The land of Taozhou controls Fanrong in the west, Huanglong in the east, Fansheng in the south, and Shiling in the north.
Compared to Xizhou and Hezhou, this Taozhou is almost like a barren land.
And the Song army's action of crossing the exposed mountain in freezing weather definitely exceeded everyone's expectations.
After the planned decisive battle in Hezhou failed, Zhang Yue led his army across Lugu Mountain according to his backup plan, while Zhongshidao divided his forces to attack Zhucheng and Xibawen to attack Yigongcheng.
Because they were well prepared, the soldiers carried enough winter clothes and other things to keep out the cold, and hired special guides to guide the way. Despite this, there were still constant attrition when climbing mountains in winter.
In order to achieve the purpose of surprise attack, this is also an inevitable price.
The so-called surprise attack means that when the servant Bo Jie just drew his sword, I had already put the sword on your neck.
The question is, you draw the sword first!
Regarding this crossing of Lugu Mountain, Zhang Yue couldn't help but think of Napoleon and Hannibal's great achievements in crossing the Alps respectively.
Thinking of this, Zhang Yue was full of longing to conquer this exposed mountain.
The army just crossed Lugu Mountain, but saw a mountain pass ahead, called Lao Pass.
Lao Yakou is a wooden bridge that spans between two mountains. On this wooden bridge, a Taozhou Tibetan fortress was built, guarded by hundreds of Tibetan soldiers. It seems that Bian Sibojie is not an incompetent person, and he should have been dispatched early.
People guarded this important place.
Zhang Yue saw that this Wubao was not difficult to attack, but the wooden bridge was the only way down the mountain. Once the Tibetan people destroyed the wooden bridge, the Song army's surprise attack would be in vain.
Zhang Yue still followed the same plan as his master had when he took Minzhou, and spent a lot of money to recruit warriors.
Zhang Yue originally thought that the soldiers were afraid of the difficulty, but he did not expect that the whole army was rushing to sign up. They were not here for the bounty. The main reason was that when Zhang Yue attacked Xihe before, those who had meritorious service would be rewarded and those who would be given official titles. How many soldiers were there because of this?
Zhang Yue changed his life and changed his life, so the soldiers joined him enthusiastically.
Zhang Yue immediately recruited a hundred soldiers, climbed up from the bottom of the mountain at night, and cooperated with the Song army in a frontal attack at dawn.
The soldiers in Fanbao never dreamed that the Song army would cross the Lugu Mountain in winter, and would sneak up on them like magic soldiers descending from the sky.
Most of them were killed by the Song army in their sleep, and the rest were all taken prisoner.
Seeing that this natural barrier was taken effortlessly, the morale of the Song army was very high.
After three days, the Song army finally crossed Lugu Mountain. Although hundreds of people were lost, this was almost a miracle.
When they arrived in the hinterland of Taozhou, it was mostly a semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral place, with many farming areas, cattle and sheep, as well as temples and houses, etc. The Song Army saw that every crowd was full of high morale and marched forward.
.
There are high mountains behind, and flat land and low slopes in front. It becomes easier and more relaxed as we walk. This feeling is really great.
As the population in front became more and more dense, the Song army also passed through without any offense. No harm was allowed to the old, weak, women and children of the Tibetan people, and those who did not resist were only prisoners.
Right in front of the army is Taoyang City.
This Taoyang City was the place where Jiang Wei defeated Deng Ai. It was also Jiang Wei's ninth and last Northern Expedition.
At that time, Jiang Wei defrauded Qishan and actually captured Taoyang. However, Jiang Wei's intention of sending troops was seen through by Deng Ai. Deng Ai said that Jiang Wei definitely did not want to capture Qishan, but to capture Taoyang to gain contact with the Qiang people.
Therefore, he stationed troops here in advance, causing Jiang Wei to return with a great defeat.
But when Zhang Yue arrived at Taoyang City, he heard from the prisoners that Bian Sibojie went to Minzhou to clear the grass valley and took away almost all the strong men, so there were not many soldiers and horses in such a heavy city as Taoyang.
Defense.
When Zhang Yue's army arrived at Taoyang City, the Taoyang defenders panicked and immediately surrendered without any resistance.
The Song army captured Taoyang City without any bloodshed, and also had hundreds of stones of food stored in it.
Just as night fell, a group of Fan troops passed by Taoyang and were about to rush to Minzhou to join the Biansi Bojie. As a result, this group of Fan troops did not know that Taoyang had fallen on the way. As a result, they were ambushed by the Song army and captured.
There were thousands of people and hundreds of horses.
After a series of battles and victories, Zhang Yue not only captured the fortified city with grain and grass, but also spread the news behind Bian Sibojie's surprise attack across Lugu Mountain throughout Taozhou.
At the same time, the Song army of Zhongshidao also captured Daozhu City, and Xibawen sent troops from Fuqiang City to threaten the front line of Yigong City.
Xiba Wen was a local aboriginal and the original chief. When he arrived at Yigong City, he solicited the garrison to surrender in his own name. However, the garrison refused.
However, Xiba Wen was not troubled. Every day he appeared at the gate of Yigong City dressed in fine clothes and shouted loudly to the defenders in the city to surrender.
After all, Xibawen had been in the Guizhang tribe for many years, and many of the city's defenders knew him. After he surrendered and the Song army besieged the city, the morale of the soldiers in the city was unavoidably turbulent.
It's only a matter of time before the city is destroyed.
On the front line of Tiechengzhai, soldiers gathered together waiting for the army to gather. Nearly 100,000 troops arrived, with flags and staffs stretching for dozens of miles.
But before the other party arrived, Zhonge burned all the bridges on the Taoshui River in advance.
Bian Sibojie had no choice but to send troops to cross the river on the ice. As a result, less than a thousand troops crossed the river. Unexpectedly, the ice was not frozen solid, and dozens of people fell into the river when the ice cracked. Seeing this scene, Zhong'e led three hundred men.
They rode to cover up and kill, but in the end not a single one of the more than a thousand people escaped.
Zhonger ordered the soldiers to strip off the clothes and trousers of the Fan prisoners, let them go barefoot in the ice and snow, picked up their clothes and trousers with the tip of a spear and tied them up with a rope, and walked around the city triumphantly.
This scene made Biansi Bojie furious on the spot.
Then Bian Sibojie urged the soldiers to cross the river again, and this time they successfully crossed the river.
But it has already wasted a day's work.
Then Bian Sibojie attacked Tiecheng without much preparation.
The Fourth Village of Tiecheng was built under the supervision of Shen Kuo, a master of technical house building. With Shen Kuo's meticulousness, he was completely picky about the construction of the Four Villages.
Zhong'e defended this fortified city in ice and snow conditions, and faced the Fan army that lacked siege weapons, and withstood the siege for three days.
When Biansi Bojie saw this, he was furious and immediately ordered his soldiers to dig earth and pile sandbags to attack the city.
But in this ice and snow, how easy is this kind of soil work? The soldiers' fingers were frozen from digging the soil, but now they are still far from meeting the needs of Bian Sibojie.
Biansi Bojie was so angry that he killed dozens of people, but he didn't finish the job.
On the fifth day of Tiecheng's defense, Mu Zheng and You Shixiong led tens of thousands of Minzhou troops to Tiecheng.
Seeing this, Bian Sibojie had no choice but to withdraw his troops and set up a formation to face Mu Zheng and You Shixiong's troops.
It was at this time that Mu Zheng learned that the Song army had crossed Lugu Mountain and captured Taoyang City.
At the same time, the soldiers and horses of the Xihe Road and the imperial guards of the Song Army on the Qinfeng Road who were going to Qinzhou for food were rushing to the battlefield day and night under the leadership of the military envoy Zhang Shen on the Qinfeng Road.
In Qingtang City, Ali Gu chaired a military meeting to discuss whether to reinforce Bian Sibo Jie. After more than ten days of debate, there was still no result.
