Following Yuan Yong's roar, the Hanzhong soldiers who were attacking Wanshan were severely beaten by the ambush soldiers of the Northern Expedition who suddenly revealed their bodies before they reached the mountainside. After a burst of arrows and rolling rocks, they retreated to the foot of the mountain with heavy casualties and continued to
Retreat westward…
"The rebel army is defeated, the rebel army is defeated!"
Thousands of people who were ordered to camp and defend on the Wanshan Trail held up banners and cheered. Wang Ben's army's plan to approach Xiangyang from the west failed.
But they did not dare to pursue them deeply. Who knew whether the defeated Hanzhong soldiers were here to lure the enemy?
After repelling the enemy soldiers, Yuan Yong ran to the mountain to report the results of the battle to the Northern Expeditionary Army Marshal Heifu who came here personally, and muttered:
"It's really easy for Lieutenant Gong. He can just guard Xiangyang City and watch the show. The enemy can't cross the river, get close to the city, and can't reach Wanshang. There's nothing we can do against him."
But Heifu laughed and said: "He must be complaining in his heart, saying that you only care about killing the enemy and eating meat, and don't even give him a sip of soup!"
The place where he is located is a commanding point with a radius of dozens of miles. To the east is Xiangyang City, and to the west is the famous "Longzhong" in a small basin in the mountains. Although no one has lived in seclusion at this time, the residents are avoiding the war and heading deeper.
Escaped in the mountains and forests.
At the feet of Heifu, thousands of mountains stand on the riverside, rising up from the river. They stand tall and steep, and the cliffs are rugged. Standing on the edge of the cliff and looking north, the sky is vast and the land is vast and majestic. The Han River is moving eastward, and the shadows of warships and sails are dotted on the river.
Moreover, they were all ships of the Northern Expeditionary Army. The unformed boat division of Wang Ben's army only circled on the north bank and did not even dare to reach the center of the river.
Although it was reported that Wang Ben had ordered people to build a water fortress at Yuliangzhou in the east to train the sailors, Lieutenant General was not worried at all about this matter. He even patted his chest and assured Hei Fu:
"Your Majesty, the people in the north are not good at boats and are all landlubbers. Even if they build a hundred warships a month, I only need thirty warships to destroy the stronghold and burn the ships, making all Wang Ben's efforts in vain. As for the floating bridge?
If the Northern Army dares to cross the river easily, I will make him make the same mistake as King Zhao of Zhou, and the Sixth Division will never return!"
Speaking of which, it is said that this area is the place where King Zhao of Zhou drowned when he attacked Chu. On the river bank next to Xiangyang City, there is also a temple dedicated to King Zhao of Zhou and his two daughters who were on the same boat.
Although Wang Ben's army was large in number, it had not yet reached the point of "throwing a whip to cut off the flow". Seeing that the plan to march from the west had failed, and it had been delayed in attacking the Han Dynasty, the armies of both sides had been facing each other here for half a month, but Xiangyang City was
It is still impregnable, not even a single wall has been broken.
"What's going on in the east?"
However, Heifu did not relax his vigilance at all, and asked Sima Laowu, a cavalryman who was cruising near the Han River. In the past few days, Xiangyang City's Shiri had observed the enemy's movements eastwards during the day.
Lao Wu reported: "Commander, the Northern Army sent 20,000 people to move to Dongjin Pavilion (Dongjin Town, Xiangyang) east of the Han River and set up camp at the foot of Lumen Mountain..."
"Dongjin Pavilion, Lumen Mountain..."
Heifu turned his eyes to the east. Because of the distance and the obstacles of Xiangyang and Xian Mountain, he could not see the situation in Handong. However, building Xiangyang to defend against the enemy was the core of Heifu's defense. The terrain and mountain shapes there were all familiar.
On the chest.
He knew that Dongjin Pavilion rested on the Han River for thousands of miles to the west, faced the mighty Tangbai River to the north, faced the Chun River to the southeast, nestled against the Lumen Mountains, and connected to Sui and Zao Corridors in the northeast corner. The water and land transportation was extremely convenient, especially the Tangbai River to the north connected to the hinterland of Nanyang.
, controls the north-south water transportation artery, facilitates the transportation of baggage and grain in Wancheng and Xinye, is surrounded by natural dangers, and is open in the middle. It is easy to attack and defend, advance and retreat, and turn around. It is a good place for garrisoning troops.
Yuliangzhou and Longweizhou, separated by a river from Dongjin Pavilion and Lumen Mountain, are the southeastern chokepoints of Xiangyang. To be honest, these northerners are not southerners no matter how hard they try to build boat masters.
opponent, but the feeling of being grabbed by the throat is not comfortable either.
Heifu was sensitively aware that Wang Ben's move was probably not just about surrounding Xiangyang and protecting the Shuizhai boat master. He must be planning a bigger conspiracy...
These days, Heifu often travels between Wanshan and Xiangyang. The more he looks at the Jianghan Pass he built, the more he feels that something is missing.
The waves of the Han River are difficult to cross, thousands of mountains stretch for dozens of miles, Xiangyang’s site selection is perfect, one man can guard the barrier and ten thousand men cannot break it, and there is no flaw...
"Surround three buildings! Because the opponent is Wang Ben, I don't dare to let Xiangyang have the slightest flaw, but I don't know that this is the biggest flaw!"
Heifu raised his hand, and he knew where the strangeness in his heart came from!
In this era, with this kind of military strength, Xiangyang is really perfect.
So perfect that people lose the desire to attack...
Heifu put himself in his shoes and realized that he was the coach of the opponent. Seeing the natural dangers of this great pass, if he didn't have the patience to wait for two or three years, he would definitely give up the attack and find another way.
Heifu immediately began to wonder if Wang Bi didn't want to fight Xiangyang anymore?
For example, quietly move troops to Dongjin, then drive directly south, go south along the Han River, go directly to Fuxian County, two hundred miles away in the south, and go deep into the Jianghan Plain...
But he quickly rejected this conjecture: Unless the navy has an absolute advantage and completely controls the Han River, only a stupid and reckless man will do that. Who dares to leave Xiangyang alone? The Northern Expeditionary Army here will cross the river at any time.
Cut off the enemy's food route and make it impossible for them to return!
This is also the reason why in the past dynasties, when the northern regime wanted to attack the south, it had to attack Xiangyang first. Geographical factors dictated that this nail could not be circumvented.
Wang Ben is a famous general in the world. He will never fail to see this. There must be another reason for Dongjin's deployment of troops.
Heifu thought of something else and asked Lao Wu:
"Since the enemy garrisoned Dongjin, your scouts have been unable to cross that camp to scout north, right?"
Lao Wu was a little ashamed: "Commander, let me tell you the truth. In terms of boat battle, ten northerners cannot defeat five southerners. In terms of cavalry, ten southerners cannot defeat five northerners. The northern army is invincible on both chariots and cavalry.
My scouts can only watch from a distance, and indeed they have not been able to cross Lumen Mountain for several days to reconnoiter the north."
Heifu understood: "So behind the Lumen Mountains that stretch for dozens of miles, no matter what Wang Ben did, our army was kept in the dark..."
He once again looked at Wang Ben's camp to the north of the Han River. It was time for the evening meal again. There seemed to be a lot of smoke and stoves, but did the estimated 100,000 troops in the camp still exist?
Even if there are a lot of people here, Wang Ben still has 100,000 troops at his disposal. Since this place cannot be conquered in a short time, they must have started to make other attempts under Wang Ben's orders.
Heifu stamped his feet and immediately wrote a letter, asking the scout Pegasus to inform Suixian, Ming'e and other places. But he immediately thought: "If Wang Ben plans to expose the shipbuilder with great fanfare and hold back my main force here, then
Why don't I just use the trick and let the old general know that I am really just here to play with him?"
"By the way, I can also test and see if he is here!"
After Heifu made up his mind, he immediately asked people to carry his own banner and go around the path behind Wanshan to Xiangyang City.
Heifu also wanted to test whether the Xiangyang garrison followed the order strictly. He asked people to call the gate with his own flag, but the answer was not answered. He went to call in person, but the answer was not answered, until he asked someone to hold up a specially made pass talisman, Xiangyang City Gate.
Only slowly opened...
"Well done." When Heifu entered the city, he praised the city gate official and asked his name.
"Po Yan! People from Po County!" The city gate official lowered his head, and Hei Fu could not see his appearance clearly.
By the time Heifu climbed onto the northern city wall, it was already early morning the next day.
The red sun in the east penetrated the stratus clouds and illuminated it. Heifu squinted his eyes and looked at the enemy camp exposed after the river fog dispersed. He said to the communist lieutenant:
"Lieutenant Gong, ask the soldiers at the top of the city to repeat my commander's words!"
After a while, at the top of Xiangyang City, accompanied by a burst of drumbeats, there were waves of shouting:
Tens of thousands of soldiers shouted at the top of their voices: "Generalissimo of the Northern Expeditionary Army, Marquis Wu Zhong Heifu, please speak to General Wu Marquis Wang!"
"Please tell me, General Tongwuhou Wang, please!"
The echo resounded through the Han River, seeming to stir up waves, causing mallard ducks to fly around in the river...
The enemy camp on the other side had been awakened. After a brief period of confusion, silence returned, but there was no response for a long time.
After a long time, until Hei Fu secretly guessed: "Perhaps Wang Ben is really gone", the tens of thousands of soldiers from the Northern Army on the other side sent a message back to Wang Bi with a wave of sound far higher than that of the Southern Army:
"Heifu, boy, on the battlefield, isn't this a place to reminisce about the past?"
