Soon, the Han army led by Liu Xiu drove out of Chang'an and went all the way west, heading straight to Hanyang County.

Hanyang County belongs to the central county of Liangzhou, with three counties of Anding, Wuwei and Jincheng in the north, Longxi County in the west, Wudu County in the south, and Sanfu in the east.

It can be said that in the war between Luoyang and Liangzhou, Hanyang County is the core of the contention between the two sides.

If the Han army can't take Hanyang, there is no need to say anything about approaching Liangzhou, if the Han army takes Hanyang, then most of Liangzhou's defense system will collapse.

The Battle of Hanyang can be said to be the first battle between the two sides, and it can also be said to be a decisive battle between the two sides.

After the Han army marched to Fufeng County, they set up camp in Fufeng, and Liu Xiu convened the generals and convened a high-level meeting of the military again.

The purpose of this meeting is to reorganize our own offensive arrangements.

The sand table was arranged in the Chinese military tent, and Liu Xiu and the generals stood around the sand table.

Liu Xiu pointed to the sand table and said: "Longguan, Qinting, Jiequan, Longxian, Qingshui, these five places are the primary targets of our army's attack.

And Longguan and Qinting, among these five goals, are the top priorities. ”

Longguan is a pass, Qinting is a small town, and they are not part of the city, but these two strategic places are just located at the junction of Hanyang and Sanfu, just like the two door gods, which the Han army must take.

Liu Xiu looked around at the generals and asked, "Which general is willing to fight Longguan?"

Which general is willing to fight Qin Ting? ”

The generals present looked at each other, but no one spoke.

Longguan is a small pass, Qinting is a small town, and it is not difficult to lay down these two places, in the eyes of the generals, people are more willing to go to Jiequan County, Longxian County and Qingshui County.

After waiting for a while, seeing that no one answered, Liu Xiu raised his eyebrows and asked, "What?"

Don't all the monarchs dare to fight Longguan and Qin Ting? ”

Ma Wu cleared his throat and said: "Your Majesty, it is easy to defeat Longguan and Qin Ting, and Weichen is willing to lead his troops to fight Longxian!" ”

Longxian is located between Jiequan and Qingshui, these three counties, from north to south in a row, located in the center of this column of Longxian, is naturally the most difficult to fight, but also the most strategic value.

When Liu Xiu decided to divide his troops to fight, Ma Wu set his sights on the goal of Longxian.

and Ma Wu are also thinking about Geng Yi and Wang Ba.

Ma Wu had already proposed to go to Longxian, Geng Yi was embarrassed to rob him, but Wang Ba didn't care about this, he said urgently: "Your Majesty, Weichen is willing to lead the army to attack Longxian, Weichen can make a military order, if you can't beat Longxian, you will go back to see Your Majesty!" ”

Ma Wu snorted angrily, glared at Wang Ba fiercely, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Weichen is also willing to make a military order!" ”

Scold! It turns out that they all want to fight the big ones, and no one wants to fight the small ones! Liu Xiu's face was straight, he pointed to Longguan and Qinting on the sand table, and said: "If our army wants to advance to Hanyang, it is very important for the competition between Longguan and Qinting.

Isn't the back road cut off? ”

As soon as his words fell, Fu Jun bowed his hand and said, "Your Majesty, Weichen is willing to lead the army to attack Longguan." ”

Liu Xiu looked at Fu Jun, with a smile on his face, nodded, and said, "Okay!" Longguan will be fought by Ziwei! ”

Zang Gong arched his hand and said, "Your Majesty, Weichen is willing to lead the army to attack Qin Ting." ”

Liu Xiu thought for a while and said, "Quasi! ”

Geng Yi arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, Weichen is willing to lead his troops to attack Qingshui." ”

Liu Xiu pondered for a moment and said: "Bo Zhao can capture Longxian, Zizhang will lead the army to capture Jiequan, and Yuan Bo will lead the army to capture Qingshui." ”

Ma Wu and Wang Ba glanced at each other, but neither of them spoke.

The two of them fought over a lot, and in the end, the task of attacking Longxian fell to Geng Yi.

Liu Xiu asked, "Who is not satisfied with such an arrangement, they can bring it up now." ”

"Wechen obeys!"

Where did the generals dare to disagree, they bowed down one after another to receive orders.

Under Liu Xiu's arrangement, Geng Yi led an army of 20,000 to attack Longxian, Ma Wu led an army of 20,000 to attack Jiequan, Wang Ba led an army of 20,000 to attack Qingshui, Fu Jun and Zang Gong, each leading 15,000 troops to attack Longguan and Qinting respectively.

Relatively speaking, it was easier to attack Qin Ting, and Zang Gong's task was to immediately march to Longguan after defeating Qin Ting, assist Fu Jun, and capture Longguan.

After that, the two armies marched westward to assist the attack of Geng Yi, Ma Wu, and Wang Ba.

As for Liu Xiu, he led an army of 10,000, as a maneuver, where the battle was unfavorable, where reinforcements could be made in time.

The deployment of the offensive was done, and the Han army began to act in batches.

The three Han armies led by Geng Yi, Ma Wu, and Wang Ba, with a total of 60,000 soldiers and horses, walked the opening mountain between Longguan and Qinting and entered Hanyang County.

Waiting for the beginning of the mountain, the soldiers were divided into three roads, respectively to Longxian, Jiequan, Qingshui.

After that, the two Han armies led by Fu Jun and Zang Gong also approached Hanyang County and marched towards Longguan and Qinting respectively.

In the end, it was the 10,000 Han troops under Liu Xiu's personal command who entered Hanyang County.

The troops and horses of all units marched in an orderly manner in accordance with the pre-formulated offensive arrangements.

The first to engage in the battle was Fu Junbu, who attacked Longguan.

The 15,000 Han army, under the command of Fu Jun, launched a fierce attack on Longguan.

There were a large number of defenders in Longguan, and they launched a stubborn resistance to the Han army that attacked them.

Longguan is located between two mountains, and it is also on the slope of the mountain, the terrain is high, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

When the enemy attacked, they didn't have to rush to the bottom of the city, and the defenders at the head of the city could throw rolling logs and gravel out.

Rolling logs and rocks that fall outside the city will tumble down the hillside, causing great damage to attacking enemy troops.

Now, the Kui Huan army guarding Longguan is using rolling wood and stone in this way, looking at the dense attack on the hillside of the Han army, the defenders will hoard the rolling wood and stone in the pass and throw it to the outside of the city in a steady stream, and the rolling wood and stone roll down the hillside all the way, the attacking Han army, many soldiers because they can't dodge, don't roll down the rolling wood, the stone knocks down, crushes, the sound of screams, endlessly, at the same time, the defenders on the head of the city are still shooting arrows.

After a whole day of fierce fighting, the Han army not only failed to capture Longguan, but suffered great casualties of its own.

On the other side, the Han army led by Zang Gong also launched a fierce attack on Qin Ting.

The information that the Han army had previously was that the defenders in Qin Pavilion were only a few thousand, but now that the two sides were fighting against Mai Mang, the Han army suddenly discovered that the enemy army in Qin Pavilion was far more than a few thousand, but no less than 20,000 people.

The Han army that took the initiative to attack the fortification was only 15,000 people, and the defenders who had the geographical advantage were 20,000 people.

Liu Xiujun's camp is located at the foot of the Kaitou Mountain.

The battle reports from the front kept coming back one after another, and the soldiers who reported the news went in and out of the Chinese military tent, and the soldiers who arranged the sand table were busy.

Lai Xi looked at the situation on the sand table, turned around and said: "Your Majesty, the attacks of the two armies of Jixuan (Fu Jun) and Fuwei (Zang Gong) have both been blocked!" ”

Liu Xiu stepped forward and said: "General Fuwei has just sent back a letter, the enemy army guarding Qin Pavilion is no less than 20,000, and thirty-seven barracks have been arranged around Qin Pavilion, and our army's offensive has been blocked. ”

Listening to Lai She's introduction, Liu Xiu's eyes fell on the sand table, and his face was solemn.

The battle reports of Longxian, Jiequan, and Qingshui have not yet been transmitted, but according to the battle reports of Longguan and Qinting that were transmitted back first, their offensive was not smooth, and the number of enemy troops, the preparations before the battle, and even the will to fight exceeded their expectations.

Liu Xiu rubbed his chin and said quietly: "According to our report, the enemy's soldiers and horses in Hanyang are about 100,000, and here in Qinting, the enemy army has arranged 20,000 soldiers and horses, and in Longguan, the enemy army has 10,000 soldiers and horses, and in these two places alone, the enemy army has 30,000 soldiers and horses. ”

This kind of arrangement of troops is very abnormal in Liu Xiu's opinion, only in the two small places of Longguan and Qinting, 30,000 soldiers and horses are arranged, and the remaining 70,000 soldiers and horses are to defend the entire territory of Hanyang County.

He muttered, "Is it true that the enemy army is in Hanyang County, and there are only 100,000 soldiers and horses?" ”

Lai She's face also became solemn, looked at Liu Xiu, and was silent.

Even he, a layman, felt that the enemy's strength in Hanyang seemed to be more than 100,000.

Just when Liu Xiu was worried about the battle situation in front of him, the battlefield ahead finally came back with good news.

The Han army, led by Ma Wu, defeated the defenders of Jiequan in one fell swoop and successfully captured Jiequan City.

The Han army, led by Wang Ba, defeated the Qingshui defenders in one fell swoop and successfully captured Qingshui City.

These two battle reports came back, causing a cheer in the Chinese military tent.

Lai Xi inserted the two-faced little Han chess on the sand table, and then said to Liu Xiu with a smile: "Your Majesty, the two generals who captured and captured the two generals lived up to their expectations and captured Jiequan and Qingshui, which made our army finally have a foothold in Hanyang!" ”

Liu Xiu's face also showed a smile, he held the case on the sand table with both hands, looked down at the situation on the sand table, and said: "Don't be too happy, five goals, now it's just two first."

Next, it's up to Bo Zhao! ”

As long as Geng Yi successfully takes Longxian again, then the situation will be a great advantage for his side.

Longxian, Jiequan, and Qingshui are connected in a line, which is equivalent to cutting out the two places of Longguan and Qinting from Hanyang County, making these two places become isolated places, and the enemy troops stationed in the two places have also become lonely soldiers, and it is only a matter of time before their own soldiers annihilate them.

The war evolved rapidly, and the focus of the battle was also concentrated in Longxian from the eastern battlefield of Hanyang.

Geng Yi led 20,000 Han troops and attacked Longcheng on a large scale.

Unlike the defenders of Jiequan and Qingshui, the defenders of Longcheng were numerous, but they were unusually tenacious.

More than 10,000 defenders began to defend the city of Longcheng, and every time the soldiers of the Han army were about to tear apart the defense of Longcheng, they were finally repelled by the defenders.

Once it was like this, twice it was like this, and it was like this for three days in a row, and every time it was like this, which made Geng Yi's heart solemn, and he felt that the defenders of Longcheng were deliberately showing weakness, in order to drag their own side here in Longcheng.

Geng Yi was very keen, and when the soldiers of the Han army thought that the defenders of Longcheng had become the end of the strong crossbow, he sensed that something was wrong, and specially sent a large number of spies to the two wings of Longcheng to investigate.

After half a day, the spies sent by Geng Yi returned and brought back two shocking pieces of news.

The previously defeated defenders of Jiequan and Qingshui, totaling more than 30,000 enemies, were moving closer to their own side from the north and south, as if they were about to form a situation of encirclement on their own side.

The generals of the Han army who heard the news were all surprised.

Geng Yi frowned and said: "In the battle of Longcheng, our army can no longer fight, we must retreat immediately!" ”

A partial general had a look on his face and said: "General, the defenders of Longcheng are already at the end of their crossbows, and they are fighting the trapped beasts, retreating at this time, isn't it...... What a pity? ”

"Yes, General, in the three days of continuous siege of the city, our army has suffered thousands of casualties, and now retreat, thousands of brothers have been killed and wounded, and the efforts of the past few days have ...... It's all in vain! ”

"Please think twice, General!"

Geng Yi said with a deep gaze: "If our army does not retreat now, and we can't take Longcheng, when the enemy troops from the north and south arrive at Longcheng, our army will be deeply encircled, and there is a danger of annihilation!" ”

"General, the last general has confidence that he will take Longcheng today!"

"General, the last general is confident to take Longcheng!"

Everyone spoke one after another.

Geng Yi narrowed his eyes and didn't say anything for a long time.

Now evacuated, give up halfway, he is also unwilling, and he can't swallow this breath, but the question is, can he really capture Longcheng?

What if you still can't conquer it?