Northern Dynasties

Chapter 477
The road between Tongguan and Luoyang was called the Weihan Ancient Road in later generations.Hanzi refers to Hangu Pass, and Xiao refers to Xiaoshan, which belongs to the branch of the eastern section of the Qinling Mountains and is also the western barrier of the entire Heluo Plain.

The route from Tongguan to Hengnong has not changed much, it is nothing more than walking along the river.However, from Hengnong to the east, after entering the range of Xiaoshan Mountains, due to the change of the terrain of mountains and rivers, it is divided into two roads, north and south, that is, the North and South Xiao Road.

Among them, Nanxiao Road has existed for a longer time. It mostly follows the terrain of mountains and rivers, and enters along the valley. Taking the northeast route, it finally arrived in Luoyang.

The North Xiao Road passes through the mountains at the northern foot of Xiao Mountain. There is no river valley passage to follow in the west section. Instead, it climbs directly up the mountain and opens up a road with slashing and axe. The most rugged part of this road is called Kip in later generations. Shiguan, but there is another more impressive literary term, that is, Du Fu's "Shihao Officials". The passage dug between the mountains and rocks is also called Shihao Ancient Road.

After passing the Shihao ancient road, you can go eastward along the valley passage to Mianchi. After passing Mianchi, you can continue eastward along the Gushui River, and you will arrive at Luoyang after leaving the Hangu Pass.

Comparing the two roads, the North Road is shorter but the road conditions are much worse, especially in the Shihao section where the road is narrow and steep, and the trafficability is much worse than that of the south section.

The southern road mostly follows the valleys and rivers, and the road conditions are better than those in the northern section, but only sometimes, if the summer rains increase, the mountain springs rise sharply, and the river valleys flood, it will be difficult for people and horses to travel.Moreover, the South Road relies too much on natural terrain such as river valleys, so the road is winding and long.

If it is private logistics of people and goods, Nandao is a good choice for safety.But from a military point of view, the shorter and straighter North Road is undoubtedly a better route.After all, if people and horses delay the journey for a little longer, the risk will double, and the consumption will also double.

After the Battle of Mangshan, the area to the east of Xiaoshan was basically occupied by the Eastern Wei Dynasty. The so-called Xiaodong uprights and Xianhuai had different hopes, and the strongholds that had been established around Heluo were almost wiped out.Now that he wanted to set foot in Heluo again, of course he had to reopen the passage.

In the past few years when Li Yuan has been in Hengnong, he has recovered a little bit for the Xiaodong stronghold. A series of defenses, such as the same track defense where Wei Fabao is stationed, are located in the upper reaches of the Luoshui River at the exit of Nanwei Road.The other generals were also mostly active in the Guannan area of ​​Xiaodong.

Before Li Tai's arrival, Li Yuan's plan was to travel eastward along the South Xiaodao, gather the rebel forces in the south of Xiaodong Guannan, capture Yiyang, which is also located in the Luoshui River basin, and occupy Jiuqu City on the west bank of Luoshui River , so that it can be regarded as completely opening up the Nanwei Road.

Li Tai has two choices right now, one is to set off with the western Henan army and go east to Yiyang via Nanxiao Road.The other is to take the Beiwei Road, cross the Xiaoshan Mountain, follow the valley water, pass through Hanguan and enter the Heluo area.

After being introduced by Li Yuan and others, and after considering his own military situation, Li Tai still decided not to join forces with the South Road, and directly chose the North Road to march.

It's not that he wants to be unconventional and different, it's just that the South Road is winding and long, and it's midsummer, and there is often precipitation, making it more difficult to pass through the South Road.

And most of his troops are cavalry, and they carry a lot of horses and chariots. Once they stay on the road for a long time due to weather and geography, not to mention whether it will delay the fighter plane, the consumption of eating horse chews alone will be very serious.The material conditions of the rebels in western Henan are so poor, it is unrealistic to expect them to donate supplies. It is more realistic to arrive in the Heluo area as soon as possible to support the war.

Li Yuan was not surprised that Li Tai made this choice. Judging from his daring to directly attack Jinyang, it can be seen that his style of using troops to plan affairs is rather radical, and his [-] elite troops are also impressive. With the strength of the troops, it is not such a difficult task to open up the Beiwei Road in the current Eastern Wei Dynasty due to the shrinking of the defense due to the Hou Jing Rebellion.

After dividing up the work, Li Yuan assigned Han Xiong's troops to Li Tai as a guide to cooperate in the battle.Han Xiong was originally a native of Henan, and now he is serving as Yin of Henan. He can be regarded as the nominal military and political chief of the Heluo area. He has been active in the Heluo area since Liyi.

Li Tai naturally has no objection to this arrangement, and he is also looking forward to this cooperation. After the battle, we can exchange feelings and ask how the children are doing. If they are not good at discipline, it is better to send them to their own Shangyuan Village.

After the matter was agreed, the generals dispersed to rest.Not long after the middle of the night, Li Tai got up early, inspected the camp, and ordered his troops to cook and eat, and he was going to leave early today.

He has just made arrangements here, and Han Xiong also led his troops to take orders. There are more than 500 strong soldiers, and their military uniforms are not neat. Some even wear Eastern Wei military uniforms. They were probably captured directly on the battlefield. There are more or less scars on the head, face, hands, neck and other places visible to the naked eye, which shows the hard work of defense and defense in this area.

Although these sergeants are not beautiful enough from the appearance of their clothes, there is a fierceness and arrogance that many people don't have in each of them. Kill it.

Since it was a coincidence, Li Tai waved to Han Xiong and other soldiers and entered the camp to eat first. When they saw the neatly placed grain cakes on the grain truck in the camp, these soldiers couldn't help whispering. Han Xiong couldn't help but stare wide-eyed and asked in surprise: "The food in the Xihe public camp is so generous?"

Only then did Li Tai tell the story of the grain cake with a smile, and said that his family has a complete industrial chain, as long as the raw materials are sufficient, it can produce continuously, and it is not a spoil of war snatched from Jinyang in the Eastern Wei Dynasty.

When Han Xiong heard this, he suddenly realized, but soon he looked at Li Tai with shining eyes again, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Such finely crafted food is really suitable for the soldiers in western Henan to ration. The mountain road here is rugged, and it is not easy to transport supplies. Every time the soldiers go in and out, they often suffer from food and drink. The attack they plan is difficult if they are hundreds of miles away. Military defense is much easier!"

Not only in the mountainous area of ​​western Henan, as long as any combat environment relies on logistics supplies, this finely crafted grain cake can greatly improve the food supplies of soldiers, increase combat capabilities and combat methods.

After the soldiers had finished their meal and packed their luggage, there was still some time before dawn. Taking advantage of the slight moonlight hanging from the sky, the group of people went out of the camp and set out on the road. The road gradually became rough, and the sky gradually brightened, because the peaks of the Xiaoshan Mountains in front of us blocked the rising of the sun.

"The mountain road in front of us is narrow, and it is difficult to accommodate horses and chariots. It will take a long time for the whole army to cross. If we can't avoid the scorching sun at noon, there is no water to drink, no shade to cover, and the strength of the troops and horses will be severely depleted. If we stay on the peak, it will be even more dangerous... ..."

Hearing Han Xiong's words, Li Tai simply asked him to arrange the order and rhythm of the troops crossing the peak here, and he first led a group of light infantry to cross the mountain to patrol and guard.

Although Han Xiong, who is familiar with the terrain, dispatched and commanded, but due to the heavy load of horses and horses, and the need to avoid the hot noon, it was not until dawn the next day that all the horse and horse teams completely passed through this section of the stone trench. At this time, the passers-by had already traveled more than 20 miles along the mountain road.

At this time, in front of the people on the road ahead is a fusiform valley between two mountains. The widest part of the valley is more than one mile long and several miles long. The mountains on both sides are steep and densely vegetated.At dawn, the light is already weak, making the valley look like a huge black mouth ready to eat someone at any time.

Based on the principle of being cautious, Li Tai did not lead people into the valley immediately, but stayed at the valley entrance on the west side of it, and rested for about half an hour. Han Xiong also led a group of personal soldiers to catch up from the back.

"Going out of the valley and passing the pass in front, you can reach the Gushui River Valley in Mianchi. There is Yanhan City, the military town set up by the Eastern Rebels. The city is the main road of the valley, and it is the only way to go west. We sent people to investigate his reality, and found that there are still more than three thousand people in the city."

Han Xiong was well aware of the enemy's situation here, and after introducing it to Li Tai, he proposed his own strategy for combat: "Yan Han City is easy to defend and difficult to attack, but the general knows that there is another way to go around here and enter the east of the city. If you send a team If the elite soldiers block the way, they can attack from left to right. But if the city cannot be conquered in a short period of time, when the defenders of the pass city at the lower reaches of Gushui arrive here for reinforcements, I will be in danger of breaking my forearm."

Li Tai has been in the army this year, and has a lot of experience with such river valley terrain. He knows that such strongholds are the most troublesome. If they can't be conquered in a short time, it will be difficult to take them down even if the siege is heavy. , will often be reduced to a war of attrition.

The combat method proposed by Han Xiong can greatly shake the hearts of the defenders, but if the battle is not quick, then the troops who go deep into the rear of the enemy's city will inevitably be attacked from both sides, and the situation is extremely dangerous.

After pondering for a while, he summoned He Ruodun, briefed him on the situation, and asked, "Do you dare to go east to stop the enemy?"

"Lord, don't worry, as long as these soldiers from the west of Henan are not afraid to lead the wrong way, the servant will go straight to the east and kill the thief city!"

After He Ruodun heard the words, he laughed and said, completely ignoring Han Xiong's raised eyebrows and glaring eyes.

Looking at this scene, Li Tai couldn't help feeling amused, and immediately asked He Ruodun to choose 500 elite soldiers from Han Xiong's army to form a team of [-] soldiers, and distributed them to He Ruodun [-] pairs of heavy swords First.It's not that he is reluctant to give more, but carrying more heavy weapons will inevitably affect mobility.

(End of this chapter)