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The West Route Army's troops stationed was an open slope, surrounded by streams on both sides and mountain on the other side. It was far away from the Jianmen Plank Road, more than 30 miles away from the pass.?

Nearly 100,000 troops were stationed here, and the camp stretched for several miles, filling the originally very open hillsides and streams, completely blocking the plank road between Zhaohua and Jianmen Pass.

Fortunately, since the civil strife broke out in Yizhou, there have been no pedestrians on this plank road all day long, and there are no business travelers passing by. Therefore, it is irrelevant whether the plank road is unobstructed and no one cares about it.

In addition, after Zhao Yun's army set up here, the high cliffs and cliffs on both sides of the valley became natural barriers, and then blocked the exits at the north and south ends of the plank road, forming an indestructible Tianci camp.

However, such naturally formed camps have both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage is that you only need to defend the exits of the north and south ends, even if there are thousands of troops, the enemy will not be able to do anything. You can only stop and sigh, and there is nothing else to do.

The disadvantage is that although Zhao Yun's army can block the invading enemies, they can also trap themselves. In this way, although the enemy cannot attack, they cannot rush out. It can be said that they are bound by themselves and draw the ground into a prison. The pros and cons are half the pros and cons, and it is still unknown whether it is a blessing or a disaster.

When choosing this place to camp, Zhao Yun sent out all 2,000 scouts and 500 personal soldiers under his tent to climb the mountain peak in the west and stationed on the mountain peak so as not to touch the mountain ridge and wait for an opportunity to ambush the army. Seeing that Zhao Yun was so meticulous and extremely meticulous, Ma Chao admired him very much, so he did not need Zhao Yun to speak, and he also sent out the scouts and personal guards of Longxiang Camp under his tent to guard the east mountain.

In this way, more than 2,000 soldiers on the hills on both sides were warned day and night, which was enough to ensure that the army was not ambushed by the Yizhou army, and could rest and rest here with peace of mind.

It is worth mentioning that the West Road Army, with Zhao Yun as the chief general and Ma Chao and Huang Zhong as deputy generals, is in a completely different situation from the East Road Army led by Zhou Yu and Li Xian.

Although the two groups of troops did not make any statement before the war. There was neither a swearing ceremony nor a declaration of war on the Yizhou army openly, they all adopted a marching method of hiding whereabouts. However, the only one who could truly achieve the surprise attack was the Eastern Army led by Zhou Yu, Li Xian, was because the Eastern Army took the Micang shortcut. After successfully attacking Zhaohua City, the Western Army led by Zhao, Ma and Huang completely exposed their whereabouts, causing the surprise attack to be captured and the operation plan of the surprise attack to be defeated, and then changed from a secret sneak attack to a frontal attack. The flag was revealed. The army was openly marching into the Shu Road, and attacked the Qianli Shu Road in a dignified manner.

The reason is actually very simple. Because Taurus Road is the main plank road from Hanzhong to Chengdu, that is, the only way for pedestrians and business travelers in the north and south. Therefore, Zhao, Ma and Huang led nearly 100,000 troops to advance into Shu Road. It is not easy to hide their whereabouts. It is singular and impossible to do it.

Therefore, when the Xiliang army led by Zhao Yun went on the expedition, they did not think about hiding their whereabouts, but they did not say anything. They rushed all the way and attacked the city and captured the village. Regardless of whether the Yizhou army discovered their whereabouts, they would not stop. They would be able to attack the pass by surprise. If they could not attack, they would attack with force.

Because of this, the Western Route Army was relatively fast. At first, the army traveled a hundred miles a day, and then as the road became narrower and more difficult to move, the marching speed had to slow down, and it was impossible to get fast. Even so, the army under Zhao Yun's tent could still travel fifty miles a day, and occasionally hundreds of miles a day. When the marching speed was the slowest, it could travel thirty miles a day.

The rugged and difficult roads of Shu were certainly the direct reason for the slow marching speed, but the large amount of food and supplies carried by the army was also an important factor that could not be ignored. After all, nearly 100,000 troops carried on an expedition, and the number of food and supplies carried by the army was extremely large. At least enough for the army to eat for one and a half months, that is, 150,000 stones of food and grass and other necessary items, as well as the military supplies needed by the army. Otherwise, before the army could leave the Shu road, the food would be cut off. If this is true, the army would return without success, and it is still unknown whether it could even retreat without any loss.

The same goes for the saying, everything has advantages and disadvantages, and there are losses and gains.

It is precisely because the Western Route Army led by Zhao Yun did not intend to hide their whereabouts, so they did not need to drink cold water and eat dry food, and could make fire and make meals without any scruples, and feed war horses in a noble manner. Therefore, compared with the Eastern Route Army led by Zhou Yu and Li Xian, Zhao Yun's army's living conditions were quite good. At least the soldiers of the Western Route Army did not have to endure hunger and could eat enough to ensure that their combat effectiveness would not decrease and they were not afraid of enemy ambushing and sneak attacks.

The next evening, Huang Zhong, who led his army to attack Jianmen Pass, came back.

Yesterday afternoon, Huang Zhong led 20,000 Qingong Camp soldiers to Jianmen Pass, climbed over the Jianmen Plank Road at night, and launched a strong attack in the early morning of this day, or a sneak attack on the pass. However, the Jianmen Pass camp was in a dangerous position, with steep cliffs on both sides, and the pass was built at the intersection of the southern end of the cliffs on both sides.

Therefore, whether it is a frontal attack or an unexpected sneak attack, it is the same in front of Jianmen Pass; as long as it appears, it is a frontal attack. As long as the defenders stationed in Jianmen Pass are not dead, they can find them without waiting for the troops under the city to approach the pass, and then they will shoot arrows at the same time, shooting and killing the invading enemy who are trying to attack.

At that time, Huang Zhong personally led a large army to attack the city, led the army, and fought hard for more than ten times. After suffering huge casualties of more than 3,000 soldiers, Huang Zhong finally led his personal soldiers to the front gate. Unexpectedly, thousands of rocks and rolling wood fell on the top of the city, causing Huang Zhong and his personal soldiers to suffer a head-on attack, which once again damaged hundreds of elite soldiers. He had to retreat in a mess and completely defeated.

The five-hour strong attack caused Huang Zhong's troops to lose 4,000 troops, but fortunately there were more than 1,000 wounded soldiers there. Otherwise, after this battle, the Qin Bow Camp would lose 30% of its troops. Not only would the combat power be greatly reduced, it would also affect the morale of the entire army. It would undoubtedly be a heavy blow to the soldiers of the entire army, which would directly affect the subsequent war.

Seeing that Jianmen Pass was extremely strong and fighting again was useless, Huang Zhong made a quick decision and decisive withdrawal. Then he led his army to retreat several miles, but did not retreat back to the camp. Instead, he chose to set up camp on the slope five miles away from Jianmen Pass and confronted the defenders of Jianmen Pass. It was not until the camp was completed that Huang Zhong led his personal soldiers to quietly return to the rear camp and discussed countermeasures with Zhao Yun, Ma Chao and other generals.

In the central army's tent, more than ten generals gathered together to discuss how to capture Jianmen Pass.

The upper-level general was vacant. The main general Zhao Yun sat in the first place on the left side of the hall, facing Ma Chao, and Huang Zhong sat in his lower head, telling in detail the attack on Jianmen Pass. In addition to the three of them, the remaining generals were: Ma Dai, Meng Da, Cao Xing, Ma Wan and Yang Fu.

After listening to Huang Zhong's statement, Zhao Yun frowned slightly. After thinking for a while, his brows gradually stretched out and comforted him calmly: "Brother Han Sheng does not need to blame himself. This defeat is not a battle, but we do not pay enough attention to the Jianmen Pass defenders and underestimate the enemy. As the saying goes, knowing yourself and your enemy will never be defeated. Now we do not know enough about the Jianmen Pass defenders and knowing how many troops the enemy is and how little is the defense. How can we not defeat such a rash attack?

Therefore, the defeat in this battle was not due to Brother Han Sheng, but I underestimated the defenders of Jianmen Pass. Before I could understand the enemy's defense, I ordered the attack on the key points. Only by underestimating the enemy's advancement would I have today's defeat. All this is because I am eager to win and use my troops in a way that I have lost my troops and lost my generals, causing more than 2,000 soldiers to sprinkle blood on the battlefield. Therefore, all the crimes of this battle were borne by me, and it has nothing to do with Brother Han Sheng and the generals." This is Zhao Yun's responsibility.

Zhao Yun is upright by nature, open-minded, heroic, open-minded, never dodging when encountering things, and has the courage to take responsibility. In this regard, he is completely different from other generals. If others encounter such a thing, they will definitely avoid it and will never take the responsibility on themselves; but he takes the initiative to take the blame on himself and try his best to excuse others. This mind and demeanor are really impressing and admirable.

Huang Zhong, who had not originally planned to shirk responsibility, was very moved when he heard this and said excitedly: "General Zilong must not do this. This defeat is all the fault of the last general. What does it have to do with Zilong? Although Huang is over 50 years old, he is not old. At least he still has the courage to bear the responsibility he deserves."

While speaking, Huang Zhong paused and thanked Zhao Yun with gratitude. Then, without waiting for Zhao Yun to speak, he continued: "There is no need to discuss this matter anymore. It's just decided. All the blame is to be borne by me, Huang Zhong, and it has nothing to do with General Zilong. The most urgent task now is how to capture the pass, pass Jianmen Pass as soon as possible, and go south to Chengdu to meet with the Eastern Army."

Seeing Huang Zhong's attitude firm, Zhao Yun nodded helplessly and said, "The enemy is in front of you, and the matter of guilt will be put aside for the time being. The lord will make a decision in the future. As Brother Han Sheng said, the top priority is to capture Jianmen Pass as soon as possible. Time is not enough. We must take this pass in the shortest time. After all, the nearly 100,000 troops under our tent can be blocked by a mere pass.

What's more, the army consumes a lot of food and grass every day. Staying for one more day will increase the pressure on our army's food and grass supply; if we stay here for ten or half a month, then we will lose food before we leave Shu Road. Time is tight, and every day we delay, a little burden will be added to our shoulders. Therefore, we have no choice but to not delay and must fight quickly. Therefore, Brother Han Sheng explained the situation of the defenders, and then the generals expressed their opinions and could speak out as much as possible without any scruples."

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ps: [Heartly thanks: book friend "Huang Yihao", "1 Seven Deadly Sins", "Haitian Xiaolong" book friend's monthly ticket support, thank you!]
Chapter completed!