At about nine o'clock in the morning, we were on a section of the city wall of Kucha City.
Gritting his teeth, his face turned red.
Due to excessive exertion, the veins on Xu Feng's forehead and neck were all raised high; the sweat on his forehead kept pouring out, and soon his dusty face turned into an extremely ugly face.
Xu Feng, also known as Liu Bo.
Under such circumstances, I carried a large stone weighing more than 100 kilograms on my shoulders and trudged along an upward slope towards the city wall.
Because of the heavy burden, every step he took was so difficult.
Behind him, there were seven or eight netizens including the warehouse manager, Zhan Ge, etc., all in the same situation.
After they were assigned to the group leader Liang Daya, together with about ten other Tang soldiers, each of them carried a big stone like a big animal and transported it with difficulty.
By the way! Before the large-scale use of gunpowder weapons, although the ancients had many means of defending the city, under limited conditions, there were only a few.
Among them, the methods of throwing wood, rolling stones, and gold juice from a high position are some of the most commonly used.
So Xu Feng and others were directed by team leader Liang Daya to carry the stones brought back by carriage from outside the city one by one onto the city wall and placed them beside the wall stacks.
Once the enemy troops rush to the city, they can throw rocks at them.
With a muffled sound of "Boom~", Xu Feng, who finally carried the stone to its position, couldn't wait to throw the stone on the ground.
At the moment when he felt a lightness all over his body, he seemed to be able to feel all the cells in his body cheering in great relief.
Unfortunately, when he slightly opened the linen skirt on his shoulder, he could see that the shoulder where he had just carried the stone was covered in bruises and swelling.
Damn it! This is the third piece that has been carried, and as a large number of carriages continue to enter and exit the city gate, there are more and more stones under the corners. God knows when it will be finished.
If possible, netizens like Xu Feng who are carrying the stone would really like to stop and rest for a while.
The problem is looking at those old men with white hair, who would have to give up their seats when taking a bus in the modern dimension, throwing down the stone, turning around and walking towards the city.
These young and middle-aged people are really embarrassed to rest.
With a 'Bah~' sound and a spit, Xu Feng took two steps forward and caught up with the team leader Liang Daya. He asked a question that he had been holding in his mind since the morning:
"Liang Tou, why are there so many veterans in the army?"
Under such a question, the warehouse manager and others also pricked up their ears. It was obvious that the scene they saw in the morning had a great impact on them.
The main reason is that they really can't understand the reason for such an unreasonable and even sad scene.
Where have the young people gone? They are all dead?
It's just that I haven't found the time to inquire about it; now that I saw Xu Fengwen's voice, I immediately started to listen attentively.
After hearing this, Liang Daya, who was wiping the sweat on his head with a handkerchief, said lightly:
"Why else? Since the land west of Hexi was occupied by the Tubo people in the fifth year of Dali, we have completely lost contact with Guanzhong. In the past thirty-eight years, not a single soldier has been replenished in Guanzhong.
The rest of us are naturally veterans after surviving year after year; after all, we have been in this land of the Western Regions for fifty years."
Fifty years later, when such a number fell into the ears of Xu Feng and others, they were completely speechless.
What else could be said? They simply could not imagine the hardships of being alone outside the territory for such a long time. They only knew that if it were them, they would have gone crazy.
And Xu Feng's question seemed to open Liang Daya's chat box.
He continued: "Our Second Cavalry Team of Xuan Ge Camp had more than 150 people when it had the largest number of troops. Why is there only 32 people now?
In addition to those who died in battles and illnesses over the years, many people also died of old age.
After getting rid of some brothers who are too old to hold a sword, draw a bowstring, or mount a war horse, we can only make up a small number of people."
Xu Shi's rich life experience has made Liang Daya and others look down on many things. When talking about the above content, his tone was actually quite dull.
But after Xu Feng and others heard this, they felt even more depressed.
Because they knew that in fact, the three or twelve people put together by the second cavalry team were very reluctant.
It turned out that when they first saw these Tang troops fighting the Tuyuhun people, it was an artistic battle scene.
The bigger reason is that they lack physical strength and can only supplement it with rich combat skills.
In the following time, no matter how hard and tired Xufeng and others were, they never stopped carrying the burden, let alone said a word about taking a rest.
I wonder, who can rest with a group of nearly 70-year-olds hunched over and carrying stones...
****
At the same time, there were more and more stones on the city wall with a little blood stain on them.
About three miles outside the city, Hu Biao held an ax tightly with both hands and continued to chop hard at a 20 cm diameter birch tree in front of him.
If you think about it, you will know that the Tibetan army came so far away and naturally could not bring heavy siege equipment with them.
Only after arriving at the place will they cut down trees to make simple siege equipment such as ladders. So before they arrive, it is best to cut down all the trees near the outside of the city to avoid easily attacking the enemy.
Besides, once the city is besieged, tens of thousands of people will be added to the city to cook, even to boil golden juice, which requires a large amount of firewood to be stored.
No! Hu Biao, Fengrui and other six people were assigned to Team Leader Zhou Dashui, who was one of the netizens under One-Eyed Dragon, and they came outside the city and started cutting down trees.
When Cyclops, an old man with a relaxed expression on his face, had already chopped down two or three trees, the birch tree in front of Hu Biao finally fell down.
Taking a secret look at his palms, Hu Biao found that there were actually several blood blisters on his palms.
While Hu Biao was cursing and walking towards the next tree, Cyclops shouted: "The kid named Hu, come here for a drink of water and a little rest. You can't do your job well, but your attitude is OK."
Good guy! I don’t know if such a comment is considered a compliment, but it almost made Hu Biao die.
After pouring a large amount of water into his mouth, Hu Biao also asked the same doubts as Xu Feng.
The difference is that after hearing those shocking answers, Hu Biao was silent for a while and then asked: "Tou, are you homesick?"
"Look at what you are saying, baby, you are the flesh and blood of your parents. How can you miss home?"
As if hearing a joke, the one-eyed dragon laughed and cursed.
But immediately afterwards, his tone became bitter: "I'm not afraid of your jokes, baby. I don't know if it's because I'm old and dying, but I always dream about my hometown in Dingzhou (Baoding).
But I haven’t been back for a long time, and even the appearance of my parents and the mountains and rivers near my home are blurred in my dreams, so I can’t remember them clearly.
There was no way to go back. Not to mention the Tubo people on the road, the journey was too far.
I don't know how to read, but I heard that outside the Kaiyuan Gate of Chang'an City, His Majesty Taizong erected a stone tablet, on which was written by Master Yu Shinan himself, "This journey is nine thousand nine hundred miles to the Western Regions."
We started from Chang'an back then and walked all the way, but it took us several months to get here.
Now I can’t even walk back with these old bones.”
Hearing this, Hu Biao wanted to slap himself: "Pig brain? You don't even think before you speak. Asking such a stupid question is not adding salt to someone's wound."
As if to vent his anger, he put down the kettle, carried the ax, and walked towards the next tree.
After walking a few steps, I discovered that among several netizens who had been assigned to Cyclops, there was actually a college student Gangzi whose family was said to be quite rich and powerful, and he was still sitting on the ground.
Gritting his back molars, he said:
"Get up and cut down the trees. Don't tell me you're still a kid, or I'll kill you. When you were your age, they would have already left home thousands of miles away~"
Under Hu Biao's fierce eyes, the second-generation college student Gangzi, who had never suffered such hardship, felt extremely wronged and even hated Hu Biao at this moment.
He still lowered his head, holding the ax on the ground with his hands full of blood blisters, and followed the footsteps of Hu Biao and others.
Should I say it or not! This was the first time that Hu Biao used his identity as a so-called trainee commander and his tone to issue orders to these nominal subordinates.
But after seeing this scene, Fengrui didn't feel disgusted at all with this trainee commander...
