Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 272 Veteran Wang Quanbin

Xixian County faces the Han River in the south and mountains in the north. As the gateway to the northwest of Hanzhong, the defense of this place is obviously more important than Xingzhou.

Han Baozheng fled here and did not escape again, because his army was bitten by the Zhou army. The Han River blocked the southern passage, and the crossing was too slow.

Along the way, Wang Quanbin just chased and fought fiercely, and he didn't even pay attention to any defeated soldiers. He didn't send anyone to chase them down, and he didn't care whether they would come back.

The former army headed south non-stop, passing through valleys and ravines nearly a hundred miles away, and directly blocked Han Baozheng and his remnants in Xi County.

To the south of Xixian County is the Hanshui River, and to the east, the villages and towns outside the city have been occupied by Zhou troops chasing one after another. The soldiers yelled loudly and drove the people out.

Some people were crying and defending their cattle and refused to leave. They were quickly dragged out by rude soldiers without any explanation. If it was before, without the long-term explanation and education of the commander-in-chief Shi Congyun, the army would have Started to kill.

Soon after, most of them rushed in, occupied the road in the village, formed formations among the cottages, and slowly pushed forward using the walls of the houses as cover.

After a while, Zhou army soldiers were densely packed outside Xixian City, the main roads were occupied, and the encirclement on three sides slowly approached.

A large number of cavalry rolled up the dust and detoured from the outskirts of the village to the east. The entire Xixian County was surrounded by the Zhou army on three sides.

Zhou Jun had experienced hundreds of battles, and his reaction was very quick. He didn't need to lead the generals to command.

In contrast, the Shu army, which has more reaction time, is much slower.

The city wall of Xi County is not too high, and a large number of deserters were gathered by Han Baozheng, crowded at the gate of the city, and the city did not dare to open the door to let them in. With so many people going into the city, it is impossible to say whether they can enter, and when. It's all about problems.

It will cause people to be crowded, and the Zhou army behind will take the opportunity to enter the city.

Han Baozheng then gathered the remnants of the soldiers, together with the defenders outside the city, assembled an army of about [-] people, lined up against the city wall and the mountain, and confronted the Zhou army.

Wang Quanbin occupied the outlying villages and towns and confronted them, but did not launch an attack immediately.

When Shi Congyun arrived here, what he saw was the densely packed Shu army with their backs against the mountain city, forming a huge semicircular formation, with layers upon layers, flags flying, and shadows everywhere.

The villages and towns below were occupied by the Zhou army. The village was full of Zhou army flags, and there were teams of cavalry patrolling around from time to time.

The Han River in the south is still calm, but the mountains beside the river are already full of murderous aura.

Different from the previous impetuous overnight pursuit, this time Wang Quanbin did not choose to attack immediately, but surrounded instead of fighting. Shi Congyun did not interfere, but ordered Shao Ji to lead cavalry to reinforce Wang Quanbin. A camp was set up at the mouth of the valley a few miles away.

Hanshui, the river that traverses the Hanzhong Plain, may not be as famous as the Yangtze River, Huaihe River, and Yellow River to outsiders, but when you see her one by one, the deep sense of history that has accumulated in it still comes from the surface.

Because the Hanshui in front of us also includes Hanzhong, Hanwang, Han Empire, Han nationality, Han people, heroes, etc. If we really want to investigate, this is also a mother river in the cultural sense.

That night, Shi Congyun camped by the banks of the Han River. After a simple dinner, Wang Quanbin took the initiative to ride a horse to see him.

It turned out that he was here to explain why he didn't take the initiative to attack, because he was afraid that his boss would think he was passive and sabotage.

"Marshal, it's spring now, and it's still terribly cold at night. The Shu army is trapped in that small area on the mountain, and they can't spread out at all. Most of them are remnants and routs. They have lost all their armor and tents. They can only suffer from the cold at night. The soldiers can stay in the village or pitch tents, and I want to freeze them for a few days before fighting.”

Wang Quanbin expressed his thoughts.

Shi Congyun nodded in agreement: "General Wang is right, this is indeed a good way."

In the next few days, the Zhou army occupied the outlying villages and towns and surrounded the Shu army groups under the city, but they did not launch an attack at all. Instead, they camped in the villages and towns, and built up horses at the front. Crossbows, bed crossbows, etc. put arrows on the hillside, but did not move forward other than that.

Han Baozheng was obviously a bit like Ma Di, he knew how to set up battles, and he should have read military books, but he didn't have rich experience in war.

More than [-]% of wars are a process of long-term confrontation. Wars can be as short as a few months or as long as several years. Most of the time, it is difficult to decide the outcome in a short period of time. Therefore, experienced generals must consider the long-term and sustainable How to deal with the confrontation between offense and defense.

Those who are inexperienced and only know how to fight on paper think that war is about fighting as soon as they say it, and then deciding the outcome, so they only consider short-term offense or defense.

This was the case when Han Baozheng lined up his army against the mountain beams and the city wall. He probably wanted to rely on the mountain and not be defensive, and Zhou Jun had nothing to do with him.

He didn't even think about why Zhou Jun insisted on doing something to him?What if Zhou Jun doesn't attack?

He lined up against the mountain, and Zhou Jun surrounded him at the foot of the mountain.

There are so many people crowded at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain behind cannot climb up. There is no living space for the soldiers to eat and drink, and there is no supply space in the rear.

Zhou Jun only had to surround him tightly without beating him. Ten thousand people were crowded into a pile. After a few days, the problem of eating, drinking, and sleeping at night would drag down his army.

Afterwards, Wang Quanbin did not launch an attack for two consecutive days, and the Shu army on the mountain was probably a little confused. On the first day, they could maintain a tight line, but after a night of freezing, on the second day, there were already many soldiers on the ground from a distance. Few people are stumbling around.

It must be that the cold wind at night had made many people sick. Afterwards, Zhou Jun continued to do nothing, and Han Baozheng panicked a few times, trying to send troops down the mountain to counterattack.

But occupying the wall of the house below as a bunker, Zhou Jun who set up Juma and Luzhai easily repelled them, and was defeated by Zhou Jun's bow and crossbow several times before reaching the middle of the mountain.

Shi Congyun climbed to an old willow tree at the back of the village to watch, and he also saw other gaps besides experience. After all, Shu hadn't fought wars for decades, and they were not as sophisticated as Zhou's army in terms of armor and weapons. Just a lot lower.

Zhou Jun had to face the Khitan threat directly due to the long-term southern and northern wars. Daliang had a large-scale armor and weapon forging workshop, and the craftsmanship was also greatly improved under the pressure of the war situation.

The Zhou army is equipped with the most iron armor, which can basically be ignored by ordinary bows and crossbows, but the armor of the Shu army is much simpler, the armor rate is also low, and there are some unique rattan shields.

This kind of thing is definitely not easy to use in this era, just like the cotton armor that rose in the Ming Dynasty, its defensive power is definitely not as good as the iron bar armor, but because it is light and cheap, the process is simpler, and it costs thousands of armor. Film-made armor is much cheaper than that.

And with the development of firearms, heavy iron armor and cotton armor can't hold firearms' shooting, so it's better to use light and cheap ones, since they can't stop them anyway.

The same is true for the rattan shield. It is roughly the same when the rattan shield ushered in its second spring in the age of firearms. However, in this era when the outcome is still determined by hand-to-hand combat, it is destined to suffer. If you go down with a hammer and an axe, you can't stand it at all.

After the battle that day, the Zhou army still did not launch an attack, but let the Shu army on the mountain freeze for another night.

After dawn the next day, many of the Shu troops on the mountain couldn't stand it. Many people just lay down on their posts, many were listless, and even the flags all over the mountain were crooked.

The narrow position was still filled with the smell of feces and urine, but there was nothing to be done about it. There were tens of thousands of remaining Jiaxi County defenders, and the place was only so big that it was completely compressed by the Zhou army, so they had to solve it almost on the spot.

By noon, the sun shone into the valley, and the temperature in the valley began to rise steadily.

Wang Quanbin ordered that all the soldiers of the Zhou army be fed and drunk, and then the four square flags were unleashed in the rear, and the drums were beating.

The Zhou army, full of food and drink, and with high morale, marched from three sides and launched a fierce attack on the Shu army on the mountain.

Shi Congyun was in the rear at this time, but he heard the shouts of killing and couldn't see the battle ahead, so he sent someone to watch.

Outside the villages and towns in the rear, many people who had been expelled were resettled here, and soldiers lived in their houses. Naturally, they could only rely on military tents to resist the cold at night.

These things were arranged by Pan Mei, and they were much better than before. If other warlords encountered such things, it would be considered kindness to keep these people alive.

Not long after the fighting started, the shouts of killing became louder and louder, and could be heard clearly several miles away. Many people were trembling with fright, and many children jumped into the arms of their parents and looked around in fear.

Under the old tree outside the village, several old hens were clucking and running around in fright. Chinese soldiers looked around curiously. Some seemed nervous, while others were eager to try.

Murong Yanzhao came up and asked, "King Qin, do you want the last general to lead troops up to support?"

Shi Congyun shook his head: "No need, look at it for a while, it shouldn't be a problem, but you should organize all the soldiers first, get ready, and send reinforcements immediately if there is an emergency."

"promise!"

Murong Yanzhao took the order and immediately went to organize the soldiers to line up, and asked the soldiers to prepare their weapons and put on their armor. If there was any change ahead, they could follow the avenue by the Han River and reach the frontier battlefield a few miles ahead.

Shi Congyun was not in a hurry to rush forward, but called his own soldiers to help him put on his armor, picked up a convenient spear and mounted his horse, and asked Pan Mei to appease the people and be ready at any time.

After about half an hour, Shi Congyun was waiting anxiously. The soldiers in front ran along the avenue, through the shade of the riverside trees and came back to report to him: "Commander, good news! Brothers have rushed up the mountain, Shu soldiers Can't stop it at all.

Their formation looked decent, but they died as soon as they charged! "

Shi Congyun breathed a sigh of relief, and Murong Yanzhao and others behind him also showed joy.

The shouts of killing in front became smaller and smaller, and about an hour later, another soldier rushed over excitedly from the avenue: "Commander, great victory, great victory! The Shu soldiers are all defeated and are fleeing everywhere."

Shi Congyun was determined, and cheers erupted from the soldiers behind him, which meant that the overall situation had been settled.

After a while, another soldier came back excitedly: "The brothers in front have captured Han Baozheng, and they are about to escort him to be punished by the commander in chief!"

Han Baozheng, the envoy of the Shu army, the forward of the Shu army, was caught by Wang Quanbin unexpectedly in the first battle. Shi Congyun couldn't help feeling: "General Wang can still fight."

The generals behind him and some accompanying officials of the Privy Council laughed loudly, and then said: "Reporting to the King of Qin, General Wang is a veteran. He was a brave general under Emperor Zhuangzong of the Later Tang Dynasty. He has also experienced hundreds of battles since the chaos of the Later Jin and Later Han Dynasties."

Shi Congyun immediately asked: "What is General Wang doing? Has he gone to occupy Xi County?"

The messenger shook his head: "General Wang didn't catch the deserters, and he didn't enter the city. He gathered the soldiers and marched again."

Murong Yanzhao and Pan Mei who were behind thought for a while, "It seems that they wanted to take the opportunity to move eastward and occupy Xingyuan Mansion. Now that the army of the Shu Kingdom has been newly defeated, the troops are empty, and Xingyuan Mansion is shaking. It should be easy to take it."

Shi Congyun nodded slightly. Xingyuan Mansion, also known as Hanzhong City in later generations, was an important town in the Kingdom of Shu, and it was also the starting point of Liu Bang's fortune.

The importance of Hanzhong is self-evident. It goes without saying that Wang Quanbin went to Guanzhong in the north, went to Nanyang and Xiangyang in the east, and went to Shudi in the south.

Pan Mei suggested: "Commander, the general suggests that the Chinese army can take the opportunity to move forward and occupy Xi County, so that these people can return to their hometowns. If there is insufficient troops in the front, they can immediately support General Wang."

"Well, what you said is reasonable." Shi Congyun thought for a while, followed suit, and immediately ordered the Chinese army to advance and occupy Xixian County.

On the way, he also saw the disheveled Han Baozheng and several senior generals of the Shu Kingdom, who were escorted to worship him. None of them dared to look up at him. Shi Congyun was not interested in watching, nor did he want to kill anyone. They were taken into custody, and then continued to lead the army forward.

When the army arrived outside Xixian City, there were fleeing soldiers everywhere outside Xixian City. Seeing that their team had fled far away, they dared not approach them. Flags, armor and weapons outside the city were also scattered all over the place, but there were not so many bloodstains and corpses. It turns out the fight wasn't brutal.

The city gate of Xixian County was wide open, and the officials in the county had already held their official seals and led thousands of people to kneel outside the city gate on both sides of the avenue, trembling to welcome the army into the city.

Naturally, a full set of plays is required. After approaching the city gate, Shi Congyun ordered the army to stop, dismounted himself, and under the escort of many armed soldiers, he personally stepped forward to help up a few kneeling parents, officials and old people, and let the people we got up.

At the same time, they began to loudly promote the concept of "One World, One Family".

He also emphasized again and again that Wang Shi came here to crusade against the rich local Meng family who came from Hebei and rode over their heads.

Then it was announced loudly that the army would not enter the city, nor would they plunder the people. Pan Mei was only asked to bring hundreds of people into the city, and count and seal the treasury in the city as state assets.

As a result, Shi Congyun, Pan Mei and others were surprised and delighted. As the gateway to the northwest, the Kingdom of Shu stationed a large amount of military supplies in Xixian County. Apart from cloth, the food alone was as much as 25 shi!

Shi Congyun had to sigh with emotion, the Kingdom of Shu deserves to be the Kingdom of Shu, the Land of Abundance!He really likes this place more and more, a border town, only hoarding so much food!

The army's supplies don't have to work hard to transport them across the Qinling Mountains from behind.

Immediately sent 500 more people to guard and watch, and then someone notified Wei Renpu, who was in charge of logistics supplies, that the logistics auxiliary troops would directly cross the Qinling Mountains to Xixian County, instead of transporting food in the valley.

That night, Shi Congyun fell asleep excitedly, and Zhou Jun entered Hanzhong.

After the excitement, Shi Congyun woke up the next morning and was waiting for Wei Renpu in the rear, ready to go to Xingyuan Mansion (Hanzhong City) together when he came, but the messenger brought another big news to Shi Congyun.

Wang Quanbin was indeed defeating the large formation of the Shu army. After capturing Han Baozheng, he did not chase down the defeated soldiers, nor did he chase down the deserters, but gathered the troops and continued to advance.

But he didn't go to Pan Mei, Murong Yanzhao, and Xingyuan Mansion (Hanzhong City) in the east as he thought, but went west directly to Sanquan!
And Sanquan's defenders did not expect that they were breached overnight.

Shi Congyun was stunned when he heard that Sanquan was Yangping Pass. He realized at this moment that they thought Wang Quanbin was on the second floor and he was on the first floor, but Wang Quanbin was actually on the fifth floor!

That's right, if you take Sanquan down, you will cut off the connection between Shu and the Hanzhong Plain, so why is it necessary to fight Xingyuan Mansion?There is no need to fight, sooner or later they will surrender by themselves.

Shi Congyun had to sigh with emotion. In history, Wang Quanbin spent 66 days all the way from Daliang, across Qinling, Hanzhong, through Jianmen Pass, and into Chengdu. The army's strength is far more than what he brought.

This can't be completely attributed to the dishes of Shu soldiers, they can't fight, Wang Quanbin is really good at fighting!
(End of this chapter)