For Tongguan, Li Chuang is no stranger, the original battle of Nanyuan, Li Zicheng was defeated by Sun Chuanting here, and only eighteen horsemen fled into Shangluo Mountain. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Tongguan terrain ravines vertical and horizontal, the plateau is everywhere, it is easy to set up ambushes, especially from the golden steep pass to the east city gate, the five-mile passage is narrow and steep, and the south depends on the source of the Niutou Mountain, the army enters, if it is in the ambush, it is really called every day should not be, and the earth is not spiritual.

Li Chuang was originally an expert in setting up ambushes, so of course he was cautious about this, and he set off with the main force in advance to search the ravines on the Tongguan Plateau.

The return of the sentry horse was that in the Niutou Plateau, it was driven away by the strong sentry cavalry of the Ming army, and Li Zicheng judged that Sun Chuanting must have an ambush in the area of the Niutou Plateau, and Jin Steep Pass could not go.

Therefore, in the afternoon, after his horse infantry army passed through the stone bridge of the ancient Donggou in Xiyu at the junction of Henan and Shaanxi, they all camped on the Pingchuan River five miles away from the Jinshu Pass, north and east of the Niutou Plateau.

This Sichuan is adjacent to the Yellow River in the north, although there is a step-like layered plateau, but the drop is roughly not large, almost a flat plateau, suitable for camping. There are many villages in Kawakami Plateau, but of course they are empty at this time. The hills and hills along the river were also controlled to ensure that the army could drink water.

Not only that, Li Zicheng also ordered to build a bridge over the east ditch, a stone bridge, which could not meet the needs of the army.

Li Zicheng's old camp was set up in an abandoned village called Shapo, which was located between two gentle plateaus in the north and south. After setting up camp, Li Zicheng took a group of generals and staff to look at the terrain, they first looked at Jin Steep Pass, and frowned in unison.

"Donkey ball, such a dangerous place, how many deaths our righteous army has entered, and we must not leave."

A thunderous voice sounded, but it was Liu Zongmin, who was the same as Li Zicheng. He wore a white felt hat and a blue arrow jacket, and his blood-stained cloak was covered with two knives pinned to his waist.

As Li Zicheng's right and left hand, he has been born and died for many years. What terrain can fight and what terrain can't fight, Liu Zongmin naturally saw at a glance.

"Liu Ye is right, not to mention that it is easy to be ambushed from the Jinshu Pass to the east gate of Tongguan, that is, to go in, the area around the east gate and the north gate is narrow and steep, and our soldiers and horses can't be put away, and don't talk about attacking the city."

Liu Xiyao, the general of the right battalion system, also said. As the former general of the Fifth Battalion of the Left Revolution, after joining the camp, he was entrusted with reuse and served as a general, and Liu Xiyao also tried to express himself on many occasions.

Yang Shaofan's expression was as solemn, with such terrain, his battalion could not play at the same level.

"It's just that this is the only official road to the west, don't go here. Elsewhere, I am afraid that it will be difficult to carry heavy luck. ”

Tian Jianxiu said that his duty is also to be responsible for the logistics of the whole army. Of course, it is necessary to consider the passage of baggage.

This official road controlled the east-west traffic, although there were roads elsewhere, but such as the village-level roads in later generations, could only pass through the villages, and if you want to travel for a long time and pass through the big cities, you have to take special national roads. Even if it works by taking the trail. I often don't know how many unjust roads to detour, and many roads are not suitable for large baggage traffic.

The traffic is heavy, and the road surface is very demanding, and the artillery has to be towed. The roads need to be better, just as tanks can't move on ridges.

The road is important to the baggage, and everyone in the camp certainly understands, Gao Yigong muttered: "If our righteous army captures Niutouyuan and arranges soldiers and horses along the slope of the loess lane, then we will not be afraid of officers and soldiers setting up ambushes." ”

Gao Yigong is now the military position of Shuai Biaozheng and the mighty general, in charge of the main old battalion soldiers and horses, which is considered a high authority, and this position in the history of Yuan belongs to Zhang Nai, but in the battle of Luoyang that year, he has been killed by the Shunxiang army.

And they all looked at the bull's hill, and when they looked up from the bottom, it was like a mountain range. This hill lives in the south of Pingchuan, crosses the ancient east ditch of Xiyu at the junction of Henan and Shaanxi, spreads from east to west, and extends to the side of Yuanwanggou.

There are still a lot of trails on the plateau, and it is easy for the horse infantry to go up, which can be regarded as a countermeasure.

However, Li Guo said: "The southeast of Tongguan is Qilin Mountain, the mountain is the city wall, the city wall is the mountain wall, the foot is the deep ditch, and the layout is strict. Even if you cross the five-mile official road, whether it is soldiers and horses or baggage, I am afraid that it will be difficult to bypass the city wall to the south of Tongguan. The soldiers and horses could not be set aside, and the siege was still useless. ”

Everyone in the camp knows Tongguan very well, and they also have a steady stream of whistle horses to return, and they know the terrain of Tongguan by heart, so no matter how you look at it, this road will not work.

Liu Zongmin frowned and said: "It seems that we can only go up to the plateau, rush over from the distant wanggou, and when we reach the south plateau, the tide of our righteous army can be placed." ”

Tian Jianxiu frowned deeply, he didn't dare to imagine, how many difficulties would be caused to logistics by the upper and lower hills, the ravines and ravines, especially when the artillery arrived, how could he cross the deep ditch?

The generals discussed here, and the literati beside them did not speak, this kind of tactical layout is not their forte, and they are all better than them when they break out, and their advantage lies in strategy, so they did not speak, so as not to be despised in vain.

"Let's take a look around."

Li Zicheng made a decision, and a thousand horsemen escorted them to gallop under the plateau, and finally selected a abandoned village called Northwest Village to go up the plateau.

Although there are many trails, only here is a little slower, and the road is easier to walk.

Everyone walked along the road, and the upper path was not steep, but it was also winding, circling and twisting and turning.

The steep walls on one or both sides extend, full of weeds and vines, uneven, occasionally dotted with a few low jujube trees and dogwoods, the bare earth walls seem to be like that for thousands of years, with an indescribable sense of desolation, as if immersed in thousands of years of historical vicissitudes, that kind of heavy and deep pressure in people's hearts.

The road surface is very dry, occasionally a gust of wind passes, the yellow dust is raised, revealing a dry heat, the road is not wide, many places are so narrow that the wheelbarrow can not pass, and there are some broken ditches across from time to time, making the road surface even more uneven.

Tongguan is like this here, the erosion of long-term flowing water, coupled with the strong permeability of loess, and subsidence, has become more and more lacking in vegetation protection for thousands of years, that is, the slope is divided into fragments, and the ravines are staggered, which increases the difficulty of passage.

Tian Jianxiu frowned, thinking that unless the road was opened up or filled, the baggage would be on the hill, and he would have to carry people on his shoulders, and the special artillery would not be able to pull it up.

Finally, the line went to the plateau, and the vast plateau in front of them gave people a kind of spiritual shock.

This bull head plateau is also known locally as the east plateau. The area is larger than the south plateau, the terrain is high in the north and low in the south, because it is cut by the Yellow River valley, Yuanwanggou and iron ditch, the loess plateau is like a bull's head to get its name, it belongs to a part of the arid plateau, although there are some tunbao. However, the military and civilians have been worried about the draft for generations, and there is a saying in the local area that "if a woman does not marry a cow, it is more difficult to eat water than to eat oil".

Tian Jianxiu was worried in his heart, he knew a lot about Tongguan, coupled with the report of the sentry horseman, he knew the situation of the bull's head, although the cow's mouth was under the surging Yellow River, but its high mouth was not able to drink water, and the local residents and livestock used water to flow down the artemisia valley road.

There is a drought right now. The water in the valley has been decreasing day by day, if hundreds of thousands of troops are stationed, how can it be supplied? They only got deep and steep iron ditches, and even went to the Yellow River to carry and carry water, which made it even more difficult to provide logistical supplies.

Not to mention Tian Jianxiu's thoughts, Li Zicheng rode the side of the horse, but just looked at it.

The mighty soldiers and horses have been spread all over the Pingchuan River, and countless soldiers are sweating like rain. Busy digging trenches and setting up camps, all kinds of tents spread to the north of the Yellow River.

The official road to the east to Ruxiang. There is also a steady stream of troops coming, especially the tide of carts, wheelbarrows, mules, horses, donkeys, and baggage teams are endless, and the horsemen are galloping, coming and going, and there is a scene of momentum like a rainbow.

There was a sound of tsk beside him, and Li Zicheng was also complacent. The field of vision on this plateau is vast, not to mention the Yellow River, even the Wei River, the confluence of the two rivers can be faintly seen, Li Zicheng thinks that the old camp should stand on the plateau. Condescending, in control of the overall situation, the river under the hill can be used as a gathering place for baggage.

The east plateau is generally flat and wide, except for the two ends of the plateau, especially close to the south end of the iron ditch, the ravines are everywhere, as much as the "Kui Ridge" terrain, it is the kind of steep deep ditch, or two opposite and steep mountain cliffs, the slopes on both sides are straight and less curved, Shaanxi people are commensurate with Lai Ridge.

When Li Zicheng and his entourage went to the edge of the iron ditch to inspect, they passed a ridge, the slope was not only steep, but also quite long, and the deep ditch below became a thin line.

The group also passed by some beams and ridges, which took a lot of time.

The erosion of the river will turn the plain into a "plateau", many ditches divide the "plateau" into many "beams", the beam is not very wide, one is a long strip, but the ditch under the beam is deeper, the two beams can sing to each other, but they have to go down the ditch and then go up the beam to walk on the old half a day.

There is a ditch on the "beam" after erosion, these ditches cut the beam into a number of paragraphs, each paragraph is surrounded by a ditch, only a high mound of earth is left to stand alone, this is the "ridge", through these beams, the ridge is not a simple matter, but the iron ditch is vertical and horizontal on this side, not so can not reach the edge of the ditch.

The tunbao on the east hill was empty, and only the empty earthen city wall remained, and even the wheat that had not reached the harvest season was cut away, leaving an empty wheat field and bare orange stalks.

According to the news from the sentinel cavalry, Sun Chuanting carried out the local fortification and cleared the wilderness, and also overhauled the defense line at the west end of Yuanwanggou, which was heavily guarded. Originally, He Renlong was beheaded, and everyone in the camp was happy, and then the news came that Sun Chuanting was training the new army in the local area, and it was not easy to defend Tongguan at this time.

The outpost of the camp has occupied several military forts and tun forts abandoned by the Ming army at the eastern end of the eastern plateau, such as Liujiawa and Beitoubao, but some fire road piers along the Yuanwang ditch at the western end are still in the hands of officers and soldiers. According to the fire road pier and the local terrain, their sentry riders are haunted, constantly attacking the sentry scouts who break into the camp, which is quite a headache.

Li Zicheng and others have seen the iron ditch, and think that although this ditch is difficult to walk, it can provide some water, and second, it can garrison soldiers and horses in the opposite side of the hill and the word camp, Xiyao Fort and other places, echoing each other here, providing cover, it is an important place, and then when going to the west of the ditch, they will encounter a sentry cavalry battle.

But when they were marching, a sound of horses' hooves sounded in the distance, and soon dozens of horsemen appeared in the sight of everyone, they were not in a hurry, swaggering, although there were more than a thousand horsemen on this side, and there were some horsemen nearby, they were not afraid at all.

Li Zicheng and the others faintly saw their dress, with shiny hats and helmets, and some of them were holding long guns and wearing fine long armor. Most of them wore short armor, seemed to hold handguns and sabers, had arms and hands, and there were some armor pieces at the vital points of the horses to protect the horses, and their demeanor was faintly fierce.

When the horsemen went to drive them away, the horsemen with their long guns, when they were fifty or sixty paces away, fired their guns on their horses, and they were all their own elites.

They either hit and ran, or they were still reloading their horses, and their own horsemen rushed into the thirty paces, and their horsemen with handcuffs fired again and again.

The cavalry soldiers who broke into the camp practiced bows and arrows, but there were still few who had the ability to shoot arrows on horses, and even if there were, the threat of this riding bow was also small, and they fought on horseback, and they suffered a lot when they fought hard, and that kind of casualty exchange ratio, Li Zicheng frowned when he saw it.

Their handcuffed horsemen seem to have several handcuffs for one person, the firepower is fierce, the middle one is not dead or disabled, their melee combat ability is not weak, and they also cooperate with each other tacitly, always find a loophole, several people deal with one, and the horsemen with long guns shoot a cold gun from time to time.

Their horses were also fat and fast, and even when they fled, those handcuffed soldiers turned back from time to time, so that they did not dare to chase too closely, and in the short expulsion battle, they suffered more than a dozen casualties, and the other side seemed to have only one wounded.

If it weren't for the fact that there were many people on his side, this expulsion battle might have greater casualties, looking at the solemn expressions of everyone in the camp, Gao Yigong said: "These are the men and horses of Sun Chuanting's standard camp, some of the sentry horses hold long guns, and some hold short guns, all of which can be fired on horses, which are quite strong, but fortunately, the number of people is small." ”

Gao Yigong is in charge of the sentry and arrangement in the camp, and when the horse team in the camp sentry explores Tongguan, it is these Sun Chuanting who supervise the standard camp when they encounter the most. These people are also very strong, and they can shoot both long and short guns at once, so that the outposts in the camp are as fearful as tigers, so they pay attention to them.

Li Zicheng also frowned: "When will the long gun be fired right away?" ”

Although everyone in his handsome battalion is equipped with horses, none of the firearms in the camp can be fired on horses, mainly because the recoil is too strong, and once the guns are opened, it is very likely to fall off the horses.

He asked Yang Shaofan, the chief sentry of the battalion: "Brother Yang, do you know what this kind of long gun that shoots on a horse is called?" ”

Yang Shaofan shook his head, he had been in the Ming army for many years, except for the handcuffs and the three-eyed guns, he had never heard of this kind of long guns that could shoot on horses. However, he had a faint feeling that those might be the men and horses of the Jingbian Army.

I heard that Sun Chuanting was training troops in Shaanxi and received great assistance from Xuanfu Town, could it be that the Jingbian Army also assisted Sun Chuanting? I don't know how many soldiers and horses they have sent, which makes him worry in his heart, his battalion is good for the ordinary Ming army, but not enough for the Shangjing border army.

Everyone in the camp also frowned, there are more and more new weapons among the officers and soldiers, and now there are more long guns that can be fired on horses, only Liu Zongmin disagreed: "What are you afraid of, my righteous soldiers are numerous, and there are only a few sharp firearms among the officers and soldiers, can they change the overall situation?" ”

Li Zicheng thought about it, and the Ming army's several new military camps used sharp East Road firearms, but they were not destroyed by their own people? In front of them, these Ming army sentinels who made the new style of long guns could only harass, and the horsemen with their own superiority swarmed over, and they had to retreat, which really couldn't change the overall situation.

The worry flashed, and I didn't take the matter to heart. (To be continued.) )