Three Kingdoms

In the Prime Minister's Mansion, Cao Cao faced the sand table in the Luoyang area alone and remained silent for a long time.

The new sand table was also learned from Chang'an, where Hussar was from.

If the hussar had a tail, it would probably be bald now.

After all, Lao Cao is not the only one doing the plucking.

"Luoyang..."

Lao Cao is actually very familiar with Luoyang, but looking down from outside the sand table, it looks completely different.

The Han Dynasty believed that Luoyang was among the best in the world.

In fact, for a long period of time, ordinary people believed that geocentrism was correct.

In the land of Luoyang, there are three rivers converging and five ridges outflanking it. Although the terrain is not as thick and solid as Guanzhong, there are still dangers in the mountains and rivers inside and outside. Only then can we control the Central Plains and become an ancient capital for thousands of years.

The so-called Sanchuan means that the river is in the north and the Yin and Luo rivers are in the south.

It is precisely because the city is located in the north of Luoshui River that it is called Luoyang.

The five mountains are Songgao, Xiong'er, Funiu, Zhongtiao and Weishan.

In the land of Heluo, there were originally eight levels of guards...

Cao Cao's eyes roamed on the sand table. When He Jin was the general, he stationed five battalions of soldiers in the Duting Pavilion and set up eight generals. "Hangu...Mengjin..." Cao Cao whispered.

This pass, once crossed, is the most important for Heluo.

At this moment, Chenggao, that is, Hulao Pass, can no longer be an obstacle.

When Dong Zhuo burned Luoyang and evacuated, Chenggao, like Xingyang, was destroyed in the war.

Sun Jian once stationed in Xingyang for a period of time. At that time, Xingyang was almost in ruins.

Until the Yang family took over Luoyang later, they had no intention of rebuilding Chenggao and Xingyang. After all, repairing Luoyang City had already consumed most of the Yang family's manpower and material resources.

Therefore, in the Heluo area, although they are called the Eight Passes for Guards, they are actually all caves.

Luoyang City is now in the hands of the Yang family, but this does not mean that this important place in Heluo also belongs to the Yang family, but that part of it is in the hands of the Qiao riders, and the other part is in the hands of Cao Cao.

Those who can hinder Cao Jun's advance are Hangu and Mengjin.

Qinhan Valley, Hanhan Valley.

They are all called Hangu, and they are all in Fei Qian's hands.

Qin Hangu can only be regarded as a military stronghold now. After all, after the Qin Dynasty's Hangu Pass was abandoned, it also had no value in repairing it. The focus is still on Hanhan Valley.

It's just that because the Hussars built the Tongguan Pass in recent years, they gradually relaxed a little about these Heluo Pass.

But it's still not something that can be easily conquered.

If you want to conquer Tongguan, you must first conquer Hangu. There is no doubt about this.

If you want to defeat Hangu, you must first get through Mengjin.

Otherwise, not only will it be cumbersome to transport grain and grass by land, but there is also the risk of being attacked from behind at any time.

Cao Cao held his beard in his hand and was silent.

Taishi Ci was transferred to Guanzhong to prepare for the westward expedition with the Hussars. Therefore, the pass river crossings of Heluo are no longer heavily guarded, and there are no generals stationed for defense. However, it is still difficult to win them in one go.

The battle to siege a city is different from a battle in the field. If you don't have a good plan, you will have no choice but to attack with ants and take human lives to fill it...

If the Hussars only have Heluo land, these few lives may be acceptable, but there are Tongguan and Chang'an Sanfu behind them. If the elite soldiers trained with these years of painstaking efforts are wasted before this pass, it will be a little bit... Reluctance and heartache.

"Yang..." Cao Cao narrowed his eyes and spat out two words. There was a lot of dissatisfaction in the tone.

The original plan was that Cao Cao wanted to win over the Yang family and let the Yang family serve as the force for internal and external cooperation in the Heluo land. It's just that the Yang family is cunning by nature, so he eats the bait without hesitation, but if he really wants him to do something, he just pushes away and is slow to do anything. He has neither the ability nor the will to achieve anything, and he is holding back because his talent and skill points are full. It’s really abominable!

According to relevant intelligence, a lot of military equipment for hussars was also deployed at Hangu Pass, including not only crossbows but also slingshots. If they were to attack with flesh and blood...

"Hiss..." Cao Cao's hand trembled slightly and he pulled out a beard. He had already foreseen the scene of blood and flesh flying everywhere, and couldn't help but feel a little headache.

If it were a few months later, there would be no chance of easily conquering Hangu Pass, but now...

This is not that Cao Cao is bragging, but that Cao Cao has really been secretly planning for a long time.

Due to the passage of water and soil, Hangu Pass in the Han Dynasty is no longer as steep and difficult to attack as Hangu Pass in the Qin Dynasty.

Especially in the north of Hanhangu Pass, the chrysanthemum that was supposed to be a perfect connection to the river has become a little loose from being tight. Anyway, it was originally a standard pass, but now there is an extra tidal flat on the side of the river bank below the pass.

It's like an extra hemorrhoid outside the chrysanthemum.

When you have constipation, um, that’s wrong, it’s the dry season, it will gradually become more prominent...

Cao Cao's original plan was that if he had to attack Hangu Pass as a last resort, he would use soldiers to contain the front of Hangu Pass during the dry season, and then send Hanoi soldiers and horses to attack Mengjin. , secretly flew up a foot, directly passed the hemorrhoids, reached the back of Hangu, beat the chrysanthemum of Hangu Pass, which will inevitably cause him to lose a lot of blood, and he can overcome the pass in a short time!

Referred to as the Dark Enemy Bolt Plan.

But the problem is that it's summer now...

If you really have to wait for the dry season, it will take at least five or six months.

Five or six months is neither long nor short.

If the Hussars cannot attack in the Western Region for a long time, then naturally they can wait. But if the Hussars go to the Western Regions, they will win consecutive battles, and the Western Regions will be quickly restored. If they wait another five or six months to pass here, then everything will really be in trouble.

Wait?

Don’t wait?

It's so difficult...

……╭(╯^╰)╮……

Le Jin and Xia Houyuan were stationed in Hanoi for training, and they had a tacit understanding. They all have the same characteristic, that is, they don't like other generals, who have drinking parties when they have a little free time, and some even use prostitutes to sing and dance...

Le Jin is not high, and Xia Houyuan is not handsome either.

In addition, the most important thing is that neither Xia Houyuan nor Le Jin have high cultural literacy. When they go to some cultural gatherings, they are often reduced to supporting roles for other talents.

Those talented people from Jizhou and Yuzhou grew taller.

And handsome.

In addition, he can also recite some poems and songs angrily...

Coupled with the fragrant smell of rouge and gouache, it was really hard for Le Jin and Xia Houyuan to urinate together.

Anyway, these two people really have no interest in kabuki. Aren't there people who don't spend money at home? They spend money to watch the faces of the singers and make the actors happy. What are they if they are not cheap?

Therefore, both Xia Houyuan and Le Jin focused their main energy on military affairs.

As a man, what matters is iron and blood.

I don’t know when those children of the gentry clan in Jizhou and Yuzhou started to make the same mistake. They actually thought that applying makeup and powder to compete with women would make them more romantic?

Neither Le Jin nor Xia Houyuan could understand it, so they simply didn't understand it.

The two of them also pretended to be scouts on many occasions, escorted by dozens of elite cavalry, to survey the terrain around Heluo.

Because both of them knew very well that maps of this era were unreliable.

Especially the official map of Shandong, it is simply...

It’s hard to describe in one word.

Logically speaking, the official media... Bah, it is an official map. It should be very instructive. At least the generals on the front line can understand how to conduct operations, how to set up camps, etc., and they must correctly depict the actual topography.

It is a pity that those who drew official maps only wanted to draw maps that their superiors needed, or they themselves thought the generals needed.

Every time Xia Houyuan and Le Jin saw these official maps, they wanted to greet the officials who produced the official maps, starting with their female elders and ending with their female juniors. The main reason is that Le Jin and Xia Houyuan are not good men, otherwise they would have to greet the male relatives of these officials.

What a military and national event!

How could it be such a child's play?

Even for scouts who lived and grew up in a certain place, it is difficult to describe the terrain accurately. In many places, the generals have to go there to see it with their eyes and measure it with their feet. How can they use a one-foot map to draw and cut it at will? ?

Therefore, when they heard that the Hussars were about to march to the Western Regions to attack Kushan, Xia Houyuan and Le Jin went to the river together, looking at Mengjin not far away and Hangu Pass in the distance across the river.

"If the Heluo Yang family refuses to surrender, they will have no choice but to attack by force. Le Jin said, "This Yang family...forget it, we only need to take care of the military...this Hangu Mengjin guard general is not a talented person, but he is also a veteran general. Now he is based on mountains and rivers, so it is easy to defend and attack." Disaster……"

Le Jin was worried. If these two passes could not be broken through quickly, then the blitz might turn into a long-term confrontation, which would not be a good thing for both sides. Although Cao Cao has more manpower on his side, the Hussar side also has more war horses. If the Hussar side can really quickly pacify the Western Regions and come back again, this will be quite disadvantageous for Shandong. .

Xia Houyuan nodded in approval, and then thought about his strategy.

Both of them saw this as an opportunity.

If you have a chance, fight.

Moreover, both of them happened to have suffered losses in front of the Hussars, and they both had hatred in their hearts.

"If we can lure his troops out..." Xia Houyuan said, "It will be easy to break it." Does Wen Qian have any clever ideas? 』

"It's a pity that I heard that this wolf is not a brave and reckless general..." Le Jin shook his head and said, "Otherwise, we can design to lure him." Even if they show it with weak soldiers, most of them will not be able to get out, and nothing can be done. 』

The defender responsible for defending Hangu and Mengjin is Zhu Ling.

Seduction? Of course, it must be able to induce someone. Otherwise, if the other party doesn't move, no matter how much the temptation is, it will have no effect.

Zhu Ling is not the kind of person who is reckless and greedy, so the temptation strategy will probably not work.

Xia Houyuan nodded and said, "If this is the case, we can only pull the left and right to look for opportunities to defeat the enemy." Hangu and Mengjin are separated from each other. One army attacks Hangu and the other attacks Mengjin. It can be broken without taking care of the head and tail. 』

Mengjin is the dividing point between the middle and lower reaches of the river.

In the middle reaches of the Yellow River, the water flow is very fast. After flowing and scouring for eternity, the river water is like a sharp sword, cutting into the plateau, causing both sides of the river to be high and steep, with few crossing points. Below Mengjin, the Yellow River water finally flows into the North China Plain. The flow gradually slows down and the river banks on both sides are relatively low. This forms a series of famous Jindu crossings.

On the side of Mengjin, there is also a ferry called Xiaopingjin.

Xiaopingjin is east of Mengjin, and together with Mengjin, it becomes the northern pass to defend Luoyang. However, because its convenience is not as convenient as Mengjin, and the terrain is not as dangerous as Mengjin, its importance is far less than that of Mengjin.

The terrain near Mengjin is high in the west and low in the east, gentle in the north and south. To the west of the central uplift is the remnant of Beimang Mountain, which is quite steep. The military strongholds of both sides were set up on it, facing each other across the river.

The terrain on the south bank of Xiaopingjin is flat, which is not conducive to defense, and the old barriers are all abandoned. But Mengjin is different. There are permanent soldiers guarding the military stronghold. If they can't get through, don't even think about connecting to Heluo from Hanoi.

Xia Houyuan looked at the terrain, and suddenly his eyes lit up, "If a certain Xu Liuqiang was here, he actually led the cavalry to Xiaopingjin to cross the river, and then made a surprise attack from behind... Under two pincer attacks, Meng Jin would definitely be able to break it!" 』

Le Jin slapped his hands and said, "Good!" This is a brilliant idea! 』

The two of them burst into laughter.

But after laughing for a moment, the two fell silent again.

Mengjin is easy to attack, but Hangu is difficult to attack.

If the Hangu Pass guard goes out to rescue Meng Jin, there is a real possibility that Xia Houyuan will attack and block his return, and he will be defeated from both sides...

But what if the guard doesn't come out?

Le Jin stared.

Xia Houyuan also stared.

After a moment, the two of them sighed in a low voice and looked side by side towards the mountains in the distance, in the direction of Han Valley.

……(`Pan′)(`Pan′)……

Almost everyone knows that Hangu is difficult to fight, so among the three assistants of Chang'an, there is not much concern about the threat from Cao Jun.

If Cao Jun really wants to fight, how hard will it be?

First we have to cross Heluo, we have to attack Mengjin, we have to attack Hangu, we have to attack Tongguan again, and then we can enter Chang'an...

Therefore, the mentality of people in Chang'an is relatively stable.

For the people in Sanfu, Chang'an, the war seems to be relatively far away, and the daily life of eating, drinking and sleeping is the nearest thing.

But there are also some things that affect the people of Chang'an Sanfu.

For example, at the recruitment point, there was a long queue. Every citizen in the queue has a light of hope on their face...

Another example is that there is also a recruiting office in the palace of the Han Hussar General.

However, this recruiting office is aimed at officials.

Chi Qianping, oh, now my name is Xue Ping, now I am a little troubled.

The Hussar General's Office issued an official document to internally recruit officials who were willing to accompany the army to the Western Regions and support the construction of the Western Regions.

In principle, officials who go to the Western Regions will be appointed at one or two levels. In some places, a third level will be added, but the term requirement is at least two terms, that is, six years. Those who add a third level will need three terms.

To be honest, Xue Ping was a little moved.

Although the Guanzhong area is said to be caused by Lu Bu's rebellion, others said it was invaded by Kushan, and there are even rumors that the countries in the Western Regions joined forces to rebel, etc., there are different opinions, but one thing is certain, that is, there is chaos in the Western Regions , there may be many reasons for the chaos, but it may also be that the reasons are not the ones rumored on the surface.

The Hussars are preparing to march westward, which shows that the situation is a bit bad, but not too bad.

At least that's how Xue Ping understood it.

After all, if the Western Region is really bad, then blocking the enemy at Yumen Pass and Longxi becomes the best choice. No one can win Yumen Pass without risk or damage. The Qiang people in Longyou have basically been pacified, so if the Hu people attack Yumen Pass, the long supply line, that is, the food road, will become a fatal weakness.

You must know that it is easy to supply Yumen Pass from Longyou, but the food route of the Hu army in the Western Region is very long. Once a confrontation occurs, the Hu people will be stretched over time even if they are larger in number. Therefore, if the Hussar just wants to defend, the difficulty is not high. But now it is said that it is going to conquer the Western Regions, which shows that the Hussar actually does not want to give up the Western Regions and is unwilling to stop at Yumen Pass.

From another point of view, if you want to fight the Kushan Hu army in the Western Regions, sword against sword, spear against spear, and a winner or loser, you must focus on cavalry. If you just want to defend, then for the city As for the defenders, it is natural to focus on infantry. And now the Hussars are mainly cavalry, not infantry, so it can generally prove the Hussars' confidence in the Western Regions.

If we can defeat the main force of Guishang in the Western Region, we will not only be able to successfully recover all parts of the Western Region, but also directly pacify the Western Region countries and take all the scattered power of the Western Region countries into our arms. Of course, if the main force of Kushan cannot be defeated, then even taking over the Western Region countries is of little significance, just like although Lu Bu defeated the Kushan garrison in the Western Region before, the Kushan still made a comeback.

Therefore, after the Kushan Hu army was defeated, the entire Western Region was revitalized.

After revitalization, a large number of Han officials will naturally need to quickly penetrate into various states, and then completely turn the originally scattered states in the Western Regions into Han counties. Those kings and princes of the Western Region countries, or Kunmikun this Kun that Kun, Kun that, all at most become powerful in one place, and then gradually be banned and extinct.

Just like the tribe before Xue Ping...

Xue Ping felt that the tribes he belonged to before had actually died out earlier.

Xue Ping really doesn't care about the so-called tribal life at all.

Those who like the old tribe's model must be the "nobles" of the old tribe.

For people like Xue Ping who lost their noble title early on and had to work hard for food and clothing, the Han family's model, or the model promoted by Qiusi in Guanzhong, was better. Otherwise, Xue Ping would have no chance to become an official. He would have to herd sheep for the nobles in the tribe until his death. At most, he would become a small steward. And Xue Ping's children would become the nobles' slaves for the next generation, generation after generation. .

Maybe some people enjoy being slaves.

It's just that Xue Ping doesn't like it, not at all, so he thinks he can use his personal experience to inspire more Hu people from the Western Regions who are unwilling to become slaves of tribal nobles...

So, after Xue Ping finished his share of matters, before getting off work, he went to the Western Region Officials Recruitment Office and wrote his name on the roster.

He wants to go to the Western Regions with Hussar.

When the pen is written, the mind is settled.

At the beginning, my hand was still shaking a little, but by the time I wrote the last stroke, my pen was sharp and straight.