Xixian is located between Xingzhou and Xingyuan Mansion (Hanzhong) in Houshu, and is an important passage into Shu - Chencang Road - must pass. The Xingyuan Mansion is in the east of Xixian County, if it is abandoned, the Hou Shu defenders of the Xingyuan Mansion will not only threaten the flank of the North Shu Road Army, but also will definitely affect the smoothness of its grain route. In Tang Chao and Muter's opinion, instead of sending a large number of men and horses to guard the back and grain routes, it is better to take the Xingyuan Mansion in one go to prevent future troubles.

Therefore, after capturing Xingzhou, in order to gain time, the North Route Army of Huashu only had a short rest and recuperation, and was divided into two armies. The front army (the 5th and 6th regiments of the 2nd Division of the "Flying Dragon Army", the 1st Artillery Division of the 2nd Division, the 4 regiments of the "Wolf Tooth Battalion" and the "Security Army") was led by Muttel, carrying only a small amount of baggage, and marched east from Xingzhou to the east, directly taking Xixian and Xingyuanfu. The rear army (other troops of the North Shu Route Army) was led by Tang Chao, and the baggage required to escort the army was behind the front army, and after the front army took Xixian and Xingyuan Mansion, it combined its troops and went straight to Sanquan (Yangping Pass), another important pass at the intersection of Chencang Road and Jinniu Road.

Although geographically, Xixian is eighty miles away from Xingzhou, which is the western barrier of Xingyuan Mansion, once Xixian is lost, Xingyuan will open the door wide and be in danger. However, from a combat point of view, the Xingyuan Mansion, which is far taller and stronger than Xixian, should be more conducive to the Shu army to defend the city and confront the Zhou army. I don't know if it's to show that I don't deserve my trust in the Lord, or I don't want others to say that I am a solicitor, but I will only shrink in Xingyuan City and wait for the Zhou army to come to the city, and I don't dare to fight it. In short, after learning that the Zhou army had entered Xingzhou, Han Baozheng, the envoy of the southern section of Houshu Mountain, and Han Baozheng, the envoy of the Southern Section, played a bad move. He immediately gave up the idea of sticking to Xingyuan, and led the main force of more than 30,000 soldiers and horses to Xixian, and joined forces with Lan Siwan, who had retreated from Xingzhou, to defend the city.

After Han Baozheng and Lan Siwan joined forces, the defenders of Xixian County reached nearly 35,000 people, and in terms of strength comparison, the Houshu army had a two-to-one advantage over the former army led by Mutel. Considering that the Northern Route Army did not carry large-caliber artillery because of the difficulty of the road, if Han and Lan were to defend the city, although Xixian was not as strong as Xingyuan Mansion, it was at least a military town, and it was also diligent in repairing in the past, with its deep ditches and high bases, and thick city walls, it may be able to compete with Muter's troops who were unwilling to attack the city so as not to cause unnecessary casualties for a while.

But the problem is that Han Baozheng was almost ignorant of the new Great Zhou forbidden army he was about to face, especially the "Flying Dragon Army", and at the beginning of the war between the two sides, he was as arrogant as Wang Zhaoyuan, feeling that with the danger of the mountains and rivers of Shu and the solidity of the passes, he was fully capable of resisting the enemy under the city of Xingzhou, and would never be as vulnerable as the Southern Tang (Jiangnan) army at the beginning. After the Zhou army entered Shudi, it was like a bamboo, but in a few days, it was even a few villages, and the news of Xingzhou came lightly, especially in Xixian and the defeated Xingzhou Thorn Shi Lan Siwan met, after listening to his description of the Zhou army's artillery fire when attacking the city, and instantly turning the head of Xingzhou into a sea of fire, Han Baozheng's attitude towards the Zhou army made a 180-degree turn, from disdain to fear like a tiger. Coupled with Lan Sijuan's exaggeration of the siege power of the Zhou army's artillery and the exaggeration of the description, Han Baozheng finally came to a wrong understanding that the Zhou army's artillery was very effective in besieging the city, and his own side must not fight for it at the head of the city, so as not to follow in the footsteps of Lan Sihuan in Xingzhou and bury the lives of his soldiers on the meaningless garrison of the city. So, after learning that the Zhou army had killed all the way to Xixian, and the number was only half of his own, Han Baozheng played a second trick and made a decision that he considered "extremely wise" - to abandon the garrison at the head of the city, all the Shu troops in Xixian were under the city by the mountains and backed the city, forming a formation to consolidate themselves, and after the Zhou army arrived, they took the initiative to attack, and fought with the infantry of the Zhou army, so that the opponent's artillery did not dare to bombard lightly, so as to achieve the purpose of avoiding the artillery fire of the Zhou army.

It is a pity that the wise decision in the eyes of Han Baozheng is extremely stupid and self-digging in the eyes of Muttle, who led the surging men under his command. Han Baozheng, who had no knowledge of the tactics of the "Flying Dragon Army" and firearms, did not know that his decision not only could not free his subordinates from the threat of artillery, but instead sent them to a more dangerous situation. After all, although the garrison at the head of the city can only resist the artillery fire of the Zhou army, it can at least rely on the battlements or hidden caves to dodge. Now that the city has been abandoned and lined up, even the last bit of shelter has been lost, and the Houshu soldiers will have to rely on their own flesh and blood to compete with the shrapnel flying in the sky -- as for taking advantage of the melee between the enemy and us to avoid the opponent's firearms, it is even more wishful thinking. It must be known that the infantry of the "Flying Dragon Army" is not holding a burning stick, but a deadly murder weapon that can kill people hundreds of paces away. I am afraid that before the Shu army rushed to the front of the Zhou army, the corpses were all over the field and the blood flowed like a river.

Therefore, when Mutel, who led the troops to the city of Xixian County, saw the Shu army Dazhai lined up in the back of the mountain, he couldn't help but be stunned, because he really couldn't understand what Cheng dù the Shu army guards were going to be, and what Cheng dù was to be ignorant of the current situation of the Great Zhou Forbidden Army, especially the "Flying Dragon Army", so he would make the idiotic arrangement of giving up Xingyuan and sticking to Xixian, giving up the fortified city and setting up the village on the ground.

However, the stunned was short-lived, and after confirming that there were indeed more than 30,000 Shu troops deployed in the big village under the city, and there was no ambush around the city, this move was definitely not the suspicious formation of the Shu army guards, and Mutel's stunned became a sneer at the corner of his mouth. After sneering, Muttel immediately ordered that the infantry of the Shu army immediately set up a circular defensive position 300 steps away from the Shu army's Dazhai, and the "wolf's tooth battalion" and the cavalry battalion of the sixth regiment of the second division were organized into two cavalry assault clusters and outflanked from both sides of the Shu army's Dazhai. At the same time, all the artillery of the headquarters was concentrated and began to carry out a rapid and fierce bombardment of the Shu army Dazhai under the west county.

Although there was no heavy artillery in Muttel's department, and even the 105 mm recoilless guns were only 12, mainly relying on mortars attached to each battalion and company, but even so, the nearly 100 guns of various types that he had assembled fired at the same time still shocked the Shu army under the city of Xixian and panicked. In particular, the Shu army that had retreated from Xingzhou became terrified and fled in a hurry because they had seen the power of artillery in Xingzhou City, so that the military judges and supervisors in the village beheaded dozens of people in a row, but they still couldn't stop them from breaking through like headless flies. In this way, it not only disrupted the formation and order of the Shu infantry in the village who were originally preparing to go out of the village to attack the enemy after the Zhou army lined up, but also transmitted panic and timidity to those comrades-in-arms who came from Xingyuan Mansion and had not fought with the Zhou army. As a result, it was just a short meal, and it was said that it was out of the village to attack the Zhou army array, and even a Shu army in formation and formation no longer existed. The entire Shu army Dazhai fell into complete and complete chaos, and the soldiers rushed out of Dazhai and fled in all directions despite the obstruction of the commander. Those Shu troops who found the right direction and fled into the city were temporarily escaped. , and those Shu generals who fled in other directions became excellent targets for the two cavalry assault clusters of the Zhou army cruising on both sides of their Dazhai, and were driven and slaughtered by the latter like ducks. At the same time, Muttel also ordered the Zhou infantry in front of the Shu army to quickly move forward, and rushed into the west county town with the tail of the defeated Shu army.

On the eleventh day of the second lunar month of the fifth year of Jianlong, Mutel's troops conquered Xixian County, captured Han Baozheng and his deputy Li Jin, who wanted to flee to Xingyuan Mansion, and obtained 300,000 stones.

In the battle of Xixian, the Northern Route Army of Shu not only won a complete victory, but also captured a large amount of grain and grass. In fact, with the grain and grass obtained in Xingzhou and Xixian, it was enough to support the needs of the Northern Route Army of Shu for several months, and there was almost no need for the imperial court to transport military rations from the direction of Fengzhou during the entire period of the expedition to Shu.

In stark contrast to the great victory of the Zhou army, after this battle, the Shu defenders were almost completely wiped out, and the remnants of the defeated army who escaped defeat and returned to Xingyuan Mansion were less than 2,000 people, and even if the Shu army left behind in Xingyuan was added, the total strength did not exceed 5,000 people. In addition, the defeated Shu army not only publicized the news of the defeat of Xixian County, but also transmitted the low morale and complete loss of fighting spirit after the defeat to those Shu generals who did not participate in the battle of Xicheng. Therefore, when Muttel took advantage of the great victory of Xixian County and approached the city of Xingyuan, in the face of the panic of the people in the city and the military morale of the defenders, the officials and guards who stayed in the city knew very well that they would never be able to hold the city by relying on such a popular heart and such a military spirit.

As a result, Muttel had only arrived at the city, and before the siege had been opened, the city had already raised the flag and opened the gates, and surrendered to it very decisively and neatly. This made Muttle, who had just felt a little bit in Xicheng, feeling a little awkward, and regretted that he couldn't continue to kill.

However, regardless of whether he is happy or not, since the other party has surrendered, Mutel has to act according to the rules. Accept the surrender, enter the city with a large army to maintain order, post notices to calm the people's hearts, and appease the officials in the city to keep the situation in the area from unrest. After a series of work was done, coupled with the time to wait for the arrival of the rear army led by Tang Chao, and to carry out the necessary personnel rest and material replenishment, when Tang and Mu led the army to leave Xingyuan Mansion and rush to Sanquan (Yangping Pass), it was already the fifteenth day of the second lunar month of the fifth year of Jianlong.

Since Xingyuan Mansion turned back and re-crossed Xixian, Tang and Mu troops rushed all the way to Shu North Road Army, and more than 20 military villages such as Shushitu, Yuguan and Baishui Pavilion were linked, and on February 18 of the lunar calendar of the fifth year of Jianlong, the troops marched to the important pass between Lizhou and Xingzhou - Sanquan (Yangping Pass).

Sanquan (Yangpingguan) is bordered by the Qinling Mountains in the north, the Hanjiang River and Bashan in the south, the Zhanglu City on the Zoumaling across the Xianhe River in the west, and the Jinniu Road crossing in the west and the Chencang Road crossing in the north to Qinlong. It is the western gateway of the Hanzhong Basin, and it is also the northern frontier of Bashu leading to Guanzhong, and the geographical location is very dangerous. Advance is conducive to attacking, retreat can be defended. Since ancient times, it has been regarded as the "throat of Shu" and "the gateway of Hanzhong", and it is a place where soldiers must fight.

It stands to reason that such an important military location, with its geographical advantage, should be the focus of Houshu's defense. But first, Sanquan (Yangping Pass) is a small city, and it is impossible to station too many troops in peacetime. Now the reinforcements led by Wang Zhaoyuan have not yet arrived in Lizhou, and there are only 2,000 defenders in the pass, which is too disparity compared with the strength of the Zhou army. Second, because Han Baozheng, the envoy of the recruiting envoy and Shannan Jiedu, pinned all the hopes of blocking the Zhou army on Xixian after the loss of Xingzhou, not only did he not send troops to reinforce Sanquan (Yangping Pass), but he did not even send someone to inform the defenders there that Xingzhou had fallen into the hands of the Zhou army. In addition, the Zhou army marched rapidly after conquering Xingzhou, and successively conquered Xixian and Xingyuan Mansion in a very short period of time, and effectively controlled the passage to Sanquan (Yangping Pass), so that the routed troops who escaped from Xingzhou, Xixian, Xingyuanfu and other places had no chance to run to Sanquan (Yangping Pass) to report before the Zhou army arrived in Guancheng. Therefore, although Sanquan (Yangping Pass) had heard the news of the southward movement of the Zhou army from the mouth of a messenger who had rushed to Chengdu from the border many days earlier, he did not expect the latter to come so quickly. So much so that when the sentry came to report the news, the commander of the guard thought that this guy was too nervous by the atmosphere before the big war, and he hallucinated in broad daylight and ran to himself to lie about the military situation.

The huge disparity in strength, the lack of psychological preparation, and the shock of the rapid advance of the Zhou army caused the defenders of Sanquan (Yangping Pass) to lose the upper hand before the two sides actually engaged. Therefore, when the first wave of shells roared into the small fortress of Sanquan (Yangping Pass), almost the entire fortress was shrouded in smoke and fire, and everyone in the gate was already frightened. Therefore, after only holding on to a short pillar of incense, after his own command caused the yamen and mansion to be blown up by several shells, the Sanquan (Yangpingguan) guard who was blackened by the gunpowder smoke threw the responsibility of protecting the family and the country and the land and the people to the clouds, took his subordinates to raise the flag and surrender, and dedicated Sanquan (Yangpingguan) to Tang Chao and Mutel.

On the eighteenth day of the second lunar month of the fifth year of Jianlong, Tang Chao and Mutel's department continued to move southward through Guò Sanquan (Yangping Pass), and the troops pointed directly at Jiachuan. The defenders of Jiachuan knew that it was difficult to resist, and before the North Shu Route Army entered the pass, they destroyed the city, burned the plank road, and retreated to Jiameng Pass.

In the afternoon of the same day, Wang Zhaoyuan and Zhao Chongtao led the reinforcements of Houshu to arrive in Lizhou. After learning that Xingzhou, Xixian, Xingyuanfu and other places had lost their opponents, and that the Zhou army had broken through Sanquan (Yangping Pass) and entered Jiachuan, they immediately ordered the whole army to stop advancing, garrison and defend in Lizhou City, and sent some soldiers and horses to defend the north of the city and Xiaomantianzhai.