Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later
Chapter 474 The critical moment of breaking through
The northern entrance of Tangluo Road is located in Xiluo Valley, Zhouzhi County. It passes through the Xiluogushui, Heishui, Xishui, Youshui, Tangshui and other river valleys, and crosses four or five mountains including Shibapanling between Xiluogushui and Heishui, the main ridge of Qinling Mountains between Heishui and Xishui, Xinglongling between Xishui and Youshui, and Niuling between Youshui and Tangshui. The road in the mountains is dangerous and poisonous insects and wild beasts are rampant. It is the fastest but also the most dangerous ancient road among Chencang Road, Baoxia Road and Ziwu Road.
So although this route was the shortest, after more than ten days, Liu Xiong and his party had only traveled a little more than two-thirds of the distance.
In the Youshui River Valley, Liu Xiong stood on a rock, gazing at Niuling Mountain ahead. He said, "Climb this mountain, then cross the Tangshui River and you'll enter Hanzhong. Brothers, hold on tight. We must reach Dingjun Mountain and set up camp before Liu Bei returns. The princess has promised that if we succeed in this battle, we'll each be rewarded with ten gold pieces, two pieces of brocade, and five pieces of cotton cloth!"
Hearing about the reward, the cheeks of the people who were blowing up the sheepskin covers puffed up even more vigorously. Soon all the sheepskins were filled up, and then four of them were tied together to make a raft to cross the river.
The reason for carrying sheepskin covers was, first, to save time in building rafts; second, to serve as armor. In order to reduce the weight, these soldiers did not wear heavy armor, and the sheepskin covers tied to their bodies would be simple leather armor. Third, after arriving at the Hanzhong Basin, they would have to cross the Mian River to camp on the south bank, so as to avoid being blocked by the enemy army due to the lack of trees to be cut down along the coast. Therefore, Zhang Mo prepared a sheepskin cover for each of them.
In addition, each person is equipped with mosquito repellent medicine bags, medicinal wine, pills for treating diarrhea, colds, and fever, high-top mountain boots for climbing, work clothes, naan and dried vegetables that are easy to carry and store, weapons and some tools. They are truly traveling light.
As for the protein that soldiers need every day, there is plenty of it in the Qinling Mountains. They can just shoot some along the way. If it is not enough, they can send a few teams out for hunting.
After crossing the Youshui River and walking along the river valley for half a day, they arrived at the foot of Niuling Mountain. Conquering this last mountain meant they were halfway to success.
Five days later, Liu Xiong and his party successfully walked out of Tangluo Road. According to Zhang Mo's prior instructions, they raised the Shu army flag as soon as they got out of the road, and marched westward. When they reached a truly flat area, they crossed the Mian River to the south, continued westward along the southern foothills, and reached the southwest corner of the basin after four days.
Liu Xiong's journey seemed difficult, but it was actually the smoothest. Luotang Road was difficult to walk on, but there was no Shu army stronghold in it. After entering the Hanzhong Basin, because the Shu army's military deployment was concentrated in the east and west ends, they did not encounter any obstructions at all. In addition, they avoided the city. Although some people saw them along the way, because Liu Bei frequently dispatched troops to Hanzhong during this period, the people were no longer surprised.
This group of people walked in such a swagger from the east to the west of the basin. When they reached the city closest to Dingjun Mountain, Liu Xiong first sent a thousand people to cut wood and set up camp. He took two thousand people to plunder the city, and the entire army had food and grass.
Dingjun Mountain is the most central of a series of hills on the northern foot of Migang Mountain. It is 700 meters above sea level and about five kilometers wide from east to west. It is connected to the Han River at its eastern end and is only five kilometers away from Yangping Pass in the northwest. There is a Xingshi Mountain to the west. The valley between the two mountains is called Zouma Valley, and Liu Xiong's camp was located in Zouma Valley.
The reason for doing this is, firstly, because Liu Xiong has few soldiers and horses, setting up camp in the valley can reduce the enemy's attack surface and avoid being surrounded and annihilated by the enemy; secondly, it can bring huge psychological pressure to the defenders of Yangping Pass. Just imagine, there are 20,000 soldiers outside attacking the pass, and there is an enemy army five kilometers behind that can pounce on you at any time. It would be strange if you can hold your ground. Moreover, since the enemy can send a team in quietly, they can send a second and a third team.
What made Sun Qian even more panicked was that the other side had already set up camp, and he only found out that a Tang army had infiltrated from behind him. He didn't even know how many troops the other side had.
What else could they do at this time? They could only send a team to pull out this nail first. However, Sun Qian knew in his heart that the other party had precisely chosen a place that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and where they could observe the enemy's situation, to set up their camp. The possibility of successfully pulling out the camp was extremely low.
Outside Yangping Pass, in the Tang army camp, Zhang Mo stood on a high platform in the camp, looking up at the black eagle flying out from the pass. He said to Zhang He, "Liu Xiong is ready. Send the order to break through the pass!"
This was the sentence Zhang He had been waiting for all these days. As soon as the military order was passed down, the thunderous sound of war drums immediately spread throughout the valley. The vanguard of 10,000 soldiers was divided into five teams, led by Zhang He himself, to first destroy the camp east of the Ju River.
The village is backed by a mountain on the northeast and faces water on the southwest. The narrow road in the middle cannot accommodate too many soldiers and horses. In addition, the enemy has the advantage of high ground. Even with catapults, it is difficult to take it down. What is even more troublesome is that there is another village on the high slope on the other side of the Ju River, which is just within the range of an arrow from the second half of the road. In other words, the Tang army attacking the village must not only defend the front but also the back, and the enemy also has catapults.
However, the only thing to be thankful for was that in order to deal with Liu Xiong, Sun Qian withdrew a part of the garrison from both sides. In addition, the panic caused by the sudden appearance of the Tang army inside the pass made it difficult but not impossible to break through.
The first team of attacking soldiers was ready. Three hundred people in the front and back of the team formed two shield formations with shields raised, and fourteen hundred people in the middle cooperated with shields and bows and arrows. They advanced forward and exchanged arrows with the enemy. This was also due to the long range of the Tang Dynasty longbow. Otherwise, due to the disadvantage of low position, it would be difficult for the attackers' arrows to reach the top of the village.
Arrows were fired at each other, catapults were thrown at each other, and the rumbling sounds and screams resounded throughout the valley. Judging from the volume of the sounds, it was obvious that the Tang army suffered greater casualties.
Hanzhong was already a bit hot at the end of June, especially around noon, when the sun scorched from the sky and heat waves came one after another. However, this was the only chance to break through Yangping Pass. If the rain didn't fall this time, there would be no chance at all when Liu Bei returned.
So even though the weather was hot and the casualties were heavy, the Tang army still tried their best to push the formation towards the top of the village. After one wave was defeated, another wave would take their place, leaving them covered in wounds and blood staining the river.
Zhang Mo even personally sat in the rear of the battlefield to supervise the battle. Anyone who retreated would be killed. Otherwise, under such casualties, even the most elite team would collapse.
In contrast to the situation outside the Great Wall, Liu Xiong inside the Great Wall had the advantage of geographical location and was suppressing the Shu army at this time. The Shu army, which had just surrendered to Liu Bei, did not have the same tenacious perseverance as the Tang army, and began to flee after suffering heavy casualties.
Liu Xiong knew that this was the critical moment to break through the pass. After repelling these people, he led his troops to chase them out and came to the foot of the pass to harass the enemy's rear.
You'll Also Like
-
Global Mining..
Chapter 658 7 hours ago -
American Scandal King
Chapter 338 7 hours ago -
Chosen Evolution: I can load the protagonist template
Chapter 196 7 hours ago -
I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty
Chapter 131 7 hours ago -
Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance
Chapter 601 7 hours ago -
Mercenary I am the king
Chapter 777 7 hours ago -
My Lord, you need to stand up!
Chapter 308 7 hours ago -
Zongman: Is this how it’s sewn?
Chapter 425 7 hours ago -
Martial arts of the heavens, I am unstoppable since I was born
Chapter 282 7 hours ago -
Blind Ghostwriter: Starts with the full level of Nine Yang Magic Skill
Chapter 195 7 hours ago