Chapter 621: Making a sound from the west and attacking from the east
After the Han Dynasty lost the three counties of Hanzhong, it became more difficult to transmit messages. The route from the north to the three counties in the east and Hanzhong was strictly investigated by the Wei army. Now the female cadres of the Han Dynasty can only go around Jingyu and go from the east to Hanzhong.
Follow the river back.
Sima Shi turned to Shi Bao from Soochow for help, and arranged for his confidant Cai Hong to go to Wuchang. The female cadres sent to the Wei State had to first transfer to Wu State, and then Cai Hong delivered the message to Chengdu.
When Jiang Wei was discussing matters in the palace, he claimed that he was "still waiting for news", which was referring to the news about Cai Hong.
In fact, it is very easy to find out about major events such as the Chinese army's expedition in Luoyang. There is a lot of movement, and even the people in Luoyang city should be aware of it. The main problem is that it takes too long to transmit the news!
Therefore, Jiang Wei failed to determine Cao Jun's intentions in time and could only lead a large number of troops to reinforce Jiange. The Han court also mobilized soldiers and horses from Chengdu, Mianzhu and other places to go north, which would inevitably affect the busy autumn harvest.
This time Jiang Wei's suggestion was not wrong, but his prediction was obviously wrong!
Cao's army was unable to break through Jiange and other three routes to the west, and it was basically a confrontation. However, the Han army on Micang Road and Jiandao in the east did not receive reinforcements and had too few troops, so they soon encountered a strong attack.
In early August, Hanchang (Bazhong) in Brazil County in the southern section of Micang Road was first besieged.
Although the Micang Road was rugged and difficult to navigate, Cao's army, Hu Fen's troops, took Nanzheng and went directly south. The distance was not too far, so they pressed a large number of troops on the border. The Han army's defender Liu Yin did not have enough troops and was completely unable to counterattack, so he could only stay behind closed doors.
In Hanchang, so many people were robbed from all sides! Even in the Langzhong area to the west, the soldiers and civilians were also in panic.
Then came the city of Xuanhan on the Bucao River on the east road. The general of Cao Wei's troops on this road was Ma Long. They set off from Hanzhong Nanxiang (Xixiang County), which was a little farther away. After more than ten days, they took the indirect route to attack Xuanhan.
This Ma Long was not well-known before, but his performance during the Battle of Hanzhong made Jiang Wei get angry and scold his mother. At that time, Jiang Wei deployed his extraordinary troops in advance and took the Sishui path to Luo Valley to cut off Cao's army's food route. However, the unexpected troops were defeated by Ma Long.
Ambushed and suffered a heavy defeat.
The person who dealt with Ma Long in Xuanhan this time was Luo Xian. Luo Xian is a descendant of Jingzhou scholars. He studied under Qiao Zhou, a famous scholar in Yizhou, and he is mainly a scholar!
But Luo Xian was obviously not afraid of Ma Long. Instead, he believed that Cao's army was not afraid of Cao's army because it was difficult to pass through. He did not intend to defend the city. Instead, he found an ambush point in the northeast and prepared to counterattack Ma Long and beat him.
caught off guard.
Luo Xian found the right place, but was in no hurry to mobilize his troops. Only when Cao Jun was approaching, did he choose a sunny night with bright moonlight and send troops to the back of the mountain forest overnight to avoid Cao Jun's scouts who were exploring the way.
Cao's army, coming from afar, will definitely march along the river, and this is the only way to go to Xuanhan County along the river!
Yang Zong, a scholar from Bajun, happened to be on leave at home. After hearing the news, he came to Luo Xian and followed Luo Xian to defend the Han Dynasty against the enemy. Yang Zong was also a scribe and was currently setting up an ambush in the mountains and forests.
The Han soldiers and horses were all behind the mountain, and Yang Zong led his followers to the top of the mountain to observe the situation in the distance. The winding Bucao River was just opposite, and a dirt road could be vaguely seen between the mountains and rivers, extending among the grass.
Looking into the distance along the dirt road, between the rolling hills, the air is filled with dust.
"It's coming, it's coming!" Someone beside him said in a deep voice.
Immediately, some soldiers took off the crossbow from their backs and put it in their hands. Yang Zong said, "Don't worry, wait until the bandit army gets closer!"
Because when the army is marching, it usually does not wear all armor, especially when trekking on mountain roads; when suddenly encountering an ambush, it takes time to wear armor. The closer the Han army attacks, the more advantage it will have when fighting!
Unexpectedly, after everyone waited for a long time, they still saw only loess and smoke hanging in the air. They could vaguely hear the sound of horse hooves, but no one came.
Yang Zong secretly felt that something was strange, so he immediately sent his followers to the mountains in the northeast and asked the scouts there to go in the direction of the smoke and dust to see what was going on.
After a long time, the scout climbed up to the mountain forest here and said breathlessly: "The rebel horsemen are dragging branches behind them and running back and forth on the road. The valley is full of dirt!"
The soldiers next to him looked confused and didn't know what Cao Jun was doing. But Yang Zong came to his senses immediately and cursed: "You've fallen into a trap!"
...also understand the trap
Among the people, there is also Luo Xian, the chief general of the Han army on the wall of Xuanhan City.
The scouts had already reported to the city that Cao Jun's Ma Long troops were coming from the north. But Luo Xian did not need to listen to the report anymore. Standing on the city, he had already seen a large number of people and flags appearing among the distant hills!
The general next to him looked at the formations in the distance and blurted out: "No, our people are all in the east, and there are only a few hundred people in the city. How can we defend the city?"
Another general hurriedly clasped his fists and said, "Please send people to the east quickly and order the ambush troops to come back to reinforce the city."
Luo Xian said nothing, still observing the situation in the distance.
The Xuanhan County Magistrate said: "As soon as Xuanhan is lost, the bandit army will take over and the consequences will be disastrous!"
At this time, Luo Xian finally said: "Ma Long has come from afar. His troops are exhausted. There is no food route or siege equipment. Why should you be panicked?" After saying that, he turned around and said, "Come here, send an envoy to see Yang."
Zong and others, tell them to build fortifications and fortresses along the Bucao River, and not to rush back to the army!"
The subordinates cupped their fists and said, "Here!"
The county magistrate said in astonishment: "Without soldiers, how can you defend the city?"
Luo Xian ordered again: "Open the county and temple warehouses and distribute all the cloth and goods to the people. Gather all the people and divide them into teams. The army and the people will fight to the death and defend the city!"
His own generals couldn't help but persuade him: "The bandit army is so large that once the city of Xuanhan is trapped, even if they temporarily build simple wooden ladders and attack day and night, they will be able to deplete the few men in our army and the people, women and children."
How can we stop the enemy's elite soldiers?"
Luo Xian had already issued a military order, and then he explained to the officials and generals: "Ma Long's intention is not to attack the county town by surprise, but to lay siege to the city for reinforcements. He wants to eliminate the main force of Bajun's soldiers first! As long as the county soldiers are still here, even if
It doesn't matter if we can't defend Xuanhan. We can burn all the granaries, lead the troops to break out, and then continue to deal with the thieves, resisting along the way. Malong wants to rely on indirect roads to transport food to maintain the needs of the army. It is completely impossible and will not be possible.
lasting!"
Although Luo Xian had just been appointed as the governor of Bajun, and Xuanhan County was under the jurisdiction of Baxi County, Luo Xian had held an important official position in Chengdu and had close contacts with the court ministers. This time, he also received an order from Chengdu to lead the army. Everyone tried to dissuade him.
, I can only listen to this person who looks like a scribe.
Moreover, the breakout mentioned by Luo Xian is not difficult to achieve. There are many Cao soldiers besieging the city, but due to the terrain, it is actually difficult to completely encircle Xuanhan County. The county is stuck between the large mountains to the west and the river to the east.
During this period, if the enemy forces want to surround you on all sides, it will be easy to lose contact between the north and the south; at the same time, you will not be able to move your troops to the west or due east.
Cao's army kept appearing in the distance, and soon the sky was filled with people. The people in the county seat looked at it and estimated that there were not ten thousand enemy troops in their field of vision, but several thousand!
"Dong dong dong..." The drum sound from the north suddenly became more urgent. Cao Jun's cavalry took the lead and ran towards the city wall in column. The defenders on the city immediately prepared their bows and arrows and stood ready.
Xuanhan County is located between mountains and rivers, but the location chosen for the county seat is relatively flat. The low hills and hills in the north and east directions are perfect for horse racing.
Cao Jun's cavalry approached the north gate, suddenly reorganized their formation, and rushed towards the city gate! "Crack, crackle..." The archers on the city took the lead in shooting arrows, and the arrows flew over a hundred steps away. Seeing this, Cao Jun was not surprised.
He continued to charge and then suddenly retreated in a roundabout way.
More enemy cavalry were riding along the road outside the city, heading towards the east city. However, Xuanhan County had already closed its four gates on guard, and it was impossible to break through the city gates with cavalry. Cao's soldiers did not even dare to get too close to the city wall. Cavalry shooting
He was also completely at a disadvantage against the step shots from high places.
The cavalry was scurrying around, testing the area before retreating. It was obvious that their hope of threatening the defenders with a surprise attack and causing them to collapse without a fight had completely failed.
After a while, several cavalrymen holding flags slowly approached the north city. The enemy general reined up his horse and stood there far away, shouting to the city wall: "General Wei Ma said, all the Shu Han troops have come out, and the city of Han has been declared."
It is empty, there is a great disparity between strength and weakness, and the outcome has been decided. As long as the defender opens the city and asks for surrender, General Ma will definitely not kill the soldiers and civilians in the city!"
There was a "bang" sound on the string, and an arrow flew towards the enemy's horse. Then there was another sound, and many arrows were thrown into the air. The enemy general immediately turned his horse's head, patted the horse and left.
So the enemy troops began to set up camp. Maybe Luo Xian was really right, and Cao Jun wanted to wait for an opportunity.
Attack the Han army in the fields to the east? Because the military camps that Cao Jun began to build were mainly located among the hills northeast of the city.
Cao's army never showed any signs of planning to attack the city. They just used cavalry to test it out in the morning, and never got closer than 200 steps after that.
In the evening, Yang Zong, an official in the eastern army, sent someone back. The messenger swam across the Bucao River, came to the vicinity of the county seat from the other side, swam across the river again, and walked to the south city at night and entered the city in a hanging basket.
As expected, Cao Jun divided his troops to attack the Han army Yang Zong and other troops this afternoon!
General Cao Ma Long discovered that the Han army was encamped and building fortifications on the west bank of Bucao River. Perhaps knowing that his plan to lure the enemy back for reinforcements had failed, he took advantage of the fact that the Han army's fortifications were not complete and launched an attack that day!
However, although the terrain on the river bank is not dangerous, there is no flat land and it is all mountains. The Han army occupied the high ground and fought defensively, while Ma Long led his troops to charge and kill without gaining any advantage.
The Battle of Xuanhan quickly fell into a stalemate. At first, General Cao Ma Long's main target was the Han army outside the city. One night, taking advantage of the north wind, Cao's army set fire to the mountains and forests, but it did not have much effect. The Han army Yang Zong
The other troops gave up their hillside fortifications and moved slowly westward. The fire burned to the bank of Bucao River and could not continue to spread.
Even if there were no fortifications and the Han army was prepared and only focused on defensive maneuvers, the Cao Wei army had no good way to deal with them. As a result, on the battlefields on both sides of the east and west, insults and challenges occurred frequently, and obscene words were heard endlessly.