The terrain of Jingmen Mountain is dangerous, there are the twelve Bei Mountains of Jingmen that are entrenched and majestic, and there are Huya Beach where silver is poured down; It is connected with the peaks of Wulong Mountain in the south, and faces each other across the river from Huya Mountain in the north.

The poet immortal Li Bai once wrote a poem "Farewell to Jingmen", which wrote this artistic conception and momentum: "Crossing the Jingmen Outside, come from Chu to travel." The mountains follow the plains, and the rivers flow into the great wilderness. Under the moon, the flying mirror, the clouds are born and the sea is built. still pity the water of the hometown, and send the boat for thousands of miles".

Since ancient times, there have been more than 100 large and small wars here, the battle of Qinchu Jingmen, the battle of Gongsun Shu pontoon bridge to resist the Han soldiers, the battle of Yiling where Lu Xun burned the company camp, the battle of Liangchen Anshu City and other famous battles, all occurred here, it is really a place where soldiers must fight.

At this time, at the foot of Jingmen Mountain, there is an endless large camp, which spreads from the foot of the mountain to the halfway up the mountain, and tens of thousands of military camps are stationed again, similar to a mountain city.

To pass from here, you must pass through an official road here, surrounded by rolling mountain ranges, there is no good road to pass, especially the army through the mountains and mountains is very inconvenient, Li Jing's army to continue to advance eastward, must conquer the Liang army Jingmen Mountain camp here.

At the same time, the defenders of this Jingmen Mountain, the Yangtze River in the north, even if they take the waterway, they will encounter ambushes and interceptions by the defenders in the Linjiang area.

Unless you don't take Jingmen Mountain and take the road to the south, but if you want to go around for hundreds of miles, you will go deep into the hinterland of Liang State alone, and it is easy to be surrounded and annihilated and blocked in the land of two lakes.

Therefore, in the case that the southern Hunan region was not conquered, Li Jing's army did not dare to rush deep into the southern hinterland, the supply of grain and grass was difficult, the terrain was unfamiliar, and there were many swamps and rivers in the south, and the northern soldiers were not accustomed to the water and soil, and they were not like the northern part of the country, and they advanced rapidly, so they had to be cautious in their use of troops.

The route of Li Jing's attack was to conquer the cities on both sides of the Yangtze River along the Yangtze River, and use this as a stronghold, occupy the roots, and connect them in series, so that the supply of some materials, such as medicine, wine, cloth, etc., could not be transported from the rear, and the labor cost and turnover cost required were too high.

What's more, Jiangling, the capital of the Liang State, is located along the Yangtze River, giving a better choice for the route of the march.

Although economically speaking, Jiangling City is close to the river, the material operation is convenient, the transportation is convenient, the location of the city is important, and it also guards the risk of the Yangtze River.

However, from the perspective of the capital, it is too exposed to the front, and it is easy to be attacked by the enemy from the west, east, and north, and has become an important target for the first attack, which is not conducive to defense, and has no strategic advantage in the southern hinterland.

Jingmen Mountain City was in sight, and Mai Mengcai ordered the vanguard army to stop advancing, and to choose a location as a camp and prepare to set up camp.

Attacking such a Xiongguan is not something that can be won in a while, and it is inevitable that there will be a fierce battle, and it is necessary to set up the camp first and confront Jingmen Mountain City.

At the same time, Mai Mengcai sent a lot of scouts to repeatedly survey the surrounding terrain, especially between the mountains, fearing that there were ambushes outside, and the camp would be attacked quietly at night.

In terms of waterways, Xue Wanbei commanded 20,000 sailors and approached Huya Beach, a buffer zone between Jingmen Mountain and the Yangtze River, where there were also Liang's naval divisions stationed.

The sailors here came from the soldiers and horses of the Qingjiang estuary scribe Hong, who resisted the Dahua army here.

At dusk, Li Jing arrived with the Chinese army, and also set up camp to study strategic deployment.

According to the confession of Xu Xuanche, the captured general of the Liang army, the guard in Jingmen Mountain City was Yang Junmao, and the general of the sailor was Wen Shihong, both of whom were brave and good generals of Xiao Liang, and they were sent to carry out this arduous task to guard the west gate of Jiangling.

It was not easy for Li Jingguang to rely on the sailors and soldiers and horses in his hands to conquer the elite of the Liang army, which had geographical advantages such as Xiongguan and river beaches.

It is obviously difficult to use the last method of attacking the east and the west, diverting the tiger from the mountain, and attracting the enemy to send reinforcements.

That night, Li Jing discussed with Mai Mengcai, Yang Qi and others about countermeasures to break the enemy.

Li Jing stared at the military map and said: "According to Xu Xuanche's explanation, we already have a grasp of the defense situation of the mountain city and the river beach, and the enemy's defense is in the open, so we can turn the attack dark and take it by surprise!" However, the Liang army has a geographical advantage, and if they do not hold out, our strategy of luring the enemy will also be ineffective. ”

"That's true, if the Liang army doesn't come out, but hides in the mountain city, the river beach is strictly defended, not as easy as the last time, even if we know the defense situation, but there is no way to start."

A strategist worried: "Another point, after the people of the Liang army learned that Xu Xuanche was captured, they might be worried that he would defect to the enemy, or mutiny, strengthen the defense, or change the defense law, etc., it is possible, so the information and insider information we have may not be accurate enough, so think twice before acting." ”

"Makes sense. This worry exists. Li Jing nodded, since he was able to pass the pressure test and let Xu Xuanche confess some defense secrets, then the other party would definitely take precautions.

"For the sake of today's plan, when you send someone to check carefully, it is best to send someone to blend in into the mountain city camp to do some specific investigations to check whether the defense law is accurate, this is one of them. On the other hand, when it was necessary to borrow the soldiers and horses of General Hou Junji of Jiangbei, if they could force a landing from the area around the mouth of the Qinghe River, they would force Wen Shihong's naval army to retreat a part and reduce the pressure on the river beach. ”

"If General Hou can send an elite army to attack the rear of Jingmen Mountain City, and attack from east to west, the success rate will be greater, and the siege can also cut off their food routes, and then find countermeasures to break the enemy."

Li Jing listened to the suggestions put forward by the strategists and generals, synthesized together, thought about it, and finally agreed, kept his troops moving, prepared for a fierce battle, sent more scouts to explore the terrain and the situation in the city, and at the same time wrote a letter to Hou Junji in Jiangbei, so that this deputy marshal of Zhengnan should cooperate with him and deal with the main force of the Liang army in Jingmen Mountain.