Ji Han Liu Zhang

Shangdang County is surrounded by mountains and has a high and dangerous terrain. It is bounded by the Taihang Mountains in the east and the North China Plain in the west, and borders Hedong and Taiyuan in the west due to the Taiyue Mountains and Zhongtiao Mountains. It is a natural fortress that stretches across Hebei and Guanzhong.

Therefore, for Liu Zhang, Shangdang was an iron wall on his way to Hebei. If he wanted to take Hebei, he had to conquer Shangdang first. If he could not take Shangdang, Hebei would never be his.

Therefore, after taking Taiyuan County, Liu Zhang turned his attention to Shangdang. If he could take advantage of the setbacks in Yuan Shao's southward march and the low morale of his army, he could take Shangdang County in one fell swoop and put the entire Bingzhou under his rule. With Guanzhong and Bingzhou relying on each other, it would not be difficult to conquer the world.

However, Hebei Province naturally knew that Shangdang was an important place.

Just as Liu Zhang was preparing to march into Shangdang County, he received news from spies that Yuan Shao had sent Qu Yi and Zhang He to lead more than 10,000 elite soldiers to Shangdang, to guard Shangdang County together with Gao Gan, the governor of Bingzhou, Gao Lan, one of the Four Pillars of the Court, and Qu Bei, the Left Wise King of the Southern Xiongnu.

Therefore, Liu Zhang gave up the idea of ​​marching into Shangdang. It was not that he was afraid of difficulties, but the season was not suitable for military operations. It was winter, and the snow in the deep valleys was several feet deep, and the cold wind was blowing continuously.

The timing was such and Hebei was on guard, so if he ventured forward, he would most likely gain nothing. It would be better to digest the newly annexed Taiyuan County well and keep it firmly under his control from the grassroots to the government.

After appointing Du Ji as the prefect of Taiyuan and leaving Zhang Ren and Xi Su to garrison Taiyuan, Liu Zhang set out from Jinyang and headed for Hedong at the end of November.

Liu Zhang will return to Guanzhong and spend the last month of the fifth year of Jian'an in Chang'an.

……

At the same time that Liu Zhang was attacking Taiyuan County, a team arrived outside Hangu Pass in Henan Yin. This team came from Guanzhong and their flag was named "Ma".

If you are familiar with the generals in Guanzhong, you will know that this is General Fu Bo Ma Chao's troops.

The coming general was indeed Ma Chao. Outside Hangu Pass, Ma Chao was wearing a white robe and riding a white horse without a single strand of hair on his body. With his handsome face and high spirits, he was truly a unique hero.

Looking up at Hangu Pass, the city gate was tightly closed. It seemed that the defenders of Hangu Pass did not take advantage of the fact that the troops from Guanzhong had traveled through mountains and rivers and were exhausted to fight a battle, but just kept the city gate tightly closed.

Glancing upwards, one can see that on the city wall of Hangu Pass, Cao's soldiers are standing ready for battle, with crossbows strung and arrows on bows. Hot white mist is rising from behind the pheasant dishes, which must be boiling golden juice for defense.

As for why the white mist was not used to make a pot for cooking, Ma Chao could make a definite guess and concluded that golden juice was being boiled on the top of the city wall.

Because there was a west wind blowing at the time, the fishy stench of urine and the stench of feces mixed together after being heated, and a disgusting smell drifted from the top of the city towards Ma Chao.

"Let's stop here for today." After Ma Chao suppressed his nausea and took a quick look at the defense of Hangu Pass, he waved his hand and ordered a retreat.

The cavalrymen who had accompanied Ma Chao in scoping Hangu Pass, like prisoners released after an amnesty, hurriedly turned their horses around and rushed back to the camp as if they were fleeing in panic.

At night, Ma Chao gathered his generals and discussed the attack on Hangu Pass.

Hangu Pass has been a famous fortress since the Qin Dynasty. At that time, the allied forces of the Guandong princes, with a million people, could not break through the pass, which shows how dangerous the pass is. At that time, Li Xiu gave a safe suggestion: "We should build ladders, build earthen hills, repair war equipment, prepare all the equipment, and then supervise the soldiers to attack the city and knock on the pass, maybe we can capture it."

As soon as Li Xiu's suggestion came out, it was recognized by many generals and officers. In the so-called siege war, the ant-like siege is the inferior one. First of all, it is necessary to improve the war equipment and prepare the siege equipment before carrying out the siege.

Otherwise, if we forcefully attack the city and kill or injure one defender, we may end up having to pay the price of ten of our men.

As the commander-in-chief, Ma Chao did not comment on Li Xiu's suggestion or the words of the officers in the postscript. He just glanced around and waited for different opinions.

Pang De stepped out from the crowd, cupped his hands and said, "I don't agree with what General Li said."

"Why? Because building earthen hills and ladders takes a long time and is not convenient for fighting... It is almost winter now. In a month or so, there will be heavy snow and strong northerly winds. At that time, swords and spears will be difficult to hold steadily. How can we attack the city? The war tools we have built will be useless."

"Moreover, our army of tens of thousands of brave soldiers has arrived here, and their morale is high. If we delay for days and months, their morale will no longer be as high as it is today. Therefore, we should attack the city tomorrow and not wait any longer."

At this point, Pang De was full of courage and heroic spirit and said: "Tomorrow when we attack the city, I will be the first to climb the city. I will never retreat until I break through Hangu Pass..."

"Good job." "What a spirit." The officers and soldiers who participated in the meeting were moved by Pang De's heroic posture, and at the same time they felt ashamed of their own idea of ​​waiting until the war equipment was built before attacking the city.

"As General Pang said, we will attack the city tomorrow." Ma Chao gave an order and made a decision. At the same time, he was calculating whether Gan Ning's troops, as a surprise force, could launch the rebellion as scheduled. Otherwise, his attack on the city tomorrow and his posture to attract the defenders of Hangu would be a waste of effort.

Day two.

To the surprise of the commander of Hangu Pass, the troops from Guanzhong who rushed there were ready to attack the city without even waiting to build their weapons.

Outside the pass, there were drums beating and flags flying in the sky. Ma Chao was in command, and Pang De led his troops as the vanguard. Under the urging of the drums, they launched a charge towards Hangu Pass.

"There is nothing I can do for you." The commander of Hangu Pass chuckled. Hangu Pass was a strong fortress, and the soldiers of Guanzhong did not build war tools or repair equipment, but tried to take down Hangu Pass with blood and courage. It would be a joke.

The situation initially developed as the commander of Hangu Pass had expected. Although the Guanzhong troops were in high spirits and fearless of life and death, they launched a fierce attack on Hangu Pass. However, in front of a strong city, bravery was meaningless. Although the Guanzhong troops fought hard, they still could not reach the top of Hangu Pass.

"Why are you here?" The commander of Hangu Pass shook his head helplessly and laughed at the people from Guanzhong.

But just when the commander of Hangu Pass was full of confidence and believed that he could hold Hangu Pass.

Suddenly, a cloud of smoke rose straight into the sky from behind Hangu Pass. When the commander of Hangu Pass saw it, he first thought that there was a fire. But when the smoke became thicker and even filled the sky, and when shouts of killing were heard from behind the pass, he became alert.

"It's a disaster." The guard of Hangu Pass secretly groaned. (End of this chapter)