Yanmen was closed and the shouts of killing were loud. Thousands of people were crowded on the narrow mountain road. Above the mountain road was a city gate. The city gate was tightly closed. Arrows from the top of the city were like rain, shooting at the Youzhou army a hundred steps away. But in Youzhou
Above the heads of the state army, rolling logs and rocks kept falling, making them unable to defend themselves. The mountain road was filled with corpses, and hundreds of people were hit by big rocks and rolled down the cliff.
The battle for Yanmen Pass lasted for two full days. Youzhou suffered thousands of casualties and still could not win Yanmen Pass. Zhu Tao was so angry that he could do nothing.
General Zheng Jingji advised in a low voice: "Your Highness, Yanmen Pass is the most important pass in the world. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack, regardless of the number of troops. I humbly suggest that we attack Loufan Pass."
"Lou Fanguan is not easy to fight!" Zhu Tao said distressedly.
"There is a trick for lowly positions, and Lou Fangguan can easily get it."
Zhu Tao perked up and asked quickly: "What's the plan?"
"We can select hundreds of elites to cross the mountains, and then do this and so on..."
Zhu Tao was immediately overjoyed, "This is a great plan!"
Zheng Jingji smiled and said: "I am willing to lead the army there!"
Zhu Tao praised: "Capturing Loufan Pass is your greatest achievement!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Zheng Jingji immediately selected 800 elite soldiers with high martial arts skills. Under the leadership of his guide, they climbed over the mountains and took the mountain road to the south.
Some readers are bound to wonder, since hundreds of people can go over the mountains and ridges, why don’t the other 30,000 people go there too?
This mainly involves war horses and logistical equipment. After climbing over the mountain, if you can quickly capture Yanmen Pass or Loufan Pass from the other side, it will be fine. But if you cannot capture it and the food supply is cut off, it will inevitably lead to the destruction of the entire army.
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The original guard of Loufan Pass was called Tuoba Wunan. From this name, we can tell that he was a general of the Yuan family and had served the Yuan family for generations. However, when Yuan Ren led eight thousand troops to Loufan Pass, Yuan Ren
He became the commander-in-chief of Loufan Pass.
There are 11,000 defenders at Loufan Pass. The army is powerful and the pass is absolutely safe.
That morning, countless fleeing people suddenly poured into the valley south of Loufan Pass. They helped the old and young, and they were all terrified. There were thousands of them.
The soldier immediately ran to report Yuan Ren. Yuan Ren was taken aback and quickly ran down to Guancheng to inquire about the situation.
"Where did you escape? What happened?"
An old man cried: "We are from Yanmen County. Yanmen Pass was captured by the Youzhou army. Countless Youzhou soldiers came to kill and rob food and livestock. Many of our fellow villagers were killed, and the county seat was burned down by fire!"
Yuan Ren was shocked. Yanmen Pass was actually breached. What would happen to Taiyuan? There were only five thousand defenders in Taiyuan, so the troops were mobilized to Yanmen Pass and Loufan Pass.
He suddenly became anxious and immediately ordered: "Gather the entire army and return to Taiyuan City immediately!"
Tuoba Wunan said quickly: "General, it's better to send someone to take a look! Be on the safe side."
"What do you still doubt? Could they tell lies?" Yuan Ren said, pointing to thousands of people.
The people shouted: "We did not lie, tens of thousands of people came to kill us."
"Did you hear that these people can lie?"
Tuoba Wunan was also anxious, "How about the general withdraws with the main force, and takes a humble position and leads a thousand people to guard Loufan Pass."
Yuan Ren was furious, "Yanmen Pass has been breached, but you still defend Loufan Pass!"
Just as Tuoba Wunan was about to explain, Yuan Ren drew out his sword and said: "Those who disobey the order will be killed without mercy!"
Tuoba Wunan had no choice but to run back to gather his troops. Eleven thousand troops abandoned Loufan Pass and rushed to Taiyuan.
Just as Yuan Ren led the army to evacuate Loufan Pass, Zheng Jingji, who was hiding in the dark, immediately led 800 troops to occupy Loufan Pass. Two days later, Zhu Tao led the main force of the Youzhou Army to Loufan Pass, and Peking University in Taiyuan Prefecture
The door was opened, and 25,000 troops marched toward Taiyuan City.
........
In Yunzhou, three thousand Uighur cavalry are heading south rapidly. They received the Silver Wolf Head Order from Yuan Xuanhu. This is the Uighur's most senior military order after the Golden Wolf Head Order. The safety of Taiyuan is related to the vital interests of the Uighurs. Captain Wanfu
Saucho did not hesitate and immediately led three thousand Huihe cavalry south to rescue.
Just as they ran out of Yunzhong County, the Tang Army scouts who were hiding in the dark released a trust eagle. The trust eagle circled twice in the sky, flapped its wings and flew towards the south.
The road from Yunzhou to Taiyuan Prefecture was long, and the cavalry had to travel for at least three days. Of course, the Uighur army would not carry dry food. They looted food along the way. In the afternoon of the next day, three thousand cavalry arrived at the La Valley, which is located in Shuozhou.
Fifty miles north of Yi County, this is a valley that is more than ten miles long. The last three miles are relatively steep and narrow, with the narrowest point only more than ten feet.
Saucho led three thousand cavalry into the valley. The food that the cavalry had looted along the way had been eaten up. They were anxious and were waiting to rush into Mayi County and plunder.
The valley road became narrower and narrower, and they had to slow down. There was a turning road in front of them. When the team was halfway through, two black boulders suddenly rolled down from the top of the mountain. The cavalrymen shouted, trying to avoid the boulders. The boulders
Landing with a crash and smoke rising from above, Saucho suddenly felt something bad. Before he could react, the two boulders exploded like a landslide.
These were two giant iron fire mines. The explosion was extremely powerful. The strong explosion drowned out the screams of the Uighur cavalry. It was unknown how many people were killed and injured.
In an instant, the valley was filled with gunpowder smoke. Thousands of Hexi Army cavalry waiting outside rushed in. The valley was like a Shura hell, with broken limbs and broken arms everywhere, exploded war horse heads, and soldiers' bodies blown into two pieces.
, blood flowed into rivers, and the stench was extremely fishy. Although thousands of Uighur cavalry were not injured, they were knocked unconscious by the strong shock wave.
The soldiers of the Hexi Army ruthlessly slaughtered the unconscious enemy troops. Hundreds of Uighur cavalry were so frightened that they turned their horses and fled north. However, what greeted them was a storm of crossbow bolts. Two thousand Hexi crossbowmen had blocked the valley.
.
Hundreds of cavalrymen were hit by arrows and fell off their horses, leaving less than a hundred of them. Just as they were about to turn around and flee back to the valley, the Hexi Army cavalry in the valley came out and killed them. The Uighur cavalrymen were cornered and were knocked off their horses one after another, and were mercilessly killed by the enemy.
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Leading this Hexi army was Zhonglang General Li Tie, with a total of three thousand men. They came from Fengzhou and joined the scout general Zhang Zhiyuan.
Zhang Zhiyuan had already explored the terrain, and the La River Valley was undoubtedly the most suitable place for an ambush. They relied on Mayi County for supplies and patiently waited for the Huihe army to move south.
When the gunpowder smoke in the valley completely cleared, all three thousand Huihe cavalry were killed in the three-mile-long valley road. No one escaped and no one survived.
The Hexi Army immediately dug a large pit several feet deep, piled up the corpses, poured kerosene on them, burned them into black charcoal, and then buried the corpses. The three thousand Huihe Army disappeared completely.
........
Luliang Mountain lies like a giant dragon on the land of Jinzhong, separating Taiyuan Prefecture and Shizhou. The mountain stretches for thousands of miles, with many canyons and mountain depressions hidden in it. It crosses the middle section of Luliang Mountain from the Yellow River to Fenhe River.
Of course, there are official roads in the river basin, and this official road is the famous ancient Shanxi merchant road in history.
Starting from Lishi County, go through Wangpo Mountain to Wucheng Town, then cross Huangluling from Wucheng Town into Xiangyanggou, and then pass through Shishili Peach Blossom Cave to reach Fenzhou. It is about 300 miles long, with rolling mountains all the way.
The mountains are high and the roads are dangerous, making it difficult to walk. There are many valleys and rivers along the way, making it impossible to move large vehicles, so we can only rely on donkeys and mules to transport grain and grass.
This was the most difficult section of the road. The Hexi Army walked for four days before they finally walked out of Taohua Cave, entered the Fen River Valley, and arrived at Xicheng County. The Hexi Army was exhausted, and Guo Song immediately ordered the entire army to rest.
The Xicheng County Magistrate's surname was Zou. Why didn't he expect that the Hexi Army would descend from the sky? He was so frightened that he quickly opened the city to surrender. Guo Song did not make things difficult for him and asked him: "How much food and grass are there in the official warehouse in the city?"
"I report to the envoy that there are three thousand stones of corn in the official warehouse, but there is no fodder."
Guo Song frowned. This was a bit difficult. The war horses had already eaten all their fodder. If there was no fodder, the animals could eat some weeds, but what about the war horses?
Guo Song thought for a while and asked: "Are there any black beans in the city?"
Magistrate Zou quickly said: "There are no official warehouses, but there are probably a lot of them among the people. I remember that there are a lot of black beans in stock in the three major grain stores. Then I can go to people's homes and look for them. Maybe I can find a lot?"
"How much does a bushel of black beans cost?"
"Black beans are very cheap, ten cents a dou."
Guo Song immediately said: "I will pay twenty cents per dou, how many can I buy in the city?"
They got a lot of old copper coins in Lishi County, which they could use just in time.
Magistrate Zou quickly summoned people to buy black beans. Hexi Army paid a high price, and he was the most popular old money in the market. People were eager to sell the black beans stored at home. Just three big grain stores bought three thousand kilograms of black beans.
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In just half a day, Hexi purchased 6,000 shi of black beans. Guo Song immediately ordered the black beans to be cooked and fed to the horses, thus solving the shortage of food that the war horses most urgently needed.
The next morning, the army reorganized their troops and began to march north along the Fen River.