Qin Official

In mid-April of the thirty-eighth year of the First Emperor of Qin, in Hanzhong County, which governs Baozhong County northwest of Nanzheng (Baozhong Town northwest of Hanzhong City), the young general Han Xin looked embarrassed when facing the Shu general who had made a fuss. Looking at Lu Jia aside:

"Governor Lu, what is he talking about?"

The captain sent by Shu County was a native of Shu in Qinhua. Although he tried his best to pronounce Yayan, it was still confusing. What's more, as a Huainan native, Han Xin's Guanzhong Yayan was also extremely bad. sound.

When the two met, they were chatting like chickens and ducks for a while, and the atmosphere was a bit awkward.

Fortunately, Lu Jia, who is extremely talented in languages, serves as the translator.

"The captain said that I have heard about the name of General Han for a long time. In the battle of Xicheng, he wiped out tens of thousands of enemies. He is really a god..."

But in February, Han Xin followed Heifu's order and entered Hanzhong to accept the command of the partial division. At the same time, Dongmen Leopard led 20,000 people to attack Danyang eastward, pretending to abandon Hanzhong. Han Xin also asked everyone to retreat to Shangyong and give up Xicheng.

The Northern Army of Hanzhong fell into a trap and tried to take back Xicheng, but they were surrounded by Han Xin. He did not attack, but passed through the encirclement point to bring reinforcements, knocking out half of the Northern Army of Hanzhong. The Northern Army retreated, returned to Nanzheng, and defended Not out.

In March, Lu Jia entered Hanzhong and brought Heifu's order: a large-scale attack on Hanzhong, so Han Xin continued to march westward. However, the Northern Army had received orders from Xianyang, and soldiers from Shu County also came from Jinniu Road, so they abandoned Nanzheng. , retreated to Guanzhong, and the Northern Expeditionary Army took Hanzhong.

Hanzhong County is located between the Qinling Mountains and Daba Mountain. It is actually a narrow east-west basin, governing Xicheng, Nanzheng, Chenggu, Ju, Anyang, Xunyang, Baozhong, Fangling, Shangyong, Wuling, Yunyang, Chang Most of the twelve counties in Li are concentrated along the Han River.

Han Xin ordered to prohibit soldiers from looting, to treat virtuous corporals, and to promote the policies of the Northern Expedition to appease the officials and people in Hanzhong. At the same time, he asked Lu Jia and Ba people to recruit local congs for their own use - because Hanzhong still coexisted with Huarong and Huarong. , to the west is the Diqiang tribe, and in the mountainous area are the Ba people and the Zhi people. Compared with the government, the Ba family's mule and horse caravan is more influential there. The benefits of the marriage between the Heifu family and the Ba family's surviving daughter are reflected. .

After the order in Nanzheng was slightly stabilized, Han Xin came to Baozhong, joined forces with 5,000 people from Shu County, and planned a plan to march into Guanzhong...

Lu Jia has been traveling between Bashu and Hanzhong in the past six months. As a lobbyist, he naturally knows the local situation and location well. Everywhere he went, he taught himself the dialect and chatted with the natives. Han Xin defeated Nanzheng, and Lu Jia was the first to do so. So he went to the treasury to collect the books that would not be burned in the future.

But I heard him say in front of Han Xin, Wu Chen, and the Shu Commandery:

"There are three ways to enter the pass in Hanzhong, from east to west, one is called the Eclipse Middle Way (Ziwu Way), the second is the Baoxie Way, and the third is the Old Way..."

"More than thirty miles to the north of Baozhong where we are, is the starting point of Baoxie Road, and its end point is at the foot of Dunwu Mountain (Taibai Mountain), the highest peak in Nanshan (Qinling Mountains)."

Baoxie Road is the official road from Guanzhong to Hanzhong. This road has a long history. As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, King You of Zhou used this road to attack Bao State, so Bao State had no choice but to offer Bao Si...

In modern times, Baoxie Road was also the only choice for entering Hanzhong. The Qin Dynasty spent a hundred years repairing this road, and Fan Ju built a thousand-mile plank road leading to Shuhan!

The Qinling Mountains are tall and steep, with the Bao River flowing in the middle. The mountains on both sides are so steep that they are almost perpendicular to the river. You can only walk on the mountain with wooden frames. The pavilion beams of the plank road plunge into the heart of the mountain, and the edges are cut into the ridge rocks. The dangerous stack is on the cliff, and the other end is standing in the water. The water is strong and fast.

According to the atlas obtained by Lu Jia, the Baoxie Valley is 500 miles long and has a total of 2,275 stacks. Almost every stack required the lives of several people to build it. Even if the planks were built, they would only be able to accommodate 2,275 stacks. When a car is traveling together, the floating beams vibrate when passing by, making everyone dazzled in the distance. As long as one is not careful, the car and horse may fall off the cliff and fall into the river!

Han Xin nodded: "It is so difficult to have a plank road, not to mention that the plank road has been burned down by the Northern Army..."

The plank road is indeed gone. When the Hanzhong Northern Army retreated, they received orders from Xianyang and burned all the way back. In less than half a month, more than 500 miles and more than 2,000 plank pavilions were destroyed.

Lu Jia sighed: "It's a pity to think that Fan Ju spent ten years, spent countless financial resources and thousands of lives to build this way. Today, it is so easily destroyed."

"Without the plank road, Baoxie Road is several times more difficult to walk than before..."

Han Xin felt dizzy just thinking about it. He went to inspect Baogukou, but he saw that in the vast sea of ​​Qinling Mountains, the cliffs on both sides were leaning towards each other, refusing to give way to each other, leaving only a narrow path in the middle. Han Xin, who grew up in the plains of the Huainan water town, was not used to it.

Lu Jia introduced two other paths:

"Eclipse Middle Road, also known as Ziwu Road, the south mouth is called Wu, one hundred and sixty miles east of Chenggu County (Chenggu County, Hanzhong City), the north mouth is called Zi, one hundred miles south of Shanglin, there is Ziwu Pass, and the valley is six meters long A hundred and sixty miles away, there are some plank roads, and according to reports from scouts, they have also been burned down."

"The old road, also known as Chencang Road, starts from Juyi (Chadian Town, Mian County, Hanzhong City), goes up the Han River (Jushui) in the west, and enters the valley. The valley is 420 miles long, and the whole journey is 652 miles, of which The road twists and turns for eighty miles, with eighty-four twists and turns. When you leave the valley, you will reach Sanguan, the old road in the county..."

At this time, the captain of Shu County who had been silent for a long time next to him spoke. After speaking in a dialect that gave Han Xin a headache, Lu Jia shook his head and said:

"The Qishan Road is too far. The detour around Qishan Mountain is twice as long as the above three roads, a thousand miles! Moreover, most of the roads along the way are barren land for Di and Qiang people. Even if the army can leave Qishan Mountain, it can only reach Longxi County, which is far away from Xianyang. Still separated by Longguan and Yongcheng."

There is another Tuangluo Road in later generations, but it has not been opened yet and is uninhabited, so it is not considered.

Han Xin nodded: "Therefore, if our army wants to implement Wuzhonghou's strategy, use the Hanzhong partial division to cooperate with the main force of Wuguan, and advance the two routes in parallel so that Xianyang can't look after each other, we have to choose from these three roads."

He looked at Lu Jia: "If you are Governor Lu, what path do you want to take?"

Lu Jia said: "Even though the Baoxie Road plank has been destroyed, I still feel that we should take this road."

"There are two reasons. The first is that it is in the right location. The Baogukou in the south faces Nanzheng, which is only thirty miles away. It is convenient for the centralized transportation of troops and grain. The Xiegu in the north is located near Mei County on the east side of Yongcheng. , after leaving the valley, we can attack Xianyang through Chidao!"

"Second, Baoxie Road has an advantage that other roads cannot match - water transportation!"

"There is the Han River in the south, which can be connected to the Bao River, which leads directly to the valley; there is the Xie River in the north, which can directly connect to the Wei River."

These four rivers form a convenient and fast logistics system that can bring more transportation capacity. Although this road has steep mountains and steep waterways, and some sections are not directly navigable, so it needs to be transported by water for a section, then changed to a land route, walked on the winding mountain road for a section, and then boarded a boat to enter the water again, but it is still more convenient than simply climbing the mountain.

"But I thought we should take the middle path."

As Han Xin's deputy, Wu Chen kept staring at the road to the east of the map.

"Although the three roads are almost the same, the closest one to Xianyang is the Eclipse Middle Road. After leaving the valley mouth, there is the flat plain of Guanzhong, with Du County in front, only a few dozen miles away, and Xianyang not far to the north. To the east is Bashang, which is nearby. We can penetrate into the hinterland of Guanzhong in one fell swoop. If our army goes out, Guanzhong will be shaken!"

Lu Jia thought it was inappropriate: "This is not a foolproof plan. Ziwu Road is narrow and can be called a hell. There are stone caves and jungles along the way for 500 miles. There were some plank roads that were fine before, but now they have been burned together with Baoxie Road. It will be difficult for the army to move, and it can only accommodate thousands of people."

"Furthermore, you are deceiving that there are no good people in Guanzhong. Eclipse is too close to Xianyang and it is difficult to hide it. If you see me marching from Eclipse, the false emperor will use all the troops in Guanzhong to intercept and kill in Heishui Valley, waiting for work. Not only The officers and soldiers have been harmed, and their morale has been greatly weakened, so they must not be used. It is better to walk along the slope, use waterways to transport food, repair the plank roads at the same time, and advance slowly and safely."

"Why not?"

Wu Chen had a new idea: "Two routes are advancing in parallel. If the general allows Wu Chen to lead 5,000 soldiers and carry 5,000 shi of grain, he can go straight out of the eclipse, follow the Qinling Mountains to the east, and go north at midnight, it will only take ten days." You can go to Guanzhong. When Guanzhong hears that Wu Chen is coming, he will raise a large army to stop it, leaving the rear empty. General Han can take the opportunity to go out of Baoxie Road, and then he can reach the west of Xianyang in one fell swoop."

The two debated whether to choose one or both of Baoxie and Ziwu, but Chen Cang's old ways were ignored.

Firstly, it is because taking the old road is the farthest from Xianyang. Secondly, after leaving the old road, we have to face the dangerous Sanguan Pass and the enemy troops concentrated in Yongcheng - that is the old capital of Qin after all. After the Hanzhong Army withdrew, they Guard in Yongdi.

But isn’t it said in the Art of War that those who are good at attacking will not know where the enemy is defending and will attack them by surprise. Although there are many enemies at the moment, they can be mobilized...

Listening to the argument between Lu Jia and Wu Chen, Han Xin glanced left and right on the map and smiled.

"If you march like this, you will achieve great results!"

"General, have you got an idea?"

Lu and Wu looked at Han Xin and were about to ask him what he had in mind, but they heard a guard coming from outside to report that a military order from Marquis Wu Zhong had been sent from the east.

The three of them had no choice but to stop talking and go out to meet the military order. When they returned to Baozhong County Temple, Han Xin solemnly opened it.

The letter was full of joyful news, such as Wang Ben was dead, Nanyang had surrendered, tens of thousands of Northern troops were taken as prisoners, Marquis Wu Zhong had arrived at Wuguan, and Danyang was used as a frontline base, and he was ready to wait for the army to gather and provide food. After enough, launch a general offensive in May and June...

Therefore, he asked Han Xin to start a new round of Northern Expedition during that time, cooperating with the Wuguan offensive so that Xianyang could not care about each other.

And at the very end is Heifu's advice to Han Xin on how to march into Guanzhong after taking Hanzhong.

"Maybe you can cut the plank road openly, fake the attack and destroy it, and then cross the Chencang secretly..."

Han Xin was surprised for a moment:

"Building the plank road openly and secretly attacking Chencang, the strategy is exactly what Han Xin thought!?"

"I did on-the-spot investigation to get this strategy. But the commander-in-chief is sitting in the curtains and knows that he is thousands of miles away. This is truly a gift from heaven."

Han Xin couldn't help but sigh: "I was so young in the past. Where did I have the courage to dare to say that Marquis Wu Zhong was a mediocre general?"

…

ps: The road in passing the Hanzhong customs refers to Prince Ma's re-taking Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, with auspiciousness and immunity, and a safe home.

Good night.