The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 294 Seizure
In the fourth month of summer in the first year of Jianxing.

After the various units of the Han army had assembled their troops, they each marched forward.

In the Henan direction, Wei Yan and Guan Ping's forces advanced eastward along the Wei River simultaneously.

Wei Yan's troops were responsible for a frontal assault on Tongguan.

Guan Ping, on the other hand, led the navy to assist Wei Yan in attacking the pass, while also blocking the Wei army's route north from Tongguan, in order to further restrain the enemy's forces.

Meanwhile, in the east of the river.

Zhao Yun had sent his vanguard, Chen Dao, half a month earlier to cross the river at Puban Ferry and seize the stronghold on the opposite bank.

While Wei Yan's troops were felling trees and setting up cannons at Tongguan Pass, Chen Dao had already captured Puban County on the opposite bank.

Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun crossed the river and entered the city the next day.

Because the Wei army burned down the main hall of the county temple when they left, the Han army had to temporarily requisition the Shun Temple in the city as the residence of their commander.

Jiang Wan, the chief clerk of the General of Chariots and Cavalry, had arranged tables, couches, and other items well in advance, and hung a map of Hedong in the brightest and most conspicuous position.

Zhang Fei glanced at it as he entered, then pointed to Jie County Road, located northeast of Puban and beside the Sushui River:

Emperor Gao sang: "My might extends throughout the land, I return to my homeland."

"It's a pity that Yun Chang isn't here, otherwise the credit for capturing this city would definitely be given to him!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yun smiled faintly:
“Yide and Yunchang are like brothers. You have captured this city for him, so you can consider it a homecoming.”

Zhang Fei feigned surprise:

"Judging from Zilong's words, you are unwilling to go with me?"

Zhao Yun knew that although the man before him was rough and boorish, he was quite shrewd in military strategy.

He simply said:
"This time, our military action was hasty, and our forces and supplies are still insufficient. It is almost impossible for us to follow the example of the Guanzhong Campaign and advance steadily with the help of the general trend."

"The land east of the river is not as crisscrossed by waterways and roads as the Guanzhong Plain; it is mostly just two or three streams flowing from south to north."

"Now that we have crossed the river, the only thing we need to do is to quickly occupy the strongholds and block the passages so that we can pave the way for the main army to cross the river in the future."

As he spoke, Zhao Yun pointed to the river on the map and said:

"Since you are going to Jie County, then the Sushui line will be yours to take."

"Our unit will rest for one night and head north to the Fen River tomorrow."

Seeing that Zhao Yun so readily chose to take the long way, Zhang Fei felt a little embarrassed.

He rubbed his hands together and said:

"Most of the Wei troops in Hedong were entrenched in Anyi, the county seat."

"South of this city, there is a small path that crosses the Zhongtiao Mountains and leads directly to Shaanxi and Tianjin. Therefore, although this city is located north of the Yellow River and mountains, it is actually one of the gateways to Henan."

"I anticipate that once my troops advance from the Sushui River to this city, they will attract the attention of all the Wei armies."

"If your troops are able to plunder the cities along the Fen River at that time, then go and conquer them yourself."

"If we can't take it down in a short time, then we don't need to worry about it. We should head north to Guanjuejin as soon as possible and block the north and south gorges for me. That would be a great achievement!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yun instinctively looked at the map.

At the northernmost point of Hedong County, in the middle and lower reaches of the Fen River, the mountains on both the east and west sides suddenly narrow.

Only a narrow, treacherous section of the river valley remains, known as "Guanjuejin".

In the most dangerous parts, a suspended walkway called "Luban Bridge" needs to be built on the mountain rocks to pass through.

Therefore, this place is also known as Guanquejin or Queshugu.

This means that only animals such as birds and rodents can safely pass through such places.

To describe its perilous and difficult journey.

Since ancient times, Guanjuejin has been the natural dividing line between Hedong and Bingzhou.

To its north lies the Taiyuan Basin, which belongs to Bingzhou.

To its south lies the Linfen Basin, which belongs to the Hedong region.

By blocking both ends of this road, the Wei army and even the Xianbei people from Bingzhou can be kept out of Hedong.

The purpose of Zhang Fei's military suggestion lies here.

As a native of Changshan Zhen Ding on the eastern side of the Taihang Mountains, Zhao Yun was no stranger to the terrain on the Shanxi side.

He immediately understood Zhang Fei's intention.

After thinking for a while, he said:
"If we are going to launch a surprise attack, then we should not bring too many infantrymen."

"How about we switch our infantry and cavalry? I'll personally go and seize the pass, and you can occupy the city. What do you say?"

Zhang Fei was clearly hesitant.

Seeing Zhao Yun's sincere expression, he finally nodded and said:
"I will give you half of my knights."

"Furthermore, all the White Feather Soldiers that Feng Xiuyuan (Feng Xi) brought this time are also yours!"

"Alright!" Zhao Yun agreed without hesitation.

"Is there anything else Yide wants to say?"

Zhang Fei thought for a moment and said:
"Although the pass of Guanjuejin is the key to this battle, the mountain passes of Taihang and Wangwu should not be ignored. If possible, we should block them as much as possible."

Zhao Yun readily agreed. "Is there anything else?"

Zhang Fei: "Also, if there's really no time to block the north and south exits, then at least block the south exit."

"If we can't even block the South Pass, then we should seize Yong'an (Zhi County) near the South Pass... This would be enough to prevent the Bingzhou troops from marching south in a large force."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yun turned and left without saying a word.

Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter.

Although Zhao Zilong was calm and knew the bigger picture.

But deep down, he also harbored a sense of pride.

……

The Han army's offensive in April was in full swing.

However, the process was unremarkable.

During this phase, the Han army launched attacks in a race against time, while the Wei army reacted passively and initially showed signs of contracting its defensive lines.

But no matter how much it contracts.

Important strongholds such as Anyi on the Sushui River, and Linfen and Pingyang on the Fenshui River, cannot be easily lost.

Therefore, as the Han army began to besiege the city, both sides finally entered the siege phase, which had the highest casualty rate.

This is thanks to the persistent efforts of Zhang Yi and others in continuously improving the "city-capturing cannon" over the past year.

The yield rate and projection accuracy have been improved.

In addition to traditional siege tactics such as siege engines, battering rams, ladders, and tunnels, Zhang Fei, Wei Yan, and others developed a new method of attacking cities by long-range assaults.

Although it wouldn't necessarily destroy the city wall.

However, the garrison built wooden fortifications and outposts outside the city.

Their survival time did not exceed three days after the Han army fired their cannons.

The direct consequence is...

Originally, the cavalry would set up camp outside the city while the infantry would hold their ground inside, forming a "flank" formation as a standard tactic.

It suddenly stopped working.

Once the Han army completed its preparations for firing cannons, the siege truly became a complete encirclement of the city in the literal sense.

For smaller cities, the Han army's stone cannons could even penetrate the low rammed earth walls and reach inside the city.

The idea of ​​defending a city is temporarily meaningless, at least until the city walls are built higher and thicker.

Time enters June.

The first round of Han army offensive was coming to an end, and the initial results from both routes were gradually being gathered in Chang'an.

First, there's the Henan direction.

Thanks to the pincer attack from both land and water, coupled with the remarkable power of the city-destroying cannons, Wei Yan successfully captured the pass, achieving a resounding victory.

but.

This does not mean that the Han army can simply sail down the river and head straight for Luoyang.

Because Tongguan was a formidable pass in this era.

But from a defensive perspective...

The military value of Tongguan Pass is different for Chang'an in the west and for Luoyang in the east.

For Chang'an, the loss of Tongguan would allow the enemy forces to enter the north and south banks of the Wei River with almost no hindrance.

With cavalry running at full speed, they could reach the walls of Chang'an in no more than two days.

Therefore, Tongguan Pass was a vital strategic point for Chang'an.

Once lost, Guanzhong would be wide open.

But the situation is quite different for Luoyang.

As mentioned earlier, the area from Tongguan to Hongnong is a place where mountains and rivers meet.

On this long, narrow passage.

Even if Tongguan is lost, there is still Huxiang;

Even if we lose Huxiang, we still have Huxian.

Even if we lose Huxian, we still have Hongnong, Caoyang, and Shanxian.

Unless the Han army breaks through all the way to Shanxian and opens up the western pass of the Xiaohan Pass.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to say that the western gateway to Luoyang was opened.

In fact, during the Warring States period, the main pass for the Qin state to defend against the six states east of Shandong was Hongnong, which is also the location of Qin's Hangu Pass, for most of the time.

Therefore, when Wei Yan and Guan Ping's combined land and naval forces advanced all the way to Hongnong, the offensive in Henan inevitably stalled as Wei reinforcements arrived from Luoyang and Zhang He built a large number of fortresses along the way, taking advantage of the mountain terrain.

Guan Yu's Jingzhou army, lacking support from the Eastern Wu and wary of the Wei army in the Xuchang direction, did not dare to launch a large-scale northward advance from Guangcheng Pass for the time being.

This is exactly the situation that the Hedong faction had worried about earlier.

(End of this chapter)