Zhuge Liang led his army out of Qishan. In order to achieve suddenness, the army moved forward quickly and had no time to deal with the two counties of Yinping, the military capital.
In addition, Cao Wei did not release many people in these two counties. When the defenders of Wudu saw the Northern Expedition approaching, they all fled and reluctantly retreated to various dangerous passes.
Therefore, except for Liao Hua who patrolled the Qishan Road line to ensure the safety of the grain road, the rest of Wudu County was either still under the control of Cao Jun or unmanaged.
From Sanguan to Wudu via Chencang Road, there are two most important places. The first place is Gudao County, and the second place is Hechi County.
When you leave Sanguan and take Chencang Road to Gudao County, it means you have crossed the Qinling Mountains and the slope of the road begins to go down.
At the same time, Gudao County is also a dangerous location on Chencang Road. It is the defense shield of Qinlong and the throat of Bashu. The Later Han Dynasty once set up a garrison here and sent troops to guard it.
As long as he defends this place, Cao Wei can cross the Qinling Mountains from Sanguan and enter Wudu at any time.
When Cao Cao led his troops to defeat Zhang Lu and passed here, he saw that this place was dangerous, so he specially separated the passes of the Later Han Dynasty and expanded them into a county to strengthen the defense.
Gudao County continues south for about two hundred miles and reaches the second throat, Hechi County.
This is the intersection of Chencang Road and Qishan Road.
To the east is Yang'an Pass, the barrier of Hanzhong.
To the southwest is Xiabian County of Wudu. In the Battle of Hanzhong, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Wu Lan and Lei Tong attacked Xiabian County. Because they could not support the troops, they were defeated by Cao Hong, Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen. After passing Xiabian County
, which is Qishan.
To the southeast of Hechi County is the Jinniu Road, the main passage from Sichuan to Hanzhong.
It can be said that Hechi County is the geographical hub of Wudu.
At the same time, it is also extremely dangerous here.
When Cao Cao passed by here, there was a Di king, Dou Mao, with more than 10,000 people who refused to accept the danger, which angered Cao Cao. After breaking the Di people's stronghold, they massacred them all.
After Cao Zhen forced Zhao Yun back to Hanzhong, Cao Wei Shangshu's right servant shot, and his servant Wei Zhen proposed to Wei Emperor Cao Rui to use Chencang Road to cut off the Shu army's food route, which was approved by Wei Emperor.
Cao Rui appointed Wei Zhen as the general who conquered Shu, and sent him to Chencang as the deputy general of the general Cao Zhen. He planned to follow the example of Emperor Wu at that time, disperse the troops from the pass, and enter Hanzhong via Wudu via Chencang Road.
Even if Yang'an Pass in Hanzhong cannot be breached, it can still threaten the food route of the Shu army in Longyou.
It has to be said that Cao Cao's method of sending troops to guard the dangerous passes in the old county brought great convenience to Cao Wei's army when they re-entered Wudu.
It was nearly 300 miles from Chencang to Gudao County. Wei Zhen led the front army to march quickly. The road was smooth and they successfully arrived at Gudao County. They not only strengthened the pass defense in Gudao County, but also made preparations in advance for the arrival of Cao Zhen's army.
Ma Dai, the guard general of Yang'an Pass who had been paying close attention to the direction of Chencang Road, learned that Cao Wei's army had appeared in the old road county and hurriedly informed General Zhao Yun of Zhendong.
After Zhao Yun received the news from Ma Dai, he rushed to Yang'an Pass to join Ma Dai, and then personally led 10,000 elite troops to Hechi to defend the area. At the same time, he notified Liao Hua to defend the area.
As long as Hechi and Xiabian are defended, the food route for the Northern Expeditionary Army can be guaranteed, and it can also ensure that the Northern Expeditionary Army can return to Hanzhong at any time.
It has to be said that after Cao Jun heard that Long Pass had been lost, he immediately sent troops to disperse the pass. This reaction was very fast.
Without Longguan in hand, we could not quickly enter Longyou and lost the opportunity.
But Gudao County is still in our hands, and we can easily enter Wudu from there and attack Hechi and Xiabian separately. As long as we can capture one of these two places, it will be equivalent to cutting off the food route of the Northern Expedition.
This move directly turned the passivity of losing Long Pass into initiative.
What's even more terrible is that when the strong end of the Qiang River, which was far away from the Qiang Road, heard that Cao Wei's army was entering Wudu from the north, they immediately raised their troops to respond. They united more than 20 tribes and gathered more than 20,000 people to cross the Qiang River and threatened to attack from the Qiang River.
Attack Xiabian from the south.
Suddenly, Qishan Road, the food route of the Northern Expedition, was suddenly threatened from both the north and the south.
The Qiang River runs east-west, with mountains on both sides, making it difficult to walk in most areas.
But there are also several river valleys, which have formed small river valley plains due to their relatively open geography.
The nearest river valley plain to Xiabian is about three hundred miles away. To the south is the Qiang River and to the north is a large piece of flat land. At the same time, there is a river flowing down from the mountains in the north of the valley and flowing into the Qiang River.
The intersection of these two rivers forms a small triangular plain area.
The vegetation here is lush, the climate is mild, and there are high mountains as barriers on both sides. It is usually a place where Qiang and Di people live and graze, but now it has become a place where powerful armies gather.
All kinds of Qiang and Di camps are erected around a large tent in the middle. The braying of cattle, sheep and horses, and all kinds of incomprehensible Qiang and Hu languages make this usually quiet valley look extremely peaceful.
lively.
From time to time, you can still see the leaders of the Di people, with dozens or hundreds of members of their clan, driving cattle and sheep over the mountains in the south, and then erecting tents at the outermost part.
In the sky above the river valley, there is the smell of various feces and the unique smell of the barbarian people.
"Your Majesty, why don't we wait for the Han people to get the results themselves before going out?"
In the middle tent, the Di leaders of each tribe were sitting on the ground without any structure, shouting non-stop.
"The weapons of the Han people are very powerful. Only some of our people have weapons made of iron. Even if we have 20,000 people, we cannot defeat 5,000 of them."
"What are you afraid of? We are protected by the mountain gods. The high mountains here are our greatest guarantee. Even if we cannot defeat them, we can hide in the mountains and they will not be able to catch up with us."
At the same time, some people are worried, "My tribe has been storing wool for the whole winter, and I thought I could sell it to Hanzhong in the spring, but I didn't expect that the Han people started fighting again."
As he said this, he looked at Qiang Duan, who was sitting above him, and said, "We don't help the Han people in Hanzhong, but instead become their enemies. Will they stop harvesting our wool in the future?"
When these words came out, many people agreed, "King Qiang, we all know that you have good relations with the Han people in the north, but the Han people in Hanzhong are willing to let us exchange useless wool for woolen cloth. We have spent these winters.
, everyone feels better."
"If we offend the Han people in Hanzhong and they stop giving us wool, won't our people start to suffer from the cold again?"
"Yes, King Mighty, you still need to think twice about this matter."
Qiang Duan looked at the people below with a gloomy expression.
In recent years, he has cooperated with the Han people in Tianshui to control the wool trade in Ju County, reaping huge benefits from it and making his tribe the largest Di tribe in Wudu and Yinping.
Qiang Duan didn't understand what economic war meant, but he knew that as long as he controlled the wool trade for one day, he would be the biggest Di king in Yinping, the capital of Wu.
In fact, he wanted to see what kind of weight he had in the eyes of the tribal leaders in Yinping, Wudu, when he summoned the princes to come here.
Now it seems that in the eyes of everyone, he has responded to everything.
With an order, all the Di people came from afar.
But for the strong end, this is not enough, far from it.
Because what I want to do is to be the king of these people, instead of just being regarded as a tribal leader who is more powerful than them.
Now they dare to question themselves and oppose themselves. Such an attitude is simply not the attitude towards a superior person.
By sending troops this time, as long as he leads them to defeat the powerful Han people in their eyes, he can further establish his authority.
Seeing Qiang sitting upright and saying nothing, the people below became even bolder.
They didn't dare to talk about the strong end, so they pointed the finger at the people standing next to the strong end.
"Yang Pu, you surrendered to Hanzhong eight years ago and took your people to the north. Why are you back now? Could it be that you deceived the powerful king, so the powerful king decided to send troops?"
"Yes, I remember that after he surrendered to the Han people eight years ago, his family moved to Tianshui Ji County. Now the fighting there is fierce. It must be the Han people there who asked him to come back and persuade the powerful king to lead troops to help."
The Di man, who was called Yang Pu, had an embarrassed look on his face and turned his head as if he hadn't heard the other person's question.
However, Qiang Duan finally couldn't help but stand up and shouted, "That's enough."
He was tall and looked at everyone when he stood up, giving him a sense of oppression.
Everyone in the handsome tent suddenly became quiet.
Qiang Duan looked around at the princes and sneered, "Has the peaceful life of the past few years made you forget what it was like to be oppressed by the Han people in the past?"
"Let's not talk about the distance, let's just say that ten years ago, Cao Cao led his army into Wudu and slaughtered not many Qiang and Di. There were many bones in Hechi. Every time I went to Ju County to trade wool, I would pass by there. Every time I saw
The bones in the valley scare me."
"I'm afraid that one day the Han people will regain their strength and send a large army again. Don't you understand that it's precisely because the Han people have been fighting all these years that they don't have the strength to control us, and we only have these few years?
peaceful days."
"If they get together again one day, our good days will come to an end! Do you really think there is any difference between those Han people in Hanzhong and that Cao Cao?"
"If nothing else, if the Han people in Hanzhong are allowed to control Longyou, do you think they will let go of Wudu Yinping, the place that connects Hanzhong and Longyou? When their army comes, they will have the final say here."
"When the time comes, we will be driven out and oppressed by the Han again. Do you really think you can be as comfortable as you are now? You are simply stupid!"
Qiang Duan cursed in one breath, making everyone in the tent speechless.
"But King Qiang, the Han people in the north have sent a large army now. If we help the Han people in the north defeat the Han people in Hanzhong, what will happen if they take the opportunity and refuse to leave?"
Someone asked.
"If the Han people in the north really had the ability to station troops here in Wudu, they would have done so ten years ago. Why would they have to wait until now? On the contrary, Wudu borders Hanzhong, and the Han people in Hanzhong are the biggest threat to Wudu."
This question simply touched the strong end's itch. He had been in contact with the Han people over the years and felt that he had learned a lot, so he immediately started showing off.
"The Han people have a saying, which is to make friends far away and attack close people. More than 400 years ago, the Han people were divided into many countries, and they attacked each other. Some people used this saying to unify the Han people in the world."
"What we have to do now is the same. The Han people in the north are far away from us and cannot control Wudu. The Han people in Hanzhong are right next to us and can threaten us."
"So we have to help the Han people in the north defeat the Han people in Hanzhong and let them return to Hanzhong. The Han people in the north can't stay in Wudu for a long time, so we will still have the final say here."
Most of the Hu people are simple and simple, and don't have many tricks. After hearing these words, the tribal leaders lowered their heads and thought for a moment, and couldn't help showing a look of wavering on their faces.
Seeing this, Qiang Duan struck again while the iron was hot and said, "In the wool trade with Hanzhong in the past few years, we have obtained woolen cloth and even grain. In fact, we got help from the northern Han people."
Qiang Duan wanted to be the king of the Di people, so the benefits gained from transactions with Hanzhong over the years were distributed equally according to the contributions of each tribe, so he won the trust of the Di people.
At the same time, he pulled out the people around him and said, "Yang Pu was also the king of Di in Wudu, and later he became attached to the Han emperor in the north."
"The emperor of the Han Dynasty moved his people to Ji County in Tianshui. Now it is attacked by the Han people in Hanzhong, so this time he was entrusted by the Han people in the north to come to us for help."
"The Han people in the north promised that as long as we help them defeat the Han people in Hanzhong, they will not only give us more food, but there are also people among them who have connections with Hanzhong and will continue to help us sell wool to Hanzhong."
"So we don't have to worry about being enemies with Hanzhong, and they won't take our wool."
After everyone heard this, they felt that the relationship between the Han people was really strange. Hundreds of thousands of people from both sides were fighting each other, but they could actually buy and sell each other.
However, with Qiang Duan's guarantee and the fact that many of them knew about Pu Yang, I finally felt relieved when I heard that Pu Yang had been entrusted by the northern Han people to come to them for help.
Unexpectedly, King Qiangduan could learn the tricks of the Han people to deal with them, and he was impressed at the moment.
So they all expressed their admiration for King Qiangduan.
"The Mighty King is really powerful!"
"The Mighty King is so powerful!"
"The Mighty King is really powerful!"
The Di people now don't even have their own words, and their words of flattery are just a few words repeated over and over again.
But the strong end doesn't seem to care about this.
Although it was just a rude compliment, it was a unanimous high praise for him from all the princes.
For Qiang Duan, it was already like hearing the fairy music, and he felt a little light-headed at the moment. At the same time, he thought to himself, no wonder the Han people like to compete to be the biggest king so much. It turns out there is a reason for this.
When Qiang Duan saw that he had finally convinced the princes, he struck while the iron was hot and discussed with them a date for sending out troops. Then everyone went out to prepare in a noisy manner.
"Thank you, King Mighty."
After the tent became quiet, Yang Pu came forward and said in a low voice.
"You don't have to thank me. What the Han people from the north asked you to bring here does sound reasonable, so I decided to help." Qiang Duan returned to his seat and sat down, looked at Yang Pu, and asked, "Do you remember Yang?"
Horse?"
Yang Pu was startled and said, "Of course I remember. I remember that he went to Hanzhong to join General Shenweitian."
"That's right." A gloomy look appeared on Qiang Duan's face again, "But a few days ago, he took advantage of the opportunity of the Shu people to go north to Longyou, and returned to Yinping, the capital of Wu, hoping to become King Baima Di again. At the same time, he also persuaded
The tribes in Yinping, the capital of Wu, support the Shu people."
"I heard that his only son Yang Wanwan was still a follower of Feng Langjun. Feng Langjun always had prestige among the Qiangdi people in Yinping, Wudu. So Yang Ju relied on Yang Wanwan's identity to persuade him to move.
many people."
"Feng Langjun?" When Yang Pu heard the name, his face was blank for a moment, "Is this the Feng Langjun who descended from the sky and summoned the divine fire to burn down the highest peak of Guanshan Mountain?"
"Huh? Have you heard about it too?" Qiang Duan asked in surprise, "These days, various tribes in Yinping, Wudu, are spreading rumors about this matter."
Having said this, the gloomy look on Qiang Duan's face became even more intense. It was obvious that this matter spread so quickly, and someone must have spread it deliberately behind the scenes.
Feng Langjun made a blood alliance with the Hu people and vowed to always trade with the Hu people on an equal footing, so that the Qiang Di in the Yinping area of Wudu could exchange useless things like wool for winter cloth in recent years.
This story was widely circulated among the Qiang and Di tribes, and was highly praised by the Qiang and Di in Wudu and Yinping.
Some people even deified him, saying that in his early years, he received teachings and advice from the mountain gods in the mountains, so he helped the Qiang and Di people so selflessly after he came out of the mountains.
But after all, it was just a legend, and Feng Langjun only appeared once in Wudu, so Qiang Duan naturally felt that he did not pose much of a threat.
Unexpectedly, he suddenly appeared again and summoned divine fire to burn Guanshan...
Doesn't this confirm the legend that he was taught by the mountain god in his early years?
The northern Han people are right. If the Shu people defeat Longyou, in order to strengthen the relationship between Hanzhong and Longyou, they will have to control this place sooner or later.
If it were before the bloody alliance and the Maobu incident, Qiang Duan himself could still lead the people to use the high mountains and dangerous terrain of Yinping, Wudu, to resist the Han army.
But Feng Langjun is different. If he really wants to come back here, the power he has worked so hard to build over the years will turn to the Han people.
Therefore, Qiangduan decided to strike first and force the Shu people back to Hanzhong, so that Wudu and Yinping would continue to be the border area between the Han people on both sides.
