From Shuoquan to Yanmen Pass, the journey was actually not far away. However, Chu Huan was inspecting the road along the way, so he was delayed a lot of time. Along the way, more than a dozen corrupt officials who were greedy and abused to feed their personal pockets were punished, and the illegal acts and the results of the punishments of these officials were made public, which attracted a lot of praise.

When we arrived at Yanmen Pass, it had been nearly half a month since we left Shuoquan City.

Yanmen Pass was guarded by the Northwest Army. The general Gan Hou was originally from the Northwest Army. When the people of Xiliang invaded the south, this army suffered losses and suffered defeats and was defeated one after another. Nearly 100,000 soldiers of the Northwest Army once became a mess.

The reason why Gan Hou was able to become a general of the Northwest Army was because he was very experienced in the Northwest Army and was familiar with the affairs of the Northwest Army. What was more important was that when he resisted the invasion of the West Liang Army, Gan Hou's troops were one of the few armies that could win battles.

It is also because of the most difficult and steepest time that Gan Hou won several consecutive victories in the battle with the Western Liang Army. Although it was insignificant in general strategy, it once boosted the morale of the Northwest Army and its reputation once reached its peak.

Yu Buqu came to the northwest. As the highest commander of all the northwest troops, the commander of the battle against the Western Liang. In addition to the Northwest Army mobilized within the pass, the most important part of his army was the Northwest Army, which was originally under Feng Hanxiao's command, and the most important part of his army was the Northwest Army under the command of Feng Hanxiao. The Han Hou was valued under Yu Buqu.

When the Western Liang and Qin State negotiated peace, Xiao Tianwen, the king of the Southern Court of the Western Liang, led his army to withdraw, and Yu Buqu reorganized the mixed Northwest Army, mainly divided into two parts: Pingxi Army and Northwest Army.

At that time, the northwest was in turmoil and bandits were everywhere. The purpose of forming the Pingxi Army was to suppress the bandits on the ground in the northwest and stabilize civil strife. The Northwest Army rushed to Yanmen Pass to guard the pass and prevent the Xiliang people from making a comeback.

The northwestern army guarding Yanmen Pass was only 30,000 to 40,000. Compared with the 100,000 tiger and wolf troops, the troops were reduced by more than half. Moreover, the once towering Yanmen Pass was demolished by the people of Xiliang. To restore Yanmen Pass, a large amount of manpower, material resources and financial resources were required. Given the current situation of Qin, this Yanmen Pass, which was originally called the first heroic pass of the Qin Dynasty, could not be restored at all.

Yu Buqu handed over tens of thousands of Northwest troops to Gan Hou and ordered him to guard the empire's border garrison. In an extremely harsh environment, Gan Hou built 36 forts in Yanmen Pass in order to form a defense line. The location of the 36 forts was arranged according to the formation in the art of war.

Chu Huan had known before that the Marquis of Gan led the northwest to build the Thirty-Six Forts under Yanmen Pass, but he was not sure what it looked like. After this arrival, he realized that the so-called Thirty-Six Forts was actually just waiting for thirty-six villages.

Each fortress has about one thousand officers and soldiers, and built houses with sand and soil. The houses of each fort are connected into one piece and are surrounded by sand walls. Watchtowers will be built on the four corners of the sand wall to serve as a warning.

In each fort, there are arsenals and stables, and soldiers are guarded day and night.

The Northwest Army does not have many horses. It is common for a fortress to have thirty or forty horses, and even only thirty or five horses.

Only when you reach the border can you feel the hardship of the living environment of the Northwest Army soldiers. The border is full of wind and sand. Now it is winter, and the weather is even colder. Even during the day, the temperature is very low. Once the wind and sand are rolling up, the gravel hits people's faces, like a knife cutting the skin, which is very uncomfortable.

The thirty-six forts each have their own names, named after the thirty-six Tiangang Stars, such as Tianji Fort, Tianxian Fort, etc., Chu Huan found out, and thought that Marquis Gan really could remember the names of the thirty-six forts?

Chu Huan came here mainly to meet Gan Hou. Although it was to solve the problem of trading grounds outside the pass, Chu Huan was actually more willing to have a deeper contact with Gan Hou.

The three northwest roads each occupy one side. Chu Huan didn't say anything about the current situation in the northwest, but he knew clearly. Zhu Lingyue was eyeing him, Xiao Huanzhang was ulterior motives, and the influence of the center of the empire on the northwest was already extremely weak. He knew very well that if the emperor did not have the means to change the status quo of the empire, the situation of the empire would become worse and worse, and the situation in the northwest would become more severe as the situation in the world deteriorated.

Zhu Lingyue wanted to dominate the northwest, so Chu Huan certainly did not allow Tianshan iron hooves to enter Xiguan, while Xiao Huanzhang was huddled behind him, with ulterior motives, and the pattern of the three heroes in the northwest had been formed.

But Chu Huan knew that there were not only three forces on the northwest land, but another force seemed very low-key, but it must not be ignored. This force was of course Gan Hou who guarded Yanmen Pass.

There were 30,000 people under the command of Gan Hou, and these 30,000 soldiers and horses were all veterans who had gone through the war. They were definitely a very strong army. From beginning to end, Gan Hou did not interfere in the northwest affairs. He was like an invisible man, who brought tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to his own strength in the harsh environment of Yanmen Pass.

Chu Huan cleared. Although Gan Hou had tens of thousands of people under his command and was not weak, this force did not compete for the northwest. Their foundation was too weak. It was just a pure legion without any logistical guarantee. It was short of food and money. It was already very amazing that Gan Hou could keep this legion firmly on the border. It would be impossible to lead this army to traverse the northwest.

However, although they do not have strong strength to control the northwest, they have enough ability to influence the pattern of the northwest. No matter who gets the help of this force, they will definitely be more powerful.

Although Chu Huan was always wary of Zhu Lingyue, he never dared to ignore the Northwest Army. That was why he arranged for Fang Rushui to guard the Jinzhou, and repeatedly told Fang Rushui to be strictly guarded. His purpose was to guard against Gan Hou in the border.

Chu Huan has always been unable to see through Gan Hou, and does not know what Gan Hou is thinking.

It is undeniable that Gan Hou is definitely a superior general. Not only was he able to continuously win the battle with the people of Xiliang in adversity, but after Yu Buqu handed over Yanmen Pass to him, he was able to immediately build 36 forts to build a border defense line under extremely bad circumstances. In addition, he could also see through the decline of Qin and the court could not support the border army, so he began to cultivate land in the border early. All kinds of things showed that this person was definitely a general with a long-term vision.

Because of this, Chu Huan has always been afraid of this person.

Although Chu Huan finally won the rebellion in Jinhe and Erzhou, there was an uneasy note beating in his heart.

Zhang Shuyan and his son of Jinzhou rebelled. Lanyi City in Jinzhou was closest to Yanmen Pass. According to common sense, Jinzhou was in chaos. Even if the Northwest Army, as the imperial official army, had the responsibility of garrisoning the border, would inevitably move troops inland and put pressure on the Jinzhou army. However, from beginning to end, Gan Hou remained unmoved. As far as Chu Huan knew, after Zhang Shuyan and his son rebelled in Jinzhou, Gan Hou's Northwest Army was still stationed at the Thirty-Six Door Fortress. No soldier and one soldier approached Jinzhou, nor did he bring any pressure to Jinzhou. In the entire Jinzhou war, Gan Hou seemed to have become deaf and mute.

This is undoubtedly an unsettling signal for Chu Huan.

The rebellion in Jinhe and the two prefectures was undoubtedly Zhu Lingyue, and Gan Hou turned a blind eye to it. Although Chu Huan had no evidence to prove that there was any involvement or deal between Gan Hou and Zhu Lingyue, there was always a voice in his heart reminding him that once Gan Hou really colluded with Zhu Lingyue in private, the situation would become very serious for Xiguan.

Zhu Lingyue will sooner or later attack Xiguan, and Gan Hou is behind Xiguan. If Chu Huan is given some time to prepare for deployment and put all his strength in resisting Zhu Lingyue, there may be hope for him. However, once Gan Hou has something to do with Zhu Lingyue, a knife will come from behind. Even if Chu Huan knows that this knife has been preparing, he will not be able to resist. At that time, Xiguan will definitely be defeated.

When Chu Huan arrived at a fort, it was already dusk. In the northwest winter, it was dark very early. Although it was only dusk, the world was already very dark.

Although the wind and sand are not very big, occasionally a gust of wind blows, rolling up the gravel on the ground, dancing in the air, and hitting people, which is really uncomfortable.

Almost all the guards led by Qi Hong were from the guards in the capital. Although their individual soldiers were very strong in combat, their adaptability to the environment was not as good as that of the soldiers in the northwest. Many people were already wrapping their faces with cloth towels to avoid being ruined by the gravel.

Of course, the wall made of sand will not be very familiar with each other. Two flags floated in front of the fort, one flag said "Tiangu Castle", and the other flag said a big word "Qin".

While the heroes were competing for hegemony, the "Qin" flag fluttered on the Central Plains continent, invincible and timid. But now the flag is covered with dust and even a little broken, baptized by wind and sand all day long. No matter how good the fabric is, it will be broken by sand and gravel. There are about a dozen holes in the flag, big and small, just like today, it is broken.

Chu Huan's team came outside Tiangu Fort. The soldiers standing on the watchtower had already seen it and made gestures inside. When Chu Huan's men arrived in front of the gate, the gate was tightly closed. On the six-meter-high gate, there were more than a dozen Northwest Army soldiers. One of them shouted loudly: "Who are you? The dock is a military fortress, and idlers are not allowed to approach."

"Bold..." Qi Hong knew that he would definitely appear by himself at this time, so he raised his hand and pointed at it, "You don't open your eyes and see, are we idle people? The Xiguan Dao Chu Duke is here, and he hasn't opened the door yet."

"Why are you here?" The superior did not immediately order the door to open.

Qi Hong was still about to speak, but Chu Huan waved his hand, then he looked up and smiled, "I am here to meet General Gan Hou Gan. You have thirty-six forts here, which one is General Gan?"
Chapter completed!