A ray of sky light fell from the sky and landed on the bank of Sishui in front of Hulao Pass. The update of the apex novel landed on a shimmering blade the fastest. The edge of the blade was clear, and there was a cold light under the sunlight.
In the cold light, on the glowing blade, there was an endless piece of black armor reflected. Row after row of black armor formed in front of the barracks.
The cold wind blew non-stop, blowing head-on, pulling the army's flag tightly and blowing the soldiers' collars.
The people seemed to be frozen there, motionless, many of them lowered their heads, and couldn't see the expressions on their faces clearly, but thinking about it, there shouldn't be any expressions.
All the soldiers in the barracks have gathered here.
Sun Jian stood in front of the army formation with a knife in his hand, looking west.
Looking west from the barracks, you can see the tents stationed under the Hulao Pass and the bonfires in the tents from a distance.
About two days ago, this army had been stationed outside Hulao Pass. It seemed that it was the vanguard of Dong Zhuo's army. The stationed there was also looking for an opportunity to repel Sun Jian's troops, or maybe it was to test the strength of the princes.
However, for the past two days, Dong Zhuo's vanguard has not moved at all, they just camped outside Hulao Pass without deploying their defenses, they don't know what their plans are.
No matter what you plan to do, try it out today.
Sun Jian grabbed the hilt of his knife, turned around, and looked around the army formation.
Standing in a row were four school generals on horseback. Seeing Sun Jian turn his head, he slightly raised the weapon in his hand and bowed his head in salute.
Sun Jian nodded, looked behind the four generals, and landed on a soldier in the army formation.
The soldier lowered his head, his shoulders were trembling slightly, and the brim of his helmet was covering him, making it impossible to see his face clearly.
Sun Jian stepped up and put a hand on his shoulder.
"You, hold your head up."
The soldier raised his head, tears were streaming down his face, and the tears were frozen on his face by the cold wind, forming a thin layer of frost.
"Why are you crying?" Sun Jian asked flatly.
"General." The soldier's shoulders trembled and he gritted his teeth.
"I'm afraid."
It should be a ridiculous thing for a man to cry and say that he is afraid in front of people.
But at this time, no one on both sides of the army laughed at him, because everyone was afraid that the man just happened to cry.
After leaving the army, no one knows what will happen, whether it will be victory or defeat, death or life.
Sun Jian's hands slowly clenched, grasping the soldier's shoulder armor, he was silent for a while before asking.
"What's your name and where do you live?"
The soldier didn't understand what Sun Jian meant, he knew that crying was useless, he knew it was a spineless thing, but thinking that if he died, the elderly in the family would have no one to support him, so he couldn't help crying.
People are always very strange, they always feel nothing on weekdays, and only when they really feel that they have to lose something do they feel like crying.
The whole family is waiting for his military salary to eat, and the white-haired person gives black hair, it is no different from the death of two generations.
"Chang Cheng, lives in Changsha, Ningxiang."
The soldier replied intermittently.
"Don't cry anymore!" Sun Jian looked at the soldier with a bright expression, "Give me some courage!"
As he spoke, he leaned his face in front of the soldier, resting his forehead against his forehead, staring at him with a pair of red eyes.
"When you get there, either they will die or you will die. Even if you are going to die, don't let me cry like this."
"Don't lose face to our Jiang Dongerlang!"
The soldier was stunned by Sun Jian's shout, and stood there a little at a loss.
Sun Jian gave him one last sharp look, pushed the soldier away, turned around, walked to his horse, and got on it.
He took the rein and walked a few steps forward. Suddenly, he turned his head and looked at the dull soldier.
"Ningxiang, Changcheng. I remember it, and kill the enemy. If he dies, I will order someone to send a pension to your home and treat your family preferentially."
Speaking of which, Sun Jian raised his eyes and looked at all the soldiers in the formation: "It's the same with you."
Although there was a law in the Western Zhou Dynasty, "Where there are dead officials and soldiers in the army, they will be given funeral tools and returned to the tomb of the town. This is the way to strengthen the army throughout the country."
But as a soldier in the army, most of the time, if you die, you are dead. No one will collect your body, and you should just bury it anywhere on the battlefield, let alone any compensation.
However, Sun Jian's army was provided with pensions, not from the court but from the local government, to relieve soldiers' worries and to improve their combat capabilities.
How much is a soldier's pension
It's about half a penny, but it's about the same.
In this world, two pennies can buy a sword, and half a penny can buy a life.
"Crack."
With the sound of the blade rubbing against the scabbard, the ancient ingot knife from Sun Jian's waist was slowly pulled out and held in his hand.
Raise the long knife and point it at the barracks outside Hulao Pass.
"Go out!"
The army marched out, and the soldier who stood still held the spear in his hand. Finally, he walked steadily forward. He didn't want to die, so he could only kill others and come back.
"Report!"
A voice came from outside the tent.
Hua Xiong sat cross-legged in front of the table in the tent, looking a little casual.
"Come in."
As he said lightly, a general pushed open the curtain of the tent and walked in.
Seeing Hua Xiong, he bowed down on one knee.
"General, Sun Jian's troops have begun to march."
"Oh." Hua Xiong sat at the table and smiled softly: "Really? I thought they would wait and see for a few more days."
"Thinking about it, I saw our army standing still and wanted to test it out." The general who was half kneeling on the ground said aloud.
"It should be so." Hua Xiong frowned, and looked at the general who was kneeling on the ground.
"You are only allowed to lose, not to win, but do you understand?"
The general hesitated for a moment: "But general, our army is defending this time. If we are easily defeated, I am afraid the other party will not believe it. It is difficult to make them take it lightly."
"Then just add something to make them believe it?"
Hua Xiong said with a smile, his tone was full of indifference, but it made the kneeling general a little embarrassed.
"General, what should we do?"
"When Sun Jian's army arrives, you can lead the army to fight for a while, and then you will be defeated, and you don't need to worry about the rest."
"Go and call the deputy general Hu Zhen." Pointing outside the tent, Hua Xiong said in a calm voice.
The general lowered his head and retreated silently.
Hua Xiong wanted his subordinates to pretend to be defeated, and then retreat to defend the pass, in order to wait until the attacking Sun Jian was careless and attack them at night, but at this time, he still needed a reason for Sun Jian to believe that they were really defeated.
It was probably after a stick of incense that Hua Xiong waited a little impatiently, and it was a general who walked out of the camp.
"General, Hu Zhen is here to take orders."
Here comes the reason.
A smile appeared on Hua Xiong's rough face, and he greeted the outside: "General Hu, come in."