Jingxingkou.
It is located at the mouth of "Jingxing" in the Taihang Mountains to the west of Jingxingkou, hence its name. The ancients said that the land was high and flat on all sides and as low as a well in the middle, so it was called Jingxing. In fact, "Jingxing" is a narrow pass in Taihang Mountain.
Jingxingkou, also known as Tumenguan, is also the main battlefield of the famous ancient battlefield of the Han Dynasty - the Battle of the Last Water.
When he learned that there were troops heading to Chang'an in Bingzhou, Zhang Liao immediately realized that this was Cao Wei's conspiracy in this battle. The loss of Lingshikou was crucial to Bingzhou and Chang'an, but compared to Cao Wei's Ye Jing, the latter This is the key to this battle.
Moreover, Chang'an City was tightly defended. Unless Cao Wei's army made a surprise attack on Chang'an, there would be no possibility of victory. Fortunately, Fenyang general Mu Gong discovered this team in advance.
After careful consideration, Zhang Liao sent Wei Yan to Lingshikou to recapture it, while he led his army to the outside of Jingxing Pass with sufficient siege equipment to prepare for the attack.
The guard of Jingxing Pass was Xiahou Yuan, an important minister in Cao Wei's army. Xia Houyuan was a clan member of the Cao family and had followed Cao Cao in his early campaigns in the north and south. At first, because Cao Cao had just raised his army, Xia Houyuan had been responsible for the important task of food and grass. It was not until the Battle of Guandu that Xia Houyuan led the army alone, and soon showed his outstanding military talents.
It was also because of Xia Houyuan's outstanding performance that Cao Cao dared to trust him to defend the important pass of Jingxingkou.
Xia Houyuan also lived up to Cao Cao's high expectations. After taking over the defense of Jingxing Pass, he not only strengthened the thickness of the entire pass city wall, but also increased its height. At the same time, he set up watchtowers and heavy crossbowmen on both sides of the valley. Anyone who dared to step into Jingxing Pass Any enemy within five hundred steps of the pass will be shot dead by heavy crossbowmen.
This is also the reason why Zhang Liao's army did not advance when they arrived outside Jingxing Pass. The mountain road was difficult to navigate, and many siege equipment could not be delivered in time. Fortunately, Zhang Liao's army moved early. After the five dams of the Yellow River were completely discharged, the siege equipment was delivered to Jingxingkou one by one.
Of course, with this time, Ye Jing also sent 8,000 more troops to Jingxing Pass, adding to the 12,000 people already in the pass, for a total of 20,000.
Twenty thousand people came to defend Jingxing Pass, which was easy to defend but difficult to attack. With the help of various defensive weapons and Xia Houyuan's command, let alone a hundred thousand troops, even if a million troops came, they would not be able to break through it for a while.
Outside Jingxing Pass, inside the Jingjun tent.
Zhang Liao was sitting majestically with a tense face and said nothing. The generals below were sitting at attention, waiting for Zhang Liao's military orders. Next to Zhang Liao, Zhuge Liang was wearing a long-sleeved Confucian robe, the feather fan in his hand was shaking gently, and his face looked very calm. .
But no one of the generals below dared to underestimate Zhuge Liang. Just to convince Meng Huo in the battle in Nanzhong, he came up with countless tricks and his unpredictable skills were admirable.
"Everyone!"
Zhang Liao's eyes covered the entire Chinese army tent, "Jingxing Pass was the place where Huaiyin Hou Han Xin became famous in his last-ditch battle. Today, Jingxing Pass has become the place where you have achieved success and fame. You defeated Jingxing Pass, captured Ye Jing, and Cao Wei was defeated. Such a great contribution It’s so great that you can directly grant you the title of general, and Meng Yin’s descendants for future generations, so I think you all know the key to this battle!”
The generals below looked solemn and responded to Zhang Liao's words with solemn eyes.
Seeing the generals like this, Zhuge Liang shook his feather fan and said: "Huaiyin Hou's back-to-back fighting style is naturally not suitable for us. Xiahou Yuan is not Chen She, and the Wei army has deployed a tight defense line in the valley. Our army cannot move freely, and Xiahou Yuan will Defend Jingxing Pass..."
Zhuge Liang paused and glanced at the generals looking down at him: "However, he has his defenses, and we have our own fighting methods. I will only tell you how to fight! Qian Chun obeys the order!"
Qian Chun stood up: "The general is here!"
Zhuge Liang: "You lead the trebuchet and cooperate with the heavy crossbowmen to clear the way for the city. Remove the heavy crossbowmen along both sides of the valley to clear the way for the army!"
Qian Chun: "Here!"
Zhuge Liang: "Li Yan, Uncle Yang, listen to your orders!"
The two stood up and clasped their fists: "The end will be here!"
"I order each of you to lead five thousand soldiers and horses, divide the left and right valleys to investigate and move forward, and sweep away the remaining enemies on the top of the mountain. You must investigate carefully and do not let the enemy disturb our rear."
"Here!" they both said in unison.
After arranging the attack on the top of the mountain, Zhuge Liang looked at Zhang Liao: "Sir Taiwei, you will make the arrangements for the main attack."
Zhang Liao nodded, "Everyone must have seen Jingxing Pass. In order to defend us, Xia Houyuan raised and thickened the city wall, and also increased the number of troops. If we attack by force, our army will definitely suffer heavy losses, so our siege strategy is Make use of your strengths and avoid your weaknesses, everyone knows how to blast the cannons!"
Sky-blasting cannon truck?
Hearing these four words, the faces of the generals below showed signs of surprise, and the eyes that collided with each other shone with surprise and anticipation.
Unexpectedly, the mysterious Hongtian artillery truck was sent to the battlefield at Jingxingguan. Now almost everyone in the world knows that Dajing has a secret weapon called the Sky-Hunting Cannon Cart, but no one knows its specific power, and everyone is curious.
The generals were even more curious.
The delivery of the Hongtian artillery cart was Dajing's highest-level military secret. Except for the emperor Zhang Xiu, Zhang Liao and Shang Chengge, no one knew about it. Even Zhuge Liang next to him didn't know about it, but he had expected it.
After all, the emperor's fatal order to them was to capture Jingxing Pass within three days, but who didn't know that Jingxing Pass was easy to defend but difficult to attack? It was Xia Houyuan who let go again. How could Zhang Liao conquer in three days with a mere 60,000 troops?
Unless there are special means.
The first thing that bears the brunt of the Hongtian artillery car is the existence of that special method.
"Not bad!" Zhang Liao said loudly, "The sky-blasting artillery truck is in the camp. Tomorrow we will attack the city. The sky-blasting artillery truck will take the lead, followed by thirty city-defeating heavy crossbows. Subsequently, Ma Chao and Zhang Ren will take the lead. Wait for the cloud ladder After delivering it to the city, quickly board the city and defeat it!"
Ma Chao and Zhang Ren were both senior generals of Dajing. Logically speaking, such a risky charge would not be their turn, but to quickly break the city and inspire the soldiers' courage, they had to arrange it this way.
Of course, Ma Chao and Zhang Ren also agreed with this arrangement. After receiving the order, they stood up without hesitation, clasped their fists and shouted: "Here!"
Zhang Liao solemnly said: "This battle is of vital importance. All officers and soldiers must go all out to conquer Jingxing Pass, surround Ye Jing quickly, break Ye Jing before Runan Cao Cao reacts, and capture Cao Pi, the prince of Cao Wei's supervising state alive!"
Zhang Ren immediately shouted: "Conquer Ye Jing! Annihilate Cao Wei! Capture Cao Pi alive!"
The morale of the soldiers was suddenly mobilized, and the crowd shouted excitedly: "Beat Ye Jing! Annihilate Cao Wei! Capture Cao Pi alive!"
They all spoke in unison, the sound jarring their eardrums.
