After Wang Hao entered Jianzi City, he guarded the main roads and sent out sentries to continue patrolling. Finally, he found out that there was a Zhaoguo Pass fifty miles away. He asked the locals and called it Pi Lao. The mountain roads here are narrow, and a mountain stream winds through the mountains. The pass is surrounded by mountains and rivers, blocking the narrow passage behind it. The pass is not large and is garrisoned by about 500 people. There is a relatively open valley in front of the pass where troops can be stationed. If you go over the mountain via the mountain path, you can get there just down the mountain; if you go around the north road, you have to walk an extra twenty miles, but the road is easier to walk.
Wang Lu decided to lead a light army of 5,000 people over the mountain and occupy the position first; a rear army of 15,000 people escorted the baggage and followed up a day later.
The next day, Wang Hao ordered five thousand soldiers and, under the guidance of his guide, walked on a mountain trail. The path was extremely narrow, allowing only two people to pass by. Wang Lang personally led 500 people as the vanguard and quickly advanced. Others, led by public transport, followed suit. The so-called light soldiers are soldiers who do not carry heavy weapons such as spears and shields and do not wear armor. They are also called surprise soldiers. Due to the single weapon, the combat effectiveness is not strong, mainly because it is light and fast. The front camp led by Wang Hao was mainly composed of soldiers who were light-footed and good at walking. They marched very fast and reached the top of the mountain in just a short time. Wang Hao asked them to disperse and rest along the commanding heights of the mountain top, while urging the rear team to follow them as soon as possible.
Since the ten battalions could not march side by side and could only advance one battalion after another, the mountain climbing process was not smooth. When Wang Lang's front camp reached the top of the mountain, the rear camp at the end had not yet climbed the mountain. This situation of being unable to take care of the front and rear made Wang Lu very angry. If a battalion of enemies suddenly appeared, the formation could be disrupted, causing the head and tail to be unable to respond, causing huge losses to himself.
Looking behind the mountain, we can see the mountains and ravines, a path winding down, and there seems to be a small settlement at the end of the road, with about dozens of families.
When the second battalion approached the top of the mountain, Wang Hao told the acting battalion officer to be on alert and wait for the next battalion to arrive before going down the mountain. The top of the mountain is not wide, and it is already very crowded if you stay in one camp. Wang Hao took the former camp down the mountain and headed to the gathering place in front.
The battalions behind did not march in a hurry, their marching speeds were not much different, and each battalion seemed to be about a mile apart. When Wang Lu's front camp entered the settlement, two battalions were already going down the mountain.
This gathering place is at the intersection of several three roads. In addition to a road coming down from the top of the mountain, there is also a valley leading to the back of the mountain. From here, you can see the pass twenty miles away.
The pass is indeed not big, only half a mile in length and width, and can only accommodate a hundred people. Five hundred people are enough to defend it. It is probably because they learned that the Qin army had invaded and sent more troops. If it were on a plain, Wang Hao could capture such a small city with a single charge. But this pass is different. First of all, it is surrounded by mountains and rivers. The mountains in the northeast almost embrace it. The water flows from the valley in the northwest, flows through its front, and pours into the valley in the southeast. Between the northwest and southeast valley mouths, A valley no more than ten miles wide could barely accommodate the formation of troops. The valley entrance in the southeast direction is the only way to Handan. This pass perfectly protects the mouth of the valley; and because the mouth of the valley leads to Handan, it can provide almost uninterrupted support to the pass: if you need food or soldiers, you can supply them at any time.
Wang Hao asked the front camp to go down the mountain and occupy an advanced position.
The place here is really small. Wang Lu estimates that it is only enough to set up a camp. He squeezed through reluctantly, arranged the locations of the two camps, and marked them with flags. The front camp going down the mountain stood ready to guard against the Zhao army in the pass coming out to harass them. He also sent military envoys to pass the order, asking the public officials and officials to go down the mountain to gather in Juyi first. After arranging the defense of the front camp, he also went up the mountain and returned to Juyi.
Five thousand people gathered in a small valley, which made Wang Lu very unhappy. He had to break through this pass quickly and move forward to the open land in order to unleash the combat effectiveness of his army. But here, Wang Lian couldn't even deploy his five thousand troops, and he could only use two or three battalions at the same time.
After Wang Lu went up the mountain, the second battalion also arrived at Juyi. Wang Lu asked the officials to lead the troops to occupy Juyi and its surroundings first. When the third battalion arrived, all officials above the official level also arrived. Wang Hao asked the third battalion to go down the mountain, arrange the camp fence, and jointly guard the open space in front of the mountain pass with the first battalion. Then all the officers were brought to the nearby mountain peak. Here, you have an unobstructed view of the renovated valley.
Wang Lu said: "This place is narrow, and this pass is quite strong. However, it is not enough to pass without seizing this pass. One day we will break this pass, and we can get there."
A public official said: "I will break this barrier in the first day!"
Wang Lu said: "I will stay on the mountain tonight." Then he discussed the camping plan with each battalion, as well as tomorrow's offensive tactics, marching route, etc. Since this place was too small, five hundred troops were sufficient for the assault. We decided to concentrate all the bows and arrows and shoot at the corner of the pass to cover the assault of the five hundred men.
At night, Wang Hao sent a troop to patrol the pass and go around the pass to reconnoiter the terrain around the pass as much as possible. However, due to the river blocking them, they would always be discovered by the Zhao army on the city when they were wading, and a burst of bows and arrows would be fired back. Only by fording at the mouth of the upstream valley can one barely cross the river, but what can be observed is limited.
After the army was ordered the next day, Wang Hao climbed to the top of the mountain to observe the entire battle situation.
The officials at the foot of the mountain followed yesterday's arrangement and led 500 halberd soldiers and 500 archers to set off. When the army arrived at the Ming River, the city was quiet, as if there was no one there. Wang Hao secretly praised: This general is extraordinary! Generally, when enemy troops appear by the moat, the defenders start shooting almost out of instinct, counting as many as they can hit. There is only one possibility for this situation to occur. The guard has strictly ordered not to shoot easily.
The archers took the lead in wading across the river. They spread out and ran across the water as fast as they could. When they were halfway across the city, drums sounded on the city, and a row of arrows were shot out neatly. Immediately, several Qin soldiers were hit by arrows, and their blood dyed the water red. Then the second and third branches.
Almost in an instant, three arrows were shot out in unison, knocking down many Qin army archers. Dozens of Qin troops jumped down from the shore, dragged the injured soldiers back to the shore, pulled out the arrows, stopped the bleeding, and bandaged the wounds, but the archers' advance did not slow down at all. When they climbed up the river bank, there was another drum sound, three arrows were shot, and more than a dozen Qin soldiers fell. This time, many people were shot from the bank and fell into the river, and the Qin soldiers who rescued them were not that kind. Arrived in time.
After crossing the river, each of the archers knelt down half-kneeling. The drums sounded and the archers fired rapidly toward the city. The halberdiers on the shore jumped into the water bravely and rushed to the other side. They each took a bundle of hay, threw it under the city gate, and quickly retreated. The bows and arrows on the city were suppressed by the rain of arrows outside the city. Only sporadic arrows were shot down, posing no threat. Then ten torches were thrown into the haystack, and the hay was lit. The Qin army collectively retreated to the river bank, waiting for the city gate to be on fire before immediately launching a charge.
But before they could completely retreat across the river, they found that Zhao people had already brought in large urns and small pots and poured water from the gate tower to put out the fire. The officials hurriedly ordered the archers to shoot arrows at the city gate to prevent the fire from being extinguished. However, the distance was too far and the city counterattacked, so the effect was ineffective. After a while, the fire turned into thick smoke and then gradually dissipated. Perhaps fearing that the Qin army would light a fire again, the people in the city poured several large jars of water down to thoroughly wet the haystack, making it impossible to light it.
Wang Hao was on the mountain, watching the fire in front of the door being extinguished, and the hope in his heart was extinguished. Such a narrow pass was originally designed for defensive operations. Although the area is small, the city wall is strong and tall. It is almost impossible to climb to the city. Opening the city gate is the most convenient tactic, and then using a ladder to climb the city. Since the Qin army must pass quickly, blockade tactics are not advisable. The Qin army cannot afford to spend more than the Zhao army.
Seeing that the official in front was preparing to launch another attack, Wang Hao ordered Jin Jin to withdraw his troops. He didn't want to lose too many troops in this small city - he hadn't even seen Handan City yet!
That night, the soldiers on patrol came back and reported that a large number of Zhao troops were mobilized at the east gate of the pass. They went to the east gate of the pass to investigate. It turned out that it was the Zhao troops east of the valley entrance who came for reinforcements and carried away the dead and wounded soldiers in the pass. Many of them were carried out. Wang Hao asked how many people were being carried, but the answer was that he couldn't see clearly. There seemed to be a lot of people. This added to Wang Lu's worries: if the pass could be supplemented in time by the rear, it would be even more difficult to capture.
Wang Lu called the generals together again to discuss tomorrow's battle. Some people felt that they retreated too early today. If they did not retreat, but firmly stood on the river bank, they might have caused huge damage to the soldiers defending the city. But what everyone is more concerned about is how to open the city gate. Some suggested burning it again; some suggested cutting down some big trees and knocking open the city gate; others suggested blocking the upper reaches of the Ming River and irrigating the city with water.
Wang Lu was eager to open the pass and quickly entered Handan. Relying on his strong military strength, he decided to take a multi-pronged approach. He divided his troops and continued to attack the city tomorrow, trying to burn it with fire. He mobilized his soldiers to make many bundles of hay and prepared to burn the city several times in a row. The door panels of the people were removed and temporarily used as shields to reduce casualties during the impact.
The first battalion prepared earth bags and went to the upper reaches of Ming River to build a dam and prepare to flood the city. As soon as the battalion went to the mountains to cut wood, they used the people's cars and converted them into ram cars. Both routes require time to prepare, and tomorrow will definitely be too late. So tomorrow we will continue today's storming and burning the city gates.
Tonight, Wang Hao ordered the entire army to prepare two bunches of hay before they could rest. The next day, each Qin army carried a bunch of hay on their backs and carried the door panels in front of them when crossing the river to cover the archers and reduce losses. After the archers crossed the river, they started shooting under the cover of the door panels. After suppressing Zhao Jun's firepower, the halberdiers jumped up, rushed to the city gate, and threw the hay on them into the door opening. The wall on the other side of the city gate was not within the range of the Qin army's concentrated firepower and was not suppressed. However, they did not fire until the Qin army rushed over, creating the illusion that the Zhao army was suppressed; now the Qin army's halberdier Rushing over, when they were more than ten steps away from the city gate, they suddenly shot arrows down from the city. Since the halberdiers were concentrating on the city gate, the formation was very dense, and almost every arrow was bound to hit, although most of the soldiers were still able to throw hay into the gate. In the cave, they retreated, but there were so many soldiers hit by arrows that they could not finish the retreat. Although the covering archers discovered this situation and immediately changed their targets and shot at the far city wall, heavy casualties had been caused!
