Two days later, Liu Juntao led the Longxiang army and 30,000 soldiers of the Beijing battalion from Beijing, marched west from Jingcheng Pass, and arrived at Taiyuan Fucheng all the way through Yanmen Pass.

At this time, Yan Hu, the chief officer of Taiyuan Town, had already led the officers and soldiers of the Yingyang Army to set off and was heading towards Madouguan in Pingyang Prefecture, while the remaining soldiers of the Tiance Army in Shanxi were also all drawn and were converging towards Madouguan.

Liu Juntao led a large army of soldiers to be stationed in Taiyuan Fucheng for a day, during which Liu Juntao ordered Xue Tong, the commander-in-chief of Datong Town, to temporarily hand over the defense of Shanxi to him, and be sure to do a good job in the defense of the west of Shanxi, just in case.

The next day, Liu Juntao led his army to continue westward, and three days later the army arrived at Madouguan.

Matouguan is located in the west seventy miles of Daning County, Shanxi, and is an ancient pass. It has been recorded in the Geographical Chronicles: Daning County has Madouguan, and the south of the Guannan is bordered by the Yellow River.

In the early years of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court set up an official ferry in Madouguan and set up a patrol on duty. In the ancient eight views of Xizhou, "Ma Jian Liuqing" refers to this place.

When the army drove to Madou Pass, the soldiers of all departments of the Tiance Army had gathered here, and the entire Madou Pass had become a huge military camp, and more than 100,000 troops could not all enter the Guancheng to station, so they had already set up large camps around the Guancheng at this time.

I saw that Madou Guandong is adjacent to the towering mountains, west of the surging Yellow River, it is the soldiers who have fought for it since ancient times, and among the mountains and rivers, countless banners are swaying in the wind, and countless bright red armor soldiers are patrolling back and forth, and it looks magnificent from afar.

At this time, Yan Hu, the chief military officer of Taiyuan Town, Sun Xu, the chief military officer of Pingyang Town, Chen Ziping, the chief military officer of Zezhou Town, and Gao Ran, the chief military officer of Lu'an Town, rushed to meet Liu Juntao.

Then, everyone surrounded Liu Juntao to inspect the camps, and finally climbed the city wall of Madouguan. The camp of Long Xiang's army was in Guancheng, and Liu Juntao's temporary Chinese army was also placed in Guancheng.

Yan Hu, the chief military officer of Taiyuan Town, who arrived here in advance, naturally acted as a guide and introduced the situation of Madouguan to Liu Juntao: "Bingxian, this Madouguan is also a famous place, and there are many ancient buildings on the pass, among which Cao Xianyuan Temple, Hua Niangniang Temple, and North Temple are the most famous. In front of us is the Cao Xian Temple, which was built in the first year of Yuan Dade......"

Everyone walked all the way, saw the entire Madou Pass, and then came to the Chinese army hall in the gate together.

After Liu Juntao sat down, he gossiped with everyone for a while, and then said: "The army was stationed in Madouguan for a day, and after a little trimming, it continued to drive, what is the situation of the various departments now?" ”

The head of the military department said to the group: "Qi Xian, Zhou Zongsheng, the chief military officer of Hanhai Town, has led the officers and men of the Changshui Army to set off and camp in the area of the Tula River in the Hanhai Metropolitan Protectorate, and it is expected that in three days, the 50,000 troops of the Hanhai Metropolitan Protectorate will arrive from the iron cavalry, and after the two armies are rectified for a day, they will march to the Juyanhai area according to the plan." ”

"Good!"

"Qi Qi Bingxian, at present, the money, food, and military equipment transported by the household department and the military department are enough for the army to meet the needs of the army for 40 days, and follow-up materials are being raised and transported."

Tang Yu, Minister of Commerce, also made a report, and Guo Yongzhong, Minister of Civil Affairs, also made some additions.

"Good!"

Liu Juntao looked at Liu Zi'an, the minister of intelligence, and asked, "What is the current position of the soldiers and horses of the Qi Gasilan Division?" ”

Liu Zi'an said in a deep voice: "Qi Bingxian, according to the intelligence sent yesterday, the current 300,000 troops led by Qi Jiaslan have captured Shazhou Wei and Andingwei, and are currently looting around Shazhou Wei and Andingwei. At the same time, the 100,000 troops of Jiaslan were storming Jiayu Pass, and the soldiers guarding the pass and the reinforcements from Gansu Town were resisting the attack of the Tartars. ”

Liu Juntao nodded and groaned, and then said: "Order the chief military officer of Gansu Town, order him to continue to hold on for at least fifteen days, Jiayu Pass fell to the sixteenth day, Benxian forgives him for his innocence, if he keeps it for one day less, Benxian will let his head fall to the ground!" ”

"Order!"

After understanding the current basic battle situation, Liu Juntao ordered the officers and men of all units to seize the time to rest and prepare for the march.

A day later, Liu Juntao led all units of the Tiance Army and 30,000 soldiers of the Beijing Battalion to set off and marched west from Madouguan.

The soldiers of the army went west through Yan'an Mansion and Linzhao Mansion and arrived at Suzhou Wei in eight days.

At this time, the soldiers and horses of various departments in Gansu have gathered in Jiayu Pass, and most of the soldiers and horses of the Jiaslan Department are still looting people and property, and they have not regrouped because of the dispatch of the Ming army, only the 100,000 troops outside Jiayu Pass are on guard.

Liu Juntao breathed a sigh of relief, that Jia Silan was exhausted before, and he was also a Hu clan, but now his power is expanding, but he is beginning to stagnate, and he didn't take advantage of the main force of the Ming army to take Jiayuguan first, which is really lucky!

"Bingxian, there's bad news......"

Liu Zi'an said with some hesitation.

"Let's say, as long as Jiayuguan is not lost, the situation will not be corrupted."

Liu Zi'an sighed and said, "I just got the news from the general of Gansu Town, Chen Hongliang, the chief officer of Gansu Town, was killed. ”

Liu Juntao stood up abruptly and asked, "Speak clearly!" ”

"Three days ago, Chen Hongliang, the chief military officer of Gansu Town, saw that the Tartar army was not attacking the city, so he led more than 10,000 soldiers to take the initiative to go out of the pass, wanting to raid the Tartar army, but was ambushed outside Jiayu Pass, surrounded and annihilated by 100,000 Tartars, and none of the more than 17,000 soldiers below Chen Hongliang, the chief military officer of Gansu Town, survived!"

"Greedy for merit!"

Liu Juntao was annoyed and shouted at the Tatars: "This constitution has strictly decreed: as long as you hold Jiayu Pass, it is a great achievement, he Chen Hongliang is self-righteous, he has to behead and make meritorious service, he wants to die himself, and he has to bring more than 17,000 soldiers to the funeral together, what a bastard thing!" ”

Everyone in the Chinese army sighed, Liu Juntao was right, since the enterprising spirit of the Tartar army had been relaxed, the defenders could completely defend the city and wait for the main army to arrive, and there was no need to fight this battle again.

"Who is in charge of Jiayuguan now!"

Liu Zi'an said: "Huang Tianming, deputy general of Gansu Town. ”

"How's this guy?"

"It's useless!"

Liu Zi'an said worriedly: "Bingxian, this person is a hereditary official position, and he hasn't fought much, Jiayuguan is a bit dangerous!" ”

Liu Juntao no longer hesitated, and immediately shouted: "Yan Hu, the chief military officer of Taiyuan Town, obeys the order!" ”

Yan Hu clenched his fists and said, "The end will be!" ”

"Immediately lead the Eagle Yang Army to set off and take over the defense of Jiayuguan!"

"Order!"

Yan Hu paused and asked, "Bingxian, what if Jiayuguan has already been lost when the last general arrives?" ”

Liu Juntao groaned for a moment and said, "According to the danger of defending to the death, delay the attack speed of the Tartars!" ”

"Yes!"

Four days later, Liu Juntao, who was leading the army to advance towards Jiayuguan, received an urgent report: Yan Hu, the chief military officer of Taiyuan Town, had arrived with his troops and taken over the defense of Jiayuguan, and was now organizing troops and horses to defend it to the death.

At the same time, Yan Hu also wrote in the urgent report: There are still more than 40,000 defenders in Jiayu Pass, and the current strength is full.

Liu Juntao breathed a sigh of relief, and ordered the army to speed up its march, and at the same time ordered the troops and horses of Shaanxi who had come to the round to also speed up their march, so as to meet at Suzhou Wei west of Gansu Town in two days.

Suzhou Wei.

When Liu Juntao ascended to the top of the city, the army was already ready to go, and the 100,000 soldiers of the Tiance Army, the 30,000 soldiers of the Beijing Battalion, and the 40,000 troops of the Shaanxi Army converged into an endless sea of red, and were rolling towards Jiayuguan in the west.

At this time, counting the Yingyang Army and more than 40,000 defenders in Jiayu Pass, Liu Juntao's strength of the South Road Army is about 230,000, which can be described as strong!

With these 230,000 troops in hand, let alone holding Jiayu Pass, even if it is a decisive battle with the 300,000 troops under the command of Jiasilan, Liu Juntao is sure to win, but the casualties of the army will be very large.

What Liu Juntao was thinking about at this time was how to win the battle with the least casualties.

On this day, Liu Juntao received the last battle report from Zhou Zongsheng, the chief military officer of Hanhai Town: The Changshui Army and the Hu Congjun Iron Cavalry, a total of more than 60,000 soldiers have gone deep into the desert and are advancing towards Juyanhai.

In a few days, the Iron Cavalry will enter the desert inaccessible desert, so the connection with the southern army will be cut off.

Liu Juntao immediately replied to the last order: he will do his own thing outside!

At this point in the war, Liu Juntao can only seize the fighter in time by giving Zhou Zongsheng the greatest power and letting him do his own thing.

What's more, Zhou Zongsheng has more than 60,000 iron cavalry troops in his hands, such a force can be described as an invincible existence in the desert, even if Hamiwei can't hit it with one blow, the iron cavalry army can calmly retreat, which Liu Juntao is not worried about at all.

Two days later, Liu Juntao led his army to arrive outside Jiayu Pass.

Jiayuguan is located in the middle of the narrowest valley in the west of Gansu, this valley is only less than ten miles, the city wall on both sides of the city pass crosses the desert Gobi, the north is connected with the Great Wall of Montenegro, the first pier in the south is connected to the world, it is the westernmost pass of the Great Wall of Daming, it was called the throat of Hexi in history, because of the dangerous terrain, the building is majestic, it has the world's first Xiongguan, the key of the lock.

Jiayuguan was built in the fifth year of Hongwu, composed of the inner city, the outer city, Luocheng, the urn city, the moat and the north and south wings of the Great Wall, with a total length of about 120 li. The Great Wall city platform, pier platform, fort city are dotted around, by the inner city, the outer city, the moat three lines of defense form overlapping and defending, forming a defense system of five miles and a sui, ten miles and a pier, thirty miles and a fort, and a city of one hundred miles.

The plane of the gate city is trapezoidal, and it is composed of the outer city, the inner city, the Luo city, the urn city and the annexes of the city tower. The inner city is the center of the city, with a circumference of more than 600 steps, and the city wall is nine meters high, and a five-foot high battlement wall is built on it. There are two gates in the inner city, the west is called "Rouyuan", the east is said to be "Guanghua", there are three layers of city towers built on it, the four corners of the city wall are built corner towers, and the north and south walls are built in the middle of the enemy tower. Outside the two gates, each build an urn city, the doors are all open to the south, the east is called "Chaozong", and the west is called "Huiji".

There is Luo City in the west of the inner city, which is in the shape of "convex", wrapped in blue bricks, and the height is the same as that of the inner city. Luocheng middle protruding part of the ticket door, for the main gate of the city, the door forehead engraved "Jiayu Pass" three words, the door to build a building. There are corner towers at the south and north corners of the city. The south, north and east periphery of the inner city are all built with the outer city, the west is connected with the Luo city, the south and north are parallel to the inner city and form a sandwich road, which can be used for the passage of cars and horses, and the northeast corner is built on the "gate", and a three-room gate tower is built on the upper floor.

There is a ditch ten paces wide and one zhang deep five paces away from the wall. There are also official wells, barracks and ancillary buildings such as Wenchang Pavilion, Guandi Temple, and theater inside and outside the city.

At this time, Liu Juntao saw the majestic Jiayuguan, and his heart was also excited.