After having a map of the mountains and rivers of Bashu, Chen Chong discussed with the generals and planned to divide his troops into two groups, one on the left and one on the right, just like when he captured Hanzhong.
On the right, Duan Xuan was still the commander, and ordered him to take the Jinniu Road under the banner of Chen Chong, and make a momentum of attacking the checkpoints along the way. It was best to force the Shu army to surrender. If it failed, he would recruit the nobles and common people in the surrounding area, and at the same time popularize the virtues of the court. On the one hand, they publicized the news that Hanzhong had lost control of Long and that a large army would enter Shu soon, paving the way for the subsequent siege of Mianzhu.
The left wing was also led by Chen Chong, but it was slightly different from before. Previously, Duan Suan's right wing was the main attacker, and Chen Chong's left wing was the auxiliary attacker. But this time Chen Chong planned to focus on the left wing and supplement it on the right wing. Since he had made up his mind to fight quickly and force Liu Zhang to surrender, he was ready to lead his troops to attack the most elite Zhang Liao's troops. If he were to annihilate them in one fell swoop, it would definitely make people in the Shu Dynasty panic, and all the counties would be in a state of panic. Pass the message and it will be flat.
The only thing that embarrassed Chen Chong was the 40,000 prisoners he obtained in Hanzhong. How should these people be dealt with? According to past practice, prisoners of war should be sent to the frontiers for farming and then released after serving for a number of years. However, Hanzhong was a newly acquired land, and the stable rule of the imperial court had not yet been established. Prisoners of war obtained from the Battle of Longshouyuan and the Battle of Pingcheng were all treated in this way. Now Chen Chong does not have the manpower to take care of the transportation of these prisoners. If he mobilizes soldiers to take care of them, not only will the food be wasted, but there will be too few soldiers and horses that can be used to go south.
Chen Chong asked Pan Jun for advice to see if he had any good ideas. Pan Jun said: "We can send hundreds of people to the countryside and gather the families of the rice-hunting people in Nanzheng. Once the hostages are in hand, we can seize the rice people here and use the rice." Everyone will monitor the Shu people, and the problem will be solved by itself." After saying this plan, Chen Chong could hardly believe it, and became extremely disgusted with Pan Jun: He used hostages to coerce others in wartime, and there is no need to say much about his official character in ordinary times.
He did not adopt Pan Jun's strategy, but he also got inspiration from it: since Zhang Lu was in his hands, Midao's soldiers were not a concern. After collecting the armor and weapons, he could return them to his hometown. The only thing to worry about is the soldiers under the original Pan Jun, who can be used as civilian laborers to transport food and baggage. In this way, only a small number of troops are needed to maintain the ever-lengthening front line. It can be said that the resources are fully utilized. .
At the end of June, Chen Chong led 20,000 people from Nanzheng to Micang Road and ran south along the Fulishui River. Duan Xuan also led 20,000 people on the same day and marched straight to Baishui Pass through Mianyang; the remaining 10,000 people Headed by Yan Xing, he sat in Nanzheng City and was responsible for guarding prisoners, supervising logistics, and communicating with the imperial court to appease all matters in Hanzhong.
Compared with Tangluo Road, the mountain road of Mi Cang Road is actually much gentler, but the wonderful scenery is indistinguishable. As the trees along the road gradually grew greener, and the swaying light and shadow above his head became more fragmented and mottled, Chen Chong felt more and more that there was a dampness surrounding him, but it was not as oppressive as Jianghan, but instead seemed to be in the arms of his mother. . When he unconsciously thought about why he felt this way, the sound of Fu Shui rushing like a bell among the gravel peaks had already answered his question. I don’t know when, this river like a creek has begun to flow. Flying from the soles of the soldiers to the high mountains, the vigorous vitality turned into countless bright waves.
When passing by Guangwu Mountain, there are stacks of rock cliffs, forests of stone pillars, and peaks with clouds. However, whether in the valley or on the top of the mountain, Chen Chong can jump over the sea of clouds and see endless forests covered with powerful gray stones. This kind of The scene excited him, so much so that the fragrance of the vegetation had a hint of awe and mistiness.
But the most obvious difference from Tangluo Road is that there are many human traces along the road. Almost every ten miles along the way, scouts would report that there were figures moving in the mountains on both sides of the bank, neither approaching nor leaving. When the Han army sent people to try to negotiate, those people dispersed like birds and beasts. The sharp-eyed scouts said that they were dressed in long blue cloth skirts and had dark brown skin, and they should be prisoners of war nearby. However, these barbarians were not a bad thing. Chen Chong also told the soldiers that most of the barbarians in Bajun were barbarians who were famous for their bravery. They were very famous during the time of Emperor Gaozu. Now that they enter the country from other countries, they should be treated with courtesy. Therefore, the Han army did not overstep what they encountered along the way. Even if some scattered prisoners shot arrows at the army, the soldiers did not fight back. After several days, some Han soldiers took the initiative to contact Chen Chong and asked about his intention to leave.
After Chen Chong heard about it, he ordered his army to stay in place for two days. He personally led his staff to contact the Yi people, and then got acquainted with Du Yi, Pu Hu, Yuan Yue, Li Hu, Li Zhong and other Yi commanders. They were old acquaintances with Zhang Lu, and there were quite a few believers in the rice religion in the clan, so they had a good conversation. During the banquet, Zhang Lu asked the commanders
He boasted about Chen Chong's reputation and called him "Zhen Dao Zhenren". The barbarians heard and admired Chen Chong, and then offered wine, gold, lambs, cattle and other gifts to Chen Chong. Chen Chong declined them all. Instead, he took out some gold ornaments from the Western Regions from the army's baggage and gave them as gifts to the commanders. The Yi commanders were so moved that they volunteered one after another, willing to lead Chen Chong's attack. However, Chen Chong still declined. He only asked the barbarian commanders to help protect the continuous supply of food. Other than that, he asked for nothing else.
After making an agreement with the Yi commander, Chen Chong solved his worries, so he accelerated his march and arrived at Hanchang (today's Bazhong) County the next night. There were only a few hundred soldiers in Hanchang County, so he immediately opened the city and surrendered. After gaining this foothold, he immediately turned southwest, crossed Wanshou Mountain, Dacheng Mountain, Jigong Mountain and other dangerous areas, and went straight into the hilly areas on the south side of Nanchong and Langzhong.
At this point, Chen Chong has completed the preliminary design of the battle and no longer needs to hide his marching traces. After officially raising his banner, he led his troops to quickly surround the city of Nanchong. However, he was not in a hurry to attack. Instead, while resting and recuperating, he issued a proclamation to the surrounding towns and counties, making bold claims to capture Yizhou. The news spread rapidly, but within three or four days, everyone from Zitong in the north to Jiangzhou in the south learned about Chen Chong's troops entering the hinterland of Sichuan. When all the generals heard this, they were all trembling and couldn't believe it. After confirming it again and again, they were all frightened and sent messages to each other asking for strategies to defeat the enemy.
However, the Han army also encountered difficulties. Chen Chong's original intention was to march directly to Langzhong, but when he led the army to the Jialing River, he discovered that his plan was wrong. June is when the water rises. Looking from a distance by the river, I can only see the surging water and the vast waves. The water is as wide as four or five miles, and the narrow places are more than a mile. When I look closer, I can only feel that the water flow is complicated and rapid. Although it is not as good as the Han River in Xiangyang, the terrain is changeable and the two sides of the river are circuitous, making it dangerous and dangerous. Previously, Nanfu was helpless against Xiangyang, but now faced with Langzhong Sandbank, surrounded by water on three sides and backed by Panlong Mountain, Xifu was also helpless.
[In view of the general environment,
Due to a miscalculation of geography, Chen Chong had to change his goal and temporarily decided to besiege Nanchong. Nanchong City is located in the south of Langzhong, guarding the lower reaches of the Jialing River. Once captured, the steep mountains on both sides of the Jialing River can be used as a tight siege to trap Langzhong soldiers in the upper reaches. However, this move has hidden dangers. After all, Chen Chong plans to continue attacking Mianzhu. If Zhang Liao's troops cannot be completely annihilated, the grain road will eventually be at risk of being attacked by the enemy after the battle line is lengthened. And if the war is further prolonged and Liu Fan returns to help, the consequences will be disastrous. Therefore, Chen Chong still had the idea of annihilating the Shu army in one fell swoop, so he surrounded Nanchong without attacking, thereby forcing Zhang Liao to go out to fight in the city.
Of course, in order to make secondary preparations, Chen Chong also ordered his soldiers to put up public notices around him. If Zhang Liao did not go out to fight within ten days, he would divide his troops to seize Jiangzhou (today's Chongqing). Upstream, Linyu was surrounded by barbarians and the terrain was difficult. It was the only place Liu Fan must pass on his way back to his army. If he resisted Liu Fan here, he could also buy time to attack Mianzhu.
However, after waiting for ten days, the Shu army in Langzhong actually sat peacefully on the mountain. According to the scouts' investigation, the mountain roads leading to and from there had been uninhabited. Chen Chong couldn't help but smile to the accompanying soldiers and said: "Wen Yuan has been in life and death for many years. Wen Yuan has also become a soldier." General." Then he ordered the generals to launch an offensive against Nanchong. There were not many defenders in the city. Within a few days, the Xifu soldiers prepared siege equipment such as rams, ladders, and stone carts. Several watchtowers were also built in the outer city. , as soon as the war drums sounded, the soldiers and ants swarmed, shouting to kill, startling countless birds in the surrounding mountains and forests, and could be heard by the villagers within ten miles.
Chen Chong had been busy all night before the war. Now that he was old and tired, he handed over the command to Ma Chao and Yang Fu. He lay down on a wooden couch in the big tent and sat outside the tent. With the sound of gold and iron, he fell asleep in a daze, but he did not dream. He woke up again in a daze.
It was dusk at this time, and the white clouds were pulled into long white strands in the sky. A cold wind blew down from the top of the Nanchong wall. The previous sounds of fighting had disappeared, and only the soldiers were left to count their merits while cleaning up the mess. of whispers. In less than two hours, Nanchong City had been captured. Outside the tent, nearly a thousand prisoners were sitting slumped on the ground, waiting for Chen Chong's disposal.
Chen Chonghe said a few words to the generals headed by him, asked about the changes in the situation around him that needed attention, and ordered them not to join the army anymore, and then he dismissed all the prisoners. He is not afraid of these people joining the Shu army again. What is most urgently needed is for them to join the Shu army.
Further expand the momentum of this trip and disintegrate the enemy's fighting spirit.
Sure enough, within a few days of the end of the battle, many scholars from Shu came to surrender, such as He Zheng and Wang Ping in Danqu, Ye Huan and Bai Qi in Jiangzhou, Ren Wen and Yan Na in Langzhong, Qiao Zhou and Chen Cheng in Nanchong, etc. The people all came from their villages, loaded their goods in their cars, and came to the city in groups to seek an audience. Chen Chong screened out a little, but still got tens of thousands of people. But what made Chen Chong most happy was that they sent more than a hundred small boats and boat operators. Although they were not popular, their water quality was much better than that of the Henan soldiers. This made him excitedly imagine in his mind that in the future, the imperial court would be in Shu. Establish a naval force and seize the downstream scene along the current.
But this is all for later, what matters now is the plan to capture Jiangzhou. However, before the specific candidates for the attack were decided, the Shu people suddenly left Langzhong by boat. Dozens of stern boats rowed past the Jialing River. The soldiers watched their military power from a distance on the riverside. Although the horses neighed and the people shouted, they had no choice but to do anything. Watching the Shu army rush south in a majestic manner, needless to say, Zhang Liao's goal must be Jiangzhou.
"It seems that he no longer hopes to defend Mianzhu, and plans to wait for Liu Fan to return reinforcements in Jiangzhou." Chen Chong understood Zhang Liao's intention. This was indeed a good choice, but it still played into Chen Chong's wishes. It is true that political victory cannot be established without military victory, but political victory is enough for one party to gain considerable military advantage, and this is enough.
