After seeing off the envoy, Yan Liang's troops marched for another three days before arriving at Yangping Pass. It took a lot of effort to clear traps and remove hidden sentries along the way. Yan Liang was even ambushed by Zhang Lujun in a valley fifty miles away from Yangping. , Fortunately, the opponent was a small force, and we lost more than a hundred soldiers before we were able to repel the opponent.
Ten miles away from Yangping Pass, Yan Liang ordered his people to set up camp, and asked Cao Rentong to survey the terrain. The two of them rode lightly on Jian Cong to the pass, raised their heads and looked around, and couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.
What a dangerous pass.
I saw that Yangping Pass was more than eight feet high, with a length of no more than two or three miles in front, and an inverted funnel shape. Yan Liang was at the top of the funnel, and it was only a few miles narrow. In such a narrow place, it was difficult to even arrange troops. .
On both sides of the wall, there are almost ninety-degree vertical cliffs, which are integrated with the city wall, like a bloody mouth, as if it can swallow up everyone who wants to pass through. On the city wall, there are figures and five-color flags. There were also flags waving on the cliffs on both sides, obviously there were people stationed for defense.
Just by looking at it briefly, Cao Ren felt an overwhelming awe, a cool breeze, and cold sweat could not help but seep out of his skin and soak into his armor.
The city is eight feet high. To attack such a tall city wall, at least wells and ladders of the same height are needed. The width of the front outside the city gate is only more than two miles, which means that even if the attacking party wants to go all out, it can only be done at one time. It can invest thousands of troops. In other words, relying on the towering city wall, the defenders only need a few hundred people to withstand an enemy attack that is ten times the number. Once the defenders have enough troops, they can attack the city. It is more difficult to take the pass by force.
And that's not all that's causing headaches in Yangping Pass. Zhang Lu's troops are obviously stationed on the cliffs on both sides. If they attack the city, they will inevitably be attacked by a rain of wood, stone and arrows from the left and right mountain walls. This kind of overwhelming attack from all directions. , which is probably something no siege force would want to see.
Facing such a dangerous pass, even though Cao Ren, who had been fighting in the north and south for more than 20 years and was accustomed to big scenes, was under great pressure, he naturally felt powerless in his heart.
Gu, Cao Ren swallowed his saliva and said: "Yangping Pass is so dangerous, I'm afraid we..." What Cao Ren wanted to say is that as long as the defenders have sufficient strength, not to mention the 50,000 Chinese troops who came this time, even 50,000 more It's hard to take Yangping Pass.
It's not that Cao Ren was timid, it was because Yangping Pass was too dangerous and he didn't want to risk the lives of his soldiers because he was unsure, so he rashly attacked Yangping Pass.
Yan Liang gritted his teeth and said: "I'm afraid of the ball. Tomorrow I will personally lead a team of troops to attack the city and test the capabilities of the defenders." Just kidding, after working hard to come to Yangping Pass and sitting there without moving a knife or a gun, it is not Yan Liang's fault. However, Yan Liang was not a fool. He did not plan to attack by force, but decided to test it out first, to feel out the truth first, and then discuss it with Cao Ren when he came back.
Hearing that Yan Liang just wanted to test it out, Cao Ren agreed: "Okay, but the soldiers are tired all the way, so why not rest for two days while building siege equipment, and launch the attack again after two days."
After hearing what Cao Ren said, Yan Liang did not object and ordered his sergeants to build siege equipment and launch an attack three days later.
…………
Three days later, Yan Liang personally put on the armor and ordered three thousand soldiers and horses to go into battle.
A group of people arrived at the Yangping Pass. Yan Liang came out to fight. The Yangping guard closed the door tightly and ordered the sergeants to abuse him in every possible way. Yan Liang was furious and gave an order. Half of the three thousand sergeants held up long cards and pushed heavy arrow shields. The chariot slowly approached the Guan wall, half of them drew their bows and fired arrows, launching suppressive fire on the Guan garrison.
The Jin army kept making noises and was approaching, but the city guarding sergeants showed no signs of movement and were very calm. However, they did have the ability to stay calm. The arrows fired by the Jin army's crossbowmen flew up to the eight-foot-high city wall, and they almost lost their lethality.
Watching Guan Guan remain stationary, Yan Liang also felt the surge of pressure in his heart. It would be better if there was movement as soon as he entered the opponent's attack range. At least the soldiers could adapt as soon as possible. But now it seems that the psychological quality of the Hanzhong Army is quite good, and there is obviously no general. These three to two thousand people take it seriously, and the guard still has evil thoughts. Once he takes action next, it will be like thunder.
The situation was exactly as Yan Liang expected. Seeing the Jin army approaching within 20 steps of the city, he saw a rapid banging sound coming from the city, a red flag fluttering, Yang Ping closed, and the mountain walls on both sides suddenly seemed to explode. Like a pot, thousands of Hanzhong troops stood up.
For a time, arrows rained down on the city, with wood and rocks rolling on both sides, and the arrows were as dense as the wind and rain. These attacks came from all directions, before and after the attack. Before the Jin army could react, they were hit by this terrifying offensive. Confused.
With the heavy armor on his body, the threat of bows and arrows was smaller, but the rolling stones weighing more than ten or even dozens of kilograms were full-scale murderous weapons. The stones fell like rain, and some of the Jin army's hands and feet were broken. Some of them had blood-stained faces, their vaginas were bursting, and they were even defeated for a moment.
"Retreat, retreat. Even though Yan Liang was mentally prepared, he was still shocked when he saw this situation. He hurriedly ordered his subordinates to pay gold to withdraw the troops. The siege soldiers supported each other and retreated in embarrassment. Even the newly built ladders and arrow-blocking vehicles were too late. Bring it back.
Yan Liang returned to the camp to plan his troops. Just now, he had suffered three to four hundred casualties without even making a cup of tea. Not only that, when he returned to the camp, many of the sergeants who had been shot by arrows had swollen wounds, unbearable pain, and were crying. He died day and night. Yan Liang asked the doctor to look at the places where arrows were hit. The wounds were black and suppurating. It was obvious that many of the arrows of the Hanzhong Army were poisoned.
Yan Liang was depressed and ordered people to collect the bodies of the fallen soldiers and went back to his tent to discuss with Cao Ren.
Cao Ren also looked at the battle situation and said with an ugly face: "It seems that Yangping Pass cannot be captured by a frontal attack. If you want to attack the city, you must first clear out the defenders on the two flanks of the mountain. Tomorrow, you can send a small group of soldiers to the mountain to explore the way. The general and I each led a group of soldiers and horses to clear out the defenders on the mountains along the way. Only by working step by step can we break through the Yangping Pass."
"Moreover, the poisonous arrows of the defenders are also a killing weapon. In future battles, we will inevitably have to be prepared for the poisonous arrows. Now we must quickly find a way to detoxify it. It is best to dispatch a group of doctors as soon as possible to prepare for it. When needed,"
Yan Liang nodded in agreement and immediately sent an order to select strong men from the army to go up the mountain to explore the road. He also went to Yongzhou overnight tomorrow and asked the horse farm to help recruit a group of doctors and craftsmen to accompany the army.
On the second day, dozens of small teams consisting of dozens of people set out from the camp, climbed up the mountain from a gentle place in left and right directions, looked for roads along the mountain ridges, and explored the Hanzhong Army's camp on the mountain.
However, the harsh conditions on the mountain clearly exceeded Cao Ren's expectations. Not to mention the ups and downs of the mountains outside the pass, the mountains were lush with trees and jagged rocks. From time to time, ferocious beasts appeared in the forest. In addition, traps from the Hanzhong Army could appear everywhere. It can be imagined how difficult it is to search for the Hanzhong Army's stronghold in such dense mountain forests, and it can be said to be a murderous attack at every step.
The Sou Shan team marched cautiously and arduously in the mountains and forests, encountering ambushes and surprise attacks by enemy soldiers from time to time. Although Jin army soldiers generally have excellent individual qualities and are well organized, after all, most of them are from the Central Plains area and are good at flat ground warfare and positional warfare. Fighting in such a complex environment, the Jin army's soldiers could exert less than half of their usual combat effectiveness.
In contrast, the Hanzhong Army is the real master of this mountain forest. They have long been accustomed to this mountainous area, and their ghostly and flexible mountain warfare methods are completely integrated into their blood. They are constantly attacking the Jin Army with small units. While causing trouble, they also occasionally used a slightly larger force to launch strong attacks on some isolated Jin troops. Such a two-pronged approach almost made it difficult for the Jin army to advance while suffering heavy losses.
Of course, it is a bit exaggerated to be unable to move forward even a step, but for more than ten days, the Soushan team only advanced less than ten miles.