Chapter 1178 Entering Shangdang

Along the way, Shi Adu was thinking about how to arrange tomorrow. Now that there are villages on the way forward, it means that they can't blatantly explore the road, but they still don't know where this place is. Know. This village happened to be stuck on their eastward path. If they wanted to continue eastward, they had to pass through the valley in front of this mountainside village. In that case, they would definitely know it.

After thinking for a long time, Shi A finally made up his mind. He said to Tian Zhe: "Chief Tian Qu, I have decided to set off overnight and continue eastward along the path in front of this village. I will definitely come back in three to five days at most. , If you don’t figure out where this place is and just return, all your time and energy will be wasted.”

"General!" When Tian Zhe heard this, he knew that Shi A was planning to go alone, and he was a little worried: "General, will it be too dangerous to go alone?"

"It doesn't matter. Before I followed the master, I once traveled the world alone, so there is no need to worry, Mr. Tian Qu. If you stay here, I will definitely come back within three to five days. No, this place is too far away from the small village on the mountainside. It’s close, just go back one day and wait for me at the place where we camped yesterday!”

Shi A's level was too different from his own. In addition, he was a close confidant of the king and the disciple of the greatest hero in the world. Tian Zhe also knew Shi A's ability, so he stopped trying to persuade him. I just asked Shi A to return to the camp and prepare some things before setting off overnight.

Soon the two returned to the camping place. Shi'a quickly prepared some clothes and food, took some coins, and hurried eastward. Finally, before the sun came up, he bypassed the mountainside village. At the foot, we came to the east side of the mountain.

Because the people in the mountainside village seemed to be in constant contact with the outside world, it was much better for Shi'a and the others to walk in the high mountains than before. There was a path connecting the village to the outside, and Shi'a followed the path toward the east.

One day later, Shi A finally arrived at a place that made him extremely excited - Gaoping Pass. Looking at the mottled and tattered walls of the pass and the three characters "Gaoping Pass" on the wall, Shi A knew that he had finally successfully found the ancient Qin Road in the western section of Baixing.

As the spy chief of the Tang State, Shi A basically knew the situation in every part of the Han Dynasty. In his impression, Gaoping Pass was a pass to the west of Xuns County under the rule of Shangdang in Bingzhou. However, , according to the news sent back from the shadow, there are not many troops stationed at Gaoping Pass.

The reason why the situation of Gaoping Pass is so clear is that the Tang State is definitely determined to win Bingzhou, and there are only two ways to attack Bingzhou. One is to go east of the river into Queshu Valley and enter Taiyuan, and the other is to go through Hanoi, through Tianjing Pass and Mengmen Pass in the Eighth Route of Taihang, invaded Shangdang territory, so the Shadow Guards spent a lot of effort to gather intelligence for cities such as the Gaodu of the Xuans.

Gaopingguan is located on Laomaling in Macun Town, 15 kilometers southwest of Gaoping City. It reaches Youyan in the north, Yiluo in the south, and Hedong in the west. "According to the ridge of the world and the throat of Heshuo", it is the transportation throat of Shangdang area. It has always been an important strategic location for military battles and defense in history.

Laomaling, also known as Kongcangling, is located in Macun Town and Yuancun Township, 17.5 kilometers southwest of Gaoping City. It is the boundary mountain between Qingao and Qingao. It starts from the main road in the east, ends at Black Tiger Temple in the west, starts from Shan Hebei in the north, and connects to Wushen Mountain in the south. It covers an area of ​​2.5 square kilometers and has an altitude of 1188 meters. Laomaling has undulating peaks with high peaks and steep cliffs. , majestic and majestic, like a galloping horse.

The terrain here is difficult, with deep ravines and steep cliffs. There are large canyons to the east and west, with deep ravines on the left and cliffs on the right. Peaks confront each other on the north and south sides of the pass, and there is only one road in the middle that can be used by vehicles and horses. There is a gate and city at the pass, which is called Gaoping Pass. It is the gateway to the southwest of Gaoping and is known as the first pass in the Three Jin Dynasties.

It was an important military fortress in ancient times. The Karakura Ridge Castle no longer exists, but its ruins can still be vaguely seen when hiking.

Gaoping Guan stretches from Jianbutui in the east to Black Tiger Temple in the west, about 1,000 meters long, behind the pier in the north, to Wushen Mountain in the south, and about 350 meters wide. There are two east and west gates in Guancheng. There is still a section of the Ming Dynasty city wall in the current ruins, and the city site is still vaguely identifiable. Relics such as the Star Observation Platform, Pointing General Platform, and Military Exercise Ground still exist. There are natural landscapes and places of interest such as Wanzhao Mountain, Quan Temple, Guandi Temple, Black Tiger Temple, Huashiban, etc.

Gaopingguan first appeared in history books because of the Battle of Changping. According to relevant epic records, the Qin army built a fake granary here to deceive the Zhao army, so it was later called Kongcang Ridge. But its real fame did not come until the Five Dynasties and later Zhou Dynasty. The story of Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, riding up to Gaoping Pass alone and borrowing his head from Gao Lao Yao happened here, making the name of Gaoping Pass famous all over the world.

Then during the Anti-Japanese War, the island country's army suffered a heavy blow from the 17th Division of the Geming Army here. Many soldiers heroically sacrificed their lives for the country here, composing a patriotic hymn.

However, Gaoping Pass at this time was far from its later glory. Although Gaoping Pass was also defended by the Bingzhou Army at this time, according to Shi A's observation, the number of Bingzhou Army stationed here was only a few hundred at most, and they seemed to be basically ordinary people. The soldiers of the county and state are not the most elite soldiers and infantry under Lu Bu.

According to Shi'a's observation, it is basically certain that there are only more than 500 soldiers and horses stationed at Gaoping Pass. It is estimated that there should be a thousand-man department, of which there are about 100 truly elite county soldiers, and the remaining 400 or so. Soldiers basically make up the numbers.

Actually, it makes sense. Gaoping Pass is a pass inside Shangdang. Although it is a pass to the west of the Xun family, there are only vast mountains to the west. When the Yellow Turbans were rampant, the Shangdang governor arranged soldiers to defend against the Yellow Turbans. Later, after Lu Bu occupied Shangdang, he appointed Zhang Yang as the governor of Shangdang and Hao Yin as the Shangdang commander. However, both of them turned their attention to the south of Henei and did not take Gaoping Pass seriously at all.

After staying in Gaoping Pass for a day, Shi A left the pass at dusk, and then hurriedly traveled overnight. Finally, on the fourth day, he arrived at the camping site where Tian Zhe and his party stayed. After telling Tian Zhe about the situation here, Shi A ordered Tian Zhe and Zhang Ming to lead everyone back to Hedong, and he himself went east again after a night's rest. Since he was going to attack Shangdang, he was going to sneak into Shangdang in person and command the Shadow Guards of Shangdang to figure out the city troops and defense situation in Shangdang.

Half a month later, Zhang Ming and Tian Zhe finally led a group of people back to Hedong. After entering Duanshi City, the group of more than 40 people were protected by the elite soldiers of the Yingyang Army who had been waiting for a long time. After a day of rest in Duanshi City, the group was escorted to Anyi City, the seat of Hedong.

As soon as the two returned to Anyi, they were summoned by Zhang Chao and Tian Yu, who carefully asked about the details of the exploration. Afterwards, the detailed information was jointly written into a memorial by the two and sent back to Luoyang City overnight.