Chapter 363: The Starting Point of the God of War Road
Taishan County is the junction of Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou and Xuzhou, and is the largest mountainous area among the four states.
The strategic value is extremely high.
No matter which side gets Taishan County, it is equivalent to getting a barrier.
The northern part is the mountainous area composed of Taishan Mountain, Guishan Mountain, Youlaishan Mountain, Liangfu Mountain, Yuanshan Mountain and Linle Mountain, and the southern part is the Mengshan Mountain Area, which is the modern Yimeng area.
There are five ways to enter Taishan County: from the Jibei State in Yanzhou, take the Wen River to enter the northern mountainous area; from the Qi State of Qingzhou, take the Zi River to the west; from the Lu State of Yuzhou, take the Zhu River to the east; from Xuzhou, take the Wushui River and the Yishui River to the north.
Every step of the way is an attack from above.
Qingzhou was initially determined, and Jizhou was still needed to support supplies and stabilize the people, so Liu Xiang led his army to march southeast, from Licheng, through Zhu'a, and entered the territory of Jibei Kingdom. He wanted to occupy the northern part of Jibei Kingdom first and open up the connection between Jibei and Jizhou.
supply line, then go south to Wenshui, from east to west, and attack the mountainous area in the northern part of Taishan County.
There is no way. Although Jinan is located directly north of Taishan County, it is blocked by mountains and there is no direct road connecting it. We can only attack Jinan first.
His supply line for conquering Qingzhou was Pingyuan, Gaotang, and Licheng. Now that he wanted to attack Mount Tai, the supply line had to be changed to Pingyuan, Gaotang, and Luxian.
Lu County is the capital of Jibei Kingdom.
Jibei Prime Minister Bao Xin was a staunch supporter of Cao Cao. When the Anping Army attacked Qingzhou, he raised his vigilance and gathered troops in Guodulu County.
It was impossible not to be vigilant. Lu County was only ninety miles away from Licheng. The cavalry raid could arrive in one day and the infantry could reach the city in two or three days. He did not dare to take the initiative to attack. The newly born Cao Cao group did not dare to take the initiative to provoke Liu Xiang.
But things are different now. The enemy has entered the jurisdiction and we have to fight if we don't want to.
Zhang Liao established a camp ten miles northeast of Lu County and waited for the arrival of the main force. The enemy was well prepared and had already fortified the walls and cleared the country, so they had to fight an siege.
Liu Xiang didn't like attacking cities, but he had no choice this time.
The army set up camp and built siege equipment. He took the guards to inspect the city.
Hundreds of cavalry circled around Lu County. Bao Xin on the city tower drooled with envy. Hundreds of armored cavalry were used to scout the city defense. It was so fucking rich.
"How amazing are the cavalry?" he complained sourly.
He couldn't help but be envious. Cao Cao didn't have any formal armored cavalry under his command, and all the cavalry combined were not as numerous as other people's reconnaissance troops.
He was getting discouraged just thinking about it. How could he fight? Apart from defending the city, he had no other option. The messengers asking for help had been sent out early, and he didn't know if reinforcements would arrive.
Even if reinforcements come, I don't know if they can defeat them.
Bao's confidence was very weak.
Liu Xiang looked around and saw that Lu County was not a big city, with a circumference of less than six miles. There were quite a lot of garrison troops in the upper city, densely packed, tens of thousands of them. Their uniforms and equipment were not uniform, and many of them were recruited.
Young and strong.
Jibei Kingdom is not a big country. It only had three counties when it was first established. Over the past 90 years since its founding, it has grown to five counties with a population of about 200,000.
After these two years of turmoil, the population is only a few hundred thousand, right? It is estimated that all the young people have been concentrated in Lu County.
He took a few steps closer to the east gate and shouted to Bao Xin on the tower: "Bao Yuncheng, Jibei is exhausted and has a weak army and few generals. Why bother to resist?"
"It's still unclear who will win and who will lose, so why bother talking?" Bao Xin replied firmly.
Both of them were guarding against the other party's cold arrows, and they were far apart. Liu Xiang felt that it was very difficult to shout, so he invited loudly: "Bao Yuncheng, do you dare to come down and talk?"
"Don't dare!" Bao Xin blurted out.
Liu Xiang was stunned by this answer. When did a timid person speak so confidently? Don't you even need to express it tactfully?
Liu Xiang who was below the city was surprised, while Bao Xin who was above the city was regretting what he said. He was so nervous that he blurted out his true thoughts. Looking at his subordinates with different expressions around him, he just wanted to slap himself twice.
"The enemy chief's tactics are deceitful, and I will never be fooled." He didn't know if this explanation could be rounded off, but now he had the desire to cover his face and run home.
If Bao Xin came to modern times, he would know that this feeling is called social death.
But his words of "dare not dare" also made Liu Xiang give up the idea of persuading him to surrender. The enemy was well prepared and the position of Lu County could not be bypassed. A siege was unavoidable and the city must be captured.
Then fight.
If you want to attack a city, you need equipment, and it is also important to kill the reinforcements.
The preparations before the siege were difficult to complete in a short period of time, so we had to find a way to kill the reinforcements first.
Cui Yi was left to guard the camp, and commanded all the troops to strengthen the camp, dig wells, manufacture siege equipment, and stockpile grain, grass, and stone bullets. Bao Xinjian did a thorough job of clearing the country, and the Anping Army's wood had to be harvested and transported far away, so the preparation work was very long.
It's cumbersome and time-consuming.
The troops sent out this time included 25,000 soldiers and 15,000 Qingzhou Army soldiers to serve as civilians. This was a bit insufficient, but spring plowing was about to begin and Qingzhou's civilians could not be mobilized.
Liu Xiang led Su Wei and Yue Qi out of camp at night, bypassed Lu County, and quietly headed west along the Jishui River.
Cao Cao's main force is heading south in Yingchuan, but it is impossible not to leave troops to guard Yanzhou. If he wants to quickly support Jibei, he must either go to Jishui in the north or Wenshui in the south. Lu County is to the north, and his own supply line is also in the north.
Reinforcements will most likely take the northern route.
He wanted to touch it and give the other party a surprise.
The direction of Jishui in Jibei Kingdom is from southwest to northeast. It bypasses Lu County and goes westward for more than 30 miles to reach the river. Going westward along Jishui, it is Linyi, Gucheng, and Dong'e, which is Dongjun.
The area under our jurisdiction is densely populated and cannot be passed through.
Three thousand five hundred cavalry stopped at the border between Jibei Kingdom and Dongjun. They hid in the dense forest on the south bank of Jishui River and sent many scouts to inquire about the whereabouts of the reinforcements.
Liu Xiang was not sure when the reinforcements would arrive and which route they would take. He just took advantage of the preparations to attack the city and came to squat down for the reinforcements who might be passing by.
Whether there are dates or not, let’s take a shot first and then talk about it.
This pole really touched the jujube.
This jujube is called Xiahoudun.
On the fourth day of waiting, he appeared in the upper reaches of Jishui River and was hurriedly marching eastward along the river bank. The team of more than 10,000 people stretched for five miles on the south bank.
As expected of Xiahou Dun, the God of War who had never won a hundred battles. With this method of marching, there was no need to wait for a night attack. Even if he rushed over openly, the enemy would not have time to form a formation.
Yan Gang, who saw the detective report, always suspected that the scout had made a mistake. Is this a refugee?
I couldn't help but asked repeatedly, and the scouts assured me swornly. They had banners, weapons, and captured prisoners for torture. The general's name was Xiahou Dun, and he was a soldier from Yanzhou. That's right.
If God does not take it, you will be blamed for it; when the time comes, you will not be able to do it, but you will suffer the disaster.
If I don't do this to him, my father will blame me.
The 3,500 cavalrymen immediately put on their armor, checked their bows, arrows, and weapons. After everything was ready, they mounted their horses and headed west, rushing towards the Yanzhou reinforcements.
Su Wei is in front, and Yue Qi is behind, preparing to help the enemy general Xiahou Dun and start the road to the God of War.