Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 756 The end of the road

In the northern part of Shu Kingdom, Lizhou is like a bright bead, inlaid on the east bank of the Jialing River. Surrounded by mountains and steep terrain, this place is the choke point for entering Shu. It has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times.

Wang Quanbin led the mighty army, which was unstoppable. They approached the foot of Lizhou City, intending to capture this strategic location in one fell swoop. However, Shu's generals Quan Shixiong and Zhao Chongtao were not idlers. They were determined to defend Lizhou and not let the Song army advance even half a step.

In order to prevent the Song army from attacking, Quan Shixiong and Zhao Chongtao sent out capable soldiers to cut off the plank roads one by one. These plank roads hang on the cliffs and are the only access to Lizhou. Now, they have become a stumbling block for the Song army's advancement, making it difficult for the enemy to advance directly.

But the Song army was not helpless because of the cutoff of the plank road. On the surface, they continued to launch a fierce attack on Lizhou, but secretly they quietly sent out elite troops to repair the plank road, intending to break through the Shu army's defense line from the flanks.

After some hard work, the Song army successfully repaired the plank road and quickly occupied Xiaomantian Village.

Immediately afterwards, the Song army was unstoppable in the Shu road, continuously attacking the large and small Mantian villages and defeating the elite troops of the Shu army. In this battle, the Shu army suffered heavy losses, and even senior generals such as Wang Shenchao, the governor of Yizhou, were captured by the Song army.

The situation in Lizhou took a turn for the worse. Although Quan Shixiong and Zhao Chongtao led the Shu army to resist desperately, they were defeated by the Song army in two battles. Faced with such a severe situation, they had to make a difficult decision-to abandon Lizhou and retreat to the more dangerous Jianmen Pass for defense.

The terrain of Jianmen Pass is steep, easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is the last line of defense in Sichuan.

Quan Shixiong and Zhao Chongtao knew that once Jianmen Pass was lost, the Shu Kingdom would be unable to defend itself and face the danger of annihilation.

Therefore, they planned to rely on the natural danger of Jianmen Pass to resist the Song army's attack with 30,000 soldiers and horses!

"Jianmen Pass is our last line of defense. Once Jianmen Pass is broken, there will inevitably be a crisis in the capital of Shu. We have a heavy responsibility!"

Quan Shixiong sighed and felt helpless, thinking that the Shu Kingdom was really in danger of collapse.

"Boom boom boom!"

The war drums outside the pass are thundering, and the Song army is training its troops and horses in preparation for attacking Jianmen Pass.

When Meng Chang, the leader of the Shu capital, learned about the situation on the front line, he was frightened and ordered the prince Meng Xuanzhe, who had never practiced martial arts, as marshal. He led more than 10,000 soldiers to reinforce Jianmen, an important barrier to Shu.

At this time, the Northern Route Army of the Song Dynasty had occupied Yiguang City north of Jianzhou. They rested for a few days, making a gesture of storming Jianmen Pass while plotting strange plots.

Because Wang Quanbin knew that Jianmen was naturally dangerous and difficult to attack by force, he discussed it with his generals and personally surveyed the terrain. Then he ordered Shi Yande to lead an army of 8,000 people and detour to the south of Jianmen via the Laisu Trail in the southeast of the city. He then ordered the main force to follow Attack from the front and cooperate with it.

When Quanshixiong heard that the Song army was approaching, he personally led the main force to retreat to Hanyuan Slope southeast of Jianmen to fight against Shi Yande's troops, leaving Zhao Chongtao to guard the city's Xiongguan.

But the Song army was too fierce. The elite troops of the Song army fought against Quan Shixiong. This time, they absorbed the lessons from the previous defeat. The Song army fought steadily and used the elite Northwest Army. The Shu army was defeated quickly, and the entire division was defeated. Xiong is also helpless.

The hand of the card was so bad that even though Quan Shixiong was proficient in the art of war and had some military talent, he was unable to make up for the disparity among the soldiers. The city gate is in a hurry and the situation is precarious.

At this time, the spies from Jianzhou sent by the Song Army a long time ago came into play and created chaos at the city gate. The city gate quickly fell into panic and was finally broken by the Song Army.

Zhao Chongtao led his troops to resist bravely, but in the end he was defeated by the Song army and was defeated and captured, resulting in the loss of Jianmen Pass. "Hey, the situation is over!" Seeing that the situation was irreversible, Quan Shixiong had no choice but to lead the remaining soldiers to flee in a hurry.

Prince Meng Xuanzhe led 10,000 troops. As soon as he arrived in Mianzhou, he heard the bad news that Jianmen had been lost. He suddenly felt that the way forward was hopeless and did not dare to continue heading north, so he decided to abandon the army and flee back to Chengdu alone. The defeat of this war has been decided, and the fate of Shu is at stake.

Shu capital, inside the palace.

"It's unreasonable. Jianmen Pass has been lost!" Upon hearing the news, the leader of the country, Meng Chang, turned pale with shock and almost jumped up from the dragon chair.

In the main hall, the air seemed to freeze for an instant. The civil and military officials looked at each other with unspeakable shock and panic in their eyes.

Jianmen Pass is the northern barrier of the Shu Kingdom. Once it is lost, it will be like the country's gate is wide open, and the enemy can march in at any time.

Privy Councilor Yi Shenzheng frowned, with a hint of worry in his eyes; the admonishing doctor Jia E's hands were trembling, as if he could not accept the sudden bad news; Taifu Qing Gao Xi was silent, but the wrinkles on his face seemed A little deeper.

Inspection officer Li Tinggui gritted his teeth, obviously extremely angry; while the left and right guard generals Han Baozheng and Li Jin looked at each other, and they could see the determination and firmness in each other's eyes.

Meng Chang took a deep breath, managed to calm down, and asked the civil and military officials: "My dear friends, now that the country is facing a national crisis, I urgently need your advice. How should we deal with this sudden crisis? Do you have any good strategies to defeat the enemy and save the country?"

Privy Councilor Yi Shenzheng stood up in the main hall. He raised his hands solemnly and spoke to the king of the country, Meng Chang.

There was a hint of calmness and determination in his words: "Master, although the situation is critical now, we still have 140,000 soldiers and horses defending the capital of Shu, and the food and grass reserves in the city are enough for half a year. As long as we strengthen our faith and work together, we will definitely succeed If we can resist the Song army for a period of time, as long as we can hold on for half a year, we can get the opportunity to ask for help from Wu or the Northern Han Dynasty. However, the Song army will inevitably retreat due to lack of food and low morale after a long journey. "

After hearing these words, Meng Chang let out a long sigh: "Privy Councilor, you are right. We can indeed deal with the Song army with the soldiers, horses, food and grass in the city. But have you ever thought about this? How much pain will our people in Shu capital endure in half a year? They do not have enough food reserves. Once the city is besieged by the Song army, the price of rice will soar in two to three months, and the people will not be able to survive at all. If you can’t afford food, you’ll have to starve to death! There will even be cases of cannibalism! This… this is simply hell on earth!”

Meng Chang's words echoed in the hall, and everyone fell silent after listening. They knew that what the king said was true. Once a war broke out, the innocent people would suffer the most.

For a time, the hall was filled with a depressing and heavy atmosphere.

General Li Jin walked out of the train, raised his hands to Meng Chang with a solemn expression and said: "Master, we still have more than 100,000 elite soldiers and horses in Sichuan, which is a major advantage for us. I think we might as well take advantage of this advantage. A desperate battle with the main force of the Song army outside the city would be good, and it would ensure peace in Shu; however, if we are defeated..."

His words paused slightly here, and his eyes revealed deep worry. Although he did not finish his words, he left Meng Chang and the civil and military officials present with endless space for thinking.

Everyone understood that what Li Jin said was true. Once defeated, the consequences would be disastrous, and surrender might be the only way out.

But Li Jin's suggestion is not unreasonable. Under the current predicament, a decisive battle with the Song army may be able to win a glimmer of hope for the ruler of the country and the people in Shu. Rather than sit back and wait for death, it is better to rise up and give it a try. This may be what Li Jin really thinks at this moment.

This is a decisive battle, and all the national destiny will be eliminated, so that the common people will not suffer.

Meng Chang thought for a moment, nodded and sighed: "That's all."