The name of Yanmen Pass dates back to the early Tang Dynasty. Due to the rise of the Turks in the north and frequent internal invasions, the Tang army garrisoned Yanmen Mountain and set up a gate at the commanding heights with an iron gate to defend it. The east and west mountains are steep and rugged, and the pass is placed at the top.
, the situation is particularly dangerous.
But at that time, Yanmen Pass was not the first line of defense for the Tang army. It was not until the Five Dynasties, when Shi Jingtang of the later Jin Dynasty ceded the current Datong and then Yunzhou to the Khitan, that Yanmen Pass was suddenly transformed from a stronghold behind the front to a position for the Song army.
One of the strategic supporting points in border defense.
In the early Northern Song Dynasty, the Song and Liao armies started a fierce battle around Yanmen Pass. The well-known story of the Yang family took Yanmen Pass as the central stage.
By the end of the Ming Dynasty, due to the proliferation of storytelling culture, even the soldiers who broke into the army were familiar with Yanmen Pass and the related stories of the Yang family generals.
Therefore, after Tian Jianxiu learned about the defeat of Datong and the death of Zhang Tianlin, he easily believed Jiang's words that "Datong has been lost, and Yanmen cannot be lost again." He was determined to bring most of the troops left behind by Li Zicheng in Taiyuan.
Go to Yanmen Pass to deploy defenses on the front line.
During this period, although Ren Jirong persuaded Tian Jianxiu, Taiyuan was an important town in Shanxi, and transferred most of the defenders away from Taiyuan to meet the enemy. If he failed, it would inevitably cause the overall situation of Shanxi to be corrupted. Moreover, before Li Zicheng left Taiyuan for the Western Expedition, he placed a heavy responsibility on the overall situation of Hedong.
Everything was handed over to the generals. Now that King Chuang has not returned to Jin, if the generals lose Taiyuan, how can they live up to Li Zicheng's entrustment?
However, Tian Jianxiu was confused by Jiang's rhetoric. He not only believed that Jiang had the ability to persuade Datong's old troops to return to the invasion army anyway, but also firmly believed that the front line of Yanmen Pass was dangerous. As long as he led his troops to block the pass in time, he could intercept the coalition forces' southward march.
With such a high degree of optimism and relaxed mood, Tian Jianxiu finally led the main force of the 30,000-strong Shanxi army and slowly stepped into the trap set by Sun Chuanting.
Even at the last moment before the coalition soldiers launched the attack, Jiang was still riding on his war horse, brazenly posturing, and "asked for credit" to Tian Jianxiu:
"Second Prefecture, I am in the Datong frontier army, and I have many old troops. The mutiny of the Datong frontier army this time is probably due to pay and food, and it is definitely not an intentional provocation. Liu Qian, Wan Lian, Li Haoxian and other mutinous generals are all my old troops.
People, as long as I say a word to this group of people in front of the battle, they will definitely switch sides and surrender."
Among the Chuang Army, Laofu is not only used to refer to the headquarters of Li Zicheng, but also sometimes used to refer to Li Zicheng himself. Therefore, the number one general of the Chuang Army, Tian Jianxiu, whose status is second only to Li Zicheng, has other nicknames in the Chuang Army.
In addition to Tian Shuai and Yu Shuai, they are also often called Erfu.
Jiang's statement certainly made Tian Jianxiu very satisfied. He stroked his beard and said, "It's a pity that I transferred General Jiang from Datong to Taiyuan. Otherwise, if there were generals in Datong, the generals would never mutiny because of the food and salary issue. Zhang Tianlin and others,
Then we wouldn’t have to suffer a righteous death... What a pity, what a pity!"
Tian Hu and Ren Jirong, the deputy generals to Tian Jianxiu's left and right, looked at each other. They were both descended from the Ming Army. After the Luoyang War, Li Zicheng deliberately arranged for these officers with higher backgrounds to be like Shao Shichang, the clerk who had returned to the invasion army.
They were placed next to Li Shuangxi and asked to help assist Li Zicheng's adopted son.
Li Shuangxi and Tian Jianxiu were related by marriage, so Tian Hu, Ren Jirong and other Luoyang generals were naturally close to Tian Jianxiu and often acted and fought with him.
It's just that the two of them know the mentality of the Ming army's surrendered generals better than Zhi Tian Jianxiu, so no matter what, they can't easily believe Jiang's behavior.
"The general destroyed his family and established the country. After regaining Datong, I will definitely report the general's merits to His Highness. Once His Highness ascends to the throne, he will be granted the title of marquis or uncle. It will be a matter of course."
What Tian Jianxiu said about destroying the family for the country refers to the fact that when Jiang was "ordered" to summon his old troops in Taiyuan, he spent more than 10,000 taels of his own money as military expenses for the old troops' departure.
After Jiang was transferred from Datong, he was still able to retain such a large amount of property, which was naturally due to Tian Jianxiu's protection. However, Tian Jianxiu probably did not expect what the purpose of Jiang's active recruitment of old troops was.
Of course, he could not have imagined that in the original history, after Jiang surrendered to the Qing army, he brought his own dry food and helped the Qing army pay the Datong frontier army for a long time. From this, we can see that in
In Jiang's heart, money is not important. Who can guarantee his status is the most important thing. Tian Jianxiu's protection and preservation of his family property, just like Zhang Tianlin's guarantee of Jiang's life, cannot touch his heart at all.
Tian Hu and Ren Jirong knew that Jiang was now a favorite in Tian Jianxiu's heart, so they couldn't say anything more. However, Yanmen was extremely important, and both of them felt that there was no room for failure in this battle, so they both cheered up and were extremely careful.
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Yanmen Pass, Pianguan Pass, Ningwu Pass, Pingxing Pass and Neisan Pass form a defense line that protects Shanxi and Hebei provinces: from west to east, Pianguan Pass protects the Yellow River Valley in the northern section of Luliang Mountain, and Ningwu Pass protects Guanlui Mountain.
With the upper reaches of the Fenhe River Valley between the Yunzhong Mountains, the Yanmen Pass protects the Xinding Basin where the Hutuo River flows, the Pingxing Pass covers the three outer passes on the left, and the three inner passes on the right and connects the Lingqiu Ancient Road and the Hutuo River Valley, and the Daoma Pass protects the Lingqiu Ancient Road and the back
The hometown of Zhongshan in central Hebei Province, Zijingguan cooperates with Yuxian County, Laiyuan controls Puyinxing and Feihuxingyi protects the Yi River Basin, Juyongguan cooperates with Xuanhua to control Junduxingyi and protects Youyan.
Most of the passes are now occupied by the coalition forces. Once Yanmen is lost, it will affect more than just a corner of northern Shanxi. Yanmen Pass is located at the intersection of the Hengshan Mountains and the northern section of the Luliang Mountains, and is the watershed between the Sanggan River Basin and the Hutuo River Basin.
, Yanmen Mountain simply rises from the ground with respect to the basins on both sides.
Once Yanmen is lost, the entire Sanggan River and Hutuo River Basin will be greatly affected, making it difficult to defend.
At this moment, whether it was Jiang who was hiding his evil ambitions, Tian Jianxiu who was full of confidence, or Tian Hu, Ren Jirong and other generals who were cautious, no one could have predicted the disastrous defeat that would follow.
Not long after the Chuang army passed Taihe Ridge, Tian Hu saw Yanmen Pass in sight. Tian Hu found no trace of the enemy's troops. He was a little surprised. The location of Yanmen Pass was so important. How could Sun Chuanting not place heavy troops here?
Could the Chuang army occupy Yanmen so easily?
But before Tian Hu breathed a sigh of relief, Ren Jirong immediately discovered something strange. How could Ye Bushou, who had been sent out by the intruders, not return for so long?
This issue not only made Tian Hu and Ren Jirong immediately worried, but even Tian Jianxiu and even Jiang felt strange and unpredictable. Because in the secret discussion between Jiang and Liu Qian, although he had sent all the military information of the intruders and cavalry
The Ming army is at the camp, but it's not yet the time they agreed to start the war.
According to the agreed time, Jiang should wait until the intruders arrived at Yanmen Pass and kill Tian Jianxiu, and then cooperate with the outside to annihilate the thirty thousand elite soldiers of the intruders in one fell swoop.
We have just arrived near Taihe Mountains now, why do the exploration cavalry of the Chuang Army seem to be attacked by the Ming and Qing coalition forces?
Jiang's face changed slightly. He had already thought of a possibility that was very close to the truth. This made Jiang, who was still an old man, immediately panic.
Seeing his appearance, Tian Hu became suspicious and immediately turned around and returned to his horse. But how could a force of 30,000 people hastily withdraw from the ambush circle that Sun Chuanting had already arranged?
Because the Eight Banners soldiers used the information sent by Jiang himself to snipe and kill a considerable number of the probing cavalry troops of the Chuang Army, it was not until this time that the information that the leading and rear troops of the Chuang Army were attacked by the enemy was finally sent to Tian Jianxiu
here.
But now the invading army is in a narrow path near Taihe Ridge. They are in a dilemma and have difficulty maneuvering. After Tian Jianxiu heard the news, he immediately stared at Jiang and exclaimed: "Our soldiers were attacked by Donglu from front to back. How could this happen?
?How could this happen! How could Donglu come around behind us without any movement? What on earth is going on!"
Jiang had already put his hand on the handle of the knife. He even thought about drawing out the knife at this time. Could he kill Tian Jianxiu directly? But when Jiang heard the sound of killing from the front and the rear, especially when he
After seeing Liu Qian's military flag erected in the nearby valley from a distance, Jiang's heart finally turned to death.
He slowly pulled out the knife and smiled miserably at Tian Jianxiu: "Second Prefecture, I am loyal to the Chuang Army. In today's battle, even if we use up all our troops, we must fight back to Taiyuan... Second Prefecture! I
He joined the army loyally. After today’s battle...you should be able to trust me!"
Tian Jianxiu felt very puzzled by Jiang's words. He patted Jiang's chest and said gently: "We don't know how many troops the enemy has yet, so don't be discouraged! We still have 30,000 troops on hand, even if we can't
It is easy to regain Yanmen and return to Taiyuan. I will remember your loyalty and bravery in my heart. Don’t worry, it will not be a problem to return to Taiyuan!"
Not a problem?
Jiang thought about the large amount of military intelligence he had sent to Liu Qian during this period, and finally understood what it meant to hit himself in the foot with a rock.
"Liu Qian...it was my father and brother who promoted you step by step to the rank of general, and it was I who personally promoted you to deputy commander-in-chief. How could there be a villain like you in the world who is plotting against his master!"