This is a war without any suspense. Even if the army is defeated, there is no need for the Jin army to go to the trouble to arrest.
Zhao Jun's family members were in Chang'an. After learning that the Jin army had never made trouble for their families, the Jie and Zhao soldiers spontaneously came to surrender.
Seeing that the overall situation was decided, Wang Meng went out of the city and came to Huan Xi's side.
Huan Xi noticed him coming and lowered his voice and sighed:
"Even if there are 50,000 pigs, if we drive them outside Chang'an City, we won't be able to catch them all in just three days."
He didn't know Shi Bao's current specific strength. He only knew that the other party had led 50,000 infantry and cavalry to move to Chencang.
Wang Meng laughed and said:
"If you have gained the Tao, you will get many help, but if you have lost the Tao, there will be little help. The lord enters the pass as a teacher of benevolence and righteousness, and cares for the people of all ethnic groups. When the Jie people hear the lord's virtuous name, they should also rush to join him."
Huan Xi actually knew in his heart that the reason why these defeated Zhao soldiers took the initiative to defect was entirely because their families were in his hands as hostages, but hearing Wang Meng's praise still made Huan Xi feel comfortable.
He changed the subject and said:
"I just asked the subordinates. Shi Bao has been kidnapped by Ma Qiu. Judging from the direction they left, they were heading to Weibei. They should be heading east from Puban."
Wang Meng wondered:
"Could it be that my lord wants to recover Shi Bao and Ma Qiu and seize the opportunity to seize Pu Ban?"
Huan Xi shook his head and said:
"Pu Ban must be captured after all, but the ownership of Tongguan has not yet been determined. If the Du brothers can seize Xiongguan for me and stop Wang Lang's Jingqi, it will not be too late for me to plan to capture Pu Ban.
"As for Shi Bao and Ma Qiu, they left as soon as they left. I hope they have a safe journey and can be entrusted with important tasks again in the future.
"If there were more opponents like this, it would be much easier to conquer the world."
After saying that, Huan Xi and Wang Meng looked at each other and smiled.
It's just that both of them understand that there is no such good thing in the world.
...
Chang'an and Tongguan are 260 miles apart, and the road is straight and open. However, Du Yu, Du Zhou and their tribes riding in ox carts and donkey carts were still very bumpy.
They were wearing the military uniforms of the Zhao army and were ordered to go eastward as soon as Huan Xi captured Chang'an. The counties and counties along the way did not learn of the fall of Chang'an, so they were able to reach the forbidden ditch on the west side of Tongguan without any hindrance.
Forbidden ditch is a natural and dangerous deep valley running from north to south in the south of Tongguan. In the valley, bushes and vines are dense and woven, making it a natural hiding place.
They didn't encounter Wang Lang's 20,000 fine cavalry along the way, which proved that the opponent had not entered the customs yet, which made the Du brothers heave a sigh of relief.
In the evening, after taking a short rest, the two men who were competing with Wang Lang couldn't wait to fall far behind and were rushing to Tongguan on foot. Zhang Ju and others decided to defraud Guancheng first.
When they reached the pass, it was already dark. Du Yu asked Du Zhou to lead his troops to ambush outside the pass, while he selected ten warriors to follow him and appear in front of the pass in a majestic manner.
The guard on the tower saw Du Yu and others and shouted loudly:
"Who is coming!"
Du Yu shouted towards the tower:
"Hurry up and open the door! I have been ordered by Mr. Liu of Jingzhao County to go out to meet General Chariot and Cavalry. I have important military information to report!"
"Is there any paperwork?"
the guard asked.
Du Yu raised the document in his hand and urged dissatisfiedly:
"Hurry up and review, don't delay. Lord Liu has also been sent by King Leping. If you miss the king's business, you can't afford it!"
The document is of course authentic, and Liu Xiuli's seal of the prefect is still kept by civil servants in Huanxi's army.
When the guard heard that it was Shi Bao's order, he quickly ordered his people to put down the hanging basket:
"Please also put the paperwork in the basket."
Obviously, Shi Bao has no ability in fighting, but his illustrious reputation is enough to make people tremble with fear.
Du Yu put the document in the basket, and the defender on the tower took back the basket. After confirming that the document was correct, the guard walked down the city wall.
The gate of Tongguan slowly opened wide, and the guard came out. He was about to return the document and let Du Yu and others pass. Unexpectedly, Du Yu suddenly attacked and chopped the guard to the ground with a single blow.
The ten warriors who followed him also drew their swords and fought to seize the city gate. Du Zhou, who was behind him, saw this and shouted:
"The city gate is open, follow me and kill!"
After that, he raised his steel knife high and charged forward, and the rest of Du's tribe followed him to kill.
Since the later Zhao destroyed the former Zhao and captured Guanzhong, the focus of Guanzhong's defense has been on the five Qinling Passages connecting Liangzhou, not Tongguan in the east.
After all, the Central Plains is also in the hands of Hou Zhao. Unless Luoyang, Hongnong and other places are lost, it is impossible for enemy troops to enter from Tongguan.
Moreover, Later Zhao made his capital Yecheng, and the imperial court was located in Guandong, and Tongguan was a dangerous pass used by Guanxi to defend Guandong. Therefore, Later Zhao strictly restricted the defense of Tongguan, with only a few hundred people stationed there, and its combat effectiveness was not even as good as that of the Du family.
Therefore, when the Du brothers seized the city gate and led eight hundred troops into Tongguan, the Tongguan defenders were quickly dispersed, either dead or surrendered.
After a fierce battle, Du Yu was exhausted, but he had no time to rest, so he hurriedly ordered Du Zhou:
"Hurry up and set up a flag on the east side of Guancheng, so as to bluff and scare away the invading enemies!"
Du Zhou hurriedly agreed and acted according to his brother's words.
Du Yu sent people to Chang'an to report the victory to Huan Xi, and at the same time urged the reinforcements in the rear to hurry up and come for reinforcements.
Soon, a cavalry group came to Linzhiyuan through the Wuli secret door and appeared outside Tongguan.
It was the vanguard sent by Wang Lang.
The torches on the city wall were brightly lit, and the Jin flag fluttered in the wind.
The Zhao army general was horrified and murmured:
"Could it be that Guanzhong has fallen?"
The enemy's situation was unknown, so the general did not dare to attack without permission, so he quickly sent people down to Linzhiyuan and returned quickly to ask Wang Lang for instructions.
At this time, brothers Du Yu and Du Zhou were also nervously watching the Zhao army vanguard outside the city.
The battle was over. They were already at the end of their game and they really didn't have the energy to engage in another offensive and defensive battle.
Fortunately, the enemy did not seem to be prepared to attack the city on foot.
The two spent the night in fear. In the early morning, Wang Lang led his army to the outside of Tongguan. He frowned and said nothing while looking at the Guancheng full of flags.
The general who was the vanguard before asked:
"General, now that Tongguan is occupied by the Jin people, I don't know what is going on inside the pass, and whether we should continue to seize the pass and advance westward."
Wang Lang was silent for a long time and did not reply immediately.
This time Shi obeyed his order and led 20,000 fine cavalry to the aid of Guanzhong. It seemed that he was going to help Shi Bao repel the Jin army, but in fact he had other orders.
It was the same as the secret order given to Ma Qiu, which was to take Shi Bao back to Yecheng and prevent him from causing trouble in Guanzhong.
Now that the Jin army has occupied Tongguan and blocked the way out, Guanzhong doesn't know what the situation is, but if you think about it carefully, I'm afraid it's more bad than good, otherwise how could the Jin army show up here.
Even if he took huge casualties and occupied this pass, he would not be able to defend Tongguan if Guanzhong had fallen.
After all, Tongguan's defense focuses on the east and west directions. As mentioned before, Tongguan has always defended the west of Guanxi, not the east of Guanxi.
If you launch an attack from the west, Tongguan's defense is relatively weak. If you launch an attack from the east, it will be much more difficult.
After pondering again and again, Wang Lang sighed:
"Retreat."
Although he will be away from home and his orders will not be accepted, he must be careful when serving the Shi family.
Seeing that something unexpected happened in Guanzhong, the mission assigned to him by Shi Zun could not be completed. Wang Lang did not dare to make the decision on his own whether to continue to Guanzhong.
After all, Qian Yan occupied Youzhou, and the Jin people moved northward on the Huainan line. Yecheng's troops were tight. If they lost the 20,000 fine cavalry, I was afraid that they would not end well.
The elite cavalry of the Zhao army outside the pass were all delighted when they heard the military order. As noble elite cavalry, no one was willing to dismount and attack the city. That was the job of the infantry, not to mention attacking a dangerous pass like Tongguan.
They are also not good at siege. Which cavalry would use siege as daily training.
Once Tongguan is fully defended, the 20,000 elite cavalrymen who are invincible in field battles will all be used up, and they may not be able to capture the city.
Du Zhou watched the Zhao troops outside the pass retreat one by one, and could hardly help but cheer. When he turned back to look for his brother, he saw that Du Yu, who had just been nervously watching him outside the pass, was already lying on the ground, sleeping deeply.
Du Yu had been staring at the army outside the city all night. It had been a bumpy road before, fighting fiercely to capture Tongguan, and he had reached the limit of his energy.
Seeing this, Du Zhou quickly took off his robe and covered his brother.
At this time, Zhang Ju and other Yongzhou heroes also rushed to the west of Tongguan with their troops.
They set off at the same time as the Du brothers, but Huan Xi himself had to use vehicles to fight Shi Bao. He couldn't spare any extra for Zhang Ju and others, so he only used the Du brothers to seize Tongguan, while Zhang Ju and others Then support.
Having met a messenger on the way, Zhang Ju and others already knew that brothers Du Yu and Du Zhou had captured Tongguan, so they traveled all night without rest.
Now that they saw that the Jin army flag on Guancheng was still there, Zhang Ju and others couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
At least, the gap in Tongguan has been blocked.
When Du Yu's messenger came to Chang'an, Jingzhao County had even started the work of dividing the fields under the auspices of Wang Meng, and at the same time selected soldiers from the surrendered troops of the Zhao army.
Huan Xi was personally responsible for this matter. Shi Bao's 40,000 surrendered troops, as well as the previous 10,000 surrendered troops from Chang'an, totaled 50,000. Huan Xi selected 20,000 elites from them, including Han, Jie, Qiang, and Di. , he organized these people into soldiers, and while repaying this year's salary, he also allocated fields to their families.
Thanks to Shi Bao's many years of plundering in Guanzhong, although the people's livelihood in Yongzhou was in decline, Chang'an's treasury was full of money and food. Now Huan Xi was advantaged in vain, so that he had enough money to reward the soldiers who followed him in the Northern Expedition and to perform meritorious deeds. The three auxiliary heroes.
After learning that Du Yu and Du Zhou had captured Chang'an, Huan Xi still did not send troops to Weibei. It was not until he confirmed that Wang Lang had withdrawn his troops and headed straight to Yecheng, instead of turning to the east of the river when the road to Tongguan was blocked, that Huan Xi personally led 10,000 soldiers to cross the river. The Weishui River drives directly to Puban.
At the same time, Deng Xia was ordered to lead an army of five thousand to attack Wuguan, and attack Kansai from Kanto. The main routes were Puban, Tongguan, and Wuguan. If these three routes could be occupied, the eastern gateway to Kansai would be closed.
As for the candidate to stay in Chang'an, it must be Wang Meng.
