This opportunity did not come by chance. The Song army eliminated the Jing and Hunan regimes in a little more than a month, causing panic among the Later Shu monarchs. Soon after, Li Hao, the prime minister of Later Shu, offered advice to Meng Chang: "The fortune of the Song Dynasty is different from that of the Han and Zhou. Dominate the world, just in the Song Dynasty. Your Majesty should make peace with Song as soon as possible, make due contributions, or save Shu. ”

After hearing this, Meng Chang felt that it was very reasonable, and he was about to send an envoy to Bianliang to pass through, but he didn't want the privy envoy Wang Zhaoyuan to stop him: "The mountains and rivers of Shu are steep, and the land is strong and strong, so why show weakness to others?" ”

Resolutely oppose what is good. Meng Chang himself didn't have any ideas, and he believed in Wang Zhaoyuan very much, so he gave up. After a few months, Zhao Kuangyin had already begun to prepare for the destruction of Shu, and was transferred to Zhang Hui, the training envoy of the Huazhou regiment, as the training envoy of the Fengzhou regiment, and ordered him to train troops in Fengzhou, and by the way, he collected important information such as the topography of the mountains and rivers of Shu and the deployment of troops. Zhang Hui did not disgrace his mission, after his arrival, he went all out, worked hard, and completed Zhao Kuangyin's entrustment very well, "making the most of its mountains and rivers", and made an enterprising plan with secret sparseness, for which he was also praised by Zhao Kuangyin.

After this incident reached Shu, someone said to Wang Zhaoyuan: "The public is in a big position, but he has no military exploits, how can he calm down the times?" It is better to send Taiyuan and order it to send troops south, and I will send troops from the Meridian Valley to respond to it, so that the Central Plains will be affected by the enemy, and if the matter is successful, the right place can be appeased. Wang Zhaoyuan himself does not have any military talent, but he feels quite good, and always thinks that since he was born in Shu, he must be a figure like Zhuge Liang, so he also has the heart to learn from Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition to the Central Plains. After listening to it, he immediately made a message to Meng Chang, the lord of Shu, and asked him to repair the book Taiyuan. About the Northern Han sent troops to attack the Central Plains.

Meng Chang's belief in Wang Zhaoyuan was close to superstition, and he didn't think about the consequences after listening to it. Immediately repair a letter and order Zhao Yantao as a secret envoy. Sent to Taiyuan. However, Zhao Yantao and others were completely discouraged about the future of Shu, so after leaving the country, they did not go to the Northern Han Dynasty at all, but directly sent the letter to Zhao Kuangyin. At this time, Zhao Kuangyin was worried that he couldn't find an excuse to cut down Shu, and Meng Chang's letter was an unexpected surprise to him.

A month later, Zhao Kuangyin officially ordered Wang Quanbin to be deployed for the camp of Xichuan, Cui Yanjin to make the Wuxin Jiedu envoy, Liu Guangyi to make the Ningjiang Jiedu to deploy as the deputy capital, and Wang Renzhen, the deputy privy envoy, and Cao Bin as the capital supervisor, leading an army of 60,000. Pledge to go west.

The Song army attacked Shu this time, and the soldiers were divided into two routes. One route was led by Wang Quanbin and Cui Yanjin, and marched from Fengzhou (now Fengxian County, Shaanxi) to Shu. The other road was led by Liu Quanyi and Cao Bin, and traced the river from Guizhou (now Zigui, Hubei) and marched along the waterway to Shu.

The news of the Song army's westward expedition reached Shu, and Meng Chang, the lord of Shu, immediately appointed Wang Zhaoyuan as the commander of the southwest camp, with Zhao Chongtao as the capital supervisor, Han Baozheng as the envoy, and Li Jin as the deputy envoy. Lead your troops to resist the battle. After Wang Zhaoyuan took over the handsome seal, he was very excited and thought that this was a good opportunity to show his talents.

On the day of the expedition, Meng Chang ordered Prime Minister Li Hao to set up a banquet for him to see him off. Wang Zhaoyuan was so proud that he raised his glass frequently, and he was already drunk when he got up. Then he turned his arm to Li Hao and said: "I will not stop defeating the enemy on this trip, but should lead this army." Take the Central Plains as a backhand! Li Hao was silent and watched Wang Zhao stay away.

Same as Wang Zhaoyuan. Zhao Kuangyin was also full of confidence in this battle, and built more than 500 houses on the shore of Bianshui before the expedition, and moved Meng Chang to Bianliang to live after preparing to destroy Shu. Both sides are determined to win, and I don't know who will have the last laugh

In December of that year, Wang Quanbin led the Song army into the territory of Shu. The Shu army was unable to resist because it had not practiced conquest for many years, and was led by Wang Quanbin to conquer Xingzhou (now Luoyang, Shaanxi) in a battle, breaking more than 7,000 Shu troops and seizing 400,000 grains and grass. Subsequently, Wang Quanbin and more than 20 camps such as Shiyuan, Yuguan, and Baishui Pavilion were invincible.

At this time, Han Baozheng, the envoy of Houshu, had also led the army to arrive, and after hearing that Xingzhou had been conquered by the Song army, he did not dare to fight again, and immediately withdrew his troops to Baoxi County (now Longxi, Gansu). When Wang Quanbin heard the news, he immediately ordered the Ma army to command Shi Yande to lead his troops to attack.

Shi Yande's department was originally the vanguard of the Song army, and it was far less than the Shu army in terms of numbers, but Han Baozheng did not dare to face the battle, but only ordered tens of thousands of troops under his command to carry out the city by the mountains, form a formation and consolidate themselves, looking like they were looking for a fight.

Shi Yande knew at a glance that the Shu army was timid, and immediately gave the order to attack, and in a blink of an eye, the Shu army was defeated, and captured Han Baozheng and his deputy general Li Jin in battle, and captured more than 300,000 pieces of military rations, and the rest of the people were chased and killed by the Song army all the way, so they had to burn the plank road and retire to Jiameng Pass (now Zhaohua South, Sichuan).

At the same time, the Song army led by Liu Guangyi also achieved a major victory in the waterway, breaking through Songmu, Sanhui, Wushan and other villages, killing more than 5,000 Shu troops, capturing more than 1,200 people including Yuan Dehong, the commander of the Shu War, and capturing more than 200 warships, and then led the army to break through Kuizhou and set up camp in the west of the White Emperor City.

Gao Yanyu, the envoy of the Ningjiang Festival in Houshu, saw that the Song army was fierce and knew that it was difficult to fight, so he said to Wu Shouqian, the supervising army: "The northern army is in danger from afar, and it is advantageous to fight quickly, and our army should defend itself." ”

Unexpectedly, Wu Shouqian was still very arrogant, and said: "If the enemy does not attack the city, when can the enemy be broken?" So he immediately led his army out of the city to meet the battle, but he was defeated in a battle, and was immediately attacked by the Song army. Gao Yanyu led the Shu army to fight with the Song army in the city, but the army was in turmoil and was defeated by the Song army again in a short time.

At this time, the general trend of the Shu army has gone, and Gao Yanyu was shot more than ten times in his body, and he was still fighting bloodily. Luo Ji, the judge of Jiedu, persuaded him to flee back to Chengdu first, and Gao Yanyu looked up to the sky and sighed: "I have lost Qinchuan, and I can't defend the White Emperor, even if the lord refuses to kill me, what face do I have to see the Shu people again?" Luo Ji persuaded him to surrender again, and Gao Yanyan said miserably: "There are hundreds of families, all in Chengdu, if I steal my life today, how can I be worthy of the whole family, only one is dead!" So he rode back to the mansion, tidied up his clothes, ran back to the mansion, looked northwest and worshipped, and then set himself on fire.

In addition, the Song army led by Wang Quanbin, because when the Shu army retreated, burned the plank road (on the cliff, through the drilling holes, inserting wood, brackets, and laying boards to make a passage), so that there was no way ahead, so they had to gather the generals to discuss countermeasures, and prepare to enter Shu from Luochuan (now 20 miles west of Wangcang County, Sichuan).

At this time, Don't General Kang Yanze suggested: "Luochuan Road is dangerous, and it is difficult for the army to pass. It is better to divide the soldiers into two roads, all the way from Luochuan to Shu. The other road was left to build a plank road, and finally met at Shendu (in present-day Guangyuan, Sichuan). Wang Quanbin had no objection after listening. He left the deputy capital to deploy Cui Yan to study and build a plank road, and he led another army to Luochuan.

A few days later, the plank road was completed, Cui Yanjin waved his division and marched, Lianke Jinshan, Xiaomantian and other camps, and arrived at Shendu, at this time Wang Quanbin also rushed over from Luochuan, and the two armies were combined again.

At this time, Wang Zhaoyuan, the commander of the southwest camp of the Shu army, had also arrived in Lizhou (now Guangyuan, Sichuan). Hearing the news, he hurriedly sent troops to deploy along the line of the Jialing River, trying to block the Song army in the north of the river. However, the combat effectiveness of the Shu army was far from being comparable to that of the Song army, and as soon as the formation was arranged, it was defeated by the Song army, and had to retreat to Damantianzhai in embarrassment.

At this time, the situation was very unfavorable to the Shu army. Originally, when Wang Zhaoyuan first sent out the army, he was still empty-eyed, thinking that he was the reincarnation of Zhuge Liang, saying that he would not only defeat the Song army. It was also necessary to set the Central Plains in the north, and at this time it was also at a loss, so it had to try in vain to block the attack of the Song army with the dangerous terrain.

However, early the next morning, the Song army was led by Cui Yanjin, Kang Yanze, and Zhang Wanyou. Launched a fierce attack on the Great Mantianzhai.

Wang Zhaoyuan sent his elite to meet the enemy, but was defeated by the Song army, and Damantianzhai was also breached. Wang Zhaoyuan also wants to redeem the defeat. After reorganizing the troops and horses, he led the army to carry out a final counterattack against the Song army. I didn't want to lose three battles and three defeats again, and was chased by the Song army all the way to the north of Lizhou. It was not easy to cross Baijin (now northeast of Zhaohua, Sichuan), and then set fire to the bridge and retreat to Jianmen.

Speaking of Jianmen, we can't fail to mention the danger of Shu Dao. Broadly speaking, there are many Shu roads, such as Fan Road from Yunnan to Sichuan, Yinping Road from Gansu to Sichuan, and even the waterway from the Three Gorges to the river. But in fact, the Shu Road that people usually talk about refers to the main traffic line connecting Sichuan and Shaanxi since ancient times, also known as the Golden Bull Road or Jianmen Shu Road.

This passage starts from Ningqiang County, Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province in the north, and reaches the Dajian Mountain Pass in Bazhong in Sichuan Province in the south, with a total length of nearly 1,000 miles, during which the mountains are undulating, the peaks and peaks are stacked, the cliffs are cloudy, and the majestic and strange are steep. The great poet Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty said: "It is difficult to go to Shu and it is difficult to go to the sky." ”

This is the passage. Jianmen Shu Road is extremely dangerous, especially in the area of Jianmen Pass and Sword Pavilion, which is known as "dangerous world", and has always been regarded as an impregnable line of defense for Shu to resist the invasion of the Central Plains.

Jianmen Pass was built at the break of Dajian Mountain. During the period of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu State, led the troops to attack Wei, passed through Dajian Mountain, saw that the mountain here was steep, and the road was difficult, so he ordered the soldiers to dig the mountain rock, set up the flying beam, and build the plank road. In the canyon pass between the cliffs of Dajian Mountain, the stone was built as a gate, and such a pass was built, which is the origin of the Jianmen Pass. The Sword Pavilion is a dangerous road in front of the Sword Gate, with a total length of thirty miles, sandwiched between the big and small sword mountains. There was no road here, it was a plank road that Zhuge Liang ordered people to open out of thin air, with one end inserted in the belly of the mountain, and one end in the water. People walk on it, look up at the cliffs, look down at the waves, can be called a soldier Jedi.

The line of defense of Jianmen is known as "one man is the pass, ten thousand people are not open", it is very difficult to break through, Wang Quanbin is also helpless when he arrives here, so he has to convene the generals to hold a pre-war meeting again to discuss how to conquer the Jianmen.

At this moment, the head of Wang Quanbin's guards offered a plan to Tao: "Dashuai, just now a soldier of the Shu army made a report to me, saying that after crossing several mountains to the east from here, there is a small road called Laisu, which can go directly to the bank of the Jialing River.

In order to be prepared, the Shu army set up a camp in Jiangxi, but their combat effectiveness is very low, and we are fully capable of breaking through. As long as we can cross from there to Jiangdong, and then twenty miles south is the official road, and the Jianmen natural danger will lose its meaning. ”

Wang Quanbin was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately prepared to lead the whole army to make a detour to Suzhou, but the general Kang Yanze suggested: "The commander doesn't need to be in a hurry, the Shu army has been defeated repeatedly, and the courage has been taken, so we may not be able to break through the Jianmen."

Coming to the Soviet Union is a small road, presumably the road is difficult to travel, which is not conducive to the attack of the whole army. On the one hand, the commander himself led the main force to attack Jianmen Pass, and on the other hand, he sent a partial general to lead the army to come to Suzhou, and strive for the blossoming of both ends. Wang Quanbin thought so, so he ordered the general Shi Yande to lead a team of men and horses to Suzhou, and led the army to prepare to attack Jianmen.

Shi Yande led the army over the mountains and mountains, and came to the Jialing River along the Laisu Trail, and sure enough, he saw the camp of the Shu army on the other side of the river. Shi Yande knew that the difficulty coefficient of cross-river combat was very high, and once the other party was ready for battle, it would be difficult to break through, so he did not dare to hesitate, and immediately ordered the construction of a pontoon bridge, wanting to force the crossing before the Shu army set up a formation.

How do you know that Shu has not been in battle all year round, and the fighting quality of the soldiers is very poor, and when they saw the Song army attacking, they didn't dare to resist, so they ran away. As a result, Shi Yande crossed the Jialing River without much effort, and then traveled twenty miles south, got on the official road, and easily left the Jianmen Heavenly Danger behind.

At the same time, Wang Quanbin also made a major breakthrough on the battlefield of Jianmen. Wang Zhaoyuan, the commander of the Shu army, was frightened because of repeated defeats, and did not dare to fight with the Song army again, so he led the main force to retreat to Hanyuanpo (now Jiange East, Sichuan), leaving only one general to guard Jianmen.

As a result, Wang Quanbin concentrated the elite of the army and attacked fiercely, and actually broke the sword gate. By the time Wang Zhaoyuan walked to Hanyuanpo, Jianmen Pass had been captured by the Song army.

The news of the loss of the Sword Gate Pass was like a thunderbolt in the clear sky for Wang Zhaoyuan, and he was paralyzed on the chair and couldn't stand up.

It didn't take long for the vanguard of the Song army to arrive, and the Shu army was defeated in a battle, Wang Zhaoyuan woke up, hurriedly lost his armor, ran on horseback, and fled until Dongchuan was frightened, but he didn't dare to return to Chengdu to resume his life, so he had to find a room to hide.

During Wang Zhaoyuan's hiding in Dongchuan, he washed his face with tears all day long, and when he was captured by the Song army, his eyes were already swollen from crying, and his nickname of "Zhuge Liang with juice" was won at this time.

As early as when Wang Zhaoyuan was defeated in Lizhou, after the news was transmitted back to Chengdu, Meng Chang, the lord of Shu, was deeply worried, so he had to take out his belongings in the palace, recruited a force of 10,000 people, and ordered the prince Meng Xuanzhe to lead and go to the front to help Wang Zhaoyuan Sword Gate.

But this Meng Xuanzhe is actually a typical playboy, and when he is about to fight, he has not forgotten to bring dozens of concubines and servants with the army for entertainment. And he has never studied martial arts, he doesn't practice military at all, and most of the people he brings with him are wine bags and rice bags. One day it rained on the march, so Meng Xuanzhe ordered the flag of the general to be taken down so as not to get wet.

But when the flag was hung again after the weather cleared, many flags were hung upside down, and Meng Xuanzhe couldn't see it at all, and was rumored to be a laughing stock by the times.

The combat effectiveness of this team led by Meng Xuanzhe can be imagined, but this is also the last team that Shu can send. However, as soon as Meng Xuanzhe led this group of rabble to Mianzhou (now Mianyang, Sichuan), the news of the loss of Jianmen came back, and Meng Xuanzhe did not dare to go any further, so he immediately led the army to withdraw to Chengdu.

This time, Meng Chang had no choice but to convene his ministers to discuss countermeasures. The veteran Shi Fengqi said: "The Song soldiers came from afar, and their momentum cannot last long, as long as we gather troops to hold on, it will not be long before the Song army will naturally withdraw." (To be continued.) )