In the winter of the same year, Taiping Colonel Xu Huang led more than 10,000 troops to cross the Yellow River north, intending to bypass Dong Cheng's mass and attack directly at Hangu Pass.
Before setting off, in addition to the more than a thousand people guarding Taolinsai, he left another three thousand people in Hu County and ordered them to go out to practice martial arts all day long in order to confuse Dong Cheng.
And he led the crowd to disperse out of the city at night, and then regrouped on the north bank of the Yellow River. From here, they walked on a small road, entering mountains when encountering them, and escaping into forests when encountering them. Although they did not walk quickly, they walked for six days in a row until they arrived in Dayang. At that time, there was no sign of enemy scouts in the south.
But now that they have arrived in Dayang City, they are no longer allowed to continue taking hidden detours. Dayang City is located on the north bank of the Yellow River, across the river from Shaanxi County. It is one of the important defenses to cut off the Yellow River and occupy Maojin.
In addition, to the north is Dianji Ban, which can be crossed over the mountains and into the east of the river, so there must be troops stationed here in the city.
And this city is now blocking Xu Huangjun's way. If he continues to go east, he will have to cross it again. But the terrain here is extremely narrow, and it will definitely not be able to hide it from the defenders.
Someone asked, if we want to continue to pass the test, should we knock down Dayang? Xu Huang shook his head and refused. He thought: If he captures Dayang, it will inevitably alarm Dong Cheng, and it will be difficult to launch a surprise attack on Hangu.
So he made a risky decision to rest in the forest during the day, and when night fell, he would sneak across the frozen river between Dayang and Shaanxian.
They were very lucky. There were still some dark white clouds floating in the sky that night, graupel snow seemed to be floating, and the light on the ground was very weak.
Some Han soldiers who could see at night went to the front to explore the road and quietly stepped onto the snow between Dayang and Shaanxian County.
Looking around, the surroundings were completely white, only the foothills and the outline of the city were faintly visible. There were flames burning on the walls on both sides of the river, but the north wind was so strong that the voices of the enemy soldiers on the city towers could not be heard.
Although there was deep snow under their feet, they all knew that they were stepping on river ice. Because when they walked on it, there seemed to be a crunching sound. Fortunately, they were the only ones who could feel the sound.
They walked forward for half an hour and passed through a pass. Still no enemy found them, so the people behind them followed.
On the river where no one was paying attention, the Han army braved the strong wind and rolled up all the military flags and tied them to the slave horses, and they were led by the horse in front.
The cavalry became a straight line, or a winding line, with the leading horse and the secondary horse connected by ropes.
Not only was the wind strong, it was also extremely cold. The soldiers covered the horses with cowhide, covered their heads with riding caps, covered their faces with cotton towels, tied the reins to their wrists, put their hands inside the sleeves and robes, held them on their abdomens, lowered their heads and rode the horses against the wind. .
Between the sky and the wilderness, there is a vast expanse, and the people and horses walking through it are just like a meandering earthworm.
Once someone falls down, they can never get up again. When it was daybreak, Xu Huang ordered his troops in a valley on the west side of Gushui, only to find that more than 800 people had disappeared that night. Looking back at the road he came from, the wind and snow rolled, covering the fallen zombies with their footprints. They were all buried together, and there was no trace of anyone passing by.
But no matter what, they passed the most difficult hurdle. After that, Xu Huang led his troops to supply supplies in the rural pavilions in the Xiaoshan area. The villagers heard that they were the imperial army and saw that they were cold and hungry, so they spontaneously raised ten days' rations for them.
During the fundraising period, the three elders in the village kept asking Xu Huang for news about the court. Xu Huang walked nearly two hundred miles in the wind and snow, and his cheeks became as thin as those of the soldiers.
But in this way, it also appears to have a more peaceful temperament, which makes people feel close to him. Xu Huang knew that the villagers were worried about the situation and wanted him to stay here until the army came to rescue them.
So he told the truth: "Our army is here to sneak across and attack for a long time. There is really no reinforcements to speak of, and we don't know any news about Guanzhong." Seeing the disappointment of the villagers, he comforted him and said: "When I go east this time, I can capture Hangu." Later, I will lead my troops back to help, so there is nothing to worry about at that time. I just hope that everyone will not reveal the news, otherwise I will not be able to report back to the court even if I die." After hearing this, everyone felt relieved and went to find some villagers. The ranger serves as a guide and leads the way for Xu Huang.
A ranger said: "This place is about a hundred miles away from Hangu Pass. It is said that the person guarding the pass is His Highness King Chen. Although King Chen has a reputation for being good at fighting, he can only fight against powerful formations. He is now guarding Guandong day and night. , leaving the retreat to Jianping, never expected that the captain would show up here. Now that the snow is covering the sky and the sky is obscure, no one noticed that the captain passed between the two cities. It can be said to be a good opportunity given by God. How about it? Select more than a thousand soldiers who dare to die and go straight to Hangu at night, so that we can win a battle." Xu Huang nodded and said: "I also have this intention, but the Hangu Pass is difficult and dangerous, and I am afraid that he will close the gate and it will be difficult for me to enter. Pass!" Then the army started talking again about whether to attack Yiyang instead.
After all, from Luoyang to Guanzhong, there are two Weihan Roads in the north and south. Hangu Pass blocks the north road, and the south road passes through Yiyang.
When Chimei entered the pass, he crossed Hangu Pass and entered the pass from Yiyang on the Nanxiao Han Road. The last time Sun Jian, the Polu general, attacked Hangu, he also sent out strange troops from Yiyang.
But then he thought, if you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch the tiger's cub? If a surprise attack on Hangu fails, a surprise attack on Yiyang may not be possible either.
Only by opening up Hangu, the situation in Kanto will be greatly improved. So he made up his mind to personally select more than a thousand Qingqi, and ordered the remaining people to temporarily return to the command of Li Hou to support them in the countryside.
Before setting off, Xu Huang said to the soldiers: "If this success is successful, no matter whether they are demoted or not, they will all be promoted to three levels." Under the generous reward, the soldiers' courage doubled, so they set off overnight in the heavy snow.
The soldiers rode their horses through the knee-deep snow, and the drifting snowflakes hit their eyes extremely painfully. After only a few miles, the men and horses were completely white from head to toe, and even their beards and eyebrows could not be distinguished clearly.
After the number of people and horses decreased, they became less and less aware of other sounds. They could only hear the snowflakes falling rustlingly in the wind, just like thousands of leaves falling down. They walked quietly all the way to the south of Hangu Pass. On Qinglong Mountain.
The surrounding fields were vastly white, and without raising a fire, one could see the continuous houses in the city below, all quietly immersed in sleep.
Xu Huang sent scouts to observe the west gate of Guancheng, but the scouts came back and reported that although no fire was seen at the gate and the guards' voices could not be heard, the door was locked tightly and they might not be able to get in.
This greatly disappointed Xu Huang, but the quiet atmosphere around him told him that this was clearly a good opportunity for a surprise attack.
Therefore, he was extremely reluctant to give up and was thinking about other strategies. He asked the guide: Can I climb down from the mountain to Guancheng?
The guide waved his hands and shook his head, indicating that there was no way down. But Xu Huang dismounted and leaned forward to take a closer look.
He saw that the cliff he was on stood on the leeward side, and he could clearly see dots of black rocks dotted in the white ocean. He said to himself: "The cliff rocks are protruding outside, and there are large patches of snow. There must be a slope, not a completely steep slope." He thought for a while and asked his subordinates to fetch a few horses. The leader was a white-billed red mare that had never given birth to a foal.
He ordered people to take off the saddle, bridle, stirrups, and bridle, and then let the mare go down the edge of the cliff.
The horse couldn't turn back, so it carefully walked down the mountain little by little along the layers of rocks. After a while, it stepped on the snow and jumped onto a very close wall.
Xu Huang was overjoyed and said to the soldiers: "We and other warriors have been in and out of Fengdi thousands of times without fear. How can we be blocked by a small cliff now? You can see that the horses can go down and ride on them." Just go down! Are you willing to go down the mountain to create immortal achievements? Or are you willing to stay here and wait for military law to deal with it?" The knights all nodded, and someone said: "Go down, there is nothing to be afraid of!" So! They covered the horses' hooves with cowhide and tied them with ropes to increase friction. They took off all the extra weapons and accessories and placed them on the ground. They only wore military uniforms, carried a quiver on their backs, and slung their bows across their shoulders; Laying horizontally, the scabbard is tightly strapped behind the saddle.
Then one by one, they slowly went down the cliff from where the horse just went down.
A man is riding a horse, suspended in mid-air. With every step of the horse's hooves jumping between rocks, he seems to be falling into an infinite abyss and losing his life.
Looking down, I felt dizzy and sweating profusely. Even when I write this, it makes me tremble.
I even lamented that these fearless knights walked on the cliff, entrusting their lives to their mounts, with their hearts full of loyalty and ambition to serve the country. How could their emotions and scenes not be moving?
Since the descent was very slow, those who went down first quietly hid in the snow, waiting for more people to come down.
It was almost midnight now, and the people and horses going down were densely packed and crowded together. There should be hundreds of riders.
People looked around the city wall and knew that under their feet were the residences of Guancheng. In the distance, there was a little light flickering and slowly getting brighter, as if a group of patrolling sentries were coming.
People couldn't wait any longer, so they said, "Just kill him. What are you waiting for?" Suddenly the people in front got on their horses and rushed into the guard post in the distance.
The people who were still on the cliff and the mountain only heard the sound of killing mixed with the heavy snow. They knew that a fight was about to start, but they could only be cautious and continue along the cliff one by one.
By the time Xu Huang reached the bottom of the cliff, the sound of fighting had slowly subsided. Some knights found several bloody and steaming heads on the ground, saying that they belonged to King Chen Liu Chong and his brothers and sons.
These people woke up from their dreams, and before they even put on their clothes, they were already victims of the sword. Xu Huang successfully broke through Hangu Pass. He took a short rest in the pass and ordered his infantry to wait here. Then he led his cavalry to Luoyang to meet the general Liu Bei.
Only then did he learn about the great changes in Guanzhong. While he was leading his troops to attack eastward, Lu Bu had sent troops to surround him and take over Hongnong. Then he returned to the north, invaded Hedong, and surrounded Puban.
