Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 290 Mountain Warfare Expert

June, the 16th year of Jian'an, AD 211.

Ma Chao defeated Zhang Wei at Baokou, and Zhang Lu abandoned the city and fled to Bazhong.Zhang Fei defeated Hanping and entered Hanzhong. Napang made statistics and rushed to Nanxiang with Qingqi and captured Zhang Lu, the prefect of Hanning.

Lu Xun led his sergeants to set up a stronghold on the south bank of the Han River, and sent Yang Ang to write a letter to Yang Pingguan general Yang Ren.Yang Ren saw the letter and wanted to surrender to Lu Xun.However, he was afraid of Ma Chao, who had already obtained Nanzheng's money and food, and Han Sui's army outside the pass, so he hesitated.

Lu Xun got the news and took advantage of the fact that the Guanxi sergeants were greedy for Nanzheng's property and looted the northern Han Dynasty. He led his army westward to Dingjun Mountain and responded to Yang Ren at Yangping Pass.

Lu Xun also wrote to Yang Ren, saying that Zhang Lu had surrendered to Liu Bei, and now he was allowed to rest assured and concentrate on resisting Han Sui. If Ma Chao and Han Sui attacked Yangping Pass from east to west, he would lead his army across the water to attack it and annihilate Ma Chao's troops.

Yang Ren received the letter and felt a little relieved, but also hesitant.Zhang Lu then surrendered and sent a letter to Yang Ren, asking him to surrender to Lu Xun.Finally, after many twists and turns, the Yangping Gatekeeper returned to Lu Xun.

At this time, Ma Chao had noticed the change in Yangping Pass and hurriedly summoned his sergeants to the west to force him to surrender to Yangping Pass. However, he was a step too late. He had no choice but to settle in Mianyang and confront Zhang Fei across the Han River.

Mianyang, Ma Chao's army camp.

Ma Chao walked back and forth in the tent, acting impatiently, and said angrily: "If you hadn't been able to scold the sergeants and delayed the march, how could Yangpingguan surrender to Zhang Fei?"

Ma Chao couldn't tolerate being angry. He went through all kinds of hardships to get the money from the Nanzheng government treasury, and was only the last step away from monopolizing Hanzhong and establishing his own foundation.However, these Guanxi soldiers and horses were really unsatisfactory and had been poor for too long. When they entered Nanzheng, they were dazzled by money, food, and women.

The generals in the tent bowed their heads and remained silent. They had long been accustomed to Ma Chao's cursing.As long as Ma Chao can suppress them with force and make them rich, that's all.

Seeing that Ma Chao had been scolding for a long time, Ma Dai's anger gradually subsided, and he boldly asked, "Brother, what should I do now?"

Ma Chao sat back on the chair, panting heavily, and said in a muffled voice: "Zhang Fei and I are facing each other across the water, and Yang Ping and Zhang Lu are in our hands, so we can't fight lightly. If you want to defeat Zhang Fei now, perhaps the only way is to lead him When Han Sui enters Hanzhong, I and my combined army can repel Zhang Fei."

"General, if you lead Han Sui into Hanzhong, wouldn't it mean that half of the money and food obtained by our army should be shared with Han Sui?" Ma Wan said reluctantly.

"Ah!"

Ma Chao sneered, stared at Ma Wan with his compelling eyes, and said: "Zhang Fei has no less than [-] soldiers and horses. At present, our army is only about [-], and including the newly acquired Hanzhong soldiers and civilians, it is only [-]." If you think you can win, how about I send five thousand of your elite troops to cross the river and camp on the south bank, and I will lead the army behind?"

Ma Wan blushed and didn't dare to answer.

Seeing that his subordinates were speechless, Ma Chao also sighed and said: "You don't want Han Sui to enter Hanzhong, how can I do so? Zhang Fei's entry into Hanzhong is beyond my expectation. If we want to occupy Hanzhong now, we can only borrow With Han Sui's strength, Zhang Fei will be defeated first, and then internal affairs will be discussed."

The situation was stronger than his own. Zhang Fei surrendered Yangping Pass and gained a foothold in Hannan. Ma Chao no longer had the confidence to cross the river and defeat Zhang Fei.The only hope is that Han Sui can break through Yangping Pass, enter Hanzhong, and work together to defeat Zhang Fei in Hannan.

Yangping Pass, backed by Jigong Mountain and facing the Han River in the south, has an extremely dangerous terrain and should be the gateway to the western frontier of Hanzhong.The Qishan Road in Longyou and the Jinniu Road in Bashu end at Yangpingguan.

Because of Yang Ang and Zhang Lu, Yang Ren surrendered to Lu Xun and separated Ma Chao and Han Sui.Ma Chao is in the east, Han Sui is in the west, and Yangping Pass is in the middle.

Ma Chao sent his sergeants to cross the mountains and go through hardships on the trails, and finally delivered the letter to Han Sui.

Ju County, Han Sui's army camp.

In the tent, General Han Sui looked at the letter written by Ma Chao, laughed a few times, and said sarcastically: "Is this the case for horses?"

After saying that, Han Sui passed the letter to the generals on the left and right, asking: "What do you think?"

Cheng Gongying cupped his hands and asked, "I wonder what the general wants?"

Han Sui stroked his beard and said: "Our army gained a lot of civilian capital from Wudu, and the wealth is quite rich. I originally thought that Yangping Pass would be difficult to break, so I wanted to withdraw our troops and return. However, Ma Chao wrote this letter, and I hesitated."

"General, why don't you take advantage of Ma Chao's presence in Hanzhong to take Chencang Road, enter the Pass, defeat Huaili, plunder the property and return to Jincheng." Tian Le, the general, said.

"No!"

Cheng Gongying frowned and said: "The general's troops are in full swing. If our army moves to Guanzhong, it will make the generals in Guanxi wary. And Zhong Yao is sitting in Guanzhong. When he sees the general like this, he will definitely join forces with the generals to attack, so don't do it. .”

The current situation in Guanzhong and Longyou is both chaotic and stable.Generally speaking, the generals in Guanzhong each have their own territory, but due to Zhong Yao's coordination problems and the long-term war in Kansai, the generals instead want peace.Han Sui's troops entering Guanzhong will definitely arouse everyone's anger, and they will attack in groups.

Yan Xing pondered for a while and said: "General, Ma Chao has obtained Hanzhong's treasury, with trillions of money and millions of grain and grass. The Nanzheng treasury alone is so rich, which shows that it is far beyond what the military capital can compare with. If he can enter Hanzhong, he will be as good as Ma Chao By dividing the money, our army will be stronger."

Yan Xing has long been loyal to Cao Cao, and now he cannot let Han Sui run away after taking away the people's capital of Wudu.Only by letting Han Sui enter Hanzhong and fight Ma Chao can he complete the task assigned to him by Cao Cao.

Han Sui thought for a long time and said: "Hanzhong is rich and prosperous, how can we let the horses have it all? Now that Ma Chao is in the pass, it may not be difficult to break the pass. I led the soldiers to besiege Yangping Pass, and Yan Ming led his troops to stay in camp." Promise!" The generals responded with their hands raised.

Han Sui responded to Ma Chao's request and left Yan Xing to guard the camp. He led an army of [-] generals such as Gongying, Tian Le and Yang Kui to advance and storm Yangping Pass.
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Yangping Pass was dangerous, but being flanked by Han Sui and Ma Chao, Yang Ren could not help but panic.In order to appease Yang Ren, Zhang Fei sent 2000 more troops to accompany Yang Ren so that he could stay at ease.Zhang Fei also camped on the south bank of the Han River and Dingjun Mountain to confront Ma Chao.

It was said before that the Han River passes through the Hanzhong Basin. The south bank is mostly dominated by hills and mountains, while the north bank is mostly dominated by plains and flat roads.Therefore, in the narrow Hanzhong Basin, Zhang Fei relied on the heights on the south side of the Han River to overlook Ma Chao's army on the north side of the Han River.

In the half month since Han Sui stormed Yangping Pass, Ma Chao repeatedly tried to cooperate with Han Sui in attacking Yangping Pass from the east.However, Zhang Fei, who occupied the heights of Dingjun Mountain, could always keep an eye on the movements of Ma Chao's troops and make targeted arrangements.

For example, when Han Sui climbed the mountain to counterattack Yang Ren, Ma Chao led his army to cooperate and ordered Pang De to inspect the river bank to prevent Zhang Fei from crossing the Han River north.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Fei ordered people to build a pontoon bridge, divided his troops into multiple routes, and crossed the river to attack Pang De regardless of casualties.Pang De could not stop him, so Ma Chao had no choice but to return to the camp to support him. Zhang Fei then withdrew to the south bank.

After a few days of struggle, Ma Chao's plan to cooperate with Han Sui to break the city went bankrupt.Zhang Fei, who occupies the mountains of Hannan, is in a commanding position, and Yangping Pass is at the horns of each other. He also has the advantage of vision, and Ma Chao's movements cannot escape the eyes of the scouts.

Ma Chao came up with another plan, pretending to cooperate with Han Sui to attack Yangping Pass, but actually hid his troops in the camp, waiting for Zhang Fei to cross the river and attack.However, Pang Tong saw through it and Zhang Fei stopped crossing the river, causing Ma Chao to fail.

After repeating this for half a month, Ma Chao relied on the advantage of his cavalry to occupy the north of Han River. Zhang Fei used the terrain to break Ma Chao's offensive several times.However, Ma Chao discovered Zhang Feijun's loophole and forced Zhang Fei to cross the river to fight.

In the tent, Fu Kuang looked ashamed and apologized: "General, Ma Chao is extremely brave. Kuang wanted to transport grain into the customs, but he was blocked. Please punish the general."

"Bastard!"

Zhang Fei got up angrily, whipped his whip to whip Fu Kuang, and cursed: "I asked Wu Lan to raid the formation for you, and many soldiers and horses were killed and injured. Now you failed to transport food, how can you have the face to see me?"

"Wait a minute!"

Lu Xun stopped Zhang Fei's movement and advised: "General, Ma Chao is not an ordinary general, he has the courage of a tiger. The soldiers and horses of Guanxi fight bravely, no one can compare to the soldiers of Wu and Chu. Ma Chao was prepared to transport grain today, and it was not Yuan Bi. sin."

"Since the general entered Shu, he had promised not to drink alcohol and not to whip the soldiers. How can he go back on his word now?" Pang Tong saw that Zhang Fei was still angry and stepped forward to persuade Zhang Fei.

"Humph!"

"Let me record this whip now. If there is any mistake again, it will be dealt with according to military law."

With Lu Xun and Pang Tong's advice and obstruction, Zhang Fei's anger gradually dissipated.

"Thank you, General!"

Fu Kuang said gratefully: "Thank you, Mr. Er!"

Sitting back on the couch, Zhang Fei said: "Today, Yangping Pass is in urgent need of food and grass. If we cannot send food and grass into the pass, I am afraid that Yangping Pass will not be able to defend it for a long time."

Lu Xun frowned and said: "The Ma and Han armies knew the true strength of our army, surrounded Yangping Pass, cut off communication with the outside world, and wanted to force Yang Ren to surrender. If our army does not rescue, Yang Ren will surrender sooner or later. At that time, Han Sui When we enter Hanzhong, Ma and Han will join forces, and our army may not be able to stop them!"

After fighting for a month and a half, Ma Chao was not in a hurry, but was preparing to cut off the food and grass at Yangping Pass, encircle the enemy for reinforcements, and force Zhang Fei to cross the river to fight.

However, Zhang Fei had to save him again. Yang Ren surrendered not long ago and was finally comforted. If faced with difficulties, it is not impossible for Yang Ren to surrender again.

Pang Tong stroked his beard and said sadly: "If either Ma or Han can be defeated, the remaining troops will retreat without a fight. However, Han Sui is outside Yangping Pass and Ma Chao is north of the Han River. It is not easy to defeat them!"

Zhang Fei's eyes lit up and he said: "Ma Chao is located to the north of the Han River. The terrain is vast, which is conducive to the cavalry. However, Han Sui's troops and horses are trapped in the mountain road, making it difficult for the cavalry to use force. Moreover, Han Sui is unprepared for me. If we can go around now Guan, it is not impossible to defeat Han Sui."

As he spoke, Zhang Fei couldn't help but get excited. He called to Li Xiu, Yan Pu, Yang Ang and other old Hanzhong generals, and asked, "Micang Mountain is steep and complicated. Is there a road from Hannan to the outside of the pass?"

While the old general in Hanzhong was frowning and thinking hard, Yan Pu had already gained something and said: "General, there are many trails in Micang Mountain, which are connected with the Jinniu Trail. Dingjun Mountain goes southwest, and you can take the trail to the Jinniu Trail. Go north and reach Jinniu Avenue, which will take you around to the outside of Yangping Pass."

While talking, Yan Pu used his fingers to outline the trail he was talking about on the map of Hanzhong.

Zhang Fei stared at the trail on the map, narrowed his eyes and smiled.

"I have a plan to defeat the thief!"

　A big chapter tonight

　　
　
(End of this chapter)