Chen Mu was doing some drastic things in Qingzhou. Far outside Hangu Pass, Liu Bei's army had already captured Hongnong County.
As mentioned before, Hongnong County is actually a small plain area on the south bank of the Yellow River.
Further west, there are endless mountains and mountain valleys.
Like the Hu County and Huayin County behind, they are all rolling mountains, with only one area of flat land in the middle, located to the west of Hu County and Huayin County. Later, Cao Wei built Tongguan here.
This means that if Guanzhong had been prepared in advance, any place in the rolling hills and valleys might be an ambush, and any place might be a Hangu Pass.
Moreover, what Liu Bei was actually most worried about was the section of Mount Taihua, later known as Mount Hua. It was a difficult and dangerous place, and it was by no means an easy place. It was very possible to set up an ambush.
Therefore, this is also the reason why he chose to go all the way.
The key to speed is to quickly pass through these dangerous areas before the opponent can react.
If you camp step by step, wait for the enemy to recover, and then set up ambushes everywhere, it will be even more difficult to defeat them.
"As you can see, after passing Hongnong County, you will reach Hu County. The terrain along the way was relatively flat. After arriving in Hu County, the river bank was blocked by mountains. You can no longer continue to go up the river and can only take a detour to Taipei.
To the east of Huashan, take the Tong River. I’m not worried about Hu County, what I’m afraid of is the Tong River.”
Cao Cao told everyone about the general terrain on the map. Naturally, he didn't know that he had built a famous pass on the Tonghe River in another time and space in history. At this time, he told everyone what he knew.
"Is there anything magical about Tonghe River?"
Bao Xin asked curiously.
Cao Cao thought: "This place is backed by Nanshan Mountain, Taihua Mountain is to the west, and there is a plateau and ravine to the east. There is only a small channel where the Tong River flows through. The terrain is extremely narrow. It can be said that one man can pass the pass and ten thousand men cannot open it.
It’s difficult to attack by force.”
Here, Sun Jian actually went to Guanzhong and followed Zhang Wen in the crusade against Han Sui. He was there. He barely knew the terrain, but he was still not as complete as Cao Cao, who had a big family and had complete birth information.
So after hearing what Cao Cao said, Sun Jian also said: "Yes, Xuande, if you want to say where is the most difficult place to attack, I also think that the Tonghe River is difficult to cross, and there is indeed the possibility of an ambush."
Liu Bei looked at the map. The Tong River is a tributary of the Yellow River. It is located between two mountains and forms a T shape with the Yellow River.
To summarize the image, the coalition forces fought from east to west and encountered mountains blocking the way. The upper bar of the T is the Yellow River, and the vertical bar below is the Tong River. On both sides of the Tong River are continuous mountains.
.
Since they were fighting from east to west, the road was cut off by the mountains on the right side of the Tong River, so the coalition forces had to go around from below, come directly below the Tong River, and go north along the Tong River towards the Yellow River.
If Dong Jun was smart, he would have set up an ambush in the middle of the Tong River, which is where Cao Cao later set up Tongguan, to ensure that the attack was accurate and make it difficult for the coalition forces to move forward.
In fact, Dong Zhuo did this. Historically, he sent Duan Xuan to garrison troops in Huayin Mountain, located on the west side of Tonghe River. Duan Xuan is currently ambushing his troops there.
Looking at this difficult and dangerous situation, Liu Bei pondered: "I think we should make two preparations. One is to have spies explore the road to see if there is an ambush. If it is really difficult to get through, it will be like bypassing Hangu Pass.
Let’s see if we can go around the river.”
"Many places on the river freeze in winter, so it is indeed possible to bypass it."
Cao Cao nodded. If it were in the past, this place would have been an extremely dangerous place, not much worse than Hangu Pass. However, many places on the Yellow River freeze in winter, so there is no guarantee that there will really be a way around it.
"Sun Tzu said that the main force of the army is speed, and there is no need to delay. We will continue to advance tomorrow. After taking Hu County, we will wait in Hu County for a few days. First, we will wait for the rear to replenish the baggage. Second, we will first explore the situation on both sides of the Tong River.
, make sure there are no enemy troops, then start moving forward."
After all, Liu Bei has been fighting for so many years and has learned a lot from Chen Mu. He is not a completely reckless man. Even if he is determined to launch a forceful surprise attack, he still knows a little bit about how to fight and how to fight.
Sun Jian said: "In this case, I will lead five thousand people to advance the front army. If something goes wrong, you can either respond or evacuate."
Liu Bei was grateful and held Sun Jian's hand and said, "Brother Wentai is truly a pillar of the Han Dynasty!"
Now, on the second day, Sun Jian's troops rested overnight and began to march towards Hu County. Five thousand people marched all day long, and they did not arrive at Hu County until almost dark.
The defenders of Hu County were Hu Zhen's troops. At this time, he had not even received the news that the Guanzhong Allied Forces had captured Hangu Pass and Hongnong County.
Because the coalition forces circled from the Yellow River to the back of Hangu Pass, that is, they fought from the west to the east. They did not defeat Hangu Pass head-on, so the defeated troops could only run eastward, not westward.
Hongnong County was even worse. It was on a small plain and was surrounded by allied forces. There was no room for escape. After the city was broken, the defenders surrendered immediately.
Therefore, when Sun Jian arrived at the gate of Hu County, Hu Zhen was still drinking and having fun with his subordinates in the county mansion.
"General, there's trouble, there's an attack from outside the city."
At this moment, the messenger rushed in urgently and reported to Hu Zhen.
"What?"
Hu Zhen jumped three feet high and said in shock: "What's going on?"
"Outside the city, a group of people suddenly came outside the city. The brothers were not prepared and had already entered the city."
The messenger replied breathlessly.
Because Sun Jian was marching lightly and simply, he did not bring many ladders with him. However, Hu County was a small city, and the city wall was less than two feet high. It was not as dangerous as Hulao Pass and Hangu Pass.
So twenty or thirty ladders were put up, and Sun Jian took the lead. His bravery was unparalleled, and the soldiers were like ants, and they quickly reached the city wall.
"kill!"
"Push it to me!"
"Capture the guard alive!"
Before Hu Zhen could give orders on how to respond, the city was filled with shouts of killing.
Apparently, after Sun Jian entered the city wall, the defenders on the city wall were caught off guard. With almost no resistance, Sun Jian's troops entered the city.
"Go, go, go!"
Hu Zhen rushed out of the door without hesitation. Under the protection of several lieutenants and more than a dozen guards, she mounted her horse and ran to the west of the city.
At this time, Sun Jian had already entered the city. The defenders in the city did not resist and surrendered.
People in the distance saw galloping horses in the city, and general Cheng Pu said: "General, look quickly, there is someone running away on horseback over there, it must be the guard general!"
Sun Jian was overjoyed, brandished the ancient ingot sword and said, "Chase!"
Then he ran like crazy.
It's just that Sun Jian climbed up via a ladder, and there was no horse under his legs.
And Hu Zhen was an important general under Dong Zhuo. He was sitting on a good horse from Xiliang and could run very fast.
After leaving the city, they ran wildly westward and quickly disappeared into the night.
Sun Jian did not catch up and said angrily: "Damn it."
General Huang Gai said: "General, the thieves are gone and we can't catch up. We'd better deal with the thieves in the city first."
"good."
Sun Jian also understood that two legs could not catch up with four legs, so he immediately led his troops back to the city to deal with Dong Jun who had not escaped in the city.
After a night of killing, Hu County was captured.
By the evening of the second day, Liu Bei's Chinese army was belatedly arriving.
Some people may wonder, since Hongnong County was besieged by a large army and no one was allowed to escape, why was it not besieged by a large army this time and Hu Zhen was allowed to escape?
This is because Hongnong County is just behind Hangu Pass, and almost after Hangu Pass, you reach Hongnong County.
Therefore, the attack on Hangu Pass and Hongnong County happened together, and there was no problem of military formation.
To the north of Hangu Pass is a plain with open terrain. After the army arrived, it immediately surrounded Hongnong County.
But Dahu County is different.
Hu County is more than sixty miles away from Hongnong County. The roads are narrow and the terrain is difficult to navigate.
Marching and fighting in ancient times was of course not as simple as giving an order and having more than 100,000 horses rush forward in a swarm.
In an era when communication was basically based on shouting, a good general could command anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands of troops at most.
A soldier like Han Xin, who can command hundreds of thousands of troops at once, only appears once every few thousand years, and is a rare exception.
Therefore, normal marches and battles will be divided into special details.
There are generals, lieutenants of various departments, middle and low-level officers, as well as the front army, middle army and rear army. Who is responsible for a certain part and who manages how many people. The hierarchy is clear and the rules are strict.
The advantage of this is that military orders can be issued at all levels, making management easier.
Therefore, in the process of marching and fighting, especially on roads with relatively narrow terrain, the battle line will be very long, and a general with relatively high command ability is needed to command.
You can besiege Hangu Pass because the terrain is open and suitable for large armies to move together.
When the terrain in Hu County is narrow, if the army still moves together in a chaotic manner, the military formation will become a problem, so it must be planned according to the normal marching order.
For example, if Sun Jian, the vanguard army, is at the front, then behind him are so-and-so troops and who will lead them.
Then which part is behind it and how far away it is from the troops in front.
These will be divided very carefully.
To put it simply, when the army stops in a certain place, it can gather together in large numbers, because the armies have already carried out their operations in an orderly manner according to their respective plans.
During the march, due to the different walking speeds of individuals, it is easy for the army formation to become unorganized and appear messy.
If the enemy makes a sudden attack at this time and the formation is in chaos, it will suddenly turn into a large-scale rout.
Therefore, the troops must be separated from the front and the front, and they cannot all be crowded together.
The deployment of the Kwantung Allied Forces was very simple. As the vanguard, Sun Jian led 5,000 troops at the front of the team.
Liu Bei's 50,000-strong central army is divided into three parts: the front, middle and rear. The front part is led by Guan Yu, with a total of 15,000 men. Under his command are Guan Hai, Gao Shun and other captains at all levels. Each army has three to five captains.
There were thousands of people, and they all moved forward in scattered directions, with a certain distance between them.
The middle part was led by Liu Bei himself, with a total of 20,000 people. Under his command were Dian Wei, Zang Bawang Lang, Huang Zhong and others. Each of them led his own troops and marched according to the formation.
The latter part was led by Zhang Fei, also with 15,000 men, and under his command were Zhang Liao, Wu Anguo and others.
The rear of Liu Bei is Cao Cao, Bao Xin and his army. Like Liu Bei, they are also led by Cao Hong, Xia Houdun, Xia Houyuan and others. They are not unified and centralized.
So when they are marching, looking from the sky, they will see that the official road is densely packed with long dragons snaking in an orderly manner.
These long dragons are not connected from head to tail. They are basically separated by at least about a mile, forming countless teams and moving forward slowly.
Sun Jian captured Hu County. That night, after a night's rest, he chose to continue the march.
Therefore, when Liu Bei entered Hu County, Sun Jian had already left.