Zhang Xiaoqing likes to go to a pastry shop the most. Every time she goes out, even if she has no money in her pocket, she has to stand at the door for a while, holding a bucket in both hands without feeling tired.

There are many kinds of pastries inside, and the prices vary, but overall they are relatively cheap.

But every time she goes in to buy something, she mostly only wants the relatively cheaper osmanthus cake and apricot blossom cake.

No, the two of them came to the door of this shop again. Even though Zhang Xiaoqing was cash-strapped, she couldn't help but stop and turned to look at the shop. She would be very happy if she could eat anything inside.

Xu Ming stopped beside her and asked, "If you want to eat, I can buy it for you."

Zhang Xiaoqing was not polite to him and took him into the pastry shop.

The pastry shop is not very big, compared to the house where my family's medical clinic is located, it is only a little bigger.

The shelves were filled with all kinds of pastries. The boss was already an old man in his sixties with white hair. When he saw customers coming, he came forward with a happy face.

When he saw Xu Ming walking in, his face looked a little unnatural.

Although Zhang Xiaoqing knew the reason, she still said carelessly: "Boss, please bring some sweet-scented osmanthus cake and some apricot blossom cake."

The old man nodded quickly and bent down, filling half a bag of pastries for the two of them, as well as some other relatively expensive pastries.

Zhang Xiaoqing's beautiful eyes widened: "No, boss, you are mistaken. I don't want these. I didn't bring much money when I went out this time, so I might not be able to afford it."

The old man shook his head repeatedly: "No, there is an event in the store today, and I have seen this girl like you hanging out outside many times, so I will treat these as a gift to you. Anyway, no matter how expensive these things are, they are not that expensive."

Xu Ming said nothing from beginning to end, letting the old man make up reasons.

After leaving the store, Zhang Xiaoqing, who was well aware of these twists and turns, smiled and handed over a delicious pastry: "Try this, I ate this a long time ago and I will never forget it."

Xu Ming took the pastry and took a bite, nodded and said with a smile: "It is indeed delicious."

As the two of them returned home, the girl didn't say much because her mouth was blocked by the pastries she longed for. She couldn't even say she was devouring them, but she definitely couldn't be considered a lady.

When he arrived at the door of the house, Zhang Xiaoqing, who was full of crumbs, thanked him and then went back to the house.

Xu Ming returned home alone and took a short rest before starting to practice.

…

The Great Wei Dynasty lasted for more than 500 years. Most of the areas had mountains and rivers, often with beautiful mountains and clear waters. It was known as the place with the richest luck in the world.

Countless literati and poets came here one after another, including dozens of neighboring countries, without exception.

In contrast, Beimang in the north of the Wei Dynasty was completely different. It was almost two extremes, with poor mountains and harsh waters, and a huge temperature difference.

For example, the yellow sand stretching to the north of Nanyanguan is thousands of miles away. The hundreds of miles to the south were originally the territory of the Wei Dynasty, while Beimang occupies a large part of the north.

Such a place is so inaccessible that one can only see a city hundreds of miles away.

Further north is a world of ice and snow. When it gets cold, those without clothes will most likely not be able to survive the winter. Therefore, there is a shortage of food in Beimang. Every year, many corpses of starved to death are seen in major cities.

This is also the reason why Beimang's territory is not much smaller than that of the Wei Dynasty, but it still has to mobilize the whole country to move southward.

Why are you and the Wei Dynasty monopolizing all the good places in the world?

Now south of Nanyanguan is the truly fertile land of the Wei Dynasty. How can this not make Beimang excited and looking forward to it?

As for how many people in the Wei Dynasty would die in this war, they didn't care. What did the people of other countries have to do with them?

What's more, in war, how can anyone be immortal?

The Beimang army, which had reached Nanyanguan in one go, took a break and did not pursue the victory, so it remained silent for several months.

During this period, there were small-scale encounters between the armies of both sides, but overall everything was peaceful.

But today, Beimang's army finally moved. Among them, 70,000 infantry and 30,000 cavalry, a total of 100,000 troops, came without any warning.

And there is no strategy. In the words of Beimang, your Wei army is all a coward. They may not be our opponents in a single fight, let alone Nanyanguan, which is so small that it can only station 30,000 people.

Border?

All 30,000 infantrymen guard the city, and 10,000 cavalry often wander within thirty miles outside the city. If there is any trouble, they will be reported as soon as possible.

This time is no exception. Compared to the Beimang Cavalry, the soldiers at the Wei border are much better equipped, but their individual strength is inferior.

This is also human nature. After all, the two parties grew up in different environments and have very different physical constitutions.

This unprecedented battle begins, and Nanyanguan Pass occupies an extremely important geographical location. Once it is defeated, Beihuang City, Jincang City, Liaocheng, and even Lishui and other cities further south will be affected.

When the time comes, you will be reduced to a piece of fish to be slaughtered by others, without much resistance at all.

Therefore, the importance of Nanyanguan is far beyond many people's imagination. It is regarded as a gate in the northwest of the Wei Dynasty. Once it collapses, Beimang can drive straight in and attack Huanglong.

On the third day of this battle, news of heavy losses spread throughout Beihuang City.

For a moment, the long-quiet silence of people's hearts erupted again. It was like a detonating wire hit a raging fire.

That day, Xu Ming witnessed countless people in the city, including on the street where he was, packing their luggage and fleeing desperately, but in the end they were all stopped by the city guards.

The reason is very simple. If the people in the city are allowed to leave, order problems will soon occur. Several major cities in the south will face chaos and panic spread. In a war, people's hearts are the direct expression of a country's national strength.

On the seventh day, the panic and agitation was completely suppressed, but many people still left Beihuang City separately, abandoning even their family property and just wanting to run away with their lives.

Of course, it is still a small number after all. If you really want to talk about it, what can you do even if you run away without money?

Xu Ming, who had changed into a black robe, was sitting on the manhole cover, holding a report on the recent situation in Beiguan.

There were a total of two rounds of offensive and defensive battles. In the first round, Beimang sent out 100,000 troops. Among them, 30% of the 70,000 infantry were lost under the city gate, and nearly 10% were killed on the top of the city.

As a result, nearly 40% of the total number of more than 20,000 people died in the battle.

Of course, the Wei side was not much better, with 30,000 infantrymen lost more than half.

Among them, the cavalry that fought with the Beimang cavalry outside the city suffered heavy losses and was almost wiped out.

This was the result of defending the city wall without leaving the city to fight. The two sides were evenly matched, which was a great shame and humiliation.

The second round was on the third day after the battle. The remaining Beimang army took action again, and reinforcements arrived during the period.

Seeing that Nanyan Pass was about to be defeated, fortunately at the last moment, Jincang City, Beihuang City, and Liaocheng came out in full force, betting all their hopes on Nanyan Pass.

The final result was that both sides suffered losses, and both sides called a truce. After this battle, although the Wei Dynasty failed to gain any advantage, it still managed to hold on and did not worsen the situation.

After reading this announcement, Xu Ming frowned. Even an open-minded and optimistic person like him couldn't help but sigh when he saw the words in it.

"This is not an option if we continue like this. With Beimang's momentum, once we make a big decision and directly attack hundreds of thousands of people, Nanyanguan Pass will probably be lost."

Xu Ming touched his chin and finally shook his head in denial: "No, according to the current situation, Nanyanguan will probably not be able to sustain the third round of offensive. By then..."

Thinking of this, he no longer dared to continue researching. No matter how he looked at the situation, he was not very optimistic. He hoped that Da Wei would have some backup plans.

Xu Ming was thoughtful and walked to the gate. Compared with before, it seemed much deserted.

If Nanyang Pass is breached and the city is still not allowed to pass through, panic will probably form, and many people will start burning, killing, looting, and destroying the original order.

Xu Ming has seen this kind of scene many times. In the hundreds of miles of yellow sand, he once passed through several small cities and did things he did not dare to do before before dying.

In their words, they are going to die anyway, so why not let yourself enjoy it?

The usual forbearance and the frustration of being oppressed by life all exploded at this moment.

Nanyanguan Pass was not only the gate to the northwest of the Wei Dynasty, but also the psychological defense of the people in the northwest.

Once broken, the consequences would be disastrous.
Chapter completed!