Or rather, this is the first time he has observed Tongguan so closely.
The situation in front of him almost made Cao Cao find little impression of Tongguan when he was young.
Indeed, today's Tongguan City is larger, more majestic and more terrifying than the Guancheng in history.
Fei Qian widened the Han Tongguan and covered almost all the original old Guanyuan. A huge Guancheng was built on the dangerous Linzhi Plain, called Shangtongguan. The corridor below Linzhi Plain was established called Xiatongguan. The only mountain road connecting Shangxia Tongguan was connected.
Below Niutou Plain are countless gullies that are difficult to cross. Looking south, there are towering Qinling Mountains, towering into the clouds, looking north, surging rivers that are endlessly surging...
The only road was cut off by Tongguan.
So, there is no way out.
Before Tongguan, the outermost part was several winding trenches. The trenches were not deep, only half a person high, but the digging soil was piled behind the trenches, so a mud wall was formed that was low in the east and high in the west. After the mud wall, there was a platform left, which was much higher than the mud wall.
You can station troops on the platform, or you can place crossbows or catapults.
There are also some intervals in the trenches, but those intervals look like bloody mouths, and there is a faint cold light flashing around them. I don’t know what murderous intent is hidden...
Cao Cao looked further away and saw that there seemed to be villages and camps on Fengyi Plateau behind Tongguan. I don’t know how many people were stationed, nor how many soldiers were there at Tongguan.
During the Han and Tang Dynasties, due to the erosion and siltation of the river, the Linzhi Plateau of Tongguan was cut down, and the damage of water and soil caused the vegetation on the plateau platform to further reduce, which led to the possibility of being detached by a forbidden ditches in Tongguan. On this basis, the forbidden ditches were built. At present, the forbidden ditches were banned and could not be avoided.
Even if there is no Twelve Pass City, it is enough to go up and down Tongguan, which is enough to make Cao Cao speechless for a long time.
Such a terrain and such a defensive system make the danger of Tongguan far exceed the declining Hanhan Valley. If Hanhan Valley Pass can still attack with people, the current Tongguan City is almost an endless natural abyss. Even if it is filled with many lives, it seems that it cannot be filled.
Although Cao Cao could station a large army on Niutou Plain, that's it. Unless all the soldiers of Cao's army could have wings and fly far away from Wanggou, they could only sigh. If they wanted to take the mountain road to attack Tongguan, they had to take down Huangxiangban first, then seize Xiaguan City, and then attack Shangtongguan City on a mountain road comparable to Qinhangu Pass Road, and finally attack Jingou and enter Guanzhong...
Cao Cao took a breath.
For such a long distance, especially the one that attacks Tongguan from the back, even if you climb empty-handed, it will take a lot of effort, let alone attacking in heavy armor. Moreover, because the slope is large, the shield cart cannot be pushed up at all, so the archer and crossbowmen defending on Linzhiyuan can easily shoot the attacking parties in the mountain road one by one.
Inside and outside Tongguan City, flags are flying.
Some people seemed to notice that Cao Cao was observing on Niutou Park opposite, and then there was a noise, but because the distance was too far, I couldn't hear clearly what those people were shouting, mixed in the cold wind, buzzing.
Cao Cao remained silent.
Dong Zhao looked aside, his face turned pale.
Guo Jia was holding a wine gourd and sucked it in one bite.
"Let's camp first."
Cao Cao said.
With Cao Cao's order, the mighty Cao army spread across Niutouyuan and the earthen plateau east of Tongguan. Each branch formed camps and stood in camps, flag camps and tents were everywhere, and countless laborers sweated heavily, digging the trenches of the camps and erecting the walls of the camps. In a short time, tens of thousands of people stood up in large camps, and there were still a steady stream of people coming on the official road, going down the camps in sequence along the direction of the river.
Before coming to the specific field investigation, Cao Cao knew that it was impossible to conquer Tongguan head-on, and now after watching it, he became more and more sure of this.
Tongguan fell once before, but it was because the original Hantongguan was disrepair for many years. After all, Company Chang'an was in decline at that time, so how could there be any financial and material resources to repair Tongguan?
But now it's different.
The Tongguan built by Fei Qian made people feel weak all over when they glanced at it, let alone really attacking.
Moreover, there are some trunks on Linzhi Plain, which are piled up on them, covering them with cloth and felt blankets. Although Cao Cao was not sure what they were, he knew that they must not be for the sake of good-looking decorations. Even if he could attack Linzhi Plain, he would still face a city wall that was nearly three meters high. There was any defense system inside the city wall, and he knew nothing except that there must be a urn city.
"What's the situation at the ferry?"
Cao Cao asked in a deep voice.
Cao Cao asked about Tongguan Du.
Tongguan Ferry is independent outside Tongguan.
Cao Xiu said on the side: "Lord, there is a platform built at Tongguan Ferry. There are several layers of earthen walls in front of the platform, which are mutually supportive with the military camp on the mountain and guard the ferry. The tidal flats at the ferry are very thick. If you do not conquer the military camp, you will inevitably suffer from attacks on both sides... And if you attack Tongguan Ferry, even if the soldiers in Tongguan cannot return to support, there will be Fengyiyuan soldiers and horses coming to support at any time. There may be even a Shaanxi navy rushing around..."
Shaanxi Jin is the west of Sanmenxia in later generations, and it is also the last ferry of the river. Once you enter the Sanmenxia area, let alone crossing the river, even if you want a boatman to drag it, there is also the risk of overturning at any time. The so-called Sanmen is the three gates of heaven, man and ghost. If you accidentally enter the Ghost Gate, it is really like entering the Ghost Gate.
Therefore, even if Cao Cao had a fleet, it would be difficult for him to pass through the dangerous places of Sanmenxia. Although Wei Yan's fleet was not many, which was not worth mentioning from the Jiangdong Navy, he was stuck in Sanmenxia, just like another Tongguan stuck on the water surface, which made Cao Cao's transportation team able to transfer land in advance and could not arrive at Tongguan directly by water in one breath.
Everyone's faces looked a little ugly.
Tongguan is obviously not easy to fight, but unexpectedly, Tongguan Du was also prepared. And according to Cao Xiu's wishes, he was not optimistic about attacking Tongguan Du.
Only Yang Xiu was expressionless on the side, neither sad nor happy, like a sculpture.
Yang Xiu even felt a little gloating. It was like looking at the graceful lady next door. Yang Xiu couldn't ask for it, and then seeing Cao Cao's better than him, he was also frustrated.
"Ancestor De...Ancestor De!" Cao Cao stared at Yang Xiu, "Ancestor De thinks, can he gain something?"
『Uh…』 Yang Xiusurong said, 『Prince, if you can cross the river, you know a mountain road that can bypass Fenglingdu military camp... There is no need to attack Fenglingdu military camp... Just Tongguan ferry... If you can't fight it, I'm afraid it's...』
Tongguan Ferry is in the south, and Fengling Ferry is in the north.
There is a Tongguan Military Village on Tongguan Ferry, and there is a Fengling Military Village on Fengling Ferry.
Almost armed to the teeth...
If you don’t fight Tongguan Ferry, even if you build a floating bridge and force Fengling Ferry, you may be cut off at any time.
Dong Zhao frowned and said, "After advancing to Hedong and attacking Tongguan, it was your strategy. Now it is said that there are troops in Hedong, and there are many difficulties. Could it be that you are playing with the lord?"
Yang Xiu glanced at Dong Zhao, but said he didn't dare, and then did not continue to defend himself.
『Hahahahahahaha…』 Although Cao Cao was in a dilemma, he still showed his demeanor. He did not scold Yang Xiu for offering suggestions, but smiled, squinted his eyes, and waved his hand, "Your Ren doesn't have to do this! Each military discussion has its own strategies, which is a common thing. How can you argue for the blame? Since the ancestor of virtue has plans, he should respond, so he might as well speak freely! Say it is innocent!"
Yang Xiu bowed and said, "Thank you, Prime Minister. Xiu is stupid... But, if you can enter the Hedong land, Wei Wenchang will definitely rescue you, if you can break it..."
Cao Cao pondered.
Dong Zhao sneered, "You still want to say this? If it can be broken, how can it be broken?"
Yang Xiu lowered his head and shrank his head, and said nothing again.
Cao Cao waved his hand.
Before, Cao Cao lured Wei Yan to attack and wanted to set up an ambush in Shanxian County and Tianjin to ambush Wei Yan, but Wei Yan was not deceived, so Cao Cao could only deploy defense in Shanxian County and then moved his army to Tongguan. Now Tongguan is obviously unable to overcome it with manpower in a short time, so his strategy of entering Hedong to fight against Guanzhong was once again on the table for discussion.
Cao Hong said in a deep voice: "According to the habit of the cavalry, there are still any tricks in the place where the Tongguan crosses the military camp... caltrops, trapped horse pits, pointed wooden stakes... and crossbows throwing stones and oil bombs... Now I have to add a gunpowder... Oh, it's so difficult..."
It's really difficult.
But what is not difficult?
Even if it is the lying flat in later generations, not everyone can lying just by lying down. They also need to have a certain amount of reserves and family conditions to say that they can lie down. Otherwise... I am afraid that a new round of intravenous reel will start after lying for a few months...
Yang Xiu whispered, "It's true... but what if Wei Wenchang attacked?"
Cao Cao frowned slightly.
Dong Zhao looked a little angry and said in a deep voice: "Does Yang Dezu want to lead the troops as bait?"
Yang Xiu smiled shyly, "I'm just a weak scholar, and I have no ability to command soldiers... Is this bait? Of course, it's better to be eaten..."
As he said that, Yang Xiu glanced slightly at Cao Hong and Cao Xiu.
Cao Hong raised his head and stroked his beard, as if he didn't care.
Cao Xiu reacted and immediately frowned at Yang Xiu.
『Hmm…』 Cao Cao waved his hand, 『This matter is inappropriate. Do Dezu have other plans?』
Seeing that he did not accept the advice, Yang Xiu was not anxious and said calmly: "If you store grain in Shaanxi County, it can still be called bait..."
"The city defense in Shaanxi County is dilapidated, how can we store grain?" Dong Zhao said, "If there is any loss, what's the food and clothing of a million troops?"
Yang Xiu smiled slightly, lowered his head and stopped talking.
Cao Cao's eyes were extremely sharp. He had arrived at Tongguan. It was impossible for him to leave without a fight. And almost all the troops from all over the country came here. If he turned around, then everyone would know that Cao Cao was afraid to fight Fei Qian. Then the reputation of the Cavalry Army would be rooted in the hearts of the people in Shandong. If the morale in this army fell, no one would dare to fight even if he encountered the Cavalry Army again.
So Cao Cao would rather die some people or even take some risks than maintain this tone...
Cao Cao thought, and then said in a deep voice: "Send the order! If you get the head of the cavalry armored soldiers, you should reward one acre of land and one hundred gold! If you get the third level, you can obtain five acres of land and five hundred gold! If you get the head of the cavalry general, you can obtain a thousand acres of land and ten thousand gold coins!"
The order was issued immediately, and then bursts of cheers suddenly sounded in the Cao army camp.
Because of the low morale of facing the strong city of Tongguan, Cao Cao was re-invigorated, but Cao Cao understood that this was only temporary. If he could not achieve anything, the next time would be even more difficult.
...
...
The cold wind whistles.
Wei Yan used the end of the scabbard to snatch the ground, and watched the dried-out yellow dust flying in the wind, frowning slightly.
Hedong is too dry this year.
The land has lost its original moisture, and many parts of the arable land are cracked and become pieces.
If Fei Qian had not rebuilt Hedong's water conservancy project a few years ago, he would have thought that this year Hedong would have suffered a drought and reduced production...
Of course, Wei Yan was not considering Zhuanghe, but the issue of river channels.
In the thirty years of Hedong and thirty years of Hexi, in fact, it was not about luck at the beginning, but about the destruction of the river. Because the river is full and drought, the water level is high and low, the river changes often occur from Longmendu to Pujindu. Perhaps it flowed in Hexi thirty years ago, but it was in the thirty years later. This change in the river also caused the area from Longmendu to Pujindu to be full of low-lying land for mudflats and swamps all year round, and was cut by the river, making it difficult to move.
Therefore, from Hedong to Guanzhong, in the north-south direction, there have been two ferries since ancient times, one is Longmen Ferry and the other is Pujin Ferry.
Once the drought continues and the water level drops, it means that it will be much easier to pass through the river, whether you cross the Longmen or Pujin...
Wei Yan could not control this weather change.
In fact, there is another problem. Wei Yan failed to realize that the water level of the river has dropped, so those exposed riverbeds are the best breeding places for locusts.
These riverbeds do not have any vegetation, and there will be no people or livestock rolling and stirring, so insects and eggs are safe. As long as you survive the winter, as soon as spring comes, locusts are everywhere in the sky and the sky rise up!
The large army's war has aggravated the speed of the surrounding trees being destroyed, which has brought about more soil erosion and drought...
The fate of next year is already quietly written.
There are no large-scale mobilization troops in Guanzhong, but some soldiers who had retired were recruited in the Sanfu of Chang'an to strengthen their vigilance and duty.
Although Pang Tong said that Wei Yan would not have to worry too much, Wei Yan always felt that the wealthy gentry families in Guanzhong and Hedong would sooner or later make some troubles, and if they were inappropriate to deal with it...
The problem of the great gentry families in Hedong, well, or it is a problem in all parts of the Han Dynasty. After the accumulation of the Han Dynasty for three to four hundred years, local problems are already very terrible, but they are usually covered up by the taxes paid on time. Once the central government is insufficient, many strange problems will arise.
This illusion has been passed down from generation to generation and has penetrated into the bone marrow of the feudal dynasty in China.
Fei Qian wanted to take another path to isolate this kind of illegitimate problem, but Cao Cao came over and said that it was not possible. We are many people and disagree. The minority must obey the majority, so you have to follow me.
Wei Yan didn't understand these things, but he understood that the current position was given to him by the Cavalry, so he had to be loyal to the Cavalry.
Military Counselor Jia Hong came out of the camp and found Wei Yan. Seeing Wei Yan staring at Cao's camp on the other side of the river, he couldn't help but say again: "General, Pang Lingjun has an order. Regardless of whether there are any flaws in Cao's army, the general cannot cross the river!"
Wei Yan didn't even look back and responded angrily, "I know! I'm just taking a look!"
Jia Hong was still a little inertial in his speech. Even if Wei Yan said he knew, he still had to whisper.
Wei Yan listened with his left ear, and his right ear flew out.
Wei Yan didn't like Jia Hong very much because Jia Hong had a rigid personality. Perhaps it was just that, so he was sent to Wei Yan as a military counselor, that is, Wei Yan's logistics clerk chief officer.
In addition to being a little nagging at the age, Jia Hong did everything well, neither greedy for money nor inadvertently, and handled things in an orderly manner and fair and reasonable manner, allowing Wei Yan to focus on wars with greater worries, and throw all the soldiers' food, drink, defecation, and other trivial matters to Jia Hong for handling.
No one will be loved by everyone in the world at birth, even the emperor will not do it.
Thinking of the emperor, Wei Yan thought of the prince of the cavalry, and then suddenly thought of something, could Pang Tong intend to give the prince...
"Forget it..." Wei Yan shook his head. These political things are too brain-intensive and not as simple as military ones.
Jia Hong was standing aside, thinking that Wei Yan was talking to him, and couldn't help but be stunned, "Forget it? How did this happen?"
Wei Yan reacted, "What did you say just now?"
Jia Hong rolled up his eyelids and looked at Wei Yan.
Wei Yan laughed, "I just thought about Cao Jun's affairs..."
『General, this is the case. The food and grass that should have been sent from Anyi, Hedong has been delayed for ten days.』 Jia Hong said, 『Originally, this should have been sentenced to twenty military sticks according to the law, but...』
『But what?』 Wei Yan asked.
『But the military ration was not caused by the delay of the grain transport officer's journey, but was delayed when the grain transport officer was retrieving the grain and grass in Anyi. The grain transport officer also speeded up the journey on the way...』 Jia Hong said sternly, 『If the grain transport officer was punished, then the responsibility was actually not completely his. It was somewhat unfair, but if the grain transport officer was not punished, then where would the law be placed?"
"What do you say in Anyi?" Wei Yan asked.
Jia Hong said: "Of course there are also reasons for them, but the military law is the military law. If it is postponed, it will be postponed."
Wei Yan pondered for a while, "We are sure that we are adjusting Changping Position, not Minsheng Position?"
Jia Hong was stunned for a moment, then frowned, "The general's meaning..."
"Hmph." Wei Yan waved his hand, "It's like this again... Don't write it down for now, and calculate it together after the war!"
"Remember it all?" Jia Hong asked.
Wei Yan nodded.
"Okay." Jia Hong had no other opinions. Seeing Wei Yan turned to stare at Shan County on the other side of the river, he couldn't help but say, "General... This Pang Lingjun has an order..."
"I understand! I understand!" Wei Yan waved his hand, "I'm not far from the river!"
Jia Hong stopped talking and handed over.
Before, Wei Yan endured it, but Cao Cao had no choice but to endure it. He could not continue to delay in Shan County. He could only leave some people behind to guard against Wei Yan, and then move forward.
Cao Cao left. Now Wei Yan watched Cao's army blatantly transfer the food and grass in Shaanxi County. Even if Wei Yan knew in his heart that this might be another trap, he couldn't help but feel itchy...
Unlike games, soldiers need to eat no matter where they are, and most wars are located deviated from the urban supply area, so they will inevitably need to transport grain and grass over time. The reason why Shan County is a trap is that from Hangu Pass to Tongguan, the distance is not too far. It can be set up, but there is no need to say that a transfer station must be needed...
So, there are probably ghosts.
Unfortunately, the fat man seemed to have foresaw this situation and asked Jia Hong, the old-fashioned old man, to recite the tight-knot curse.
Disobey?
Not to.
But it is indeed a difficult problem to not cross the river and still cause trouble.