"The big river originates from the east of Mengjin. The north bank is very flat, and the south bank is blocked by hills and mountains." On a hillock somewhere west of Hulao Pass, Diao Ying, the left chief of the shogunate of General Andong of the Han Dynasty, talked eloquently: "The Luokou River
west there
Shouyang Mountain (not Shouyang Mountain in Guanzhong or Hedong) is the east slope of Mang Mountain (Mang Mountain). To the east of Luokou, the original slopes are connected, Huangma and Xuanmen. The slopes meander eastward and get higher and higher until they reach Daqian Mountain.
, it is more than forty feet tall."
"To the east of Dagong Mountain, the remaining line is Guangwu Mountain, which is where Guangwu Lord Li Zuoche and Professor Liu Ying trained their troops. To the east of Guangwu Mountain, it gradually enters the plains, which is Xingyang."
"This section of mountains and hills is almost the remnant of Songshan Mountain extending to the north. It is Fangshan Mountain and Daqian Mountain. It stretches from north to south and reaches the river bank, blocking east-west traffic."
"In ancient times, people opened the Dagong Mountain Road along the river, and it became a thoroughfare for east-west communication in the Central Plains. Therefore, it has been said since the Han Dynasty that 'if the mouth of Chenggao is cut off, the world will be blocked'. This is definitely a battleground for military strategists."
Shi Le listened for a long time and didn't understand it very well, but he still asked for details carefully, and then corroborated it with his previous experience, and finally understood.
From Luoyang to the east, there is only this one post road.
There may be small roads, but they are not dug manually and are difficult to navigate, even for horse-drawn carriages.
If you can't pass horse-drawn carriages, ox-carts, and donkey-carts, you can only use pack animals, and the transportation capacity will be greatly reduced. In the event of a high-intensity battle, the equipment consumption will not be able to keep up.
My knife was sharpened, and I wanted to replace it with a new one, but it didn't work. If I had to wait for the people from the auxiliary armorer camp to repair it, I don't know how many days it would take.
If you encounter a large enemy army holding the fence, it will be difficult to break through for a while, and you may not have enough food.
The upright army's route is basically fixed, and it is impossible to do whatever you want.
Shi Le brought 20,000 cavalry, which was very expensive. Taking the mountain path was too risky. If he failed, he would kill the horses to satisfy his hunger. The cavalry would turn into infantry and retreat in despair.
As for the infantry, they stayed in the areas of Yecheng, Jijun and Dunqiu for training.
After Liu Cong succeeded to the throne, he sent a large number of weapons to show his favor.
Shi Le had always resented the "lame" infantry, so this time he just stayed in his lair to practice hard and improve his combat effectiveness.
After two years of reorganization, this infantry army with a size of tens of thousands has become quite impressive.
However - if he had never seen Shao Thief's Silver Spear Army, Shi Le might be satisfied with the combat effectiveness of his own infantry. But he had seen it and knew that there was a big gap between the two sides, so he was very dissatisfied and practiced hard, hoping that it would be better.
The combat effectiveness has been greatly improved.
In this battle, he did not bring infantry at all, but brought more pack horses, donkeys and mules to carry logistical supplies. The main focus was on speed.
Do you use your strengths to avoid weaknesses? People like Shi Le who came from the bottom know this truth very well.
"Diao Changshi said it well." Shi Le looked at Diao Ying with a smile and said: "Since the Jin people have taken precautions in Chenggao, the military order of King Shi'an (Liu Yao) may not be completed. This is the plan now.
, what to do?”
"Maybe we can report back to King Shi'an and ask him to mobilize Wang Mi so that Zhao Gu's infantry can come east and break through Hulao Pass." Diao Ying replied.
Shi Le looked at Guancheng in the distance again.
Guancheng happened to cut off the mountain post road of Xuanmenzaka. At this time, the gate was closed tightly. There were many flags on Guancheng, and people were looking forward to it and shouting endlessly.
He could see that the soldiers guarding the gate were not elite, and the military discipline was not very strict. Maybe he could try to attack. But after all, they had a favorable location and a city wall, so it was hard to say whether they could conquer it.
"General, we need to hurry up on this matter." Zhang Jing, the commander on the right, said worriedly: "If it really doesn't work, I'll wait to cross the river and go north, then go south via Liyang to avoid Hulao Pass. Most of the people on the side of the King of Hanoi will also encounter
We have reached an obstacle. This battle is a bit strange."
King Liu Can of Hanoi was the legitimate son of the Emperor Liu Cong. According to the order of the Grand Governor, King Liu Yao of Shi'an, the King of Hanoi led more than ten thousand light cavalry out of Sheyuan Pass and went deep into Yingchuan, Runan, Chenjun, Liangguo and other places to plunder and plunder Shaoxun's hinterland.
Turn the world upside down and destroy his foundation.
Now it seems that things are not going well. There are also defenders on the other side of Shenyuan Pass, and it is difficult to pass without a battle.
This is what you are afraid of when fighting a war.
The most ideal situation is that the entire Jin state is incapacitated, the government and the public are in chaos, and no one cares about the eight passes of Luoyang, allowing them to come and go at will.
This is the worst case scenario.
The Jin State was organized from top to bottom, and several transportation channels were guarded by soldiers. They had to seize them one by one.
Shi Le thought of a person, the person who has been the most popular in recent years.
Without him, the situation would not be like this.
"Forget it, send envoys to the camp immediately and ask for troops from the governor," Shi Le ordered.
The messenger quickly mounted his horse and left.
Shi Le looked at Zhang Bin again and asked, "What do Meng Sun think?"
Zhang Bin has been looking at the map.
Shi Le waited patiently for a moment, and then Zhang Bincai said: "This time the Jin people retreated too quickly. They abandoned all the surrounding villages and defended Luoyang alone, which made it difficult to fight. For the current plan, we may have to find another way to lure the Jin people."
Come out. All I can say is - give it a try."
"So what if the people of Jin are not fooled?"
"If you are not fooled, then concentrate on collecting food, grass and wealth for the future."
"What's the future like?"
"The general's foundation lies in Hebei, not Henan."
Shi Le pondered for a long time and said with a smile: "I heard that Wang Jun sent troops to Liaodong again and suffered a defeat. The loss was not light. But the governor of Jizhou is Shi Chao. What can I do?"
"After Ding Shao's death, Wang Jun took charge of Jizhou as herdsman. In order to win over him, the Jin court entrusted the two states of You and Ji to Jun and sought to add Sikong." Zhang Bin said: "Shi Chao's army was weak and he occupied Jizhou.
In the counties and counties, Wang Jun will not tolerate him, and a war will break out sooner or later. Shi Chao is no match."
"Well..." Shi Le was a little moved.
He knew something about Wang Jun.
He is arrogant and looks down on others. After taking over two states, he may have become arrogant.
His ally Duan Xianbei was not having an easy life. In recent years, a lot of pastures had been robbed, and his power had become increasingly weakened. Wang Jun had to send troops to help, but it only slightly curbed Duan Xianbei's decline.
can fundamentally improve their situation.
Moreover, in this matter, Youzhou also repeatedly lost troops and generals, wasting all their wealth.
In this situation, Wang Jun not only did not worry, but instead appointed himself as the shepherd of Jizhou, forcing the Jin court to admit the fait accompli and issue him a new appointment edict.
It is indeed not difficult to deal with such a person, as long as you master the tricks.
"With Meng Sun, I can achieve great things." Shi Le said with a smile: "But now I still have to work hard for the court."
"The general is wise." Zhang Bin praised.
****
Liu Yao's camp was set up in the west of Luoyang City.
The initial deployment of troops this time was extremely smooth.
The Jin people didn't bother with the outside at all. They simply retreated to Luoyang and set up camp outside the gates. They were at odds with each other in the city and were determined not to leave.
Liu Yao had more than 70,000 men under his command, and those who came to Luoyang City were 40,000 cavalry.
Among them, there are ten thousand cavalry, which is its headquarters.
Wang Can of Hanoi will ride ten thousand soldiers.
Attendant Wang Mi led an infantry force of ten thousand.
Anbei general Zhao Gu led 10,000 infantry.
Forty thousand infantry and cavalry would definitely not be able to defeat Luoyang. According to his plan, ten thousand people were left to monitor outside Luoyang City to contain the main force of the Chinese army in Luoyang.
The rest of the troops divided their forces and plundered in four directions. While obtaining supplies, they also undermined the prestige of the Jin court, weakened its foundation, and prepared for the future attack on Luoyang.
But the King of Hanoi's journey was not smooth. More than 10,000 people rode to the outside of Sheyuan Pass and found that there were defenders on the pass.
He sent his men to dismount and attacked for a while, losing hundreds of soldiers, and then withdrew.
Arriving outside Dagu Pass again, we saw the defenders again. This time they didn't even attack and just left.
Shi Le also had 20,000 cavalry. He was originally asked to go east to Chenggao and plunder Xingyang, Chenliu, Yingchuan and other places, but he was also blocked outside Hulao Pass and could not move forward.
General Zhenxi led a single expedition with more than 10,000 Qiang and Di cavalry, and divided them into camps in Xin'an and Mianchi, but he could not advance even an inch.
Looking at it this way, the Jin army was well prepared.
To be honest, Liu Yao didn't know how to continue fighting.
In the past two days, he has ordered the infantry to move eastward to Yanshi, Fengshi and other places to besiege Wubao and forcefully recruit Dingzhuang.
There were some gains, but far less than expected.
Looking at Luoyang's towering city walls, wide moat, and the grassland men under his command who were only good at fighting on horseback, Liu Yao was even more depressed.
I heard that Luoyang imported a lot of grain from the state last year, so it should be able to sustain it in the short term.
At the end of this battle, if we can't protect everything, our troops will run out of food and retreat. Liu Yao seems to have foreseen the outcome.
Still have to search more for food!
On October 24, while Shao Xun was still waiting in Deng County, Liu Yao arrived in Yanshi in person.
The county seat has been captured by "King's Division".
Zhao Gu incorporated all the young men into the army, even children aged eleven or twelve were not spared.
Wang Mi was attacking Shiliangwu and was able to defeat it just before Liu Yao arrived, capturing more than a thousand Guanxi refugees.
After attacking these two places, the two men prepared to move to the Feng family, and their troops were directed towards Baiguwu, where the Cao family was based.
Baiguwu is larger than Shiliangwu. There were more than a thousand families at first, most of them were descendants of the Cao family, servants, and tribes. In the past two years, it has also absorbed refugees from Hebei and Guanxi, and it has become the Feng family, Yanshi, and Gongxian counties.
The largest fort in the area.
Zhao and Wang were a little hesitant and greedy. At the moment Liu Yao arrived, they still had not made up their mind whether to besiege Baiguwu.
"Go to Yiyang." Liu Yao's order caused the expressions of the two people who hurried over to change drastically.
Liu Yao didn't bother to care about their expressions and just said: "Your Majesty wants Yuan Yan's head. Since Chen and Ying cannot be captured, he will go to Yiyang first to get Yuan Yan's head."
"No." Wang Mi and Zhao Gu were stunned for a moment and agreed.
"Grand Governor, Shi Andong asked us to send infantry troops to attack Hulao Pass. How should we respond?" Wang Mi asked again.
The smile on Liu Yao's face was a little dangerous, and he asked: "Am I the Grand Governor, or is Shi Le the Grand Governor?"
Wang Mi quickly lowered his head and cursed in his heart: Liu Yao, Shi Le is not a good person.
"Go to Yiyang first. You and Shan Zhenxi will follow the order of the King of Hanoi and attack Yuanyan together." Liu Yao said, "As for Hulao Pass, I will order Wang Sang and Shi Chao to lead the troops southward from east to west.
, hold it on the back."
"As ordered." Wang Mi and Zhao Gu responded in unison.
Actually, going to Yiyang is not a bad thing.
I heard that it was the territory of the Shao thieves, and it was relatively densely populated, so they might be able to plunder some of it to increase their military supplies.
Anyway, the battle has been fought like this, so what if we give it a try?
The two of them didn't waste any time, and immediately went to gather their troops, slowly retreated, and headed towards Yiyang.
Liu Yao personally led the cavalry patrol in the wild, waiting for opportunities to intercept and kill the messengers, and also to see if any Jin troops had lost their heads and left the city to fight in the field.
If the situation is like this, he has made the best choice.
Chapter completed!