In the summer of April of the first year of Zhangwu of the Han Dynasty, the Prime Minister sent Chen Chong, the military governor of Chijie, Liang and Shazhou, and the Marquis of Xuchang County, to arrive at Chencang in the upper reaches of the Wei River. He was ordered to summon the generals of the West Prefecture to discuss the strategy of attacking Hanzhong.
At this time, the army fighting in Guandong had already left Luoyang, and Chen Chong and his party passed by the intersection of the Wei River and the Lishui River. Under the morning sun, with the gurgling water, the yellow-brown walls of the ancient city of Chencang could be seen in the distance. Since the seventh year of Yanxing,
Twelve years have passed since Chen Chong temporarily lived in Chencang. The ancient city of Chencang and the busy farming people seem to be exactly the same as they were twelve years ago.
The ancient city wall, the towering Panlong Plateau in the north of the city, and the desolate Qin songs and chants on the Weishui River are all still the same as yesterday. But it was the short period of living in this city that completely changed myself. My father and uncle
, wife, eldest son, father-in-law, as well as Hu Zhen, Xu Huang, Kong Rong, Jian Yong, Zang Hong, etc., all of these people have been buried in the loess and their souls have returned to the nine heavens. Looking at the long willows on the bank of the Wei River,
It seemed like millions of people were waving goodbye to him.
Although the county guard and other local officials received him attentively, Chen Chong was not in the slightest happy mood. He just dealt with it in a hurry and took his guards to live in the military camp. After a while, Chen Chong began to hold a military meeting. p>
Looking at the remarks of Gaoshi from ancient times to the present, when talking about the strategic geography between Guanlong and Bashu, the key points all revolve around the Hanzhong Basin. To the north of the Hanzhong Basin is the Qinling Mountains that stretch for thousands of miles, starting from Kunlun in the west, passing through Longnan and Shaanxi.
, to the Zhuxia Dragon Veins of Dabie Mountain in Jingzhou in the east. To the south is Qianliba Mountain, which is composed of Micang Mountain, Daba Mountain, Shennongjia, Wudang Mountain and Jingshan Mountains, spreading from the northwest to the Jianghan Plain. These two mountain ranges are like a pair of big hands,
Wrapping the Hanzhong Basin, only a few narrow mountain roads leak out for people to pass through. Therefore, except for the wild geese that can fly high, all living creatures on the ground have to rest in the Hanzhong Basin if they want to cross the two mountains.
Therefore, to a certain extent, it can be said that Hanzhong is the throat of the entire Kansai region.
The mountain roads from Hanzhong to Guanlong have been described in detail before. From west to east they are Qishan Road, Chencang Road, Baoxie Road, Tangluo Road and Ziwu Road. The mountain roads from Hanzhong to Bashu are Jinniu Road and Micang Road.
Micang Road leads directly to Baishi County, which is home to many mountain barbarians, while Jinniu Road passes through Baishui, Jiange, Zitong and other dangerous places, and leads directly to Mianzhu, the capital of Yizhou Prefecture, which is the foundation of the current Shu Dynasty for 20 years. Bashan Road
The roads are shorter than those in the Qinling Mountains. Considering the distance, it is more convenient to support Hanzhong from Shuzhong than Guanlong. Therefore, how to capture and hold Hanzhong is actually a question worthy of discussion.
Even if we leave aside Bashu and talk about Hanzhong itself, its guards cannot be underestimated. Twenty years ago when Dong Zhuo was rebellious, Guanlong was in chaos, and a large number of people fled to Hanzhong. More than 100,000 people fled to Hanzhong.
, plus the local people, there are more than 400,000 people. Hanzhong only has nine counties, and its prosperity is comparable to that of the capital. And because the Five Dou Rice Taoist Master Zhang family has been preaching in Hanzhong for decades, almost every household in Hanzhong has a Five Dou Rice believer.
With a single call, Zhang Lu could use all his manpower and material resources to mobilize the whole country. This is something that other places dare not imagine.
According to the intelligence collected by spies before, excluding the reinforcements from Shu and the believers in the county, the local garrison in Hanzhong numbered about 40,000. Twenty thousand of them belonged to Zhang Lu and 20,000 belonged to Pan Jun. In Yanxing Sixth Liu Fan regained control of Hanzhong in the year, but in order to avoid chaos among the Five Pecks of Rice believers in Hanzhong, he still allowed Zhang Lu to serve as the prefect of Hanzhong. However, he set up the governor of Nanzheng above Zhang Lu to monitor and balance Zhang Lu. Lu. Previously, this position was held by Zhang Ren, but after entering Jianghan, Zhang Ren was transferred to Jiangling, and this position was held by Pan Jun.
Considering Xifu's own military strength, the country does not have an advantage. Today, Xifu's army is no longer the 36,000 men of the Sixth Division at the beginning of its establishment, but has expanded to the current 54,000 men of the Ninth Division. However, due to the Gengyin Incident Because of this, 10,000 of them are newly recruited field soldiers. They are qualified as logistics, but they may not be useful in combat. And because there are so many Liang people, many soldiers in Xifu are nearly fifty years old. , have shown considerable fatigue. Whether they can sustain the high-intensity war is really a matter of question.
Another thing that has to be considered is that around Wudu and Yinping, there are still a large number of Qiang people bought by the Shu people. Once they go through Chencang and attack Hanzhong on the Qishan Road, there is no guarantee that these Qiang people will not invade the grain road and be forced to do so. To the point of a dilemma.
Of course, as the orthodoxy of the imperial court, the Xifu Army naturally has advantages that the Shu Army cannot match.
First, it has the best cavalry in the world. The Xifu Army has more than 50,000 people, almost everyone can ride a horse, and there are nearly 40,000 horses under his command, which is the best in the world. Even the Bingzhou cavalry is slightly inferior. Therefore, it is not as good as the Shu people. In comparison, the Xifu Army has an absolute mobility advantage. Moreover, there are 5,000 cavalry among them who can wear heavy armor. Shuzhong is determined to have no means to deal with it.
Second, the soldiers are extremely experienced. As the most veteran group among the Five Prefectures, the Xifu soldiers can be said to have been damaged by hundreds of battles, and their hearts are as solid as stone. No matter what the situation is, it is difficult for them to make a fuss. Hold on, and we haven't heard of the war for a long time. If the two sides face each other in a field battle, the outcome will not be known.
Third, the imperial treasury was full. Although the Shu Dynasty bought a lot of Qiang and Di, they could be lured or exploited. In terms of financial and material resources, the Shu Dynasty in the southwest corner was naturally unable to compare with the imperial court that dominated the six states. , Chen Chong has made plans, even if he spends a lot of money around Hanzhong, he will buy the Qiang Di from Wudu as his auxiliary troops.
So throughout April, Chen Chong was mainly doing preliminary work to appease and recruit Wudu, Yinping, Qiang and Di. At the same time, he worked with deputy commander Duan Xuan, warlord Zhang Yi, guard Ma Chao, leader Yang Fu, Dianjun Yan Xing and others. , Let’s study the route and strategy together.
Among the various roads in the Qinling Mountains, Qishan Road and Chencang Road are the easiest, followed by Baoxie Road, Tangluo Road, and Ziwu Road. Going to Yangping Pass, it would be too risky to take the Baoxian and Tangluo roads. Once discovered by Shu army scouts and blocked halfway on the mountain road, they may not be able to advance even an inch, and end up wasting food and grass. Moreover, we must also consider , there have been continuous heavy rains in summer in the past few years. Once there is a flood halfway, walking on the trail may encounter the dilemma of being cut off.
Duan Xuan's suggestion is to attack the city via Chencang Road as usual. Although it is simple and unpretentious, you can use the mobility of the cavalry to march quickly at night and catch the Shu people by surprise. Even if the attack is unsuccessful, you can rely on the high mountains in front of Yangping Pass. Build several strongholds, rely on high mountains as barriers, steadily and steadily uproot the Shu people's mountain fortresses around Guancheng, and prepare to encircle Guancheng. If the Shu people cannot defend the city, and the army surrounds and attacks the city, this is what Duan Yan would like to see most. , can protect and annihilate the trapped enemy, the result will be greater, and there is a higher probability that Hanzhong can be taken by victory; but if the main force of the Shu people abandons the city and retreats to Nanzheng and Baozhong, they should divide their troops to pursue them within one month. , if you cannot capture the main force of the Shu people, you should change your strategy, divide your troops and rush into the countryside. On the one hand, you will prevent the emigration, and on the other hand, you will completely burn Yangping Pass and prepare to fight again next year.
After he submitted the memorial he had written, Chen Chong handed the matter over to everyone for discussion. Ma Chao disagreed. He said: "This is still a bit taken for granted. What if Zhang Lu himself held firm at Yangping Pass and Pan Jun invited the attack? I If the army cannot capture the city and does not dare to send troops to pursue it, won't it have to return without success?"
Yang Fu was also thinking next to the map. He turned and asked Ma Chao: "Then how does Meng Qi think he should advance his army?"
Ma Chao stood up with his sword in hand and said: "It is better to divide the troops. Use a small number of vanguards to attack Yangping Pass along the road. Put up many flags along the way to announce that the army has arrived. Then gather all the cavalry in one place, look for a good weather, and suddenly go deep into the Baoxian Road. Hanzhong, first capture Nanzheng and other important places, and then return to Yangping Pass. If the Shu thieves abandon the city and cannot escape, they will hit the main force of our army. If the Shu thieves are trapped and do not fight, it will not be too late to encircle them again."
After Yang Fu pondered for a moment, he analyzed and said: "But if the two armies operate separately, they will be too far apart to make it difficult to cooperate. And our army has no advantage in strength. Once the falsehood is seen through, the whole army will be annihilated along the way of intimidation in front of the pass. The risk. If you fail all the way, the surprise attack will be like water without roots. Let’s use the governor’s strategy.”
Ma Chao insisted: "I believe that since ancient times, we can never succeed without taking risks!"
Seeing that the two were at loggerheads, Chen Chong coughed slightly, waited for them to calm down, and then slowly said: "Dudu Duan's strategy is indeed more mature, but it can also be slightly modified according to Meng Qi's opinion."
"Since Chencang Road is easy to walk, it is natural to use most of the forward attack. Otherwise, where will the baggage be transported? How can we attack the city without baggage? I would rather transport the baggage than take a shortcut."
"But the troops can actually be divided, but since we are leading the cavalry, why bother attacking the city? We can send eight thousand cavalry and gallop into Hanzhong. Next month is the time of summer harvest. These cavalry can trample the farmland and seize the harvest. Xia Mai will definitely be able to force the army from central Shu to come to rescue, and our army is all riding big horses, galloping like the wind, what can these infantry from central Shu do to me? And the west road can attack the city in a grand manner, causing headaches for the people of Shu. ”
Chen Chong made the final decision, and no one had any objections. By mid-April, Jiang Xu came to report that he had gained the trust of the Qiang people. By the end of the month, four thousand Yi Qiang cavalry came from the mountains. These Qiang cavalry basically had no They are wearing armor, so their combat effectiveness is somewhat questionable, but after investigation, it was found that they are familiar with the terrain and climate of the plateau mountains, and they still have a certain role as auxiliary troops.
So everything was ready. At the beginning of May, Duan Xuan led a main force of 50,000 people slowly into Chencang Road, raised Chen Chong's eight-character flag of destiny, and marched towards Yangping Pass with loud drums. But that night after waiting for five days, Chen Chong
Arriving at Lanmeiyuan quietly, the five thousand Qingqi quickly entered the Tangluo Road like rabbits running away.