Regardless of whether Tian Weiye, Zhao Mengji and other enemy generals have seen through their intentions, and regardless of Tian Weiye, Zhao Mengji strengthened the defense of Pu and Jin on the north side of Xiangshan after winter, and then strengthened the attack on Xiangshan, and even
They rushed to build defensive strongholds in some vacancies, such as relatively open valleys and flat slopes. However, they could not restrict Liang Jun from continuously sending more elite troops to the north bank after winter and dispersed them into the mountains and dense forests to conduct infiltration operations.
At first, Wen Bo mainly dispatched a small group of elite scouts from the eastern foot of Mang Mountain to infiltrate the north bank. After entering mid-to-late October, Chen Kun's troops stationed in Hulao Pass and Mengjin successively increased their infiltration operations into the mountainous areas of the north bank, looking for
A foothold and the strength to build a stronghold.
The reason for such a gradient arrangement in the early stage is that the Yu River is not frozen, and the Mongolian Navy still has an absolute advantage on the Yu River for the time being. It is still difficult to ensure sufficient material supply needs for the soldiers and horses crossing the river on the south bank in the early stage.
Both stages of the Heluo War successfully repulsed the enemy, and the generals' fielding was also completed. The morale of the generals was improved, and their combat effectiveness was guaranteed. However, sufficient material support could not be provided to the generals who entered Xiangshan for infiltration operations.
, there is no way to grow the momentum.
At the same time, it is necessary to conduct further reconnaissance and survey on the complex terrain of Lishan, Zhongtiao Mountain, and Wangwushan in the early stage. It was finally decided to focus the penetration operation on Lishan, where the terrain is more steep on the north slope and the mountains in the north and south are deeper and wider.
(Eastern section of Xiangshan) and Wangwushan (branch of Xiangshan).
There is another factor, and that is the ability of the troops stationed in the eastern section of Mangshan, from the grassroots military attachés to the lower-level soldiers, most of whom are Tangyi veterans, to carry out independent operations as sentries or even broken up into smaller units.
All extremely strong.
The troops and horses stationed in Mengjin, which were classified into the Jingzhao Garrison Area, and the two infantry brigades with Chen Kun as the main general and stationed at Hulao Pass accommodate a large number of old Liang Army generals in the middle and lower parts.
The grassroots military attachés of these troops, even after three or four months of assault training, cannot be compared with the elite military attachés of the Tangyi Army who have repeatedly undergone various trainings at the grassroots level. Their ability to carry out independent operations as sentry units from time to time is still
It is much weaker. It intersperses into Lishan and Wangwushan insists on infiltration operations, which requires a longer adaptation time.
Infiltrating into Lishan and Wangwushan, in addition to fighting the Mongolian troops who entered the mountains to suppress them, they also had to face the people living in the mountains. Moreover, because the Liang and Jin Dynasties had been fighting in this area for thirty or forty years, they deeply felt towards Liang and Jin.
The country has developed a certain degree of hostility and even hatred among the mountain villagers and local village forces.
How to divide and win over these people, how to mobilize them to become a joint force to resist the Mongols, puts forward more stringent requirements for the grassroots command attaches at the team leader level.
The mountains in the western section of Xiangshan are more narrow and narrow, and there are fewer villagers and villages in the mountains. In the eastern section of Lishan and Wangwu Mountains, the north-south mountains are stronger, and there are many wide valleys and streams in the mountains, so the villages in the mountains are relatively dense.
Dealing with these cottages becomes more complicated, and it will take some time for the generals to become familiar with the customs and customs of Jin.
In the early stage, a group of ten, twenty or thirty people went through the mountains and forests to hide and seek with the Mongolian troops who entered the mountains to clear out the mountains. Many soldiers and horses were even unable to gain a foothold. Many generals were injured or captured, and many generals were forced to retreat to the south bank.
, but after becoming more familiar with the terrain, small groups of people gathered to form a combat force of dozens or even two to three hundred people, looking for a more stable foothold or building a stronghold in the mountains.
During this period, Chen Yuanchen and other mid-level and senior generals who participated in the rotational battles also traveled to both sides of the Yu River many times to personally participate in the construction of front-line command posts and the anti-Qing suppression operations in the mountains.
The elite cavalry of the Mongolian army could not enter the rugged and narrow mountains to fight. Zhao Mengji's generals were all Shu soldiers who were forced to leave their homes and were not allowed to return to Shu.
During the second phase of the Heluo War, Wu Su Dashi and Xiao Yiqing transferred nearly 40,000 Shu soldiers to the south bank of the Yiluo River. They defended the camp or fought in formations with the elite Mongolian cavalry covering the flanks. They could also exert their power.
Although Wusu Dashi and Xiao Yiqing forcibly kidnapped more than 30,000 women from Heshuo, Hedong and other prefectures and counties for marriage, they turned them into Mengzhou military households. At this time, they were divided into one to two hundred people, and three
A group of five hundred men marched into Wangwu Mountain and fought at Lishan, but they could not overcome the low morale.
The small groups of men and horses that entered the eastern and southern foothills of Wangwu Mountain were often able to defeat these Shu soldiers, even though their numbers were much smaller than Zhao Mengji's troops when encountering them in narrow terrain.
Tian Weiye's generals were more effective in combat, but with two to three times the number of men and horses, they could only compete with Liang Jun's infiltration troops in steep mountains.
Of course, in order to prevent the generals from eager to fight, Han Qian issued orders several times, requiring infiltration troops to use dangerous and complex terrain to fight the enemy. It is strictly forbidden to engage in idle battles and wars of attrition to avoid unnecessary casualties. In the early stage, the focus must be on establishing a foothold.
In the third year after entering Taihe, more than 10,000 elite troops entered Lishan, Wangwushan and Zhongtiao Mountains in the western section from the south bank to conduct infiltration operations, seizing the existing mountain strongholds and selecting difficult terrain before the enemy.
, built new cottages using simple materials on the spot, and established a total of seventeen mountain gorge strongholds.
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The Liangzhou Army also embarked on the Western Expedition during this period.
Passing through Lueyang County on the west side of Liangzhou, and going up the Rhinoceros River at the western source of the Jialing River, you can reach Chengzhou between Qin and Wuzhou.
The rhinoceros river has dangerous rapids and staggered rocks, making it difficult for boats. However, there is an extremely dangerous ancient road called Niujiyi on the north bank. It was also an important and dangerous route for Longyou soldiers and horses to attack Hanzhong and Sichuan in the early years. At the end of the Han Dynasty, there were many Shu armies.
This time we took this road to enter Qishan Mountain.
Niuji Post was in disrepair for a long time, and even though it was in the hands of Shu lord Wang Jian, he failed to make great efforts to repair it. At that time, Wang Jian was mainly worried that after repairing the road, it would become a passage for Liang Jun to attack Hanzhong from Longyou.
Feng Yi, Lu Ze and others rushed to Liangzhou in late November, but the transportation of armor, crossbows and other ordnance supplies was only partially assembled in Mianyang County, Liangzhou due to the difficult roads.
The troops should be sent out quickly rather than too slowly. At the same time, the Niuji Road to the west was very dangerous and required a force of troops to clear the way. Li Zhigao was also worried that the situation in Longyou might change at any time and would not send out troops until they were fully prepared.
In addition to Chai Jian guarding Jinzhou, at the end of November, Li Zhigao sent Zhou Tong and Hao Zixia to temporarily take charge of the military and political affairs of Liangzhou. Deng Tai, as the commander-in-chief of the rear army of the Western Expedition, together with Feng Yi, Lu Ze and others, led the main force of the rear army and the baggage and grain supplies to slow down the march.
, he personally led two thousand forward troops and horses, and marched westward first with Zhang Song and other generals.
They walked for more than twenty days, clearing roads through mountains and building bridges over water, and did not enter Chengzhou until late December.
The generals all wore light armor, but Rhinoceros Road was in a state of disrepair beyond their imagination. At this time, the generals' armor was extremely damaged, and they looked ragged, like a group of beggars.
Chengzhou governed Tonggu, Changdao, Shanglu, and governed Shanglu County. From the second year of Baoying to the thirteenth year of Xiantong, it was occupied by Tubo for more than 150 years. It was not formally annexed until the reign of Zhaozong of the previous dynasty.
Previous Dynasty.
Two thousand forward troops of the Liangzhou Army entered the territory of Chengzhou exhausted. As long as they passed through the last section of the valley called Niuwei Gorge, which was sandwiched between mountains and rapids, they could enter the Shanglu Valley of Chengzhou, which has a relatively gentle terrain.
But at this time, there was a cavalry group standing in front of the canyon, blocking their final westward path.
Looking at the dark cavalry, all armed with bows and spears, there were no less than a thousand in number. Zhang Song, who personally led a group of men and horses in the front line to explore the way, felt his scalp numb when he saw this scene.
Zhang Song took a closer look at the appearance of the cavalry in the distance and found that most of them were Qiang people. Unexpectedly, just ten days ago, they sent scouts to find out the news and confirmed that the Qiang tribes in Chengzhou were still divided. At this time
They all banded together to block their way?
If the two thousand infantrymen behind him had fully rested, they might still be able to fight, but they arrived here exhausted, and the enemy troops were waiting to wait in front of the canyon. How could they fight this battle?
"Looking at the situation in front of us, we must have been cutting mountains and clearing roads, and we were delayed too much on the way. As a result, the various forces in Chengzhou have united during this period. Of course, it is also possible that the Mongols or Wang Xiaoxian have sent people to garrison in Chengzhou.
Zhou - with the few troops we have now, I'm afraid we won't be able to enter Chengzhou." Zhang Song led his men back, reined in his horse and stopped beside Li Zhigao, and suggested, "Why don't we retreat to the pass to the east first, and wait.
The reinforcements from the rear will come with large shields and crossbows, and then march westward?"
They led the army westward from Mianyang to Lueyang on the Jialing River, and then led two thousand vanguard soldiers and horses to take the dangerous road ahead. The road was narrow and there were only a few horses along the way.
In addition to necessary supplies along the way, all soldiers went into battle lightly, and their equipment mainly consisted of spears, crossbows and light leather armor.
Where they are currently, the post road is about a hundred steps north of the skyscraper and high cliff, which is not a favorable terrain for the enemy's cavalry to attack in a roundabout way. However, the Rhinoceros River on the south side is already extremely shallow at this time, exposing a large area of river beach and the post road has a gentle slope.
They are connected to each other and are about three to four hundred paces wide.
At this time, in addition to blocking their way head-on, the enemy cavalry can also attack their flanks from the river beach.
Fighting in such terrain, Zhang Song was worried that the two thousand soldiers behind them, whose formation was loose and exhausted, would not be able to stop the enemy's cavalry from attacking several times.
Zhang Song did not feel that this was the time to hastily engage in battle, and advocated retreating to a dangerous pass more than ten miles away that was more conducive to their defense, and waiting for Deng Tai and Feng Yi to arrive with the main force of the rear army before making plans.
"When we meet on a narrow road, the brave will win. If the enemy's fighting spirit is not strong, the battle can be won." Li Zhigao shook his head and did not adopt Zhang Song's suggestion.
Even if they wait for ten days and a half for the main force of the rear army to arrive, the narrow terrain near Niujiyi will not be enough for them to use their superior strength of five to six thousand troops. However, if time is delayed, it may lead to more troops nearby.
The more tribal forces unite more closely, the more prepared they will be to resist their westward advance.
Another point is what Zhang Song said, if the Mongols or Wang Xiaoxian had sent people into Chengzhou to win over various forces, and then thousands of soldiers and horses united to intercept their westward march, the problem would have been more troublesome if the time had been delayed for a long time.
.
The tribes who surrendered to the Mengwu in Chengzhou will most likely ask Wang Xiaoxian for reinforcements when they see their increasing number of troops heading west. Wang Xiaoxian currently has 4,000 troops stationed in Tianshui City, which is less than 200 miles away from Shanglu County in Chengzhou.
If these soldiers and horses are stationed in Chengzhou, it will be much more difficult for them to capture the Shanglu counties.
The climate between Qin and Min is warmer and drier. They didn't encounter any rain or snow along the way, but that doesn't mean there won't be rain and snow blocking the post roads in the next ten days and a half. Generally speaking, spring comes in Chengzhou.
The weather afterwards was much wetter and rainier.
Since the defeat of Xiangbei, the morale of the generals and soldiers has been dispirited. Although they have been recuperating for half a year after returning to Daliang, the recuperation is due to the weak bodies of the generals, and the morale of the soldiers is actually quite low. At this time, it is okay to choose to retreat temporarily, but if you are timid, you can
Will retreating without a fight further damage the low morale and morale of the military?
Thousands of cavalry are now intercepting in front of the canyon, but seeing that their armor and uniforms are mixed and the cavalry groups are quite scattered, it can be seen that even if the Mongols or Wang Xiaoxian have sent people into Chengzhou, combined with local forces, it should be quite
Hasty; therefore, this cavalry currently occupies the convenient terrain on the flank, but there is no sign of launching an offensive immediately.
Li Zhigao decided to fight, and decided to fight now.
The generals had rested their strength and had eaten some dry food. Even though they were still exhausted, Li Zhigao knew the generals who had followed him for many years quite well and knew that they should still be able to hold on to the battle.
The two thousand troops and horses in the front could not be fully deployed. Li Zhigao deployed the three armies in the front, center and rear. He led Zhang Song personally and led more than 300 people to advance along the river beach in front to prevent the enemy cavalry from bypassing the river beach and attacking their flanks.
Then he personally led five hundred armored soldiers, with sword and shield hands in the front, heavy crossbowmen in the hands, spears and halberds mixed in among them, and advanced towards the enemy cavalry head-on.
The cavalry from various tribes in Chengzhou united to block the canyon. Their original intention was to ask the invading enemy to retreat when they saw the difficulties, but they did not expect that the Liangzhou army soldiers and horses marching westward were now trapped and had no intention of stopping to rest.
, actually took the lead in attacking immediately.
Even though the cavalrymen of the various tribes were a little panicked, at the urging of Chengzhou Governor Hou Mo, the tribes hurriedly sent out 300 cavalrymen to cooperate with more than 100 of Hou Mo's own cavalry to meet them.
Chengzhou is close to Longshan and only a stone's throw away from the Fengxiang Jiedushi Mansion in the west wing of Guanzhong. However, it has been ruled by Tubo for more than a hundred years, and the nomadic trend has revived. All tribes are good at riding and shooting, and they can shoot astride a horse.
There are also many elites with strong bows.
The enemy cavalry that came out first were all mounted archers. They were one hundred and forty or fifty paces apart, and they all opened their bows and shot arrows. The hard wooden bows were more than five feet long. Only elite archers with great strength could not shoot on horseback.
Shooting with a bow, the messy rain of arrows comes like the sharp whistling of the wind.
Even if the Liangzhou army held shields in the front line, they were small shields that could only cover their faces, chest and abdomen. The leather armor on their shins and hips could not block the sharp arrow clusters, and many people were hit by arrows in the blink of an eye.
Fortunately, the arrows penetrated the armor and entered the flesh without hitting the vital point. The generals in the front line were still able to hold on, listening to the deep sound of the horns, along the rugged post road and the more rugged slopes on the right wing.
Push forward.
As for the crossbowmen and halberd soldiers who were not protected by shields at the rear, people were constantly being shot to the ground.
The batch of arm-shaped crossbows provided by Luoyang had a range of about 140 to 50 steps, but Li Zhigao did not let the heavy crossbowmen rush to fight back.
The enemy cavalry in the front formation mainly used longbows, but the three hundred cavalrymen in the rear raised their spears at this time. It was obvious that they expected to see their formation scattered by arrows, and then charge directly towards them and kill their
The formation was completely disrupted.
With spears and halberds suppressing the formation, Li Zhigao was not afraid of the enemy cavalry rushing towards them, but the terrain they were in was relatively open at this time. Seeing that the enemy cavalry was ineffective in charging forward, they would inevitably spread out to the two wings, and then find a way to hold them back.
The mounted archers at the rear can draw their bows and shoot arrows faster and more steadily.
The arm-loaded crossbows provided by Luoyang are extremely powerful, but the shooting speed is much slower than that of the familiar mounted archers. It takes about three arrows for the enemy cavalry to shoot one arrow.
And because the crossbow arrows of the arm-opening crossbow do not have tail feathers, only the tail of the arrow shaft is made into a narrow wing shape to improve balance, but it is still less accurate than long-feathered arrows when shooting at long distances.
If the two-handed generals did not have heavy armor to defend themselves, and the bows and crossbows were so far apart and they lined up to shoot at each other, they would definitely suffer a big loss.
Li Zhigao suppressed the urge of the crossbowman to shoot and continued to press forward at the risk of casualties. When the two sides were within a hundred steps, he saw that the terrain on the right had narrowed, and the towering cliffs gave people a strong sense of oppression. Li Zhigao
Then he ordered the heavy crossbowmen to shoot.
The sound of the steel string of the crossbow snapping away was even clearer. More than two hundred crossbow arrows were fired at the heads of the enemy cavalry, and more than twenty enemy cavalrymen and horses were immediately shot to the ground.
The penetrating power of the crossbow arrows was astonishingly strong, shocking the enemy cavalry. The remaining hundred or so cavalry archers subconsciously wanted to move back and distance themselves, not daring to shoot at the Liangzhou army at such a close distance.
Although there is no strong enough force in Longyou to command the Longyou and Hexi states, and the tribes are constantly fighting among themselves, it is just so that the Longyou and Hexi states definitely have a lot of elite soldiers, and there are also many brave and good generals.
Seeing this scene, the more than 300 cavalry in the rear formation did not want to be hit by the retreating cavalry archers in front, so they immediately rushed to the river beach on the left wing. Although the formation was quite scattered in the rush, under the loud shouts of the leading general,
, and soon divided into two teams, one team went to kill Zhang Song's troops who were advancing along the river beach, and the other team wanted to attack the flank of Li Zhigao's troops.
Zhang Song also ordered the crossbows to be fired first. He also knew that the generals were tired, so he could only take the lead. He led the guards into the front formation, and met the enemy cavalry with the generals holding halberds and sabers. The two sides fought on the river beach first.
Come together.
Enemy cavalry were swarming over, and Zhang Song was on the low river beach. Even though he and several guards around him were still on horseback, they could not see the fighting on the post road and the slopes to the north.
He only had one thought in his mind, which was to turn diagonally and attack the post road, which would not give the enemy enough room to maneuver.
"clang!"
Zhang Song had many guards on his left and right, but only a few war horses. He sat astride the war horses and stood out in the array.
The current seven or eight enemy cavalry were also brave. Seeing that he was covered in armor and not afraid of arrows, they also knew that he was the leader of this team. He ignored the stabs from the left and right spears and took advantage of the momentum of the horses to tear them open.
With a thin layer of soldiers who were tired of killing, they directly approached Zhang Song. At the same time, six or seven sharp swords and spears slashed at Zhang Song.
Zhang Song stabbed an enemy to death in the head, and the spear in his hand stabbed directly into the man's eye socket accurately and hard. Even though he held a shield and used it as a shield to stab the chest with a spear, the enemy's cavalry hit him on his right shoulder.
After a sharp slash, his left armpit was stabbed by a spear that came from the side like lightning.
There were too few horse guards on the left and right, and they were the first targets of the enemy to shoot. In the blink of an eye, there were only two horse guards left beside him, which could not help him withstand the attack from high places.
It is difficult to break armor with a knife, but it is difficult to block the thrust of a sharp spear. After all, the force of a stab is much greater than that of slashing with a knife on horseback.
Zhang Song was not worried about his right shoulder, but subconsciously looked at his left armpit. He looked down and saw that although the enemy's spear pierced the armor at the left armpit, the spear blade got stuck less than an inch after it penetrated and failed to penetrate.
The inner armor didn't even hurt him at all.
When Zhang Song was stabbed by the spear, his body tilted to the side. Of course he knew in his heart how powerful the stab was, but he didn't expect that the more than ten pairs of full-coverage plate armor sent from Luoyang were stronger than the full-coverage plate armor.
The armor is more than ten kilograms lighter, but the protective power is actually much better - they tried to test the protective power by cutting with swords before, but they were not willing to stab it with a spear.
Zhang Song couldn't help laughing, he retracted his spear under his arm and swiped at the blade-wielding enemy on the right with all his strength.
The Qiang cavalryman had a broad, red face, a beard, and was wearing a mountain-ringed mail armor that was rare in Longyou. He knew at a glance that he was also a leader of the tribe. This man obviously did not expect that his spear at such a tricky angle could actually hit him.
It failed to pierce Zhang Song's armor.
Although he immediately withdrew his spear and dwarfed slightly, he used his arms to catch Zhang Song and hit him with the spear, but only then did he realize that he and the six horsemen did not dismount Zhang Song immediately.
The cavalry was blocked outside, and there were soldiers from the Liangzhou Army on both sides.
He is under siege.
Even if he blocked Zhang Song's spear, he could not block the four spears that were stabbing him from the left and right at the same time. The next moment, his thigh was pierced by a spear, and his body was stagnant. He watched helplessly as Zhang Song advanced towards him.
The door is stabbed...
"He is so handsome!"
The enemy cavalry in front yelled, and they suddenly became panicked.
When Zhang Song saw this scene, of course he knew that the person they killed was an important figure in the enemy army. Taking advantage of the panic of the enemy cavalry in front, he pressed forward with his horses and stabbed the two enemies with his spears.
Shouting to boost the morale of the generals on the left and right, he went to the slope where the post road connects to the river beach to kill...
