In mid-October, heavy snow was already falling on the Han River.

A man in a black kudzu robe in the wind and snow stood on the riverside like a sculpture looking at Fancheng on the north bank, looking at his eyes and hiding inexplicable complex emotions, as if he was so dilapidated that the city in front of him, which had been famous all over the world thousands of years ago, was so dilapidated today.

A dhow awning boat sailed and stopped in front of the river beach to pick up the man in the grub and take the man.

"It's only October, and Xiangzhou is already so cold! If the army continues to the north, and then to November and Layue, I am afraid that the winter clothes worn by the generals will not be enough. A thin, sallow man with a sallow face emerged from the cabin, crouched on the narrow bow of the awning boat, and spoke to the man in the kudzu robe.

At this time, there were two patrol ships sailing from the upper reaches of the Han River, and they thought that the dhow and canopy ship going upriver was a merchant ship bound for Liangzhou (Hanzhong), and they did not pay attention to it and passed by by by mistake, and they did not mean to intercept and interrogate.

Liangzhou is located in the source of the Han River, since ancient times is also the place where the soldiers must fight, at this time it is the territory of the Shu King Wang Jian, the Xingyuan army that guards Liangzhou is also the Liangzhou Thorn History Wang Zongji is the general of Shu and the righteous son of Shu Wang Jian.

The Liang state was powerful, and Shu and Great Chu were both threatened by the Liang army, so although Xiangzhou and Liangzhou were connected by the Han River, and Jingzhou and Rongzhou, which belonged to the two countries in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the border was safe and secure, and they exchanged trade.

Shu and the Xifan tribes traded with each other, and most of the military horses needed by Great Chu were also trafficked from Liangzhou through Han Shui.

The yellow-faced man on the bow of the canopy saw that the patrol ship in Xiangzhou had passed by like this, and he also sighed slightly, and said to the man in the ge-robe: "Xiangzhou Assassin Du Chongtao strengthened the defense from the front line of Nanyang Old County, sent elite search and inspection of the mountains and forests, and guarded against the meticulous work of Xuzhou and Ruzhou, but I didn't know that in the past few days, many suspicious characters have borrowed from Hanzhong and infiltrated Xiangfan and Yingzhou to reconnoiter the truth - according to the adults, we did not dare to make any rash moves, but this year, the Liang army in Ruzhou and Xuzhou has been strengthened a lot, If it is possible for the Liang army to control the entire territory of Caizhou, it is difficult to guarantee that they have no ambitions for Nanyang (Dengzhou) and Xiangzhou......"

The man in the kudzu robe sat on the bow of the boat, looking at the snow-covered mountains on both sides.

At the beginning of October, Emperor Tianyou ordered the third prince Yang Yuanpu, Marquis of Linjiang, to command the envoy of the Longque Army and lead the northwest camp to recruit deputy envoys, and the matter of the Longque Army participating in the battle from the direction of Dengxiang was finally determined.

Even if the Longque Army escorted the waterway with the Lou Boat Army and the Navy Division, it was not possible to catch up with Xiangzhou in three or five days, and the man in the Ge robe was the deputy commander of the personal guard in the Longque Army tent who first went to Xiangfan and Nanyang to inspect the military situation, and Han Qian, who joined the army in the left division; The yellow-faced man is Tian Cheng, the head of the Zuo Sibing household.

Han Qian went to Xiangzhou first with Li Zhihe, the capital of the Dragon Bird Army, and Li Zhihe wanted to enter Xiangcheng to see Du Chongtao, the northwest camp envoy, the Xiangzhou assassin and Deng Xiang's defense envoy, and handed over the upcoming entry of the Dragon Bird Army, Han Qian did not go with Li Zhihe to see Du Chongtao.

Seeing that he would not be taken seriously, Han Qian took Tiancheng to pick him up by boat, and went west to inspect the terrain and military situation, so as to make more preparations for the Dragon Bird Army to enter Xiangzhou, so as not to cause a big leak anywhere.

Xiangfan and Nanyang, which are located between Daba Mountain, Qinling Mountain, Funiu Mountain, Tongbai Mountain, and Dahong Mountain, were the areas most severely damaged by the war.

In the early period of the former dynasty, the Nanyang Basin between the mountains was one of the most important granaries in the Central Plains, breeding and breeding millions of people.

Within the Nanyang Basin, further south to the northern part of the Jianghan Plain, there is hardly a slightly decent city to be seen at this time. Even if there are still displaced people living in the region, most of them gather in the Wuthering Mountains and forests, unwilling to accept the rule of any party.

It has not been a few years since Dachu controlled Jianghan, Jingnan, Xiangfan, Nanyang and other places, and at present, the northernmost part is only to rebuild Xiangzhou City on the south bank of the Han River, and it has recuperated for three or five years.

Fancheng, which is adjacent to the north bank of the Han River, is still in ruins, not to mention Xinye, Wancheng, Fangcheng and other places in the north of the Nanyang Basin.

However, the Ruzhou soldiers and horses of the Liang State and the Shouzhou Army under the command of the Chu general Xu Mingzhen have been confronting and seesawing on the Caizhou front line for many years, and are currently establishing defenses in the southern and northern mountain passes of Caizhou to divide Caizhou.

Caizhou is located on the east flank of Fangcheng, the entrance to the Nanyang Basin.

Although at this time in the Nanyang Basin, only 35,000 soldiers and horses controlled by Xiangzhou were divided into the northern strongholds-the main force of the Xiangzhou defense envoy, mainly guarding the cities along the Hanshui River-the defense was not very tight, but before the battle for Caizhou was divided, the Liang army only sent a partial division every time, bypassing the strong walled city, attacking Nanyang, Xiangfan and other places, and did not have the intention of occupying the Nanyang Basin for the time being.

This is mainly because the Nanyang Basin has been completely disabled, before the battle for the first line of Caizhou has not been decided, the Liang army forcibly marched to occupy the Nanyang Basin, on the one hand, it is necessary to send a large army to confront the Chu State that controls Xiangfan, on the other hand, it is also worried that the grain route from the hinterland of the Liang State will be cut off by Xu Mingzhen's troops at any time, resulting in its soldiers and horses entering Nanyang completely reduced to lonely soldiers.

It's just that the situation doesn't stay constant forever.

Regardless of whether it is Liang Guo or Da Chu, although there have been infighting and factional entanglement in the past few years, there has been no large-scale war for three or four years of recuperation, and the strength has been improved to a considerable extent.

Since the beginning of autumn this year, in addition to Xuzhou, Liang has recruited a lot of troops and horses from the prefectures of Shannan West Province to gather a lot of troops and horses in the south of Ruzhou, that is, in the northwest direction of the Nanyang Basin.

Of course, if the Liang State does not use troops this year, the Chu army will also consider stepping out of Xiangcheng and strengthening the defense north of the Han River.

This is not just the conclusion reached by Han Qian and Tian Cheng after the Zuo Si scouts spied on the movements of the Liang army, the Privy Council is also full of such worries about the western flank, this time in addition to sending the Dragon Bird Army to reinforce Xiangzhou, it also requisitioned troops from Jiang'e and other twelve states along the Yangtze River.

Together with the reinforcements of the Xiangzhou garrison, the Longque Army, and the 12 states of Jiang'e, it is expected that 50,000 soldiers and horses will be assembled at the end of October to prevent the Liang army from moving south.

Han Qian and Tian Cheng didn't take a boat for long, although the place they were going to was connected by waterways all the way, but the speed of the traditional dhow sailing up against the current was still too slow.

The canopy boat docked on the river beach more than ten miles west of Fancheng, and there were more than a dozen Zuo Si scouts leading horses waiting for Han Qian and Tian Cheng.

Han Qian then marched west along the dilapidated trail on the north bank of the Han River, and then advanced north from the Danshui Estuary to the hinterland at the southeast foot of the Qinling Mountains.

Inside and outside each walled city, there were more or less homeless people living in settlements, or cultivating fields, and when they saw Han Qian and them passing by, their eyes were full of vigilance, even if they did not swarm in, they were not afraid to reveal the rudimentary weapons they possessed, as a warning.

Of course, leaving the Danjiang Ancient Road and going to the deep mountains and old forests at the southeast foot of the Qinling Mountains, there are more cottages controlled by the displaced people, which are not under the rule of Dachu at this time.

The consequences of a hundred years of chaotic war are all on display here.

Danjiang Road, also known as Wuguan Road or Lantian Pass, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, was the key pass of Qin and Chu for hundreds of years, as one of the four stops in the Guanzhong, Wuguan, as the southwest gateway of the old Great Qin, is located in the mountain gorge in the upper reaches of Danshui.

However, for such an important passage, both Liang and Chu were temporarily unable to exercise full control, and each only established a small number of outpost fortresses at both ends of the Danjiang Road or the Shangyu Ancient Road.

However, compared with the enemy army attacking from this pass, the sentry forts built by the two countries were more worried about the invasion of the rogues in the deep mountains and old forests on both flanks.

After hundreds of years of chaotic wars, millions of people have been wiped out, and most of those who can survive and even thrive in this area are the rogue bandits who gather in the deep mountains, and many are the remnants of the outcast army who fled into the mountains after being defeated.

The Longque Army entered Xiangzhou and went directly north to Fangcheng, the northern pass of the Nanyang Basin, to confront the main force of the Liang Army assembled in the north, which was very unrealistic.

After all, the northern part of the Nanyang Basin is barren, and even if the Liang State sends a partial division to attack it, there is nothing to plunder.

On the contrary, the western flank can even take the initiative to let the main force of the Liang State attack the Nanyang Basin, so that on the one hand, they can open the battle line and supply line of the Liang army, and on the other hand, the Chu army will intercept it along the Hanshui River, and there will be more convenient conditions for fighting against the Hanshui.

The problem is that in the early stage of the outbreak of the war, it was impossible for the Liang army to break into the Nanyang Basin without authorization, so could the Longque Army be waiting for the rabbit in Xiangcheng or Fancheng?

In this way, it is possible that in the end, there will be no war to fight.

Han Qian, Xinchang Hou Li Pu, Li Zhihe and others repeatedly discussed the plan that the Longque Army could implement after it arrived in Xiangzhou, and finally determined that it should go up the Danjiang River in the early stage, on the one hand, it could try to threaten the Guanzhong region of the Liang State from the direction of Shangzhou, and on the other hand, it could recover the walled cities along the Danjiang River and train the Liukou Mountain bandits along the line, so as not to drag it out to the later stage of the war, so that the recruits could directly face the brutal and fierce Liang army.

Even if you can't fight with the main force of the Liang army in the end, it is a good credit to recover and consolidate the Danjiang River.

According to this drafted plan, Han Qian rushed to Xiangzhou first, and did not follow Li Zhihe into the city to meet Du Chongtao, so naturally he first wanted to go southeast of Wuguan to the Danjiang Estuary, and then touch it again.

On the north bank of the Han River, I changed horses and went north, walked along the broken ancient road for a day and a night, and entered the Jingzikou in the west of the old county of the former Chaochuan River.

This place is the place where Jing the prince of Chu defended the Qin army in the Spring and Autumn Period, so it was named Jingzikou, and it was also the place where the six ancient cities were built along the 800 miles of Danshui in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and it was the key pass of the soldiers and horses in the Liang State Pass to attack the Nanyang Basin in the west.

The defenders of Xiangzhou reorganized the remnants of the city here, set up an outpost fortress here, and stationed a battalion of soldiers and horses to prevent the Liang army from a possible surprise attack from Shangzhou.

Fan Dahei and Lin Haizheng were sent by Han Qian to the Dengxiang area as early as mid-September to collect the situation, and at this time, they were also ordered to enter Jingzikou first and wait for Han Qian's arrival.