The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 204 Entering Hanzhong
When Jiang Han's scouts finally found Li Zicheng, he was leading his troops to rob wealthy households in the Lantian and Lintong areas.

This scout team had come all the way from Chencang, and had truly faced nine deaths and one life.

They traversed the vast Qinling Mountains, dodging government troops and wild beasts, and ran for hundreds of miles. Only with the help and guidance of the people along the way did they finally find Li Zicheng's army.

Upon learning that Jiang Han's army had already established a foothold in Chencang and had sent people to find him, Li Zicheng dared not be negligent in the slightest. He immediately ordered his troops to regroup and prepare to advance westward to join forces with Jiang Han's main force.

Liu Zongmin, who had only recently been demoted, was somewhat puzzled by this:
"Brother, we are now strong and well-equipped, living a carefree life in the Shangluo Mountains. Is it necessary for us to become dependent on others and take orders from them?"

“Our team was all built up by you, Big Brother.”

Upon hearing this, Li Zicheng's expression instantly turned extremely serious, and he corrected him in a deep voice:

"Brother, you're wrong about that!"

"Our team, at its core, is Jiang Zemin's team!"

"Where do you think my old camp of over three hundred elite troops came from? They were all specially assigned to me by the commander-in-chief before I left."

He pointed to himself, then to Liu Zongmin, and said, enunciating each word clearly:

"I am now a squad leader under Commander Jiang. Now that you have come to join me, you will naturally be under the command of the Commander."

"You must remember this point and never have such thoughts again!"

"Besides, with our small force, we can only handle small-scale operations at best. If we really want to do something big, we'll have to follow their lead."

Liu Zongmin had never seen Li Zicheng so solemn before, and his heart skipped a beat. He immediately clasped his hands in response:
"It was my mistake, and I should have done so!"

With Deng Qi's pursuers gone, Li Zicheng stopped hiding and led his troops out of the Qinling Mountains, swaggering from Xi'an Prefecture all the way to Chencang.

"General! The brave general is back!"

Inside the Chencang County government office, Jiang Han was sitting alone in the main hall, looking at the ancient Chencang road on the map with a troubled expression.

The route into Sichuan has been decided, but Jiang Han is worried sick about finding a suitable person to lead the way.

Upon hearing that Li Zicheng had returned, he was greatly encouraged and immediately stood up:

"Quickly, break in!"

Before long, a wiry, dark-skinned, and lean man strode into the county government office; it was Li Zicheng.

Upon seeing Jiang Han, he did not hesitate for a moment, immediately kneeling on one knee, his voice booming:
"This humble general, Li Zicheng, pays his respects to the Commander-in-Chief!"

At this moment, Li Zicheng's respect for Jiang Han rose several notches.

Along the way, Li Zicheng had already heard from scouts that while he was struggling in the Qinling Mountains for several months, Jiang Han not only captured Ningxia Town, a key town on the nine borders, but also killed Prince Qing.

Even the deputy commander-in-chief Cao Wenzhao was captured alive, and it is said that he was brought back to be executed and his head displayed to the public.

Comparing yourself to others is really frustrating.

Back when Cao Wenzhao was in the Qinling Mountains, he chased me around like crazy. Who would have thought that not long after I was transferred to Ningxia, I would be killed by Marshal Jiang?

"We're all family, no need for formalities."

Jiang Han quickly stepped forward, helped Li Zicheng up, and pulled him to sit down.
"You must have had a tough time these past few months."

Looking at Li Zicheng's weathered face, which seemed to have aged several years out of nowhere, Jiang Han knew that his life in the mountains must have been difficult, especially since he was leading a group of starving people.

Upon hearing this, Li Zicheng felt as if he had found a kindred spirit and poured out his grievances to Jiang Han.

He recounted in detail his experiences over the past few months, including how he survived in dire straits, how he trained new recruits, and how he dealt with government troops.

After listening, Jiang Han couldn't help but shake his head and sigh:

"You've really had a tough time."

"Fortunately, we've finally made it through."

After exchanging pleasantries, it was time to get down to business.

Jiang Han got straight to the point:
"I plan to send troops immediately and enter Hanzhong through the old Chencang road."

"General, you've been in the mountains for a long time. Do you have any detailed information about this road?"

Li Zicheng nodded. He had thoroughly investigated the situation of Chencang Road when he first entered the mountains.

He got up and walked to the map, explaining it in detail:

"General, this road is mainly divided into two parts."

"The first part is from Dasanguan to Fengxian, which is about 160 li long and mostly mountainous. Our army can travel 20 to 30 li per day with its supplies."

"There are no particularly noteworthy locations here; the key is simply to breach Dasanguan Pass."

Jiang Han nodded, signaling him to continue.

"The second part is the Lianyun Plank Road."

"The plank road stretches from Caoliangyi in the northeast of Feng County all the way to Mian County, with a total length of nearly 500 li."

"The Jianchaping area can be used as a base for our troops. We can assemble and reorganize our forces here and then attack Feng County."

"After resting and replenishing supplies in Feng County, we can enter the Lianyun Plank Road."

"On the way, we will also have to capture Liuba County, and then we will encounter Wuxiu Pass, where the canyon is extremely narrow, with the narrowest point only wide enough for three horses to ride abreast..."

Li Zicheng described the details of the plank road in great detail, while Jiang Han listened with a furrowed brow.

No wonder the ancients said that the road to Shu was difficult, more difficult than ascending to heaven.

Just hearing this description, he could feel the difficulty of the journey, and he couldn't imagine what it would be like to lead a large army up. Seeing this, Li Zicheng quickly comforted him:
"General, there's no need to worry too much."

"The road is right under our feet. Merchants traveling to and from Hanzhong can all walk it. Our soldiers are more hardworking than them. Just be careful."

Jiang Han nodded and gave the order:
"In that case, let us issue a proclamation to the entire army, reorganize the troops, and march on Hanzhong in three days."

He couldn't wait any longer.

According to the latest intelligence, Hong Chengchou has led his army to set up camp near Lingtai County, which is no more than five or six days' journey from Chencang.

Three days later, the army arrived at Dasanguan Pass.

Although this pass is no longer as imposing as it was during the Southern Song Dynasty, it still guards a vital passage. Although the garrison is small, each soldier can still fight ten men.

Instead of launching a direct attack, Jiang Han ordered Li Zicheng to lead 300 elite troops, disguised as a large merchant caravan transporting cloth from Guanzhong, and bribe the guards with a large sum of money to sneak into the pass.

At midnight, Li Zicheng's troops suddenly launched an attack from within the Great Wall. He lit a fire as a signal and led his troops to launch an attack from within the Great Wall.

Jiang Han's army, which had been waiting for a long time, surged towards Dasanguan like a tide, and in less than an hour, they successfully captured the first gateway into Shu.

After capturing Sanguan Pass, the real test has only just begun.

Once the army set foot on the plank road leading to Feng County, Jiang Han truly understood what "the difficulty of the Shu Road" meant.

The plank road winds between cliffs, and in some places it is so narrow that only one horse-drawn carriage can barely pass. On one side is a bottomless abyss, shrouded in mist, which makes people dizzy.

Although Jiang Han's soldiers had fought in various places and ventured into many mountains and dense forests, they had never seen such a difficult plank road.

As they marched, soldiers would occasionally slip on the wet ground or lose their focus and fall off the cliff with their vehicles, their bodies never to be found.

Even worse, many sections of the wooden boardwalk have been in disrepair for years and are rotten.

Normally, the passage of merchant guilds could barely keep up, but this army of nine thousand stretched for dozens of miles, with heavy supply wagons passing by one after another, causing the already overburdened plank road to creak and groan.

Several times, as the troops were crossing the plank road, the wooden planks under their feet suddenly snapped, and more than ten soldiers and their horses were instantly swallowed by the abyss.

Therefore, the army had to stop and find craftsmen from the supply camp to repair the plank road.

These craftsmen, with only a hemp rope tied around their waists, risked their lives, dangling in mid-air, to urgently repair the plank road.

Several people took turns working for most of the day before finally repairing the plank road, allowing the army to continue its journey.

Moreover, there are not many flat areas along this route where thousands of troops can set up camp.

Often, the soldiers could only travel during the day and sleep on the ground along the plank road at night, enduring the mosquitoes, insects, and rodents in the forest.

And so the army marched through the mountains, stopping and starting, sometimes clearing thorns and brambles, sometimes filling in landslides.

The journey, which was originally 160 li, took nearly ten days before we finally arrived at Jianchaping outside Feng County, exhausted.

Jianchaping is a pass in the Qingjiang River valley, with a flat area where the army can rest temporarily.

According to the "Fengxiang Prefecture Annals", this is the place where Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, once led his troops to camp and brew tea.

Back then, Liu Bang appointed Han Xin as a general and ordered him to lead an army of 100,000 to attack Guanzhong from Hanzhong along the Chencang Road.

It was July, and the heat was unbearable. The Han army had been marching through the Qinling Mountains for several days. When they finally reached the mountain pass, they were parched and thirsty.

So Liu Bang ordered his troops to rest under the shade of the trees. His guards discovered a deep spring nearby, its water crystal clear and trickling outwards.

Liu Bang was delighted to see the water and quickly ordered his soldiers to start a fire, fetch water, and brew tea to quench the thirst of his army.

This is the origin of the name "Jianchaping".

But Jiang Han had no interest in making tea at the moment. He ordered his soldiers to set up camp on the spot, and then summoned Li Zicheng and others to discuss how to capture Feng County using a map.

That night, the army surrounded Feng County from all sides and launched a fierce attack.

The Qinling Mountains, where the sounds of war had been silent for a long time, were finally awakened by the deafening shouts of battle.

Despite the best efforts of the officials in Feng County to resist, Jiang Han had nearly nine thousand elite soldiers under his command, which was far beyond what a small county like Feng County could withstand.

In less than two hours, Feng County was declared captured, and the county magistrate, county assistant, and others committed suicide to die for their country.

After taking Feng County, Jiang Han immediately sent people to appease the people, but he found that the population in the city was not very large.

Most of the merchants traveling to and from Hanzhong rested here.

To avoid leaks and alerting the Ming army, Jiang Han seized the group and killed all the managers in the caravan.

After capturing Feng County, Jiang Han allowed his soldiers to rest and relax for three days, as there were still hundreds of miles to go.

Three days later, the army continued south, setting foot on the Lianyun Plank Road from Caoliangyi.

Fortunately, the road has been repaired by the imperial court many times, and the main part is a stone and earthen path, which is much more comfortable to walk on than the previous wooden boardwalk.

Many areas were quite wide enough for the army to pass through easily, eliminating the need for soldiers to carry supplies on their shoulders and over mountains and valleys.

At the end of August, the army marched south with unstoppable momentum, capturing Liuba, opening up Hutou Pass and Jitou Pass, and seizing Baocheng, the northern gateway to Hanzhong Prefecture.

Thus, Jiang Han led his troops from Chencang and, after nearly a month and a half, successfully entered Hanzhong Prefecture.

During the march, the number of soldiers lost was as many as six or seven hundred due to the scorching heat, missteps, and the forced attack on passes.

Furthermore, many soldiers fell seriously ill as a result.

And this is only the first leg of the journey into Sichuan.

To truly enter the heart of Sichuan from Hanzhong, the even more arduous Micang Road and Jinniu Road awaited Jiang Han's team.

(End of this chapter)