"Where has the first batch of food and fodder for the rear army arrived?"
Liu Bei's army arrived in Hu County one day later. In the evening, at the county government meeting, Liu Bei inquired about the baggage situation.
"Arrived in Shaanxi County."
Wang Lang reported back.
Shaanxi County?
Liu Bei frowned. They set out with only ten days of food and grass. However, they did not expect that Sun Jian's offensive would be so fast, and they almost defeated Hu County with overwhelming force.
Much faster than expected.
In this case.
I'm afraid that the subsequent supply of food and fodder may not be enough.
You must know that their army has now traveled halfway, which is close to 500 miles.
From Luoyang to Gucheng to Xin'an and then to Mianchi, this section is the safe distance within Luoyang, a total of more than 300 miles.
Then from Mianchi to Shaanxi County, and finally from Shaanxian County to the mountains and Hangu Pass.
It is already difficult to travel from Luoyang to Mianchi, which is already a mountainous area. After entering the Qinling Mountains from Mianchi, the road becomes narrower and narrower, and the horse convoys transporting grain and grass slow down.
Soldiers rely on walking, and their marching speed can be guaranteed.
However, the baggage troops rely heavily on tools such as horse-drawn carriages, and bumpy roads may cause vehicle damage. Once a vehicle is damaged, it will make it difficult for the team to pass.
They were well prepared when they set out from Hangu Pass, and now it only took them two or three days to capture Hu County, and the army still had food and grass for seven or eight days.
The problem is that if the marching speed is fast and the food and grass are slow to follow, it will indeed become a big problem.
"Um."
Liu Bei thought for a moment and said to Wang Lang: "Let the rear army catch up as soon as possible, and the army will continue to set off tomorrow."
This was their original plan, but now the offensive is faster than expected, which is a good thing, indicating that their surprise attack is effective, and they cannot give up this attack because of low food and fodder.
In the front, Sun Jian marched for two days, wading through mountains and rivers in the vast Qinling Mountains, and finally arrived west of Taihua Mountain, near Tongguan.
Of course Tongguan has not yet been established, but the dangerous and steep mountains still make Sun Jian, a reckless man, feel that it is really difficult to break through, so after he arrived at Tongguan, he rested on the spot and waited for the army from behind to come up.
On the second day, Guan Yu's army arrived first, and the two armies merged into one, with a total of 20,000 people marching towards the Tong River from south to north.
Duan Xuan's army was stationed in Huayin County, but this did not mean that he did not set up an ambush in Tonghe River.
When Sun Jian and Guan Yu attacked to the north, Duan Xuan also led the ambush troops to take position. Hu Zhen fled back to Huayin, and the news was spread to the rear.
The journey from Hu County to Chang'an is only more than 200 kilometers, about 500 Eastern Han Dynasty miles. For a large army, it is only ten days' journey. Even those with quick legs can reach it in two or three days, which is not a long way.
The mountains and forests on both sides of the Tong River are steep, with Taihua Mountain and hundreds of miles of cliffs on the left, and undulating mountains and peaks on the right.
The road is deep in the mountains, with mountains and peaks, deep valleys and cliffs. The mountains are high and the road is narrow. There is a narrow trail in the middle. The narrowest place can only accommodate one car and one horse. It can be said to be an extremely dangerous place.
At night in Guanshan, forest birds flew in fright. In the evening, before the sun set, countless flying birds suddenly appeared in the jungle in the distance.
"There's an ambush!"
Sun Jian was also a veteran and could tell something was wrong at a glance.
Guan Yu stroked his beard and said, "As expected."
"How to fight the enemy?"
Sun Jian was actually reckless, but Guan Yu was Liu Bei's general after all, so he wanted to ask others' opinions and be polite.
Guan Yu narrowed his eyes and said: "You should move forward bravely, breaking mountains when encountering mountains, and breaking roads when encountering water!"
Sun Jian was overjoyed and said: "Yun Chang's words have won my heart."
At that moment, Han Dang and Guan Hai were ordered to be the vanguard, leading thousands of people to explore the way forward.
The 20,000 men were further divided into three armies: the front, middle and rear. Han Dang and Guan Hai led the troops forward along the bank of the Tong River.
At this moment, the mountains and forests on both sides were filled with shouts of killing, and arrows rained down on the head and face, falling on the shield of the sword and shield hand, making a crackling sound.
"kill!"
Sun Jian took the lead, wielding the ancient ingot sword and killed him.
Guan Yu actually didn't like being so reckless.
But since Liu Bei and the others chose to attack in this way, they naturally moved forward bravely and never looked back.
Therefore, the journey from Luoyang to Chang'an will inevitably involve countless tough battles, with no way out.
Soldiers on both sides of the coast surged toward the mountains and forests like a tide.
On the west side of the Huashan Mountain cliff, the mountains and forests tower into the clouds. Duan Xuan's archers all stand on the cliff, occupying a favorable terrain.
Although the mountain forest on the east side is not as steep as the cliffs of Huashan Mountain, it is still densely forested, and there are brave close combat soldiers and horses lurking in it.
The forward army had no choice but to brave the rain of arrows from the west and march forward arduously. After losing many men and horses, they finally climbed up the hillside on the east and fought with Duan Xuan's soldiers.
Fighting in the mountains and forests is a very difficult war for both the enemy and us.
After two hours of fierce fighting, although Duan Yan gained a considerable advantage in the early stage and killed two to three thousand people, due to the small number of people, he only brought 5,000 people with him this time. It was still difficult to compete in a head-to-head confrontation.
The final result was that with nearly a thousand casualties, Duan Yan had to withdraw his troops. The soldiers abandoned their helmets and armor and fled in confusion.
Sun Jian and Guan Yu also did not win easily. The battle loss ratio reached 3 to 1. Although their men and horses were four times that of Duan Xuan, their own losses were three times greater than others. It can be seen that the difficulties and obstacles along the way were by no means that easy.
.
But no matter what, in this battle, the vanguard army achieved considerable results, opening up the crucial Tong River channel for the following army.
After a night's rest, the vanguard army continued to set off on the second day. After walking for a day, they finally arrived in Huayin County before dark.
Duan Xuan's military ability was much more reliable than Hu Zhen's. After escaping back to Huayin County, he immediately fortified the city and cleared the country, preparing to defend the city and fight a protracted war.
What he didn't expect was that there were new orders coming from Guanzhong.
"Symbolic resistance, and then withdrawal of troops to lure the enemy deeper?"
Seeing this order from Zheng County, Duan Yan fell into deep thought.
"General Xu said that the battlefield in the north is also very tense now. We can no longer continue the fight with the Guanzhong Army. We must find a way to complete the victory in one battle."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The soldier who delivered the order responded.
"I see."
Duan Xuan nodded and said, "Go tell Xu Rong and remember to pick me up."
"only!"
The messenger turned around and left.
The next day, Xu Rong received news from Huayin County that Duan Xuan had agreed.
After learning about this situation, Xu Rong also breathed a sigh of relief.
There is no way, he and Duan Xuan are at the same level, unless Duan Xuan agrees, otherwise, it is impossible for him to order Duan Xuan.
It would be great to be able to discuss strategies now.
In Zheng County's mansion, Xu Rong looked at the map of Guanzhong on the table and thought carefully.
The Kwantung Allied Forces actually didn't know that Dong Zhuo was in a bad situation after arriving in Chang'an.
Xianbei in the central part of Bingzhou had been making trouble for a year last year. They fought fiercely with Zhu Jun in the Yanmen area and finally reached a stalemate. So they chose not to confront Zhu Jun head-on, but went to the northern part of Jizhou and the Daijun area in the west of Youzhou to cause trouble. .
Zhu Jun pulled away and immediately turned back to prepare to enter Hedong County from Bingzhou. He combined forces with the Baibo Army, totaling more than 100,000 troops, to attack from Hedong County towards Chang'an.
After Dong Zhuo learned the news, he immediately sent Niu Fu to garrison troops in Anyi County of Hedong County to guard against the enemy troops coming from Bingzhou.
Anyi County is located in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, just north of Shaanxi County.
It can be said that if Liu Bei had not chosen to attack from the Shaanxi County - Hangu Pass - Hongnong County - Hu County - Huayin County road along the south coast of the Yellow River, but went directly north, he could have met Zhu Jun. They entered Chang'an from Hedong.
However, it is a pity that once the Yellow River reaches the natural chasm, even if the river surface freezes, it cannot support so many people and horses crossing the river. Even if they cross the river, when the river surface melts, the subsequent baggage will not be able to cross.
Secondly, to the north of the Yellow River is Zhongtiao Mountain, which lies in front of the Kwantung Army. It is almost impossible to cross the mountains and ridges.
So don't say that Liu Bei didn't know about this. Even if he knew, he wouldn't be able to join forces with Zhu Jun.
Therefore, Dong Zhuo was actually fighting on two fronts. If he concentrated all his forces on the Qinling Mountains, the Kwantung Allied Forces would definitely encounter a bloody battle.
Including yesterday's battle at Tonghe, Duan Zhen's 5,000 men caused the battle losses to reach three to one. If there were 50,000 men, all Liu Bei's 100,000 troops would be in vain.
It is a pity that most of Dong Zhuo's troops are defending Zhu Jun in the north, and there are too few available troops on the east battlefield.
Otherwise Xu Rong would never give up setting up an ambush in the Qinling area.
But Xu Rong is not completely without strategy.
Perhaps it was too easy to capture Hangu Pass and Hongnong County. Liu Bei's march was extremely fast and he had no intention of moving steadily.
When Xu Rong discovered that Liu Bei had already marched from Hangu Pass to Huayin County in just four or five days, he immediately understood that the enemy's tactics were to attack quickly, without thinking about the stopover and logistics issues. .
There is no defense line from Luoyang to Hangu Pass, so the actual starting point for Liu Bei's troop dispatch is the Shaanxi County area, which should become Liu Bei's base camp for transporting grain and grass.
But after passing through Shaanxi County and entering the Nanshan Mountains, the speed of baggage transportation will inevitably slow down.
Even from Shaanxian County to Chang'an, it is only seven or eight hundred miles, but Xu Rong judged based on Dong Zhuo's experience when he retreated to Chang'an that the transport troops would have to walk a month or two just for this stretch of road.
Therefore, Xu Rong immediately adjusted his strategy, simply luring the enemy deep into the area, abandoning Huayin County, and leading the enemy into the Guanzhong Plain for the decisive battle.
For Dong Jun, this is also a risky move.
Why?
Because he was trapped in a two-front war, Dong Jun's military strength was actually insufficient.
Once Liu Bei passes through the Qinling Mountains and chooses to station in Huayin County, waiting for the supplies from the rear to be sent in a steady stream, and fighting Xu Rong in a protracted battle, the final result will be another battle of Changping, depending on who can hold on longer.
Even though Liu Bei's army only brought ten days of food and grass for the attack, as long as the road is opened and the first batch of food and grass arrives, the subsequent food and grass will also continue to be sent to maintain the army's expenses.
Zhu Jun was pressing hard from the north, and Liu Bei's army was confronting him from the east. Under such circumstances, it's surprising that Chang'an was able to hold on.
So Xu Rong is also betting that Liu Bei will choose to continue to advance aggressively instead of quitting when things get better.
If Liu Bei continues to advance westward, then his logistics and baggage follow-up speed will definitely not be able to keep up with the army's advance speed. As long as Liu Bei is attacked head-on and his offensive is stopped, then this battle will be won by 50%.
Yes.
There are only five floors.
There are still big variables here.
Xu Rong rubbed his chin and thought.
The remaining 50% of the variables lie with Chen Mu.
As an old rival, Xu Rong knew too well that if Chen Mu was around, his strategy might not succeed.
But... I heard that Chen Zi returned to Qingzhou?
Thinking of the information he received from Luoyang, Xu Rong's eyes flashed with an inexplicable light.
As long as that man is not around, the success rate of his strategy will increase to 90%.