Shu Han Confucian General of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 260 Hanzhong Confrontation
"Hulao Pass is garrisoned by Cao Ren, the general under Cao Cao's command. Cao Ren is good at defending the city, and he is Cao Cao's clan brother. He is loyal to Cao Cao. I am afraid that Hulao Pass will be difficult to capture!"

In Wancheng City, Chen Gong pointed to the sand table on the table and talked eloquently.In at least three days, Liu Bei's 30 army will be assembled soon.Excluding the Yizhou Army and Xiliang Army who were already powerless in this battle, Liu Bei could only mobilize more than 30 troops.Now I have invested [-] yuan in one breath, which can be said to be enough capital.In this battle going north, it is entirely necessary to annex Cao Cao's Henan County in Henan Province and the part south of the Yellow River in Hongnong County in a desperate manner, and then move his army west or north to fight Cao Cao to the death.

"Don't worry, Gongtai. For this Northern Expedition, Tong has already prepared a generous gift for Cao Ren of Hulao Pass. He wants to rely on the natural danger of Hulao Pass to stop our army. I'm afraid he made a wrong calculation!" Pang Tong, who was on the side, listened to Chen Gong The words are full of self-confidence.As soon as this remark came out, Liu Bei and Zhang Fei involuntarily looked at each other.Those who participated in the battle against Dong Zhuo back then naturally knew how dangerous Hulao Pass was.Now that Pang Tong said so calmly, they all didn't believe it.

"Having said that, I'm afraid you still need to be careful in everything!" Liu Bei knew that Pang Tong was resourceful, and since he was so confident, he didn't want to damage his morale.

"Don't worry, my lord, you have your own measure!" Pang Tong said with a smile.At the same time, in Yecheng, after Cao Cao saw the military newspaper sent recently, he also hurriedly called everyone to discuss the matter.

"30? Excluding the fact that Xichuan's army cannot be used, Liu Bei has spent enough of his capital this time. It seems that in this battle, he is aiming to capture the land of Henan, and then he will go north to fight to the death with us!" Looking at the situation in front of him A detailed military report, Cao Cao also smiled.

"General Hulao Guan Zixiao has an army of 30 stationed in the pass city. Even if Liu Bei attacks with all his strength, it will be difficult to take all of Henan in a short time. First use the natural danger of Hulao Pass to consume Liu Bei's morale, and then wait for him to work hard to take down Hulao. After being imprisoned, if you enter Luoyang again, you can lure him into the trap in one fell swoop, and let him and his [-] army be wiped out in an instant!" Cheng Yu, who was on the side, said with a smile.So far, everything is within Cheng Yu's expectation.As for the preparation work, all the preparations had been completed as early as a year ago.

"That's right, but Liu Bei is very cautious, and there are many resourceful people around him. To be on the safe side, I'll lead the army to be safe! Inform Gongming in Liyang to lead the army westward to Hanoi and join us!" Cao Cao immediately arranged Dao, after thinking for a while, Cao Cao said again: "Now Liu Bei's army is all out to attack Sili. The land of Yanzhou and Qingzhou is insufficiently defended. Let Yuan Rang of Pingyuan tell him to play by ear!"

"No!" Since someone went to inform him, he didn't mention it.Cao Cao was full of self-satisfaction, but he saw that among the crowd, only Jia Xu had a slight worry on his face, and immediately asked: "Wenhe, do you think there is anything that is not perfect?"

"Xu dare not speak in vain. This time was carefully planned by Zhong De. With the help of the prime minister, it is expected to be no problem. But now General Xiahou in Guanzhong is confronting Zhao Botao. Although General Xiahou is brave, Zhongde is not in Guanzhong right now. He is by his side. He doesn't have any resourceful people to help him, and Zhao Botao has always been scheming, so if something goes wrong, it will be a big deal?" Jia Xu said a little worriedly.

"It doesn't matter, now that Zhao Yun and Ma Chao are trapped in Xiliang, and Zhao Botao has only tens of thousands of troops, how can they make waves? Maybe soon, Miaocai will have captured Hanzhong and pointed at Chengdu!" Cao Cao laughed, completely ignoring Jia who was on the sidelines. There was obvious worry on Xu's face.

Cao Cao has been on the battlefield for a long time, but he is a master of soldiers in this world.However, what he didn't expect was that Xia Houyuan's assault on Hanzhong would be so unsatisfactory.With a force of more than two to one, Xia Houyuan attacked Hanzhong through the Xiegu Road. Xia Houyuan thought he could easily win it, but the result surprised him.

Xia Houyuan never expected that the valley road in Qinling Mountains would be so rough and difficult.After Tan Ma was convinced that Zhao Yun had taken away almost the entire cavalry in central Sichuan, what he relied on most was the [-] Guan Zhongjing cavalry under his command.But in this rugged and difficult valley road, it is very difficult for the cavalry to advance in unison, let alone charge.The Yizhou army only needs to set up a few large villages at dangerous passes, and when their army arrives, they will throw some stones and shoot a few arrows, which is enough to make it difficult for their army to move forward.

That's right, Zhao Feng followed Wei Yan and Wang Ping's routines in defending Hanzhong in history, setting up camps at various dangerous places in the valley, with [-] elite soldiers as a team, changing shifts to defend Hanzhong.With thousands of hands thrown out, Xia Houyuan suddenly couldn't move an inch.Then lead the army to be ready to meet everywhere at any time, so as to be safe.Under such strict precautions, even Xia Houyuan, who was known for his bravery in battle, was helpless.

Xia Houyuan was so depressed. If it was on the Guanzhong Plain, he could kill the tens of thousands of Sichuan infantry in one assault with the help of his [-] elite soldiers.But now, in the face of this natural danger, all his miraculous plans have become clouds.A few disgusting valley roads made his army helplessly trapped.It has been nearly a month since the war started, Zhao Feng didn't take the initiative to attack, and he was in a defensive posture.

"Uncle, I just counted the grain and grass, and it's enough for about ten days. But General Jiang Qi is about to escort the grain and grass, and he can arrive in five days at most." After this day's routine tour of the camp, Xiahou Yuan's nephew, Captain Ping Kou, Xia Houen report.

"I see!" Xia Houyuan's eyes flashed a trace of worry.Although Jiang Qi was still able to arrive in a few days after transporting grain, what the Qinling Valley Road brought was not only the natural advantage that the opponent was easy to defend but difficult to attack, but also the indescribable inconvenience of transporting grain.Just yesterday, more than a hundred civilian husbands in charge of transporting food sneaked away.No matter how confident Xia Houyuan is, he is struggling now.Therefore, a quick decision is the best policy.

"En'er, you go and pick five thousand elite soldiers, and then send people to the nearby mountains to find some hunters who are familiar with the local mountain roads. Don't frighten them, so you can bring them to the army with me. I will be useful!" Xia Houyuan thought for a while, and suddenly opened the mouth.

"No!" Xiahouen went to choose the staff without mentioning it.As soon as Xiahouen left, Xiahoulan, the general of Yongzhou Zhonglang, frowned when he heard Xiahouyuan's words, and then asked: "The general wants to find a way to bypass these passes from the local hunters and reach Hanzhong? "

"Not bad!" Xia Houyuan nodded.After thinking about it, Xia Houyuan also felt that it was really difficult for some strongmen to break through the Hanzhong pass by force, and he could only take advantage of it.Xia Houlan heard this, but she was noncommittal.After a while, he cautiously reminded: "General, what if I can't find such a path?"

"If so, I will return to the army and attack Chencang." Xia Houyuan said disapprovingly.As soon as these words came out, Xia Houlan also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that if Xia Houyuan fought for a long time without success, his temper would flare up, and he would attack forcefully, and the army would be passive.

Although Xiahoulan is also a double surname Xiahou, he is a real person from Changshan, Hebei, and is not from the same branch as the Xiahou family in Qiaojun.Furthermore, he was even a friend of Zhao Yun's hometown, but when he joined the army, he defected to Yuan Shao.Later, when the Yuan family was destroyed, he switched to Cao Cao.As Zhao Yun's friend, the battle of Hanzhong was somewhat embarrassing.Many times it is inconvenient to speak.Seeing that Xia Houyuan's mind is still calm now, he is also slightly relieved.

A few days later, Xia Houen took five thousand soldiers selected by himself, led by several hunter-born guides, and went to Hanzhong along a mountain road that was said to be very remote.At the same time, Xia Houyuan personally led the army to attack the Hanzhong Army position at the end of Xiegu Road.

"General, it seems that Xia Houyuan has become angry from embarrassment. He attacked so hard that he didn't care about his own casualties!" Looking at the corpses piled up at the Xiegu crossing, Ma Su was also speechless.For several days in a row, Xia Houyuan's subordinates suffered thousands of casualties.And the Sichuan army guarding the pass has no more than a hundred casualties every day.

Zhao Feng knew that the strength of a closed city could be reflected by the ratio of casualties between the attacking and defending sides.Generally, the ratio of casualties can reach more than 1:3, even if it is relatively dangerous.And world-famous majestic passes like Tongguan, Jiameng Pass, Jianmen Pass, and Hulao Pass can all achieve a casualty ratio of nearly 1:10.Now that I am so defensive, I already have an advantage.

"General, I see something strange!" Lu Xun said suddenly.Ignoring the somewhat confused eyes of most people, Lu Xun said to himself: "Xia Houyuan and the general have been confronting each other for nearly a month now. Now that they are attacking so hard suddenly, I'm afraid it's because they have other motives!"

"Xia Houyuan has always been irritable, so it's not surprising that he becomes angry now. Boyan, don't you think too highly of him?" Ma Di said disapprovingly.Everyone had different opinions when they heard the words, until they found that Zhao Feng had been noncommittal, so they all stopped talking and looked at Zhao Feng to listen to him.

"Yesterday, the Wuqian Flying Army sent a military report, saying that a few days ago, an enemy army of thousands of people left Xiahouyuan's barracks, and then disappeared. Counting the date, it was exactly at that time that Xiahouyuan began to attack vigorously. I think there must be an internal connection between the two!" Zhao Feng looked at the crowd, and said something that was beyond the expectations of almost all of them.

"It turns out that the general asked Weigong to replace Yifeng to station at Yangping Pass, so that both Yifeng and Wang Zi could lead an unprecedented flying army to deal with the enemy's situation?"That's right, Zhao Feng just wanted to take advantage of his unprecedented flying army to cross mountains and ridges like walking on flat ground, and Wang Ping's advantage of being familiar with Hanzhong's geography, and was ready to launch an all-round attack on Xia Houyuan's army anytime and anywhere.In the beginning, it was just to harass Xia Houyuan's grain road, but now it is also responsible for scouting the enemy's situation.Originally, it was enough to send Wang Ping for this kind of thing, but Wang Ping was illiterate.As a last resort, Yang Yi was used to replace Zhu Ran, the general guard of Yangping Pass, and let Zhu Ran, who had been in the Wudang Flying Army, join the army to fight together.

"Exactly, I think the reason why Xia Houyuan dared to attack frontally is to attract our attention, so that the enemy troops who are sneaking along the way can take advantage of it!" Zhao Feng laughed.When everyone was sighing, it happened that Liu Beiyou sent an envoy to read Liu Bei's king's order in front of the Dao army. Zhao Feng was transferred from Jiangdu County Marquis to Wuxiang County Marquis, and he added [-] households.A thousand civil and military officials in central Sichuan will also be rewarded with five hundred catties of gold and one thousand catties of silver.Zhao Feng and the others were beaming after thanking them.

"The lord has personally led an army of 30, and sent the army northward to take Luoyang!" After the messenger finished the report, he broke out another shocking news.After everyone heard the words, some were amazed, and some were astonished.Only Zhao Feng and Lu Xun looked at each other, and both could see a trace of worry in each other's eyes.

(End of this chapter)