturally joking before that, if any companions were frozen to death, they would not really stand there and stand guard, but store the bodies.
Take it back to the deceased's family.
It was better to bury it directly, but the above was to check the cause of death of the deceased.
Otherwise, if someone is assassinated, the murderer will not be allowed to escape the punishment.
Zhang San walked out of the house door and came to another house in front of him in the cold wind. He untied his trousers and peed. It was too cold outside and could not urinate in the wild, otherwise his little brother might have been frozen, so he could only stay in the house.
It's convenient, because I've been busy for a long time.
Then he carried the toilet and poured it outside.
Putting down the toilet, Zhang San returned to his room and raised a cloth bag from behind the door. This was the high wall of the earthen castle slowly.
Climb up the wooden ladder.
Just as I got up to the wall, a strong north wind blew, almost blowing Zhang San down.
This is just a small earthen castle with a simple structure, with only a few scattered arrows on the wall. Zhang San walked quickly for more than ten steps, then he hid in it quickly, shrank his neck, looked around, and saw if there was anything around him.
abnormal.
As time goes by, it gradually reaches noon.
King Zhang also became a little anxious.
Why haven't the person come yet?
Make an appointment in advance.
It was not until the sun rose to the center that a black dot emerged from the horizon.
Zhang San showed joy when he saw it.
The Black Dot is an alien. He rode a black mount and took nearly half an hour to reach the fort.
"Have the money been brought?"
Zhang San was not polite to the other party, and stood in the pile of arrows, just shouting and asking loudly.
The alien was tall and covered with a thick white leather jacket, like a snowball, and asked in a somewhat distorted Daqi's words, "Where is the goods?"
"Here!" Zhang San clapped the package in his hand.
The aliens glanced at the package, took out a purse from their arms quickly, and threw it at the city wall.
Zhang San did not catch it, bent down and picked it up in his hand, opened it, clicked the number, nodded to the aliens with satisfaction, and threw down the package in his hand.
The aliens jumped off the horse, picked up the package, and first weighed the portion with their hands before opening it.
There are a few pieces of broken copper and iron inside.
But when the aliens looked carefully, they were very satisfied after seeing that there were not many rusting.
There is no iron ore on the prairie, or even if there is iron ore, aliens will not be able to mine and smel, and do not understand the technology.
Therefore, the aliens on the prairie are extremely short of iron.
But in life, iron cannot be separated from it.
Iron pots are used to cook, and scimitars and bows are used to fight. Which one does not require iron?
Without iron and no arrows can be made, the alien army's good shooting will become a joke.
Zhang San's family is very poor, with a large population, and the whole family cannot eat enough and has no way to go, otherwise they would not have been sent here. Last time I went home to rest, I brought some broken iron and copper when I came here, and planned to sell it.
For aliens.
The price of aliens purchasing iron tools is very high.
Just a little bit of broken copper and iron, I actually gave two taels of silver!
It is precisely because of the huge profits that many border troops trade iron tools with aliens in private.
Even if this is strictly prohibited by the court, if it is found out, the head will be chopped off.
But Zhang San's family couldn't eat enough, and the grass stems that kept warm in winter were not enough to burn, so they needed to buy them. There was no money at home, so you couldn't wait to die, right?
The situation in most soldiers’ homes is similar to that in Zhang San’s family.
After the transaction was completed, Zhang San put his wallet in his arms with satisfaction.
"If there is still goods, remember to sell them to me!" the alien yelled: "Money is not a problem."
Zhang San waved his hand gently to the aliens. Although he could make money from the other party, he knew very well how the money in the aliens came from. So although he was doing a transaction now, if he was in the future
He will not be lenient when he encounters it on the battlefield.
Watching the alien soldiers walk away, Zhang San then happily walked down the wall.
When I opened the wooden door of the cottage, a sensation of turbulence came to my face. Although it smelled bad, it was much stronger than staying outside and blowing the cold wind.
"Three sons, we're back."
Wang Bo greeted, "The rice has been prepared long ago, come and eat it."
Several soldiers looked around Zhang San's waist.
Everyone sells iron tools to aliens, so they guessed how much money Zhang San sold this time.
However, this is a serious crime to behead him, so everyone tacitly acted in secret, but they did not speak out on the surface.
After dinner, Zhang San went out again.
The weather is much warmer in the afternoon, so the people on the turn have to ride out on horseback and check around.
The horses in the fort are the same as the number of people. In this place, it is not possible to have no mounts. Otherwise, if they find that the alien army is attacking, how can they run away based on their own legs?
Moreover, when they escape, they have to run away separately and cannot be surrounded and wiped out by aliens.
It is necessary to ensure that at least one person must escape and send the message back.
There are many horses and a lot of forage consumed every day.
Because the court strictly regulated war horses, the soldiers in the fort usually dared not use their swords to kill the war horses and eat them even if they were hungry.