The Qinling Mountains are a huge mountain range running east-west across central China. It starts from Baishi Mountain in Liangzhou in the west and is separated from the Kunlun Mountains by Dieshan Mountain. It goes eastward through Maiji Mountain in the south of Tianshui and enters Guanzhong. It is divided into three branches at the junction of Guanzhong and Sili. The northern branch is Xiaoshan, and the remaining branch extends eastward along the south bank of the Yellow River, commonly known as Mangshan; the middle branch is Xiong'er Mountain; and the southern branch is Funiu Mountain.
After Xi Zhicai led his army southward, he did not follow the Wuguan Road, but chose the most difficult and uncertain Qinling Mountains. In the deep mountains and old forests of the Qinling Mountains, there are many wild animals and poisonous insects. If you are not careful, you may cause the loss of soldiers.
Fortunately, the tens of thousands of people led by Xi Zhicai have already become accustomed to living in the mountains of the Taihang Mountains. Although the Taihang Mountains are somewhat different from the Qinling Mountains, they are both mountain ranges. They have rich experience in surviving in the jungle and know how to avoid wild beasts and poisonous insects. , can even identify the direction in the mountains.
Xi Zhicai specially found hundreds of veterans with rich mountain survival experience among the tens of thousands of troops to serve as the eyes and ears of the army to explore the way and find wild food for the army.
The most difficult thing about marching in the mountains is not the insurmountable mountains, but the shortage of food.
More than twenty days have passed since entering the mountain, and most of the food and grass prepared in advance have been consumed, and this is even when people are often sent to hunt. If there is no food and grass, the army will have to starve in the mountain. Death, let alone attack and kill Jingjun.
Fortunately, the road is endless, and after continuing to walk south for about ten days, they finally reached their destination: Funiu Mountain.
At the lower end of Funiu Mountain is Duyang City.
On a gentle hillside in Funiu Mountain, countless large and small tents were set up, surrounded by railings, just like a military stronghold. The military stronghold was filled with soldiers wearing Wei army uniforms, patrolling back and forth strictly. There are hidden detectives inside to prevent Jingjun's detectives from finding this place.
However, this place is fifty miles away from Duyang City, and it is also the farthest distance that the Jing army has investigated. This is also the reason why General Xi Zhicai set up his camp here. This was the distance that they could reach Jingjun's eyes by surprise in one day, and it was also the distance that they could not be discovered by Jingjun.
"Most of the horses have been damaged and the speed of the cavalry has been lost. What should we do?" In the Chinese army's tent, Li Zheng frowned and looked at Xi Zhicai. Li Zheng is Li Dian's brother, and his strength is at the end of the first class, because the Black Tiger Army was trained by Li Dian, but Li Dian was transferred back, Cao Cao appointed Li Dian's brother Li Zheng as the deputy general of the Black Tiger Army, and Zhang Yan It's the general.
At this moment, Zhang Yan is still at the entrance of Lingshi, her life and death are unknown, and the commander-in-chief becomes Li Zheng.
People can travel through the Qinling Mountains in many places, but it is difficult for war horses to do so. Many war horses were lost on the way, either due to illness or being bitten by poisonous insects. Some of them gave up because they could not climb the mountains. Of the more than 40,000 war horses that followed them to Funiu Mountain, only more than 10,000 were left. There were even hundreds of horses that were sick and unable to fight in a short period of time.
Xi Zhicai smiled indifferently: "Zhongkang (Li Zheng's word), don't be anxious, ten thousand war horses are enough, and I think it is a good thing not to have these horses."
Li Zheng was puzzled: "How did it become a good thing?"
Xi Zhicai smiled: "First of all, horses cost a lot of money. Although there are many grass plants here, they can't feed tens of thousands of troops. Now there are only ten thousand, which is just enough. Secondly, this is Funiu Mountain. It's a mountainous area, and the infantry has an advantage over the cavalry. Now the cavalry is working with the infantry, and the infantry has become the main force. Of course, the main force must be more than the cavalry. Thirdly, we want to ambush and make a surprise attack. If there are too many cavalry, it will be easy to be exposed."
Li Zheng frowned: "A raid?"
"Yes! Raid."
"Jing's army is holding Duyang City, how can we make a surprise attack?"
"Haha!" Xi Zhicai leaned his back on the simple chair tied with wood and said confidently, "Now we are holding on to Duyang City, but if we don't save it, we won't be holding on. If the emperor is defeated, how can Zhang Xiu let him go? Pass this opportunity? We will definitely lead a large army to chase and kill him. When the time comes, we will suddenly rush out to occupy Duyang City and trap Zhang Xiu outside the city. If so, Zhang Xiu will definitely die."
Li Zheng asked: "What if the emperor wins?"
Xi Zhicai laughed: "Wouldn't that be better! Then we can rush into Nanyang, cut off Zhang Xiu's escape, and let him die without a burial place!"
Li Zheng immediately admired him: "A brilliant military advisor!"
The decision to enter the Qinling Mountains was not a wise choice, but it was indeed the best choice. Going south along Wuguan Road, Xi Zhicai was actually confident that he could capture Wuguan without anyone noticing, but the problem was not with him, but with Chang'an. The five thousand cavalry sent by him can only confuse Jia Xu and others for three to five days. After this period of time, Jia Xu and others will inevitably react. By then, whether Wuguan was captured by him will be discovered.
His whereabouts will be exposed and he will inevitably be attacked.
After careful consideration, Xi Zhi chose the uncertain path to cross the Qinling Mountains. Because there is great uncertainty in crossing the Qinling Mountains, it is precisely because of this uncertainty that Jingjun, even if he has the ability to reach the sky, will never know his whereabouts. Only in this way can he guarantee a 100% success rate for his raid.
Although 40,000 soldiers and horses are not many, their existence is like the tail of a scorpion, held high, waiting for the best opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy.
Now that they have arrived at Funiu Mountain, their plan to cross the Qinling Mountains has been realized. What they are doing now is to recuperate and wait for the opportunity to come. At the same time, they also send troops to Duyang City to detect the battle situation in Duyang City.
After careful consideration, Xi Zhi decided not to report their whereabouts to Cao Cao.
After all, Jingguo's shadow guards have deep eyes. If Jingjun finds out, the situation will be bad. The fewer people who know, the greater the chance of winning and the greater the impact. If the Wei army is defeated, their team can turn the tide in the hands of Xi Zhicai; if the Jing army is defeated, then they can intercept and kill Zhang Xiu and take the lead.
At this time, a man dressed as a hunter came in, knelt down and said: "Duyang City comes to retaliate!"
Xi Zhicai stood up in a hurry and asked hurriedly: "How is the battle situation in Duyang City?"
The man glanced at Li Zheng and said hesitantly: "The battle in Duyang City was extremely fierce. It was only the first battle. Both sides suffered great losses. The Jing army lost two of Emperor Jing's personal generals, Hu Jun and Zhang Qian, and Emperor Jing's Zhang Xiu." They were almost killed, and our army also suffered heavy losses, with two generals killed in the battle."
Xi Zhicai's eyes widened in shock.
The battle on this front line was so fierce, and the losses were so huge. Emperor Jing was almost killed. Could it be that the emperors of both sides personally went into battle?
Li Zheng was panicked by the man's false glance just now, and hurriedly asked: "Who are the two generals our army lost?"
The man lowered his voice and muttered: "General Xu Chu and...and General Li Dian."
As if there was an unprovoked explosion in the sky, Li Zheng stood up with a pale face, sweating through his clothes. Suddenly he felt a dizziness, and he almost fainted. He grabbed the armrest of the chair, and his scalp was blazing with fire. He gritted his teeth and wanted to Now rush to Duyang City to take revenge.
