The attack on Wuping Pass was not the first time for General Kutulu, who had experienced a hundred battles.

I remember that when the old khan was still alive, General Kutulu followed the old khan Tuoba Hao, knocked on the pass and attacked Chu. Although the Chu people are not strong in attack, they do a good job in defense.

Wuping Pass is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and there are three fortresses and multiple lines of defense in Guancheng. There is a city inside the city, and there is a moat outside the city, forming a heavy city and defending it. Wupingguan is composed of the inner city, the urn city, the Luocheng city, the city moat, and three three-storey three-eaves mountaintop type high-platform pavilion buildings and moats, the Great Wall peak, etc. Outside the east and west gates of the inner city, there are urn city guards. The urn city gate is open to the south, the west of the west urn city, there is Luo City, the middle of the Luo city wall is set up in the west, and the lintel is inscribed with the three words of "Wuping Pass". ①

The so-called knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent is invincible. It was precisely because he knew how difficult Wuping Pass was to break through that General Kutulu did not underestimate the enemy, let alone attack Wuping Pass. He strictly adhered to the Khan's deployment, stalled for time, and only made feints. Xiang Qiang's army seems to be terrifying, but in fact, it is a bit whimsical to conquer Wuping Pass with this bit of soldiers and horses.

This is already the fourth day, and General Kutulu has set up camp outside Wuping Pass, wanting to continue to delay. And Alam and Abutai have already quietly separated from Khutulu's army and marched in two directions, east and west. Kutulu crossed his fingers and estimated, at this time, the two of them should be almost at the border of Southern Chu.

However, General Kutulu overestimated the speed of their march. The east and west lines are detours, and the east line has to cross the Dongling Mountains, and the mountain roads are muddy and not easy to walk. General Kutulu would have to hold out for at least another five days to make sure the plan was foolproof.

Seeing that General Kutulu was so worried, the adjutant general said comfortingly: "The people of the Central Plains are as timid as rats, and they have long been scared by us, so why should the general worry?" As long as the heavy troops are stationed under the city of Wuping, the Chu people will be like a great enemy, and they will not dare to act rashly. ”

General Kutulu said cautiously: "I remember that the guard general of Wuping is Feng Rubing, he is a bold and careful person. If he sees that we are underarmed, he may counterattack. ”

"Impossible." The deputy general looked incredulous, he had always despised the Chu people, and felt that with the courage of the Chu people, how could he dare to open the city to face the battle?

"Another siege tomorrow." General Kutulu ordered, "Tie the horse's tail to the branches of the tree to create the illusion of grandeur for the enemy." ”

"The last general commands."

The next day, General Kutulu led 100,000 soldiers and horses to attack the gate of Wuping Pass. On the Wuping Pass, the guard general Feng Rubing saw that the enemy was menacing, and the yellow sand was all over the sky, and it seemed that there were hundreds of thousands of troops. He had already received a report from the intermediary placed by Qingyun, saying that Xiang Qiang had sent a total of 200,000 troops, and I am afraid that it was all pressed on Wuping Pass.

On the first day of Xiang Qiang's attack on Wuping Pass, Feng Rubing asked the imperial court for help and asked for more troops. Later, he borrowed troops from nearby states and counties, and gathered another 20,000 or 30,000 to resist the "200,000" enemy army.

Fortunately, General Kutulu did not immediately attack the city, but only sent cavalry to harass and raid. Feng Rubing didn't know what the enemy was looking at, so he could only strengthen his defenses and prepare strong crossbows and boulders to resist the enemy.

"Archers prepare." Feng Rubing stared at the opponent's cavalry, and after seeing them enter the firing range, he immediately said, "Release the arrow." ”

In an instant, arrows shot from the sky to the bottom of the tower.

Xiang Qiang's cavalry hurriedly dispersed, and General Kutulu immediately ordered: "The infantry stepped forward, feinted on both sides, and did not advance. ”

The infantry held shields and supported the cavalry from the left and right. Feng Rubing watched the opponent's cavalry withdraw from the firing range, and he was furious. General Kutulu has been hanging their appetite for the past few days, and they have been lingering, and they have not been able to fight and fight, but they cannot let it go. Feng Rubing thought to himself that Xiang Qiang must have done it on purpose, just to wait for them to relax and take Wuping Pass in one fell swoop.

However, Feng Rubing never expected that Xiang Qiang did not mean to do this, but was afraid that after approaching, the enemy would see that they were short of soldiers and horses.

At this time, the Southern Chu court finally received Feng Rubing's distress report. Suddenly, the whole court was panicked, they hadn't clashed head-on with Xiang Qiang for several years, they thought that such a peaceful situation would continue, but they didn't expect Tuoba Yan to just clean up the Black Rock Department, and he couldn't wait to take a bite of the fat in the Central Plains.

The focus of today's meeting is to discuss the attack on Wuping Guan Xiangqiang.

The old lady Xu Liqing is a veteran of the Three Dynasties and an emperor. Now that the emperor has not yet been in power, it is only fitting for him to stand up and preside over today's court meeting.

Mrs. Xu took the lead and said: "Yesterday, I received an expedited 800-mile rush from Wuping Pass, and Xiang Qiang's 200,000 troops invaded our border again. ”

As soon as these words came out, there was a lot of discussion in the court. Many ministers have not yet recovered from the defeat of Yangcheng back then. Hearing that Xiang Qiang had invaded the realm again, some timid officials were already timid before they fought.

Old Lady Xu saw the ministers discussing in a low voice, coughed a few times, and said, "Everyone, be quiet, be quiet!" If you have any ideas, everyone will stand up and express their opinions. ”

Look at me, people, and I'll look at you. When it was time to stand up and speak, no one dared to take the lead in expressing their opinions.

When Mrs. Xu saw this scene, she only felt that she had more than enough heart but not enough strength. Today's imperial court, gangs and intrigues, all of them are masters. But if something really happened, when it was time for them to make a plan, no one said anything.

The ministers didn't dare to move, so Mrs. Xu had no choice but to name and say: "The secretary of the military department, what do you think." ”

"Minister, minister...... "The military department Shangshu Khan rained down, and he said in a slurred voice, "This...... The defenders of Wuping Pass had about 100,000 people, and there was a huge disparity in the strength of the enemy and us, so the minister believed that the troops should be increased as soon as possible. ”

After listening to what the military department Shangshu said, everyone rolled their eyes, and silently commented in their hearts: nonsense!

Everyone knows that there is a need for more troops, but where is there a lot of troops?

"What about the household, let's talk about it too." Mrs. Xu did not comment on the remarks of the military department, but instead asked the household department, "Is there enough grain and grass?" ”

“…… Grain and grass, insufficient. Hubu Shangshu was forced to be helpless, so he had to tell the truth.

Mrs. Xu already knew this. However, Emperor Zhao Ruize, who was sitting above as an ornament, finally couldn't help it, and he asked, "How can it be insufficient?" ”

Hubu Shangshu cried and said: "Your Majesty, since the defeat of Yangcheng, Xiang Qiang has plundered countless wealth of my Great Chu, making the people miserable. After the Holy Emperor ascended the throne, he reduced taxes and recuperated. The flood of the year before last and the drought of last year also cost tens of millions of taels, and now the state treasury is eating more than it can make ends meet. ”

Zhao Ruize has been under the teaching of Mrs. Xu for many years, ignoring things outside the window, and only reading sage books. Every morning was just for show, and he didn't listen carefully to the deliberations of his subordinates. This time, after hearing Hubu Shangshu crying poor, he realized that he had received a mess.

Zhao Ruize thought to himself, obviously located in the wealthy Jiangnan, he didn't expect to fall into such a field. If you don't have money, you can't fight, and now that Xiang Qiang's soldiers are in the city, it's rare to be like Yangcheng again, is the country ruined?

Zhao Ruize didn't want to be captured in Danyang City anymore, and the rest of the officials were also worried, they discussed for a long time, and finally someone stood up and said the word "peace".

"No, no." Some people immediately objected, "Before the war, we will negotiate peace." Isn't it that Xiang Qiang people looked down upon. ”

"Wuping Pass has been broken, and it will be too late to negotiate peace."

"Your Majesty, how can you be cowardly before you fight?" Mu Hou Ye finally couldn't stand it anymore, he stood up and said to Zhao Ruize, "Although the old minister is old, he is still willing to fight on the battlefield for Dachu and the saint, and he will never give up. ”

"General Mu's courage is commendable." Mrs. Xu said, "The saint is wise, and the old minister does not agree to negotiate peace now." It's just that now there is a shortage of food and grass, and soldiers and horses are limited. It is better to recruit troops and raise food for military use. ”

"I'm right." Zhao Ruize thought to himself, he finally had a suggestion that seemed reliable, how could he not agree immediately?

"Holy. Lao Chen remembered that the Xiang army of several state capitals near Wuping Pass added up to tens of thousands of people, so why not transfer the Xiang army to support first? Mu Houye proposed.

"The closest to Wuping Pass is Yongzhou." Mrs. Xu asked the military department, "How many Xiang troops are there in Yongzhou?" ”

"About fifty thousand." Bingbu Shangshu said.

"Then transfer the 50,000 troops in Yongzhou to support Wuping Pass." Zhao Ruize said.

Mrs. Xu is a conservative person, and he vaguely feels that something is wrong, "Your Majesty, it's better to adjust half and keep half." In the unlikely event that a Qiang attacks from elsewhere, there will be no troops to defend. ”

"Didn't Xiang Qiang's soldiers and horses all gather under Wuping Pass?" Zhao Ruize asked rhetorically. He really didn't know what these old ministers were worried about.

Mu Hou Ye also said: "Old lady Xu, the top priority is to hold Wuping Pass first. First, 50,000 troops were transferred to rescue the emergency, and after the forbidden army of the imperial court went to the border to help, it was not too late to withdraw. ”

Mrs. Xu saw that the two of them were against her, and the rest of the ministers were all grass on the wall and had no opinions. Seeing this, Mrs. Xu had no choice but to bow down and agree: "The minister respectfully obeys the holy will." ”

However, no one expected that such a transfer of troops would just fall into the trap of Tuoba. Because within the jurisdiction of Yongzhou, Jingyang County and Qu'an County are just included.

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(1) From: Introduction to Jiayuguan.