Obviously, the Wei army's illusion that they wanted to quickly enter Xinye City by water was shattered.

Ma Tan had already prepared, and directly led a large army to meet them.

Interestingly, the total strength of the Wei army was 5,000 people, but the Shu army, which was only 2,000 men, was still afraid and did not dare to advance. When Ma Jian led the troops to kill him, the Wei army quickly retreated and slipped away, not engaging Ma Jian at all.

The Shu army had just defeated Biqiu Jian's 30,000 soldiers and horses with hundreds of cavalry. Even if Biqiu Jian only commanded the second-line troops and was not elite, the combat effectiveness of the Shu army should not be underestimated.

The Shu army is too terrible, so I still don't fight with them.

However, Ma Tan has always been unforgiving, and if you take a step back, he can't wait to take two steps forward. Seeing that the Wei army was retreating and trying to avoid its edge, he chased after it in person without saying a word.

On the Hanshui River, the Shu army pursued the Wei army for more than ten miles, killed hundreds of Wei soldiers, and broke the reinforcements. Then the Wei army in Fancheng also retreated more than twenty miles with each other, looking at it from a distance.

Then Ma Tan's return army was stationed under Xinye Castle again, and sat up in silence with great arrogance. As long as the horses were probed and the reinforcements of the Wei army arrived, Ma Jian immediately led the troops to kill, and blocked the opponent's pursuit and fierce attack after more than ten miles.

The soldiers and horses in Liutun all over Nanyang are also second-line troops, and their combat effectiveness is not high, and they are indeed a little worse than a veteran of a hundred battles like Ma Tan. After being surrounded by Ma Tan three or four times, the Wei army finally changed its strategy and began to assemble together on the front line of Fancheng, preparing to gather a large army to come to the aid of Xinye.

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Just when Ma Tan was stationed under Xinye City, and Zhang Han under Julu City scared reinforcements from all walks of life. In the westernmost part of the entire Nanyang Theater, the defenders of Nanxiang County are patrolling.

Originally, there was only one Nanyang County in the Nanyang Basin, and all county seats were counted in one county. However, since the time of Liu Biao, Nanyang County has been dismembered and divided, and it has been divided into three so far.

To the south is Yangyang-gun, with Fanseong as the core, to the north is Nanyang-gun, with Xinye as the seat of governance, and to the west is Nanyang-gun, with Nanyang County as the center.

After the siege of Xinye, Nanxiang County also dispatched some troops to help. At this moment, there are not many defenders in the entire county, and basically only a few militias remain.

Originally, in the eyes of the defenders, there should be no major problems in such a remote place.

But the reality is afraid that they will be disappointed.

The first to notice that something was wrong was the defenders of Wudang County, who saw early in the morning the dense ships in the upper reaches of the Danjiang River descending the river. The leading ship fluttered the banners of "General Zhang of the Han Dynasty" and "General Zhao of the Han Zhendong".

"It's the army of the Shu people! Enemy attack! "As soon as I saw the Shu army going down the river, the defenders of Wudang were shocked, and the army was in turmoil for a while.

Under normal circumstances, there are front-line troops stationed here, relying on the narrow surface of the Danjiang River. But at this moment, because of the war on Wu, the elites stationed here have all been transferred, and only some old, weak, sick and disabled people remain.

There is a big difference between elite soldiers and weak brigades, and only a group of militia can't stop Zhao Yun and Zhang He, even if they just cross the river in a small boat.

The Shu army was like a bamboo, crossed the pass down the river, and stormed Wudang County under Zhang He himself as the vanguard. After a day of siege, the defenders of Wudang could not resist it, and the county ordered the military marquis to abandon the city and leave, and the Shu army took advantage of the situation to attack the city.

Wudang County is the barrier of Nanxiang County and the city defense relying on the mountain. As soon as this place is lost, Nanxiang County will open the door in the direction of Shangyong.

"I didn't expect that the Wei army's defense in this area was so weak, and Prime Minister Zhuge was really clever." After taking Wudang, Zhang He was a little surprised, obviously he didn't expect that Cao Wei, such a critical pass, would not be heavily guarded.

"This is not a clever calculation, the main forces are estimated to have been attracted away by the young man." Zhao Yun understood the specific situation, and the old man's face showed a little nervousness.

"I don't know what happened to Yuchang in Shinno...... He's a pillar of the Han Dynasty, so he can't do anything......"

"Ma Tan's boy...... I can't even play with him if I'm shrewd, I can't die. At the mention of Ma Yan, Zhang He's brows furrowed, as if he thought of some bad memories. Then he shook his head, waved his hand and said,

"Hahahaha...... It's really not good to be one of the four court pillars in Hebei, and it is really not good to be calculated by the young Chang in the first battle. But it's not a shame, after all, even Guo Huai is in the hands of Youchang. Zhao Yun couldn't help but smile when he saw Zhang He's expression.

Zhang He is one of the few veterans of his generation, and his talent for commanding troops is even a few points stronger than him Zhao Yun. Such talents have been calculated by Ma Yan, so there is really nothing to worry about.

After thinking about these things clearly, Zhao Yun then relieved himself and led the soldiers and horses and Zhang He to continue to advance south. The Shu army left part of its troops to garrison Wudang, and then went down the Danjiang River to Nanxiang County.

Zhuge Liang's plan for this battle has also surfaced, he wants to take Nanxiang County!

Nanxiang County is theoretically not small, with Zhuyang in the south, Shunyang in the east, and Danshui in the north.

However, the goal of the Shu army was not so big, it was only from Nanxiang County to Wudang and other county towns west of the Danjiang River. This county has the Danjiang River as a barrier, and there are mountains behind it to rely on, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

And as long as Wudang is still in the hands of the Shu army, the soldiers and horses of Shu Han can gallop down the river from Shangyong to help this place at any time.

As for why Zhuge Liang took a fancy to this......

It's not just that Nanxiang County is easy to defend and difficult to attack, but the Shu army has a chance to defend it. One of the main reasons is that from Nanxiang County and Danshui downstream, you can enter the Qinling Mountain Road.

And at the end of this Qinling Mountain Road, is Wuguan, a famous tourist attraction in Guanzhong!

In the final analysis, the prime minister still can't forget his plan in the Northern Expedition. This time, I saw the opportunity and made a little preparation for the future Northern Expedition.

Of course, if the Wei army goes all out to seize Nanxiang County, the Shu army may not be able to hold it. Therefore, the core plan of the Shu army is still to defend Wudang, so that the soldiers of the mediocre can be killed at any time.

The county order of Nanxiang County was even more cowardly than the Wudang order, and before Zhang He and Zhao Yun arrived, he abandoned the city and left. The Shu army almost received the general and occupied the administrative office of Nanxiang County.

As soon as these two places were conquered, the county towns west of the Danjiang River were all in the wind. With almost no loss of soldiers and horses, the Shu army quickly conquered most of Nanxiang County.

The total fall of Nanxiang County almost represents the complete collapse of the Nanyang defense line. Although the main strongholds, Fancheng and Wancheng, are still there, a hole has been punched in the corner of the defensive line.

When the news returned to Luoyang, all the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty fell silent, and no one dared to speak. And Cao Rui's face darkened, and he was a little more sad while being angry.

TMD Xishu people have nothing to do, right? How do you just know how to hit me!

Aren't you crusading against Soochow? You hit him!

(End of chapter)