After Huchuquan surrendered, Zhang Xiu immediately appointed Le Bat, Ma Chao, and Li Tong as generals, and led 10,000 cavalry and 10,000 Xiongnu cavalry to go north to support Wei Yan and Long Keyou, preferably to kill Han Sui.
He personally led 10,000 cavalry and 20,000 Huns cavalry, with Liu Bao, Huo Jun, and Gan Ning as generals, and headed for Hangu Pass. After all, Cao Cao was there and had to be cautious.
Hangu Pass.
Faced with the fact that one man was in charge of the pass and ten thousand men could not open it, Cao Cao personally led the army to launch a fierce attack on the Xiongguan Pass that blocked the coalition forces of the six countries during the Qin Dynasty. Both sides invested a huge amount of troops, but still failed to break through.
But now Hangu Pass is also in danger.
One hundred thousand people, a month of violent bombardment, even the stone mountain had to be broken open. Looking around, the city of Hangu Pass was in dilapidated state, with traces of repairs everywhere and indelible blood stains everywhere. .
On Guancheng.
Ji Ling was unshaven, with a haggard face and bloodshot eyes. He looked dryly at the Cao army camp ten miles away and asked without looking back, "How many more troops are there?"
"Seven thousand."
Fazheng's voice was hoarse.
At the beginning, the number of people defending the city dropped sharply from 30,000 to 7,000 today. In just one month, more than 23,000 people have been killed by the war.
Upon hearing this number, Ji Ling and Fazheng fell silent.
Almost all the more than 20,000 people in the Shenniu Military Camp were buried here. As the commander of the Shenniu Military Camp, Ji Ling's heart was bleeding, but he had to pretend to be calm and stand expressionless on the top of the city.
Compassion does not command troops.
Everyone knows these four words, but the human heart is full of flesh. Faced with the vivid lives disappearing in front of our eyes, who can be completely calm?
"I really don't know how long this battle will last." Ji Ling took a deep breath and looked at the black Cao Jun flag flying opposite.
"Almost!" Fazheng said, "My lord is hiding behind Huchuquan. After the fall of Xiaoguan, as long as Huchuquan dares to pursue Xiaoguan, he will be surrounded by Liupan Mountain. The Xiongnu army will fail and Cao Cao will be alone. If we come here, we won’t have much chance of winning, and we will inevitably retreat.”
Faced with Cao Cao's various schemes, he was brave and fearless.
Ji Ling and Fazheng stood guard night after night, always on guard, not daring to slack off in the slightest. Fazheng relied on his own efforts to guard against the wise men in Cao's camp. Fortunately, they had the help of the shadow guards. Otherwise, Hangu Pass would have been destroyed. I definitely won't be able to survive today.
"Let's go down and take a look at the situation in the injury camp." Ji Ling withdrew his gaze, blinked his dry eyes vigorously, turned around and walked towards the city.
Today, the largest military tent in the city is not the Chinese army tent, but the wounded soldiers camp.
Due to extremely poor medical conditions, soldiers who were seriously injured were almost labeled as certain to die. Even if they were slightly injured, they were at risk of having their limbs amputated and their arms broken, and few recovered completely.
Zhang Xiu attached great importance to the treatment of wounded soldiers and prepared enough herbal medicines in advance before the war. When a plague broke out in Xiaoguan, Chang'an had to send a large amount of herbal medicines there, making the herbal medicines here exhausted.
At this moment, Tan Ma galloped over.
"General Ji and Fa joined the army. News came from Xiaofengkou that Huchuquan has surrendered, and the lord himself is leading an army of 30,000 people and is rushing to help."
Phew~!
Ji Ling suddenly felt relaxed, as if hundreds of pounds of weight had been lifted off his body.
Fazheng also showed a relaxed smile.
"Let's go to the wounded barracks and have a look." Ji Ling's voice was loud, and his words revealed a relaxed and refreshing joy. This battle started on March 18th and ended on April 26th today. Although it only lasted for more than a month, the casualties and the brutality of the battle were very huge.
It can be said that from March 198 until now, all the princes in the world have been mobilized and involved in the battle voluntarily or forcedly.
Except Jiaozhou and Jingzhou.
…
Outside Hangu Pass, Cao Jun camped.
After being unable to capture Hangu Pass for a long time, Cao Cao felt that he was having a headache again, and his temples on both sides ached faintly. Such a great opportunity was about to be missed.
When he learned about Cheng Yu's poison plan in Xiaoguan, he also had this idea in his mind.
Hangu Pass and Xiao Pass are different.
After Xiao Pass is broken, there is still a long depth, which can provide Zhang Xiu with enough reaction time, but if Hangu Pass is broken, it will directly threaten the safety of Chang'an.
However, his idea was immediately strongly opposed by Guo Jia and other advisers.
Cao Cao had no choice but to give up.
At this moment, he was lying on the couch with a warm towel on his forehead, moaning in pain from time to time, and with his eyes half open, listening to the arrival of the detective horse.
"Han Sui led his army north to Hetao, preparing to seize the land of Hetao while Huchuquan was heading south. Yuan Shao sent 50,000 troops out of Yanmen Pass, but was intercepted by Zhuge Liang at Manhan Mountain..."
"Um?"
Cao Cao turned his head, "What did you just say? Zhuge Liang intercepted Yuan Shao at Manhan Mountain?"
"yes."
"Hahaha!"
Cao Cao burst out laughing, "Zhuge Liang is nothing more than a kid with yellow hair, but Yuan Benchu is so unbearable that he intercepted his 50,000 army with 10,000 soldiers and stopped them from entering! Hahaha!"
Then he took a breath and said, "Keep reading."
"Cheng Shangshu made a plan to break through Xiao Pass. Hu Chuquan led the army to pass through the pass. Now he is blocked by Huo Jun at Xiaofeng Pass. He fought hard and could not advance. Zhang Xiu led his troops to come out from behind and surrounded the Xiongnu army."
The smile on Cao Cao's face was like cold pork, frozen on his face.
Guo Jia and others lowered their heads.
After calming down for a long time, Cao Cao narrowed his eyes and stared at Tanma and asked: "How is the war situation now? Faced with such a desperate situation, how did Huchuquan react? Is there a letter from Cheng Yu?"
Tan Ma shook his head: "Zhang Xiu's army is surrounding the mountain. Our Tan Ma can't get in or get out. We don't know the situation inside yet."
"Quickly organize manpower, no matter how high the cost, we must break through the defense line and understand the situation inside." As he said this, Cao Cao pulled off the towel on his head. He was already keenly aware that Xiaoguan had changed, and even Huchuquan had surrendered. , now is his last chance. He had a cold face, and his eyes showed cold and ruthless killing intent: "All generals obey the order and prepare to attack the city tomorrow. If we cannot break this barrier within three days, we will all be killed!"
"Here!"
The generals felt Cao Cao's murderous intent and became awe-struck.
"Fengxiao!"
Cao Cao turned his attention to Guo Jia, "How do you think Huchuquan will face the current predicament?"
"It is very possible...to surrender." Guo Jia said.
"Why?"
"Ming Gong, the Xiongnu soldiers are not well organized. Except for the personal guards, the other troops are formed by various tribes. If the defeat is determined, it will be difficult to form an effective counterattack. The best option is surrender."
"What about Cheng Yu?"
Guo Jia lowered his head and said nothing, the answer was already obvious.
Cheng Yu's evil plan caused great harm to the people of Xiaoguan. Even if he came back alive, he would no longer be reused, but there was no chance that he would come back alive.
"Why!"
After a long time, Cao Cao let out a long sigh, put his hands behind his back and looked up at the blue sky.
