The sluice tower of the North Water Pass is grand, the Tongshui flows into the Yellow River from here, in fact, it forms a line of defense in the east and west, and everyone looks at it for a long time on the sluice tower, especially the Fenglingdu on the opposite side. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

In the past, it was a bustling place, and merchants from the south to the north continued every day, hurrying, waiting for ferries, pushing carts, driving livestock, sitting on boats and flowing, and the chickens were not casually talking about the three provinces. Like Dayu Ferry and Modi Ferry, they are all famous ferries of the Yellow River.

However, it is now quiet over there, the scenery of ships galloping north and south, and the cross-strait battle is gone, and only a small number of military ships pass by. The defenders on both sides of the strait have also become stricter in their investigations, and if they encounter ferries, they will be strictly interrogated, and if there is anything wrong, they will be detained.

Like the Tartars, the thieves also like to use the intermittent and fine, and they must not be guarded against.

Wu Zhengchun put away the clairvoyant mirror and said: "Traditionally, those who have come to the west to attack Tongguan have mostly returned in front of the pass, only be careful that they bypass the pass from the opposite side of the Yellow River and take the pass directly. ”

Everyone nodded, in history, Cao Cao and Ma Chao fought, Tongguan could not be captured, Cao Cao bypassed from the opposite side of the Yellow River, and finally captured Tongguan.

Sun Chuanting stroked his beard and said slowly: "There is a rumor in the official document, the Duke of Jin Fu Maode has urgently come to Fenglingdu, as long as they guard the Yellow River, this governor will be able to protect Tongguan without loss." ”

Sun Chuanting is not too worried about the defense of the north now, the water level of the Yellow River is high, and thieves cannot cross the river without boats, and Cai Maode, the governor of Shanxi, can ensure that the Yellow River is not lost as long as he watches the ferries. As for the freezing of the Yellow River in winter, it is still early at this time, and it is impossible for the thieves to wait until that time under the gate.

The crowd continued to patrol the walls to the east, and the mesa was flat and solid. The paving is made of ashlar and bricks, and the walls are very wide. The width of the city wall of Xi'an is 15 to 18 meters, the thickness is greater than the height, and the width of the city wall of Tongguan is even greater than the city wall of Xi'an.

Because it is both a city wall and a dam to prevent the Yellow River from flooding the city.

Walking along the wall to the east, the terrain slowly rises, and the section of the city from the small north gate to the east is actually built into a city wall according to the Qilin Mountain. Cutting docks. Special East Gate "Ying'en Gate". Both the arrow tower and the main building are built on the hillside.

The slope of the mountain is steep, and the bank of the Yellow River is at the bottom of the slope, which is only a few dozen steps away from the water of the Yellow River. If even the slope is counted as a city wall, the height of this section of the city wall is more than ten zhang. The enemy saw it. I don't have the courage to climb the wall.

Sun Chuanting and others entered the East Gate Tower. Here the city tower is called "Ying'en Gate", the urn city is called "Occupy the purple place", and the arrow tower is called "the heavenly danger building". Outside the three arrow towers. In the five city towers, the pattern of the urn city is formed, and these arrow towers are like many windows opened in the walls of the houses, effectively covering the soldiers guarding the towers.

Standing on the Tianwei Tower, the official road from Xi'an passes through the city, goes out along this arrow tower, and then the official road goes close to the root of the wall, winds along the hillside to the foot of the mountain, and then goes down to the Yuanwang ditch, exposing its own side to the eyes of the defenders.

The city wall built on the mountain, the rolling wood and stones on it, poured down the mountain, and the enemy troops coming from the official road, a single rolling log can roll down a large area.

Xiongguan Tiger stands, mostly refers to the east gate tower of Tongguan City, just like a tiger squatting on the Qilin mountainside. The north of this city tower is the Yellow River, from east to south is the Qilin Mountain, the city wall winds along the mountain, the southeast side is close to the Yuanwang ditch, almost from the ditch to the original face, it is the foot of the Qilin Mountain.

And this official road all the way to the east gate, and it is the only gate to enter the customs from the east, there is no way to go elsewhere, and it is also the origin of the Dongguan one-man pass, ten thousand people do not open. This pass is said to be the east gate, but in fact it is also on the edge of the Yellow River, just like Tongguan City has three north gates.

At this time, on the wall upstairs, there are patrolling soldiers coming and going, Tongguan guard will be Tongguan Wei inherited the tenth generation of the commander Zhang Eryou, tall and plump, good at riding and shooting, at this time Ren Tongguan guerrilla, there are 2,000 soldiers under his command, more than 100 Ding.

He said to Sun Chuanting: "After the last general learned that the thieves were coming, he stepped up his defense and investigated the refugees. Suffering from the lack of troops, the forts outside the city, twelve cities, can not be taken into account. Fortunately, there was General Yang's hussar, and the thief could not ride across the ditch. ”

As a guard station, Tongguan is also an acropolis, and the forts outside the city, the fire road piers, etc., are where thousands of households are located. Some of the guards are ploughing and fighting, and it is okay to defend their castle alone, and let them go out to expel the thieves and sentinels, which is to embarrass them.

Although Zhang Eryou has 2,000 soldiers, in fact, most of them are still infantry, even if they send some horses, most of them cannot be compared with the sentry cavalry of the thieves, they mainly play the role of leading the way, and the main force of the sentry is still relying on the chasers and hussars led by the tiger master.

Zhang Eryou has a quiet temperament, and the arrogant Tiger Master has become friends with him recently, but the enemy is coming, seeing that Zhang Eryou is like no one, Sun Chuanting is a little displeased, and he hummed lightly.

He looked at the Yellow River, thinking in his heart, from the west gate to these passes can be said to occupy a sufficient geographical advantage, the thieves can not gather in large numbers, but the side can shoot them in large quantities, the thieves to attack, at most some guerrillas, the defense of these passes, there is nothing to worry about.

He waved his hand, and the group continued to walk south, they walked higher and higher along the city wall towards Qilin Mountain, at this time the steps of the city wall were quite steep, and there were many barracks in the mountain plain castle tower, and even some temples. The stone steps lead in all directions on the mountain, and when you look into the city, the eaves are stacked with obstacles, and there are many streets and alleys.

Tongguan is a huge Xiongguan, the city circumference is more than 20 miles, the city is along both sides of the Tong River, there are thousands of acres of fields, even if the city is surrounded, in a short time, it will not fall into the situation of running out of food.

The Qilin Mountain at the foot is an important defensive point, guarding the east and southeast of Tongguan, standing on the city wall and looking at it, the city wall and the mountain plain are integrated, according to the terrain undulations.

Moreover, the Qilin slope under the wall is quite peculiarly decorated, not the slope of ordinary mountain packs, but the slope is in the shape of steps, one step at a time.

This is naturally to increase the protection of the mountain, the mountain is sloped, some brave enemies, may also rush to the city wall in one go, but this kind of steps, the steepness of each step is still two or three meters......

Let's climb up first, after climbing the first step, there will be another step, and when they climb to the bottom of the city, the defenders of the city wall have killed them many times.

And in this situation, the ladder can't be built.

Stand on the city walls. You can already see the Yuanwang ditch at the foot of the mountain, and the official road of Shaanxi and Henan goes down here, and then goes up the ditch again.

Everyone looked at the opposite side, looking at the opposite side of the ditch in the distance, the bull head was originally towering and spreading on the right side of the road, near the Yellow River is a high cliff, and in the middle is the loess lane slope. Then the official road is split from the Huangxiang Ban after the ditch, forming a narrow and steep passage, several miles long, all the way to the first pass of Tongguan Jin Steep Pass.

Look at that side. A staff member couldn't help but say: "Five miles of secret door." If the thieves attack by this road, our division can set up an ambush in the bull's head. It must be like Hu Bing at Hangu Pass at that time......"

Sun Chuanting shook his head: "This is an easy ambush here. But thieves aren't that stupid! ”

Wen Shiyan also sighed: "Xia Guan also thinks." Thieves will not attack from the Golden Steep Pass! …… Tong Guandong, southeast and north are three sides, built high on the mountain, standing by the water. Our division occupies the best position, even if the thieves arrive at the city, how can they arrange the troops? It's ......"

Everyone said in unison: "They will definitely cross the Niutou Plateau, spy on the Yuanwang Ditch, and even enter the Lintoe Yuan ......."

Gao Xun looked at the south, and said more categorically: "Regain Long, and look at Shu, if they attack Lintoe Yuan, they will also attack the forbidden ditch, trying to go around to the west city!" ”

The trend of Tongguan is that there is a Qinling barrier dozens of miles from the south, there is the Yellow River moat in the north, there is Huashan Mountain in the west, and the city is actually on a plain.

However, for thousands of years, due to the cutting of the Qinling Mountains and the erosion of floods, many broken and scattered ravines have been formed, which are great obstacles to transportation and the use of troops. Trenches dug on the plains can be used to block the enemy, and the magic of nature has created the peculiar terrain of Tongguan.

The Qinling Mountains in the south are difficult to cross, and the Yellow River in the north is difficult to cross, and then the streams that flow from the Qinling Mountains to the Yellow River create numerous valleys. Most of these valleys are north-south, which just blocks the road from Henan to Shaanxi.

Coarsely counted, in the territory of Tongguan, there are nearly 1,000 gullies in the north-south direction, and there are more than 10 ravines in the ten-mile-long direction, cutting a plain into fragments. Many of them are still high and low, and there are drops.

The ravines are everywhere, the original high ditches are deep, and the valleys are undulating, and such terrain is of course not easy to walk.

It is like the Loess Plateau, with thousands of ravines, walking on the plain, and a deep valley suddenly appears on the ground in front of you. Unless you go over a deep valley, you will take a detour, and it is very likely that you will have to go around for a few days, and you will run dead in the hope of the plain.

Maybe a single horse, the brave can slowly climb over, but there are luggage carts and horses, pulling the baggage, can they fly through these ravines that appear from time to time?

Some ravines have a drop of hundreds of feet, so roads are needed.

In fact, Hangu Pass is also such a topography, the dense mulberry plain extends to the north to the bank of the Yellow River, the Yellow River flows through the original bank, the two phases are connected, there is no gap. There are many ravines on the plain, the drop is generally in Baizhang, and the river side is more precipitous, so the east-west avenue can only cross the dense mulberry plain, and there is no other way.

There is also a deep ditch that can be used as a passage, it has created the danger of the ancient road of Hangu, standing under the ditch and looking at the plain, the valley is deep and precipitous, the mountain is high and the road is narrow, in essence, Tongguan, Hanguguan, are the continuation of the topography of the Loess Plateau.

Later, the Yellow River was cut down, and there was a beach near the river at the northern end of the Chousang Plain, and the past travelers could walk from the beach, and there was no need to cross the original place.

The advantages of Tongguan, in addition to the Qinling Mountains and the Yellow River, are also more reflected in the valleys, and the most advantageous valleys are two, one is the Yuanwang ditch, and the other is the forbidden ditch.

Yuanwanggou is under Tongguan, at the foot of Qilin Mountain in the southeast of the city, connects the Yellow River in the north, extends in the direction of Qinling Mountains in the south, is more than 20 miles long, the ditch is long and the valley is dangerous, it can be said to be a natural barrier to protect the city of Tongguan.

Then go about five miles to the west of the ditch, there is a parallel ditch, which is the forbidden ditch.

This ditch is deeper and longer, south of Qinling Artemisia Chayukou, north to the south of Tongguan City's Shimen Pass, as long as more than 30 miles, deeply block any pedestrian who wants to go from Henan to Shaanxi, so that they can only take the Tongguan City Gate.

The past dynasties also realized the importance of the forbidden ditch to Tongguan, on both sides of the ditch, built many beacon towers, built one every three miles, and there are twelve supporting cities, called twelve cities.

In peacetime, it is forbidden to travel and travel, pedestrians are forbidden to pass, and it is also forbidden to cut down trees in the ditch, so together with Qinling and Tongguan, it has formed a strong defense line that birds cannot cross.

The original place between the two ditches, the locals call it Lintoe Plain, also known as the South Plain, this piece is located in the south of Tongguan, about 20 miles long, about four or five miles wide flat land, in the old days, it was mostly the place where the Tongguan guards planted grain and wheat, and some guards also gathered on the plain.

For military reasons. Defend the Yuanwang ditch and the forbidden ditch, the enemy army will not be able to sneak into Shaanxi, let alone go around to the west gate, Tongguan City will not be besieged by regiments, and the reinforcements and grain and grass from the hinterland of Shaanxi can provide continuous support.

Therefore, the second ditch is very important, and Tongguan is re-elected to make the city impregnable, so there is "so the one who guards the pass but does not guard the forbidden ditch, guards the Yufu guards, and guards the forbidden ditch and does not build twelve cities." It's not good. The city is especially within a room. Du Mensai sinus, in case the birds enter, and forget to close its door".

In history, the Tang general Tian Lingzi led 100,000 troops to defend the town, and Huang Chao secretly crossed the Yuanwanggou. and crossed the forbidden ditch. Go around to the back of the city. only then did he seize Tongguan and go straight to Chang'an.

If Li Zicheng wants to play the tactics of crowds, he can only attack Lintoe Plain. Siege the South Gate, the South Water Gate, the South Gate, etc., otherwise if you only want to attack the East Gate, the North Gate, etc., you will definitely be defeated.

It's just that the thieves will be battle-hardened, and what they can think of, they will definitely be able to think of.

Everyone hurriedly came to the upper south gate, here is still a part of Qilin Mountain, the city gate is called "Lingyun Gate", the city wall to the west, is the lower south gate "Yingxun Gate", and the South Water Pass.

In terms of topography, it is quite dangerous to go up to the south gate, and it is not easy to attack if the slope is split for the city gate, just like the east gate.

The lower south gate is basically on the flat ground, and the south water pass is also relatively slow, but the west section of the city tower of the south water pass has been connected to the phoenix mountain, if the thief army crosses the far wang ditch, the main attack should be the lower south gate.

Of course, even if you attack the south gate, it is not so easy to fight, the city wall is high and thick, there are as many as four zhang, and the horse face is towering, which increases the defensive ability of the city section, and only attacking one city gate will also make the huge force of the thieves useless.

Therefore, they should also attack the South Gate and the South Water Pass, although the South Gate is dangerous, it is better than the East Gate, the Tong River is not deep at the moment, and the thieves should step on the river to tackle the key problems.

They may also attack the Forbidden Ditch and try to get around the back of the city, if they can get to the Far Hope Ditch in advance.

"It is estimated that the thieves will climb over the bull's head plateau, cross the original face of various ravines, and deploy troops on the opposite plain. No matter how difficult it is to walk on that side, it is better than taking Jinqiu Pass into the east gate, and they can only be able to put hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the table...... Only then can we attack Yuanwanggou with superior troops, and after attacking Lintoe Plain, we can attack the city on the one hand, and attack the forbidden ditch defense line on the other......"

Gao Xun said contemplatively.

The opposite side of the ditch and ravine, the original surface blocks, but the perennial villagers walk, there are always some traffic paths, thieves and many people, it is not difficult to expand the road surface...... When they reached the flat and huge place on the other side of the ditch, they could deploy their forces and attack calmly.

And if you take the Jinqian Pass into the East Gate, the kind of narrow and dangerous road that is several miles long, the officers and soldiers are too easy to ambush, and the thieves will definitely end up with the result of Ge Shuhan, which they must have thought of.

Everyone agreed with Gao Xun's opinion, and a staff member said: "Therefore, the first line of defense of our division is Yuanwanggou, and thieves must not be allowed to enter Nanyuan." ”

In front of this southern plain, the field of vision is vast, the flat ground extends to the south to the Qinling Mountains, the width of the original place between the east and west ditches is also several miles, there are many castle villages distributed on it, and some wheat is planted in the surrounding area, and it is an important place for Tongguanwei to store grain.

Looking at this place, Sun Chuanting's heart fluctuated, when the Yang Pavilion Department set up the policy of "four positives, six corners and ten sides of the net", the thieves were forced into Tongguan by Cao Bianjiao and others, and he was ordered by his teacher Hong Chengchou to set up a triple ambush in this Nanyuan, as well as nearby.

The thieves were ambushed, and the battle of Nanyuan was almost completely annihilated, and the corpses were piled up like a mountain, and finally only 18 horsemen broke out and fled into Shangluo Mountain.

At that time, the thieves were panicked like lost dogs, but they didn't expect to rise again in a few years, and they took the initiative to attack Tongguan.

His eyes looked at a small fort about two miles away from the southeast of the south gate, which was built on a slightly higher plain, called Dongyuan by the locals, and was also close to Yuanwanggou, and he had some impressions of this fort, and muttered: "That's Taojiazhuang?" ”

Zhang Eryou said: "Governor, yes, there are now 300 guards in this fort, guarding an official road from across the ditch. ”

There are many trails from the far view ditch to the ditch, and there are some official roads in it, and some forts have been built along the edge of the ditch to guard these vital places.

Wu Zhengchun said: "Sun Du, Taojiazhuang is extremely advantageous, our division based on it, bombarded in the west, and the upper south gate also fired artillery echoes, and the thieves will not be able to attack the upper south gate." On the contrary, Taojiazhuang was seized by thieves, condescendingly, peeping into my pass, and even bombardment. ”

Sun Chuanting nodded with a serious face, he could also see the weight of this fort at a glance. He said, "Let's get out of the customs and take a look!" ”

……

A group of people rode out of the south gate like a whirlwind, first rushed to Taojiazhuang Fort from the same place, the castle has fallen into disrepair, although the rammed earth of the city wall is still thick and tall, but the director is full of thorns, and the edge of the wall is full of messy barren grass.

The north and south sides of this fort are covered with some hard wild date thorns, and then the height is staggered. Some wheat fields are distributed. The defenders in the middle, many of whom were hoeing on the hills, said they were soldiers, but in fact they were more like peasants.

See Sun Chuanting and others coming. Just looking at them numbly. Nothing happened.

Wu Zhengchun and Gao Xun shook their heads. Sun Chuanting is face is pale, the thieves are coming, and he is still hoeing?

Zhang Eryou looked helpless. It's good that these guards can farm, after all, there is no food to supply them in the guards, and if they plant some land, they can support their families to some extent. Although he has repeatedly ordered and reaffirmed, his livelihood is important, and the guards can only take care of the present.

The local Qianzong got the news and hurried from the field, he was covered with mud, looking like an old village chief, when he saw Sun Chuanting, he knelt down and said in a trembling voice: "I have seen the governor in my humble position...... Governor ......"

His upper and lower teeth rattled, and he couldn't say a complete sentence, Sun Chuanting glanced at him coldly, and said: "Hundreds of thousands of thieves are approaching Tongguan, you don't want to be defensive and vigilant, but play outside the city...... Someone, behead him! ”

Immediately, the two guards came out and were about to drag him up, the face of Mr. Qian was ashen, and the guards around him were still numb and watching, only a few women cried and grabbed the ground, probably the family members of Mr. Qian.

Sun Chuanting's staff looked at it lightly, the enemy is at present, this thousand always does not think about defense, and it is natural to be beheaded. Zhang Eryou wanted to ask for mercy, but before he could speak, Sun Chuanting had already waved his hand to stop his words, or Wen Shiyan laughed: "The enemy is now, the commander is unknown, Sun Du might as well spare his life." ”

Wu Zhengchun also glanced at Mr. Qian with some pity: "This is the shortcomings accumulated by the guard for many years, and it is excusable, please ask Sun Du to open up." ”

Everyone in the Jingbian army pleaded for mercy, and their face Sun Chuan Ting couldn't help but give it, and he glanced at the Qian general fiercely: "Then I will beat this person with twenty military sticks and beat him hard!" ”

In the sound of crackling sticks and screams, Sun Chuanting and others entered Taojiazhuang, a typical refugee camp in it, more elephant villages than elephant barracks, on the city wall, on the west gate Kuixing Tower, also set up some Franc machine guns, due to poor care, some artillery has rusted.

But in addition, the terrain of this fort is excellent, standing on the west city tower, Tongguan City is vivid, and you can even see a lot of movement in the city, most of the Tongguan City, all in the eyes, it can really be said that it is condescending, occupies enough geographical advantage.

Gao Xun said: "The guards are unbearable, and the soldiers in the city must be replaced, and the equipment for defending the city must be added, and some general cannons must be installed on the west city." ”

Sun Chuanting nodded approvingly, the location of this fort is really good, under the east gate, is Yuanwanggou, an official road passes through the south gate, goes around to the slope of the east gate, and then winds along the hillside, and finally goes to the original on the opposite side of the ditch.

It can be said that this road is completely under the threat of the east and south of the Taojiazhuang defenders. To the west of the city, it can echo the south gate of Tongguan, but first of all, these soldiers guarding the fort must be replaced, otherwise the thieves are very likely to fall in one go.

Everyone looks out on the east gate, the loess wall of the ditch is standing in front of the door, the grass and trees are overgrown, winding away in the direction of the Qinling Mountains, the opposite side is the big platform plain, the difference between the ditch and the original is about 60 or 70 zhang, the distance between the two plains is different, some are more than 100 steps, some are in one or two miles.

The slopes are also different, some ditches are deep and steep, and it is not easy to climb, while others are gentler and easier to pass. These gentle ditches have faint paths to walk on, winding, and even some wheat fields and vegetable fields under the ditches.

After all, the bottom of the ditch is wetter than the original, and there is some ditch water, of course, if there is a flood, everything will be washed away.

The slopes on both sides of the ditch, many of the terrain is also like a terraced tea field of one step at a time, most of which are masterpieces of nature, and they are naturally made. A small number of them were man-made, and the local defenders cultivated some terraced fields or vegetable fields on the slopes for livelihood and for defense reasons.

In this step-by-step terrain, the mountain road winds under the steps, and the defenders can flank the enemy on the road, or layer upon layer of three-dimensional firepower, like a fortress defense.

On the opposite side, there are faintly some fire road piers, as part of the system of the Twelve Cities.

Sun Chuanting looked at the other side for a while, took out his bow and arrow from his waist, but it was a three-stone strong bow, and took a carved arrow and put it on the bow, pulled a full moon, and shot it out with a whoosh, shooting it to the opposite side.

The staff around him all applauded, Sun Chuanting also had a look on his face, Wu Zhengchun also nodded, and only Gao Xun smiled and said nothing.

A staff member said in a loud voice: "Looking at the momentum of this arrow, the two plains here are quite close to each other, about more than a hundred steps. Our division can place artillery on the east gate and bombard the opposite place so that it cannot gather troops. ”

Everyone agreed, and at this moment, there was some neighing of horses faintly on the opposite side, but it was several horses chasing on the plain, one riding running, and several horses chasing. Then a crack was heard, and smoke rose up, and it seemed that the running knight turned his head and fell from his horse, and then the horsemen did not dare to chase after him.

However, the more rogue horses there are, the defenders of the fire road pier on the opposite side are completely unable to drive away those snooping rogue sentinels, and they all rely on the hunters and hussars under the command of the tiger master, so that the thief cavalry cannot enter the southern plain to snoop.

Sun Chuanting snorted and said, "Take a look along the edge of the ditch." ”

……

The crowd galloped along the Yuanwang ditch, and according to the topography, the praise paintings of the Jingbian Army continued to count how many places the ditch was gentle, how many paths could cross the ditch, and how many troops were estimated to be needed when defending.

Seeing that Sun Chuanting nodded secretly, the staff system of the Jingbian Army has considered everything to the greatest extent, and if you fight according to this, even if you don't win a big victory, you won't be defeated. (To be continued.) )