On June 28, Han Xin had already entered Guanzhong.
About ten days ago, seeing that Wu Chen's attack on Ziwu Road attracted the main force of Lieutenant Qin's army, Han Xin led more than 20,000 troops to enter the Pass via the old route.
However, the old road was long, and the movement of 20,000 people was too great. The enemy was neither blind nor deaf. Chencang County arranged for 10,000 lieutenant troops to guard the old road, and more sentries were set up on the old road. After all, Han Xin could not hide it. Although he was lucky enough to capture the enemy in the end,
The pass was dispersed, but Chencang's soldiers set up defenses in Gudao County and blocked the way.
Therefore, the entrance to the road is narrow. If you attack rashly, you will be attacking a large number with a small number. Even if you defeat Chen Cang's army, Han Xin will suffer a lot of losses.
Fortunately, he had a Sima named Zhao Yan who was originally from Hanzhong. He had traveled between Chencang and Hanzhong many times and knew that there was a local trail that could bypass the old intersection and attack Chencang.
Han Xin used his strategy and sent Zhao Yan and Ba warrior Dan Hu to lead Ba soldiers who were good at mountain marching. They took small paths to bypass the enemy's blockade, attacked from both sides, and defeated Chencang's defenders.
After taking the grain from Chencang and alleviating the shortage of the army, Han Xin immediately marched eastward and captured Guo County (Guo Town, Chencang District, Baoji City).
When you come here, you are completely away from the Qinling Mountains and enter the typical Guanzhong Loess Plateau. The difference from later generations is that the plateau is not too broken, and everything you look at is green - except for the dense millet and wheat fields.
There are also large forests spreading from Qishan Mountain.
The former capital of Qin, Yongcheng (Fengxiang County, Shaanxi Province), is just forty miles away to the north, located on Zhouyuan at the foot of Qishan Mountain...
"Today I know why both Zhou and Qin were able to unite the world from this small corner of the country."
Lowering his head and holding a handful of loess, Han Xin looked at the densely packed farmhouses in all directions. Han Xin knew that he had entered the hinterland of Qin.
But at this time, Han Xin began to face a choice.
Two different routes of advance lie ahead.
"From Guoxian County to the east, to Xianyang, more than 300 miles away, there is a flat river, and there is a horse road connecting it. It can be reached in three or four days by car, and only seven or eight days by infantry. At present, the enemy troops are all in Lantian, Shang Yu, and Wuzhong
In the decisive battle of Hou, Xianyang is empty and can be obtained at your fingertips. Such a great achievement can be achieved easily by the general!"
Zhao Yan, a native of Hanzhong, urged Han Xin to go directly eastward to Xianyang.
Zhao Yan was originally a county lieutenant in Hanzhong County, but he did not surrender to the Northern Expedition until a few months ago. He knew that it was too late for him to surrender, and that after the successful arrest of Marquis Wu Zhong, he was afraid that he would not be able to obtain high-ranking officials and titles, so he placed his hope on Han Xin, hoping to get a share of
The great achievement of capturing Xianyang.
But Lu Jia, who was responsible for supervising the army, held a different view.
"Although the puppet emperor put his main force in Lantian and Wuguan, the population in Guanzhong is abundant, so it is not difficult to recruit tens of thousands of people to resist us. After the defeat of Chencang's army, there were still thousands of people who retreated north to Yongcheng. Ruoshe
We are heading east from Yongcheng to attack Xianyang. There are obstacles in front and interceptions in the back. Our army's baggage is far away from the entrance of the old road. We may be in a dilemma, which is not good..."
Although the opinions are contradictory, the premise is based on the fact that Heifu has not entered the martial arts.
Because the Qinling Mountains and Daba Mountain are heavily obstructed, and both armies are advancing, Han Xin and others still don’t know that Wuguan was breached by Heifu more than ten days ago...
Han Xin looked at the map and pondered. If it had been more than half a year ago, Han Xin, who always liked dangerous tactics, would have chosen to break camp and march eastward without hesitation. He would have climbed to Xianyang first and made the world look at him!
But last year, he went deep into Nanyang alone. When he returned to the army, he was caught by Wang Ben in Danyang. He was defeated and lost his army. This blow brought about a great change in Han Xin's character. His energy was greatly dampened and he was no longer so arrogant.
Married to the niece of Marquis Wu Zhong. After marriage, the man was different from the young virgin he used to be. He became more stable...
He knew that countless pairs of eyes in the army were watching and he could not make the same mistake again.
Then Han Xin said: "The reason why Marquis Wuzhong asked us to enter the pass from Hanzhong is to contain the enemy troops so that the main force can successfully attack Wuguan and reach Xianyang."
"Rather than risk everything and rely on a partial army to take risks and attack Xianyang."
Following the old path is a way to win by surprise, but now, it must be right!
"Therefore, if we can do the former, besiege Yongcheng without attacking it, and lure Xianyang to send troops to help, we will have fulfilled the king's order."
After the reinforcements are dispatched, you can safely attack the city.
Han Xin pointed to the map of Yongdi and said: "Yongdi is sandwiched between the north and south banks of the Weichuan River. It has thousands of miles of fertile fields, fertile fields and rich products. It is also called Qinchuan."
"If we capture this place, we will gain a firm foothold in Guanzhong. In addition, this is the old capital of Qin, where the ancestral temples of the kings of the past dynasties are located. It will be the heart of Guanzhong and the right auxiliary of Xianyang. It will be enough to shake Guanzhong and launch the Northern Expedition."
Promote the prestige of the military, benevolence and righteousness!"
"What's even better is that Yongcheng strangles Sanguan in the south, so that Hanzhong's soldiers and supplies can continue to move northward; there is Longguan in the west, adjacent to Longxi County, which can handle the soldiers of Shu County who attack Xi County from Qishan Road; in the north, it connects back to Zhongdao,
It leads directly to Beidi County, where the emperor's old vassal Zhang Han and his eldest son are..."
"After Yongcheng is captured, within ten months, we can open up the three areas. Yong, Beidi, and Longxi are connected into one area. It covers thousands of miles and has a population of millions. They responded in large numbers and marched eastward to encircle Xianyang."
"This is the way to be invincible!"
Lu Jia breathed a sigh of relief. He was the one who gave Han Xin the reins. Han Xin chose the most foolproof way of playing, so that Lu Jia didn't have to worry about him making the same mistakes again. There was one more thing that Lu Jia didn't say.
In this battle of entering the customs, Han Xin must not take all the credit. He has to figure out who is the supporting role and who is the protagonist...
But Han Xin's next sentence made Lu Jia dumbfounded. This Han Xin was still not sophisticated enough.
After deciding on the strategy of going north to Yongcheng, Han Xin, who admired Heifu's grand strategy but was still not optimistic about his use of troops on the battlefield, said optimistically:
"By then, even if Marquis Wu Zhong fails to attack Wuguan, we alone will be able to control Xianyang's fate!"
…
At this moment, Heifu, the protagonist of this battle, was standing on the command post in Lantian Mountain, looking at Wang Lijun who was camped across the Ba River with the Northern Expeditionary Army more than ten miles away.
"Little Wang has made some progress. At least he is orderly and discerning when it comes to setting up camp. He has learned a lot from the family of Marquis Wucheng. But how much can he learn from his eldest father, Nai's father, when it comes to commanding in battle?"
After saying this, Heifu turned around and looked at the middle-aged man who was kneeling on the ground behind him.
"You said that the Lantian Army is in chaos, people are in panic, and there are even many deserters?"
But it was Li Si's second son, Li Yu, who escaped from Duting south a few days ago. Taking advantage of the chaos in Guanzhong, he wanted to contact Heifu, but he encountered a group of soldiers near Lantian County...
"I was desperate at the time. I thought it was the scouts sent by Wang Li to patrol. Unexpectedly, they were a group of deserters who robbed our horses and left after the money!"
"So we can only take the mountain road and walk through thorns. We arrived today..."
Li Yu also met Heifu several times when he was in Xianyang, but the little man who bowed respectfully to the Li family back then was now a majestic man who was about to control the power of the world.
Hei Fu nodded: "It seems that the three armies under Wang Li's command are already suspicious. Even with severe punishments and laws, it is difficult to restrain the fleeing soldiers."
It can be seen that the Xianyang Incident and the flight of the second-in-command of the Qin Dynasty had a great impact on morale. It is said that people are still fleeing from Xianyang to this day. When the building began to collapse, the news could not be concealed at all.
How can such an army fight?
But when a lion fights a rabbit, he must use all his strength, so don't be careless.
After asking Li Yu what he had seen when he passed through Weinan and Lantian, the topic between Heifu and him returned to the Xianyang Incident.
But Heifu didn't care about Li Si "gathering thousands of people and holding high the flag of justice" in Feiqiu. The old hamster obviously ran away after the coup failed, so it would be good if he could save his life.
Heifu was concerned about another thing.
"Zhao Gao really has collusion with the Six Nations..."
Li Yudao: "Zhao Gao's recent advice to Hu Hai is somewhat unusual. My father has suspected it for a long time. Only that night did he get the truth. Zhao Gao may have colluded with a group of thieves from six countries outside Hangu Pass and wants to open the switch to welcome the thieves!"
Heifu recalled: "I remember that the Sanchuan guard Zhao Bi who retreated to Hangu Pass was the nephew of the Zhaohai clan of the former Beidi guard and Jiancheng Hou. He is not a relative of Zhao Gao, right?"
Li Yu denied: "No, Zhao Ben was recommended by Marquis Tongwu as Sanchuan Shou and has nothing to do with Zhao Gao."
"Then I'm afraid what Zhao Gao wants to open is not Hangu Pass."
Heifu understood clearly: "It's the east of the river where his younger brother Zhao Cheng was appointed as a county lieutenant...Zhiguan, Maojin, Fenglingdu, Puban, as long as there are boats, there are too many roads to enter the pass."
Fortunately, there was a loud noise and the Wuguan was defeated in two days, and the commander of the Yonguan Pass surrendered. Otherwise, if Heifu had been delayed for too long, he might have fulfilled Zhao Gao's wish and allowed Xiang Yu to enter the pass first!
Now that he knew this information, Heifu became more alert and asked someone to take Li Yu down to rest, and then called for Ji Ying:
"Starting today, three times during the day and night, we will send thousands of people to the shore of Ba River, with great fanfare, and shout these words to Wang Lijun on the opposite side."
"What words?"
Ji Ying immediately became energetic. He understood that he did not have the talent to lead an army, but he was particularly talented in gathering intelligence, doing propaganda, and helping the princes fight public opinion wars!
Heifu was still eloquent about this:
"Never stand if you can sit, never sit if you can lie down."
"An honest battle that can only be won by killing 10,000 people is far inferior to a trick and conspiracy that can be won by killing 1,000 people."
These words spoke to Ji Ying's heart and he has always regarded him as a guide.
Now, after Heifu thought for a while, he put his hands behind his back and said:
"It is said that soldiers are fighting hard outside, and traitors are betraying the country at home."
"Zhao Gao has made an agreement with Chu, driven out the prime minister, destroyed the Qin clan and ruled Guanzhong."
"Zhao Cheng opened the defense to the east of the river and provided support by land and water. The bandits from the Six Nations have entered the border!"
"Xiang Ji has led the Chu people to Hongmen, intending to destroy Qin Sheji, massacre Xianyang, burn the palaces, raid the tomb of the first emperor, plunder treasures and goods, capture your children, and share them with the bandits of Zhao and Wei!"
The more Ji Ying listened, the more he admired him. The pavilion chief was worthy of being the pavilion chief. These thoughts came to him immediately.
As everyone knows, the above are all things that happened in history, and Heifu just said them casually.
But when it reached the ears of Sergeant Wang Li, it was about the lives of his family members, so they probably couldn't just laugh it off...
Ji Ying wrote them down one by one and taught them to the soldiers when he returned.
"Two more sentences."
Heifu looked at the enemy camp in the distance and the black Qin flag faintly visible above, and said sincerely:
"The people of Qin will not fight the people of Qin!"
"Stop the civil war and unite with the outside world!"
…
ps: I went out for a hike, so I said good night in advance.