Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3295 The inevitable accident

There are not many roads in Zhongtiao Mountain, and there is only one proper road in the Han Dynasty.

Cao's army camp was of course built on the road, blocking this road tightly.

Cao's army was not short of manpower, so camping on the road was a necessity. At the same time, camping on the road had some additional benefits, that is, it would be more convenient to get water and transport.

This official road in Zhongtiao Mountain was not built in the Han Dynasty, but the Qin Chi Road of that year.

After Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms, he ordered the construction of a Chi Road with Xianyang as the center, connecting various places.

Since it is called "Chi Road", it is natural that it should not only be able to run horses, but also pass vehicles, and the size of the vehicle depends on the size of the horse's butt to a certain extent. If the car is too big, it will be loose, and if it is too small, the horse will feel uncomfortable and it will easily overturn. Therefore, the road standard of Qin Chi Road is actually determined by the horse's butt, perhaps another way of the butt determining the head.

Of course, after so many years of exchanges, especially after Fei Qian opened up Yinshan Mountain, the trade between the east and the west of Hedong has not only repaired but also expanded this almost abandoned road, but Fei Qian only expanded such a main road and did not intend to build a second passage in Zhongtiao Mountain. On the one hand, one passage is enough, and on the other hand, under the current technical level, if you want to open such an official road, the manpower and material resources consumed are not ordinary...

Sima Yi and Hao Zhao, of course, can't take this road.

So is there only such a road on Zhongtiao Mountain?

No, there are some "unorthodox" small roads and herb-collecting roads in Zhongtiao Mountain.

Zhongtiao Mountain is a flat mountain that extends from the southwest river to the northeast, and the altitude is not too high.

Sima Yi and Hao Zhao, as well as the cavalry soldiers they led, did not have any fear of such a high mountain at first, but after really walking in, they found that it was not as easy as they imagined.

Dense vegetation, forests full of birdsong and flowers, beautiful natural scenery, hidden dangers.

There is no positioning equipment, no so-called detailed map, all you can rely on is the approximate sense of direction brought by the sun and stars...

Fortunately, Sima Yi brought Qiang people.

The indigenous Qiang people performed better than ordinary cavalry soldiers in this environment. They were the first to discover a herb-collecting road.

The herb-collecting road is just a general term, not really only for herb collectors.

The difference between a small path and a herb-collecting road is that a small path can still roughly see the outline of a road, while the so-called herb-collecting road is basically covered with weeds and vegetation, and only people familiar with the terrain will know it.

The herb-collecting road is basically a straight line, so some climbing is inevitable.

It's okay for people, but it's a bit difficult for horses.

Many places are like crawling on a cliff. People can pass, but horses are not easy to walk. In order to ensure a certain degree of mobility, the warhorse cannot be completely abandoned. So Sima Yi and Hao Zhao had to divide their forces again, leaving some horses and soldiers in the mountains, and only carrying common items and dry food, as well as those horses that were relatively strong and obedient to orders, to continue moving forward.

That's right, Hao Zhao and Sima Yi, who were slowly groping forward, were preparing to bypass the defense system of Zhongtiao Mountain on the north line through the medicine-collecting path, and invade Cao's Zhongtiao Mountain camp from the south to give Cao's army a surprise.

Sometimes they had to take a detour. In order to avoid being seen by Cao's sentinels who were looking out from a high place, Sima Yi and Hao Zhao always had to be cautious and careful every time they passed the sunny side of the mountain. They sent scouts to detect and only moved forward quietly after confirming that there was no danger.

They walked slowly, but also avoided Cao's surveillance checkpoints. After they entered the interior of Zhongtiao Mountain, the lookouts set up by Cao's army near the Zhongtiao Mountain camp were difficult to detect them because of the limited vision.

Even so, Sima Yi and Hao Zhao still sought stability rather than speed. In some areas with sharp rocks and more broken stones, people led their horses carefully, fearing that the sharp stones would cut the horses' feet.

This is the fundamental reason why it was difficult to leave the main passage during the ancient march. It was too difficult to walk. Especially for a large army, if there were baggage carts, it would be a nightmare...

Deng Ai was forced to give it a try. If there was a second choice, he would not go to Yinping.

Sima Yi and Hao Zhao were also forced from a certain perspective.

They were forced by Guo Jia.

Obviously, it was impossible to infiltrate the Zhongtiao Mountain camp from the north and shoot a shot.

The Cao army built several tight defense lines, with active patrol troops, and sentry towers that watched from high altitudes for twelve hours a day. At the same time, there was an enemy identification capability that Hao Zhao and Sima Yi could not understand at first, so that they could not get through even if they tried to pretend to be Cao's army.

Later, Sima Yi designed a small trap and caught two or three tongues, and finally figured out the enemy identification mechanism of the Zhongtiaoshan camp...

But the problem is that even if Sima Yi finally understood Guo Jia's set of identification patterns, he still couldn't crack it.

It's really simple to say, one is the Yin Fu, and the other is the password.

Because the two core elements are random, Sima Yi has no way of knowing in advance, unless Sima Yi and others have a way to figure out what the two elements are at the same time within one day, and they also have to seize the "Yin Talisman" from a certain team. ”, and then you can sneak in without alerting the other party.

This is simply an impossible task.

The word "Yin Talisman" sounds very awesome, but it is actually a marked and broken arrow, a piece of wood, or a branch, because every "Yin Talisman" is broken randomly. Yes, the texture is broken randomly. In this era of big men, if it is not the original match, it will not match.

When Cao Jun's team leaves the camp, the guard at the gate of Cao Jun's camp will randomly take out a stick of something from the bag, and then make a few random lines on it with pen and ink, then fold it in half with a click, keeping half for himself and giving the other half to the camp team. as a voucher.

Plus the passwords change every day...

If anything goes wrong, the archers on both sides of the camp entrance will immediately fire thousands of arrows!

Guo Jia's arrangement was such that even if Sima Yi figured it out, he still couldn't get in.

Therefore, Sima Yi and Hao Zhao could only try to sneak attack from the south.

After all, if the defense in the north is so tight, then the south side of Zhongtiao Mountain will be more relaxed.

Originally, Hao Zhao wanted Sima Yi to show off on the northern front, and then Hao Zhao led his men to invade the camp south of Zhongtiao Mountain for a sneak attack, but Sima Yi disagreed. He felt that it would be safer to follow him.

Facts have proved that Sima Yi was right to follow, because Hao Zhao and his troops had just crossed the mountain when Sima Yi discovered that the side of Zhongtiao Mountain was as difficult to fight as the chrysanthemum.

Guo Jia set up many warning watchtowers on the peaks surrounding the camp in Zhongtiao Mountain.

Although there are not many in number, the flanks and chrysanthemums covering the entire Zhongtiao Mountain can be seen carefully...

It's also difficult to get in.

Hao Zhao couldn't help but feel a little depressed. He even wanted to attack the lookout posts, but was stopped by Sima Yi. He thought that a guy with such a tight defense would inevitably set up traps. If he was not careful, there might be big problems, so it was better to continue south. Go straight to Cao Jun's Tongguan camp to see if you can find some new opportunities there.

According to Sima Yi, since everyone has come...

So they continued southward.

On this day, Hao Zhao was sitting on a big rock. Although there was a tree shade above his head to block the increasingly hot summer sun, there was no wind and he was wearing a heavy armor uniform, so he was still dripping with sweat.

In this kind of weather, the most critical issue is to replenish water sources.

Hao Zhao and others finally found a mountain spring area, where they stopped to rest and replenish the water they consumed.

Don't even think about cleaning and bathing. Not only that, the dust and dirt collected along the way plus sweat mixed with fermentation, the smell...

The temperature gradually increased at noon, and the heat wave was still rolling in the mountains. Fine beads of sweat flowed from Hao Zhao's forehead, crawling along his eyebrows and onto his cheeks. There was some itching, but Hao Zhao did not scratch it distractedly. He concentrated on the map of Cao Jun's camp that the scouts gradually produced.

Hao Zhao, Sima Yi and others have been hiding in Zhongtiao Mountain for three or four days. No one was allowed to leave the hidden huts and caves where they were hiding, except for the scouts who had to be sent out.

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After the efforts of the scouts, Cao Jun's arrangements along the way were gradually revealed on the map.

On the map, there is not only a part of Cao Jun’s camp in Zhongtiao Mountain, but also Cao Jun’s camp in Tongguan on the other side of the river...

The convenience of telescopes is fully demonstrated at this time.

If there were no telescopes, Sima Yi might not have come up with the idea of ​​making a double yolk.

Hao Zhao was thinking about the map when he suddenly heard the guard beside him whisper, "Sima Zeng is back." 』

Hao Zhao looked up and saw Sima Yi, dressed in a soldier-like uniform, emerging from behind the rock.

After Sima Yi failed once, he became more and more cautious, especially before making the final decision, he also had to go to the front line to take a look in person.

The most important thing for Hao Zhao now is to rest, recover his strength, and enter the battle in the fullest state.

They have a clear division of labor, one is responsible for coming up with ideas, and the other is responsible for turning them into reality.

They are waiting for an opportunity.

An opportunity for Cao Jun to relax.

An opportunity that could cause Cao Jun to suffer a heavy blow.

After all, the Cao Jun camp in Tongguan on the other side is also tightly defended, and a lot of manpower and material resources were spent on setting up the camp in the early days. If you just use the big yellow crossbow to fire two rounds on the outside, it is like scratching an itch.

Sima Yi's patience is very strong.

Although we have exhausted all the food and grass along the way, if we don't attack and continue to wait, we may not even have enough food to go back.

Fortunately, I have enough salt.

People want to eat, and horses want to eat too.

In hot weather like this, without salt replenishment, even with water, your hands and feet will become weak.

"Cao Jun is preparing to transport grain..." Sima Yi sat under the shade of a tree, took a water bag and took a sip. His eyes seemed to glow with excitement even in the shadow, "The opportunity has finally come!" 』

Military rations are not just grain and grass, various sundries are also an indispensable part of a large army.

Especially salt.

Sima Yi discovered that Cao Jun was preparing to transport grain and salt!

In the past two days, Cao's army in Tongguan camp has been accumulating supplies and moving to the ferry pontoon bridge. Those laborers who are unknown from where are also reinforcing the pontoon bridge on the river beach. All these signs indicate that a large-scale transportation will be launched.

Today, Sima Yi went to the front line to check carefully, and then found that the supplies that Cao's army wants to transport include a large amount of salt and salt products, such as salted meat and salted fish...

These things may be transported from Yanzhou or from farther places, and now they are concentrated here. If Sima Yi and others do not take any action, these things will be transported across the river within a few days and then transported to the front line of Cao's army.

Obviously, the cavalry troops in Linfen have made Cao's army feel great pressure. They are mobilizing all their forces and intend to fight against the cavalry in the best posture.

Under the planning of Fei Qian and his advisers, using the strategy of Cao Cao's ancestors, Cao's army was unable to capture Guanzhong in one go, and once again destroyed and delayed Cao's attempt to invade Tongguan's rear line through the frozen Pubanjin and Longmendu, and finally forced Cao's army to fight with the cavalry in the Yuncheng Basin at the third drum...

But a centipede, even if two legs are cut off, it will not be fatal.

Cao's army still has a lot of manpower...

But in the same way, more people means more consumption.

Sima Yi has been waiting for the past few days because he believes that even if there are grains and sundries stored in the Zhongtiaoshan camp, it is still very consuming, and it is still necessary to transport grains and supplies from the rear.

This is the best opportunity now.

Of course, this is also closely related to Sima Yi's previous thwart of Cao Hong's advance. If Sima Yi had been stupid enough to fight with Cao Hong and only knew how to kill, then Pubanjin would probably have been occupied by Cao's army long ago, and it would not be Cao's army that was passive, but Fei Qian.

Cao's army was not afraid of the loss of manpower, but the shortage of supplies.

When Sima Yi attacked Cao Hong's base, it was equivalent to abolishing all of Cao Hong's subsequent capabilities, just like a magician who ran out of mana, even if the red bottle was still there, it was useless.

Now Sima Yi has set his sights on Cao's "big blue bottle".

Sima Yi and his team created this opportunity.

And Sima Yi also found this opportunity, but whether they can seize this opportunity depends on whether they can successfully launch a sneak attack...

After determining the target of the battle, all battle deployments were launched.

Although the cavalry led by Sima Yi and Hao Zhao were not specially trained mountain soldiers or special forces, the training of cavalry soldiers has always been known for hard work. In addition, they have more fat and high protein intake such as beef and mutton than the Shandong area, so these soldiers are stronger than ordinary soldiers, and have higher endurance and combat effectiveness.

Especially the combat effectiveness at night.

Sima Yi stayed on the north bank with the Qiang people and a small number of hussars, while Hao Zhao led most of the hussars and quietly went down Zhongtiao Mountain under the cover of night and rushed to the Cao army's floating bridge.

The Cao army in the Tongguan camp originally had lookouts on the river, with one every few miles.

Unfortunately, this kind of long-term facility often has a drawback, that is, it is indeed done according to the rules at the beginning. For example, the priority service window may be for better service at first, but later it will quickly become for the inspection service of the superior leaders, or for the service of some foreign adults. As for the original priority...

Because Wei Yan had already gone to Jizhou, the Cao army basically occupied the ferry from Tongguan to Shanjin, so there was almost no threat on the water, which meant that the superior leaders would not come to check these checkpoints at all. In addition to the strict defense of Zhongtiao Mountain, the checkpoints here became increasingly slack.

Just like some vulnerable groups, although there are still so many windows, there is no one.

Don't ask, if you ask, it's time to get off work, there's a shortage of manpower.

Wait until the superior leader or the foreigner comes, and then the window that was originally empty will be occupied again in an instant!

The river is rushing day and night.

The Cao army is actually very careful, but no matter how careful they are, they can't maintain a high standard of caution for more than half a year.

The key is that Zhongtiao Mountain is blocked by the Cao army camp.

In a sense, the route from Tongguan Camp to Zhongtiao Mountain Camp should be safe, and it is "inside" the Cao army's sphere of influence.

For the Tongguan Camp, what they need to worry about more are the floating bridges.

The floating ice some time ago destroyed many floating bridges, and they all need to be repaired.

At the same time, the defense focus of the Tongguan Camp is still in the direction of Tongguan. They are afraid that the defenders in Tongguan will rush out to attack, especially to destroy the few remaining floating bridges, so the Cao army soldiers put the focus of defense in the direction of Tongguan and arranged heavy troops for defense.

There was basically no big problem with Cao's army's deployment. The problem was Sima Yi and Hao Zhao who did not follow the usual path.

Normally, both ends were occupied by their own people and were well defended, so there would be no enemy troops in the middle.

But Sima Yi brought some Qiang people with him...

These Qiang people were more familiar with the mountains and rivers of Hedong than the Hussars, because they had been running around with cattle and sheep in the early years.

And if Sima Yi and Hao Zhao chose to attack Tongguan or Zhongtiaoshan's camp directly, even if Sima Yi and Hao Zhao doubled their number of soldiers, they would not be able to succeed in the invasion. After Zhu Ling bombarded Cao's camp with a large yellow crossbow, Cao's camp had already prepared for this sneak attack, and all flammable and explosive objects were transported to the rear. If it weren't for the purpose of concentrating a batch of supplies to be transported to the other side, it would not have appeared in front of Sima Yi, Hao Zhao and others!

The inevitable accident is what makes everyone unable to defend.

The Cao army's attention is on the north and south ends, and the defensive forces also focus on defending these two ends, so at this point in the middle, Sima Yi and Hao Zhao are left with an excellent chrysanthemum...