Kuai Liang finally chose to remain silent, and after Wang Xu, Fa Zheng, Xu Shu, Chen Deng and others tried their best to explain, although he still couldn't fully accept it, at least he no longer knelt down, and he was no longer opposed to this strategic policy.

The next day, the two major legions, 30,000 of the White Tiger Legion, 50,000 of the Western Legion, and 10,000 Guards Iron Cavalry, slowly set out on the expedition, and the new soldiers Cao Peng Xu Shu and Bing Cao Zhi Fa Zheng accompanied them as joining the army.

Because under the command of General Diannong, the whole was paralyzed and did not dare to use it anymore, so Wei Cao Peng Chen Deng was directly responsible for the supply and demand deployment of the army, and those recruits who had not yet been trained acted as civilian husbands, and Liao Hua was also temporarily dispatched by him and was responsible for escort work.

Frustrated to stay in the town general's mansion, Wang Fei commanded the remaining 20,000 southern barbarian armor guards to protect Xiangyang.

In this way, the general's mansion finally turned slowly.

The army marched north all the way, and the road was also very easy to walk, compared to those roads in the south, it was really a world of difference, but unfortunately the speed of the march was very slow, it could be called turtle speed, and the distance from Xiangyang to Wuguan was not too far, and it took seven and a half days to arrive.

This is also intentional, the raid of Gao Shun and Zhang He has already attacked, the army naturally does not need to hurry, maintaining strong combat effectiveness and energy is the first choice, at the same time, Wang Xu also hopes that on this march, the sergeants of each department can run in more, after all, the 40,000 Southern Barbarian armor guards of the two legions still need time to adapt.

At noon on the eighth day, the 90,000-strong army was mighty, lined up in an endless long line, like a dense colony of ants, slowly entering Wuguan from the south gate.

The guards Liu Pan and Yang Ling led the crowd to greet them at the pass and personally led the way for Wang Xu. Go to the Wuguan Garrison Mansion.

"Liu Pan, Yang Ling! In the past few years, you have guarded Wuguan. The days are hard. It's so hard! Wang Xu handed the reins to the guards and walked in great strides.

"Why did the lord say this!" Liu Pan shook his head with a smile, and replied to his side: "Between Sili and Jingzhou, separated by the stretching Nanshan Mountain (Qinling was called Nanshan in ancient times), those passages are all over the mountains and mountains, but this Wuguan is the only smooth road that has been repaired, and there are many business trips. It is very lively, and it has developed very rapidly over the years, although it is not as good as Xiangyang and other big cities, but it is also quite prosperous. ”

"yes!" Yang Ling nodded, and took over: "The lord doesn't know, this Wuguan is now a super large bazaar, with a dense flow of people and a complicated identity, in view of what the lord said." Trade should be encouraged, but also in order to avoid the enemy from blending in. Threatening the security of the Armed Gates, we also built a trading market in the northeast of the Customs. ”

"Now that a town has been formed there, we named it Shangnan, but if there is a caravan of some size to trade, it can only go there, and cannot enter the Wuguan, and there are three hundred people stationed on weekdays, and the guard is changed every ten days, only to maintain law and order, and at the same time to supervise a few small officials who are responsible for collecting taxes."

"If you insist on entering the customs, or go to the south to do business in person, then you must be checked at a sentry post two miles north of the customs and hand in a qiē weapon before you can enter the customs, and the same is true for those who want to go to the north from the south.

Wang Xu was very happy when he heard this, and immediately praised: "Okay, the two of you can make such achievements in guarding the border pass, which is a great achievement." ”

At this time, they had already walked to Wuguan, although now that martial law is in full swing, there is almost no one walking on the street in Daozhì Pass, but just from the surrounding buildings and all kinds of shop signs, you can imagine how prosperous it is on weekdays.

"The lord has won the prize!" Liu Pan and Yang Ling smiled modestly.

"By the way, how is the battle situation of the two generals Gao Shun and Zhang He on the front line, have you ever sent a message to Wuguan?" Wang Xu quickly turned the topic to the current war.

"Oh! Yes. Liu Pan nodded immediately, and said with a smile on his face: "That General Zhang He is really powerful, although he has heard praise before, but he has always thought that it is exaggerated, but I didn't expect to be really wise and brave, this morning came a detailed battle report, he just led the front to break through Duling County, straight to Chang'an, the distance between the two places is less than 100 miles!" ”

"Shhh The sound of neat gasps sounded on the spot.

Not only Wang Xu, but also the generals in the army who followed closely behind, all heard it, and they all looked at each other.

This is also too fast, since Wang Xu issued the order, it is only seven and a half days, plus one and a half days, plus one night, even if the news is sent immediately after the meeting in the evening of that day, it will not arrive until the next morning, if Zhang He sends troops immediately, then it will be seven and a half days from now.

From Wuguan to the northwest of Chang'an, the nearest one, is through the business county, Shangluo, Lantian, Duling these four counties, and then straight to Chang'an, the total distance is at least more than 500 miles, if it is a rapid march, this speed is calculated, it is really nothing, because Sili used to be the most prosperous area, the road is wide, relatively very easy to walk.

But the problem is that in the past seven and a half days, Duling has been captured, not reached!

How was this battle fought? It takes time for people to stand and chop for you! This is already a miracle!

Wang Xu thought about it, and it was also a little incredible, and asked in surprise: "What did the battle report say?" How did Zhang He fight? Didn't Cao Jun's counties resist at all? Or did Zhong Miao gather his forces, abandon these counties, and prepare for a decisive battle outside Chang'an City? ”

"The lord said and laughed, where would Zhong Xuan give up these places!" Yang Ling immediately shook his head: "Shang County has always been stationed with 5,000 soldiers to guard against us, and this time I suddenly got the news that we sent troops, and I hurriedly mobilized troops for reinforcements. ”

"Five thousand?" Wang Xu chattered to himself, and after a while, he asked even more suspiciously: "Since there are five thousand people stationed in Shang County, how can Gao Shun and Zhang He break it in a short time?" What's more, according to my arrangement, the two of them only brought 20,000 people, and Cao Jun is not a clay man, he will be broken when he pinched it! ”

"My lord, this is the power of General Zhang He." Yang Ling's face suddenly showed a look of admiration, and he sighed and praised: "The Shang County guard general Xiahou De has few soldiers, and he has heard the prestige of General Gao Shun for a long time, so he doesn't dare to fight without authorization, and tries in vain to wait for help. If it was an attack, of course, it would not be possible in a short time, but General Zhang He strongly persuaded General Gao to abandon Shang County and go directly to Shangluo, because there were only 1,000 defenders in Shangluo County. ”

"They are not afraid of being cut off after such a bypass. There is no way to advance or retreat. Alone? Wang Xuqi said.

"That ......" Yang Ling was suddenly a little embarrassed. After a pause, he began to speak leisurely.

On the afternoon of the seventh day, outside the city of Shangxian County......

The autumn wind was blowing, the fallen leaves were flying, and the elite soldiers of the 20,000 Eastern Legion were lined up in countless phalanxes outside the county seat, and they were black and oppressive. The flags held high are waving in the wind, and the hunting sounds. It is full of a strong aura of slaughter.

The two generals in front of the formation were majestic, and at this time, they were measuring the head of Shangxian County, and it was Gao Shun and Zhang He.

Zhang He was sitting on a war horse at this moment, dressed in purple and cyan battle armor, holding the reins of the horse in his left hand, holding a spear in his right hand, with a solemn face, looking at the other party's city, and whispering to Gao Shun: "General Gao, the defenders of this Shang County are only 5,000 people. The attack is difficult to overcome, but there is nothing to worry about. Now when Chang'an Zhong Xuan is unable to transfer troops and approach Chang'an with lightning speed, it is better to give up on him first, and we will bypass it and fight directly. ”

"There are only 1,000 defenders in Shangluo, and with the ability of General Gao and the last general, they can all be taken lightly, and when General Gao leads 10,000 people to conquer Shangluo, the last general will lead another 10,000 people to continue to advance to the northwest, and strive to take Lantian when Cao's army is caught off guard. As for this Shang County, with the power of the lord, if we receive a battle report that we are rapidly advancing towards Chang'an, he will quickly come to deal with the thorns in the back for us. ”

Gao Shun was silent, stood for a long time, and then said lightly: "Junyi, if you don't care about Shang County, then it is easy to get Shangluo, but are you sure about taking Lantian?" ”

"Seven floors!" Zhang He said with certainty.

"Good!" Gao Shun spoke decisively: "The lord has personally sent a letter, asking me to believe in you, and I will act according to your words today, but you also remember, if you can't do it, remember to return quickly, don't lose your troops and trap our army to death, otherwise when the crime is punished, it doesn't matter if my head falls to the ground, but if the lord is bad, you and I can't afford it, and I have a guilty conscience!" ”

"General Gao, rest assured, the last general is not such a reckless person." Zhang He was a little moved, after all, Gao Shun was willing to agree, and he also took great risks.

"Without further ado, let's go!" Gao Shun gave the order quietly.

The 20,000-strong army quickly divided into several divisions and galloped towards the county seat of Shangluo.

Xia Houde, the guard general of Shang County, saw the 20,000 troops go away, and was puzzled: "They just retreated?" ”

"General Xiahou, do we want to send soldiers to chase the enemy in order to contain and interfere?" An adjutant next to him asked.

"No, if you are ambushed by the other party, or if you fall into their plan to lure the enemy, Shang County will be in danger." Xia Houde shook his head and said cautiously: "The messenger has set off for Chang'an this morning, if Chang'an moves troops quickly and reinforcements gallop in, then it only takes two or three days later, the cavalry can arrive first, and now guard Shang County, take strict precautions day and night, and set up many secret posts outside the city, if there is any movement, immediately ignite the fire as a signal, don't let the Jingzhou army take advantage of the loophole, there is any chance to attack." ”

"No!" The lieutenant surrendered his command.

Xia Houde did not do anything wrong, if he divided his troops out of the city to track and pinn down, even if it was only 2,000 people, then Gao Shun and Zhang He would inevitably try to drag down the troops who went out of the city with a small force, cut off their connection with Shang County, and then use the main force to make a detour to attack Shang County. At that time, not to mention Xiahoude, even a god general couldn't stop it, because the tactics were wrong from the beginning.

Perhaps from the numbers, there are 2,000 people out of the city, and there are 3,000 people in the mall, which doesn't seem to be much of a gap, but in fact, when it comes to real battles, the gap is too big, 5,000 people, you can let 2,000 people as a reserve, and you can respond at any time, and 3,000 people in the city will be strictly guarded.

But if there are only 3,000 people, at least 1,000 people are needed as reserves, not to mention that the reserve force is much weaker, and the strength of the response is insufficient, and the density and defensive strength of the 2,000 men and 3,000 men on the head of the city will be greatly reduced, and there is an essential difference between a soldier of one meter and a soldier of half a meter.

Moreover, Shangxian is only a county seat, and it is not the kind of city that sits in a dangerous pass, although the city defense has been reinforced by the Cao army, but it can not be compared with the real passes such as Wuguan, not only the city wall is low, but the terrain is relatively flat. In the face of a siege with troops several times their own, the consequences can be imagined.

It's just that, as a guard, Xia Houde fulfilled his responsibility, but from the overall situation, he left a foreshadowing of failure. (To be continued......)