In the thirty-eighth year of Qin Shi Huang, in mid-April, Hanzhong County, Baozhong County (Baocheng Town in the northwest of Hanzhong City), the young general Han Xin, faced the Shu general who had spoken a lot, his face was embarrassed, and he looked at Lu Jia on the side:

"Lu Junshou, what is he talking about?"

The commander sent by this Shu County is a native of the Shu people in Qinhua, although he has tried his best to pronounce it in Yayan, but it is still confusing, not to mention that Han Xin is a native of Huainan, and Guanzhong Yayan is also extremely bad, and there is still Chu Yin.

When the two met, they talked like chickens and ducks for a while, and the atmosphere was a little awkward.

Fortunately, Lu Jia, who has a talent for languages, is a translator.

"Du Wei said, I have heard the name of General Han for a long time, and in the first battle of Xicheng, tens of thousands ......of enemies were annihilated, and it is really a god and a man."

However, it was said that in February, Han Xin was ordered by Heifu to enter Hanzhong and accept the command of the partial division. At the same time, Dongmen Leopard led 20,000 people to attack Danyang in the east, making the illusion of abandoning Hanzhong, and Han Xin also asked everyone to return to Shangyong and give up Xicheng.

The Northern Army of Hanzhong planned to take back Xicheng, but it turned out to be surrounded by Han Xin, and he besieged but did not attack, and sent reinforcements through the encirclement point, knocking out half of the troops of the Northern Army of Hanzhong, so the Northern Army retreated and returned to Nanzheng, which could not be defended.

In March, Lu Jia entered Hanzhong and brought Heifu's order: Hanzhong attacked in a big way, Han Xin continued to march westward, and the Northern Army had been ordered by Xianyang, and it happened that the soldiers of Shu County also came from Jinniu Road, so they abandoned Nanzheng and retreated to Guanzhong, and the Northern Expeditionary Army took Hanzhong.

Hanzhong County is located between the Qinling Mountains and Daba Mountain, in fact, it is a long and narrow east-west basin, with jurisdiction over Xicheng, Nanzheng, Chenggu, Fu, Anyang, Xunyang, Baozhong, Fangling, Shangyong, Wuling, Yunyang, Changli 12 counties, most of which are concentrated along the Hanshui.

Han Xin ordered a ban on the looting of soldiers, Corporal Lixian, and publicized the policy of the Northern Expeditionary Army to appease the people of Hanzhong, and at the same time let Lu Jia and the Ba people recruit indigenous cóng in the local area for their own use—because Hanzhong still coexisted with Huarong, the Qiang tribe in the west, and the Ba people and the Eren in the mountainous areas, the Ba clan's mule and horse caravans were more influential there than the government, and the benefits of the marriage between the Heifu family and the Ba family's widow were reflected.

After the order in Nanzheng was slightly stable, Han Xin came to Baozhong, joined forces with 5,000 people from Shu County, and planned to march into Guanzhong......

Lu Jia has been going back and forth to Bashu Hanzhong for half a year, as a lobbyist, he naturally knows the local situation and geography well, he learns dialects everywhere he goes, and chats with the natives.

But I heard him say in front of Han Xin, Wu Chen, and the Governor of Shu County:

"There are three ways to enter the customs in Hanzhong, from east to west, one is called the eclipse road (meridian road), the second is the praise slope road, and the third is the old road......"

"We are in Baozhong, more than 30 miles to the north, is the starting point of the Bao slope, and its end point is at the foot of the highest peak of Nanshan (Qinling)."

Bao slope road is the official road of Guanzhong through Hanzhong, this road has a long history, long to the Western Zhou Dynasty, the king of Zhou You will crusade against the Bao country through this road, so the Bao country has to offer the praise......

In modern times, the slope is also the best choice to enter the Han Dynasty, Qin spent a hundred years, the road was repaired, Fan Ju built a plank road for thousands of miles, through Shu Han!

Qinling mountain is straight and steep, the middle flows through the Bao River, the mountains on both sides are really steep, almost perpendicular to the river surface, can only go to the cave mountain frame wood, the pavilion beam of the plank road plunges into the belly of the mountain at one end, the edge side path is in the ridge rock, the precipice stacks in the precipice, the other end is the pillar in the water, the water is big and urgent.

According to the map obtained by Lu Jia, the Baoxian Valley is 500 miles long, with a total of 2,275 stacks, almost every stack, it takes the lives of several people to build, even if the plank road is erected, it can only accommodate a car to go together, the outdated floating beam vibrates, all of them are dazzling, as long as one is not careful, the carriage and horse may fall off the cliff and fall into the river!

Han Xin bowed: "It's not easy to have a plank road, not to mention that right now, the plank road has been burned down by the Northern Army......"

The plank road is indeed gone, and when the Hanzhong Northern Army retreated, it was ordered by Xianyang, and it was burned all the way back, but in half a month, more than 500 miles and more than 2,000 pavilions were destroyed.

Lu Jia sighed: "It's a pity to think that it took Fan Ju ten years of hard work, countless financial resources and thousands of lives to cultivate this way, but today it is very easy to destroy. ”

"There is no plank road, and the slope is several times more difficult to walk than in the past......"

Han Xin felt dizzy when he thought about it, he went to Baogukou to inspect, but saw that in the vast sea of Qinling Mountains, the cliffs on both sides were tilted against each other, and they did not give in to each other, only barely leaving a narrow path in the middle, such a terrain made Han Xin, who grew up in the Huainan Water Township Plain, very unaccustomed.

Lu Jia introduced two other paths:

"Eclipse Middle Road, also known as Meridian Road, the south mouth is called Wu, in Chenggu County (Chenggu County, Hanzhong City) east of 160 miles, the north mouth is said, in the south of Shanglin 100 miles, there is Meridian Pass, the valley is 660 miles long, there are also some plank roads, according to the scout report, has also been burned."

"The old road is also known as Chen Cang Road, from the frustration (Hanzhong City, Mian County Chadian Town) back to the West Han River (frustrated water) up, into the valley line, the valley is 420 miles long, the whole journey is 652 miles, of which the road bends 80 miles, where 84 plates, out of the valley is the old road county Sanguan ......"

At this time, the lieutenant of Shu County, who had been silent for a long time, spoke, and after speaking a dialect that made Han Xin's head big, Lu Jia shook his head and said:

"The Qishan Road is too far, and the detour to Qishan is twice as long as the above three roads, which is thousands of miles! And along the way, most of them are barren land, and the army can go out of Qishan, but it is only to arrive in Longxi County, which is still separated from Longguan and Yongcheng by Xianyang. ”

In later generations, there was also a Fu Luo Road, which had not yet been opened up at this time, and it was uninhabited and not considered.

Han Xin nodded: "Therefore, if our army wants to carry out the policy of Wuzhong Hou, use the Hanzhong division to cooperate with the main force of Wuguan, and advance the two roads together, so that Xianyang can not take care of each other, so we have to choose from these three roads." ”

He looked at Lu Jia: "If you are Lu Junshou, what path do you want to take?" ”

Lu Jia said: "Even though the plank road has been destroyed, I still think that this way should be taken." ”

"There are two reasons for this, the first is that it's in the right place. The Baogu mouth in the south is facing Nanzheng, but thirty miles away, which is convenient for the centralized transportation of troops and grain, and the location of the inclined valley in the north is just near Meixian on the east side of Yongcheng. ”

"Second, there is a benefit that cannot be compared with other roads-Caoyun!"

"There is a Han River in the south that can be connected to Baoshui and go straight to the valley; There is an oblique water on the north side, which is directly connected to Weishui. ”

These four rivers form a convenient and fast logistics system that can bring more capacity. Although this road is steep because of the steep mountain ridge, the waterway drop is very large, and some sections of the road cannot be sailed directly, so it needs to be transported for a while, and then change to a land route, walk on the winding mountain road for a while, and then re-board the boat into the water, but it is also more convenient than simply climbing the mountain.

"But I thought that we should take the middle way."

Wu Chen, who was Han Xin's deputy, kept staring at the road east of the map.

"Although the three roads are similar, if you talk about the closest to Xianyang, it must be the middle road. Out of the valley mouth, is a horse Pingchuan Guanzhong, Du County in front, but dozens of miles, not far from the north is Xianyang, east to the near place is Bashang, can be inserted into the hinterland of Guanzhong in one fell swoop, if our army out of the erosion, Guanzhong will be a big earthquake! ”

Lu Jia thought it was inappropriate: "This is not a foolproof plan, the meridian road is narrow, it can be called a heavenly hell, there are stone caves and forests along the way for five hundred miles, and there were some plank roads before, but now after being burned together with the Bao Slope Road, it will be difficult for the army to walk, and it can only accommodate thousands of people." ”

"Moreover, there are no good people in the Guanzhong, and the Eclipse is too close to Xianyang, so it is difficult to hide it. Not only the soldiers were harmed, but also greatly damaged their spirits, and they must not be used. Or go to the slope, use the waterway to pass the grain, while repairing the plank road, slowly to advance safely. ”

"Why not?"

Wu Chen had a new idea: "The two roads go hand in hand, if the general can let Wu Chen lead 5,000 soldiers and 5,000 stone of grain, go straight out of the eclipse, follow the Qinling Mountains to the east, and go north when the meridian, but he can reach Guanzhong in ten days." When Guanzhong heard that Wu Chen was coming, he would raise a large number of troops to block, resulting in an empty rear, and General Han could take the opportunity to go out of the slope, and the west of Xianyang could be fixed in one fell swoop. ”

The argument between the two was to choose one or the other, or both, but Chen Cang's old way was ignored.

First, it is because the old road is the farthest away from Xianyang, and the second is that it is out of the old road, and it is necessary to face the dangerous scattered pass, as well as the enemy army concentrated in Yongcheng - after all, it is the former capital of Qin, and after the Hanzhong army withdrew, it was garrisoned in Yongdi.

But isn't it said in the art of war that those who are good at attacking, the enemy does not know what they are defending, and they are unprepared to attack them by surprise......

Listening to the argument between Lu Jia and Wu Chen, Han Xin glanced left and right on the map and smiled.

"If you march like this, you will be able to accomplish meritorious deeds!"

"The general has an idea?"

Lu and Wu looked at Han Xin and were about to ask him what his plan was, but they heard a report from a guard outside, saying that there was an order from the east from the Marquis of Wuzhong.

The three of them had to stop talking, went out to meet the military order, and returned to the Baozhong County Temple, which was solemnly opened by Han Xin.

The letter was full of good news that made people happy, such as Wang Ben was dead, Nanyang had fallen, tens of thousands of northern troops were captured, and the Marquis of Wuzhong had come to Wuguan, with Danyang as the front-line base, preparing to launch a general offensive in May and June after the army had gathered and the food was sufficient......

Therefore, he asked Han Xin to start a new round of the Northern Expedition during that time, and cooperate with the offensive of Wuguan, so that Xianyang could not take care of each other.

And at the very end, it is Heifu's advice to Han Xin on how to enter Guanzhong after he captured Hanzhong.

"Or you can cut the plank road openly, fake the erosion, and secretly cross the Chen Cang ......"

Han Xin was surprised for a while:

"Ming Xiu plank road, dark Chen Cang, its strategy, is exactly the same as Han Xin thinks!?"

"I did an on-the-spot investigation to get this strategy. But the handsome man sat in the curtain, and knew that thousands of miles away, it was really heavenly. ”

Han Xin couldn't help but sigh: "I was so young in the past, where did I have the courage to dare to say that Marquis Wuzhong is a general?" ”

……

PS: The road in Hanzhong customs clearance refers to Prince Ma's re-taking of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition Road, auspicious and free, and the house is safe.

Good night.