Chapter 1198 The Eve of the War (Part 1)
The Tang State's response strategy was quickly decided. On the one hand, Zhao Yun and Hua Xiong were ordered to assemble nearly 30,000 cavalry, and then transferred 10,000 combat soldiers and 10,000 garrison troops from Wei County. A total of 50,000 troops were ordered to attack Wei Guoju. Lujun was approaching. At the same time, he sent someone to contact the Black Mountain Army and persuaded Zhang Yan to lead troops from Zhending to attack the Zhongshan Kingdom.
On the other hand, Huangfu Chaobo ordered Yanbei County to mobilize 15,000 cavalry, led by Huang Xu himself. He also asked Xiaoqiang to mobilize 10,000 cavalry from the Liaodong vassal state, led by Tadun, and then assembled the Yan army in Lulong County and Liaoxi County. A total of 15,000 cavalrymen from , Youbeiping County and Yuyang County, and a total of 40,000 cavalry from the three armies rushed to the rescue at starry night, hoping to catch up with the army before Gongsun Zan was defeated, and then successfully withdraw to Zhuojun.
Of course, this is just the response strategy of the Tang army. As for whether Gongsun Zan can save many of his troops, it depends on whether Gongsun Zan is lucky. The Tang Army's own war was about to break out.
In the mountains more than 20 miles west of Gaoping Pass, Tian Yu led 25,000 troops and arrived here yesterday afternoon. At this time, 25,000 troops had set up camp in the valley and were doing their work quietly. Final preparations. Among them, a thousand Iron Eagle warriors, who were the vanguard, had already set off first and quietly controlled the scattered villages from the camp to outside Gaoping Pass. And more than a hundred Shadow Guard masters led by Shi A have quietly sneaked into Gaoping Pass in the past few days. As soon as the army arrives, they can open the door and seize Gaoping Pass. After Gao Ping closed it, the door to Shangdang was opened to Tang Jun.
In the Tang Army camp, after Tian Yu summoned the generals to discuss matters, he did not fall asleep immediately. Instead, after inspecting the entire camp again, he stood on the watchtower at the east camp gate and looked at the black sky to the east for a long time. Speechless. At this time, Tian Yu's thoughts were already lost in memories. He thought that in the first year of Chuping, after he was rescued from the hands of the Xianbei people, he was actually recruited by an alien prefect, and then he went to the newly built territory outside the Great Wall. They stayed there for several years, and then they were transferred back to the Central Plains to serve as the commander of the first battalion. Nine years have passed along the way.
In nine years, Tian Yu has grown from a young boy to a experienced general. During the several years in Hedong, although his Yingyang Army has never participated in a major battle, he has He has been using the bandits in Hedong to hone his army. He believes that opportunities will always be reserved for those who are prepared, and now the opportunity finally appears in front of him.
Although Tian Yu only led 25,000 troops to fight now, he is the key to this battle. If he can successfully invade Shangdang, he will be the first to do so. If there is any mistake, no, absolutely not Something is wrong...
Tian Yu thought in his heart that this battle was just the starting point for his rise, and there would be more and bigger battles waiting for him in the future. One day, Tian Yu would become the first feudal lord of the Yongnu Tian clan. A noble person.
After a long time, Tian Yu only heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind him. When he turned around to look, he heard the voice of the general behind him saying: "General, please pay homage to General Lu!"
Tian Yu knew that the person coming was none other than his deputy general Lu Zhong, the commander of the Iron Eagle Ruishi. Sure enough, Lu Zhong's voice came from behind: "Excuse me, is General Tian in front?"
"Yes, General, I will inform you now!"
"No need, I can just go on my own!" After saying that, he turned to look at his personal guards and said, "You stay here."
"No!" All the guards responded;
In a moment, Lu Zhong had already walked behind Tian Yu: "The last general has seen General Tian!"
"General Lu, that's so polite!" Tian Yu turned around and saluted Lu Zhong. Although he was the commander-in-chief of the first battalion, in the military system of the Tang Army, the generals of the first-guard army were of the same rank as the commander-generals of the first battalions of the other battalions, so There is no difference in rank between him and Lu Zhong. They are both full-ranked generals. However, Lu Zhong is a close minister of the king, and he is the commander-in-chief of the army in this war, so the relationship between the two seems a bit complicated.
"I don't know that the general came to see me,
What's the matter? "
"The general has received news from the soldiers that all the villages along the way have fallen under the control of our army, so I came here to report to the general!"
"Okay, so let's just follow the original plan tomorrow. The army will eat at the third watch and set off at the fourth watch. We should be able to arrive outside Gaoping Pass at the fifth watch. We will rest outside the pass for a while and wait for the gate to open. The boundary time The cavalry acted as the vanguard to attack the pass, and General Lu was asked to quickly lead the Iron Eagle warriors to follow up quickly, clear out the remaining enemies in the pass, and strive to occupy Gaoping Pass within an hour. Then the army would march eastward and quickly attack the county seat of Xuansi. "Tian Yu said with great joy;
"General, don't worry, I will definitely live up to the general's expectations!" Lu Zhong clasped his fists and accepted the order;
…
At this time, in Gaoping Pass, although it was completely dark, there were still lights in the pass that were not extinguished. Gaoping Pass, originally a medium-sized pass, has always been the western barrier of Shangdang County. During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, a large number of bandits appeared in Shangdang territory. They were later pacified by the army, and the remaining bandits fled into the surrounding mountains. Gaopingguan, which had been idle for many years, was reactivated.
However, the Shangdang Prefect only sent a thousand soldiers and horses to garrison. After more than ten years, Gaoping Pass has been safe and sound, so the defense has become even more lax. The number of one thousand soldiers and horses is now only 600. Around, and now there are all kinds of merchants in the pass, just like a small town with thousands of people.
In a small courtyard near Guanxi Gate, a family moved in a few months ago. It is said that more than ten years ago, when the Yellow Turbans broke out, a merchant who left the west city of Hyunshi saw Gaoping Gate. Now it looks like a small town, so I found the governor of the pass, the captain, and spent thousands of dollars to buy this small courtyard. The captain was happy to sell the long-abandoned yard, and got thousands of dollars for nothing. There are many small courtyards like this.
If anyone saw the situation in the yard, they would be shocked. There are now more than a hundred men in black clothes in the yard. Yes, these are Shi Ahe and his subordinates who have entered Gaoping Pass one after another in the past few days. Tomorrow Early in the morning it was time to rush to the gate, so tonight, all the personnel rushed to the yard one after another.
This courtyard is located to the north of Xiguan Gate. It is not directly close to the main road out of the gate, but is located about a hundred steps behind. In the yard, Shi A looked at the people and said: "Everyone, tomorrow is the day when the army will rush to the gate. General Tian has already contacted the army outside the city. General Tian has led the army to twenty miles away. So by tomorrow morning, When the gate inside the pass is opened, the army will appear outside the pass. At that time, what we have to do is to attack the soldiers guarding the pass and buy time for the cavalry to enter the pass. "
"Don't worry, general. When it comes to marching and fighting, we will definitely not be able to match them. But when it comes to assassinating, disrupting and delaying time, this is our specialty!" one of them laughed;
"Yes, general, don't worry!" The rest of the people also agreed;
"Okay, everyone, have a good rest. We will go out in batches early tomorrow morning and lurk until the gate is closed. When the army appears outside the gate, we will rush to close the gate!" Shi A nodded and ordered to everyone;