Chapter 420 One Day Soldiers Arrive at Chang'an City
Chapter 420: One day troops arrived at Chang'an City
Author: Playing with Basilisk
Chapter 420: One day troops arrived at Chang'an City
At the end of November of the fifth year of Ji Hanzhangwu, Chen Cangdao, Hanzhong.
During the late Qin and early Han dynasties, Chencang Road was a waterway on the upper reaches of the Jialing River, so it was also called Jialing Road.
During the Liu Bang period, Han Xin built a plank road to cross Chencang secretly, which was used to transport grain and grass by land and water.
But perhaps God did not bless Ji Han, and a major earthquake occurred in Wudu, causing the Han River to change its course, and the river was cut off and ceased to exist.
As a result, although Chencang Road can still be walked, it has lost the convenience of water transportation, making it extremely difficult to transport grain.
Even though Chencang Road is still the safest and most spacious road among the four roads in Hanzhong, it is because it detours a very long distance, and coupled with the high mountains of the Qinling Mountains, the road conditions for grain and grass transportation are extremely poor.
Shen Chen was riding on horseback. Behind him was an army of 30,000 people. Behind the army, there were about 4,000 to 5,000 civilian auxiliary soldiers, pushing wooden oxen forward slowly.
There are steep mountains on both sides, towering into the clouds, but the valley below has a wide road that stretches across the valley, winding endlessly towards the north.
"Grand Governor, ahead is Sanguan, and after passing Sanguan is Chencang."
After nearly twenty days of long journey, the road became wider and wider. Ma Dai rode on horseback and reported to Shen Chen.
Shen Chen looked into the distance and saw that the originally wide road in front of him seemed to have suddenly become narrow again, and the mountains on the left and right seemed to rise into the clouds, majestic and tall.
The reason why the rear position looks spacious is because there is a valley. There is a market, a military camp, and some residential buildings in the valley. The people and the army live together, forming a unique scene.
Chencang and Sanguan, including Xieyuguan, the exit of Baoxie Road, have actually always been in the hands of Liu Bei's group, but it is unrealistic to garrison a large number of troops, so there are basically only a few hundred or one or two thousand soldiers stationed in the outer passes.
Now Cao Wei has completely reduced the troops in Guanzhong back to Chang'an. There are only a small number of troops stationed in Xixian, Wugong, Huaili, Huxian and other places in Youfufeng. This means that Cao Wei's group poses almost no threat to Hanzhong. Both the enemy and us Naturally, there were not many troops stationed.
"Grand Governor!"
The generals who had left the customs came over in a hurry.
Shen Chen nodded and said: "There is still grain and grass being transported from the rear, and some of it is stored at Sanguan. When the time comes, you will be responsible for transporting it to Chencang."
"yes."
The general responded.
Zhuge Liang's streamlined work inspired Shen Chen.
Chencang Road is indeed very long, but the road condition is much better than the other three roads.
Therefore, Shen Chen built forts along the route, transported grain to these forts in batches, and passed it back and forth.
Although Yangpingguan is a thousand miles away from Chencang, as long as Chencang Road and Baoxie Road transport grain and grass at the same time, more than 600,000 shi can be delivered in a month.
Moreover, there are only about 12,000 civilians on Chencang Road, and more than 21,000 civilians on Baoxie Road. More than 30,000 civilians can transport so much food and grass to supply an 80,000-strong army, which can be said to be very efficient. Exaggerated.
This is Kong Ming's wisdom.
soon.
The army continued to advance.
Before dark, we finally left Chencang Road and arrived at Chencang County, which later became Baoji City.
The army slowly entered the city, and supplies continued to flow from the rear.
By the beginning of December, Shen Chen's army had already appeared near Yi County, threatening You Fufeng.
In addition to Chencang's 30,000 troops, Huang Zhong also took Baoxie Road and led 20,000 troops.
Previously, the combined number of soldiers in Liangzhou and Hanzhong was only about 60,000, but Shen Chen recruited more troops in recent years and let Yu Jin train his troops.
After a year of training, Zhao Yunpang was asked to lead them to attack Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, Dunhuang and other counties. The actual combat training was very good, so the army has been expanded to 100,000.
Naturally, the entire army of 100,000 men cannot attack, so about 20,000 people were left behind in Liangzhou and Hanzhong, of which 15,000 were in Liangzhou, while Hanzhong was stationed in Fangling, Shangyong and other places to guard against the enemy. The troops attacked Hanzhong from Ziwu Road and Tangluo Road.
Among the 30,000 horses currently led by Shen Chen himself, 20,000 were cavalry. After leaving Chencang Road, he asked his lieutenants Niu Dan, Yang Qun, Ma Yu, Jiang Yuan and others to lead the infantry eastward to Xieyuguan to wait for Huang Zhong. , and he himself raided Yi County.
On December 4th, on the endless Guanzhong Plain, both sides of the Weishui River should have been filled with fields and thriving villages, but now they were deserted, with no one clearing the weeds. They all grew very tall, and there were hares, elk, deer and other herbivores. In the flooded and fertile fields, there are even howling prairie wolves.
The north wind is howling fiercely, and there is no snow in Guanzhong this year. The cold wind is bleak, and the withered yellow grass is blown away by the wind. A lone elk is wandering in the forest in the north of Xi County. It walks slowly and lowers its head to gnaw. Eating the grass among the leaves, his ears kept trembling, listening for the sound.
Not far away, an arrow stretched out from behind a tree. The sharp arrow glowed coldly under the pale winter sun. As the owner of the arrow slowly pulled the bow away, there was a "buzz" sound, and the arrow The feather arrow cut through the void like lightning and shot towards the elk.
"puff!"
The arrow passed through the deer's head, and the elk fell silently without even making a cry.
"The general is good at archery."
The meritorious Cao Cao of Xi County said with praise.
Next to him is Deng Xuan, the guard of Yi County. He has been stationed in Yi County for three years with 3,000 men.
Three years and three years, it was originally agreed to change the defense once a year, but because Deng Xuan had no background, others gave Xiahou Mao money, and he had to carry this chore all the time.
In his spare time, Deng Xuan likes hunting most.
After all, there are no people in Xi County anymore, and there are no other entertainment facilities, not even a sow. Naturally, we have to get some game to change the boring life.
On the other side is Sima Zhang Jing of Yi County. Historically, this unlucky guy followed Sima Yi into battle and was killed by Sima Yi for violating military discipline.
He looked at the sky and said to Deng Xuan: "General, it's getting late. Go back quickly."
"What's the rush? It's just a deer."
Deng Xuan laughed and said: "Now there are deer herds everywhere in Guanzhong, including wild horse herds and bison herds. When the time comes, I will kill another deer and I will be able to eat meat for a few more days after I go back."
Zhang Jing advised: "But recently the court has been saying that the south may send troops to fight, so we still have to be careful."
Deng Xuan waved his hand and said: "Don't be afraid. You forgot that we have a sentry at Xieyuguan. Once there is any movement in the south, the fast horses will come back soon to report the news. Do you think the enemy's speed can be faster than our scouting horses?"
"this"
Zhang Jing thought the same thing. Ever since they knew that the Northern Expedition might be coming to the south, they had indeed become much more cautious. They had placed a lot of horse detection posts on the outside to prevent the enemy from sneaking out of Xieyuguan to attack.
As for Chencang Road, although it is too far away and there are no sentries, there are some beacon towers on the banks of the Weishui River. They were used to guard against Xirong during the Qin Dynasty. If enemies on Chencang Road appeared, the beacon towers would report the news as soon as possible.
Therefore, they did not believe that the enemy could rush over so quickly and with lightning speed.
Anyway, they also have time to maneuver.
"Shh!"
At this time, there was another sudden movement not far away.
Deng Xuan motioned to the soldiers behind him to resist the deer first, and he walked several dozen meters forward to look through the grass.
Then I saw dozens of deer jumping over for unknown reasons in the trees to the north.
This is a herd!
Deng Xuan was overjoyed and immediately bent his bow and arrows, preparing to shoot a few more.
But suddenly I heard a "dong dong dong" sound.
At first, Deng Xuan thought it was the sound of deer running, but after listening carefully, the sound became louder and louder.
Although there is a sound when a deer runs, it is more like the feeling of a sheep's hooves running. The volume is smaller, and it may even be inaudible from a distance.
But this sound was like iron hitting the ground, and it was obviously some kind of larger creature.
"General, it looks like a war horse!"
Zhang Jing hurried over and warned Deng Xuan.
Deng Xuan said: "It's not like a war horse, but more like a herd of wild horses!"
Suddenly he was overjoyed and said: "It must be a herd of wild horses. Come with me quickly. I want to catch a wild horse."
After saying that, he waved his hand, and the soldier behind him immediately took the horse and handed it over.
Deng Xuan got on his horse, and the soldiers also got on their horses, and dozens of cavalry went all the way to the depths of the forest in the north.
The forest is actually not very big. After walking for less than two quarters of an hour, they had reached the northern edge.
The sound of horse hooves became clearer and clearer, and Deng Xuan quickened his pace, wanting to catch up.
Soon he reached the north. He thought that when he came out of the forest and saw the vast grassland, he would see countless wild horses galloping.
If it were in the past, this would probably only be seen in Bingzhou or Liangzhou in the north.
But over the years, Guanzhong has been deserted, and the vast plains have been transformed from pastoral fields into pastures, attracting a large number of wild horses from the north to come and inhabit, so now Guanzhong can occasionally see such grand events.
However, when Deng Xuan came out of the woods happily and wanted to catch a horse, the smile on his face froze.
On the land less than a mile away from him, thousands of horses galloped.
A large number of light cavalry wearing red Han uniforms and leather armor surged past like a tide, galloping towards the distant city of Xixian.
One of the Han army's detachments seemed to have discovered someone in the forest and roared. Immediately, several groups of cavalry rushed toward them, frightening Deng Xuan and the others into hurriedly turning their horses and trying to escape.
The two sides chased each other in the forest. Deng Xuan, Zhang Jing and others were chased by hundreds of light cavalry. They panicked and hurried through the forest toward the city of Xi County in the north.
Because this forest is in the northwest of Yi County, and the enemy is coming from the west, they have to go around the forest to attack the city of Yi County.
Therefore, Deng Xuan believed that as long as he took a shortcut through the woods and returned to Xi County first, he might be able to save the situation and immediately pass the defensive wall to block the enemy's cavalry from outside.
But when he ran out of the forest in a hurry, he saw a scene that shocked him extremely.
The enemy's speed was too fast, and the surrounding area was densely packed with cavalry. Immediately afterwards, the top of the city in Xi County was replaced with the flag of the Han army. I don't know whether the people inside surrendered or they were too late to close the city gate.
"Buzz!"
Suddenly an arrow pierced the void and hit the ground in front of Deng Xuan.
Deng Xuan hurriedly turned around. He was horrified to find that the enemy could actually shoot arrows on horseback. Just now, it was difficult to do so because he was in the forest, but now the pursuers behind him were drawing their bows while riding horses.
"Surrender and avoid death!"
The Han army shouted.
At this time, Deng Xuan and the others were still galloping blindly. Xi County was occupied, and they instinctively wanted to run to the east in the direction of martial arts.
The next moment, the melodious horn sounded.
The cavalry outside the city of Xi County were like a torrent rolling up the stormy waves again, rushing towards the east.
Even the closest cavalryman to Deng Xuan and his companions was less than two miles away. He glanced at them from a distance and saw that there was someone chasing them, so he divided several teams to intercept them.
In desperation, Deng Xuan and others could only roar and head northeast to avoid the pursuers behind them, and then get into the woods.
But then dozens of arrows were fired, and Deng Xuan's personal guards fell to the ground one after another.
Soon after, Deng Xuan, Zhang Jing and others chose to surrender.
At this time, Shen Chen naturally did not know that the defender of Xi County happened to be out hunting. He only knew that Xi County was captured easily, and the enemy had no time to react and even the city gates were not closed.
After capturing Yi County, Shen Chen did not stop because there was Xie Valley to the southwest of Yi County, and Huang Zhong's troops would follow immediately from behind.
Food and grass will also be sent to Xi County quickly.
Therefore, Shen Chen planned to use his troops quickly and capture all the cities along the route before the enemy expected that he would launch a surprise attack.
The galloping cavalry were scattered across the wilderness, and the sound of horse hooves vibrated for miles, raising dust and flying into the air.
By noon, Shen Chen saw a small county town on the horizon in the distance, located next to the Weishui River.
The three counties of Yi County, Wugong County and Huaili County are actually all north of the Wei River.
Chencang is also north of the Wei River.
Shen Chen crossed the river at Chencang and went a little further north. The beacon towers on the banks of the Wei River were not even noticeable, and Xi County had already been captured.
After that, he went straight to Wugong, ordered the former troops to put on the clothes of Cao Jun captured from Xi County, and sent more than a thousand cavalry to the outside of Wugong City.
The Wugong defenders did not doubt his presence and did not close the city gate. The soldiers just rushed into the city in a swaggering manner and quickly took control of the city. Wugong was also captured.
It was a little more troublesome when we arrived at Huaili because the guard at Huaili did not open the city gate.
Shen Chen was too lazy to fight with him. After leaving five thousand cavalry to surround Huaili City, there was another roar and the melodious horn sounded, and more than 10,000 cavalry marched across the wilderness, slowly moving towards the east.
Yi County is very close to Chang'an, only 120 kilometers away. Shen Chen set out from Wuzhangyuan in the morning, captured Yi County and Wugong one after another, and surrounded Huaili in the afternoon.
By the time it was getting dark, he was already less than twenty miles away from Chang'an City.
As the sun sets in the west, the sunset glows with gorgeous fire clouds in the western sky. Birds return to the forest in the sky. The north wind blows sharply. The cavalry regiment composed of tens of thousands of knights, both men and horses, are covered in sweat.
When passing by Haojing, Shen Chen ordered to drink Ma Feng water from Kunming Pond. On the distant horizon, smoke was already billowing. Before Huaili was surrounded, beacon fires had been lit.
"Walk!"
After the men and horses rested for a while, Shen Chen gave another order, and the galloping light cavalry roared like wild wolves and headed northeast.
In less than half an hour, the vast city was already visible on the horizon in the distance.
The city was densely packed with people who were waiting solemnly.
They looked at it from a distance as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
Shen Chen found a hillside, reined up his horse, looked at the closed city gate in the distance, and smiled suddenly.
Qingqi marched three hundred miles across and reached Chang'an City in one day.
Even though they came from afar, were quite tired, and only had more than 10,000 people. However, the enemies in Chang'an City still did not dare to open the door to fight, and were as cowardly as old dogs!