Five miles outside the east gate of Xiquyang, 20,000 soldiers under the command of Tie Niu and Thunderstorm of the Northern Expeditionary Army were making various siege equipment overnight, preparing to attack Xiquyang on the second day.

Although the weather was very cold at night and the work was very hard, the enthusiasm of the soldiers was very high, and the thought of attacking Xiquyang on the second day and capturing Shi Hu, the king of Zhao, was extremely excited, and the enthusiasm was even more sufficient.

Iron Bull and Thunderstorm patrolled back and forth in the camp, encouraging his subordinates from time to time, and guiding and coordinating various problems encountered by his subordinates.

"It's getting colder and colder lately! At night, my hands and feet are cold, and this ghost weather is really difficult. Tie Niu rubbed his hands together and complained.

"Tie Niu, it's the thirty-ninth season, of course it's cold, and I'm so cold." Thunderstorm said and trotted in place.

When Tie Niu heard this, he looked at the soldiers who were working, and said enviously: "It's that the soldiers are in full swing, and they don't look cold at all!" ”

"I said Tie Niu, why don't we work together and warm up!" Thunderstorms build yì road.

"Good! We do it together, too. Iron Bull said as he went to work with Thunderstorm himself.

At this time, the lights were bright in the big tent of the Chinese army of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and Hua An was looking at the Jianghuai topographic map on the case in the big tent, repeatedly imagining Shi Hu's possible reaction.

In Hua'an's heart, the treacherous and cunning Shi Hu is like a wild beast, brutal and greedy, he has dominated the Central Plains for decades, he will not admit defeat so easily, even if there is no way out, he will definitely bite back.

The current strength of the Zhao army is 20,000, and they are all elite divisions, and they are really concentrated to kill outside the city. No matter which direction you attack, you will inflict great losses on the Jin army.

But the Northern Expeditionary Army under Hua'an had already gathered thirty or forty thousand troops. It is unlikely that Shi Hu will surprise outside the east gate, while the Yangzhou legion soldiers are divided into two routes. It is highly likely that it will be attacked by a sudden attack by the Shihu army.

For this reason, Hua'an specially sent his own soldiers to the west gate and south gate of Xiquyang to tell the generals of the Yangzhou army to be careful against Shi Hu's sudden attack and make necessary precautions.

The shouts and cheers of the soldiers outside the tent came into the tent, which made Hua'an feel warm, got up and relaxed, and walked out of the tent.

"It's so cold!" Hua An had just walked out of the tent. I felt a strong chill, which forced Hua An to shiver a few times.

After getting used to it a little, Hua An raised his legs and walked towards the place where the soldiers were working.

At night, the camp of the Northern Expeditionary Army was brightly lit, more than half of the soldiers were busy, and less than half of the remaining soldiers rested in the camp tents to replenish their physical strength.

"Yo, the two generals are doing their own work!" Seeing that the Iron Bull and the Thunderstorm were busy, Hua An quipped.

"Big brother. Eldest brother. As soon as the two saw Hua'an, they hurriedly stopped what they were doing and walked to Hua'an's side.

Tie Niu wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and said with a smile, "Big brother." The weather outside was too cold, and I was shivering when I stood still, so I did it with the soldiers. ”

"Yes! Eldest brother. It's getting colder and colder, at least tonight is much colder than last night. Thunderstorm said and rubbed his hands.

Hua An smiled. He looked around and asked, "How's it going?" How's the progress? ”

"Big brother, rest assured, according to the current progress, it can be completed in the middle of the night." Tie Niu Zhengse reported.

Hua An nodded, looked at the soldiers who were busy, and said, "The weather is too cold, after you finish it, let the soldiers go back to the camp to rest early." ”

"Yes, big brother." The Iron Bull and the Thunderstorm responded at the same time.

Hua An patted the shoulders of the two and continued to walk towards the periphery of the camp, in the direction facing Xiquyang, the two thousand men and horses under the command of Wang Liu of the Northern Expeditionary Army were in charge of guarding, they were all draped and weapons in hand, as long as there was a sneak attack by the enemy, they could form a formation at the first time to block the enemy army and ensure the safety of the main force in the camp.

It was Hua'an's idea to let a full 2,000 men and horses be in charge of guarding, because the Yangzhou Army had already suffered a sneak attack by the elite of the Zhao army and lost thousands of men and horses, and Hua'an didn't want the same thing to happen to the Northern Expeditionary Army.

"Big brother, haven't you rested yet?" As soon as Hua An walked to the gate on the west side of the camp, Wang Liu greeted him.

"The decisive battle is just around the corner, I can't sleep!" Hua An said and looked in the direction of Xiquyang and asked, "Wang Liu, in the direction of Xiquyang, Zhao Jun can move." ”

"Big brother, our department has sent a hundred scouts to take turns to investigate the movements in the direction of Xiquyang, and so far, there has been no movement in the Shihu army." Wang Liu said affirmatively.

When Hua An heard this, he frowned and said suspiciously: "Shi Hu is really patient, it seems that Zhao Jun has not run out of food!" ”

"Big brother, I think Shi Hu is scared, tomorrow our army will attack Xiquyang, and we will definitely be able to win." Wang Liu said confidently.

Hua An smiled indifferently, looked at Wang Liu, and asked, "The soldiers are so hard at night, can they still fight tomorrow?" ”

"Big brother, don't worry, our soldiers are divided into two groups and take turns to be on duty at night, and they won't delay their rest. Wang Liu replied confidently.

"Okay, let the soldiers cheer up, you must closely monitor Xiquyang's every move, and report to me as soon as there is a situation." Hua An Zhengse admonished.

"Yes, big brother." Wang Liu received the order with great emotion.

Hua An nodded, raised his legs and walked towards the Chinese army's tent.

After entering the big tent of the Chinese army, Hua An felt a lot warmer, and at this time, a sense of sleepiness hit, and Hua An couldn't help but yawn a few times.

"It's getting late, and it's time to rest." Hua An muttered to himself, then took off his armor and entered the back tent to rest.

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A few hours later, a cold northwest wind blew in the sky, and then it snowed heavily.......

The bitter northwest wind blew goose feather snow on the faces of the soldiers on duty, causing them to feel pain in their cheeks, and the thick snow obscured their vision, so that they could not see the situation in the distance.

At this time, the soldiers who were responsible for building siege equipment overnight had completed their tasks and returned to the camp to rest, and only a small number of sentries and 2,000 men and horses under Wang Liu's command were still holding their posts in the large camp of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

The cold wind and snowflakes made the soldiers on duty at night feel what the cold is, and almost all the soldiers were shivering from the cold.

The snowflakes are getting bigger and bigger, the cold wind is getting stronger and stronger, and the bad weather is testing the courage and body of the soldiers.

Seeing the soldiers shivering from the cold, Wang Liu's heart was also very anxious, he really wanted the soldiers to take off their cold armor and get into the quilt in the camp tent to warm up, but the enemy army was not far away in Xiquyang, and the soldiers under his command should always be vigilant, because they are shouldering the responsibility of guarding the entire camp at this moment.

"Boom." A soldier who was standing on a high platform and was in charge of guarding suddenly fell from the high platform and fell heavily to the ground.

Seeing this, Wang Liu hurriedly rushed over with a few personal soldiers.

"General, you're out of breath." One of the soldiers tried to fall off the soldier's nose and whispered.

Wang Liu sighed and said, "Carry it down!" ”

Hearing the order, the two soldiers carried the bodies of the dead soldiers to the designated location.

Looking at the figure of the dead soldier being carried away, Wang Liu felt very uncomfortable, he knew that the reason why the soldier fell from the high platform must be because the weather was too cold, his feet were numb, and he didn't pay attention to the fall, and the battalion's cold materials were not well prepared, and he, as a general, naturally had an unshirkable responsibility.

"General, the weather is getting colder and colder, and the snow is getting heavier and heavier, if it goes on like this, I'm afraid the soldiers won't be able to stand it!" A subordinate general looked at Wang Liu and frowned.

"Yes! General, the temperature has plummeted too much, and the cotton clothes on the soldiers seem too thin, so you have to think of a way, otherwise, the soldiers will freeze to death. Another general said.

Wang Liu naturally realized the urgency of the situation, he looked at the soldiers shivering in the cold wind, he was very anxious, before the expedition, everyone did not expect a sudden drop in temperature, so the preparation of cotton clothes was not very sufficient, at this moment, the camp did not prepare more cold materials, naturally it was impossible to solve the cold problem of the soldiers.

"This hell weather is getting colder and colder." Wang Liu complained, looked at his subordinates beside him, and said: "Order, let the soldiers run in place, don't stand still all the time, and don't relax the vigilance of Xiquyang for a moment." ”

"Yes, General." The subordinates received the order.

Soon, the order reached the ears of every soldier, and after receiving Wang Liu's order, all the soldiers immediately ran in place.

Although the range of movement of running in place is small, it is at least much better than standing still, the soldiers can use the heat generated by the movement to resist the cold wind, and the soldiers' position is unchanged, once they encounter the enemy, they can quickly attack without delaying the vigilance.

The cold wind had been howling, and the goose feather snow had no intention of stopping, and after half an hour, the temperature had dropped significantly.

Even if they kept running in place, the soldiers did not feel the heat emitted by their bodies at all, but felt that the more they ran, the colder it became.

A small number of soldiers who were weak enough to run were curled up in a ball, squatting at their posts and shivering.

A handful of the soldiers were motionless and appeared to be asleep, but in fact, they had stopped breathing and had left this world forever.

"General, it has never been so cold between Jianghuai and Huai, and it is really abnormal to be cold tonight." One of his subordinates said suspiciously.

As a person who has lived in the Jianghuai region for a long time, Wang Liu knows the climate of Xiquyang for many years, and Wang Liu is also puzzled about why such cold weather occurs.

"It's really too cold tonight, let the soldiers endure it a little longer, and when it gets dark, Ben will immediately discuss countermeasures with the main general." Wang Liuzheng said.

"Yes, General." The general replied softly. (To be continued......)