Huluxia Fortress is stuck on the main road between Liuqingjiang River and Hulushan Mountain.
Located in Shanya County, Yangwonju, Hulu Mountain is named after its shape resembling a gourd. It is wide from the north to the south and narrow in the middle. Just to the west, the Liuqing River flows along the foot of the mountain. However, the terrain between the mountain and the river is narrow at both ends and wide in the middle. Hulu Gorge Fortress
It was built on the upper reaches of Liuqing River.
At noon that day, a group of people ran into the fortress in embarrassment. Fan Dongci, the commander of the fortress, came out and saw that everyone had a bruised nose, swollen face, and disheveled clothes and armor, and they didn't even have weapons in their hands.
"What's going on? The enemy troops are coming from somewhere?" Fan Dongci was wary.
"Brother-in-law, you have to help me vent my anger this time!" The leader of the group turned out to be Fan Dongci's brother-in-law. "We were beaten by the people of the 10th Army Corps. They are unreasonable!"
My brother-in-law is the captain guarding the Qingliu River Ferry, which is about twenty miles away from the fortress.
There are two roads around Hulu Mountain, namely the east bank and the west bank of Qingliu River. Because the gate of the fortress is a bit narrow, it can only accommodate four horses walking side by side. Once a team goes north, it will cause congestion, so those who don’t want to pass by the fortress can do so.
Transfer from the ferry to the east coast.
"People from the Tenth Legion? Why did they beat you?" Fan Dongci became more and more confused as he listened.
"They want to cross the river, but they have more than 200,000 horses. How can we prepare so many boats at our ferry? And those ferry boats are most afraid of the large army. They work hard to carry them and often don't get paid. One look at them
Most of them were gone as soon as they arrived.
I had no choice but to tell the truth, but unexpectedly, a captain looked like he was scolding us for colluding with the party, deliberately delaying the military flight, and threatened to kill my head. The brothers stopped and came out to protect me, so they took action.
"Brother-in-law is swollen like a pig's head.
"Too much bullying!" Fan Dongci was furious, "Why do their cavalry regiments want to cross the river? Can't they just pass the fortress honestly? If you want to hurry up, you have to discuss it with us. What's the point of being so arrogant?"
"Brother-in-law, how can they negotiate with you because of their large numbers of people! They definitely can't cross the river and have to come back here. You must help me vent my anger." My brother-in-law is also considered a local tyrant, with hundreds of men under his command.
Man, I have never been beaten so badly.
"Hmph! After I close the door, can they still attack the fortress?" Fan Dongci turned around and ordered his men to close the door.
The fortress is usually open during the day and closed at night, but Fan Dong Temple can adjust the opening time at will, and charges a fee when meeting foreign merchants. It can be said that he is the local emperor here.
"They really dare to attack!" My brother-in-law has experienced the arrogance of the Tenth Army. "You have less than 800 people here, plus I have more than 100 but less than 1,000. Their forward troops have two divisions.
Why don’t you dare to beat me if you are falsely accused of being a traitor?”
Fan Dongci frowned, looked at the passage connecting the north and south of the fortress, and asked: "Is there any way to prevent them from riding on top of us and dominating us?"
He had heard to some extent about the virtues of the royal army. Once a dispute was provoked, it was difficult to control it. He couldn't really prevent others from letting others go through it, but they might attack him. No matter what, he was the one who suffered the loss.
The brother-in-law held his face and said, "I have an idea. I wonder if you are willing to listen to it?"
"If you have something to say, say it quickly; if you have a fart, hurry up!" Fan Dongci raised his foot and wanted to kick it, but looked at him and endured it.
"They are in a hurry and just want to go to Nanzhao Prefecture to fight the eldest princess as soon as possible. This is an internal matter within the royal family and has nothing to do with us. We have the right to let them pass the fortress. It's just that we are stronger than others, so we have to obey their orders.
"
"Stop talking nonsense and talk about the important points!" Fan Dongci couldn't stand the way his brother-in-law talked. He was so ugly!
"Oh, good."
The brother-in-law accidentally touched the wound when he nodded and bent down, and took a deep breath in pain.
"Ha. Well, we can't twist our legs with our arms, and we can hide even if we can't fight. You see, their purpose is to rush on their way. We can't stop them, but we can add some obstruction. The Huluxia Fortress is such a big place. As long as they block the large army
It’s very difficult to pass.” At this point, he showed a ferocious smile.
It's strange that he looks good when he smiles after being beaten like this.
"Blocking the fortress? You can indeed do this in wartime. Now we have a thousand people, and we can act quickly, but what should we do? The fortress cannot be hidden. If we annoy them, they will definitely cause trouble for us." Fan
Dongci knows how to block the fortress.
The fortress is close to Calabash Mountain, with broken wood and stones everywhere. The passage inside, which is only four horses wide, should not be too blocked. Moreover, the fortress itself has fences prepared to block the road, as well as horses and other fortification supplies. That is
Prepared for a large number of enemy troops to attack the fortress.
"A large number of bandits have appeared on Calabash Mountain. You and I have the responsibility to lead the troops to exterminate them. The supplies in the fortress are enough for us to stay in the mountain for a few months, right?"
The brother-in-law nodded when he saw Fan Dong Temple and continued: "They don't waste time venting their anger on us. They will go south as soon as the road is opened. Then we will go down the mountain and come back here to clean up the mess."
Fan Dongci thought about it carefully, and then asked: "They won't set fire to the fortress in a fit of anger, right?"
"They don't dare! They burned the fortress of Yang Yuanzhou just as they asked. If they really dare to burn it, that's fine. We can sue Mr. Zhou Mu. Anyway, we will be responsible."
"Okay! What else are you talking about? Hurry up and take people up the mountain to move the rocks."
"..."
…
Shao Diantai rushed to the Liuqing River Ferry, looked at the rolling waves of the river and the few boats on the shore, suppressing the anger in his heart and said: "Why is it so difficult to cross the river every time?"
He pointed at Shaodian Cang and cursed: "You are just going to open a way for me? You can't even find a ferry in your place!"
"This subordinate is incompetent, please punish me!" Shao Diancang knelt down on one knee.
"Can the troops who have punished you cross the river? Now hurry up to Huluxia Fortress, dredge the Hexi main road, let all the caravans on the road stop by the roadside, and wait for our army's large forces to pass before setting off on the road!"
The Hexi main road is very busy, with many groups of caravans passing through every day. Fan Dongci did not want to block the fortress at first because of this reason. Shao Diantai was also aware of this situation, so he planned to cross the river and take the Hedong main road.
"Yes! I will go immediately." Shao Diancang withdrew with shame.
He led the 91st Division to the Huluxia Fortress at full speed, "Why didn't he encounter travelers or caravans?" When he approached the fortress, he felt something was wrong. The road was empty, and only his troops were running south.
The sun was setting in the west, and the shadows of the big trees on the shore crossed the Hexi main road, and a majestic city tower was quietly bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun.
A scout came back and said, "Report! General, the gate of Huluxia Fortress is closed. No one is there. I have been calling for a long time but no one answered."
"What?" Shao Diancang was surprised. If something happened to the Huluxia Fortress again, it would be difficult for him to explain it to Shao Diantai. "No one answered, why don't you climb into the fortress and take a look?"
"Here, the humble rank does not carry any equipment for climbing the city."
The ten legions are all cavalry. The cavalry can climb ordinary city walls with bare hands, but fortress-level city walls cannot be climbed with bare hands. Iron hooks and ropes must be used, and scouts marching in safe areas will basically not carry them.
"Damn it!" Shao Diancang whipped his whip into the open space in front of the scout, "Hurry up and follow me to see, the third brigade is preparing to attack the city."
He was so anxious that he issued the order to attack the city before fully understanding the situation.
The Hexi Fortress is at the foot of Calabash Mountain. Under normal circumstances, it is not suitable for marching at night. There is nothing wrong with the fortress closing in the evening. However, Shao Diancang knew that the commander of the legion was in a hurry and would definitely ask the troops to pass through the fortress overnight.
He led hundreds of people to the front and arrived at the Huluxia Fortress. With the help of the sunset, he looked around. The huge fortress connected to the mountain wall and the river was silent. The closed flags were still fluttering in the wind, but half a human figure could be seen.
None can be seen.
"Third Brigade Attack the City!" He directly ordered the attack without asking.
The third brigade immediately took out the iron hooks, chains, and ropes, jumped off their horses, and carefully ran through the defensive zone covered with thorns, bypassing the criss-crossing roadblocks and blocking horses, and finally rushed to the foot of the wall.
With a livid face, Shaodian stared at his subordinates who started to climb the wall, "Please ask the magicians to take off for observation." He was sure that no one on the fortress dared to send out magicians.
A magician will not attack his country's army and people without reason. He can let his men attack the city, but he cannot let the magician take action. There is no harm in observing the enemy's situation.
Several magicians took off and flew directly into the fortress.
Not long after, soldiers climbed up the city wall one after another, and saw those magicians flying out again. One of them landed in front of Shao Diancang and said: "There is no one inside, but the gate and the passage inside are covered with stones and wood.
It’s blocked.”
"What?" Shaodian Cang was stunned.
It was understandable that the officers and soldiers in the fortress were hiding behind closed doors. He remembered that the local ferry troops ran here in the morning. It was understandable that they deliberately made small moves, but he did not expect that the entire fortress was blocked.
Then the three captains came to report, and the situation was exactly as the magician said.
"Damn the local army mistaken me!" Shaodian Cang was so angry that he slashed a sword beam at the tower.
When Shao Diantai arrived, the 91st Division was still busy clearing stones in the fortress, and Shao Diancang tied himself up and knelt by the roadside.
"It's just that there are no boats at the ferry. What's going on? You'd better give me a reasonable explanation." Shao Diantai exploded and raised his riding crop to slap Shao Diancang head and face.
Ever since he moved from the front line, he hasn't encountered anything smooth. People have been blocking him along the way. Either he can't find a boat or there isn't enough fodder. Those people in the area always have a reason to hold him back. Today there is something new.
They used all kinds of tricks to block a military fortress, and they did everything possible.
Fan Dongci and his men had gone deep into Hulu Mountain and found an abandoned mountain village to stay before nightfall.
"There is a fire over there in the fortress, but it's not like it's burning. The Tenth Legion is blocked." My brother-in-law ran back excitedly. He went out just now to observe the situation in the fortress.
Fan Dongci said listlessly: "Why are you so happy? In any case, you and I have violated military discipline. I don't know what the superiors will do to us later."
"What are you afraid of? At worst, you have to take off this military uniform. Don't you have relatives 'over there'?"