On May 17, the fifth day of Han Jian's arrival at the Tongguan front, all preparations were ready. With the opening of the feint, there was also a commotion under the Tong Pass, two feints in succession, although the losses of the East King Army and the defenders in the city were not large, but the eyes of all the forces were focused on the Tong Pass. This set the conditions for Han Cui's troops to enter the pass along the path.

On the other side, Su Tingxia's troops also sent troops almost at the same time, without Han Jian's expectations, Su Tingxia did not dare to rebel in the chaos in the north, although he had soldiers, but there was no food, and resources were also scarce, once he rebelled, he would fall into isolation.

Han Jian thought that after solving the problem of Guanzhong, he would deal with the problem of Su Tingxia's self-respect for his troops, and in Han Jian's expectation, if Su Tingxia really had the opposite intentions, then if he could successfully capture Guanzhong, Su Tingxia would definitely make a move.

On May 19, with the launch of the third feint attack campaign of the Dongwang Army, the Dongwang Army used significantly more men and horses this time than the previous two times. At this time, it also involved the 30,000 soldiers and horses led by Su Tingxia himself, and the 6,000 elite soldiers of the Eastern Palace, led by Han Cui's family, into the pass, and the battle at the Tongguan Pass attracted all the attention of the inside of the Western Palace. By the afternoon of May 19, Han Jian personally led the troops to sit in the town, and the horn blew very loudly, but the attack at the pass was thunder and rain, and the two rounds of heavy crossbow salvos in front of him were fired, and the losses on the upper floors of Tongguan City were greater than those under the city, but the heavy crossbows were used on the side of the East Wangfu, and the losses in war resources were even greater.

Near dusk, there were still cavalry raids and disturbances under the city, but they all had little effect, and the cavalry did not like to fight, and after several unsuccessful charges, they left dozens of corpses before retreating.

By the evening of May 19, there was still a commotion outside the city. The soldiers and horses who went out with Han Jian had already rested, and it was the best time for the spirits, and the sound of horns and the shouts of soldiers all night was not quiet.

It wasn't until the next morning that the commotion subsided. After a day and a night's tossing, the Tongguan defenders were tossed a lot, but fortunately, there were not many casualties, and it seemed that they had repelled another attack by the Dongwang army.

Han Jian believes that no matter who is the nominal coach in Tongguan. At this time, they will go to the West Wangfu to ask for credit, and the victory of the big fart will also be boasted. This is also an unwritten rule in the army, if you fail, big things will be small, and if you win a battle, small things will be turned into big things.

By May 20, Han Jian learned that all the 6,000 soldiers and horses led by Han Cui's family from the rear had entered Guanzhong, and according to the plan, the goal was to advance directly in the direction of Chang'an City. Although there was no battle report from Su Tingxia's side, Han Jian expected that the general speed of the troops should be much worse. In order to prevent Su Tingxia from crossing the Yellow River and heading towards Tongguan, Han Jian planted more scouts north of the Yellow River than in Tongguan. Han Jian knew very well that the biggest threat now did not come from Tongguan. It was Su Tingxia's soldiers and horses. If Su Tingxia counterattacked in the middle of the attack, if he did not react in time, he would suffer devastating consequences.

On May 21, the inside and outside of Tongguan were still calm as usual, but the problem of lack of grain and grass in the army of the Eastern King was already very serious. The time that the grain and grass can support is less than ten days, which is calculated by adding the time of withdrawing troops back to Luoyang. A batch of grain and grass that was originally transported was attacked by unknown armed forces on the way, and the grain and grass were damaged, and the scale of grain and grass itself was not large. But it made Han Jian feel that the West Wangfu was already doing things, and there were also people and horses from the West Wangfu harassing the grain road behind them.

May 22. The Eastern King Army launched a fourth round of feints. This feint attack was completely in line with the attack of 6,000 soldiers and horses led by Han Cui's clan on Pusaka Castle in Guanzhong.

Pusaka is a very important grain and grass hoarding city in Guanzhong, which belongs to the throat of Chang'an City south of Guanzhong, and is also the most important support point for the entire Tongguan defense line of Xiwangfu.

The battle at Tongguan started in the morning, and it was not until sunset and dusk in the afternoon that Han Cui's clan rushed to Pusaka City with his troops and horses, but he didn't even have time to rest. The soldiers and horses directly launched an attack on Kasaka Castle. Because Pusaka City is located in the hinterland of Guanzhong, he didn't expect that the soldiers and horses of the Dongwang Army would suddenly come out, and even before the city gate could be closed, it was killed by some people and horses. As the soldiers and horses who entered the city in the early stage occupied the city gates, the subsequent men and horses entered through the city gates. Or enter the city by a simple ladder. By the evening of the same day, it can be said that it was effortless to take Pusaka City and seize a large amount of grain and grass in the Xiwang Mansion.

At this time, the Xiwangfu realized that the Dongwang army did not simply use Tongguan as a breakthrough, but sent a large number of soldiers and horses to harass the interior of Guanzhong.

Pu Han is not far from Chang'an, Han Cui's 6,000 soldiers and horses appeared, which has put everyone in the entire Guanzhong in danger, although the Xiwangfu is to occupy Guanzhong, but the fiefdom of the Xiwangfu itself only covers a part of Guanzhong, and many of the local people are still based on the imperial court. After Han Cui's capture of Kasaka, most of the defenders in the city surrendered without resistance, and directly surrendered to the Eastern King Army in the name of loyalty to the imperial court. For local officials and generals, it doesn't matter who is in power, war is a struggle for power at the top, and they are just messing around with the core of power, or mixing up their achievements.

In Chang'an City, the Xiwangfu urgently mobilized the garrisons around Pusaka to prevent the troops and horses led by Han Cui's to return to Tongguan, and for the Xiwangfu, they did not expect the real purpose of Han Cui's troops to attack the rear. Seeing that Pusaka's grain and grass were occupied by the Dongwang army, they also felt that this was the end of the military plan of the Dongwang Mansion, and the only thing left was to wait for the Dongwang army to withdraw before giving a fatal blow. But no one expected that the first battle in Pusaka City was only the beginning, and the Dongwang Army sent not only the 6,000 soldiers and horses of the Han Cui clan to Guanzhong, but also the more terrifying Su Tingxia Department like locusts.

On May 24, on the third day of the fall of Kamasaka Castle, Han Cui's clan was still stationed in Kasaka Castle and did not continue to move north. However, Su Tingxia's men and horses have already entered the pass, and just like Su Tingxia's favorite strategy before, it was broken into pieces, and Su Tingxia led 30,000 elite soldiers to divide into six routes, and started a cruel battle of plundering and fighting to different cities. These "bandits" who have been held back for a long time, have been looking for opportunities to rob after returning from the Bohai Kingdom, and now they finally have a chance, just like a rabbit with spread legs, no need to coordinate, all walks of life according to the original route to rob, it is the summer harvest season in Guanzhong, many villages and cities are almost in an undefended state were looted, not only grain and grass, but also land, gold and silver treasures, and some people and horses do not even let go of the population, after entering Guanzhong. There is no fear at all, and he completely treats Guanzhong as the hinterland of the enemy country, burning, killing, looting and doing all kinds of evil.

By the end of May, the entire central and northern part of Guanzhong was in complete disarray, and a large number of refugees had fled to the Chang'an City area, even if some cities had not yet fallen. But he could only defend the lonely city, witnessing a group of demons burning and looting his home outside the city, but he didn't dare to go out to fight. Although the people of Guanzhong hated Su Tingxia's men and horses very much, they also knew that in addition to looting, the people and horses on this road were also fighting sideways like crabs. This is the banditry's arrogance.

The war really entered a state of chaos and disorder, and Tongguan, which was originally the most solid barrier in the pass, became a fortress for bystanders in this catastrophe, because of the 30,000 horses led by Han Jian himself. There are also tens of thousands of horses left by Su Tingxia in Guanxi, who are eyeing Tongguan, and the defenders of Tongguan do not dare to withdraw lightly to help, so they can only watch Su Tingxia's men and horses make trouble.

The Xiwang Mansion was obviously unprepared for what was happening at the moment, and when Su Tingxia's troops were almost unimpeded plundering in the central and northern parts of Guanzhong, Chang'an City even closed the city gate and did not let the news spread by means of martial law blockade in the city. But as more and more refugees came in the direction of Chang'an, ordinary people still knew that the people of the Dongwang Mansion had been killed in the back garden of Guanzhong. It may be killed under Chang'an City at any time.

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At the end of May, the problem of grain and grass for the soldiers and horses led by Han Jian did not improve. On the contrary, it has already fallen into a desperate situation. If it weren't for the men and horses led by Su Tingxia and Han Cui's clan to create chaos in Guanzhong and be killed by the defenders in Tongguan, the soldiers would have a low fighting spirit under the lack of food, and they might not be able to move on with this move in Tongguan.

In order to prevent accidents, Han Jian retreated thirty miles back and re-stationed forty miles away from the Tongguan Pass. It's not far, it's not close. What's more important is to use the follow-up grain and grass to maintain the operation of the entire army, Lin Xiaoshu has already exhausted all means to allocate food, but it is only enough for the army to have three days' rations. Han Jian was already wondering if he should also follow Su Tingxia's example, relying on snatching to support the war. Otherwise, just stationed under Tongguan, you will have to feed 50,000 or 60,000 horses. It's hard to compare.

Over the past few days, there have been many deserters in the army. Originally, it was not the main force of the Dongwang Army, most of them were improvised local garrisons in Luoyang, with little food in the army, only one ration a day, and the soldiers simply ran away if they couldn't eat enough. The south bank of the Yellow River is already miserable, and the thirty or forty thousand horses left by Su Tingxia on the north bank of the Yellow River are even more unbearable, and the plundering on the north side of the Yellow River has not stopped. Han Jian believed that if Su Tingxia's troops on the north bank of the Yellow River had not had a large number of boats crossing the river, they would have killed him and robbed him of all the grain and grass in his camp.

When the battle has reached this point, it no longer seems that it is only a matter of comparing the number of soldiers and horses and combat effectiveness, but comparing the supply of grain and grass.

In Pu Han City within Tongguan, Han Cui's 6,000 men and horses still did not move, although Han Cui's troops intercepted a large amount of grain and grass in Xiwangfu, but Tongguan itself did not take, relying on some small roads in and out of the pass could not transport a large amount of grain and grass out, and it was impossible to support the Chinese army camp led by Han Jian.

And Su Tingxia's troops were very happy at the beginning, and they did not encounter any obstacles, but when Han Jian withdrew his troops for forty miles to reduce the pressure on Tongguan, and the Xiwang Mansion of Chang'an City also eased up and found that it was nothing more than that, he had already sent troops and horses to start counterattacking. The soldiers and horses of the counties in Guanzhong have been transferred to the central and northern regions, and the pace of looting under Su Tingxia's department has also been hindered.

This was followed by heavy rain in the Guanzhong area for several days.

The heavy rain made the road situation unbearable, the march of soldiers and horses and the transportation of grain and grass were blocked, Han Jian sent two roads of men and horses to meet the grain and grass in the rear, or ambushed by the men and horses ambushed by the Xiwangfu, the grain and grass transported to the front line was limited, and the army had to withhold rations. Even the local counties were ordered by Han Jian to transport grain and grass, in the face of the war, Han Jian no longer took care of any principles, the problem of food shortage is too strict, and if the problem of food shortage is too strict, it will only make the army disheartened or even a military mutiny, and they still have to maintain pressure on Tongguan and cannot withdraw their troops.

The problem of deserters is also becoming more and more serious. In short, after some good news brought in mid-to-late May, by the beginning of June, all kinds of bad war reports had reached Han Jian, and Han Jian was so worried that he couldn't sleep well for a few days.

At this time, Han Jian also had to consider two issues, whether to withdraw his troops, or to launch a real assault on Tongguan before the grain and grass were completely cut off.

After thinking about it, Han Jian still had to give up the plan in front of him, and finding food was the most important thing. Nowadays, the whole army has to gnaw on the bark of trees to get by, and it is too difficult to find food. Han Jian could only urge Lin Xiaoshu, who was in Chang'an City, to see if she could use some special means to transfer food, in addition, Han Jian also sent people to the surrounding counties to urge for food. By this time, all the soldiers were waiting to be fed with their mouths long, and even Han Jian himself hadn't eaten enough for a few days.

On the fourth day of the sixth lunar month, Han Cui's family sent a group of people to escort grain and grass to cross the path in the heavy rain and mud and transport a batch of grain and grass out, which finally solved Han Jian's immediate urgency. Although this batch of grain and grass cannot make the whole army last too long, it is still possible to eat a full meal for another six or seven days.

After a full meal for the whole army, Han Jian made the most decisive decision to launch a strong attack on Tongguan.

By this time, the army was already full of complaints, and as soon as Han Jian's order came out, even the generals under his command had quite an opinion, they had just eaten a full meal and would not starve to death, and now they were going to the battlefield to die?

But they obviously misunderstood what Han Jian meant, and the strong attack that Han Jian said was still a feint in the final analysis. Since there is some grain and grass, it can no longer be stationed forty miles away from Tongguan, so it cannot give Tongguan a substantial threat.

As Han Jian personally led 30,000 soldiers and horses to re-camp under Tongguan City, Tongguan was originally ready to send more soldiers and horses back to the pass to resist Su Tingxia's troops, but he had to give up at this time.

A stalemate war was about to fall into a situation where both sides could not advance or retreat, but Han Jian also sent people to contact Mrs. Luo, Li Yun and others, and asked them to step up the investigation and assassination operations inside Tongguan. Han Jian felt that Tongguan was a stab in the throat after all, and if the problem of Tongguan could not be completely solved, it would only be a matter of paper after all. (To be continued......)