1. Features: The natural environment is dangerous and the military situation is urgent. Function: Creates a chilling atmosphere, exaggerates the tense war atmosphere of the frontier, and outlines the background for the appearance of the frontier general. (You can also answer "It is to pave the way for the general's appearance")
2. It depicts the image of a border general who suffers from the pain of guarding the border and is homesick. It expresses sympathy for the suffering brought by the war to the frontier soldiers and the weariness of the wars that have continued from ancient times to the present, and embodies the poet's good wish for peace.
(As long as the meaning is correct)