Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2523 The Double Passes of Beiping, Su Qin's Important Mission

Hebei Province, Ningping County, on the banks of the Yellow River.

The results of the battle at Shangjing Prefecture were immediately reported to Wang Yu, including military reports sent by Han Xin and messages delivered by the Luo Wang as usual.

These two lines do not interfere with each other; each transmits its own message.

Although transmitting the same intelligence twice, and almost at the same time, seems like a waste of resources, the fundamental principle is that the military, government, intelligence, and local systems should not interfere with each other.

This waste of resources is nothing compared to the impact of various departments, including the military, government, and intelligence, getting mixed up together.

After leaving Yanbei Road, Wang Yu did not immediately return to Henan Road, but instead planned to inspect the surrounding roads. Therefore, the news from Han Xin and the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven) was delivered to Hebei Road.

However, just a few days after receiving news of the battle in Shangjing Prefecture, news from Dongping Road and Nanping Road also came, which surprised Wang Yu somewhat.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! The Eastern Barbarians have been destroyed. From now on, the border troubles in the northeast of our Great Han will be greatly reduced!" Zhang Liang, who had just learned of the news from the Eastern Barbarians, immediately offered his congratulations.

After destroying the Great Yan in half a year and the Zhao Song in two years, the Great Han Dynasty once again annihilated the Eastern Yi in just half a year, bringing three of the four routes of the Eastern Yi under its control.

The Han Dynasty now possesses twenty-two provinces. If all the gains from these wars were converted into national strength, the Han Dynasty would soon become one of the top powers among the seven great dynasties of the Central Plains.

The Han Dynasty now truly had the confidence to dominate the world.

Any official of the Han Dynasty would naturally share in the honor.

Furthermore, after conquering the Eastern Yi, the issue of border pressure is what truly has strategic significance for the next step of the Han Dynasty.

"That's true, but without Shanhaiguan and Jianingguan in our hands, things are still far from perfect!" Wang Yu said thoughtfully, pointing to the two locations on the map of Beiping Road.

The Beiping Road, one of the five routes of the Eastern Yi, is predominantly mountainous, connected by the Yanling Mountains and the Yandang Mountains, which almost completely enclose the southern and eastern parts of the Beiping Road.

The Beiping Road, surrounded by mountains on all sides, has countless dangerous passes and fortified cities. Shanhaiguan is the first pass between the Xiping Road and the Beiping Road, while Jianingguan is the first pass where the Beiping Road and the Zhongping Road intersect.

Of course, this doesn't mean there were no other routes from Beiping Road to Dongyi, but it's like Zhuge Liang's expedition to Shu. Apart from these two main routes, the rest of the roads were basically impassable.

Once you're inside, whether you can get out or not depends entirely on luck.

Just like when Bai Qi ventured across the Yunling Mountains, his success still relied on a certain amount of luck.

Moreover, we cannot deny the defensive significance of these two checkpoints simply because there are a few such roads that are almost never used by people.

If these two passes were in our hands, the northeastern frontier of the Han Dynasty, with the earliest Tianlang Pass, plus Shanhaiguan and Jianing Pass, would form an impregnable defensive line.

“Your Majesty, Minister Su has gone to the Northern Barbarians and has not yet returned. Didn’t Your Majesty already make a decision?” Zhang Liang said with a smile.

Su Qin was sent to contact Nurhaci, and logically, he should have returned around the time Nurhaci launched his campaign. The fact that he hadn't returned and was still with Nurhaci indicated that he had other tasks to complete.

“Your Majesty, Shanhaiguan and Jianingguan are far less important to Nurhaci than they are to our Han Dynasty. They are not the lifeline of Nurhaci. These two passes must also be the mission that Your Majesty has entrusted to Minister Su, right?” Zhang Liang continued to speculate.

"Zifang, how confident are you about this matter?"

Wang Yu was not surprised that Zhang Liang could guess this matter. As one of the few ministers accompanying the emperor, Zhang Liang had assisted in handling many matters.

It would be abnormal if Zhang Liang couldn't guess it.

"Ten out of ten!" Zhang Liang answered without hesitation.

Although Nurhaci currently only controls Shanhaiguan, and Jianingguan is still in Yelü Deguang's hands, both Wang Yu and Zhang Liang have already tacitly acknowledged that the pass is now in Nurhaci's possession.

There's no other reason than that, after the situation in Dongyi has developed to this point, the next direction is already very clear.

Yelü Deguang now only has a tiny piece of land left in Beiping Road, and he cannot possibly hold onto it. If he stays, not only will the Han Dynasty not let them go, but Nurhaci will not let them go either.

The fact that the other side is so determined to hold onto this last remaining passage connecting to the plateau speaks volumes about their true intentions.

I'm afraid it won't be long before Yelü Deguang will voluntarily abandon the remaining small piece of territory in Beiping.

Once Yelü Deguang leaves, this pass will inevitably fall into Nurhaci's hands, not only because their troops are closer to the pass, but also because if Yelü Deguang were to choose someone to benefit him, he probably wouldn't choose the Han people.

It's even possible that Yelü Deguang might use this last bit of leverage to negotiate some terms with Nurhaci, squeezing out the last bit of value from the region they control.

Zhang Liang's confidence in reclaiming these two passes from Nurhaci was not unfounded.

These two passes were very important to the Han Dynasty, but not necessarily to Nurhaci. The Beiping region was not lacking in strong cities and passes. Even without these two passes, they could still maintain sufficient defenses in these two directions.

Moreover, at this time, Nurhaci still needed the Han Dynasty and would not risk turning against them because of these two passes.

It is important to understand that with the Luan Di tribe being divided between the Tuoba tribe and Nurhaci's two families, Nurhaci would then face the most direct military and political threats from the Tuoba tribe.

At this time, Nurhaci was in dire need of the Han Dynasty and the Golden Horde. If it weren't for the support of these two families, he wouldn't have dared to divide the Luan Di tribe with the Tuoba tribe, rather than unite with them.

At such a critical moment, offending the Han Dynasty would also affect their relationship with the Golden Horde. The connection between these two families was much closer than that between Nurhaci and them.

Moreover, the common interests between the Great Han and the Golden Horde are too great, and the other is an almost indispensable part of their respective development strategies in the next stage.

Nurhaci could at most use these two passes to negotiate some terms with the Han Dynasty and try to gain some benefits, but he would not take the risk of offending the Han Dynasty because of these two relationships.