Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 293 Deadly Battle

Xiang Zhuang personally led two thousand soldiers from the Tianlang Battalion to rush for five days, and finally arrived at Jiameng Pass!

Jiameng Pass is a famous dangerous pass in the history of China. During the period of King Qin Huiwen, Sima Cuo, a general of the State of Qin, had a fierce battle with the army of the ancient Shu Kingdom here. However, it was the Three Kingdoms that really made Jiameng Pass famous. During the period, Zhang Fei's naked fight against Ma Chao was the most classic male fighter!
Jiamengguan tightly controls the only passage from central Sichuan to Hanzhong - Langzhong Ancient Road.

The Langzhong ancient road is also known as the Jinniu Road, also known as the Stone Niu Road. According to legend, during the period of King Qin Huiwen, the ancient Shu Kingdom had conflicts with the Cuban Kingdom. Because the Shu army had suffered successive defeats, they asked Qin for help. King Qin Huiwen had long intended to annex Bashu. Naturally, he would not miss this opportunity, and immediately ordered General Sima Cuo to lead his troops into Shu.

However, King Qin Huiwen was worried that the Qin army would have no way to enter Shu, so he sent someone to build a huge stone bull, saying that it was a golden bull and wanted to give it to the king of Shu. , He insisted on opening a passage between the mountains and pulling the golden bull back. This road is the Taurus Road.

However, when Xiang Zhuang arrived at Jiameng Pass, the defenders of the pass had already prepared themselves.

Soon, Qu Bucai came to Xiangzhuang with a burly man. The big man was a local tyrant in Langzhong. He had been selling Shu brocades for generations. Difficult, he is yearning for the national policy of Chu State to encourage business and industry, and now, he is the person in charge of Wumuya in Langzhong.

"Small man Tang Tong." The burly man bowed to Xiang Zhuang and said, "See General."

Tang Tong didn't know that the man in front of him was King Xiangzhuang of Chu, while Qu Bucai only said he was a general.

"Excuse me." Xiang Zhuang waved his hand and asked, "Tang Tong, how many guards are there at Jiameng Pass?"

Tang Tongdao: "Originally there were only a thousand guards in the gate, but three days ago, Jin She, the governor of Bajun County, arrived in Langzhong and recruited many soldiers from various counties. Now, the guards in the gate have exceeded [-]."

"Jin She?" Xiang Zhuang frowned, "No wonder no one was seen when Jiangzhou City was destroyed."

Tang Tongdao: "The villain is ashamed. The villain once led a dozen brothers to intercept and kill Jin She at Shiliting. I didn't want Jin She to be very skilled in martial arts. The villain broke several brothers before he was seriously injured. Let him run away."

Xiang Zhuang patted Tang Tong on the shoulder, and said: "Register the names of the brothers who died in battle, and after the overall situation in Bashu is stabilized, we will definitely provide compensation."

Tang Tong hurriedly said, "Thank you, General."

Xiang Zhuang waved his hand and sent Tang Tong away.

Xiang Zhuang turned back and told Huyan Zhengde: "Huyan, let the soldiers rest for half a day, have a full meal, and attack the city after dark!"

"Here!" Huyan Zhengde responded abruptly and took the order to go.

Xiang Zhuang asked Qu Bucai again, "Old Qu, in Langzhong, how many powerful people have a heart for Da Chu?"

Qu Bucai said: "There are quite a few powerful gentry clans in Langzhong who have shown me great Chu, there must be dozens of them."

"Okay." Xiang Zhuang nodded solemnly, "Send someone to contact these gentry tyrants and tell them that the Chu army urgently needs their help now, and ask them to send more servants to carry door panels and wood to Jiameng to close them. Need nails."

"Here!" Qu Bucai made a bow, and also took the order.

Xiang Zhuang breathed a long sigh of relief, and when he turned his head to look at the majestic city of Jiameng Pass, a thick haze could not help flashing in his eyes. Surprise attacks are absolutely impossible on the cliffs that are difficult to climb and the apes worry about climbing. For the current plan, they can only attack by force.

However, the wall of Jiameng Pass is four feet high, and it is not easy to seize the city!

What's more serious is that there are [-] defenders at the gate, but the strength of the Chu army is only [-]. The army led by Pang Yu doesn't know when it will arrive. Then attacking the city with [-] troops to forcibly attack the dangerous pass guarded by [-] defenders is a taboo for military strategists. This battle is really a disaster.

However, the Chu army had no way out, and Xiang Zhuang had no choice but to fight to the death!

If Jiameng Pass cannot be taken down, let alone spying on Hanzhong, I am afraid that even Bashu will lose it again, because the strategic position of Jiameng Pass is too important. If the Chu army occupies Jiameng Pass, then It can be guarded according to the pass, and the Han army will be blocked from the gate of Bashu. If Jiameng Pass cannot be taken, the Han army can enter Bashu at any time.

When the Battle of Jiuyuan was over and the Han army went south, how could the Chu army resist?

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Jiuyuan, under Gaoque Pass.

The great battle between the Han army and the Huns was imminent.

Zhou Bo is worthy of being a famous general of the Han Dynasty, and his use of troops can be described as extremely sophisticated. He first garrisoned Yuzhong with 40 elite soldiers and [-] Hu cavalry to firmly protect the grain road, and then ordered [-] troops to form a group tightly, and then [-] Hu cavalry. With the addition of [-] hussars from Lutai as flankers, they advanced step by step, and finally pushed the Huns to Gaoque Pass.

Mao Dun knew the strengths of the Huns and the weaknesses of the Central Plains people, so he was absolutely unwilling to fight the Han army. During this period, he personally led the [-] cavalry supporting the Li tribe to detour behind the Han army, trying to burn the Han army's food and grass. However, facing the [-] elite Han army plus [-] Hu cavalry, the [-] Xiongnu cavalry can only hope and sigh.

The plan to burn the food and grass failed, so Mao Dun changed his strategy immediately. He divided the Hun cavalry into more than a dozen groups, attacked in all directions, and harassed the Han army day and night. Don’t you, the Han army, want to attack the Huns? Well, I You can't find anyone during the day, but you have to worry about it all the time at night, to see how long you can last?
However, Mao Dun miscalculated again, and the Han army seemed to have a countermeasure for it.

It is true that the Huns cavalry come and go like the wind, but you Hun cavalry also have to eat, right?Therefore, at night, the Han army huddled into groups and stood guard, but in the daytime, the Han army went out to scout and ride everywhere, hunting and killing the Huns grazing on the Hetao Plain, and plundering the Huns' cattle and sheep. In the first month, the Huns couldn't bear it anymore.

After all, the Huns cavalry are not heavenly soldiers and generals, they also have to eat.

Now, Moton had to make a choice, should he give up Hetao, or fight a decisive battle with the Han army?
Abandoning Hetao means that the Xiongnu will lose a large area of ​​water and grassland on which to thrive. The survival of the Xiongnu will become more difficult than it is now, and it will be difficult to regain Hetao in the future.

But in a decisive battle with the Han army, Mao Dun did not have the confidence to win.

The strength of the Han army is almost three times that of the Xiongnu, and the equipment is excellent, especially the flying spears (javelins) of the Han army's hussars, which pose a great threat to the Xiongnu cavalry. Since the Han army entered Jiuyuan, the two sides have also broken out. In several small-scale cavalry battles, all the Xiongnu cavalry were defeated. The main reason was the flying spears of the Han army's hussars.

Uncle Gong said: "Da Shanyu, the Han army is powerful, let's retreat back to Mobei."

Zuo Xianwang said: "Da Shanyu, the Hetao Grassland is the holy land of our Great Huns. It is because of Hetao that our Great Huns are prosperous. More than ten years ago, we finally regained it from the people of the Central Plains. Holy land, how can you give up easily this time? I didn’t say anything, I will fight with the Han people!"

The rest of the Xiongnu nobles such as King Youxian, King Zuoguli, and King Youguli also joined in one after another.

In fact, the minds of these Hun nobles are not as simple as they seem on the surface.

The Xiongnu is not monolithic, but also divided into many tribes, among which the most powerful is of course the Chouli tribe. Once the Chouli tribe abandons the Hetao grassland, as a large number of tribes move northward, it will inevitably lead to tension in the water and grasslands in Mobei. , in this case, the other tribes would have to give up their pastures, which of course they didn't want to.

Mao Dun is also unwilling to give up the Hetao. For the Xiongnu, the Hetao is not only a holy place for grazing cattle and sheep and multiplying the population, but also a springboard for spying on the Central Plains and deterring the Yuezhi. The Yuezhi people maintain the strategic initiative. Once the Hetao is lost, the Xiongnu will completely lose the strategic initiative.

"Da Shanyu." Uncle Gong said that he pulled Maodun's horse to the side, and said in a low voice, "The Central Plains is not peaceful now, especially the two great powers of Chu and Han, which are quite at odds. The country is going to war on a large scale, and our great Xiongnu will send their troops south again, and it will not be too late to reoccupy Hetao, so there is no reason to fight desperately with the Han army at this time."

Mao Dun nodded silently, what the uncle said was undoubtedly right.

In the battle of Jiuyuan, let’s not talk about whether the Xiongnu can win. Even if the Xiongnu can win, I’m afraid it will be a miserable victory. However, there is not only one Han State in the Central Plains. In addition to the Han State, there are also powerful countries such as Qi State and Chu State. Fighting desperately with the Han army now can only benefit other powerful countries in the Central Plains in vain. Therefore, it is better to preserve their strength in order to make a comeback.

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At Jiameng Pass, Jin She was carried up to the top of the wall by two soldiers.

Lying on the top of the city and looking south, I saw that the Chu army had already appeared in front of the pass. The Chu army came so fast. The only thing to be thankful for is that not many Chu troops rushed to Jiameng Pass. Zhuang Xiaoer's vanguard, the Chu army should not rush to attack before the follow-up large troops arrive.

Therefore, the Han army still has time to strengthen its defense.

"Zuo Sima, you lead people to carry bricks and stones, and raise the city wall of Nanguan."

"Here!"

"You Sima, take someone to demolish the house and confiscate the bricks and stones. Anyone who dares to refuse will be killed!"

"Here!"

"Fake Sima, you immediately choose two fast horses, and rush to Xianyang to report the news, saying that Xiangzhuang, the king of Chu, has personally raised the army and has entered Sichuan. Please send troops quickly, and then tell the Hanzhong county guard to let him hurry. Summon the strong men of the county to help Jiameng Pass, if Jiameng Pass cannot be kept, Hanzhong will be finished!"

"Here!"

"Li Junhou, you take people to collect some food and come back. There is not much food in the closed store. Now that one guy has increased more than 2000 people, the cost will be even tighter. If you don't collect some food before the main force of the Chu army arrives, by then The soldiers can only fight the Chu army with hunger."

"Here!"

After watching several generals leave one after another, Jin She let out a long sigh of relief.

Fortunately, everything is not too bad. As long as I can hold Jiameng Pass, even if the Chu army really occupies the two counties of Bashu, they will definitely not be able to hold it. In this case, the Jin family may still escape.

(End of this chapter)