Three Kingdoms: Ten Times Speed, Diao Chan Says I'm Too Fast

after one day.

Chen Cang.

Three thousand elite cavalrymen, who had galloped all day from Ji County, set up camp outside Chencang.

Apart from 800 Flying Bear Cavalry and 400 personal guard cavalry, the rest of the 3,000 elite cavalry were all Xiongnu loyal followers.

The generals leading the troops were all junior officers from the Liangzhou faction.

Last year, Duan Yu almost unified the entire Liangzhou region, and now Duan Yu needs to station troops in ten counties of Liangzhou.

Besides Hanyang, Longxi also has the three prefectures of Jincheng. Troops must be stationed in the other three prefectures to prevent the relocation of native chieftains from causing trouble.

In addition, two large troop units should be stationed in the Western Regions to prevent attacks from the Wusun and the Northern Xiongnu.

Although the number of troops under his command seems to have increased, there are also more areas that need to be taken care of.

Spring plowing is just around the corner, so we can't mobilize a large number of troops.

Moreover, the army needed provisions to sustain itself upon entering the pass, and transporting provisions required a large amount of corvée labor.

Therefore, they could only ride light and fast horses.

Torches were lit around the camp under the cover of night.

Patrols of soldiers moved back and forth between the barracks.

Inside the central army camp, Duan Yu sat in the camp.

Zhao Yun and Zhao Feng were on duty outside the tent.

Not far from Zhao Yun, there was a boy who looked to be about the same age as Zhao Yun, but was a little taller and more imposing.

The young man held a tiger-headed, golden spear. He had a fair complexion, deep-set eyes, and wore a brocade robe. His name was Ma Chao.

Although he has only been in the army for a few months, he has already become a military commander thanks to his superb martial arts skills.

A young general also stood beside Zhao Feng.

The young general was about the same height and age as Ma Chao, with a longbow on his back and eyes as sharp as a hawk's.

The boy was from Annan in Liangzhou. Last winter, Liangzhou was recruiting soldiers, and the boy enlisted. His name was Pang De.

He is an expert archer and also a skilled horseman. He currently serves as a military commander in Duan Yu's personal guard.

Inside the central command tent, Duan Yu sat behind a table.

On the table were a riding whip, a map, and a bowl of hot tea.

The weather was still cold at the time.

A brazier was lit inside the tent.

Duan Yu's eyebrows furrowed together.

Originally, since Jia Xu, Li Ru, and Cheng Yu all agreed to go to the capital, Duan Yu also did not plan to enter Luoyang.

Anyway, there's no benefit in going now, given the current situation in Liangzhou, although its future development prospects are very good.

But that's in the future, not now.

Liangzhou is currently better off protecting itself than making any significant progress.

Unless Liangzhou is given another year.

Only after the Western Regions are completely settled, after the land reform is completed this year, and after a bumper harvest this year, can troops be concentrated and mobilized.

That was the time for Liangzhou to expand outwards.

But now is not the time.

But.......

Duan Yu never expected this.

Or rather, the things he had worried about before actually happened.

He Lingsi is pregnant.

That's right, the intelligence he received yesterday was the second one sent from Luoyang.

The first intelligence report that was sent earlier only contained information about the day after New Year's Day.

Due to the urgency and importance of the intelligence, this intelligence was sent from Luoyang on the very day it was collected.

Therefore, the information about what happened on the third day of the Lunar New Year in Luoyang, and what followed, was then sent over in sequence.

Two extremely important things.

The first piece of information was that He Lingsi was pregnant.

The second piece of information concerns Liu Xie's appointment as crown prince.

Without these two intelligence reports...

He has no plans to send troops to Luoyang.

but now......

I absolutely have to visit Luoyang.

He had been worried about He Lingsi's pregnancy before.

It now seems that it was planted for He Lingsi in the palace garden when she left Luoyang last time.

If you count the time, it's been more than three months now.

I just didn't expect He Lingsi to have been hiding it all along.

With He Lingsi pregnant and Liu Xie being made crown prince, it is clear that Empress Dowager Dong is now in control of the situation in Luoyang.

Moreover, the fact that Yuan Wei was appointed as Grand Tutor indicates that Empress Dowager Dong made compromises and concessions on the issue of the aristocratic families, formed an alliance with them, and excluded He Jin and Empress He from political power.

If that's the case, then what will He Lingsi have to face?

He Lingsi's relationship with Empress Dowager Dong was always very bad because of Liu Xie.

Historically, the first thing He Lingsi did after seizing power was to poison Empress Dowager Dong.

It's easy to imagine what Empress Dowager Dong would have done.

Even if He Lingsi isn't poisoned now, this troublesome person will probably be completely eliminated after Liu Hong dies and Liu Xie ascends the throne.

Duan Yu had no doubt about the ruthlessness of the women in the harem.

Not only He Lingsi, but even Liu Bian would probably not escape his clutches.

If Empress Dowager Dong had considered the father-son relationship between Liu Bian and Liu Hong, she might have exiled them and granted them the title of king.

But He Lingsi was definitely doomed to die.

Of course, these things originally had nothing to do with him.

But now that He Lingsi is pregnant with his child, things are different.

Although they were never met, they were still his offspring.

He couldn't just stand by and watch his unseen heir be poisoned to death.

He Lingsi is currently imprisoned in Changqiu Palace, Liu Bian is imprisoned in Wende Hall, and General He Jin doesn't even dare to enter Luoyang City.

Empress Dowager Dong ordered Ding Yuan, Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun, and others to come to Luoyang to form an alliance.

The goal was to completely install Liu Xie on the throne.

Once Liu Xie secures his throne, He Lingsi will be in danger.

Therefore, he had to go to Luoyang this time.

"Zilong, order the entire army to prepare food at 1:15 AM tomorrow, and set off immediately after the meal," Duan Yu said to Zhao Yun outside the camp.

"only."

After turning around, Zhao Yun accepted the order.

Hangu Pass.

This is the first hurdle he needs to overcome to enter Luoyang.

Hangu Pass was once the first pass of the Qin Dynasty and was also known as the first pass under heaven.

After the Eastern Han Dynasty established Luoyang as its capital, Hangu Pass became one of the eight passes of Luoyang, and a necessary pass to pass through when leaving the city.

Ding Yuan is in Taiyuan, so his speed must be faster than his.

Let's see how we get through this hurdle.

.............

Three days later, at the Chou Sang Plain.

A biting wind swept across the undulating Loess Plain, where the silt accumulated by the Yellow River over thousands of years had formed a vast loess hilly landscape on the turbid southern bank.

The crisscrossing ravines piled up here like a natural barrier, forming a natural and insurmountable wall.

The Hexi Corridor, stretching from Liangzhou all the way to Chang'an and even Luoyang, travels along the south bank of the Yellow River until it reaches the end of the Chousang Plain.

To the north lies the natural barrier of the Yellow River.

The only way to cross the Chousang Plain is through Hangu Pass.

To the north lies the mighty Yellow River, and to the south, the Qinling Mountains.

Hangu Pass is situated precisely on this crucial road connecting the west and the east.

The Yellow River's millennia-long erosion and deposition have created the Chou Sang Plain, an endless and towering loess plateau, making it virtually impossible to traverse.

The Qin state relied on this formidable pass to repel countless invasions from foreign enemies.

And the unification of the Qin Dynasty began from here.

To the north of Hangu Pass lies the formidable Yellow River, while to the south flows another river, the Hongnong River.

The two rivers, one to the north and one to the east, form a natural barrier here.

Hangu Pass was built precisely between two natural barriers—long rivers and a ravine running east to west.

It is precisely because of this that Hangu Pass can not only defend against enemies from the east to the west.

After the capital of the Han Dynasty was moved from Chang'an to Luoyang, the passes were repaired, thus forming a defense against enemies advancing from the west and east.

During the Yongqiang Rebellion, this place was also a crucial pass that prevented the Qiang people from entering the Jingzhao region.

This pass is not only protected by the Yellow River and the Hongnong River, but the terrain here is also very narrow.

The states that attacked Qin once gathered hundreds of thousands of troops here.

However, the terrain of Hangu Pass makes it impossible to open up the entrances on either side, as they are narrow like the mouth of a trumpet, regardless of whether the attack is from the east or the west.

Whether it's an army of hundreds of thousands or millions, only so many troops can pass through at any given time.

The ancient road leading out of Hangu Pass from the west is called the Hangu Pass Ancient Road, which is about seven miles long.

The towering loess plateaus on both sides are more than ten meters above the ancient road.

The Book of Qin records that this place was so remote that carriages could not travel side by side and horses could not ride together.

The word "natural barrier" is more than appropriate to describe this place.

Since the Han Dynasty moved its capital to Luoyang, Hangu Pass has served as one of the eight passes guarding Luoyang, and is the most important pass along with Sishui Pass.

Because of the constant need to guard against threats from the Western Qiang and Liangzhou, this place has been repeatedly repaired and is even more magnificent than the Hangu Pass of the Qin Dynasty.

At this moment, Duan Yu was leading his cavalry through the narrow ancient Hangu Pass.

If three thousand cavalrymen were to pass through the ancient Hangu Pass at once, it would probably block them all.

Therefore, Duan Yu only ordered that four hundred personal guard cavalrymen lead the way first, followed by eighteen hundred Xiongnu volunteers, and finally eight hundred Flying Bear cavalrymen bring up the rear.

It was still chilly at the time, and the ground had not yet thawed. The horses' hooves made a clattering sound as they stepped on the solid frozen earth.

Duan Yu quickly dismounted from his horse, Black Tiger Xiao Hei.

The weapons, including the bow and arrows, were all hanging on the big black dog's body.

The thick pads of flesh on the ground contrasted sharply with the hooves of the warhorse.

Duan Yu had passed through here on both sides before.

I also carefully examined the geographical environment here.

To be honest, with the current level of technology, it is almost impossible to launch a direct assault and take down Hangu Pass.

This place is truly a place where one man can hold off ten thousand.

As long as we don't consider the issues of food and manpower, having tens of thousands of soldiers is of no use against an enemy force of hundreds of thousands or millions.

With troops unable to be deployed, no one can afford to waste resources here.

In the end, they had no choice but to retreat.

Historically, the reason his father-in-law retreated to Chang'an was because if he wanted to attack Chang'an, he had to break through Hangu Pass.

Li Ru was well aware of this, which is why he suggested moving the capital.

If it weren't for Wang Yun's elaborate scheme, his father-in-law Dong Zhuo would not have been defeated and killed in Chang'an.

Upon reaching the end, Duan Yu's view suddenly opened up as the towering earthen walls on both sides of the ancient Hangu Pass were no longer obstructing his view.

In the distance, a city wall, as if cast in iron, winds its way up the mountain ridge, its gray bricks mottled with moss, like the scales on the back of a giant beast.

The watchtower, several meters high, is adorned with a city gate studded with copper nails, each nail worn green by the passage of time. The creaking of iron chains rubbing against the drawbridge echoes in the cold wind.

The armored soldiers, stationed every five steps along the battlements, gripped their long halberds tightly.

The cliffs on both sides of the pass are steep as if cleaved by an axe, and the bronze bells under the eaves of the corner towers jingle when the north wind howls.

Hangu Pass is right in front of us.

When Duan Yu appeared in the distance of Hangu Pass, the soldiers on the pass also spotted Duan Yu and his troops.

As dusk fell, the first wisp of smoke rose from the beacon tower.

The garrison quickly passed around the bronze gong and struck it, igniting one beacon fire after another.

The sound of gongs and thick black smoke signaled the start of the war over Hangu Pass.

PS: To better and more intuitively demonstrate the importance of ancient passes in warfare, and because there will be more war scenes in the future, to prevent readers who are not familiar with them from seeing the details, the author will post pictures in the comments section of each chapter to explain the importance of passes.

The land isn't flat; walking takes time, and people need to eat and sleep. Although the protagonist is stronger than ordinary people, this world is still the world of ordinary people.

I would also like to ask readers who have not read historical research before to be patient. This book is not an invincible, wish-fulfillment novel where someone can travel all over the country in a day and deliver a message or decree in a day.

If you're looking for something to enjoy, Tomato (a popular Chinese video streaming platform) has plenty of options.

Having mastered the art of slaying dragons, one can sell it to the emperor. Although the author is a novelist and hopes many people will enjoy it, he doesn't recommend it to everyone.

I would like to thank all the readers who love my work once again. You are the best!