Tibet

Jingxing is the fifth of the Eight Trails of Taihang. It starts from Guguan in Shiai County, Taiyuan Prefecture in the west, and ends at Tumenguan in Jingxing County, Hengzhou in the east. The total length is nearly 200 miles. It has been called the "Yan-Jin thoroughfare" since ancient times. "On the Jingxing Road, there is no square track for carriages, and there is no way for riders to line up" the narrow path.

It has always been a battleground for military strategists, and its strategic location is extremely important. It is known as "the key to controlling Taihang, and Jingxing is the point of entry and exit."

One of the biggest difficulties in Li Ye's refugee passage plan is to capture Jingxing.

The length of Jingxing is about two hundred miles, half of it is divided between the Tang Army and the Yan Army. The dividing point is Niangzi Pass. Currently, Niangzi Pass is controlled by the Yan Army and heavily defended.

At present, Lei Wanchun led an army of 30,000 troops to garrison at Guguan, and Li Ye led 18,000 troops to arrive, which immediately made the Helong Army camp lively.

Lei Wanchun led the generals out to greet Li Ye. Li Ye and everyone received the ceremony and entered the camp surrounded by everyone.

Li Ye didn't have time to chat, so he came to the Chinese army's tent. There was a sandbox in the tent. This was the only sandbox in the Tang Dynasty that had all the mountains in the Taihang Mountains. It was a sandbox for the Ministry of War. Originally, the Hedong Army also had a sandbox. Ministry, but was destroyed in the war.

Li Ye looked at the sand table for a moment and asked, "Does the Jingxing on the sand table match the reality?"

Lei Wanchun nodded, "Basically the same."

Li Ye found a pass with a small black flag. This is Niangzi Pass.

From the sand table, Niangziguan is just a mountainside road, with cliffs on one side and sheer cliffs on the other. There is a pass at the top of the mountainside, and then the city wall extends to the mountain next to it.

"Is the cliff next to it so steep?" Li Ye asked again.

"exactly the same."

"How many brothers died in the attack on this pass?"

"About 1,400 people!"

"What?"

Li Ye was furious and slammed the table, "How come there are so many dead?"

Lei Wanchun immediately knelt down on one knee, and the generals behind him knelt down one after another, "Being humble is a crime!"

Li Ye suppressed his anger and said slowly: "People will definitely die in the war. I just want to know the reason. Get up and explain!"

Lei Wanchun stood up and explained tremblingly: "The opponent set up an interception point in front of the mountain road and built a one-foot-high sandbag wall. We captured the sandbag wall and continued our attack upwards. From the sandbag wall to Guancheng, there was about a mile. On the left and right sides, two thousand of our brothers attacked. Unexpectedly, the enemy rolled down countless kerosene cans from the mountain. The kerosene covered the mountain road, and they lit a fire. Two thousand brothers were caught in the fire, and only the last 600 brothers retreated. All the remaining 1,400 people died tragically."

Li Ye couldn't say a word, but Yan Jun actually had kerosene.

"Where did they get the kerosene?" Li Ye asked after a while.

Lei Wanchun shook his head, "We asked many people, but they didn't know!"

There was no kerosene when An Qingxu attacked Jingxiang in the past. There was no kerosene in the Anyang County battle the year before last. It should have been obtained in the past two years.

Li Ye suddenly thought of the Sogdians. After Tubo blocked the Hexi Corridor, the Sogdian caravans began to take the grassland passage. They transported kerosene to Youzhou. This possibility is very high.

But Bukhanna promised to keep the kerosene for himself and not give it to outsiders. Did something happen to Bukhanna?

In fact, Li Ye knew that Yanzhou also produced kerosene. He originally planned to go to Yanzhou this time to inspect the kerosene there. However, according to the information he received, Yanzhou's kerosene output was very low and of poor quality, making it unsuitable for military use. , the locals don’t even use it to light lamps, but use it as medicine to treat skin diseases.

If Yanzhou fire oil is obtained, the quantity will definitely be very small, and the Yan army will definitely use it to defend Luoyang instead of the small Niangzi Pass.

Basically, it can be judged that it is not Yanzhou kerosene.

Lei Wanchun added: "Because the opponent showed up with fire oil, which was extremely lethal, I felt that the matter was serious and did not dare to attack easily, so I reported it to His Highness."

Li Ye nodded. If the opponent uses kerosene, it will indeed be very lethal, and there is usually no good way to deal with it.

After thinking for a moment, Li Ye asked again: "How steep is the mountain road?"

Lei Wanchun asked the soldiers to bring a sand table that was larger than the Niangzi Pass. It was five feet high and seven feet long. "Your Highness, we made this sand table ourselves. It is exactly the same as the actual pass."

Li Ye looked at the enlarged sand table. The slope of the mountain road was about 45 degrees. If you throw a big stone, it can roll down directly, and if you pour kerosene, it can also flow down.

Li Ye pointed to the cliff next to him and said, "Can you climb up?"

"Reporting back to Your Highness, the other party climbed up along the city wall. There are steps in the Great Wall. It is very difficult for us. We can find some soldiers with high martial arts skills who can climb up, but I have never tried it."

Li Ye nodded, "I guess there is a gentle slope dug above. The opponent can throw the fire oil can down on the gentle slope. To defeat the enemy's fire attack, the most important thing is to attack the top of the head first."

At this time, Duan Xiushi said next to him: "Your Highness, we also encountered this situation when we attacked Xiaobolu. The Tibetan army smashed wood and rocks overhead. We couldn't pass through the narrow passage, so we had to climb up the cliff and kill them. Tubo Army!"

"How did you climb up?" Li Ye asked.

"Use a thick rope net and first drive hundreds of steel nails on the cliff. The thick rope net is fixed on the steel nails. The soldiers can climb up along the thick rope net and even fire crossbow arrows!"

"What a great idea!" Lei Wanchun praised with a thumbs up.

Li Ye nodded. He thought that it was almost the same. He wanted to use a ladder to climb up, but the rope net was better.

"Just do it like this, find craftsmen to weave rope nets, control the cliff first, then it will be easy to attack Niangzi Pass."

There were also hundreds of craftsmen in Lei Wanchun's military camp. He immediately asked the marching Sima to arrange for the craftsmen to make the rope net. Of course, it was not to make a whole rope net, but to make many pieces and put them together.

He also made a large block car according to Li Ye's requirements. What is a block car? It's the giant baffle placed in front of the heavy trebuchet. With the wheels, it's called a baffle. It's actually a giant shield.

It takes time to make these siege equipment, so Li Ye immediately led the generals to the military camp in Jingxing.

After walking a few miles from the camp, I saw a pass, which is Guguan. It was called Guguan in the Tang Dynasty, and was renamed Guguan in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The terrain here is relatively open, but after passing Guguan, the road becomes more and more difficult. It is narrow and about one foot wide, just enough for a large cart to pass. This is why Jingxing has become the most important strategic place. This is the only passage in the entire Taihang Mountains for large carts. Other passages can only be used by mules and horses.

Both its commercial value and military value are reflected in this cart. Along the way, there are often patios surrounded by cliffs. This is the origin of the name Jingxing. These patios are actually military fortresses.

The team walked for two days. In the evening, an open area appeared in front of them. It was a gurgling river with mountains on both sides, about ten miles apart. On the north bank of the river were tents of the Tang army. This was the camp of the Tang army.

Lei Wanchun pointed to a winding mountain path more than ten miles away, "Your Highness, that path is the mountain path to Niangziguan."

Li Ye frowned and pointed at the river with his riding crop: "Can't we just walk along the river?"

"Your Highness, the river actually flows from the north. After walking a few dozen miles, it will end at a waterfall and pool. To go east, you must climb over the big mountain in front. Niangzi Pass is at the end of the mountainside. After passing Niangzi Pass, it is Start walking downhill, this is the only way."

Li Ye rode up the mountain. The mountain road was winding and winding, but not steep. There were cliffs on one side and cliffs on the other. The mountain road was only one foot wide. The road had been crushed by carts for thousands of years, forming deep ruts. After a while, we went around to the other side of the mountain, and a pass suddenly appeared in front of us.

Niangzi Pass is actually part of the Qin Great Wall, but it has been repaired by successive dynasties. It is all made of stones and is extremely strong. It is not only a pass, but a defense system, including passes, city walls, sentry towers and buildings inside. There was even a checkpoint at the foot of the mountain as an early warning, but this checkpoint was of little use and has been demolished.

Li Ye squinted and looked at the cliff on the right. It was not a 90-degree cliff, but about 60 degrees. It was made of hard granite. Many vines grew out of the cracks, covering the entire cliff.

There should be an artificially hewn ramp above, about a mile long, so that the Yan army soldiers could throw the kerosene cans from the top. Even if they did not throw the kerosene, rolling wood and rocks would still pose a major threat to the attacking Tang army.

The situation on the scene was exactly the same as the thinking before the sand table. If you want to capture Niangzi Pass, the key is to capture the ramp above your head first.