As the gateway to Yizhou, Hanzhong has been under Zhang Lu's rule all these years.

However, unlike other counties and counties, the law of theocracy is enforced.

After all, Zhang Lu's grandfather is the Taoist patriarch Zhang Daoling, which is called Zhang Tianshi in later generations.

This is a familiar identity for later generations, but in fact, Zhang Lu was able to break away from Liu Zhang's rule and become independent of Hanzhong, and has been undefeated with it for many years, in addition to the fact that the Heavenly Master Sect can absorb people, the more critical reason is the background of the Zhang family.

Zhang Lu, but the tenth grandson of Zhang Liang, the founding father of the Han Dynasty, in this era of paying attention to family origin, this identity gave him a dazzling halo.

However, in recent years, as the law of the unity of church and state has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, this identity has gradually been forgotten, and the Heavenly Master has become an identifiable identity.

In the Sichuan and Shu area, Zhang Lu's Tianshi Sect has a very strong appeal, and because it requires five buckets of rice to join the sect, it is also called the Five Buckets of Rice Sect, and even many people from other counties in Yizhou have come to join.

This directly made Zhang Lu's integration of politics and religion more smoothly.

To what extent is it smooth, except for the need to report to the imperial court and pay tribute, there are no such positions in the local area.

Here, there are only three types of people, the sect leader headed by Zhang Lu and the teachers of his brother Zhang Wei and others, the second is sacrificial wine, and the third is the ghost pawn.

All those who joined the Five Doumi Sect were ghost pawns, including ordinary people, Hanmen scholars, and even sergeants in the army.

And the person who manages these ghosts is not a county commander, a captain, or a school captain, but a sacrificial wine.

Different sacrificial wines manage different groups of people, and the sacrificial wine in the army is a category, and the sacrificial wine implemented by government decree is another category.

One can imagine the extent to which the Heavenly Master Sect has spread throughout Hanzhong.

In this era, it is really much more convenient to govern the people with dogma and faith than by government decrees and regulations.

Because every once in a while, there will be a traitor who is responsible for summoning a group of ghost soldiers to write down the guilt, that is, if you do any bad things during this time, such as bullying others, not paying etiquette, stealing or even looting, as long as you write it, you can still be punished lightly.

If you don't write it and you are accused of it, then you will be embarrassed, and you will be arrested and sent to worship the heavens.

Not to mention, after this set is implemented in Hanzhong, not to mention that the road is not left behind, and the house is not closed at night, the public security case is definitely the rarest county under the rule of the Han Dynasty.

The disadvantages are also obvious, there is no doctor here, if you are sick, you will ask the sect master to give you talisman water, and you will definitely get better after drinking talisman water.

Is it okay?

That must be hidden in your guilt, damn you, God will not let you go.

Because there is no clear definition of ghost pawns, Zhang Lu announced that he had 120,000 soldiers, because he really had 120,000 young and strong ghost pawns, but the real sergeants were actually only more than 30,000 people.

Over the years, Zhang Lu has been obsessed with spreading the teachings, and he has no interest in the power struggle outside the other party, he just wants more people to get the blessings of the Heavenly Master's teaching.

Therefore, when Cao Cao's war book was delivered, Zhang Lu's heart was not too shocked, it was a big deal to surrender, anyway, he also explained that he could still continue to preach in Hanzhong, and even spread the Heavenly Master Sect to other places.

But his younger brother Zhang Wei doesn't do it, what kind of goods is Cao Cao? The people who were beaten by Lu Bu were looking for teeth all over the place, and now they can't drive Liu Bei away when they go to Jingzhou, but they have hit our Hanzhong with their hearts, and they really think that the group of ghost pawns under their hands are all decorations?

Then hit!

So, Zhang Wei took more than 30,000 people to Yangping Pass, ready to fight Cao Jun here.

Yangping Pass is connected to the Qinling Mountains in the north, Daba Mountain and Micang Mountain in the south, and there is a Jialing water cut off road, and the Cao army has to conquer only such a road in the middle.

Although it is not as good as the Jianmen Pass, the Cao army cannot give full play to the advantages of soldiers and horses here, and each attack can accommodate no more than 3,000 people.

The only drawback was that Cao Jun could not be allowed to cross the Qinling Mountains and thus make a detour.

Therefore, Zhang Wei left 5,000 men and horses in Yangping Pass, and he personally led 28,000 people to station three large villages in the Qinling Mountains north of Yangping Pass, arranged in a zigzag pattern.

In this way, you can't enter Yangping Pass, and the road behind the Qinling Mountains can't go, although there are only 33,000 people, but it is enough to reach 200,000 troops.

If you gather the troops from all over the place, and then count the Jingzhou army, Cao Cao really managed to get together 200,000 people, but you are not Lu Bu, you are just Zhang Lu, can you do it.

So Cao Cao brought an army of 50,000 and came to Yangping Pass in a hurry.

Among the 50,000 people, 20,000 of them are the old team he brought from Xuchang, and 30,000 are the Jingzhou army, after all, he can't all bring his own people, and he can't all bring the Jingzhou army, so this configuration can be regarded as thoughtful.

Bingzhou has been lost, and he urgently needs a victory to stabilize the hearts of Jingxiang's people, and Hanzhong is the only choice.

Because once Hanzhong gets its hands on it, it can directly threaten Yizhou, which not only facilitates the expansion in the later period, but also gives people the illusion that its strength has skyrocketed.

Suppressing Lü Bu with the ten divisions of Guanzhong into the three counties of Guandong, and then taking Hanzhong to expand his power and stabilize Jingxiang while striving for the strategic initiative, this is Cao Cao's strategic policy of closing himself up and meditating after the death of Xiahoudun.

He himself firmly believes that it is the only way to break the game.

At the same time, he also has full confidence in Zhang Lu, after all, his subordinates have lost a lot of battles in recent years, but they can be regarded as an elite division.

I have fought with Liu Zhang a few times, but they all have mutual victories and defeats, think about it, how can an army that can fight with a fool like Liu Zhang be his opponent.

Therefore, Cao Cao came to Yangpingguan with a complacent, almost contemptuous.

It's just that when he looks at it before the pass, he is confused.

But see that Yangping Guancheng is more than four zhang high, the terrain in front of the pass is narrow and can accommodate only two thousand people, the Qinling Mountains in the north are steep and precipitous, the word 'Zhang' is inserted all over the place, and the Jialing water in the south is turbulent like a flood, which makes people daunting.

How to fight this specially, just by looking at it, you know that it is an easy place to defend and difficult to attack.

"I've heard about the hardships and dangers of Sichuan for a long time, but now I see it!" Cao Cao looked at Xiongguan and couldn't help but sigh.

To be honest, if he allowed, he really wanted to turn around and go back.

But the current situation is that this battle must be fought, and it must be won, because Jing Xiang is still waiting for his good results.

Can't be defeated again.

"Sikong, the last general will ask for orders to lead people to tackle the problem!" Looking at Cao Cao's sad face, Dian Wei couldn't help but give up.

"I'll go too!" The two heroes of the tiger and the two heroes have always advanced and retreated together, and Xu Chu also stood up.

Cao Cao shook his head slowly.

With such a terrain, no matter how invincible your personal courage is, it is useless.

"Only by conquering the defenders of the cottage from the Qinling Mountains can we break through the danger from a high position, and there is no other way to do this." Attacking the cottage is actually unfavorable to the army, and it can only be said that compared with Yangping Pass, the cottage in Qinling can still make people see a glimmer of hope.

After Xun You finished speaking, Cao Cao raised his eyes to look at Qinling, and said in a deep voice: "These cottages are horns of each other, no matter which direction you attack, you will inevitably be attacked by the other two military villages on the flank, I underestimated Zhang Lu." ”

After hesitating for a moment, Cao Cao finally issued a military order, "Attack at night, tonight the second watch will make rice, and the third watch will go out of the village, and the two of you will raise 3,000 troops to attack this camp in the south." ”

"Whoa!"

After the two of them gave up, Cao Cao continued: "Gongming, Shuzhi. ”

"The last general!" Xu Huang and Chen Zhi stepped forward.

"You two will lead 3,000 soldiers to meet you on the mountainside."

"Whoa!"

This type of attack is actually necessary, firstly, to play the advantages and disadvantages of the Hanzhong army, and secondly, to test the difficulty of mountaineering, and at the same time, to explore whether there is a suitable position to go up the mountain to confront.

That night, Dian Wei and Xu Chu began to climb the Qinling Mountains with three thousand foot armor.

When it comes to the understanding of the terrain around Yangping Pass, it is obvious that Zhang Wei is better, where there are slopes, where are cliffs, where is the gentle land, Zhang Weijun is clear, and the sergeant in charge of the ambush pushed down the rolling stone and wood in a timely manner, and Cao Jun was killed and wounded.

It stands to reason that the sneak attack is a surprise attack, and it should be withdrawn immediately after being discovered.

But Dian Wei is a tough general, he doesn't talk to you about this, and he focuses on a recklessness.

The most important thing is that Xu Chu, who was with him, raised his hands again in agreement, and the two of them were ambushed twice and did not retreat, and continued to rush up with more than 2,000 people.

Zhang Weijun didn't expect Cao Jun to be so fearless of death, and after two rounds of arrow rain, he began to retreat to the mountain.

In the end, the price of more than 1,200 people killed was exchanged for Dian Wei and Xu Chu rushing to a buffer zone two miles away from Zhang Wei's military camp.

Xu Huang and Chen Zhi also came up, and there were four or five thousand people at this time, Dian Wei planned to rush again, so according to Cao Cao's instructions, Xu Huang and Chen Zhi were responsible for answering in the back, and Dian Wei Xu Chu continued to rush and kill.

The difference is that their ranks have recovered to 2,500 men, and they are ready to fight again.

However, after entering the range of the military village, there was a situation predicted by Cao Cao, no matter which side they hit, Zhang Weijun would come out to attack the flanks in the other two cottages.

After an hour of fierce fighting, Cao Jun's losses were already halfway through, and Dian Wei had to lead people out of the battle circle.

Fortunately, Zhang Weijun did not dare to rush out of the guard area of the Pinzig-shaped cottage, and the two parties formed a confrontation for a while.

After dawn, Cao Cao received a battle report from them, accompanied by a clear deployment map.

"The terrain here is like the belly of a gourd, and the location of their camp is still quite open, but as long as they rush in, they will enter the gourd's eye, the terrain becomes narrow, and the three military villages can respond to each other, and it is difficult to break through." After reading the map, Cao Cao made a summary and handed the map to Xun You to see.

Guo Jia didn't come, because the terrain in this area is not easy to walk, and his body may not be able to withstand it, and Cao Cao's preference for him is still the same.

This also led to the fact that there was only one Xun Yu left who could give Cao Cao detailed advice before the battle.

"This terrain is really strange, these three military villages are swinging to that side, the defensive position is not weak Yangping Pass, Zhang Wei knows the soldiers." Xun You couldn't help but sigh with his white beard.

The most important thing is that in such a terrain, a large number of people is completely useless, and many tactics cannot be used in such a terrain.

The geographical advantage is clearly played by Zhang Wei.

Cao Cao rubbed his temples, looking very melancholy.

He didn't take the initiative to ask Ji Xunyou, because he also had the word headache written on his face.

Just consume first, think again, think more.

This thought is more than half a month.

The two sides confronted each other on the mountain, and Zhang Weijun was not in a hurry to drive them away, because when the crossing was in their hands, Cao Jun was destined to be unable to make contributions.

Dian Wei, with Xu Chu, also tried to attack several times, no matter how brave they were, they couldn't break into these three military villages.

The Hanzhong army just used the rain of arrows to drink a pot of them.

was so angry that Dian Wei even recruited someone to invite the ace tiger Ben Ruishi in the army.

There are not many people in this team, only about 600 people, all of them are wearing heavy armor, with a sword in their left hand and a shield in their right hand, similar to the trapping camp, which was trained by Chen Zhi.

In addition to its poor mobility, Tiger Ben Ruishi is first-class in defense and offense, and even the rain of arrows flying randomly can parry, so it is very suitable to launch at this time.

But Cao Cao disagreed, he knew too well how difficult it was for him to train this group of people, like a tiger and a leopard, they were all selected from hundreds of people, and they didn't dare to use it lightly unless necessary.

Another reason is that although the two sides are facing each other, there is a certain slope in the end, and in case the guards use rolling stone and wood, even the defense of the Tiger Ben Rui will have to be broken.

Of course, in this process, Cao Cao and Xun You were not idle, looking at the map every day, thinking of various ways to attack each other.

Originally, the troops in the mountains were stationed in the mountains, and at this time they were in the ambush, and the fire attack was very good, but this terrain couldn't be burned at all, and they also cleaned up the surrounding area of the cottage and prepared a fire belt, obviously thinking of this problem.

"Gongda, is it really the heavens that are going to kill me?" Cao Cao was even discouraged enough to say such a thing.

Yangping Pass is not broken, and Hanzhong is an iron plate.

This time, Xingshi mobilized the crowd to fight Zhang Lu, and before swearing to take it, he also made a lot of nonsense to take it lightly, but he returned in vain, and Jing Xiang couldn't keep it.

"As long as the three villages are broken, the second will be chaotic." Xun You squinted and muttered.

Cao Cao just nodded subconsciously, but he didn't look at Xun You, everyone understands this truth, the problem is how to break it, the other two military villages want to help.

"Sikong, for today's plan, the only way to do this is to drive the cattle and horses of the generals up the mountain and break the enemy with a fire ox formation, as long as they break through one of the villages, Dian Wei and Xu Chu can take advantage of the situation to lead the army to press up."

Hearing this, Cao Cao first glanced at Xun Yu slowly, and then looked down at the map, such a narrow gourd mouth, they could block the sergeant's charge because the sergeant would have a cowardly mentality.

And even if they rushed up, it would be difficult to parry their attacks from different directions.

The available fire bull array is different, once those beasts are burned by the fire, they will forget the pain and rush, break one of them, and both will die!

After realizing this problem, the gloom between Cao Cao's eyebrows instantly dissipated, "This method is very wonderful, it will definitely break the enemy!" ”

Cao Cao was so excited that he even stood up, reviewed the idea in his mind, and after determining that the success rate was very high, he pressed his hands heavily on Xun You's shoulders, breathed a long sigh of relief, and said in a deep voice: "Gongda, you saved me and saved the three armies!" ”

"It's too much!"

"If you win this battle, you should be the first to take the lead!"

After issuing a declaration of thanks, Cao Cao immediately took action.

When 50,000 people marched into the army, in addition to some dried meat, grain and grass, there would also be chickens, cattle and sheep and other raw captures to be eaten during the celebration.

The number was not large, but at last more than a hundred cattle could be scraped together, and in order to make up for the shortfall, three hundred more horses were added to it.

That night, according to Cao Cao's military order, Dian Wei tied sharp knives to the horns of the ox, and at the same time hung mangs on the oxtails and horsetails, and set those mangs on fire as soon as the third watch arrived.

Hundreds of animals began to run forward because of the heat on their buttocks, just like Jia Xu used during the Qingzhou War, like a bamboo.

Because Cao Jun attacked many times at night, Zhang Weijun always arranged for many people to be on duty at night.

However, no one told them that a herd of animals with their butts on fire would rush out.

Although Zhang Wei ordered the arrows to be released, the rain of arrows as dense as locusts poured down and indeed shot over hundreds of horses, but the skin of those fire oxen was extremely hard, and only the weak belly could be penetrated, because it could not be fatal with one blow, and the fire ox under the pain rushed forward even more frantically.

When a cottage at the crossing became the target of this group of fire cattle and horses, after rushing in, the soldiers stepped forward one by one with their knives, and reflexively avoided them after catching up, so that they were able to rampage in the military village, igniting many tents and haystacks.

"Quick! Chop off their legs and get them under control! ”

At this end, the people in the stockade were still dealing with the sudden arrival of livestock, and below, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, Xu Huang and Chen Zhi had already raised troops to kill them, and even the ace infantry tiger army in Cao Cao's hands also came up.

They had a clear goal and rushed to another cottage, which was guarded by Yang Ren, the general of Hanzhong, and his people originally planned to rush to rescue the burning village, but after encountering Xu Chu and others head-on, they were caught off guard.

"Knock them down!" Yang Ren rushed to the front with a big knife.

Now, anyone can instigate him not to be cowardly, and he will be brave.

Yang Ren's recklessness did play a certain role, and the soldiers followed after a short period of astonishment.

Chen Zhi personally carried a gun to fight with him, and before he was in the middle of a fierce battle, a small halberd flew over from the shadows and hit him in the chest.

The huge penetrating force tore through the armor, and even knocked Yang Ren to the ground, and there was no movement after a mouthful of blood was spat out.

Dian Wei didn't care whether he could see clearly in the dark, and he yelled when he cut off Yang Ren's head: "I am the general of the imperial court, and the lord will be dead, and those who descend will not be killed!" ”

As Xun Yu said, one village is broken, and the remaining two are dead.

Because no one can assist from the flank, Cao Jun and Hanzhong Army are fighting one-sidedly, this group of ghost pawns is not an opponent at all, not to mention that Yang Ren was slaughtered by Dian Wei when he came up, that is, he is immortal, and the Hanzhong Army without geographical advantages cannot resist Cao Jun at all.

What's more, behind them, there are also six hundred tiger warriors, and they are killing all the way.

If you really compare the military strength, the Cao army only invested 6,000 people in this battle, while the Hanzhong army has 26,700, but the two armies have never fought more than people.

From the time the fire bull broke the formation to the time Dian Wei entered the side camp, the whole process was actually a matter of a quarter of an hour.

If the Hanzhong army can be stabilized and the whole army gathers, there is still the strength to fight.

But the current situation is that Zhongzhai is on fire, and Dongzhai is the war drums and horns of the Cao army.

Before dawn, the Hanzhong army on the Qinling Mountains had collapsed on all fronts, and Cao's army was planted all over the mountains.

The first rays of sunlight in the morning shone on the fluttering word 'Cao', and Cao Cao could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Gongda, do you think Dian Wei can kill Zhang Wei in battle?" Cao Cao crossed his hands on his hips, holding his belly quite arrogant.

"Whether Zhang Wei dies or not will not affect the overall situation, the Qinling garrison has been defeated, the Yangping Pass has been lost, and our army can drive straight into Hanzhong."

Cao Cao patted Xun You's shoulder and laughed loudly: "That's right! Hanzhong is in hand, Jing Xiang is stable! ”

(End of chapter)