Tongguan is the east gate of Guanzhong, has always been the place where soldiers must fight, the surrounding mountains are even mountains, peaks and peaks, the valley is deep and the precipice is exclusive, the mountain is high and the road is narrow, the middle pass is a narrow sheep intestine path, only one car and one horse can be allowed to go back and forth, known as the name of the road to stop Tongguan in the world.

This level is a veritable one-man pass.

Because the terrain is steep, easy to defend and difficult to attack, once the Tongguan is controlled, the connection between the northwest and the pass is almost blocked.

Throughout the ages, it is really difficult to conquer Tongguan, and under Tongguan, there are countless undead soldiers.

Although Tongguan is the northwest and east gate, the geographical location is extremely important, but guarding this pass has always not needed too many troops, even in the face of a million male troops, as long as there are hundreds of people to hold the pass, the enemy army is also difficult to advance, and the soldiers and horses in the pass also have enough time to come to support.

When Qu Yuangu Town guarded the northwest, the control of Tongguan in the early years was not in the hands of Qu Yuangu, but was stationed by the imperial court appointed by the generals, just because the garrison generals exploited and squeezed the merchants, and Qu Yuangu used the topic to play, and then deposed the original guards, with the help of Queen Qu's pillow wind, Qu Yuangu sent his henchmen to guard Tongguan as he wished, and a few years ago he transferred his son Xue Ren to Tongguan to help him guard the east gate.

Qu Yuangu also fought in the south and north in his early years, although he did not make many military exploits, but after all, he also had qualifications, and he also had a group of soldiers who had followed him for many years, this Xue Ren was pulled up by Qu Yuangu, and before Xue Ren was sent to Tongguan, he accepted Xue Ren as his righteous son, and Xue Ren was as loyal to his father-in-law, according to the private words of those colleagues, like a hunting dog raised since childhood.

As the sun set, the guards above Tongguan saw a group of cavalry appear from the west from afar, and immediately reported to Xue Renyu.

If there are soldiers and horses from the east, the horn will sound above Tongguan as soon as possible, and the Tongguan defenders will also be ready for battle in the shortest possible time.

The stone walls of Tongguan are heavy, and they are really an impassable barrier, and the walls are extremely high, because of the terrain, those siege weapons such as ladders and the like are not of any use at all.

The team coming from the west was naturally their own family in the eyes of the defenders, but the sudden appearance of hundreds of horsemen still made the defenders a little strange, Xue Ren was also a little surprised when he got the report, and quickly arrived at the head of the city, overlooking it, the cavalry was already close in front of him.

"It's a warrior under the eldest prince." Xue Ren breathed a sigh of relief, he was a confidant of the Qu family, and he naturally knew the situation of the Qu family very well.

According to the eldest prince, there are many people in the northwest who have a grudge against him, and he must have an elite guard by his side to protect his safety, Qu Yuangu gave him a number of 300 people, and the eldest prince recruited 300 people, these people are indeed strictly trained, and well-equipped, even the salary is far above the Northwest Army.

The money spent on raising a mere three hundred guards was, of course, a drop in the bucket for the Qu family.

As soon as he saw the equipment of the cavalry, Xue Ren recognized it at a glance as Qu Manbao's warriors.

He wondered in his heart, these three hundred Xiaoshi are Qu Manbao's guards, and they have always been only responsible for guarding Qu Manbao's safety, and Qu Manbao is now guarding Xianyang, and he has a great responsibility, of course, he will not leave Xianyang easily, in this case, why did his Xiaoshi come to Tongguan?

He doubted in his heart, so he did not immediately go down to meet him.

The cavalry team finally stopped in front of the pass, Xue Ren only glanced at it casually, and knew that the number of the other party was about three hundred, that is to say, almost all of the three hundred warriors of the eldest prince were dispatched, and he was even more puzzled in his heart, so at this time, he suddenly saw a person walking out of the team, and each rode on the left and right, and saw that the person Xue Ren was in a heart, but the person who had already recognized it was Qu Manbao.

"The eldest son!" Xue Ren hurriedly shouted at the head of the city, "Why are you here?" ”

He was full of energy and his voice was loud.

Qu Manbao was dressed in armor and wearing a battle helmet, raised his head, and did not speak immediately, he glanced at him together, coughed lightly, and held down the handle of the knife with his right hand, Qu Manbao glanced obliquely, the corners of his eyes twitched, and finally raised his head and said: "Xue Ren, is there a battle report ahead?" ”

"Back to the eldest prince, the general led the army like a bamboo, and he has already conquered two cities." Xue Ren said in a loud voice: "There is no new war report at the moment, if there is a battle report, my subordinates will immediately send someone to Xianyang." ”

"I have something to discuss with you." Qu Manbao said: "You open the door first." ”

Tongguan is a pass, there is a gate on both sides, between the two heavy walls, but it is very spacious, the defenders eat, drink, Lasa and sleep are all in it, and there are warehouses in it, storing food and drinking water, in addition to a lot of weapons are also stored in it.

Xue Ren was about to order someone to open the door, but his arm was only half raised, but he didn't continue to raise it, and he hesitated for a moment before saying, "Eldest prince, you came in person, I don't know what you want?" ”

"Open the door first." Qu Manbao said: "There are some things in Xianyang that I can't decide, come and discuss with you." ”

"Xianyang?" Xue Ren was suspicious in his heart, and said with a smile: "The eldest prince, the duty of the subordinates is to guard Tongguan under the order of the general...... The subordinates didn't dare to talk more. ”

The cavalryman beside Qu Manbao coughed lightly again, and Qu Manbao immediately said, "Don't talk nonsense, open the door and talk about it." ”

Xue Ren felt more and more that something was wrong, and glanced at the team behind Qu Manbao, and before he could speak, he heard Qu Manbao say loudly: "Xue Ren, I heard that those two cities were conquered by Manchu Ying's troops, is that so?" ”

"Exactly." Xue Ren immediately said: "It is indeed the little prince who personally led the troops to attack. ”

"He has made great achievements in the pass, do you want Lao Tzu to wait in Xianyang?" Qu Manbao suddenly scolded: "I thought about it, you go to Xianyang to defend in place of me, I will lead the troops into the pass, catch up with the army, and attack Luoyang with my father." ”

When Xue Ren heard this, his heart that was originally a little tense suddenly relaxed.

Qu Manbao appeared in front of him with three hundred warriors, and Xue Ren was really surprised, he didn't know what Qu Manbao wanted, and he heard Qu Manbao only tell himself to open the door, his speech was vague, and he was suspicious in his heart.

Qu Manbao's temperament he naturally understands quite well, this eldest prince has the heart to fight for merit, but it is not uncommon, arched his hand and said: "The eldest prince, since the general left you in Xianyang, there is naturally a reason for the general." Xianyang is an important place in the northwest, the general is worried that the army will enter the customs, the rear is empty, there will be ill-intentioned people to take the opportunity to make trouble, leaving the eldest son, naturally because the eldest prince has the ability to take charge of the side, as long as you are in Xianyang, no one in the northwest dares to act rashly, if the eldest prince rashly enters the customs, this ......! ”

"What, what should I do, I need you to teach me?" Qu Manbao's tone was not good.

Xue Ren hurriedly said: "The subordinates don't dare. It's just that the eldest prince asked his subordinates to go to Xianyang to guard the town, and his subordinates didn't dare to take orders. The subordinates are shallow, and they are already worried day and night about guarding Tongguan, where are they qualified to guard Xianyang. The eldest prince, his subordinates dared to persuade him, although the little prince made meritorious contributions in the Guannei, but if the eldest prince ensured that the northwest was peaceful during the general's expedition, it would be a credit that no one could compare, and the general would be very happy. ”

Qu Manbao thought for a moment before he said, "I'll think about it first, and then open the door first." ”

If it were someone else, Xue Ren might not open the door, but Qu Manbao asked again and again, and he had no reason to shut Qu Manbao out of the door, and said, "The eldest prince will wait a minute, and his subordinates will open the door for you immediately." ”

After Xue Ren disappeared from the city, Qu Manbao breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately his face was ugly, and he didn't look back, just said: "General Qi, I have followed your instructions and asked him to open the door, and I also hope that you can keep your promise." ”

"Don't worry, eldest prince, I said that as long as you helped me, I would never hurt you." A cavalryman behind Qu Manbao said with a smile: "This time I won Tongguan, the eldest prince has made great contributions, and in the future, there will never be less wine and beauties." ”

The cavalry who spoke, naturally, was Qi Ning.

Qi Ning led the troops to attack Qu Manbao's camp at night, forcing Qu Manbao to kneel and beg to surrender, but Qi Ning did not delay, selected three hundred elite soldiers of Chu State to change into the clothes and equipment of Xiaoshi, and then forced Qu Manbao to come to Tongguan with his team.

Tongguan terrain is dangerous, from the Guannai into the northwest, there is a narrow road, narrow and difficult to travel, but from the northwest into the Guannai road is much more spacious.

But even so, Qi Ning also knew that it would not be easy to storm Tongguan, even if there were many people on his side, and the troops were strong, but even if Tongguan was really taken in the end, the Chu army would inevitably suffer countless casualties.

In fact, he had already prepared for the worst, and he was ready to pay a heavy price.

However, a secret letter changed Qi Ning's original battle plan.

Qi Ning led dozens of warriors to take the two checkpoints in the meridian road of the Qinling Mountains in a row, but the Xianyang side knew nothing about all this, Qi Ning waited at the checkpoints for a few days, and the soldiers and horses led by Duan Canghai finally arrived in time.

In this surprise attack on Xianyang, Qi Ning temporarily transferred troops in Xichuan and got rid of Li Hongxin, the king of Shu, Qi Ning immediately commanded the assembled 10,000 soldiers and horses to march north.

Qu Yuangu led his troops into the customs, Qi Ning knew that in a short period of time, the attention of the northwest must have been all on Qu Yuangu's Northwest Army, and no one would notice the movement on Xichuan's side, but after a long time, there will be many dreams at night, and a surprise attack on Xianyang, naturally the sooner the better, and it cannot be delayed.

In order to ensure the secrecy of the march, Qi Ning and Ban Yun deliberately staged a drama in Hanzhong to encircle and suppress the wandering bandits, and Duan Canghai had already led nearly 10,000 soldiers and horses into the Qinling Mountains quietly.

According to the prior combat deployment, Qi Ning led 2,000 people to attack Tongguan, while Duan Canghai led the main force to launch a surprise attack on Xianyang.

Compared with Duan Canghai, Qi Ning had no experience in marching and fighting before, he knew that the surprise attack on Xianyang was not child's play, and he must hit it with one blow, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable, so he arranged Duan Canghai, who had rich combat experience, to lead the troops to attack Xianyang.

The main force of the Northwest Army has entered the pass, and there will inevitably be not many soldiers and horses left behind in Xianyang, and the defense will be weak.

Out of Qinling, just as the troops were divided, Qi Ning suddenly received a secret letter very unexpectedly.