Eight hundred and seventieth chapters lightly take five Dingguan
Li Siye stood on the city tower and looked down at the city. It stands to reason that after stabilizing the situation in Hanzhong, it is time to go back and continue the northern battlefield to attack Youyan and eliminate Shi Siming. But there is a very fat cake nearby, that is Shuzhong, the ancient city.
Yizhou is known as the land of abundance. It has thousands of miles of fertile fields and a favorable terrain, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. In ancient times, it was possible to get a small corner of Shu. Of course, it had to have the strategic depth of Hanzhong.
In the past, after Liu Bei captured Central Sichuan, he immediately captured Hanzhong from Zhang Lu, creating a stable strategic rear for Shu. Emperor Guangwu used to gain Long and look to Shu. Now that he not only gained Long but also Hanzhong, he naturally wanted to capture Shu.
With the entire Southwest in his hands, he would have more strategic resources and would be more able to confront Shi Siming, who occupied the Central Plains.
It's just that the three roads leading to Shuzhong are very difficult and dangerous, so naturally they can't march with a large army, so the supply of food and grass alone is a huge problem. He decided to streamline 40,000 people from the army that invaded Hanzhong, each with one camel and horse.
Transport supplies.
I heard from businessmen who came from Shu region that in order to prevent the Hexi army from entering Sichuan, Li Xuan, the military governor of Jiannan in central Sichuan, had ordered people to set fire to all the plank roads on the three main thoroughfares, in an attempt to block Li Siye due to the danger of mountains and rivers.
The road to Sichuan is indeed difficult and dangerous, just like the Wudingguan Canyon section of the Jinniu Road. The cliffs can only be enough for one person to pass through, and there is an abyss beneath your feet.
After learning the news, Li Siye did not give up the attack on Shuzhong. He made a temporary decision to mobilize 4,000 people from Hanzhong people as stonemasons to repair the dangerous and difficult sections of the road that had been damaged by the Tang army.
The army set off from Hanzhong, marched to Baoshui, then transferred to Mianxian County, passed through Jinduipu and then headed to Wuding Gorge. The first checkpoint on this trip was Wuding Pass.
All the plank roads on Wuding Gorge have been demolished. Business travelers had to tie each other's belts and carefully move slowly against the stone walls. This road is about five or six miles long. Walking down it is a great challenge to the physical strength of the soldiers.
When they arrived at Wuding Pass, it was raining lightly, and the stone road was slippery and difficult to pass. Li Siye ordered everyone to rest for a day and wait until the weather was dry the next day before moving forward.
Fortunately, the sky was clear the next morning, so Li Siye ordered the mountain workers and masons to clear the road ahead. When they encountered seriously damaged stone roads, they dug out roads on the cliffs.
The mountains are covered with dense green cover, and from time to time, strange calls of apes can be heard, echoing in five or six echoes among the cliffs. Below the stone wall is a 100-foot-deep trench. The timid soldiers who are afraid of heights are sweating profusely and terrified, almost
Move your back little by little against the stone wall.
A soldier was marching when he suddenly looked up and saw a snake emerging from the shade of a tree above. He was so frightened that he hurriedly drew his sword and leaned forward, sliding down the valley in an instant. However, his belt was strung on a hemp rope and he was not the same as his teammates.
They tied them together and dragged four or five people down one after another, hanging on the cliff like candied haws.
The team in the middle had quick eyesight and quick hands. He drew out his horizontal knife and pierced it on the rock wall. He grabbed the rope tightly with his other hand to prevent them from falling. He loudly ordered the people behind him: "Quick, stop like me and pull them up."
Come up!"
The soldiers held the rope tightly, poked the stone wall with their barrier knives, and worked together to pull the rope up. Finally, the four or five people hanging on the rock wall were pulled up one by one.
The person hanging at the bottom had his palms bleeding and was leaning limply against the stone wall. His condition caused the entire army to stagnate. Li Siye leaned against the rock wall and cursed the general in charge of the battalion.
: "If something like this happens again, I will throw you off the cliff!"
The general reprimanded the captain under his command, the captain reprimanded the brigade commander, and the brigade commander reprimanded the squad leader. The same sentence was repeated three or four times to different people. Finally, the squad leader came to the limp soldier and said with a stern face: "You stabbed me
Even the lord was so angry that he almost threw Zhang Shen from the mountain. Remember, let alone snakes above your head, even if there is a big python, you can't be scared by me, otherwise I will cut your rope directly.
, fell into the ravine and fed the snakes!"
This tortuous march lost five or six soldiers. Wuding Pass was already close at hand. Li Siye ordered the army to postpone the advance and ordered a few scouts to pretend to be villagers chopping firewood to come forward to investigate.
The scouts hid in the trees halfway up the mountain and looked out. They saw that the pass was hidden in the green. Clothes poles and clothes drying racks were hung on the city walls. There were many women's red bellybands and green skirts on them. Smoke was floating in all directions, and the mountain streams were gurgling.
, there were men and women laughing. It looked like a picture of life in the mountains in autumn, but it was not as heavily guarded as a military fortress.
The scouts quickly came back and reported to Li Siye: "My lord, the men and women at Wuding Pass are very lively and living a good life at the pass. The Jiannan Army was unsuspecting and happened to go over and kill them all."
Li Siye took another look at Wuding Pass from a distance. This pass happened to be located on the cliff at the end of the valley. The terrain behind was slightly gentle, but the front was extremely steep. There was only one way to reach the front of the pass. It can be said that one man can pass the pass and no one can open it.
He thought it was better to be on the safe side. The terrain of Wuding Pass was more difficult to attack than the Stone Castle. If the Jiannan Army was slightly alert and defended on top of the city, they might lose ten thousand lives and still not be able to attack.
Li Siye then ordered a group of people to pretend to be travelers, hide their bows and crossbows, and lead their camels and horses to the pass.
There were only a group of six or seven soldiers standing on the city wall. When they saw the merchants, they asked loudly: "Where are you merchants from?"
"Master Mingjian, we are merchants from Hanzhong, and we have come to Sichuan to sell some brocade."
The soldiers did not doubt that he was there, but just smiled and said: "You traders are not afraid of death. Don't you know that the plank road in front of this pass has been burned down? The Taurus Road is dangerous and difficult, aren't you afraid of falling off the cliff and dying?"
"It is precisely because of this that the goods in Sichuan are becoming more and more expensive. Wealth and wealth can be found in danger. When we go back, we will have enough food and drink for the whole family for two or three years."
"When you come to Shu, can you bring some special mountain products to honor you military men?"
"There is, there is, there is wine brewed from Hanzhong rice and millet, and there are thin silk dried soup cakes, which are extremely delicious."
The soldiers quickly went down to open the city gate and welcomed the merchants in. After they entered the pass, they discovered that there were nearly 500 soldiers guarding the pass. The city walls were fully equipped with defensive facilities. If they wanted to attack by force, they would have to have wings to escape.
past.
But now most of these soldiers were not wearing armor. They wore brown trousers to cover their bodies and were bare-chested in this hot summer. When they saw the vendors, they all crowded over together with the women.
"Do you have any good stuff? Good wine from the mountains! Bring some of it, Master Jun, so you won't have to pay the customs duty."
The leader of the vendors was dressed as the Hexi Army Staff General. He used his eyes to signal three or four vendors to stay at the city gate, ready to kill and seize the door at any time. He took out the wine and took out the wine bowl and poured one for each military officer.
, while wiping his sweat, he said with a smile: "Masters, wait a moment, I have better souvenirs to offer."
"Hurry, take it out for us!"
The leader of the merchant turned around and went back. The other merchants also tensed up their muscles and stood nervously in front of their animals. The soldiers guarding the gate had not noticed anything unusual yet, thinking that the merchants were just afraid of the soldiers.
Unexpectedly, the leader of the trader grabbed the cross-cut knife from under the animal's belly, took off the scabbard and suddenly placed it on the neck of a guard at the gate. He was so frightened that the man's hair stood up and his lips trembled: "Thieves, no, heroes.
, our place is the Wuding Pass of the imperial court, and attacking the pass is a serious crime against the three tribes."
The leader of the merchant took off his turban, revealing the red forehead scarf on his forehead, and opened his right fold to reveal his armor and the bamboo sign hanging on his chest: "I am the general of the Hexi Army, and I came to capture Shu on the orders of King Yong.
In the middle, Wuding Pass is just the first thing we want to capture! Capture the city gate!"