The situation in Dongpingzhou was so critical for the Qing army that once these two towns in Dongpingzhou were defeated, the Manchus' idea of relying on their superiority in strength to quickly take Shandong and then coerce Zhili would also fail. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

In turn, it would become the side with a military disadvantage, and it would have to be forced to withdraw from Shandong and hold on to Jiangsu, once this happened, the original plan of the Manchus would be completely defeated.

At the three passes of Yiyang, under the order of Wang Bin, the army was continuously assembled, and soon the number reached five divisions, plus a special task force.

The offensive of the three passes of Yiyang is also about to be launched under the command of Duan Qirui, and in Xinyang before the three passes of Yiyang, Duan Qirui is discussing with Xu Dajun, Ma Longbiao, Liu Wangzhen and others about the tactics of attacking the three passes of Yiyang.

"What do you think about attacking the three levels of Yiyang?" In the garrison of the Xinyang Northern Army, Duan Qirui spread out the map and wanted to ask the advice of several other military commanders.

On the map, the three passes of Yiyang are like a nail, which stubbornly blocked the intention of the northern army to use the Jinghan Railway to go directly south.

"These three levels are a bit difficult to play, the distance between the three levels is not too far, and it is really difficult to fight against each other."

After watching it for a long time, Liu Wangzhen really couldn't find any effective way to directly win the three levels of Yiyang.

After watching it for a while, Ma Longbiao and Xu Dajun agreed that they should take Jiuli Pass first, in their opinion, although Jiuli Pass is steep, it is the best place to fight.

After Duan Qirui heard Ma Longbiao and Xu Dajun's opinions, he also nodded suddenly, in Duan Qirui's opinion, Jiuli Pass was indeed the easiest to win a pass.

"My thoughts are similar to yours, although the place of Jiuliguan is a situation of two mountains and one valley, but it is precisely because of these two mountains that it is inconvenient for Wushengguan to support, as long as you can take Jiuliguan in one day, it will be much easier for this Yiyang Sanguan to fight again."

After Duan Qirui's words were finished, Liu Wangzhen still looked a little puzzled, and some wondered why it was Jiuli Pass instead of Pingjing Pass, you must know that although the road between Pingjing Pass and Wusheng Pass is close, it is also a little difficult.

chose Jiuliguan, which made Liu Wangzhen a little confused, so Liu Wangchong said what he didn't understand.

As soon as he heard this, Duan Qirui began to explain.

"Yes, although Pingjing Pass can also be used as a key point for attack, after sending a reconnaissance team to conduct a detailed reconnaissance, we gave up the idea of making a gap from Pingjing Pass.

Between the Wufeng Ridge and the Phoenix Mountain in the Tongbai Pass, there is a section of about five or six kilometers called the first line of heaven, and Pingjing Pass is in it, and this line of heaven is really unable for us to deploy our troops, so we have to give up the idea of attacking Pingjing Pass and attack Jiuli Pass instead. ”

Duan Qirui's words finally solved Liu Wangzhen's question, it is impossible to deploy troops in the terrain of the first line of sky, and there is a pass inside, unless the soldiers launch a fierce attack regardless of casualties, it is possible to take Pingjing Pass.

"Ladies and gentlemen, after capturing Jiuli Pass, we can collectively attack Wusheng Pass from the front and side, once we take Wusheng Pass, and then go south to control Xiaogan, and then take Hanchuan, so that we can choke the Han River and the Yangtze River, there is no natural danger on this road, and there is Han Water and Yangtze River Hydropower, how to fight Wuhan and Jingzhou."

Duan Qirui's words directly said the criticality of this battle, and Hubei is within easy reach.

The Jiuli Pass at night is brighter under the night, as one of the important defense lines of the Southern Army guarding Hubei, the defense of the Jiuli Pass has always been the top priority, both day and night at the pass There are two teams of soldiers patrolling back and forth.

Bright fires lit up the gates as if they were daylight, but there was a large shadow below.

Looking up from the bottom of the pass, you can clearly see the figures of soldiers patrolling back and forth above the pass.

"898, 899, 900, the captain has calculated, the Qing army's patrol interval is once a quarter of an hour."

"A quarter of an hour, enough for us to go up, everyone began to prepare for a quarter of an hour, and immediately boarded the pass while the Qing army was patrolling the blind spot."

The person who spoke was a sturdy man, but his figure was hidden in the darkness, and he could vaguely see that there were many people under this shadow.

After the man finished speaking, an extremely low voice suddenly came.

In the blink of an eye, a quarter of an hour passed in this silence, and a group of Qing troops passed above the pass, and the sturdy man suddenly said: "Everyone pay attention, the mission begins, and you must not use firearms to startle snakes unless it is critical." ”

After the leader finished speaking, he was the first to throw the flying claws vigorously, and after making sure that the flying claws hooked the wall above the pass, he began to climb up along the rope.

The people behind also began to use the flying claws to climb up, and after these people climbed to the pass, they all lowered their bodies one by one, holding their waists and constantly walking forward.

As soon as they had walked a short distance, the leading strong man saw five or six soldiers with their backs to them, constantly patrolling the soldiers below the pass.

Suddenly, the strong man in the lead made a gesture, and several people suddenly appeared among the people behind, holding a slightly longer flute in their hands, and blew towards the Qing army.

The Qing soldiers not far away suddenly felt as if they had been pricked by something, and when they were about to touch it, they suddenly felt that their eyes had become flowery, and the whole person was confused.

When these Qing soldiers began to dangle around, the strong man behind suddenly led people to rush up and drag these Qing soldiers over.

A moment later, in the shadows above the pass, several soldiers wearing Qing army uniforms walked out, continued to the place where they had been standing, and began to stand guard.

In these fifteen minutes, the strong man and his men have solved five such outposts, and just as they are about to make a move on the next outpost, another group of Qing troops began to patrol.

Seeing that he was about to collide with those patrolling Qing troops as long as he turned a corner, he was able to collide with his own group of people, and the middle-aged man didn't know what to do.

There is no place to cover up at this pass, it is directly a relatively wide open space, seeing that the patrol team of the Qing army is about to turn a corner, this middle-aged man looked at the wall, and suddenly had a plan. (To be continued.) )