When talking about Cangwu Pass, we have to mention the terrain of Yizhou first.
Yizhou is a basin, which is concave in the middle and convex at the edges, and is completely surrounded. There are continuous dangerous peaks and steep mountains, very few passages, and no smooth way in or out. The road to Shu is difficult, harder than climbing to the sky, as this gives us a glimpse of the problem.
This closed environment has both advantages and disadvantages. Regardless of the disadvantages, it is extremely beneficial for defense.
Qishan Road is one of the few passages heading east from Yizhou. On one end is Yiliang County of Yizhou, and on the other side is Nanling County of Jingzhou. It consists of long plank roads, rugged mountain roads, and stone steps sandwiched between cliffs and steep cliffs. But even such a dangerous path can be considered a passage for marching.
Yizhou built the Cangwu Pass on the Qishan Road, which was truly a one-man-guarding-the-pass that ten thousand men could not break through. After Wei Jing captured Yiliang County, he replaced the original commander of Cangwu Pass and sent Fan Ya's brother Fan Qing to garrison there with 2,000 elite soldiers.
Don't think that two thousand people are too few, in fact, they are more than enough to guard the pass. Prince An's army is coming with great momentum, but he has no room to maneuver in that position. Fan Qing was holding on for now, so there was no rush for reinforcements. However, Prince An, the emperor's confidant, came without any warning, and he immediately felt that something was wrong, so he hurriedly sent a message back.
Yes, why did King An suddenly attack Yizhou?
Compared to Yizhou, which has many barriers, aren't Jingzhou and Yangzhou much easier to attack?
For some reason, Shao Qing suddenly thought of Mr. Dongshan.
Her heart skipped a beat.
At the same time, Ji Huan cried out: "That Dongshan, Dongshan must be King An's man!"
It is difficult to attack Yizhou from the outside, so what about from the inside?
Cangwu Pass is extremely dangerous and difficult to attack, but that is only for external attack, not internal attack. Fan Qing has only 2,000 men under his command, while He Xin has an army of 200,000.
"My lord, we should..." Immediately encircle He Xin's army and block the eastern road!
"Report! Urgent report!!"
At this moment, a sharp shout suddenly came, interrupting Ji Huan's words. A burst of messy and heavy footsteps came rushing towards him. He looked back and was shocked.
Two men in armor but in a dishevelled state were seen rushing in hastily. One was Liang Dan, a young general from the Qing Zhai Guard who was sent to Ren Qiong's army to be the governor of Lefeng County. The other was wearing blue armor and judging from his attire, he must be a general of the Lefeng Army. The two men's heads and faces were covered in smoke and blood, and they fell to their knees with a thud.
"My lord, something terrible has happened! At nightfall, He Xin's army raided Pinggu Territory, first using tung oil and fire to attack from the east and then making a feint to the west. Now He Xin has led a 100,000-man army to break out from Dong'aozikou!"
What? !
Wei Jing suddenly raised his red eyes and said angrily: "Why did He Xin break out from the East Col?!"
"Haven't I told you again and again that as long as we defend Dong'aokou, He Xin's army will never be able to break out of Pinggu Ridge?!"
Wei Jing now has an army of 280,000 under his command, of which 180,000 belong to him and Lu Jian, and the remaining 100,000 are left behind by He Hong. The governor of Anfeng, Wang Yong, had 30,000 troops, the governor of Lefeng, Ren Qiong, had 30,000 troops, and the remaining 40,000 troops were from the state led by generals Zhang and Chen.
These soldiers from the inner counties and prefectures had not seen war for a long time and were accustomed to a comfortable life. Their combat capabilities really did not satisfy Wei Jing. But fortunately, everyone was united in their desire to annihilate He Xin in order to survive, and with Wei Jing's proper command, the situation was manageable.
This time, the encirclement of He Xin's army would be impossible without these 100,000 soldiers, so Wei Jing specially selected the best defensive positions for Wang Yong and others, and pointed out the key points of defense one by one, explaining that they just needed to block a certain place tightly.
For example, Ren Qiong was stationed in Pinggu, a place with very dangerous terrain. There was only a gap on the far left, Dong'aozi. Once the war broke out, as long as this gap was blocked, everything would be fine.
This is the easiest position to defend. There is no reason why 30,000 people cannot block a gap of 20 to 30 feet wide. The reinforcements will arrive in two hours at most. Wei Jing emphasized this repeatedly when arranging the defense, and sent Liang Dan, a young general of Qing Zhai Guard, to assist.
This place which was foolproof was now told to him that He Xin had broken through?
Wei Jing was furious and threw his sword at the two of them: "You bastards! Useless trash!"
The sharp blade flashing with cold light narrowly passed over the heads of the two men. Ren Qiong's brother Ren Xu was so scared that he trembled and lay on the ground.
Liang Dan did not move or hide, but lowered his head and blamed himself: "The enemy first attacked with tung oil rockets and set the camp on fire. The camp caught fire and the soldiers rushed out in panic. I immediately found Ren Fujun and asked him to quickly deploy heavy troops to Dongaokou, but he..."
If they were not Liang Dan's soldiers, Liang Dan could not command them. However, when Ren Qiong saw the flames and shouts of killing, he lost his composure and did not gather his soldiers immediately. After Liang Dan's reminder, he hurriedly gave the order, but unfortunately the frightened Lefeng County soldiers were a beat too slow and were thrown into disarray by the enemy's vanguard.
It would be possible to block the East Col now, although it is late. But no one expected He Xin to be so determined. He actually launched a suicide charge, sacrificing half of his soldiers, a total of 100,000 men, to trap the Lefeng defenders and reinforcements, and led another 100,000 men to escape from Dong'aokou.
As the name suggests, Dong'aokou faces northeast, and Cangwu Pass is also on the east side. As long as you march quickly along the direction of Nanshui for two days and nights, you can reach Qishan Pass.
Prince An's army was attacking Cangwu Pass fiercely, but there were only two thousand guards inside Cangwu Pass.
Wei Jing raised his eyes suddenly and shouted angrily: "Pass the order! The whole camp will assemble immediately, go around Cangshan Mountain, along Anxian County to Nanshui, and chase He Xin's army!"
…
Must catch up!
Once Prince An is let in, not only will the battle be tough, but Wei Jing's identity will likely be exposed in advance.
With the eyes of the world focused, revenge will be difficult.
The army under Wei Jing had experienced many battles and had been trained long ago. They assembled very quickly under orders and in less than half an hour they had quickly chased eastwards.
In the dark night, Shao Qing watched Wei Jing's figure disappear into the darkness, his heart tense.
He was still filled with resentment, but unfortunately she couldn't spare any time to comfort herself. She could only pray that her husband was safe and that she must catch up with him.
In fact, the actual situation was better than Shao Qing had expected. Wei Jinggang led his troops to Nanshui and was about to head east along the river when he met a scout horse galloping back.
He Xin's army had not gone too far, just seventy miles ahead. As long as they made more efforts, they could probably intercept the enemy before they reached Cangwu Pass.
There was still red in Wei Jing's eyes, like a tiger about to devour someone, and he shouted, "Full speed ahead!"
His heart was filled with hatred. What had his mother done wrong? What did his brother do wrong? He wished he could rush to Luojing immediately to tear his enemy into pieces, dig out his father who was worse than a beast, and whip his corpse to scatter ashes.
Taking Yizhou is the most critical turning point in revenge, and he will not allow any mistakes.
Must catch up!
The fire of hatred gnawed at Wei Jing's heart and lungs, and he led his army in pursuit, but he didn't expect that he would encounter a big and unexpected problem.
…
Seventy miles away, He Xin's army was rushing eastward along the north bank of the South River.
After hearing the sentry's heavy breathing, He Xin turned back in a hurry. The night was dark and pitch black, like a giant beast with its mouth open ready to bite people.
He could hear the heavy and complicated sound of military boots hitting the ground and horse hooves. His heart was pounding. After experiencing a series of fierce battles, he hated and was angry at Yang Ze, but inevitably a little afraid of him.
I feel invincible, a kind of powerlessness and fear that arises from the bottom of my heart.
When he was fighting and killing He Hong, he never thought that the situation would come to this.
"What should I do? What should I do?!"
He quickly turned his head to look at Bai Gu: "From here to Cangwu Pass, it will take another two days and nights to march quickly. After seventy miles, there is no guarantee that we will not be caught up!"
Even if they were not caught up, the enemy would be here soon. Could they seize such a short time to capture Cangwu Pass?
He Xin was anxious and angry: "You said that as long as we break out from Dong'aokou, we will be able to take Cangwu Pass before Yang's army catches up. Then we can welcome Prince An's army into the pass. With your help, we will be able to annihilate Yang the bandit?!"
He sacrificed 100,000 troops for this, a full 100,000, to ensure the successful breakthrough of the encirclement. Isn't it said that the remaining 100,000 people will definitely be able to hold back the thief Yang? What's going on now? !
"Sir, please be patient."
Bai Gu's face was gloomy. He didn't expect Yang Ze to react so quickly. The other party must have received the news about His Highness's attack.
In fact, King An had been keeping his eyes on Yizhou ever since He Xin surrendered. He thought that He Hong would have the upper hand, and even instructed Bai Gu that if it really didn't work, he should consider dividing the north and the south and let He Xin retreat to the southwest until he was free.
But I didn’t expect He Xin to be so useless, and this Yang Ze who suddenly appeared out of nowhere was so powerful. He was tempted by Yizhou and couldn't bear to give it up. Coincidentally, Nanling County should be able to be taken in time, so he wrote a letter to Bai Gu, asking for internal and external support.
The letter was sent from Su Nanjiang and reached Bai Gu yesterday. He calculated the date and figured out that His Highness should have led his troops to Qishan Road and was attacking Cangwu Pass. Compared with Prince An's interests, He Xin was nothing, so he did not hesitate to formulate a plan to break out at the cost of eight hundred casualties, and persuaded He Xin.
After breaking through, they received the news that His Highness had indeed succeeded in breaking through the siege. Everyone was overjoyed, even He Xin was no exception. He was aware of Prince An's intentions, but surrendering was better than being annihilated completely.
Unfortunately, before everyone could be happy for long, they received the news that Wei Jing was catching up. They were so frightened that they couldn't even hold the reins and were almost thrown off their horses.
He Xin was extremely anxious: "Should I stay calm? We only have 100,000 soldiers now. Once we are caught up,..." It would be very dangerous!
"Sir, I have a plan!"
The river breeze blew over from afar. Bai Gu glanced to the south. About twenty miles in this direction was the surging Nanshui River. Glancing to the other side, he saw a fork in the road leading directly to the Sixiang Mountain.
In a flash, he came up with a plan and shouted, "Sir, if you follow my advice, not only can you reach Cangwu smoothly, but you can also intercept Yang's army in one fell swoop, and he won't be able to catch up within ten days!"
Is there such a clever idea?
Everyone was delighted to hear this, and He Xin hurriedly said, "Sir, why don't you tell me quickly!"
Bai Gu pointed and said, "About thirty miles from here, we will reach Nanshui."
"The water in the south is surging, the river is wide and the current is fast. It is also the end of summer and the flood season is coming. Once the river bank is dug, a flood will come immediately."
That’s right, what Bai Gu was talking about was digging up the river embankment and artificially creating floods.
"We will immediately dispatch 30,000 soldiers and rush to the north dike of the South River. We will be able to dig the dike within two hours."
During such a turbulent flood season, once the river embankment is dug, flood water will immediately pour in rapidly. At that time, a huge flood would be formed, blocking the pursuers' way forward. They took a detour and headed straight for Sixiang Mountain, climbing up the mountain road to avoid the flood. Then cross the mountain road and continue forward.
It is easy to destroy the hole in the dam, but it is difficult to block it after it is dug. By then, even if Yang Ze gets the news and luckily avoids the flood peak, even if he wants to continue chasing, it will take at least ten days to take a detour.
By that time, Prince An had already successfully entered the pass and might even have captured Yiliang County.
"Then, Your Highness will be able to give him a head-on blow."
Bai Gu narrowed his eyes and spoke in a grim tone.
A clever plan, but also a vicious one. The counselor Liang Yu cried out in shock, "No, no! There are many towns and villages on the north and south banks of the river, and they are densely populated. How can we dig up the riverbank and flood the people!"
There are at least hundreds of thousands of people living on the north bank. Once the riverbank was opened, the sleeping people were caught off guard and a large number of them were flooded, with corpses strewn all over the ground.
The other counselors and generals were also shocked, and several of them echoed: "Yes, how can we flood the people!"
Most of the people here were born and raised in Yizhou. It was unheard of that they dug up the river embankment and flooded their homeland with their own hands.
Even He Xin was stunned and looked hesitant.
"Have you ever thought about what will happen to you if you are caught up by Yang Ze?"
Bai Gu looked around at everyone, then at He Xin, and shouted, "This is the only way to survive. If you don't do this, you will all be defeated and killed!"
Defeat and death?
He Xin shuddered. That's right, ordinary soldiers might still have a chance to survive, but he was doomed. If the thief Yang wanted to occupy Yizhou, he would never let him live.
He doesn't want to die, and he can't die!
He Xin made up his mind instantly: "Dong Gui, listen to my orders!"
"The bid is here."
"You must immediately lead 30,000 elite troops from the front and center armies to the northern bank of the Nanjiang River. Make sure you dig the bank before Yang Ze's army arrives."
He Xin did not choose people randomly. Dong Gui was his loyal confidant, and these 30,000 soldiers were elite troops that he had painstakingly cultivated over the years. They would fight wherever he ordered and their loyalty was extremely high.
"If it doesn't work, you'll come to me with your head!"
"yes!"
He Xin looked ferocious, and slapped his horse hard: "Go at full speed, no mistakes!"
The generals, officials and counselors looked at each other. Most of them disagreed, but no one wanted to die. Finally, they gritted their teeth and followed He Xin.
…
Thirty thousand soldiers headed straight for Nanshui, making such a huge noise that it could not be hidden from the scouts at all.
Wei Jing's marching speed was even faster than Bai Gu expected, so he was now faced with a huge choice.
After hearing the report, Han Xi made a rough calculation in his mind: "My lord, at the current speed of our army, we should be able to reach Sixiang Mountain before the levee is dug up!"
The scout was puzzled as to why He Xin divided his troops, so he sent one of them to follow him. Unexpectedly, when he saw the place, he was scared out of his wits.
But fortunately, he did not forget his duties. He carefully observed the speed of dike digging and then rushed back to report the news.
At this time, Wei Jing's army was about to reach the point where He Xin made the decision. Calculating the time and the speed of the two, if they took the fork in the road immediately, their army would be able to climb the Sixiang Mountain before the river embankment was dug.
Han Xi only put the interests of his lord first, and everything else, including his own life, had to be put back a shot. After a quick calculation to calm himself, he hurriedly said, "My lord, for safety's sake, we need to go faster."
“No!”
Lu Jian interrupted with a cry of surprise: "Are we not going to care about the riverbank? If we go at full speed, the riverbank will be dug up!"
If they can just take the detour and climb up the Sixiang Mountain, they can also rush to the river bank and stop the enemy's actions. The distance between the two is about the same.
Lu Jian said anxiously: "We should stop the enemy first, and then chase them!"
"General Lu is wrong!"
Han Xi frowned and said sternly: "If we stop the enemy's actions first, our chances of catching up with He Xin will be slim!"
Didn't he know that if he could climb up the Sixiang Mountain in time, he could also stop the enemy from digging up the river embankment?
But the enemy has 30,000 soldiers digging the dike, and they are lined up for a very long section. The dike has been dug to the very end. If you still send 30,000 soldiers over, you will definitely not be able to stop the enemy's actions in time.
In order to ensure success, the military strength must be at least ten or eight times that of the enemy, so that all enemy digging actions can be stopped with lightning speed.
The river bank is different from other things. As long as a small area is dug up, the result will be the same.
This would mean that Wei Jing would have to lead the entire army there and give up pursuing He Xin. If he wanted to continue chasing him later, he would have fallen behind by a large distance.
There are only two thousand soldiers guarding Cangwu Pass, and the pass is designed to defend against the outside but not the inside.
Once Prince An entered Yizhou, the consequences would be disastrous.
Not to mention the fierce and hard fighting, Wei Jing's identity would probably be exposed early.
The harm is enormous.
Before he has gained a firm foothold and has attracted the attention of the world, especially Emperor Luo Jing, his revenge plan will face many variables, and even the risk of failure will be greatly increased.
End up in failure?
Wei Jing understood clearly the pros and cons of all these matters. As soon as these four words flashed through his mind, his breathing immediately became rapid.
His mother and brother died tragically, and he could not rest in peace. One had just been deposed and cursed, and the news was announced to the world, and the other had just had his tomb destroyed and his grave dug out of his coffin.
He was miserable during his life and had no peace after his death.
His eyes became even redder, his cheeks twitched twice, and he looked ferocious.
He must avenge this great vengeance!
Han Xi shouted in his ear: "Lü Jian, we didn't dig the river bank!"
Yes, they were not the ones who dug the riverbank.
These people were happy to hunt him down even though he was seriously injured. Did they really want this to override the hatred for his mother and brother?
The smiling faces of his mother and brother flashed before his eyes, as well as his six-month-old nephew. The resentment and anger that had not yet been suppressed surged up again, burning his heart and lungs, and almost bursting through his chest.
He breathed heavily, his brows turned cold.
"My Lord!"
At this moment, Ji Huan, who was a little behind, rushed to catch up. He was so shaken that he almost fell off the horse, but he didn't care. He clasped his fists and said hurriedly: "My lord, I have been entrusted with an important task by the lady, so I dare not slack off."
"My lady once said that the lord was originally passionate, but he was harmed by a villain, which hurt him so much that his character changed. However, his faith has not been extinguished, which is why he suffered the dilemma in the past."
Ji Huan's words were vague, but those who had experienced the Pingtao poisonous salt incident understood it immediately.
“Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. A sword can injure people, but it can also protect them. A benevolent person brings blessings to all people in the world.
He repeated Shao Qing's old instructions word for word: "Madam said that whenever we have to make a choice in the future, I will ask me to give more advice and suggestions, and I will not dare to slack off."
Ji Huan bowed solemnly and said, "My lord, please think twice."
The author has something to say: This happened at an unfortunate time. Under normal circumstances, Wei would have remembered his promise to his wife, but now he has been reminded.
The process of finding my true self is a bit painful...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
