Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 479: Qutang Pass
Speaking of Qu Tang Pass, news has just arrived about the unusual movement of the Jingzhou army. Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong have already passed through Wu Gorge and Qu Tang, and are about to reach Kuimen!
The purpose of this attack on Yizhou was to show off their power, and it was also experimental in nature, so before setting out, they were reorganized into an "infantry division" - in the future, before the army is officially mobilized, unless it is an emergency mobilization, it will be reorganized.
It can be said that the military reform has begun gradually!
There is definitely no rush to attack Yizhou. Since we have to take the Qutang Gorge route, we must wait until early March to set out and arrive before mid-April. At this time, the grass and trees are lush and cannot be ignited, and it is not yet the main flood season.
There were also people from the Taishi Bureau accompanying them along the way, not to predict good or bad luck, but to observe the weather - if there were signs of heavy rainfall, the army would seek high ground to station.
The numbering is very simple, just use the name of the station as a prefix and then number it in chronological order of establishment.
In other words, Zhao Yun led the "Wancheng Division" and Huang Zhong led the "Xinye Division". Each division had more than 10,000 people, and a total of nearly 25,000 troops were dispatched. The people in Zigui and other places were also mobilized to temporarily join the baggage train...
In theory, Huang Zhong was only the acting division commander, so the highest commander of the army was still Zhao Yun.
In addition to the new titles of brigade commander and regiment commander for officers at all levels, new people were also boldly employed - Fa Zheng, who was familiar with the terrain of Yizhou, served as the chief of staff of the Wancheng 1st Division, and Guo Huai, who was from Bingzhou and traveled thousands of miles to join the Chu State, served as the chief of staff of the Xinye 1st Division.
The General Staff will play a role similar to that of a "military advisor" in the past. However, without authorization, the staff will have no actual command power, and the Chief of Staff will naturally be the head of the General Staff.
In fact, with the abilities of Fa Zheng and Guo Huai, they could both directly hold military posts - it is mainly because pure strategists who are not good at actual command and troop dispatch, and are only good at using strategies and giving advice, are limited to being staff officers.
Although Fa Zheng and Guo Huai may not be strong in martial arts, they are well-read in military books. They are not only good at using strategies, but also have knowledge of everything from deploying troops to logistical scheduling.
It was just because both of them were officials in the first year of the Chu calendar, and had served in the Chu State for less than two years. If they were to be given a title, their rank would not be too high, so they were simply appointed as chief of staff, equivalent to a military advisor. On the one hand, it was to let them run in with other generals, and on the other hand, it was also to gild their reputation...
The commander of Qutang Pass was Wu Jing, who was born in Chenliu, Yanzhou, and was Wu Yi's cousin; the deputy commander was Gan Mao, a native of Ba County, from the Linjiang Gan family, and was considered a relative of Gan Ning. In terms of seniority, he should be Gan Ning's uncle.
Among the two, Wu Jing is the leader.
Although Wu Yi was from Chenliu, he was Liu Yan's confidant who entered Yizhou with him. Therefore, the Wu family was considered a semi-local household in Yizhou and even "one of our own" in Yizhou Prefecture.
Historically, after Liu Bei entered Yizhou, he married Wu Yi's widowed sister to appease the original people in Yizhou Prefecture - even though this Mrs. Wu had been married to Liu Zhang's brother and was still Liu Bei's sister-in-law...
This also shows the importance of the Wu family in the Yizhou Prefecture team.
As for Gan Mao... although he was born in the Gan family, a prominent family in Ba County, but now in Yizhou Prefecture, it is obvious that the old team brought by Liu Yan are closer to the core than the local people in Yizhou. Not to mention that for Yizhou Prefecture, there is also the hidden worry of Gan Ning in the Gan family!
Although it is not uncommon for aristocratic families to separate their eggs, it is also common to divide some of their young men when they have a chance to develop outside. Didn’t the Yuan family of Runan also rely on their ancestors who stayed at home on snowy days to separate from the Yuan family of Chenjun...
but!
The situation of the Gan family of Ba County is a bit too extreme. Gan Ning had already served as the naval commander and Marquis of Yizhou in the State of Chu. When the Great Chu was established and the King of Chu conferred titles on his ministers, Gan Ning ranked fifth, and among the four people ahead of him, one was Queen Lu Lingqi of Chu.
It can be said that Gan Ning is firmly in the top 5, or even top 3, among the civil and military officials of the Chu State. In comparison, the Gan family in Yizhou does not even have a governor now...
It would be fine to separate the eggs, but giving away the golden egg and only keeping the chicken eggs is something that makes people think too much!
The main reason why Gan Mao was able to serve as the deputy general at Qutang Pass was because the Gan family had occupied a considerable share of the caravans traveling between Jing and Yi. Now that they had to be completely blocked, the Gan family's opinion had to be taken into consideration on the surface - but the Gan family did not dare to have any objection.
Upon hearing that the Chu army was approaching, the two generals defending Qutang Pass were in chaos.
After all, they usually just intercepted the smugglers. Even though there was the danger of Kuimen, they were nervous when they heard that the Chu army was attacking!
It didn't take too long, just half an hour of being at a loss, and then I recovered.
However...after he calmed down, Wu Jing looked at Gan Mao and felt more and more displeased!
"General Wu, why... are you looking at me like that?" Gan Mao asked somewhat unhappily.
"Ahem, it's nothing. It's just that I suddenly thought that Baidi City and Kuimen are places that echo each other from afar. If the Chu army attacks Baidi City from a distance, it may cause a great disaster... General Gan, lead your troops to station in Baidi City." Wu Jing said sincerely.
I feel like cursing...
So the Chu army ignored the weakly defended Qutang Pass and went over the mountains to attack Baidi City? The damage caused by crossing the mountains would be greater than that of attacking Kuimen by force!
What's more, what kind of troops do I have? You want me to defend Baidi City with only a few hundred troops?
He just wants to transfer me away!
But in the end Gan Mao did not curse out loud. After all... it was better to leave and hide behind Qu Tang Pass. At least it was safe.
If Qu Tang Pass was really captured, he would surrender. After all, he had no soldiers or generals. As long as he made a few gestures before surrendering, no one would blame him too much.
After Wu Jing thought he had eliminated any possible accomplices, he began to deploy his defenses...
There are only 3,000 soldiers and generals at Qutang Pass now. The only advantage is that if the Chu army attacks Qutang Pass, Zigui, the nearest place in the rear, is more than 200 miles away. In addition, the arable land in Zigui is also very limited. Zigui itself has to cross the Xiling Gorge to connect with Xiling, which is more than 200 miles away!
Moreover, more than half of them are narrow canyon terrains, especially the Qutang Gorge, which is only more than 20 miles long but is majestic and dangerous.
It was not easy to march all the way here, and the logistical supply was even more difficult. It is estimated that 80% to 90% of the food for people and horses would be lost on the road!
It was even more impossible for the army to carry too much baggage. When they arrived at Qutang Pass, they would only have a few days' worth of food left...
Therefore, as long as we can hold on for ten days or half a month, and then reinforcements arrive, it might be a great achievement!
Of course , the reason why they were so confident was that the scouts had not found out exactly how many enemy troops there were - it was impossible to find out the number of people in a team that stretched for 20 miles...
They didn't even know who the generals were - because the flags used by the Chu State were the Chu flag and the two divisions' own flags, not the common general flags with the generals' surnames written on them.
