sweeping the world

Chapter 471 Their respective psychological shadows

When Huan Wen arrived at the first pass, Liu Rui's vanguard had already captured four passes in a row. Liu Rui's troops who captured the fourth pass were forced to rest due to loss and fatigue. The brigade converts into a striker and continues to fight its way forward.

When Li's Chenghan learned that the Han army had the intention of invading, they desperately built fortifications on any terrain that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Usually, they built a pass city to cut off the road, and built it on the mountain near the pass city. Copycat.

The Han army does not know how many fortifications Li Chenghan built to block the road. It took them eleven days to conquer Sidaoguan City. Naturally, there were some fortifications such as cottage camps along the way. Of the 4000 men in the command, there were only [-] fighting strength left. In addition to occupying land, the results they achieved in cooperation with the friendly forces should have killed more than [-] enemy troops and captured more than [-].

"So, Li Shi, the lord of Chengguo, is mobilizing young and strong men who can fight?" Huan Wen read the report. The enemy troops along the way became more and more complex, and he tapped the stones of the female wall rhythmically with his fingers. Block, asked: "The barbarians are on Chengguo's side?"

The Southern Barbarians did not establish a country, but were scattered in the form of relatively primitive tribes. There was once a tribal alliance that unified the Barbarian Mountains (that is, Meng Huo's time). After the split, there was no strong person who could reunite the Southern Barbarians.

Because they belong to different tribes, the internal vendettas in the Nanman are actually very serious. It is like a kind of headhunting activity in some coming-of-age ceremonies of each tribe that has never stopped. As a result, the overall number of the Nanman cannot increase at all.

There are tribes in the Nanman who are opposed to Li's Chenghan, and naturally there are also tribes that belong to the Li's Chenghan. When Li Shi faced the invasion of the Han army, he indeed sent a conscript to some of the tribes who belonged to the Nanman. It is normal for the Han army to encounter the Nanman. .

In fact, the state of Han has regarded the Li family as a dead bone in the tomb. Before the Li family became a Han, it had a corresponding solution for the Nanman. Kill one as soon as it comes, and kill the Nanman trembling and fear, so that the Nanman has a deep enough impression of the Han army, and then take other measures.

"We have spent nearly two months." Yuan Qiao coughed while talking, and his face looked a little pale. That is because the weather has been very strange recently. Heavy rain and light rain have taken turns, and they come and go quickly. In the mountainous area, The temperature contrast between day and night is huge and it is extremely humid, giving rise to wind chill.He wiped his nose with a silk scarf before continuing: "There are many mosquitoes in mountainous areas in summer. We don't know where the miasma is distributed."

After the Han army's invasion began, their progress never stopped. The Han army starting from Chencang entered Li's Chenghan territory and has been attacking the city. However, because Li's Chenghan deployed too many defense nodes, , the advancement speed is really not that fast.

"The troops suffered heavy casualties." Huan Wen stood on the stone wall of Guancheng and looked around. The valley was surrounded by two mountains, and he could clearly see the mountainside mountain villages on both sides: "There are too many similar fortifications along the way. ”

Yuan Qiao has detailed data in hand. So far, the Han army has killed 2000 or [-]. The number of deaths is still increasing because of the serious wounded. There are nearly twenty miles to go.

"Uncle Yan, we can only conquer the past with force one after another." Huan Wen did not give the forwards the right to surrender and accept punishment. He wanted a bloody attack to undermine Li's confidence in becoming Han Dynasty. Only the Han army showed enough toughness and combat effectiveness, in order to minimize Li's Chenghan's will to resist.He said without wavering: "The ruling class of Chengguo has become corrupt. The best way to fundamentally destroy this country is to disintegrate the will of resistance at the grassroots level."

Yuan Qiao had studied Li Shichenghan more than once. He knew that what Huan Wen said was absolutely correct, but he felt sorry for the loss of the troops.He needed to know how far Huan Wen was going to go.

"Nanzheng!" Huan Wen raised his hand and clenched it into a fist, and said forcefully, "The turning point will be after conquering Nanzheng."

Yuan Qiao secretly calculated that with the current level of casualties, there would be at least [-] casualties in the Nanzheng Han army, and they only had [-] soldiers along the way, that is, one-sixth of them were killed. The injuries and casualties that will occur are not counted.

The Han army moving south from Guanzhong arduously and resolutely conquered the city. Zan Jian in Nanzheng had too much bad news in his hands.

Li's Chenghan built so many Guancheng and Shanzhai, they optimistically believed that they would block the Han army in the direction of Guanzhong on the side of the plank road, even if the Han army was really capable of fighting, they should be able to last for two or three years.

"Wrong, I guessed wrong." Zan Jian slammed his right arm heavily on the table, with a grim expression on his face: "The previous estimate was that a closed city could last at least three months, but the Han army used eleven The four gates were conquered in one day, and the fortresses along the way didn’t play much of a role!”

For Zan Jian and others at the rear regarding the development of the war in the front, they could only extend their imaginations from some reports. It was impossible to have a sufficient understanding of the course of the war. The only thing that was clear was that Han The army always relied on strong attacks to achieve results.In this case, they already know the result, that is, the Han army is advancing in a destructive manner, and they will inevitably feel that the Han army is far stronger than imagined.

Wang Gu was Li Shi's attendant, and he was sent to Nanzheng to supervise the battle.

Knowing that the Han army going south from Guanzhong would take the plank road, in fact, there were voices of burning the plank road in Chenghan Li's family. It was Zan Jian who advocated leaving the plank road and building Guancheng and Shanzhai in the direction of the Han army's advance.This is also the main reason why the Han army's offensive was much stronger and faster than Zan Jian imagined, which made Zan Jian angry and ashamed.

Zan Jian's idea in advance was very simple. The Han army was not just nestled in Guanzhong. Yuzhou and Jingzhou also had Han territory. So the Han army could not only come from the direction of Guanzhong if it wanted to attack Li Shicheng.

Compared with Hanzhong, when attacking Li Chenghan, he could only take the plank road. The Han Dynasty had more options to attack Li Chenghan in Jingzhou. So why didn't Li Chenghan attack Hanzhong in a war zone that was more advantageous for itself? To fight in the army, is it to go to places that don't have too much terrain advantage?

"The former general is calm and don't be impatient." Wang Gu is a very gentle-looking person. Not only does he look gentle, but his voice is also unhurried, and the voice is a little magnetic: "The general chooses to fight where it is beneficial to us. Naturally it is correct."

Indeed, there is nothing wrong with it. Many people echoed Zan Jian's strategy before, and even thought that even if the Han army did not take the plank road, they should do everything possible to attract them, just because the terrain over there really has absolute influence on Li Chenghan. Advantage.

If there is anything wrong, then it can only be said that the defenders in charge of defense are really useless, occupying all the time and geography, and it can even be said that there is a comprehensive advantage in terms of people and numbers, that is, the Han army is far more powerful than the Han army. I imagine I can fight better.

Everyone knows that Wang Gu is the supervisor of the army, but he is not playing the role of a supervisor who is in opposition to the generals. He is more like a comforter who comes to encourage the generals on behalf of the king. He said encouragingly: "There is also There are eight gates and forts along the way, as well as terrain that is absolutely advantageous for defense, so we can firmly hold back the enemy."

The valley is very long and curved, and there is only a small basin out of the valley. Even if you go out of the basin, there is the Jitouguan as a roadblock. Even after passing the Jitouguan, there is a Jigu. A Yangping Pass.

Zan Jian has studied the relevant terrain more than once, and there are so many passes and dangerous places that can block the Han army. For Li Shicheng, there is really no battlefield with more advantages than there.

Even the fall there would not be absolutely fatal for the Li family to become a Han Dynasty. There is also Nanzheng that can be defended. To put it bluntly, if Nanzheng is also fell, you will have to pass through Jiange, a powerful pass, if you want to enter Shu.

Do you know what it means to be one husband and ten thousand husbands not to open it?Jiange is such a terrain.So no matter what road the Han army took from Baoxie Road, Lianyun Plank Road, Tuogu Road, Ziwu Road or any other road, as long as they went from north to south, they could never ignore the existence of Jiange. the gate of the land.

Wang Gu is not only a gentleman, but also a very eloquent scholar. After explaining a series of reasons, not only Zan Jian calmed down, but also many generals regained their confidence.

Zan Jian regained his composure, but some things could not be reversed by mental stability. He had to tell another bad news: "The battle report was sent back from the front. It has been discovered that the Han army has attacked with bed crossbows, cart crossbows, catapults, etc." City equipment.”

"How could it be?" Wang Gu was surprised and completely confused, and said in amazement: "No matter where you go, unless the Han army can fly, the narrow plank road cannot transport those siege equipment, right?"

"It can be dismantled first, and then assembled by skilled craftsmen at the end of the field." Zan Jian felt that he was finally a little smarter than Wang Gu, and said seriously: "The Han army is far more cunning than we thought, which is enough to illustrate their will to attack. strong."

Wang Gu was stunned for a while: "..."

It is indeed a good idea to disassemble and transport it to the field and then reassemble it, but because of the existence of Liu Yan, the Han army has a more convenient method, that is, system farmers can build buildings for production, which is equivalent to cheating.

The number of Han troops heading south from Guanzhong was [-], and the number of auxiliary personnel accompanying them was only [-]. After waiting for the relevant siege equipment to join, the speed of siege suddenly accelerated. It took eleven days to conquer the four pass cities before, and later it became A Guancheng can be demolished in one day. Including the necessary march, it took thirteen days for the first Han army to reach the foot of Jitouguan.

Jitouguan was actually built during the fierce battle between Shu Han and Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. It took place in the second battle of Qishan.

"It belonged to his ancestor." Liu Rui couldn't help scolding his mother: "Not to mention the dangerous terrain, there is even a crucial river!"

The location of Jitou Pass is very special. It is not only the exit of Baoxie Road, but also connected to Lianyun Plank Road, which is equivalent to another junction of the two plank roads.

Jitou Pass is located in the north of Baocheng Town. There is a large stone at the pass that looks like a chicken head, so it is named Jitou Pass.There is a poem that says: "The throat of Qin and Shu is far away from the Han family; wind and clouds protect the temple, and people come and go on the Lingzhao Pavilion road."

During the Han Dynasty, a plank road was built under Jitou Pass in Baocheng, Shaanxi today. It passed by the stone wall that stood on the south bank of the Bao River, named "Baoping". It used fire-forged stone method to open a 14-meter-long, 3.95-4.25-meter-wide bridge. The tunnel with a height of 4 to 4.75 meters is the famous Shimen. There are stone inscriptions "Ode to the Stone Gate" and "Shimen Inscription" to record its events.

The Baohe River (ancient name Heilongjiang) is located under the Jitou Pass. The Baoxian Plank Road is under the Jitou Pass and passes along the Baohe River through Shimen.Among the princes in the Fenghuo Opera, Bao Si, the wife of Zhou Youwang Gongyang, grew up under Jitou Pass and by the Bao River.

Liu Rui and the others not only saw Baohe River, but also Shimen, and even looked at those towering cliffs with tongue-in-cheek eyes.

The arrival of the Han army caused the defenders of Jitou Pass to blow the horns and beat the wooden drums desperately. The sound kept echoing in the canyon. Maybe it was because the sound was too loud. Stones kept rolling down the mountain, and they smashed into the rapids. Waves of water appeared in the swirling river.

After replenishing the troops, Liu Rui's unit once again became the vanguard of the entire army, returning from four thousand to the expected five thousand. The soldiers were located on the plank road and some places where they could stand, and almost all of them stared at the abnormality with their mouths open. Precipitous terrain.

The direction of the Han army did not need to cross the turbulent Baohe River. They even had multiple roads to charge to Jitouguan. However, except for the one at Shimen, the twists and turns of the other roads are very complicated. And they are all exposed within the arrow range of the pass.

"The cliff is almost upright..." Liu Rui swallowed subconsciously. They were often hit by stones thrown from the mountain along the way.He squinted his eyes to observe hard, and said, "There are only a few strongholds that look like they treat people..."

The cliff near Jitouguan is not easy to climb, which makes Jitouguan have enough garrison value. Unless there is enough technology to dig it, it will be difficult for people to stand firm. There are soldiers of the Han Dynasty, but there are not many of them.

The sounds of horns and wooden drums were still being played out, followed by the shouts of a large number of Li Chenghan soldiers, but it was hard to hear what the hell they were shouting.

"Rest, rest..." Liu Rui didn't dare to launch an offensive this time. He called the military marquis who came to the scout battalion and ordered: "First survey the surrounding terrain, and focus on investigating whether there is a road that can go around to the back of Jitouguan. Knowing how many enemy troops are on the cliff, the number of stones collected is the most important thing.”

Junhou Lin Feng nodded heavily, especially when he heard the stone, he subconsciously shook his cheeks.

To be honest, this group of Han soldiers were really psychologically affected by the stones thrown from the mountain...

(End of this chapter)