On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, news of the fall of Wu Gong reached Pingling, and the Shu army was greatly shocked.
It should be noted that although Wu Gong is not a critical place in Guanzhong, for the current Shu army, it is the west gate that protects the Shu army's supplies. Before the Duanliu Plains War, after consultation between Liu Fan and Zhang Lu, the logistics supply of the Shu army was changed from Baoxie Road to Tangluo Road. But now that his martial arts skills have been lost, Chen Chong can use the city as a base to establish a foothold in Sanjiyuan, and then go south across the frozen Wei River and directly attack Luo Valley, the north entrance of the Tangluo Road.
If Luo Valley is lost again, Chen Chong does not need to use any more soldiers. As long as he sits in Luo Valley, he can starve to death the more than 100,000 Shu troops in this pass.
Under such circumstances, Liu Fan could not be allowed to stop at Pingling again. Therefore, even though Gao Pei's troops from Lantian had not arrived yet and Huang Quan's troops were still with Feng Yi, Liu Fan did not dare to stay any longer. After hastily handing over all military affairs to Wu Yi and others, he led eight hundred Jinfan thieves and more than ten thousand elites to move first. Taking advantage of Chen Chong's break after attacking the city, he marched day and night through Huaili, running wildly for three days. Two hundred miles later, when the soldiers were all feeling exhausted, they finally took the lead and occupied Lanmeiyuan, about thirty miles northwest of Luo Valley, on the seventeenth day of the first lunar month.
Less than two hours after they arrived, Zhang Song's messenger arrived. Zhang Song said in the letter: "Today, the bandit army crossed the river on the ice and is coming to Luo Valley." After Liu Fan watched, he wrote back: "Our army Before they join forces, you should sneak up behind them, make noise and disturb them, and do not let them move quickly."
But soon after the messenger left, Liu Fan knew that his order was too late. Shortly after noon that day, the sun shone brightly, reflecting little golden lights from the snow above and below, like stars. But gradually, there was a slight sound from the ground, and the snowflakes on the rock wall began to fall, and soon they were like falling flowers. Liu Fan looked north from this, and saw a tidal wave of black shadows appearing on the white horizon, rushing towards the south.
It was Chen Chong and his cavalry.
Chen Chong was in the center of the army at this time. When he heard that the front line had seen the flag of the Shu army on Lanmeiyuan from a distance, he immediately ordered the entire army to suspend their march, and then ordered all his troops to camp on the spot ten miles north of the original. Then he led more than a hundred elite cavalry and trusted followers to personally explore the terrain around the front line.
Everyone soon arrived at the foot of Lanmei Plain, and happened to see a series of plateaus rising from the ground under the hazy shadow of the mountains in the distance. The heights could reach tens of feet, and the heights could reach three or four feet. They were extremely difficult to climb. These plateaus were extremely difficult to climb. It fluctuates with the terrain, but generally it is divided into three parts: Huanglouyuan in the west, Lanmeiyuan in the middle, and Changyuan in the east. The three plateaus are like a tall giant, stretching out his powerful arms to the north, so that the visitor is surrounded by the embrace and cannot clearly see the situation on the plateau.
The guide accompanying the army pointed to a river below and whispered to Chen Chong that the plateau extends from west to east along this frozen river channel, stretching for about thirty miles. The end of the east is Luo Valley, and the west is Luo Valley. At the end of the road is Duanliuyuan, the battlefield where the Shu Army and the Liang Army fought before.
Seeing that such dangerous ground was seized by the Shu army, many people felt heavy. Chen Chong has always been famous for his fast march, but this time he was one step behind, which really shouldn't be the case. But this also happened for a reason. When the Han army attacked Wugong, more than 100,000 people came to express condolences. Not only did Liu Fan not expect it, but even Chen Chong himself did not expect it. Although this greatly reduced the speed of the siege, But after the war, Chen Chong had to spend a lot of time to persuade them to leave. After all, the focus of war was to enforce orders and prohibitions. Even if there were more than 100,000 auxiliary soldiers on the battlefield, they could not compare with the 30,000 elite men who could use their arms and fingers.
Hu Zhen rode his horse at the front. He saw the original layout and knew that he had missed the opportunity to seize it. He couldn't help but feel very upset. He complained to everyone: "It's a pity that if we can capture this place, the bandit army will have one hundred thousand more, and there will be another hundred thousand soldiers." What are you afraid of? If we want to capture this source again, I don’t know how many brothers will die!"
Zhang on the side deeply agreed, and he also said to Chen Chong: "Your Majesty, this place is so dangerous that it cannot be left in the hands of the enemy. Although our army is a step slower now, judging from its original strength, the number should not be large. We should We should capture this plain before the enemy's reinforcements arrive." This proposal won the support of most people, so Dong Yue simply asked Chen Chong to fight, intending to try it before sunset.
Unexpectedly, Chen Chong was not in a hurry. He waved his hands to appease the generals, but his words had nothing to do with the war. He pointed to a shrub by the river and said with a smile to everyone: "I just saw that there are some white plum trees here!" Everyone looked around and saw a few bushes of wild plum blossoms bent by the snow. They were indeed blooming, but they were difficult to detect because their color was similar to that of ice and snow. Seeing the plum blossoms, people also smelled the spring-like fragrance of the flowers. Even if they were on the battlefield at this time, everyone couldn't help but feel clear in their hearts.
Seeing that everyone's anxiety had subsided, Chen Chong continued: "Unfortunately, except for these white plum trees, this place is useless, why bother to capture it?" Everyone was shocked when they heard this, and Pang Tong quickly asked: "Teacher, what are you doing? Are you saying this? If we don’t capture this plain, how can we capture the Luo Valley and cut off the traitors’ food routes?”
Chen Chong twisted his beard and said with a smile: "When did I say that I would attack Luo Valley?"
It turned out that Chen Chong did not talk about his combat intentions during this trip south, but everyone had no doubts. Since ancient times, cutting off the enemy's food routes had been the best strategy. Therefore, they thought that Chen Chong's trip must be aimed at Luo Valley, but in fact Chen Chong's intention was not here. He then explained to everyone: "Liu Fan came with his country and fought one after another, and his momentum was exhausted. But if I capture Luo Valley, I can certainly cut off their return, but the people of Shu will be frightened and will die thinking that they will not win." , muster up the courage to fight to the death with us. Although my subordinates are soldiers who have fought for a long time, it is difficult to win against those who fight to the death. Therefore, my purpose of coming here this time is not to seize the road, but to force Fight.”
Only then did everyone realize Chen Chong's intention. It turned out that the coach did not intend to avoid the battle, but wanted to fight the Shu people decisively. Dong Yue and other generals couldn't help but turn pale. Although their subordinates were all Liang people who were the best at fighting, having to fight against an enemy several times larger was really not what they wanted to see. Zhuge Liang asked, "Teacher, are you sure of victory? "
Chen Chong suppressed his smile and said slowly: "The battlefield is elusive, and people's hearts are difficult to control. Therefore, from ancient times to the present, there is no sure-fire war. But now it is approaching the spring plowing season, and Guanzhong is still under military chaos. The people are unable to farm, and there is no way to store grain. It is almost exhausted, and the situation in Kanto is extremely corrupt. If it drags on any longer, there will be disasters in the third auxiliary this year, and the Eastern Capital will not be protected. Even if we are not sure, we must continue to fight this battle!"
At the end of the sentence, Chen Chong's tone was a little sad. He no longer looked at Lan Meiyuan, turned to get on his horse, and said to everyone: "It's useless here, let's go back to the formation." Deng Zhi, Lu Yi and others were extremely dissatisfied. He understood and asked: "Teacher is leaving in such a hurry, why don't you stop looking at me?"
Hu Zhen on the side explained to them: "Although this place is dangerous and can be used as a stronghold to hold on, it is not enough for a joint battle. When the bandits come later, they will go down the mountain to fight, so you have to look at the location of the joint battle." ." Everyone was doubtful.
Not long after Chen Chong and his party returned to camp, the scouts in Weibei saw people from Shu coming to help one after another. For four consecutive days, troops of the Shu army crossed the river south from Huaili every day. As expected, Liu Fan, who was in Lanmeiyuan, no longer stood firm after Zhang Song led his troops. He led his troops down to the plain, and chose to camp on the plain north of Luo Valley with sand and water at his back. The camp stretched for nearly twenty miles from south to north, and he obviously planned to join the battle with the Han army here.
During this period, someone also suggested to Chen Chong that it would be better to attack Liu Fan's camp while Liu Fan's army had not yet fully assembled and its foothold was unstable. But he was rejected by Chen Chong. He objected: "Although we can win a small victory in this way, it will not hurt Liu Fan's fundamentals and will lead to a stalemate. It is better to wait for his army to gather together, so that we can defeat him in one battle."
By the fifth day, all the Shu troops heading north finally arrived on the battlefield. When it was time to have breakfast, the Han soldiers looked at the smoke in the Shu army's camp from a distance. It was like a waterfall flowing backwards. The Liang people who had returned to the army looked at each other and talked privately: "How many people are there in the Shu army?" Before he could tell the result, he suddenly heard faint singing from the Shu camp to the east. Some people with keen ears heard that these Shu troops were singing "Zou Yu Song":
"He is a harried man, with five rakes at a time. He sighs like a hoe!"
His hair is fluffy and has five manes. It's so sad! "
"Zouyu Song" was originally intended to praise men's elegance in hunting with perfect accuracy. Later, it was introduced into the army, and sergeants used it to boost morale. Although the lyrics of this song are simple, the melody is very majestic. With the high-pitched voice of the Shu people, it seems to have the power to reach the sky when it is chanted repeatedly.
Not to be outdone, Zhang ordered the soldiers to gather together and sing "Song of No Clothes":
"How can I say that I have no clothes, but I share the same robe with you? When the king raised an army, he repaired my sword and spear, and I share the same enemy with you.
How can I say that I have no clothes? I am the same as my son. The king raised his army, repaired my spear and halberd, and worked with his son.
How can I say that I have no clothes, but I wear the same clothes as my son? The king raised his army, repaired my armor and soldiers, and went with me. "
"Song of Wuyi" is a famous song in Guanlong. It was composed by Duke Ai of Qin when King Zhao of Chu destroyed the country for Wu and loyal minister Shen Baoxu of Chu went to Qin for help and begging for teachers. At first Qin Aigong was unwilling to help, but Shen Baoxu cried outside the Qin city wall for seven days and seven nights without getting any water, and then he moved the king and ministers of Qin. Therefore, the rhythm of this song is slow yet urgent, the melody is resentful yet forgiving, the sound reaches a high place, the sadness and solemnity are played together, the sorrow and anger are intertwined, and it feels more like a person waiting for danger, listening to the drums and marching in formation.
At first, the soldiers sang this song just to respond to the Shu army, but gradually they became intoxicated with it, as if they remembered the endless battles and fighting over the years. As the sun and the moon went by, they entered Sanfu from Longyou, and then from Sanfu To Guandong, and then back to Longyou from Guandong, during this period, the surface of the Weishui River was sealed and melted, melted and sealed again, and the flowers on the orchid plum blossoms bloomed and withered countless times. The relatives and friends who fought together in the horse fight back then , now I don’t know how many yin and yang are separated forever. The peaceful life of childhood seems to be an elusive dream. Thinking of this, countless men shed tears and their hearts are broken like rain.
By the time they finished singing, there was silence between heaven and earth, and it seemed that there was no only rising sun left in the sky. But soon, the sound of horse hooves on the snow broke the silence. It turned out that the envoy of the Shu army had arrived.
The time for battle has arrived.
