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If there is an army that directly kills Shanxi, it can be made into a side-scrolling game.

Shanxi is surrounded by mountains in all directions. Moreover, there are mountains within mountains, which divide the whole province into countless small pieces. Even if you capture one or two pieces, don't be too quick to be happy, you have to be prepared to continue to break through.

Taihang Baxing, Henan's Datong Army could only attack from Zhiguanxing, Taihangxing and Baixing.

Among them, Taihangxing was the most dangerous. Li Zicheng only needed to garrison a thousand men to withstand the attack of tens of thousands of Datong troops.

Since Shanxi is so difficult to defeat, why not attack Shaanxi?

Liu Zhu's 8th Division and Jiang Liang's 5th Division set out from Luoyang, passed through the ancient Weihan Road, and headed straight towards Guanzhong.

Xia Shi Pass, Yanling Pass, and Hangu Pass are all in the hands of the Datong Army.

But there is Tongguan blocking the front, and the general stationed at Tongguan is Tian Jianxiu. Li Zicheng only named two generals, one was Tian Jianxiu and the other was Liu Zongmin.

The status of the two of them, if forced to compare, is similar to that of Fei Ruhe and Zhang Tieniu.

Counting tens of thousands of civilians, they followed the Yellow River to Tongguan.

"hiss!"

Jiang Liang looked at the Tongguan City Wall and took a breath: "How to fight?"

Liu Zhu smiled and said: "I definitely can't beat him hard."

Liu Zhu has been stationed here for a long time and has personally explored the terrain and knows what Tongguan looks like. Jiang Liang came here for the first time and was completely frightened by this magnificent pass.

Due to the continuous erosion of rain and the accumulation of sediment, the location of Tongguan is also constantly changing. It is divided into Han Tongguan, Sui Tongguan and Tang Tongguan.

But Zhu Yuanzhang was still very wealthy. Mingtong Pass enclosed all the important roads and built a city directly here!

Therefore, it is not called Ming Tongguan now, but is generally called Tongguan Mingcheng.

The city is 16 meters high and has a circumference of 11.2 kilometers. It surrounds several mountains. The two sections of city wall built against the mountains are more than 30 meters high.

The soldiers and civilians of Datong looked at Guancheng from a distance, and they all stood there dumbfounded.

"Let's set up camp first," Liu Zhu said.

Tian Jianxiu stood on the gate tower, looking at the Datong army retreating to camp, and only said one sentence: "Each camp must not relax!"

After saying that, Tian Jianxiu crossed the Yellow River himself to inspect Fenglingdu on the other side of the river.

Fenglingdu was the place where Yang Guo and Guo Xiang first met. Guo Xiang's apprentice was later called Master Fengling.

Although the Yellow River flows rapidly and converges at Fenglingdu, the river flow is relatively slow. Generally speaking, large armies cross the river at Fenglingdu, but Tian Jianxiu is still afraid that the Datong army will risk their lives to cross the river downstream.

Tian Jianxiu has never read "Three Kingdoms", but he also knows that the banks of the Yellow River must be defended.

The Datong Army finished setting up camp and it was getting dark.

Liu Zhu and Jiang Liang each inspected the military camp, and then called a meeting with the generals.

Wang Hui, who returned from his service in Luzon, was directly promoted to deputy commander of the Fifth Division due to army expansion. He asked: "Why did the Ministry of War ask us to attack Tongguan Xiongcheng? Not to mention not bringing heavy artillery, even if we brought heavy artillery, I'm afraid it wouldn't be able to collapse in two or three months."

Jiang Liang smiled and said: "It's not easy. There are two friendly armies, sending troops from Taihangxing and Baixing. Where they are, one man is in charge and no one can open them."

Liu Zhu, who has changed his name to Liu Dingjue, seems to have really become a cultural person. He asked with a smile: "You know, there was a big battle between Ma Chao and Cao Cao back then. At that time, Ma Chao was stationed in Tongguan, like a show in the fields, and Cao Cao led his troops to the west, just like us."

Although Cao Bianjiao can also write and calculate, and has read "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", he has never read "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". He chewed the flower seeds and said: "That is unlucky. Cao Cao was killed by Ma Chao and had to cut off his beard and abandon his robe."

Liu Zhu shook his head and said: "That is "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which is a novel. It is different in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". From the beginning to the end, Ma Chao was played by Cao Cao, and was finally defeated by Cao Cao!"

"Hey, you still read "Three Kingdoms"?" Jiang Liang suddenly joked. He also changed his name to Jiang Daoxing, but his cultural level was not much higher than Zhang Tieniu.

Liu Zhu chuckled and said: "Where can I read "Three Kingdoms"? Peng Xuanjiao told it to me. Peng Xuanjiao, come and tell it to everyone."

Due to his short time in the army, Peng Shining was only a brigade-level missionary officer, but he was a former Ming scholar and liked to read all kinds of miscellaneous books.

Peng Shining took out a pen and paper, drew a simple map near Tongguan, pointed at the map and said:

"When I learned that our army was going to attack Tongguan, I remembered the Battle of Tongguan during the Three Kingdoms period, and I went back to Nanjing to check many historical materials..."

"Tongguan in the Han Dynasty was built on a higher ground, and the lowlands beside the river today have not yet been washed out. Tongguan at that time was not as big as it is now. In addition to Tongguan, Tuliang in the south was also a war zone."

"Cao Cao couldn't conquer Tongguan, so he crossed the Yellow River directly where we camped..."

"Wait a minute," missionary officer Lin Ruzhao interrupted, "can Cao Cao's army cross such a fast river?"

Peng Shining nodded and said, "Yes. Moreover, when Cao Cao crossed the river, Ma Chao led his cavalry out of the pass and fired arrows at Cao Cao along the river bank. Cao Cao's boatmen were all shot to death. It was Xu Chu who held up the saddle with his left hand to block the arrows and rowed the boat with his right hand, Cao Cao only survived on the boat, and was washed away by the river for four or five miles, and then he narrowly crossed the Yellow River. What's more, the coalition forces where Ma Chao was with were distraught, and they all went to grab the livestock left by Cao Cao, otherwise Cao Cao would have estimated It’s also more bad than good.”

"Xu Chu is really a fierce general," Cao Bianjiao clapped his hands, "Then let's learn from Cao Cao and cross the river here!"

Peng Shining said: "Our army can first organize the civilians to build a sand wall on the shore to block Tian Jianxiu's defenders from coming over. In this way, we can cross the river in a big way without being as dangerous as Cao Cao."

Cao Bianjiao said: "Mr. Peng, please continue to tell me, how did Cao Cao play tricks on Ma Chao?"

Peng Shining pointed to the simple map: "After Cao Cao's entire army crossed the river, he led his troops across Fenglingdu and crossed the river at Pubanjin in the northwest. He wanted to go directly behind Tongguan. Ma Chao immediately sent Liang Xing to intercept on the other side of Pubanjin. Unexpectedly, Xu Huang advanced quickly and successfully crossed the river from Pubanjin."

"It's wonderful," Jiang Liang actually imitated the literati's speech, "Xu Huang is also a general. I knew this person from reading stories when I was a child."

"The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", everyone knows that it is a very lively topic to talk about.

Peng Shining continued: "When the vanguard led by Xu Huang was supporting Cao Cao's main force to cross the river, Ma Chao suggested launching a general offensive immediately to drive Xu Huang back into the Yellow River. Unexpectedly, Han Sui said that fighting now would only eliminate Xu Huang, not Destroy Cao Cao's main force. We should wait until Cao Cao's army has crossed the river and then seize the opportunity to attack. Only then can we inflict heavy losses on Cao Cao's army."

Cao Bianjiao complained: "Han Sui is a fool. If he can fight with more than he can, he must start fighting immediately. Are you still waiting for the main force of Cao's army to cross the river? What if Xu Huang defends desperately and the main force of Cao's army actually comes?"

Peng Shining smiled and said, "So Jun Cao is really here."

Cao Bianjiao sighed: "Ma Chao was also unlucky to meet a fool like Han Sui. Just like when I was in the Ming Dynasty, there were a lot of fools around me. Especially the civil servants and eunuchs, they were very sound on paper, but they were talking nonsense when it came to fighting. Mr. Peng , you continue talking!"

Peng Shining said: "Cao's army successfully crossed the river, and Ma Chao had no choice but to retreat. But if he wanted to go around to the back of Tongguan, he had to cross the Wei River again. Part of Cao's army sneaked across at night, built a wall with sand and soil, and supported Cao Cao's main force in crossing the river. Ma Chao sent troops to attack and kill the soil. The wall could never be built. Fortunately, the weather turned cold, so Cao Jun poured water into the sand and soil. After the water froze, the earth wall was erected."

Everyone sighed, Cao Cao was so lucky.

Peng Shining said: "The coalition forces of Ma Chao and Han Sui have many cavalry. Cao Cao's terrain is not easy to fight, and the next step is a confrontation by the river. It keeps stalling for time, and Ma Chao and Han Sui almost run out of food. The coalition forces can only ask for surrender, and Cao Cao's surface He agreed and asked Han Sui to go to the battle to reminisce about old times. They all chatted about old times for a long time. After Han Sui returned to the camp, Ma Chao asked what they had talked about, and Han Sui answered truthfully. Ma Chao didn't believe it and began to become suspicious. Next, I Even if you don’t tell me, you will understand.”

Cao Bianjiao said: "Ma Chao and Han Sui must have been suspicious of each other and fell into Cao Cao's plan to alienate each other. They were killed and defeated by Cao Cao!"

"Of course!" Peng Shining laughed.

The next day.

The Datong army followed Cao Cao's old wisdom and prepared to cross the river and encircle the rear.

In order to prevent Tian Mianxiu from going out to attack and kill, he began to build fortifications by the river.

There was no need to water it into ice, because Liu Zhu had already planned it, so he brought a lot of cement. Cement or thinner ones will do. It doesn’t matter if it’s a shoddy project, as long as it can form an earth wall.

Tian Jianxiu learned of the situation and immediately said: "The puppet troops want to cross the river, go to the other side of the Yellow River immediately!"

Tian Jianxiu didn't have many regular soldiers, only about 6,000. Just in case, he selected young and strong men and organized a total of 20,000 troops. He had been training for more than three months.

When the Datong army was building an earth wall, Tian Jianxiu personally led five thousand soldiers and horses and ran to the other side of the Yellow River to wait to stop the attack.

But the Yellow River is so long, how can he have enough people?

If you hold this place, you will miss that place. The Datong Army can freely choose the place to cross the river. Even if the river is wider and the current is faster, more soldiers will be drowned by the Yellow River.

Tian Jianxiu panicked, and ordered the defenders from Tongguan and Fenglingdu to send another 8,000 men to guard the river.

Moreover, while the Datong Army was building fortifications, he was also frantically digging trenches on the other side of the river.

"Boom boom boom!"

The artillery of the Datong Army roared and fired at the Dashun Army on the other side.

The Yellow River here is five to six hundred meters wide at its widest point and only three to four hundred meters at its narrowest point, which is just within the range of the artillery.

Of course, I can't kill a few people, it's purely to intimidate and build up my reputation.

Just as the Datong Army was looking for an opportunity to cross the river, internal problems began to arise on Tian Jianxiu's side.

Many people say that He Zhen was an officer of the Ming Dynasty and then took refuge with Li Zicheng. However, according to the investigation by Manchu and Qing officials, it was said that this guy was Li Zicheng's old team, pretending to be a Ming army officer to defraud the Manchu and Qing Dynasty's trust.

Historically, He Zhenma sneaked to the Qing Dynasty and took the initiative to lead troops to attack Li Guo.

But in this time and space, he did surrender to the Qing Dynasty. Because the Dashun Army's retreat route was different, he did not attack any of Li Zicheng's troops.

After the Manchus withdrew from Shanxi and Shaanxi, Li Zicheng came back, and He Zhen surrendered to Li Zicheng again.

Although he was despised for being a second-rate boy, he was still an old man. Since he had surrendered again, he couldn't be killed directly. Li Zicheng has been looking for opportunities to settle accounts, but He Zhen behaves obediently. He will handle everything Li Zicheng says.

"I'm afraid Tongguan won't be able to hold it this time," He Zhen said.

Dang Meng'an said: "Indeed, once the puppet army crosses the river, we will definitely not be able to stop it due to the large number of new soldiers on our side."

He Zhen said: "We have all been surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and have always been on your guard. Even if your Majesty can win the battle, we have no chance of getting ahead, so why not..."

"It's better to submit to the Datong court!" Luo Dai said.