In a moment of joy, I climbed over several mountain peaks. The heavy rain flooded the dense forest and turned it into a swamp.
The next day, when Yan Liang woke up, it was already three o'clock in the morning.
Zhu Rong was lying on her left side, and Hua Wan was lying on her right side. The two of them were sleeping soundly, and their beautiful faces were filled with unfinished love.
A proud smile appeared on the corner of Yan Liang's lips, and he stood up in high spirits and jumped out of bed.
Yan Liang, who was dressed neatly and proud of the spring breeze, walked out of the tent.
After enjoying the gentle village, there are more people outside, waiting for him to ravage.
Hearing the sound of footsteps fading away, Yan Liangren was gone. Only then did Zhu Rong open his eyes, his slightly red and swollen lips moved slightly, and he breathed out softly.
In fact, she had already woken up and was just pretending to sleep.
After the excitement last night, Zhu Rong could not calm down for a long time.
Because the woman who was serving him was none other than her daughter.
All my ugly looks and all my encounters were all seen by Hua Wan last night.
Zhu Rong knew that as a mother, the last bit of beauty left in her daughter's mind had been torn to pieces.
Zhu Rong felt ashamed and couldn't calm down for a long time, so how could he fall asleep.
Just as Zhu Rong sighed, the flower wand on the other side of the pillow also opened his eyes.
The mother and daughter looked at each other.
Suddenly, Zhu Rong felt as if time had frozen.
To Zhu Rong, his daughter's clear eyes were like knives, piercing Zhu Rong's heart deeply.
The endless shameful things happened like a tide in the blink of an eye.
In shame, Zhu Rong hurriedly moved his eyes away, not daring to look at his daughter.
At the same time, she quickly pulled the quilt up to cover her naked shoulders and arms, fearing that her daughter would see her disheveled appearance.
But at this time, Hua Wan smiled faintly, stretched out her lotus-like arms, and gently placed her delicate hands on her mother's shoulders.
"Mother, all of this is fate. We are destined to serve Da Sima together. Mother does not need to feel ashamed at all. My daughter does not look down upon her at all."
Hua Wan's comforting words were like a spring breeze, blowing away the gloom in Zhu Rong's heart.
The shame gradually disappeared, and her heart gradually calmed down.
With a sigh, Zhu Rong turned around, stretched out his arms, and took Hua Wan into his arms.
The mother and daughter, who were sharing the same pillow, hugged each other tightly, and a look of relief quietly passed over Zhu Rong's charming face.
Of course Yan Liang didn't know that the Nanyi mother and daughter had put aside their worries. He didn't even bother to know.
After a moment of pleasure, all Yan Liang's energy had been concentrated on taking Hanzhong from the north.
After the army rested for three days, Yan Liang personally led the army from Baishui Pass to the north and rushed towards Hanzhong in a mighty manner.
The gateway to Hanzhong lies at Yangping Pass, so Yan Liang's focus in taking Hanzhong from the north was also to break through Yangping Pass.
A few days later, an army of 70,000 troops commanded by Yan Liang arrived west of Yangping Pass.
After the garrison was completed, Yan Liang summoned all the civil and military personnel in the Chinese army's tent to discuss how to break through the barrier.
According to the reconnaissance intelligence, Xia Houyuan at this time was already ready for the battle and had re-deployed the 40,000 Cao troops in Hanzhong.
Regarding Yangping Pass, Xia Houyuan personally took charge and commanded 20,000 troops to guard the pass.
In Wuxing City, which is more than 20 miles north of Yangping Pass, Xiahou Yuan ordered Xu Huang to lead 10,000 troops to station there, forming a horn with Yangping Pass to defend Chencang in the north.
As for Wudu County to the west of Yangping Pass, Cao Cao led Cao Zhen to lead an army of 10,000 troops and stationed them at the lower part of Wudu County to maintain smooth communication between Longyou and the Han Dynasty.
Generally speaking, Xia Houyuan can be regarded as building a defense system with Yangping Pass as the center and forming horns with each other.
After reading the scouts' intelligence, Yan Liang's eyes fell on the counselors and asked: "The defense situation in Hanzhong is like this. What do you think?"
"It is thought that before attacking Yangping Pass, our army should first capture Wuxing in the north, attack Xiabian in the west, cut off the grain road from Guanlong to Hanzhong, and then attack Yangping Pass."
Fazheng, who knew the terrain well, revealed his strategy without hesitation.
Yan Liang nodded slightly, fully convinced of Fa Zheng's strategy.
Earlier, Cao Cao gathered an army of more than 100,000 in Hanzhong, which consumed a lot of food. In fact, he had already consumed more than half of the food and grass that Zhang Lu had gathered for many years.
The total population of Hanzhong is only over 200,000. According to the ratio of civilians to soldiers of 10:1, in fact, it can only support an army of 20,000 to 30,000 at most.
The number of Cao's troops in Hanzhong today is 40,000, and the food of one county in Hanzhong is simply not enough to support them.
Therefore, most of the military rations needed by Hanzhong had to be transported from Guanlong.
Because the three valley roads of Xiegu, Baogu and Ziwugu have difficult terrain and are not conducive to transportation, most of the grain and grass from Guanzhong is transported southward from Chencang via Dashan Pass to Yangping Pass and then to Hanzhong.
Most of the grain and grass from Longyou counties were transported from Qishan to Yangpingguan from the west via Wudu County.
Although these two roads are relatively far from Chang'an, they are the main grain roads in Hanzhong because of the relatively wide and flat terrain.
Fazheng's strategy was to attack Wuxing in the north and Xiabian in the west, and first cut off the grain road in Hanzhong. If the grain road was blocked, the morale of Cao's army in Hanzhong would be in chaos. At that time, Yan Liang could attack Yangping again, which would achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Although Yan Liang did not know the terrain of Hanzhong as well as Fazheng, he was familiar with history and remembered that in history, Liu Bei used the same move when he captured Hanzhong.
Now that Fazheng has proposed this strategy, there is no reason why Yan Liang should not follow it.
Now that the plan had been decided, Yan Liang ordered the Shu generals Zhang Ren, Wu Lan, and Lei Tong to lead 20,000 troops to attack Xiabian, and ordered Li Yan and Zhu Huan to lead 10,000 troops to attack Wuxing.
Yan Liang himself led an army of 40,000 and stationed troops to the west of Yangping Pass, forming an oppressive force on Xia Houyuan, making him dare not divide his troops to rescue other places.
The military order has been issued, and all the armies set off at the right time, each acting according to his plan.
It was almost autumn at this time, the weather was cool, and it was perfect weather for fighting.
After the defeat of Cao Cao in the previous campaign, the morale of Yan Jun's officers and soldiers was high. Everyone worked bravely and strived to make meritorious deeds.
Not long after Zhang Ren's troops arrived at Xiabian, they immediately defeated Cao Zhen's camp outside the city. Cao Zhen was forced to defend Xiabian city and fell into a passive defense situation.
Xu Huang of Wuxing City, facing the fierce attack of Li Yan and Zhu Huan, could only hold on to the camp and did not dare to fight.
Two groups of soldiers and horses attacked Ban Yue. Although they failed to defeat Cao Jun, they overwhelmed Cao Jun in terms of momentum.
At the same time, because Cao's army could not force back the fiercely attacking Yan's army, the grain and grass from Guanlong could not be transported south to Hanzhong smoothly. After October, Xia Houyuan's Hanzhong Army was already in a shortage of food and grass.
In this unfavorable situation, Xia Houyuan had no choice but to send people to Chang'an to ask Cao Cao for assistance.
At this time, Cao Cao was still bedridden and could not come to rescue Xia Houyuan in person. He had to send two generals, Guo Huai and Du Xi, with an army of 10,000 to reinforce Hanzhong. He also ordered the grain and grass destined for Hanzhong to be transported southward through Xiegu.
Although this arrangement temporarily alleviated Xiahou Yuan's unfavorable situation, due to the difficult terrain of the sloping valley, six to seven tenths of the grain and grass transported were consumed on the road. The situation of insufficient grain and grass in Hanzhong has not been fundamentally improved.
Chang'an.
All kinds of unfavorable information from Xiabian, Wuxing, and Yangpingguan flew to Chang'an like a snowflake.
Every unfavorable battle report is like adding salt to Cao Cao's wounds, causing Cao Cao a headache.
At this time, Cao Cao seemed to have begun to realize that he should not have rashly launched a war against Yan Liang after capturing Hanzhong, but should have focused his main energy on improving Hanzhong's defense system.
If that's the case, Baishui Pass and other dangerous points are all in Cao Cao's hands. Cao Cao only needs more than ten thousand troops to guard Baishui Pass to prevent Yan Liang from advancing northward.
Then, the situation in Hanzhong would not be such a dilemma for him.
Without the quagmire of Hanzhong, at this time, he might be able to raise troops to march eastward and find profit points from the war between Yuan Tan and Liu Bei.
Because at this time, Cao Cao had deeply felt that Yan Liang, an arrogant common man, was far more difficult to deal with than Liu Bei, a hypocrite.
After weighing for a long time, Cao Cao, on the advice of Guo Jia and others, ordered more than 200,000 people from Hanzhong to be gradually moved to Guanzhong.
The Prime Minister's Order was introduced to Hanzhong, and the Hanzhong people who had lived here for generations were forced to leave their homes and cross the Qinling Mountains, driven by the county soldiers, and were forced to go to Guanzhong.
Such a large-scale immigration naturally cannot be hidden from Yan Liang's eyes and ears. If there is any movement in Hanzhong, Yan Liang will receive the news.
Yan Liang immediately realized that this was a negative signal sent by Cao Cao, showing that he lacked confidence in holding Hanzhong. Such a move would definitely have a great impact on the morale of the army.
Pang Tong and other counselors also grasped this point keenly and immediately suggested that Yan Liang take advantage of this opportunity to launch a general attack on Yangping Pass.
Having stationed troops at the pass for a long time and recuperating their strength, Yan Liang then issued an order for 40,000 troops to launch a fierce attack on Yangping Pass.
…
Yangpingguan, Hujun Mansion.
In the simple furnished hall, Xia Houyuan stared at the silk book in his hand, with a look of resentment on his solemn face, and secretly gritted his teeth.
"Yuan is incompetent and can't repel the Yan thief, so the prime minister came up with this plan." Xia Houyuan sighed after biting for a long time.
"Second uncle, dinner is ready. Second uncle, hurry up and use some while it's hot." Footsteps sounded, and a young girl of fifteen or sixteen years old with delicate features walked into the hall.
This girl's name is Xia Houjuan. She was originally Xia Houyuan's niece. Because her father died in the war, Xia Houyuan adopted her. Seeing that the girl was well-behaved and smart, he kept her with him to fetch water, cook and take care of himself.
daily life.
Xia Houyuan glanced at the food, then waved his hand and said, "I don't have any appetite, so take it all away."
"Juan sees that the second uncle's face is not good. Could it be that there is something difficult in the army that worries the second uncle?" Xia Houjuan asked thoughtfully.
Xia Houyuan sighed, and then showed Cao Cao's order to move the people to Hanzhong to his niece.
Xia Houjuan looked at it and frowned slightly: "The Prime Minister ordered the people who moved Hanzhong to go to Guanzhong. Isn't this a hint to the soldiers that the Prime Minister is not confident enough to hold Hanzhong? This will damage the morale of the army."
Xiahou Juan followed Xiahou Yuan for a long time, saw a lot of things in the world, and gained some insights.
Xia Houyuan nodded, but said: "The Prime Minister did this out of helplessness. Yan Liang will not retreat for my uncle, and the grain roads in Hanzhong are not smooth. Now it has become a drag on the court. It is understandable for the Prime Minister to be prepared."
"It's that Yan Liang dog thief again. My niece only wishes she wasn't born as a man, otherwise she could go into battle for her second uncle and kill the dog thief with her own hands."