Hanzhong is located in the Qinling Mountains and surrounded by the two mountains of Bashan. The previous dynasty established Liang and Jin states. Hundreds of years of war spread, and dozens of counties in the two states were brutally destroyed several times.

At the beginning of Wang Jian's rise to Sichuan and Shu, the situation in Liangzhou was slightly better. However, Jinzhou to the east of Liangzhou and to the west of Junzhou had less than 3,000 registered households, which was even worse than Junzhou before the Jingxiang War.

Wang Jian managed northern Sichuan, mainly moving to the Hanzhong Basin with Liangzhou City as the core. Over the past 20 years, the number of households in Liangzhou has barely increased to 120,000 to 30,000, but Jinzhou has never been resettled, only in Hanzhong.

On the east side of the basin, military strongholds were set up according to the four remaining cities of Shiting, Hanyin, Xicheng, and Xunyang. The Liangzhou Defense Envoy sent troops to garrison the border between Chu and Shu in the north.

The center of Shu's defense has always been on the northern front, with Liangzhou and Lizhou forming two lines of defense to protect the center of Shu. Especially after Liang Jun captured Guanzhong, Shu sent its most elite Huangtou Army and Wuxin Army to its left and right.

Stationed on these two lines of defense.

In this Northern Expedition with Chu, in addition to the Heiyun Army led by Weihou Wang Xiaoxian and the soldiers and horses recruited from various states, the Huangtou Army and Wu Xin Army on these two lines of defense were the main ones, with a total of 70,000 soldiers.

Attack Qizhou, Fengzhou, southwestern Yongzhou, western Shangzhou and other areas in Guanzhong from four channels including Baoxu and Chencang respectively.

At this time, Lizhou and Liangzhou only had more than 10,000 troops stationed there. However, the four military villages east of Liangzhou, including Shiting, Hanyin, Xicheng, and Xunyang, all dropped to only 10,000 troops after the troops were transferred.

Three to five hundred people are not waiting for the warning force.

The Hanzhong Basin where Liangzhou is located is more than 200 miles long from east to west and from ten to more than thirty miles long from north to south. It is an alluvial plain with complete topography.

The Han River flows through the basin from west to east. The river channel is wide and the water flow is gentle. However, after entering Yuancheng County at the east entrance of the Hanzhong Basin and entering the territory of San Francisco, the water channel is flanked by mountains on both sides and suddenly shrinks to two-tenths of its previous size.

Third, even in the dry seasons of autumn and winter, the water flow is extremely turbulent.

The mountain walls on both sides of the bank are steep, the water is turbulent, and there are many reefs in the river. Even if the Shu army did not set up barricades at the dangerous points of the Han River, these restrictions would make it difficult for hundreds of small sailing ships to sail upstream from the lower reaches to pass quickly.

The blockade of Xunyang, Hanyin and other villages built on the shore directly broke into the hinterland of Hanzhong Basin.

To conquer the Hanzhong Basin, Xunyang, Xicheng, Hanyin, and Shiting are the four impediments that cannot be bypassed. The only way to capture these four military villages along the Han River is to take more than a thousand trackers on the plank road along the bank.

The fleet can also quickly pass through this rapid river section.

On the afternoon of the eighth day of the first lunar month, at the head of the east city of Xunyang, a dozen soldiers were sitting on the ground with their spears in their arms, leaning against the wall, basking in the sun.

Although it is the cold winter, Jinzhou is sandwiched between the Qinling Mountains and the Daba Mountains. The cold current in the north is blocked by the towering peaks. The climate in Jinzhou is mild and humid in winter. The upper reaches of the Han River to the west of Junzhou are also rare to see in a hundred years.

Once it freezes, the river flows gurglingly.

Sitting in the sun at the top of the city at this time is undoubtedly the most nourishing time for many soldiers in the afternoon.

"Eh!" Someone shouted in surprise, and more people looked up and saw a straight column of smoke rising from the depths of Matou Ridge to the east.

Opposite Ma Tou Ridge is the border of Chu State. The Xunyang Army built a beacon tower on Ma Tou Ridge and stationed a small army to monitor the movements of the Han River and the opposite peak ridge.

At this time, beacon smoke erupted from the Matouling beacon tower, and straight black smoke pierced the clear sky like pillars. The top of Xunyang Village suddenly became agitated like a boiling pot of boiling water.

"What are you making out of surprise and deception? Maybe Gu Ergou and the others accidentally lit the beacon fire." An old soldier still couldn't believe that there was any enemy situation in the east, thinking that it was the guards of the Matouling Beacon Tower who had messed up something.

Trouble is coming.

However, before he could finish his words, soon the Black Snake Ridge beacon tower on the south bank also lit up the smoke.

At this moment, the alarm bell at the top of the city rang violently, and the city walls suddenly became chaotic and busy.

The guard general of Xunyang Village was a battalion commander of the Shu Army. At this time, he was summoning the camp prostitutes to the house to listen to music and singing. When he heard the gongs, drums and alarm bells ringing, he hurriedly put on his armor and stood before the two soldiers.

With the help of soldiers, he climbed up to the top of the city and looked eastward.

Although there is a trail connecting Matouling Beacon Tower and Xunyang Village, there are three mountain ridges and thirty miles of rugged and narrow mountain roads. Wait until the small team of guards from Matouling arrive to report the details.

No matter how fast the situation of the enemy is, it will still have to wait until the middle of the night.

More than half an hour later, the defenders of Xunyang Village saw hundreds of black-topped sailboats sailing against the water and waves like dense dark clouds. The bows and sterns of the boats were filled with armored soldiers with swords and bows in hand and murderous intent.

Xunyang Village was built along the Han River. The wall on the side facing the water was well equipped with crossbows, cyclone cannons and other defensive facilities. Naturally, the fleet could not rush directly to Xunyang City before the generals could abandon the ship and land.

Hundreds of awning sailboats chose to dock about three miles east of Xunyang City.

Xunyang City is located in a small basin that is twelve or thirteen miles long from east to west and more than seven miles long from north to south. The landing point of the Right Shenwu Army is located on the eastern edge of this small basin.

Seeing that the invading enemy had at least 3,000 to 4,000 armored soldiers and the defenders of Xunyang Village only had 400 soldiers, the defenders were in a hurry and panic and naturally did not dare to go out of the city to engage in a half-crossing attack.

At this time, the defenders could only hurriedly light all three beacon towers in the city to show the military camp behind that the military situation was urgent. At the same time, they also sent several messengers to walk west on the plank road to report to the enemy in more detail along the way.

In the event of an attack, they hurriedly brought hundreds of farmers who lived and farmed outside the city into the city, activating the many abandoned defense systems.

As for the Shu army, they were filled with panic and confusion. They didn't know what happened. They asked the Chu army to tear up the alliance between the two armies of peaceful coexistence along the Han River for so many years. Didn't the two sides just promote the alliance's Northern Expedition?

Of course, no matter what, it is certain that the Chu army will suddenly attack Xunyang Village.

Streams of smoke rose at extremely fast speeds from the beacon towers and city walls distributed on both sides of the Han River - the Shu-Chu Kingdom War suddenly broke out at such a moment.

Although there are not many people in Old Jinzhou, and the Shu Kingdom has not restored the organizational structure of Jinzhou counties in recent years, Old Jinzhou is the gateway to Liangzhou and cannot be lost.

At this time, the main force of the Shu army on the northern front had already entered the hinterland of Guanzhong. When the first batch of reinforcements received the news and rushed back for reinforcements, it would be ten days and a half later.

At present, there are only 7,000 soldiers and horses guarding Liangzhou City, and the other 3,000 soldiers and horses are guarding the outer walls. Although it is not certain for the time being, the sudden

How many soldiers and horses did the Chu army invade after tearing up the alliance? But to the middle and high-level generals of the Liang Army defenders, everything in front of them looked like a conspiracy that the Chu army had already determined at the beginning of the two countries' discussions on the alliance's Northern Expedition. It was expected that the next step would be to

The Chu army that came down to attack was bound to come like a tidal wave.

In this case, they went to Shiting, Hanyin and other places to reinforce more troops and horses, taking advantage of the steep terrain in Jinzhou that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and tried their best to delay the invading enemy in Jinzhou so that they could not advance quickly.

Hanzhong Basin, no matter what, is a perfectly normal choice.

If the limited elite troops and horses are withdrawn back to Liangzhou City and sit back and watch the Chu army occupy the walled city west of Liangzhou, even if they wait for the main force to come back for reinforcements, the early war will be in a stalemate and it will be impossible to remove the Chu army from Liangzhou in a short time.

The eastern part of the state was evicted.

The Shu army launched the Northern Expedition this time. Although the main force was the Huangtou Army and the Wuxin Army stationed on the two defense lines of Liang and Liang, the auxiliary soldiers and civilians as well as grain, fodder and grass valleys were still recruited from the counties in central and southern Shu.

From the beginning of preparations for the Northern Expedition, many narrow roads south of Liangzhou, mainly Micang Road, Jinniu Road, and Lychee Road, were filled with an endless stream of carriages and horses, carrying hundreds of thousands of grains and grains in a steady stream.

It can be transported through Liangzhou to places occupied and controlled by the Shu Army in southern Shaanxi, or directly transported to Liangzhou City for storage.

The Chu army suddenly invaded along the Han River. In addition to sending 4,000 troops and horses to reinforce Yuancheng, Shiting, Hanyin and other dangerous gateways, the general also sent reconnaissance messengers to convey orders to the people from various states who were passing through Liangzhou to transport heavy supplies of food and supplies.

The rural soldiers immediately gathered in Liangzhou City to make up for the shortage of soldiers in the defenders.

This is of course a perfectly normal decision, but the defending generals never thought that thousands of Sichuan and South Sichuan civilian auxiliary troops traveling north from Xia, Kui, Chongqing and other places and passing by Liangzhou would be Tan Yuliang and Han Donghu.

The Tangyi army they led pretended to be elites, but they never thought that the fundamental reason behind the Chu army's sudden movement was that the Marquis of Changxiang, Wang Yong, conspired to launch a mutiny to usurp the throne. They just led the wolf into the house without any precautions.

At dusk on the 11th, Tan Yuliang led his troops into Liangzhou City and launched a surprise attack at night. At that time, there were only 3,000 defenders in the city and 2,000 men from various states who had been ordered to enter the city for reinforcements.

In the extremely chaotic situation, where it was difficult to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy, the defenders could not organize a powerful defensive counterattack. At dawn, only a thousand remnant troops fled in panic from the city gate, and the remaining four thousand troops were either killed or surrendered. Tan Yuliang

Capturing Liangzhou City was easier than imagined.

After confirming that the defenders were unprepared and even actively inviting them into the city, Han Donghu did not attack Liangzhou City with Tan Yuliang. Instead, he led more than a thousand cavalry guards and entered Yuancheng County in the east of Liangzhou City pretending to be reinforcements. While Yuancheng County was guarding the city, Han Donghu

When the army opened the city gate unprepared, they launched a surprise attack.

Almost at dawn, Han Donghu was killed or captured, annihilating nearly a thousand defenders in Yuancheng County, taking Yuancheng County, and blocking the retreat of more than 4,000 Shu troops into Jinzhou.

On the 14th, Wen Bo led the main force of the Shenwu Army on the right, and went up the Han River into Xunyang and other places. After Li Xiu received Li Changfeng's secret message, he led 3,000 soldiers and horses to go ahead by boat and retreated northward directly from Wuguan along the Dan River.

It was also very fast and forced Han Yin City from the waterway at about the same time.

The Shu army in Jinzhou saw that Liangzhou City and Yuancheng were lost, and thousands of Chu troops from the east came to kill them fiercely. They were frightened and their morale was low. They only resisted the city wall for two days, and either surrendered or surrendered.

After fleeing, the four villages in Jinzhou were all lost on the 17th, and the Youshenwu Army completely opened up the channel along the Han River into Liangzhou.

On the 19th, Wen Bo led the main force of the right Shenwu Army into Liangzhou. At this time, only 5,000 Shu troops from Lizhou in the north and Fengzhou deep in the Qinling Mountains in the north came to reinforce Liangzhou.

Wen Bo didn't even bother to take a breather. After joining up with Tan Yuliang, before the Shu army had a thorough understanding of the situation, he joined forces to defeat the Shu army on the south bank of the Han River who came from Lizhou for reinforcements and had an unstable foothold.

Seeing this scene, the 5,000 Shu troops returning from the south of Fengzhou hurriedly withdrew northward to Jitouguan on the west bank of the Baoshui River, in the Liancheng Mountains, and joined the remaining soldiers guarding Jitouguan to wait for reinforcements.

The valley along the Baoshui River is the southern line of the Baoxie Road, the main passage from Liangzhou to Guanzhong from the north. During the Qin Dynasty, a plank road was built along the Baoshui River. Later, it was repaired in all dynasties to facilitate carriages and horses. It is the main passage from Guanzhong to Sichuan.

Peaks stand on both sides of the Baoshui River, and the terrain is extremely dangerous; about ten miles north of Jitou Pass, a weir was built there in the early years of the Han Dynasty to intercept water from upstream to irrigate the fields between the mountains on both sides.

, but it also makes the river water coming down from the weir dam very shallow in winter, so it is unrealistic to use warships to carry soldiers around to the north of Jitou Pass.

On the 21st, Cao Gan led a group of troops and entered Jianmen Pass (Jiange Pass) in the south of Lizhou from the south. Zheng Yuantong, the governor of Lizhou, led five thousand remaining soldiers from Lichuan, Guangyuan and other places to surrender.

At this time, Liangzhou retreated to the dangerous mountain pass with the intention of resisting to the end. The remnants of the Shu army, who were waiting for Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian to lead their troops to return for reinforcements, found out that as early as the night of the 11th, the deputy privy envoy, General Wu Ji, and the deputy commander of the infantry of the various camps of the Forbidden Army

The capital commander Qi Lun and the central imperial official Jing Qiongwen and others opened the south gate of the Shu capital and secretly welcomed the Changxiang Marquis Wang Yong and Cao Qian who came with eight thousand elite forwards on a secret march. They entered the Shu capital and flanked the Qing monarch.

Ming launched a mutiny, beheaded the crown prince Wang Hongyi, deputy minister Zhao Weisheng and others, and then besieged the Shu Palace.

On the 14th, the Lord of Shu, Wang Jian, was forced to issue a national edict in the Jinyang Hall of the Shu Palace, announcing that Wang Hongyi, Zhao Weisheng and other party members intended to usurp the throne and commit rebellion, and ennobled Wang Yong, the Marquis of Changxiang who had served in "protection", as the crown prince, and also received the privy envoy and ministerial orders.

, to unify and intimidate national affairs.

When the capital of Shu was first decided, Cao Gan was worried that something would go wrong on the northern line, so Cao Gan led 8,000 elite troops northward without stopping. Unexpectedly, Wen Bo and Tan Yuliang had already successfully captured Liangzhou.

It was also on this day that Guo Rongcai accompanied Li Changfeng into Liangzhou to supervise the war.

Of course, being able to capture Liangzhou so smoothly was a bit of a fluke.

Yuhuo and Chongqing are two to three thousand miles apart and blocked by numerous mountains and rivers, making it impossible to report their whereabouts in a timely manner.

Tan Yuliang and Han Donghu pretended to be Yuzhou soldiers and horses escorting grain and grass from Yuzhou to the north on the Lychee Road. They were surrendered to the right Shenwu Army and marched westward. There was no way to coordinate properly in advance.

Especially the surrender and westward march of the Right Shenwu Army, the whole process was beyond Han Qian's complete control. Tan Yuliang, Han Donghu and others were prepared to enter the Baoxie Road in advance, and planned to use the mutiny of the civilian auxiliary troops to control the situation along the way.

On the southern line of Baoxie Road, wait for the Shenwu Army on the right to advance westward.

If that is the case, several fierce battles will definitely be inevitable. The current situation is better than expected, but even if they successfully capture Liangzhou now, it does not mean that the whole thing is successful.
To be continued...