In the summer of April of the first year of Zhangwu of the Han Dynasty, the Prime Minister sent Chen Chong, the military governor of Chijie, the military governor of the three prefectures of Liang and Sha, and the Marquis of Xuchang County to Chencang in the upper reaches of the Wei River. He was ordered to summon the generals of the Western Prefecture to discuss the strategy of attacking Hanzhong.
At this time, the army fighting in Guandong had already traveled from Luoyang, and Chen Chong and his party passed by the intersection of the Wei River and the Lishui River. Under the morning sun, the gurgling water made the tawny city wall of the ancient city Chencang visible in the distance. Twelve years have passed since Chen Chong temporarily lived in Chencang in the seventh year of Yanxing. The ancient city of Chencang and the busy farming people seem to be exactly the same as they were twelve years ago.
The ancient city wall, the towering Panlong Plateau in the north of the city, and the desolate Qin song chants on the Weishui River are all as they were yesterday. But it was during the short period of living in this city that he completely changed himself. Father, uncle, wife, eldest son, father-in-law, as well as Hu Zhen, Xu Huang, Kong Rong, Jian Yong, Zang Hong, etc., all of these people have been entrusted with the loess and their souls have returned to the nine heavens. Looking at the long willow trees on the shore of the Wei River, it seemed as if millions of people were waving goodbye to him.
Although the county guard and other local officials received him attentively, Chen Chong was not in the slightest happy mood. He just dealt with it hurriedly and moved into the military camp with his guards. After a while, Chen Chong began to hold a military meeting.
Looking at the remarks of Gaoshi from ancient times to the present, when talking about the strategic geography between Guanlong and Bashu, the key points all revolve around the Hanzhong Basin. To the north of the Hanzhong Basin is the Qinling Mountains, which meanders for thousands of miles. It starts from Kunlun in the west, passes through Longnan and Shaanxi in the middle, and ends at the Dabie Mountains in Jingzhou in the east. To the south is Qianli Bashan, which consists of Micang Mountain, Daba Mountain, Shennongjia, Wudang Mountain and Jingshan Mountains, spreading from the northwest to the Jianghan Plain. These two mountain ranges are like a pair of big hands, wrapping the Hanzhong Basin, with only a few narrow mountain roads leaking out for people to pass. Therefore, except for the wild geese that can fly high, all living creatures on the ground have to rest in the Hanzhong Basin if they want to cross the two mountains. Therefore, to a certain extent, it can be said that Hanzhong is the throat of the entire Kansai region.
The mountain roads from Hanzhong to Guanlong have been described in detail before. From west to east they are Qishan Road, Chencang Road, Baoxie Road, Tangluo Road and Ziwu Road. The mountain roads from Hanzhong to Bashu are Jinniu Road and Micang Road. The Micang Road leads directly to Baishi County, which is full of mountain barbarians, while the Jinniu Road passes through Baishui, Jiange, Zitong and other dangerous places, and leads directly to Mianzhu, the capital of Yizhou Prefecture, which is the foundation of the current Shu Dynasty for 20 years. All the roads in Bashan are shorter than those in Qinling. Considering the distance, it is more convenient to support Hanzhong from Shuzhong than to Guanlong. Therefore, how to capture and defend Hanzhong is actually a question worthy of discussion.
Even if we leave aside Bashu and talk about Hanzhong itself, its guards cannot be underestimated. Twenty years ago, when Dong Zhuo was in chaos, Guanlong was in chaos. A large number of people from Liang and Si fled to Hanzhong, with a population of more than 100,000. Including the local people, the number exceeded 400,000. Hanzhong only has nine counties, and its prosperity is comparable to that of Gyeonggi. Moreover, since the Five Dou Rice Taoist Master Zhang's family has been preaching in Hanzhong for decades, almost every household in Hanzhong has a Five Dou Rice believer. Zhang Lu can use his manpower and material resources to mobilize the whole country with a single call, which is unimaginable in other places. .
According to the intelligence collected by previous spies, the local defenders in Hanzhong numbered approximately 40,000, excluding the reinforcements from Shu and the believers from the county. Twenty thousand of them belong to Zhang Lu and twenty thousand belong to Pan Jun. In the sixth year of Yanxing, Liu Fan regained control of Hanzhong, but in order to avoid chaos among the Five Pecks of Rice believers in Hanzhong, he still allowed Zhang Lu to serve as the prefect of Hanzhong. It was just that the Governor of Nanzheng was set up above Zhang Lu to monitor and balance Zhang Lu. Previously, this position was held by Zhang Ren, but after entering Jianghan, Zhang Ren was transferred to Jiangling, and this position was held by Pan Jun.
Considering Xifu's own military strength, the country does not have an advantage. Today, Xifu's army is no longer the 36,000-strong Sixth Division when it was first established, but has expanded to the current 54,000-strong Ninth Division. However, due to the Gengyin Revolution, 10,000 of them are newly recruited soldiers. , It is qualified for logistics, but it may not be of much use in combat. Due to the large number of Liang people admitted, many soldiers in the Xifu are nearly fifty years old and already showing considerable fatigue. Whether they can withstand the high-intensity war is really questionable.
Another thing that has to be considered is that around Wudu and Yinping, there are still a large number of Qiang people bought by the Shu people. Once they attack Hanzhong via Chencang and Qishan Road, there is no guarantee that these Qiang people will not invade the grain roads and be forced to To the point of a dilemma.
Of course, as the orthodoxy of the imperial court, the Xifu Army naturally has strengths that are incomparable to the Shu Army.
One is to have the best cavalry in the world. The Xifu Army has more than 50,000 people, almost all of whom can ride horses, and there are nearly 40,000 horses under their command, which is the best in the world. Even the Bingzhou cavalry is slightly inferior. Therefore, compared with the Shu people, the Xifu Army has an absolute mobility advantage. Moreover, five thousand of them were able to wear heavy armor, and Shuzhong was determined to have no means to deal with them.
Second, the soldiers are extremely experienced. As the group with the most veterans among the Five Prefectures, the soldiers of Xifu can be said to have been damaged by hundreds of battles and have a heart as hard as stone. No matter what the situation is, it is difficult for them to make a fuss. If the two sides faced each other in a field battle, the outcome would not be known.
Third, the imperial treasury is full. Although the Shu Dynasty bought a lot of Qiang and Di, they could be lured with benefits, and in terms of financial and material resources, the Shu Dynasty in the southwest corner was naturally unable to compare with the imperial court that dominated the six states. Chen Chong had already made plans, even if Spending a lot of money around Hanzhong, he also wanted to buy the Qiang Di from Wudu to be his auxiliary troops.
So throughout April, Chen Chong was mainly doing preliminary work to appease and recruit the Qiang and Di from Wudu and Yinping. At the same time, he worked with the deputy commander Duan Xuan, the warlord Zhang Yi, the guard Ma Chao, the leader Yang Fu, the Dianjun Yan Xing and others. , study the marching route and strategy together.
Among the various roads in the Qinling Mountains, Qishan Road and Chencang Road are the easiest, followed by Baoxie Road and Tangluo Road, and Ziwu Road is the most difficult. If we only take the Qishan and Chencang roads, we will inevitably have to attack the dangerous Yangping Pass in Hanzhong in the end. However, if we take the Baoxie and Tangluo roads, it will be too risky. Once discovered by Shu army scouts, they will be blocked halfway on the mountain road. , I'm afraid I won't be able to make any progress, and will end up wasting food and grass. We also need to consider that there have been continuous heavy rains in summer in recent years. Once there is a flood halfway, walking on the trail may encounter the dilemma of being cut off.
Duan Xuan's suggestion was to attack the city via Chencang Road as normal. Although it is simple and unpretentious, it can use the mobility of the cavalry to march quickly at night and catch the Shu people by surprise. Even if the attack is unsuccessful, several strongholds can be built in front of Yangping Pass relying on the high mountains. Relying on the high mountains as a barrier, they can steadily and steadily uproot the Shu people's mountain fortresses around Guancheng, and then encircle Guancheng. If the Shu people can't defend the city, and the army surrounds and attacks the city, this is what Duan Yan would like to see most. If the trapped enemies can be saved and annihilated, the result will be greater, and there is a higher probability that they can win Hanzhong; but if Shu If the main force of the Shu people abandons the city and retreats to areas like Nanzheng and Baozhong, we should divide our forces to pursue them. If we cannot capture the main force of the Shu people within one month, we should change our strategy and divide our forces into the countryside to prevent the immigrants from migrating and pass the Yangping Pass. Burn it completely and prepare to fight again next year.
After he submitted the memorial he had written, Chen Chong handed the matter over to everyone for discussion. Ma Chao disagreed. He said: "This is still a bit taken for granted. What if Zhang Lu held firm at Yangping Pass and Pan Jun invited an attack from outside? Our army cannot capture the city and does not dare to send troops to pursue it. Otherwise, we will have to return without success. Yet?"
Yang Fu was also thinking beside the map. He turned to ask Ma Chao: "Then how does Meng Qi think he should advance the army?"
Ma Chao stood up with his sword in hand and said, "It is better to divide the troops. Instead, use a small number of vanguards to attack Yangping Pass along the road. They will put up many flags along the way to announce that the army has arrived. Then gather all the cavalry in one place, look for a good weather, and suddenly go deep into the praise ramp. Hanzhong, first conquer Nanzheng and other important places, and then return to Yangping Pass. If the Shu thieves abandon the city and cannot escape, they will hit the main force of our army. If the Shu thieves are trapped and do not fight, it will not be too late to encircle them again."
After Yang Fu pondered for a moment, he analyzed and said: "But if the two armies operate separately, they will be too far apart to make it difficult to cooperate. And our army does not have any advantage in strength. Once the falsehood is seen through, the whole army will be annihilated along the way of intimidation in front of the pass. The risk. If you fail all the way, the surprise attack will be like water without roots. Let’s use the governor’s strategy.”
Ma Chao insisted: "I believe that since ancient times, if you don't take risks, you will never succeed!"
Seeing that the two were at loggerheads, Chen Chong coughed slightly, waited for them to quiet down, and then slowly said: "Dudu Duan's strategy is indeed more mature, but it can also be slightly modified according to Meng Qi's opinion."
"Since Chencang Road is easy to travel, we naturally have to use most of it to attack from the front. Otherwise, where will the baggage be transported? How can we attack the city without baggage? I would rather transport the baggage than take a shortcut."
"But the troops can actually be divided, but since we are leading the cavalry, why bother attacking the city? We can send eight thousand cavalry and gallop into Hanzhong. Next month is the time of summer harvest. These cavalry can trample the farmland and seize the harvest. Xia Mai will definitely be able to force the army from central Shu to come to rescue, and our army is all riding big horses, galloping like the wind, what can these infantry from central Shu do to me? And the west road can attack the city grandly, causing headaches for the people of Shu ”
Chen Chong made the final decision, and no one had any objections. By mid-April, Jiang Xu, who was in Wudu, reported that he had gained the trust of the Qiang people. By the end of April, four thousand Yi Qiang troops had arrived from the mountains. These Qiang cavalry were basically unarmored, so their combat effectiveness was somewhat questionable. However, after inspection, it was found that they were familiar with the terrain and climate of the plateau mountains, and they still played a certain role as auxiliary troops.
So everything was ready. At the beginning of May, Duan Yan led a main force of 50,000 men and slowly marched into Chencang Road, raised Chen Chong's destiny flag, and marched towards Yangping Pass with loud drums. And that night after waiting for five days, Chen Chong arrived at Lanmeiyuan quietly. Five thousand Qingqi quickly entered the Tangluo Road like rabbits.
