Chapter 247: Dangerous Moves
The five ridges are meandering and the waves are flowing, and the fog is majestic and the mud balls are walking. ----------* "The Long March of Seven Laws"
It is said that Liang Xing led the remnant army and finally escaped to Longxi City. He fully planned to hold on and not get out. Unexpectedly, the flags on the top of the city changed and the arrows were like hemp. Liu Yong had already followed the plan and attacked Longxi County.
Liang Xing's face was earth-colored, and he wanted to leave in despair. When he saw that all of his men had good looks, they all knelt on the ground and surrendered. His heart softened, so he abandoned his weapons and asked to surrender.
Chen Long's army entered Longxi and after some comfort, Liang Xing felt what Chen Long said and vowed to surrender sincerely. Seeing that Longxi was settled, Chen Long was concerned about the war in Hanzhong, so he discussed with Zhou Buyi and Xu Shu a plan to besiege Hanzhong. Due to the huge battle between Liang Xing and Ma, the original plan to attack Yangping Pass with the main force was delayed. The battle report of Xun You's former army had not yet arrived. It is believed that it encountered crazy resistance from the defenders and it was difficult to conquer Xiong Pass for a while.
Xu Shu tapped the map and said: "It's a pity that the road to Shu in Hanzhong is difficult to travel. Except for Yangping Pass, it is surrounded by high mountains and deep ravines. The army has to turn back and go south via Tianshui and pass through Wudu."
Zhou Buyi also shook his head and said: "Brother Xu is right. In fact, tens of thousands of us have already captured two important towns in Liangzhou within this month. If we are more prepared, we might as well make strategic adjustments and take this opportunity to eliminate them." Forget Han Sui and unify Liangzhou. With the Ma family and his son, Zhang He, Gongda and others here, and with Wei Yan and Gan Ning attacking Shangyong, I think we can also capture Hanzhong."
Chen Long was moved by Zhou Buyi's words. He recalled Deng Ai's successful case of smuggling into Yinping in the official history, and couldn't help but analyze: "Liangzhou is a vast area with few people, and Han Sui has close relations with the local Qiang people, making it difficult to attack. This place is difficult to attack." From Jincheng to Wuwei and Dunhuang, there are no less than a few thousand miles, and there are countless mountains and swamps, deserts next door, plateaus and valleys, and the difficulty of marching is no less than that of Shu."
"Now Liang Xing said that he has sent people to ask for help from Han Sui, and Han Sui will definitely lead the reinforcements from Jincheng and Wuwei to seize Longxi. We could have stayed put and waited for work, and then fought Han Sui's Xiliang cavalry, but the main force would have missed the entire battle of Hanzhong , It feels like I can’t eat because I’m choking.”
"Both sides want to preserve it, but it is possible that neither side can preserve it. You can't have both, and you would give up the fish and take the bear's paw. Naturally, our bear's paw is Hanzhong. It is said that Hanzhong is the gateway to Yizhou. It seems that apart from Hanzhong, there are We cannot reach Xichuan. If we can find another way and forcefully bypass Yangping Pass, do the two military advisors have other options?"
After hearing this, Zhou Buyi and Xu Shu looked at the map in front of them and fell silent for a moment. Even Xu Shu and Zhou Buyi have never personally traveled the geography of Xichuan, so naturally they don't know any other way around Yangping Pass.
Seeing that the two military advisors were helpless, Chen Long called Liang Xing up and asked directly: "How many roads are there from Longxi to Chengdu?"
Liang Xing stammered: "I haven't been there either. I heard that businessmen can only reach the capital by passing Yangping Pass, taking Hanzhong, entering the Jiange Plank Road, and taking Guangyuan, Zitong, and Deyang."
Chen Long nodded, and Zhou Buyi followed Liang Xing's instructions and drew on the map with his finger. The route is winding, but there really is no other way.
Chen Long reached out and drew a straight line between Longxi County and Guangyuan County, and asked: "What towns and fortresses are on this straight line? Are they heavily guarded?"
Liang Xing buried his head in thought for a while, pointed to a position in the middle of the straight line and said: "This is probably Longnan County. There is no road leading to Longxi. However, if you go south from Tianshui County to Xihe County, you can reach Longnan. Although it is divided between Liangzhou and Yi The border between the two states, but the road is rugged and there is no Xiliang army stationed there, so it should be a borderless area now."
"When we get to Longnan, there must be a small road leading into Yizhou, but my subordinates don't know about it."
Chen Long glanced at Liang Xing approvingly and said, "You can go down now." Liang Xing hurriedly handed over and left.
In his mind, Chen Long has been calling up detailed military maps of the Longxi region and looking at them carefully. The terrain of this area is complex and changeable, and even later generations cannot fully analyze it. Chen Long paid close attention to the connection between the Yinping Trail and the surrounding plank roads, but found that the source of a tributary of the Han River seemed to flow from Longnan.
The matter involved the future capture of Yizhou's military secrets, so Chen Long was naturally more cautious about Liang Xing, a surrendered general. After Liang Xing left, Chen Long pointed to Longnan and said lightly: "There is a secret shortcut to Chengdu here."
Zhou Buyi and Xu Shu said "ah" at the same time and looked at their lord in disbelief. Zhou Buyi said, "So my lord has already made up his mind?" Xu Shu also said, "How can my lord know so much?"
Chen Long laughed out loud and said: "You two only care about why I know it, don't you want to know what the secret path is?" The two military advisors looked at each other, Zhou Buyi put on a cute smile and said: "My lord, Don't be so pretentious, we are both looking forward to it."
Chen Long saw Zhou Buyi's "arrogant" look and said with a smile: "To the southwest of Longnan, there is a small road called Yinping Xiaolu. It goes deep into Yizhou along the mountains and can go directly to the western suburbs of Chengdu. Although the road is extremely difficult and dangerous, it is indeed It can be reached. If a surprise attack is needed in the future, we can start from here."
Zhou Buyi and Xu Shu nodded frequently, and Xu Shu said: "We can keep some smart special operations team members in Longnan to mingle with the local hunters and explore the road. They will be our guides into Sichuan in the future."
Chen Long and Zhou Buyi said at the same time: "Great idea!" Zhou Buyi said: "Since there is a small road from Longnan to Chengdu, maybe there is a small road that can bypass Yangping Pass? If the army can bypass Yangping Pass, it can defeat Zhang Lu was caught off guard. We are surrounded by enemies inside and outside Yangping Pass and will surely fall. If our army opens the gate and lets in Ma Teng and Xun You's army, Hanzhong will be destroyed right before our eyes."
Chen Long nodded and said: "What you said without doubt is in line with my intention. There has been a road connecting Longnan to Guangyuan since ancient times, but Guangyuan is the starting point of the Jiange Plank Road. Liu Yan must have deployed heavy troops, and the road is rugged, easy to defend and difficult to attack. "
Zhou Buyi asked: "Then the focus of my Lord's detour should be the plank road in the middle area south of Yangpingguan and north of Guangyuan?"
Chen Long nodded and said: "In addition to the plank road, there is also the water system. The initial idea is to march from Longnan to Guangyuan, detour to the Jiange plank road halfway, and enter the plank road to Hanzhong without alerting the Guangyuan defenders. As long as you can break through the plank road The Hanzhong garrison entered the plain between Yangping Pass and Hanzhong."
Zhou Busuo said: "This unit is difficult to travel on mountain roads and requires engineers to bring many tools. I'm afraid they won't be able to use cavalry and repeating crossbows."
Chen Long nodded and said: "That's true. In my opinion, Gao Shun will lead his own camp as the main force in this unit, which are all elite infantry. In addition, the special forces members and Liu Yong will lead some spearmen and archers to support them. Responsible for transporting supplies and equipment, the total number does not exceed 10,000 people."
"Leave 10,000 men for Liu Xian to defend Longxi and Tianshui. If Han Sui's army attacks, he will abandon Longxi if necessary and defend Tianshui County. The rest of the troops will be led by Fu Tong and Liu Min, and all military horses and crossbow troops will March to Yangping Pass, join Zhang He's troops, attack Yangping Pass head-on, and tell Xun You that I will ask him to minimize casualties. When our surprise troops arrive in Hanzhong, the defense of Yangping Pass will naturally collapse."
Seeing that their lord had arranged everything well, the two military advisors nodded in agreement. After talking about some details, they all went back to arrange military deployment. Liang Xing stayed in Longxi and made a detailed map of Xiliang under Liu Xian's supervision.
A few days later, everything was deployed, and the army marched southward. After passing through Xihe County, they parted ways. Xu Shu followed Fu Tong, Liu Min and other troops to Yangping Pass. Chen Long, Zhou Buyi, Gao Shun, Liu Yong, Lu Chang and others led troops into Longnan. boundary. Lu Chang selected a dozen smart single young men among the special forces team members and asked them to disguise themselves as hunters and lurk near Longnan and Yinping.
The weather is becoming increasingly humid, clouds and mists are rising from time to time, the roads are becoming increasingly rugged and difficult to navigate, and deep ravines are as high as a thousand feet, making it difficult for birds to cross. Fortunately, the preparations were adequate, and with some suspension bridges, suspension ropes and other facilities left by the ancients and locals, the Qinglong Army's surprise attack force gradually entered the borders of Yizhou and reached the vast mountainous area outside Guangyuan County.
The mountains are vast, there are only general directions and existing roads, and no positioning measures. Even with detailed maps, it is inevitable to take the wrong road. With such twists and turns, the march became more and more difficult. On this day, they arrived at a large village called Pipa Village. Seeing Chen Long's huge team, the villagers were too frightened to go out. Chen Long asked someone to invite some local hunters to ask for directions. When the hunters saw that Chen Long's army was innocent, they all asked which team they were from. Chen Long came one by one, and the hunters sighed. Chen Long also asked people to bring a lot of food supplies to the villagers. The villagers gradually gathered and pointed out the way for Chen Long and others. One of the white-haired old hunters, although he was skinny, was full of energy. He spoke in dialect and said: "General, you want to go to Guangyuan Jiange? It's hard to walk. We hunters can only go over the three major mountains at the farthest. .”
When Chen Long heard this, he felt slightly disappointed and asked, "Dad, haven't you ever heard that you have a plan with Guangyuan?" The old man opened his toothless mouth, shook his head and said, "No, no! The paths around here were all made by us, and there are insects, snakes, tigers and leopards everywhere, so where is the way to the other side? It’s hard to walk, it’s so tight!”
The young hunter who accompanied the old hunter next to him had a dark complexion, was wrapped in a turban, and had muscles all over his body. Seeing his father shaking his head, he said, "Dad, I heard you mention that there were people in my grandfather's generation who followed the five The horse stream drifts down and goes out of these hundreds of thousands of mountains." The old hunter was startled and said hurriedly: "General, don't listen to this kid's nonsense. There are rapids and rocks in the Wuma stream. How can anyone really dare to drift down? Even if my life drifts away, I don’t know where it drifts to.”
The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. Chen Long was unwilling to turn around and return to Longnan, so he naturally took a chance. After carefully checking the optical brain map, I found a stream mark in Zhangjiawan near Pipa Village, named Wuma River. The river meanders to the southeast, and finally merges into the upper reaches of the Jialing River at Yanzi Bian in Guangyuan County. Then go down the Jialing River and reach Mingyue Gorge. After landing, you can enter the Jiange Ancient Plank Road.
Chen Long was overjoyed. If this waterway could be opened, not only would he be able to plan a surprise attack, but it would also save a lot of time in finding mountain roads. He hurriedly asked the old Orion to lead the way to Wuma Creek for inspection. The old Orion shook his head repeatedly and said: "General Ah, General! That waterway is no road at all, it is too dangerous, too dangerous!"
If you want to know what happens next, listen to the explanation next time.
