Mei Rong came to the river to take a look. Although the river water receded, the road was still muddy and it was still impossible to walk on it, so he immediately led his soldiers to fill in the road. The sergeants carried soil after soil and filled up with firewood. It was only after dark that all the ditches and ridges were filled. Mei Wei commanded the Chu army to charge. Zhu Kuai, the captain of Qin Guan, saw that the Chu army had filled the road, so he led the Qin army to the upper reaches, dug the river channel as quickly as possible, and led a stream of Dan water to a high place, where it flowed through the collapsed place of the Guan wall. As a result, the river washed away the road that the Chu army had just filled. In the end, the Chu army was unable to enter the pass.
Seeing this, Mei Rong simply led his soldiers to break through the gate. When the soldiers saw Mei Rong going to break through the pass, they all competed for the first prize, so they all went to the pass. When the Qin army saw the Chu army forcibly breaking through the pass, they hurriedly retreated into the female wall and shot arrows downwards. In the rain, Mei Rong and the sergeant pushed the car towards the door. However, the door is very thick and the latch is very strong, making it impossible to open it. When he was at his wits' end, he suddenly heard someone shouting from behind: "General Mei, get away, I'm coming!" It turned out to be Yu Sheng and his younger brother. The two men prepared a large torch in the camp. Seeing that General Mei was approaching the gate, they said, "General Mei has treated us well. We must take the lead this time." The two rushed to the gate and caught up with Mei. Luan knocked on the door himself, and Yu Sheng and his brother picked up the rocket on the ground, lit the torch first, then placed it on the front end of the crash car, and rushed towards Guanxia. The doors of the Qin State were made of very particular materials, either jujube or elm, while the doors of Wuguan were made of iron birch, a very hard and fire-resistant wood. Moreover, the outside is covered with a thick layer of iron sheet, and large copper nails are driven on. After being treated in this way, even if it is covered with a layer of straw, the closed door will not be easily burned. Therefore, this door is stronger than any other place. The big torch prepared by the Yu Sheng brothers still failed to burn the closed door. It seems that closing the door is not only the main line of fire, but also the main passage, so the Qin army made careful arrangements here. At this time, Zhu Kuai saw that the Chu army launched a fierce attack, so he defeated Shumu. Mei Wei was very strong, so he hurriedly inserted the gun into the wood, put it on the crash cart, and ordered the sergeants to form a shield array, and transported the lit wood to the gate, preparing to burn the gate.
Zhu Kuai saw that the Chu army forced its way through the pass, so he ordered all the Qin troops to go to the pass to resist. The war drums in front of the pass were like thunder, and the shouts of killing shook the sky. Zhu Kuai came to Guanxia, picked up the tree himself and threw it at Guanxia one after another. Because he was really strong, he actually smashed Mei Yi's shield array, and the Chu army soldiers were exposed under the eyes of the Qin army, and then another burst of arrows came. Mei Hao hurriedly used his sword to block the attack, and most of the people fell down. Seeing that the Chu army suffered heavy casualties, Pei Gong had no choice but to order a halt to the siege.
Seeing that the Chu army had retreated, Zhu Kuai quickly replenished his defensive equipment. That night, deputy general Lu Sheng and general Yang Wu said to Zhu Kuai: "In the Qin State today, Zhao Gao is in chaos, and people are hating him. Now that the second generation is dead, we still don't know who in the Qin State can turn the tide. Huh?" Zhu Kuai just shook his head and said nothing. Lu Sheng said: "With our small strength now, it is really difficult to defeat the Chu army. The general should immediately ask the court for reinforcements. If Zhao Gao sends reinforcements, it means that Qin still has support. If there is no rescue army, we will also We should consider our options! Otherwise, we will die inexplicably like this, and our family won’t even be able to find a place to worship?” Zhu Kuai said very sadly: “What if the imperial court sends reinforcements?” Lu Sheng said, “Even if we send reinforcements Because Zhao Gao has harmed the country, his military morale has long been lost, and he is still afraid that it will be difficult to defeat the Chu people." Zhu Kuai said in shock: "Now that Zhao Gao has rebelled, the court has no backbone. If we don't fight to the death for the country, what does this have to do with rebels? Different? Since ancient times, it is difficult for a country to recognize loyal ministers! I have reported the situation to the imperial court. As long as we work together to guard the door, and prepare sufficient wood, cannon stones, crossbows, hard bows, gray bottles, and gold juice at dawn and night, Strict defense can protect the country. But you have such thoughts, how can you say it out loud?" Lu Sheng suddenly felt ashamed and did not dare to say anything more.
When Zhu Kuai's messenger arrived in Xianyang, the third generation had already killed Zhao Gao. The whole city was celebrating, and the imperial court had a backbone. The envoy reported to the Third World that Pei Gong's attack was urgent. When the Third World heard that Wuguan was in danger, he hurriedly summoned all the civil and military officials for discussion. Prime Minister Wang Wan said: "The troops in Wuguan are all under Zhu Kuai's control. In the past, when Zhao Gao was here, he treated the border generals very badly. Now we should send troops to rescue as soon as possible. Otherwise, if the Chu army is in a hurry, if they defect in front of the battle, they will pull out the flag." It will be difficult to handle the West Point." The third generation said: "But there is no army left in Xianyang?" Wang Wan said: "For the current plan, your Majesty should recruit another group of young men from Guanzhong, and then train them quickly, and then Send them to Wuguan to fight!" The Third World said: "Wuguan is in urgent need right now, I'm afraid it's too late to recruit." Wang Wan said: "Now that Liu Bang has come from afar, the advantage is to fight quickly. And we have a dangerous pass to defend. As long as we hold on, the thief will They have nothing to do with us. Now His Majesty should first write an edict to encourage the soldiers, first arouse everyone's fighting spirit, and then cut off all the passes. Even if there are millions of thieves, they will not Fly across Guanshan, and then recruit militiamen as soon as possible." Han Tan said: "Old Prime Minister Wang's words are very safe, please your Majesty to implement them according to his method. However, you can also send hundreds of loads of food first, which can also improve the morale of Wuguan. There will definitely be no danger!" CRRC Ling Han Rong and General Geng Pei also said: "Okay, send some food first, which can also stabilize the morale of the army. Wuguan is the barrier in Guanzhong, and it is indeed the best policy to hold on. Although Liu Bang We will attack day and night, but we must keep our composure." All the ministers also expressed this idea. The third generation followed everyone's method and first wrote an edict, then sent a special envoy to Wuguan with food immediately, and then rushed to recruit troops.
The special envoy escorted the food to Wuguan. He first told everyone about the succession of the third generation, and then took out the edict and read out: "It is your duty to support the border with heavy troops and resist the Chu army. I take your request very seriously. , are now recruiting military braves. If the men and horses are ready, they will go to Wuguan as soon as possible for the ministers to mobilize. But now the thieves are eager to enter the pass, I hope you can stick to it. Send some military rations first, I hope the ministers can do it Long-term plan. If it lasts for a long time, the thieves will inevitably collapse without a fight if they run out of food. As for military law and tactics, I dare not rush into it."
Zhu Kuai was so humble when he saw the edict of the Third Emperor that he was so moved that he burst into tears. He took the edict and conveyed the Imperial Order to the entire army. Zhu Kuai then led his troops to the pass and dispatched troops and horses with Lu Sheng to guard the pass. They blocked the river to the west, blocked the mountains to the east, and blocked the pass in the middle. Ya generals Wang Rong and Pang Zhong led 5,000 troops to the front, and Xu Ke and Ding Ran followed with 5,000 troops. Ten or twenty miles away, there were military tents and camps. Zhu Kuai personally led his troops to the gate tower, waved flags and beat drums to boost morale. Lu Sheng also led his sergeants to the watchtower to take command. The two echoed each other from a distance, and the morale of the Qin army was greatly boosted.
When Pei Gong saw that the weather had cooled down and that the Qin army's defense had undergone major changes, he asked Zifang: "The Qin army's law-abiding is very different now from before. Is there an expert giving guidance on this?" Answer: "No, this must be the new king of Qin who came to the throne and conveyed new orders to the Qin army. The Qin army was encouraged and their morale was lifted." Pei Gong said: "Even if this is the case, how can we give up? "Zifang asked Pei Gong and his soldiers to come to the pass to carefully survey the terrain of Wuguan, and then carefully formulated a set of plans to tackle the problem.
One morning a few days later, Pei Gong raised his tent to discuss matters early, and then divided his troops and sent generals. He divided the attacking Chu army into four groups: the first group was commanded by him personally, with Cao Shen and Fan Kuai as the main attackers, and Zhou Bo and Ji Xin as deputies; the second group, Mei Ruo led his troops to build a pontoon bridge from the Danshui River and sailed upstream. , launch an attack from the pontoon into the pass; the third route, commanded by Qi Gill and Wang Ling, climbs the rock from the left side of Wuguan and enters the pass; the fourth route, commanded by Guan Ying and Li Shang, climbs up the mountain from the right side of Wuguan Rock kills and enters the pass. On the fifth route, Gongzi Xin led part of the Korean army as a reserve team to assist each route at any time. If several Chu armies attack at the same time, the Qin army will definitely focus on one and not the other, and one of them will be defeated. The distribution of men and horses has been decided.
For a time, the four armies launched a general attack at the same time. Because Mengmen was not burned down when Mei Kai attacked for the first time, so this time Pei Gong planned to destroy Mengmen by crashing his car. He then led Cao Shen and others to the pass. He ordered Zhou Bo and Ji Xin to personally lead the sergeants and push the crash cart to the front of the pass. This time, a thick rectangular top cover was added to the top of the crash cart, which can be used very well. Prevent the Qin army from shooting arrows. When they came to the gate, they first hit the gate with a car. Once, twice... But the Qin army deployed quite elite soldiers at the gate and filled the tower with rich elite soldiers. In addition, they were condescending and could see every move of the army at a glance. At this time, they saw that the Chu army was attacking again, so they all shot arrows, threw stones, thrown wood, and even threw fireballs, trying to deal a heavy blow to the Chu army that destroyed the gate. This method worked as expected. The Chu army's car was immediately crippled and finally set on fire. After the car crashed and caught fire, the Chu army could no longer continue the attack and had to think of other ways.
Next, the Chu army used stone chariots to tackle the key problem. This kind of car is tripod-shaped as a whole, with wheels installed at the bottom. It hangs a huge boulder on the front end, and the soldiers behind it pull up the boulder and drop it in the air. The other end is a long piece of wood, and a groove similar to a large spoon is installed on the tip, and stones or wine are placed in it. altar. The stone can be knocked out directly. If it is a wine jar, it can be wrapped in linoleum. The linoleum was set on fire before sending. The soldiers let go at the same time, and the boulder at the front suddenly fell to the ground. According to the principle of leverage, the stone or wine jar can be knocked out. If the wine jar falls on the ground or is closed upstairs, it will be smashed, and then sparks will fly, just like a cannonball exploding, and the damage will be very great. Pei Gong used several stone chariots as the vanguard. Zhou Bo and Ji Xin prepared dozens of bundles of hay, poured fish oil on them, ignited them, and then beat them out. At this time, it was the season of autumn storms. The fire took advantage of the wind, and the wind caused the fire to cause smoke and flames to rise into the sky. The Qin army behind closed doors was blown away until they could not open their eyes, and the two sides gradually became stalemate.
The second Chu army, led by Mei Wei, came to the place where Guancheng collapsed and organized sergeants to build a pontoon bridge. Although it is wide here, a large number of Qin soldiers have been deployed in the pass to intercept it upstream. Mei Wei personally organized crossbowmen to shoot arrows at the Qin army and cover the engineering troops. In order to block the Chu army, the Qin army also used hard bows and powerful crossbows to shoot at each other. This kind of pontoon bridge going upstream was very difficult to build, so the Chu army used wooden boats and some large pontoons as bridge piers. Because we had to go upstream, we had to build the bridge into a folded belt shape, starting from the east bank of the river, rowing the raft to the west bank, and then building it from the west bank to the east bank. We built several sections separately before successfully connecting upstream. However, in order to cover the engineering troops, hundreds of Chu soldiers died in the river.
The Chu troops who climbed the rocks on the third and fourth routes also suffered heavy casualties. Because the ground was slippery, they encountered a fierce counterattack by the Qin army during their climb, and countless people fell into the valley. For a moment, the Chu army of the two rocks fell, and the latter followed up. The sound of killing shook the sky, and the drums and horns shook the earth. It’s true that when we meet on a narrow road, the brave one wins. After some soldiers occupied the high hill, they waited for the opportunity. If they could avoid the arrows, they continued to climb. The Qin army also poured fish oil on them. This kind of oil is not afraid of rain and makes them slippery in steep places. They lit fires in flat places. The Chu army either burned to death or fell off the cliff and died.
Pei Gong commanded the main force to attack the gate. After the stone-discharging cart had used up all the projectiles, he began to use ladders to attack the gate. This kind of ladder is made according to Luban's method of building a car. It is tall and strong, can stand on the clouds, and can overlook the enemies at the gate. The top of the ladder is equipped with an iron hook, which can hook the outer edge of the city and protect the head of the ladder from being pushed back and destroyed by the enemy. When the Qin army saw this big guy, they hurriedly threw down wood and rocks to intercept it. However, the obstacles in the pass in front of the pass were also restrained and they could not intercept such a big guy.
When the ladder slowly approached the pass, a general on it took the lead. He waved his sword and cut the Qin general Wang Rong who was guarding the pass into two pieces. This man was Cao Shen, the general of the Chu army. He was the first to jump up. Close the building. At this time, another Qin general Pang Zhong also flew over. He heard a roar like thunder. It turned out that it was Fan Kuai, the fierce general of the Chu army who was killing him. He raised his ax and struck the Qin general head-on. Pang Zhong was split in half. Cao Shen and Fan Kuai joined forces and were so brave that they entered the Guanlou in one leap. The two men cut down everyone they met, and chopped down generals when they met. The Chu army also followed them and killed them. The sound of killing in the pass was earth-shattering. When the Qin army saw how brave the Chu army was, they had no choice but to retreat. A group of Chu troops led by Jin Qiang, Jin She, Chai Wu, Wang Sui and others jumped down the gate. They killed the Qin troops guarding the gate and opened the gate.
When Zhou Bo and Ji Xin saw that the gate was wide open, they rushed into the pass and killed them. Pei Gong also immediately led Gongzi Xin and sent troops to cover up and kill him. At this time, Mei Rong also entered the pass from the pontoon; Qi Ji, Wang Ling, Guan Ying, Li Shang and others also entered the pass from the rocks. At the same time, soldiers from all walks of life launched a charge towards the various strongholds of the Qin army. Wuguan, known as the southern gate of Qin, was firmly controlled by the Chu army. It is strange to say that the clouds and fog suddenly cleared up after a continuous rainy and dreary weather, and only a bright moon could be seen looming out of the clouds. When the soldiers saw this, they were really overjoyed and hurriedly repaired the roads everywhere while it was light.
Seeing that the Qin army had retreated, Pei Gong asked Cao Shen and Fan Kuai to continue chasing the fleeing Qin army. After a while, the dark clouds completely dispersed, and the moon illuminated Guanshan like daylight. The Chu army advanced about forty or fifty miles, and the military detectives came back to report that the road ahead was getting narrower and narrower. Cao Shen was surprised and said: "There must be an ambush ahead." He ordered the archers to open the way to the front. On the cliff across the river, he could clearly see the Qin army setting up an ambush. Cao Shen ordered the sergeant to shoot at the mountain stream. As expected, the Qin troops fell off the cliff one after another. It turned out that when Zhu Kuai saw that Guan Guan was breached by the Chu army, he led his troops to a narrow place to set up an ambush. They wanted to catch the Chu army off guard when they entered the pass, but who knew that the dark clouds cleared that night and the moon came back, illuminating Guan Shan. As if it was daytime, the Qin army was completely exposed in front of the Chu army, and was shot dead by the Chu army. Zhu Kuai thought it was heaven that was going to destroy Qin, so he screamed in pain, jumped off a rock and committed suicide.
Cao Shen reported the Qin army's ambush to Pei Gong, and Pei Gong said to his left and right: "God is really going to destroy Qin!" Standing at Wuguan, he said: "Sixteen years ago, the First Emperor sent Wang Jian to lead an army of 600,000 people out here. Pass destroyed the Chu State. Later the people of Chu said: 'Although Chu has three households, Chu will definitely destroy Qin.' Unexpectedly, today, Chu's army also invaded Wuguan from here." Everyone was filled with emotion, recalling a year ago, they After accepting the order of King Huai of Chu, they set out from Dang County. At that time, there were only a few thousand people. However, along the way, they went through countless bloody battles and endured untold hardships, and finally broke into Qin Pass. This team has grown from a few thousand people to a hundred thousand people. How incredible this is! At this time, the bright moon was in the sky, and the Danshui River gradually returned to its former calm. There is a poem that says:
The first emperor to unify his power, who knows how to let go?
The moon is thousands of miles away from the mountains, and the soldiers of Chu are coming to take care of them.
On the road in front of Wuguan, the Chu army was crowded. It took them three days and three nights before all the troops entered the pass. Zifang asked Peigong: "Wuguan is the south gate of Qin. This place is very important. Who will guard it if we leave?" Peigong said: "After entering the pass, we must capture Emperor Qin, achieve great achievements, and then defend this place." What's the significance of the pass?" Zifang said seriously: "No, Wuguan is known as one of the four fortresses of the Qin State, and its gains and losses are of great importance. No one knows what dangers lie ahead of us. If we are in danger, we can still recover from it. Exiting from the pass is just as the saying goes, "Advance and retreat are well-founded." Everything must be guarded by a general!" When Pei Gong heard this, he felt that Zifang was right, and asked who would guard Wuguan. At this time, everyone is vying to enter the customs and no one is willing to stay. Zifang said to Wang Ling and Qi Yi: "The two generals know the terrain of Wuguan and Nanyang very well. It is best for you to guard this pass!" Pei Gong also said: "It's just what I want." Wang Ling said: " We are about to enter the Pass and make great contributions, but we are asked to stay in this empty Pass. Doesn't this allow us to enjoy our leisure?" Zifang smiled and said: "General is wrong. After the army enters the Pass, if something unexpected happens, we must not learn from those of the past. General Zhou Wen! So the two generals stayed to serve as Pei Gong's backup, and their contribution is no less than that of the soldiers in front." After hearing what Zifang said, Wang Ling suddenly realized: "It's because I don't understand the importance of guarding. Now Mr. It shows the importance of guarding, of course we are willing to stay." Pei Gong was overjoyed and made Wang Ling serve as Guandu Lieutenant and Danshui Marquis, while Qi Yi served as Nanyang Lieutenant and Xixian Marquis, commanding 10,000 Chu troops to guard Wuguan.
