The majestic Xigu Pass is magnificent and huge, stretching for dozens of miles. Looking up from the bottom of the pass, you can only see dense figures of people at the end. Looking down from above the pass, the passers-by under the city are as small as ants.

Xigu Pass is located at the throat of the 800-mile Beiling. Da Xizhang's five thousand elite soldiers were used to guard Xigu Pass.

The defenders of Xigu Pass were inside the pass, less than ten miles away from Xigu Pass, and 5,000 soldiers took turns to serve on the pass. Although many people often traveled back and forth from Xigu Pass, the structure of Xigu Pass was not known to outsiders.

The troops deployed at Xigu Pass are actually divided into three places.

One of them is naturally the copper door of the pass. In fact, the copper door is not one, but two copper doors. This Xigu Pass not only stretches for dozens of miles, but also has a width of several miles. Therefore, when people pass through the pass, it is like passing through a tunnel. There is a section of road in the middle, and torches will be lit to allow people to see clearly the road passes.

There is a copper door at the entrance and exit, which is controlled by the mechanism. When starting the mechanism, more than a dozen strong military soldiers must be able to start it. For a long time, the two copper doors have been opened and closed at the same time according to the time.

The mechanism is not actually within the channel.

As a giant traversing northwest and inside the pass, Xigu Pass has spent a lot of thought in all dynasties. On both sides of the passage, there are actually stone gates open. Entering the stone gate and climbing the stone stairs, you can enter the abdomen of the pass. There is a large space in the middle of Xigu Pass, which is used to garrison guards and guards. There are holes on the walls of the pass. Not only can you usually observe the situation outside through the holes, but once war occurs, these holes can instantly turn into arrow holes.

The Xigu Pass defenders were equipped with a group of elite imperial crossbows, and these crossbow archers were stationed in the abdomen of the pass, and the mechanism of the copper gate of the pass was also set up in the abdomen of the wall.

Above the wall, there is the third place to deploy troops, which is also the main force of Xigu Pass. Above the wall, dozens of miles, the forces on both wings are slightly weaker, but above the copper gate of the pass, there are a large number of elite soldiers deployed closely.

The three units require at least two thousand soldiers to be fully equipped, so the on-duty troops at Xigu Pass are never less than two thousand soldiers and horses. They are far away from the guards' barracks less than ten miles inside the pass and rotate with each other.

As for Xigu Pass, the defenders always thought it was a piece of iron wall. As long as there was a pass, everyone believed that even if a hundred thousand troops arrived, they would be powerless.

As the garrison of Xigu Pass, Da Xizhang never took it lightly. Xigu Pass has its own strict military rules and regulations, but some people violated the military law, Da Xizhang has always punished him severely.

Although everyone knows that Xigu Pass is solid, Da Xizhang never neglected the training of the defenders. Once the defenders are transferred to the military camp, it does not mean that they can rest. Instead, they have to start rigorous training. Therefore, for the defenders of Xigu Pass, it is much easier to be on duty day and night at the pass than to strictly practice in the military camp.

It is also because of this that the five thousand soldiers and horses in Xigu Pass have always been an army with strong combat effectiveness. Orders are prohibited, and Da Xizhang also has absolute authority in Xigu Pass.

In the past half month of the closure of the pass, a large number of people have gathered in the pass. From the perspective of the pass, it stretched for more than ten miles and was densely filled with darkness. Moreover, the people did not disperse because of the blockade of the pass. Instead, new refugees gathered every day.

Da Xizhang stood at the junction, put his hands on the wall, looking at the people in the junction, which were as dense as an ant, with his eyebrows tightly tied into a line.

"General, there are more and more people." A general beside him frowned and said, "There are more than 20,000 people gathered here now, and people will come here every day. If this continues, it will definitely cause riots in the pass."

"Yes, general, the people under the city are mixed with fish and dragons, and I'm afraid there are many ulterior motives in it." Another general was also worried, "Do you give an order to disperse them?"

Da Xizhang's eyes moved to the defending barracks in the distance. The barracks were built along the mountain, and there was an arrow tower fence. He was silent for a moment and shook his head and said, "If someone was sent to disperse at this time, I'm afraid someone would take the opportunity to cause trouble. As long as you guard the pass, you don't have to worry about them. It won't take long to go out of the gate and they will naturally retreat!"

"yes!"

Da Xi Zhang glanced at a general beside him and asked, "Changqing, can the person who is going to the West to urge grain to come back?"

The military rations of the 5,000 guards in Xigu Pass have always been allocated from Chen Yang's warehouse of the four major granaries of the empire. However, now, except for the Jinling warehouse in Jinling, there are still remaining, the other granaries are empty. Before the autumn harvest is reached, the people naturally have no grain to collect, so the granaries have not yet filled with grain into the warehouse.

Yuan Buyi in rebellion and controls Jinling. The first thing he did was to take the Jinling Cang for himself. However, his butt was not yet hot, and his generals rebelled. After Yuan Buyi was killed, Jinling Road was divided into three parts, and the Jinling Cang in the north was also occupied by Xu Chang, who claimed to be the King of Ren.

As the key to the empire, military rations were naturally indispensable. Chen Yangcang had no grain supply, so the court ordered the military rations of Xigu Pass to be raised by Qiao Mingtang, Xishan Road.

When the people of Xiliang invaded the northwest, Chen Yangcang's short grain was allocated to the northwest, and Xishan and Anyi also suffered a great burden. Although the money and grain in Qiao Mingtang in Xishan were not rich, it was barely possible to use it to support the 5,000 defenders of Xigu Pass.

The main troops in Xishan were originally led by Qiao Mingtang to go to Beijing to serve the king, but unfortunately, the capital was destroyed by refugees before the troops arrived. Qiao Mingtang led his army to retreat quickly, and then received the order from the prince, concentrating the main forces on the Liangzhou line south of Xishan, and the anti-kings who defended Jinling Road took advantage of the situation to attack north.

Although the three kings of Jinling Road were in rebellion, they were fighting and fighting each other, but Da Xi Zhang locked Xigu Pass in the west and blocked the northwest army. Yuan Chongshang, who also served in Qin, was worried about it. Qiao Mingtang only needed to gather the main force of Xishan in the Liangzhou area at the junction of Xishan and Jinling. Not only could they defend the safety of the southern line, but they could also send troops from Liangzhou at any time to capture the Jinling Cang in one fell swoop, and even drive straight into the Jinling Road.

The main force of Xishan, assistant Liangzhou, consumes a lot of money and grain. For Qiao Mingtang, who is already very struggling in finance, the pressure is extremely heavy. The court has no money and grain to allocate it. Now it has to bear the food and grass in Xigu Pass, so the supply of food and grass in Xigu Pass is naturally delayed from time to time and cannot be delivered as scheduled.

"Report to the general, he has not come back yet." The general named Changqing said respectfully: "There are three days left to deliver the food and grass, but now it seems that Qiao Mingtang cannot be delivered as scheduled."

A irritable general next to him couldn't help but say, "General, Qiao Mingtang is always delaying. What exactly does he want to do? It is the will of the court to supply food and grass to us. Is Qiao Mingtang trying to resist the order?"

Da Xizhang shook his head and said lightly: "Wait a little longer. Since the days have not come, let's be calm." He glanced at the generals around him and said: "We don't have to be impatient. Qiao Mingtang is not a good time now. Although it's late every time, at least every time it's sent it as expected. How long can our military rations last?"

"When the general, the military ration can last for ten days and half a month, and there is no big problem." Changqing said: "And the food I gave everyone can be reduced by one, and it will last for twenty days, and there will be no problem."

Da Xizhang nodded slightly and said nothing. At this moment, he heard a shout from afar: "General, general!"

The few people turned around and saw shouts coming from the other end of the wall. A flag was waving. Xigu Pass was magnificent and vast. The width of the wall was several miles away. The two sides were separated by a long distance. Sometimes they were conveyed in flag words. Da Xizhang saw the shaking flag and his brows tightened, and the generals following the side changed color slightly.

"General, some troops come to the pass." Changqing said in a deep voice.

Da Xizhang did not hesitate, walked quickly, and walked faster and faster at random, even jogging all the way. At the other end, someone raised his finger and said, "General, look!"

Without that person pointing, Da Xizhang and the generals had already seen that a swaggering horse was flying over the wide road, like a ball of black clouds, drifting over with the wind.

Since Xigu Pass was blocked, news has spread in the northwest. Although many people gathered in the pass to pass and enter the northwest, there are few people near Xigu Pass in the northwest. Sometimes there are no one on the avenue that can be seen all day long.

At this moment, a sudden appearance of a squad is naturally particularly eye-catching.

Changqing snatched the flagpole from the hand of the flag bearer on the side and waved it. Someone next to him immediately raised his horn and whipped the horn. A horn sounded, and there was a horn at both ends immediately echoing. Soon, at the moment, more than a dozen horns made a whimpering sound at the same time. The defenders at the moment immediately started to move. Dozens of catapults placed above the moment were originally open in the center of the moment. At this time, amid the horns of the flag, the trained soldiers guarding the gate immediately rushed over, and five or six people were in a team to push the catapults over. The archers took the bow in their hands and approached the edge of the wall.

"Don't act rashly." Da Xizhang put one hand on the wall and raised the other, indicating that the soldiers should not act rashly. His eyes were staring at the dark clouds rolling over and said in a deep voice: "It's a cavalry, there should be two or three hundred people!"

"Two or three hundred people?" Changqing had already handed the flagpole to the flag bearer beside him, and he also put his hands on the wall and looked down from a high place, "General, is it the scout of the Northwest Army?"

A general was ready to beat his hands and said excitedly: "Okay, they finally couldn't help it. General, it seems that the Northwest Army is preparing to attack the pass hahaha, we want them to know what a wall is like!"
Chapter completed!