Chapter eight hundred and ninety third act decisively
The Han army had to pass through half of Hanzhong County and reach Beishan. To catch Yancen off guard, they had to hide it from Gongsun Shu's eyes and ears scattered throughout Hanzhong.
It seems impossible for a march of 30,000 people to remain unnoticed on the enemy's territory, but in fact it is not.
Hanzhong County is sparsely populated and has nine counties in its territory, including Nanzheng, Mianyang, Chenggu, Xunzhong, Shangyong, Anyang, Xicheng, Xixian and Fangling, of which Xicheng is the county seat.
Of these nine counties, five are concentrated in the western part of Hanzhong, and the other four counties are scattered in the central and eastern parts of Hanzhong.
The marching route of the Han army entered from the east of Hanzhong, traveled to the middle and then went north, taking the Ziwu Road, and finally arrived at Beishan.
By this marching route, it was entirely possible to avoid the local people and even Gongsun Shu's eyes and ears, so that he could suddenly appear behind Yancen's tribe without anyone noticing.
Li Tong looked at Ma Wu, Wang Ba, and Hou Jin, and said: "We need Hanzhong guides, a large number of Hanzhong guides."
Hou Jin said seriously: "General, leave this matter to the last general!"
Li Tong nodded and said: "Although our goal is Yancen, we must do what we should do. Tomorrow, let the soldiers survey the land and prepare for the upcoming fielding!"
"Yes!" Everyone agreed in unison.
After the Han army led by Li Tong arrived at Shedu Township in Nanyang, they began to set up camp and carried out land surveying and planning around Shedu Township. They really looked like they were preparing to farm.
The mobilization of the Han army's 30,000 soldiers and horses naturally attracted Gongsun Shu's spies. When the spies saw that the Han army was indeed stationed in the fields, they stopped paying attention to them.
First, the Han army had too few soldiers and horses, only 30,000 men. They did not pose much of a threat to Tian Rong in Nanjun, Ren Manbu, or Shu.
Secondly, the leader of this Han army is Li Tong, who has never fought in a war after defecting to Luoyang, and only relied on his status as a consort to become a guard and the son of a former general. Gongsun Shu will naturally not treat these three
Wan Hanjun took it seriously.
While the Han army was stationed in Nanyang with great fanfare, Hou Jin secretly sent people to Hanzhong to recruit local guides.
In only about ten days, Hou Jin recruited more than thirty people. Most of these people were hunters and travelers in Hanzhong. They were very familiar with the terrain of Hanzhong and even the unknown trails and mountain roads.
After Hou Jin had recruited all the guides, Li Tong also made corresponding preparations.
He divided the soldiers under his command into a group of elites, and then disguised these elites into several caravans, with a large group of more than a hundred people and a small group of dozens of people.
The purpose of pretending to be a caravan is to let them go in front of his own army. To put it bluntly, it is to use them as pathfinding stones. Li Tong dispersed the guides Hou Jin found and placed them in each caravan.
Arrange for two or three people.
That day, in the evening, the Han army led by Li Tong quietly left the Han army camp and headed straight to Wudang Mountain in the west. Li Tong did not take all the soldiers away, but deliberately left several thousand people in the camp.
.
If the camp was deserted overnight and Gongsun Shu's spies were not discovered, Gongsun Shu's side would be alert.
Li Tong is a meticulous person. When he does things, he pays attention to every detail. It can be said that everything is spotless.
Wudang Mountain is the boundary mountain between Nanyang and Hanzhong counties. To the east of Wudang Mountain is Nanyang County and to the west is Hanzhong County. A long mountain range separates the two counties.
When traveling through the Wudang Mountains, the guide Hou Jin found worked. The Han army did not take the flat road through the mountains, but took the rugged and secret paths, successfully avoiding the fortresses and strongholds set up by Gongsun Shu's army in the Wudang Mountains.
To make a long story short, the team marched all night, and at dawn the next day, Li Tong ordered the soldiers to rest in the mountains and forests. They were not allowed to light fires to make food, and they could only eat the rations they carried with them.
There was no talk during the day. At night, the Han army continued to march out of the Wudang Mountains and entered Hanzhong County.
Compared with Nanyang, the population of Hanzhong is much smaller, and the population in the county is mainly concentrated in the central and western parts. The eastern part is really sparsely populated.
The Han army led by Li Tong rested during the day and marched at night. Although walking like this was concealed, it was also easy to lose their way.
At this time, the guides Li Tong asked Hou Jin to recruit were effective. Even at night when visibility was extremely low, they were able to lead the Han army with ease and follow the original route.
After walking in Hanzhong County for eight days, the Han army finally approached the west city of Hanzhong County.
It wasn't until we got here that the population began to flourish.
But for Li Tong and other Han troops, marching became more difficult. Even if they marched at night, they had to avoid villages and towns with concentrated populations. Sometimes, they often had to go an extra ten or twenty miles to make a detour.
land.
It was a bit hard work, but this Han army that penetrated deep into Hanzhong was really silent and as elusive as a ghost.
When they arrived near Xicheng, they immediately followed the Ziwu Road. During the day, the Han army was still resting in a hidden place. At night, the Han army began to officially enter the Ziwu Road.
This stretch of road near Xicheng is fairly easy to walk.
When the Han army took the Ziwu Road, they still stayed in the dark at night. At first, it was no problem to walk this way, but as they marched north, the road became more and more difficult and narrower.
They did not dare to light torches when marching at night. The soldiers followed the steps of their comrades in front.
Some people disappeared inexplicably while they were walking, and the people behind them also disappeared. They did not disappear from the world, but fell down the mountain road in the air.
When the Han army reached the Wenshui River, it was no longer possible to march at night. The roads here could not be called roads. They were plank roads laid entirely by manpower.
The plank road is set on a cliff, with a mountain wall on one side and an abyss on the other. At the bottom of the abyss is the turbulent Wenshui River. The width of the plank road is only a little over one meter, and a carriage cannot go up it at all.
After hearing the reports from the soldiers in front, Li Tong led Ma Wu, Wang Ba, and Hou Jin to the plank road. After a closer look, everyone gasped.
Wang Ba frowned and whispered: "This plank road is too narrow, and our army's baggage vehicles can't get on it at all!"
The carriage is almost two meters wide. When walking on such a narrow plank road, two wheels must be hanging outside. How can this be done? Ma Wu even walked to the plank road and stamped his feet hard, making the wooden boards underneath creak.
sound.
He couldn't help shaking his head and said: "Ciyuan, our army's baggage can't get on the plank road at all!"
This wooden plank road is dangerous for people to walk on. The wooden planks may be broken at any time. Even if the carriages transporting baggage can't get up, even if they can get up, they don't dare to let the carriages go on it!
Li Tong frowned and pondered for a moment, then he made a decisive decision: "Give me the order to take away all the baggage that can be taken away, and throw away what cannot be taken away on the spot and throw it into the Wenshui River!"
"General——" The expressions of all the generals present changed. Isn't it too risky to discard all the baggage?
Li Tong said meaningfully: "Having come this far, our army has no way to turn back. We must either go down this plank road or be trapped and die in Hanzhong!"
As he spoke, he looked around at the people around him and asked word by word: "Do you want to continue walking with me, or do you want to take the risk of returning to the original route?"
Ma Wudi lowered his head, thought carefully, clapped his hands vigorously, and said: "The former general has an order to take away the baggage that is convenient to take away, and discard the baggage that is not convenient to take away, don't you hear it?
?”
In the army, Li Tong's reputation is not high, but Ma Wu's reputation is extremely high. When it comes to the Wu plague god Ma Wu, who has not heard of it, whether it is the Han army or the enemy army? Ma Wu said something, the following
The Han soldiers did not dare to hesitate any longer and started to move one after another.
People untied the horses pulling the carriages and put some heavy objects on their backs. As for the large carriages and some large baggage, people reluctantly retreated from the cliff and watched them fall into the Wenshui River.
For a moment, I saw cars falling off the cliff one after another, and the sound of falling into the water was endless.
All the baggage that should be discarded was discarded, and Li Tong then ordered the entire army to get on the wooden plank road and continue moving forward.
Walking in front is still the caravan. Today, the caravan responsible for exploring the road ahead has a total of between five and sixty people. The leader is a captain in the Han army and his name is He Gui.
There were more than thirty horses in the caravan, and each horse carried two large boxes on its back. The group of them walked cautiously along the wooden plank road, and the people held the horses' reins tightly.
It's tight, for fear that the horse will be frightened on the wooden plank road. It doesn't matter if the horse falls down on its own, but it is just for fear of being frightened and knocking people off.
There was no conversation all the way, and when it got to dusk, He Gui's caravan came to a rest area in the middle of the wooden plank road. This is the connection between the two plank roads. There is a large flat land a hundred feet wide. This place is called
Ziwu Terrace is also one of the important rest areas on Ziwu Road.
After He Gui and others arrived at Ziwu Terrace, a group of soldiers came over immediately. Seeing this, the people below were startled. They looked at each other and did not realize that there was a trick on their side. He Gui gave his men a look and said,
Tell them not to panic and wait and see what happens.
A group of Shu soldiers wearing the military uniforms of Gongsun Shujun came up to them. After looking them over, the leader of the team stretched out his hand and asked: "Have you brought the household version?"
The household version of the Han Dynasty is the household registration, just like an ID card, it is a proof of identity. However, the household version is much more detailed than the ID card. It records the name of the person's patriarch, parents' names, brothers and sisters, wife and children's names, and where he lives.
What job he does, what title he holds, and even the person's height, body shape, and skin color are all recorded in detail.
He Gui was just stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile on his face: "This big brother, the younger ones don't even have household editions!"
Because the household edition records are very detailed, the household edition is also very large, and no one will carry the household edition with them all day long. When the team leader heard this, he immediately darkened his face and said, "You don't have the household edition with you? Then
How do I know who you are? Are you from Luoyang?"
Hearing this, the expressions of many people in the caravan changed. He Gui turned his back to everyone and raised his fingers behind his back to signal them to get ready.
He took off the money bag from his waist, handed it to the team leader, and said: "Brother, we are just running small businesses. It is not easy to travel around. I hope this eldest brother can help me."
convenient!"
The team leader took the money bag handed over by He Gui and tapped it in his hand. It felt quite heavy, but the things inside didn't look like coins. He snorted at He Gui and said, "Seeing that you are so
For the sake of being smart, I can let you go." As he spoke, he opened the seal of the money bag, poured it out, and bang, a stone lump fell into his palm. Seeing this, the team leader was furious.
, shouted: "Bold! How dare you play tricks on me..."
Before he finished speaking, He Gui's hand behind his back had already pulled out the dagger from his waist, and passed it out from bottom to top. There was a pop sound, and the sharp edge of the dagger penetrated the opponent's jaw, leaving only the handle.