"Takanao really guessed it, the two generals couldn't hold it back for a moment." Liu Bei chuckled softly.
Fazheng replied: "Not to mention the two generals Huang and Zhao, the soldiers in the camp have been ready to make a move. Letting them out one day in advance is equivalent to letting hungry tigers go down the mountain to look for food."
"Instruct the scouts to report news from the front at any time. Let's go back to the house and rest now." Liu Bei said and turned around.
"Wei." Fazheng responded with his hands raised.
Yangping Pass is six hundred miles away from Chencang, and there is Dashan Pass with difficult terrain dozens of miles to the south. A normal march takes fifteen to twenty days.
The area south of Hechi was under Zhang Fei's control. Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun traveled fifty miles a day without any worries, and arrived at the dilapidated Hechi City in about ten days.
Fu Wei and Zhang Nan arrived a few days earlier. In accordance with Fa Zheng's instructions, they deliberately cut down trees at the foot of the mountain near Dashan Pass, built siege equipment under the eyes of the defenders, and released their intention to attack Dashan Pass and capture Chencang.
In fact, Zhang Fei received Zhuge Liang's letter a few months ago and relied on Hechi as a stronghold to supervise the construction of equipment, waiting for Liu Bei's army to arrive here to use it.
Although the terrain of Dashan Pass is dangerous, it is not as open as Yangping Pass. There are only more than 3,000 troops stationed daily. The supplies and confidence of Dashan Pass come from Chencang in the rear.
Chencang Road is northeast of Wudu, and Qishan Road is northwest of Wudu. Although the two passages are longer, they are flatter and wider than Baoxie Road. In particular, Chencang Road is closer and is the most threatening road to Guanzhong. .
Cao Zhen raised troops to quell the rebellion in the Hexi Corridor, but did not transfer Chencang's guard Zhang He. He did not want Zhang Fei to take the opportunity to pass through Chencang.
Cao Zhen knew that the road to Qishan was further away. Even if Zhang Fei's small force went to attack Tianshui, it would not last long. Everything was under his control.
Cao Zhen was awarded the title of General of the Shangjun by Cao Pi for his meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion in Hexi. He was the commander-in-chief of all military affairs at home and abroad. He had absolute say in Yongliang.
Because Zhang Fei sneaked into Liangzhou several times to harass, Cao Pi of Luoyang was furious after hearing this. He first ordered Zhang Ji, the governor of Liangzhou, to guard Wuwei, Zhangye and other northwest counties to prevent the Hu people in Hexi from rebelling again and give Cao Zhen a stable The rear environment made him calm down to deal with Zhang Fei.
Chencang Road has Xiongguan Jiancheng, so Zhang Fei can only take the Qishan Road with few soldiers. Cao Zhen is sure that Zhang Fei has formed a habit and will invade Liangzhou again after his rest, so he puts all the focus of military defense on Tianshui and Longxi counties. .
When Zhang Fei gathered troops in Qishan, Cao Zhen immediately dispersed the troops in the two counties, ensuring that each county had a minimum of 10,000 troops, with a total force of nearly 100,000, and set up pocket formations to welcome the invading enemy.
Cao Zhen's plan was to let Zhang Fei cross Qishan, but there were many garrisons in each county, making it impossible to resupply as easily as before, and to lure Zhang Fei's troops deep into Liangzhou, and finally let the scattered defenders form a joint force to intercept Zhang Fei's troops. The Qishan food route of the flying army completely trapped him in Liangzhou and suffered from hunger.
Zhang Fei's army fought bravely, and Cao Zhen's worst plan was to encircle and not attack. Finally, he let Zhang He leave Chencang to seize Wudu, completely blocking Zhang Fei's possibility of escaping back to Yizhou.
At that time, the Wei State can successfully take back the 'abandoned' Wudu County, and can even attack Yangping Pass again, averting the shame of the previous Hanzhong War.
A few months ago, Zhang Fei was building siege equipment in Hechi and planned to attack Dashanguan and Chencang head-on. When the battle report reached Cao Zhen of Hebei County, he was not surprised but overjoyed.
Cao Zhen saw that Zhang Fei was playing tricks on the east and attacking the west, so he deliberately 'cooperated' with the opponent's actions and asked Fei Yao and Xia Houru to lead 50,000 troops to the east via the Weishui Channel with great fanfare to 'support' Chencang. However, the reinforcements passed Chencang but did not reach Yi County. Just cross the Wei River to the north, then advance northwest along the Longshan Road, and finally return to Tianshui County by detouring through Jieting.
Zhang Fei's mission was to coordinate with a feint attack. Although he pretended to take the initiative to attack, he only fought on a small scale within a few months. He neither attacked the city as a stronghold nor looted the people's food everywhere.
Cao Zhen waited for work without any rush. The enemy and ourselves acted out their own scripts, constantly pulling and consuming food in various places in Tianshui.
Zhang Fei waited until Pang Tong and Ma Chao's reinforcements arrived at Qishan before he finally launched his offensive to Shangyu.
Huang Zhong saw the siege equipment prepared by Hechi and immediately went to Zhao Yun who was resting outside the city to discuss it.
"Zilong, I just went to order some. The three generals have prepared hundreds of catapults. They need to move all these things to the front of Dasanguan. The time saved will be lost. We vanguards on the left and right will not become civilians." pioneer?"
"What do you think, old general?" Zhao Yun asked.
Huang Zhong stroked his beard and said: "Why don't you transport less symbolically? There is no need for Yiyang (Fu Wei) and Wenjin (Zhang Nan) to cut down trees and supervise construction. The current inventory in Hechi should be enough to attack Chencang. We have to kill The most important thing is to seize the barrier."
Zhao Yun nodded and replied: "The old general is right. Although Dashan Pass is dangerous, there are only three thousand troops stationed there. We can take advantage of Zhang He's failure to react and try to attack the pass. Maybe we can decide in a battle."
"Okay, okay, I'm familiar with Wen Jin (Zhang Nan). I asked him to help us supervise the transportation of equipment. After a short rest, we went north to seize the pass, trying to capture it before the king and military advisors arrived. Zhang He's servant is in Hanzhong He deserves to die. If he lives a few more years, his fate will be decided. I will kill him with my own hands this time."
Zhang He was regarded as Wei's top general in Liangzhou, so Huang Zhong directly targeted him, and his passion to kill Xiahou was once again aroused.
Zhao Yun quickly reminded: "Zhang He did not dare to fight at Yangping Pass, and it is even less likely that he will leave the city to fight with us this time. In fact, whether or not to kill the generals is a secondary matter. Your Majesty's goal is to enter the central pass. We can defeat the Dashan Pass and then talk about it later." talk"
"Zilong is right. Have the soldiers rested well? Should we set off now?" Huang Zhong asked.
"Set off."
Two days later, Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun led their troops to Dashan Pass. They looked far into the distance and saw mountains with dense ancient trees. The peaks on both sides looked like crouching cows and galloping horses, like an airtight natural barrier.
"It is indeed a choke point. It looks like there will be a tough battle."
Zhao Yun saw that Dashan Pass was shorter than Yangping Pass, but the height of the city wall was not different at all. Due to the narrow position of his own troops, it was impossible to launch an attack. One man was in charge of the pass and ten thousand others could not open it. He immediately quickly pulled out the pass and lost the battle. confidence.
"I don't know who is guarding this gate. Can I lure him out of the gate and kill him? I really miss the days when the French military advisor was around." Huang Zhong also felt the same way.
"General Wang Sheng, the guard of Dasan Pass, is an unknown person in Wei State. He will never dare to go out and stroke the tiger beards of the two generals. However, it is not difficult to win this pass. There are French military advisers who have tips for breaking the pass. Here it is." Fu Wei said and handed over the bag of tips in his arms.
Huang Zhong opened the tip bag first. It turned out that Fazheng had asked Fu Wei to check the terrain in advance. There were trails on the left and right of Dashan Pass that could be climbed up the mountain. Fazheng suggested using the terrain to break the defensive will of the defenders in the pass.
"I think we can give it a try." Zhao Yun stroked his beard and said.
"The military advisor's plan should be correct. Let's break the city tomorrow. Lao Yiyang (Fu Xu) will prepare the siege vehicles. Tomorrow I will personally lead the attack. Zilong will lead the suspected soldiers up the mountain?" Huang Zhong gave the order subconsciously.
"Um?"
When Zhao Yun was about to question, Fu Wei quickly clasped his fists and said, "Two generals, don't fight. The military advisor has ordered you both to focus on the attack. The last general will deploy the suspected troops."
"Very good." Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong replied in unison.
Huang Zhong then followed Fa Zheng's plan and rushed to Dashan Pass in person to start a fight. The soldiers cursed for half an hour, but the defenders were like stones and had no response at all.
Guard Wang Sheng looked at Huang Zhong and said to himself: "Going out of seclusion to fight with the old guy? General Zhang in Chencang doesn't dare, so why should I pretend to be fat?"
(End of chapter)
